McMansion Hell, welcome to the rare fraterno-sorority of websites that make me laugh out loud, to avoid coining an abbreviation, as well as having enough class to warrant induction into The Worthy.
The Dystopia of Workplace Surveillance
by Lynn Stuart Parramore from Al Jazeera
Imagine you’ve just arrived at your job with the Anywhere Bank call center. You switch on your computer and adjust the height of your chair. Then, you slide on the headset, positioning the mic in front of your lips.
Finally, Microsoft have gone too far. The thesis of this article is summed up in Microsoft’s own policy language:
We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to protect our customers or enforce the terms governing the use of the services.
A 1970 Lorillard memo titled “Why Menthols?” explains how menthol cigarettes were marketed to exploit racist myths for profit: Negroes, as the story goes, are said to be possessed by an almost genetic body odor. Now whether or not this is real is irrelevant. More importantly, Negroes recognize the existence of this “myth.” And they realize that “Whitey” does too.
Étouffée (meaning “smothered,”) is a traditional coastal dish in Louisiana. This recipe serves 6-8 folks.
Ingredients
¾ – 1 cup White rice (not instant!) – ¾ for 6 people, 1 for 8
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
1½ – 2 cups Water – 1½ for 6 people,
The Internet of Things is just bringing us closer to a 24/7 surveillance state.
From PC Magazine, by John C. Dvorak.
In many EU countries, entire herds of cattle are carefully “micro-chipped” so the animals can be monitored. What if we did the same to people? It would be difficult to become a criminal or (gulp) a terrorist!
Presently, there are a growing crowd of people who accept the principle that scientific knowledge is the most authoritative truth we are capable of achieving. With this idea accepted, anyone who does not share it becomes an ideological opponent (or enemy) or among the generous, a sort of second-class citizen unworthy of participation in the decisions that effect us all.
Rendered in Blender…
Fun facts: the parallel sets of struts describe 3 golden rectangles. The vertices of three golden rectangles perpendicularly intersected by their center points describes the vertices of an icosahedron.
This is absolutely brilliant: a universal television remote with only an Off button, available as both a keychain fob and a more powerful model in a faux smartphone enclosure.
Cornfield Electronics also offer their technology in kit form.
This is music from a soundtrack project that stands alone well as a short piece.