Someone gave me a helium balloon the other day and I'm amazed at how I forgot what I learned as a kid: Which is that playing with a helium balloon can be loads of fun and a great distraction. I liked giving it a nudge every time it inched close to my desk, only to watch it meander its way back in a minute or two.

Note to self: Tethering a helium balloon to your desk is not a great idea if you also have touch screens. I was AFK for like 10 minutes and come back and the thing had gotten my browser into quite a mess, and there were like 10 tabs open for various sketchy sites. Thankfully this was all in a VM, but just FYI: Balloons may look harmless, but they definitely have a mind of their own.

@briankrebs oh, does it cause confusing input on capacitive touchscreens at a distance? Nice
@recursive I'm wondering also if there isn't some kind of static buildup in the balloon that discharges when it connects with the screen. There are quite a few electronic devices around my desk. It's tethered to this little puck that keeps getting dragged across the carpet.