I’ve always held a fascination with magnets. I can still remember watching my dad use his magnetic ring and magnetic bugs to great effect, flies coming out of a glass or whatever.

There were (maybe still are) always ads in comic books for various gag toys - X-ray specs, footlockers of army men, etc. The one that always drew my attention was the one hawking 1000 magnets. I’d love to have an army of tiny magnets at my command. So, you can see that I’d probably enjoy something like
Magnetoids (link via Boingboing) They look like fun.

On a somewhat related topic, something that bothers me, is when a product is sold as “magnetic” when the end product is something that it’s something you can stick magnets to, but doesn’t have a strong magnetic field of it’s own. My fridge wasn’t advertised as magnetic, but I can stick magnets to it. I can’t put a coin on it and have it stick there though - at least not without a magnet attached to the fridge too…That’s not to say that these products are useless, but “magnetic paint” doesn’t actually mean you’re painting a magnet on your wall - you’re painting with a paint that’s full of metals that are attracted to magnets.

I’ll fully admit that my magnetic theory is one of those pieces of information that I no longer retain. Maybe it’s possible to magnetize “magnetic paint.” I don’t think you’d want to, but still, it might be possible. It’d be cool trying to get the paint out of the can, and keep it from sticking to the metal bits on the brush. It’d make the studs stand out, but a magnetic stud detector completely useless.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “As you can see, I have created a lemon ball so sour it can only be safely contained in a magnetic field. The candy, known as 77X42… Bwei… Where the hell is the candy?” - Professor Frink