2014 : Your backside will probably replace your keys

Posted: January 1, 2012 in Food for thought
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A group of clever Japanese scientists have come up with a biometric scanner that can identify you by your backside.

The scanner measures 360 pressure points to build a 3D profile of how a person sits. It can apparently identify who is sitting in the seat with 98 per cent accuracy.

The discovery could do away with car keys and could even be used in offices instead of computer passwords.

The scientists, from Tokyo’s Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology, said it is a simple matter of fitting pressure sensors inside a normal car seat – and it could be in production cars as early as 2014.

A small price to pay for a big scoop!

Posted: December 11, 2011 in Food for thought
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Simon EroroI’m not sure if Simon Eroro is a hero or a masochist.

Eroro, who is always looking for a ‘scoop’, went the whole nine yards when it came to meeting the demands of a group of jungle rebels in Papua New Guinea. He wanted an exclusive interview at any cost.

 What was the price? A year’s supply of beer perhaps? No. A suitcase full of tax-free unmarked bills maybe? No.

 The real price was a little more unusual. It was that he be circumcised in the traditional way - with bamboo sticks. I can only hope he was not circumcised already, or it was clearly going to present a small problem.

 It was, apparently, all part of their cleansing ceremony. They obviously hadn’t heard of the concept of soap.

 He eventually won the annual News Limited award for ‘the best scoop’ with his article on exposing cross-border movements of Free West Papua militants. It seems fitting  then that he was required to expose ‘Richard and the twins’ to a group of rebels more experienced in warfare than doing a delicate medical procedure in the jungle, using bamboo, that could easily alter a man’s ‘status’ if they didn’t do it properly.

 How he was able to concentrate on his article whilst being in a world of pain is admirable.

 Whether it was worth it is a mute point considering he won the news award, but you really do have to admire a man who puts his manhood on the line for the sake of a good story.

It seems bullying is still standard practice for some cowardly police.

Posted: October 17, 2011 in Food for thought
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Representatives of the State Committee on National Security (SCNS) and the Dushanbe Police Department in Tajikistan raided a peaceful religious meeting held in a private apartment on July 22, 2011. The officials conducted searches of the personal belongings of those present, seized all of their religious literature and screamed at the group, alleging that it was illegal to meet together.

The owner of the apartment along with the mother and her four daughters (ages 2 to 13) were taken to the police station and interrogated for nearly seven hours. Following their release, the four young girls required medical care to cope with the resulting trauma.

The other two adults in the group were interrogated by police and the SCNS representatives for more than 20 hours. One of the detained adults was Sherzod Rahimov, a 24-year-old who suffers from a permanent disability and can walk only with the aid of crutches. The 15 police officers who interrograted him demanded he renounce his faith, and beat him repeatedly. Rahimov suffered from severe dizziness, headaches and nausea for several days after. When the police learned that Rahimov was a citizen of Uzbekistan, they insisted that they would falsely accuse him of criminal acts and threatened to torture Rahimov by putting him in an electric chair.

Rahimov had legally lived in Tajikistan with his mother and siblings since 2009. Prior to his arrest, he had applied to renew his visa. However, the SCNS seized his passport and did not return it to him until after it had expired. Rahimov was then charged with the contrived violation that he had failed to renew his visa and for “illegal” religious activity. For this, Rahimov was deported to Uzbekistan on August 17, 2011.

Such acts of religious intolerance by local officials are contrary to the guarantee of freedom of religion and association enshrined in Tajikistan’s Constitution and international treaties ratified by Tajikistan.

All those interrogated were of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith, known worldwide for their neutral stand on such things as politics and war. The main faiths in the area are Sunni Muslim 85%, Shia Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003 est.). Interestingly, Tajikistan is seeking WTO membership and has joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

The US government warn that lack of transparency in the legislative process and significant concerns regarding due process demonstrate the weakness of civil society in the country. Corruption is pervasive, and numerous observers have noted that power has been consolidated into the hands of a relatively small number of individuals.

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