Instead, they created the illusion of action by spreading the many components of the settlement among various committees--much as kids spread lima beans around their plates to create the illusion of eating them.

CNN: McCain's Big Deal

In order to create those aquatic noises, designers stirred a rubber bowl of water and scratched wet plates with toothpicks hundreds of times until the perfect tone was found.

ENGADGET: Peek inside Samsung's sound lab to see ringtones being born