The bathroom tech industry is just flush with new ideas, particularly the $1 billion away-from-home market (who knew?). Now, I have plenty of issues (tissues?) with public bathrooms, but the first one that comes to mind is not the challenge of dispensing my own TP. Kimberly-Clark sees some value in this technology though, and is dispensing it to a stinky, flooded, soapless public bathroom near you. The automated toilet tissue dispenser has a sensor that detects your awaiting hand and poops out five sheets of paper (or 20 inches if you're counting) at a time. (Can't spare a square?)

"Most people will take the amount given," says Thorne. "People generally in life will take what you give them." Well, in this great United States, that is certainly the case, and apparently we're greedy even when it comes down to a single ply. According to Yahoo! News, we use twice as much TP--rolling it out by the arm length--as the fancy pants Euro-pee-ans (giggle). From the story: ". . . the machine can also be adjusted to churn out 16 inches or 24 inches, depending on the demand." (Hey number two. . .Hey number one.)

Units are available now, barring any stalls, performance anxiety, or potty mouths.