2013-01-25

thewayne: (Cyranose)
2013-01-25 10:48 am

Having problems discriminating between fiction and reality?

"Rich people prominently featured and they're generous; they're nice people, they create jobs, for heaven's sake; they're classy; they've got style and we love 'em...That show is wildly popular, which poses a threat to the Left, doesn't it?"
—Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Downton Abbey

I think it poses a threat to anyone who looks to television or sports for role models.

I guess we're supposed to embrace a period-set soap opera as a model for our country and economy? I don't think so. I guess he didn't look past the fact that if the servants left, they wouldn't be able to dress or feed themselves.

I listened to a podcast of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me that featured Hugh Bonneville, it was quite amusing listening to them discuss the program. Myself, I haven't seen it. Maybe someday, too much other stuff to watch that I know that I enjoy.
thewayne: (Cyranose)
2013-01-25 01:00 pm
Entry tags:

Eleven body parts that can be used for biometric identification

Some interesting stuff, some scary stuff. I was in El Paso a few months ago and noticed a police car with some strange equipment trawling through a mall parking lot. Did some online research and found out that El Paso Police had bought license plate cameras, so they can sweep through areas with high concentration of cars looking for stolen vehicles.

But this stuff? Wow. Fingerprint reading at a distance, measuring your scent, etc. A couple of them are dead-ends for long term recognition because your irises and ear geometry change over time.

Makes me want to start wearing a baseball cap with built-in infrared LEDs.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/01/biometrics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Top+Stories%29&pid=1775&viewall=true