Hasta La Gadget!

The first, Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s treasury secretary, invested in and ran OneWest bank, which foreclosed on tens of thousands of Americans in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. During his Senate confirmation hearing, he denied that his bank used the illegal practice of robo-signing, but public documents obtained by The Columbus Dispatch showed that was a false statement.

Ross may not have been the CEO of a bank foreclosing on homeowners, but he was nevertheless intimately involved and invested in two companies that were accused of widespread wrongdoing. American Home Mortgage Servicing was accused of illegal foreclosure practices while it ran the second-biggest portfolio of subprime mortgages in the country.

American Home effectively outsourced the fraud, David Dayen reported, using “a company called DocX, which forged millions of mortgage assignments, claiming to be the officers of dozens of different banks … documents were fraudulently signed after the fact to recreate a chain of title that lenders broke.” The company was eventually sold to Ocwen, which was fined $2.1 billion in 2013 for its unethical business practices. Ross served on Ocwen’s board from 2012 to 2014.

Not only is Ross a member of a secret Wall Street fraternity, where, clad in velvet slippers, he sang show tunes mocking poor people, but he also has pockmarks that would likely have sunk his nomination if he’d been put forward by another president for consideration by another Senate.

During his confirmation hearing, Ross admitted to employing an undocumented household worker for years. It was only after he was nominated by Trump to be commerce secretary that he asked all his “dozen or so” household employees to prove they were legally allowed to work in the U.S. “This one employee was unable to and therefore was terminated,” Ross said at his confirmation hearing. Hiring undocumented workers sank two of President Bill Clinton’s nominees for attorney general and President George W. Bush’s first choice for labor secretary pulled out after it emerged she had sheltered an undocumented woman.

Ross has also outsourced 2,700 U.S. jobs in companies he has invested in since 2004, Labor Department data published by Reuters shows. Reviewing his investment in International Textile Group, which under Ross’ ownership rebranded and shed hundreds of American jobs, The Daily Beast dubbed him, “Trump’s future secretary of outsourcing.”

And then there is Ross’ involvement in the coal industry, which Trump talks about reviving at seemingly every opportunity. In 2005, Ross fully acquired a series of coal mines that he had long been the largest investor in. One of those properties was Sago Mine, which was hit with 208 violations by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration that year. More than half those citations were labeled “serious and substantial,” like 20 roof falls, 14 wire insulation problems and three cases of inadequate ventilation plans.

On Jan. 2, 2006, an early morning blast ripped through the mine, trapping 13 miners underground for two days. Only one survived. Ross did not visit the disaster site and says the deaths haunt him. He agreed to pay the dead miners’ families a total of $2 million.

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In the future, robots will frolic in pools of human blood and use it for lubrication. Then robot arms will be forced to clean it all up. Today we can get a little taste of that horror that lies before us.

If you want to see a robot arm squeegee up a massive puddle of blood, either time travel into the future or check out this installation by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. It is called “Can’t Help Myself” and it is on display at the Guggenheim Museum through March.

I bet that arm is enjoying itself, playing with that pool of blood like some deranged serial killer. We are all well and truly screwed.

[via Boing Boing via Neatorama]

While there might be tour packages that take you exotic locations around the world, if you’re looking for something that’s a little more out of this world, you might be interested to learn that space tourism will be a thing in the future, and the folks at SpaceX appear to be getting ready for that.

In an announcement on its website, SpaceX has announced that come 2018, they will be sending two private citizens into space. “We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration.”

This is not the first time that space tourism has happened as prior to this, it was reported that tourists looking to go into space have paid the Russian government as much as $20 million a trip to the International Space Station. SpaceX has not disclosed the names of the two individuals who will be making the trip, nor how much they will be paying, but we reckon it probably won’t be cheap.

The company also expects that this is only the beginning of thing as others have similarly expressed their interest in making the trip as well.

SpaceX Wants To Spend Two Tourists Into Space Next Year , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Gadgets these days have certainly come a long way in design, where many companies are realizing that form can be just as important as function, or that there are many customers out there who would actually prioritize aesthetics over functionality. If you do you prefer your gadgets to look good, then maybe Turn Touch could be of interest to you.

Turn Touch is a Kickstarter project for a remote control for your home. We know that remote controls are a dime a dozen and there are plenty of much more functional and feature-rich remotes out there, like the Logitech Harmony, but what makes Turn Touch so different is that it is made out of wood.

According to its inventor Samuel Clay, “Turn Touch is a smart home remote control carved out of beautiful mahogany wood. This is a remote control for Hue lights, Sonos speakers, and all the other connected devices in your home. Turn Touch works on iOS and macOS, giving you control of your music, videos, presentations, and more.”

One of the charms of the remote, apart from its design, is that it can be used to perform multiple actions at once, where one button can execute multiple commands. For example you can use it to lock your door and turn off your lights simultaneously. The buttons are also fully customizable to your needs.

We suppose there is a bit of a novelty of owning a wooden remote control, but if you’re looking for something discreet that is also functional, then maybe this could be worth investing in. The Turn Touch is priced at $59 on Kickstarter and is expected to retail for $79 upon its release.

‘Turn Touch’ Is A Beautiful Wood Remote Control For Your Home , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

For those in Pokemon GO about to evolve their Eevee into the first Espeon or Umbreon they’ve ever had, pay attention. The most recent chart of Eevolutions, methods, and best potential outcomes has arrived. Barring all Pokemon GO hacks and whatnot, we’re having a look at the insides of the software to show you exactly what’s possible for Eevee in … Continue reading