Lush flush

Remember the gilded age before The Recession? Well, for those of you still untouched by the meltdown, there's always the $75K rhinestone toilet by designer Jemal Wright.

Thanks to Luxury Property Blog, you can peruse a list of the Most Expensive Luxury Interiors to aid you in the always-fashionable sport of conspicuous consumption. My personal favorite is from designer Andre Kim: a garish Samsung washing machine featuring baroque paneling and a gilded thingamajig on the door.

For the more utilitarian aristocrat suffering from paranoia, or those who have committed investor fraud and fear angry mobs seeking money for better torches, why not build a panic room for your palace? Constructing a basic model in your home should only cost you about $50K, which is chump change compared to the price tag on the aforementioned sparkly loo.

Profile by Ken Auletta of Walt Mossberg,

Profile by Ken Auletta of Walt Mossberg, the WSJ's technology columnist. It was interesting reading Mossberg's opinion of the Sprint/Samsung UpStage. A couple friends of mine were testing this phone before it came out and it was one of the most poorly designed technology products that I've ever held in my hand. Who knows if the iPhone will actually be worth a crap, but Steve Jobs must rub his hands together with glee when he sees his competitors come out with stuff like this. Mossberg was too easy on it. Auletta has previously profiled Barry Diller, Pointcast, Andy Grove, and Nathan Myhrvold for the New Yorker.