“Shut up, you’re annoying” New machine that SHUTS a person up!

(It’s almost every man’s dream) 

Speech Jammer is a new gadget invented by two Japanese researchers, Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji Tsukada, that forces people to ‘vocal submission’. (Aka: To stfu.)

When it is shot at someone, it instantly using a technique that stresses the target by freezing their brain into silence.

Sounds hazardous, but apparently it isn’t.

The gun works by picking up speech with a microphone and after 0.2 seconds it fires the same noise back to the person who said it. This technique, called ‘Delayed Auditory Feedback’, is  almost certain to interrupt your speech, make someone stutter and then render them totally silent.

It will not cause the person pain, but it will stress them into shutting up. The machine recreates an uncomfortable feeling that most people will have when they hear their own voice echo back to them during a phone call or on Skype.

But aside from shutting the annoying people in the libraries and study rooms, the device is not all bad, because it could improve the lives of people with a speech impediment. It is understood the gun could help improve speech for someone with a stammer.

I’ve watched a video regarding this new gadget, and I hate to break it to some people, but unfortunately, the ‘golden silence’ doesn’t seem to last long. The person who is targeted would pause for a few seconds or more (possibly in confusion?), and would resume back to normal chattering.  I don’t think a machine like this can be easily accessible, and I doubt it would be going to the market anytime soon. But think about the countless pranks one could do with this machine! I would love to imagine pointing a Speech Jammer to my professors in my university.

Dsquared2: Smoking as an accessory.

Dsquared² is an international fashion business operated by Canadian twin brothers, Dean and Dan Caten.  Dsquared²  collections have been described as chic and sophisticated while still maintaining sexy traits.

However, sometimes the vision the Canadian brothers see do not go well if the general public. During September, the brothers had their models walk the runway in mud-splattered jeans while carrying  bottles of Heineken.

Six months later, Dsquared² pushed their models to walk down the runway holding onto cigarettes.

A number of people immediately questioned Dsquared2’s objective. The whole show, according to a few number of people in the audience, almost seem to be promoting smoking. It’s already bad enough that people are tempted to switch to unhealthy diets to achieve the slim appearences the models have, but now the pretty, flawless models smoke too?

Others argued, however, that the cigarettes were mainly used as accessories. The cigarettes were not lit,  and it’s apparent that Dean and Dan Caten’s outfits were “Sixites-inspired”. For those that don’t know, back in the 60s, smoking was extremely popular.  Therefore Dsquared² wasn’t trying to glorify smoking–they were simply reminiscing.

 

Personally, I believe smoking should never be brought under positive light. Smoking is one of the leading causes of cancer, heart diseases, premature death, and the list just simply goes on. Smoking is a choice that everyone has the right to make, but there is no way one should be ignorant of it’s consequences. Yes, fashion would use odd items to make a statement at times, but it really wouldn’t hurt to have a little quick reminder at the beginning/end of the show the outcomes of taking smoking as a habit.

Let’s use our body heat to power our devices!

Ever been in the situation where you are in an emergency and wished your devices could have longer battery life? Soon enough, you won’t ever have to worry about it anymore.

Have you ever imagined that we could possibly “recharge” our electronic devices with our body? The day has came.
Energy exists everywhere, even within us. We have body heat as long as we live, and now we can finally make good use of it.

"Graduate student Corey Hewitt holds a piece of Power Felt, a new cloth-like material that converts heat into electricity. Credit: Wake Forest University "

Wake Forest University are now researching a different form of power; thermoelectrics.
They had created a fabric, that is capable of converting body heat into electric charges.
It uses temperature differences to crate electricity, and the device is known as Power Felt.

A graduate student, Corey Hewitt indicates, “We waste a lot of energy in the form of heat. For example, recapturing a car’s energy waste could help improve fuel mileage and power the radio, air conditioning or navigation system,”, and also stated, “Generally thermoelectrics are an underdeveloped technology for harvesting energy, yet there is so much opportunity.”

As soon as more research are complete for Power Felt, we could use it for a battery boost for cars, or iPod, etc.

This new device is incredibly awesome. Think of the times when you are desperate for electricity, power outrages during storms, and especially when your phone runs out of battery for emergency use.

I can definitely see everyone having one of these devices in the future.

Your Facebook Profile Reveals More Than What You Think It Reveals.

It’s been years since people started saying, employers would go look at your Facebook. Those were not lies. They actually do.
But we are posting this, because there’s more to it.
According to a study from Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University, your Facebook profile picture reveals your work performance as well. There is a significant relationship between the two.

One of the authors of the study, Don Kluemper stated that, “I don’t think a picture of someone holding a beer adversely affected them, but [a picture of you] being drunk in a ditch somewhere might be a negative”

Another study that was also preformed regarding Facebook. Evaluations were made from Facebook profiles and academic successes, and the results were astonishing. They were accurate predictors of GPAs (approximately I suppose,).

“We can predict academic success better than a standardized IQ test,” Kluemper says.

Of course, these research are still at its infancy stage. It is very likely that a lot of researches will be done regarding Facebook and the relationships to our actual person in the soon future.

I do believe the study itself. Whenever I see people posting drunk photos on Facebook, its not a one-time-thing. Did you realize they are always the same people for the past years? You would never see someone who have a productive life all of a sudden posting drunk pictures, ranting about their life at least several times/week, Maybe pictures of gatherings have a drink(but more classy!). But definitely not drunk pictures, you know what I mean.

Someone once said this to me, and I would like to share it, “I care about my online reputation more than my reputation in real life. In real life, unless you are going to video record everything I say and do, otherwise you got nothing on me, but online- whatever you say, stays online forever, whatever pictures you post, it stays there forever. Even if you deleted your photos off from Facebook, its not actually gone. It’s in Facebook’s servers.”

I don’t care about posting this and offending people, because, guess what? Only those who are productive would want to read,know, and learn more.

Thanks For Reading This!

Judge: you can’t sue family members over unwanted facebook photos.

Let’s face it. We all have photos of ourselves that we wish it was never ever taken. Everyone of us deals with these situations in a different manner, especially on Facebook. Some of us simply untag ourselves, request it to be taken down, delete it, or report it.

However, Aaron Olson, from Chisago City, Minn, takes it to a brand new level. He sued his uncle, Randall LaBrie for harassment, due to a a childhood picture of Aaron himself.

Aaron requested the photos to be removed or edited, so his image won’t be visible in the photo. Randall, acknowledging Aaron’s request, he only removed the tag, and told Aaron that he should stay off Facebook if he doesn’t like the photo.

So Aaron fights back, with a lawsuit.
After going through the court, the Judge stated, “to constitute harassment, words must have a substantial adverse effect on the safety, security, or privacy of another. Comments that are mean and disrespectful, coupled with innocuous family photos, do not affect a person’s safety, security, or privacy — and certainly not substantially so.”

In other words, You can’t file a lawsuit against your family members just because they posted embarrassing pictures of you on Facebook.

Did Aaron take things too far? Or should law protect us from things like that too?

Facebook did a good job connecting old friends, coworkers together. But Facebook also made a lot of people’s lives more miserable. People getting fired for posting stupid status on Facebook, seeing your ex’s pictures and seeing how happy they are with their life now, and..lawsuits too.
I actually think technology advancements and lawsuits go hand in hand. Before Apple had its huge success, we would still hear about lawsuits, but not as much as now. Patent lawsuits filing everywhere across the world.