Rise of the machines? Forget Skynet; it starts like this.

Here, we generally look at how tech is being employed in novel ways to combat global warming, or at the very least, limit its impact on the environment. Not this time...

TreeHugger humorously spotlights a gadget that borders on hostile to the environment. Enter the Towel-Matic, an automatic paper towel dispenser but not like the ones in public restrooms. This contraption is meant to sit on your kitchen counter, waiting for you to wave your fingers in front of it so that it can feed a paper towel to your waiting hand at a glacial pace.

And you still have to tear it off!

Where to begin? First, there's the obvious fact that most anyone (even helper animals) can snatch off a sheet in NO TIME FLAT the old fashioned way without consuming power. Speaking of which, you can plug it in or pop in four D batteries. Yes, the very same that can pierce armor plating if you have a good enough throwing arm.

Fuming yet?

I'll quit ranting now and point you to YouTube-ified footage of the device in action. That's 42 seconds of your life you'll never get back.