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Lora DiCarlo sext toy Ose

"Let sex toys be sex toys, shame free"

In this week's comments update, readers are accusing the Consumer Electronics Show organisers of sexism.

Buzzkill: organisers of the Consumer Electronics Show have disgruntled readers after revoking an award given to sex toy startup Lora DiCarl. The show claims its design, the Osé massager, is immoral.

"If they allow heterosexual male items into the show and displayed on the floor then this beautiful product should be allowed and celebrated," argued Luc Helterbrand.

Jon agreed: "It's a design object, why should it not look as good as it presumably feels?"

"Love the brass detail, like an attempt to make it classier. Let sex toys be sex toys, shame free," continued The Nicolas.

HeywoodFloyd was particularly riled up: "You can tell conservatives are getting really jammed up on something when they start stringing together synonyms like, 'immoral, obscene, indecent, profane'. The Inquisition used to pull that same kind of thing when they were banning books and burning heretics at the stake."

One commenter thought the sex toy looked more like the design for a building:

Should the sex toy have been banned from the show? Join the discussion ›


Taipei Twin Towers proposal by MVRDV

Screen time: MVRD's design for Taipei Twin Towers, which will be made from stacks of misaligned blocks wrapped in interactive screens to create a Times Square for the city, haven't gone down well with some readers.

"It's a joke right, tell me it's a joke! For next April Fools'?" asked Frod.

Zea Newland agreed: "Visual pollution is a thing. This looks cool in dystopian science-fiction movies, but in reality it's rather dumb."

"Taipei is the cleanest big city I've ever been in so it's a bit disappointing that they would want a dirty and noisy Times Square to ruin it all," said Hugh Janus.

Archi felt similarly: "Yet another absolutely terrible project being pumped out of MVRDV. Not only is this ugly, not thought out, or have any level of good articulation, the drivel they pass as an 'contextual' relationship to the surroundings is terrible."

The designs made this reader think of a different kind of screen:

What do you think of the Towers? Join the discussion ›


Promobot robot run over by Tesla

Stuntman: not everyone is convinced that a video showing a humanoid robot being "hit and destroyed" by a self-driving Tesla on Paradise Road in Las Vegas is authentic.

"The robot was hardly 'killed', it just looks like it fell over, or was pulled over at the moment the car went past. I smell a viral stunt," accused Lee Kennedy-Washington.

Dana Pellerin Heems replied: "So much wrong with this. The robot just falls as the car drives by. Not even an impact. This is the sorriest PR stunt."

"This has got to be a PR stunt... Teslacrunch kept going and going until he spotted Miss Fembot 2019, the newest version from the Austin Powers movie!" added Erwin1950.

Nate concluded: "My 12 year old son could have made a more convincing video."

This commenter had an eye of detail:

Do you think the video was a PR stunt? Join the discussion ›


Taipei Performing Arts Center by OMA in Taiwan

Showstopper: commenters weren't balled over by images of the Taipei Performing Arts Center, a theatre complex by OMA nearing completion in the capital of Taiwan.

"Looks a bit underwhelming to be honest," said Rd.

Małgorzata Bogusław elaborated: "This sphere glued to a box, and with these legs, is ugly nonsense!"

"Will the ball get polished?" asked Jb sarcastically. "Because there's a scintillating chance it will make no difference whatsoever."

Spadestick concluded that: "The world has OMA'd out and moved on."

One reader had something else on the brain:

What do you think of the Performing Arts Center? Join the discussion ›