First a surgeon in China who was trying to correct the limp of a five-year-old boy had to apologize because — Whoops! — he lengthened the wrong leg. It seems the boy was anesthetized while on his back, then flipped over on his stomach to be operated on. Hey, that’s why they make Sharpies. Meanwhile in Brazil, a woman who had a stomach ache for 23 years found out the cause when doctors finally took some X-rays. It seems her previous doctors had left a scalpel in her lower abdomen in 1984 when she’d had a C-section. The scalpel is scheduled to be removed later this month. Hopefully they won’t flip her over by mistake before they operate.

President Alan Garcia of Peru wants to to stamp out hora peruana, or “Peruvian time,” which usually means being an hour late. So yesterday sirens were set off and church bells rang throughout the country at noon so everyone could synchronize their watches and hopefully be more punctual. It won’t be easy. An invitation to the 11 a.m. ceremony was delivered by messenger to The Associated Press at 1:30 p.m., well after the ceremony had ended.

First HP put out cameras that have a Slimming Effect feature that takes pounds off your subject. Now Canon is reportedly getting ready to offer Blink Shot, which won’t let the camera take a photo until everyone has their eyes open. They’re reportedly working on Smile Shot. Coming soon: Hair Shot that gives you an automatic trim, Vacation Shot that puts a preselected photo of you in front of any scenery in the picture, and for those who like to take X-rated self photos, Big Shot.