Feb 25
British comedy fans and anyone who watched PBS during the 90s know what we’re talking about here. As if things weren’t already tough enough for Julian Assange. The resemblance is uncanny. Thanks BoingBoing.
Feb 25
Chinese Company Asks U.S. Government to Investigate It
Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, Weird News
You’ve got to wonder if you’re not poking a red white and blue hornet’s nest when you ask the United States government to investigate your business practices. When China-based telecommunications company Huawei Technologies wrote an open letter to the US government on its Website it seemed to e doing precisely that. The letter comes in the wake of a government suggestion that Huawei divest assets recently purchased from U.S.-based 3Leaf.
In the letter, the company attempts to clear up any perception that it might be tied to the Chinese government,
Unfortunately, over the past 10 years, as we have been investing in the United States, we have encountered a number of misperceptions that some hold about Huawei. These include unfounded and unproven claims of “close connections with the Chinese military,” “disputes over intellectual property rights,” “allegations of financial support from the Chinese government,” and “threats to the national security of the United States”.
The only real way to clear its name Huawei concludes, is for the U.S. government to perform an investigation into the company,
We sincerely hope that the United States government will carry out a formal investigation on any concerns it may have about Huawei. The United States is an advocate for democracy, freedom, rule of law, and human rights. The United States government has demonstrated its efficiency in management, fairness and impartiality and we have been impressed by that ever since we made our first investment in this country some 10 years ago. We have faith in the fairness and justness of the United States and we believe the results of any thorough government investigation will prove that Huawei is a normal commercial institution and nothing more.
Oh, and for good measure, the company also quotes Obama’s inaugural address in the letter, “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics”
Feb 25
Startup Announces Plans to Exclusive Hire Applicants With Asperger’s
Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, Weird News
Huh. Here’s an interesting one. A Chicago-based non-profit startup called Aspiritech (that’s A”Spirit”ech as far as the logo is concerned) has announced that it will be exclusively hiring software testers with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Here’s a quote from the company,
The proof of concept came from Danish company and recent research from Harvard Business School and others showed that the strengths of people with Aspergers and high-functioning autism actually make them superior at software testing. They’re ability to focus, good memory, their high intelligence, their strong technical skills, their ability to detect details and also to stay focused over lengthy periods, really makes them ideal for software testing work. People with Aspergers can become ideal software testers.
According to the theory, the tendency to shy away from social interaction drives people with Asperger’s to the controlled environment of technology. Apparently the children of Silicon Valley employees tend to have the condition at a higher than usual rate.
As ZDNet points out, a potential employer is not allowed to ask interviewees about health conditions such as Asperger’s, but most hiring managers are in tune with qualities that may be symptomatic of the syndrome.
Feb 24
Sorry Facebook stalkers–all 3.6 million of you. The popular social network has pulled the plug on Breakup Notifier, a recently introduced that promised to let you know when one of your friends changes their relationship status to single.
After a good round of online criticism (the word “creepy” was bandied about an awful lot), Facebook has apparently pulled the plug on the third-party app. Here’s a note that the site sent to the app’s creator, Dan Loewenherz,
To ensure positive user experiences on Platform, we run routine automated screens that take user feedback, machine learning and various algorithms into account and remove spammy applications. For example, if an application is making an inordinate number of stream.publish calls and receiving a large number of user reports, it may be removed by our automated systems to protect the user experience and the Platform ecosystem.
Facebook has since issued a statement to the effect that it didn’t so much block Breakup Notifier as tweak it, in order to “provide a positive user experience.” Here you go,
We have automated systems in place to ensure apps on Facebook Platform provide a positive user experience, and we’re currently looking into the issue with “Breakup Notifier”. Additionally, we did not block the “Blackmail Yourself” app. Some features were temporarily disabled this week as we worked with the developer to ensure the app complied with all of our policies, but it has been and continues to be accessible.
Feb 23
Ah, the high price of beauty: $144 and the a vibrating piece of red plastic on your face. This here is the Beauty Lift High Nose. The thing promises to lift the bridge of your nose (to the point of beauty, one assumes) through the magical power of bone-stimulating vibration.
The thing runs on a CR203 battery and weighs about 25 grams. Its makers recommend you strap it on for three minutes a day. Seriously, what could possibly go wrong?
Feb 23
iRun Does Portable Livestreams, Makes You Look Like a Jerk
Posted in: streaming, Today's Chili, Weird News
Joseph Tame will be competing in the Tokyo marathon this month, and yes, he will be dressed like that. It’s all part of the British runner’s plan to live stream the event. The bizarre getup includes four iPhones, an An Android handset, an iPad, three routers, a heart monitor, and an atmospheric mointor.
Says Tame,
This technology will allow me to broadcast live video on two cameras (using either skype or FaceTime to a local studio for re-broadcast), send live location/pace/heart rate data via Runkeeperon the iPhone, transmit temperature, COx/humidity/noise levels via a custom-made Android app – and do all of this while looking incredibly cool.
You’ll be able to watch it all through Tame’s site on the 27th. Video of the devices in action, after the jump.
Feb 23
In his mission to make bowling video games more exciting (or, perhaps, to make intimacy less appealing), artist Hye Yeon Nam if offering the world the latest innovation in gaming peripherals–the Kiss Controller. To start playing, grab partner, and shove your tongue down their throat.
Here’s the breakdown from Nam,
One person has a magnet on his/her tongue and the other person wears the headset. While they kiss, the person who has the magnet on his/her tongue, controls the direction and speed of the bowling ball for 20 seconds. The goals of this game are to guide the ball so that it maintains an average position in the center of the alley and to increase the speed of the ball by moving the tongue faster while kissing
I suppose that bowling made sense for the demo. The gameplay is simple and short, so you don’t have to do it for too long–can you image trying to beat Donkey Kong with the thing? You’d definitely start chaffing.
Feb 23
This TI Graphing Calculator Runs Doom
Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, video games, videos, Weird News
Those people who went to school in the 90s are probably more used to having a trust TI-80 series graphing calculator in their backpack than an iPhone or iPad, and the things you could do with a TI calculator and a little bit of time were pretty impressive. It was remarkably easy to start programming games, building text-adventure apps, and of course, programming all of your exam notes into an app you could run from the calculator – after all, your calculator was one of the few things you were almost always allowed to have during a test.
Some TI enthusiasts over at Omnimaga have taken these basics to the next level though: some of the members there have managed to get the classic first-person-shooter Doom to run on a real calculator, and have video to prove it (behind the jump.)
The game reportedly crashes after 30 seconds of play, but the subsequent posters in the thread note that this is a little odd and something that can likely be fixed. Regardless, it’s impressive enough that the game runs at all, let alone looks this good.
Feb 23
One thing WikiLeaks promises not to uncover: your torso. The embattled whistleblowing site has launched its own storefront, where you can chose from 190 different products–most of which are t-shirts and sweatshirts, featuring things like images of Julian Assange’s face, quotes from George Orwell, and the ever-popular “W.T.F.: WikiLeaks Task Force.”
WikiLeaks promises that all proceeds from the tore will help fund the site. Just don’t expect the shirts to make you popular on your next trip to Capitol Hill.
Feb 23
This can’t be great for its self image. Scientists chosen the name Brontomerus mcintoshi for a newly discovered species of sauropod. The first part of the name is Greek–“bronto” for “thunder” and “meros” for “thigh.” Yep. Thunder thighs.
The name derives from the dinosaur’s large legs, which scientists believe it may have used to kick. “What’s interesting is that if it were a sauropod that could move particularly fast, you would expect to see very strong muscles on the back of the leg to pull it along,” the University of London’s Dr. Mike Taylor told the BBC. “But we don’t; this is the opposite. It seems most likely to us that what this is about is being able to deliver a strong kick”
Scientists discovered the bones of an adult and juvenile, which date back 100 million years ago. They believe that the adult would have been roughly the size of an elephant, at 14 meters. The juvenile, meanwhile, was about the size of a pony.
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