Core77

Proof that technology makes its way into everything: grocery store shopping carts used to be just rectilinear hunks of wire, but now "intelligent" shopping carts may warn us if we're in danger of cheating on our diets. This latest piece of technological nonsense is brought to you by a company called EDS, who plans to put computer screens and barcode readers on shopping carts, because apparently we need a middleman between us and product labels. Trials are already underway in the US.

Another thing that's supposed to make us thinner is online videogames targeted at obese children.

There is a third technology, called "Eating less and getting exercise," but recent trials suggest consumers find this one too difficult to understand.