Archive for 2019
January 9, 2019
CES REVOKES AN AWARD FOR A VIBRATOR — AND THE BBC IS ON IT: ‘Award-winning’ sex toy for women withdrawn from show.
A sex toy designed for women has been banned from the technology show CES.
Lora DiCarlo said it had been invited to display its robotic Ose vibrator at CES, after winning an innovation award.
CES organiser the Consumer Technology Association, which granted the award, said it had included the device by mistake and could withdraw any immoral or obscene entry at any time.
Lora DiCarlo chief executive Lora Haddock said the CES and CTA had a history of gender bias.
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The product had been designed in partnership with a robotics laboratory at Oregon State University and had eight patents pending for “robotics, biomimicry, and engineering feats”, Ms Haddock said.
“We firmly believe that women, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and LGBTQI folks should be vocally claiming our space in pleasure and tech,” she said.
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Twitter users have reacted to the decision using the hashtag #CESGenderBias.
‘Why is CES threatened by empowered women and the products that empower them?” wrote one user.
‘CES is literally one big sex toy for men and that’s always been OK,’ said another.
Spotted outside the exhibition hall yesterday and today was the Wokemobile: Check Your Blind Spots mobile tour sheds light on unconscious biases.
If you’re in Vegas tomorrow and looking for the unhappiest place on earth, the Magical Woke History Tour is waiting to take you away!
ON FACEBOOK, A FRIEND COMMENTS: “‘Reinventing’ Connecticut would involve making it a hospitable, low-tax low-regulation environment for business again. I think I can safely predict that Ned Lamont will do nothing of the sort.” Ned Lamont sworn in as governor, says “this is our chance to reinvent Connecticut.”
JOHN HAWKINS ON THE FAME TRAP: How the Pursuit of Fame Is Warping American Society.
YOU CAN ALSO AVOID OXYGEN TOXICITY BY PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR GAS MIX AND DEPTH: Ketogenic supplements — not the diet — may help scuba divers avoid seizures brought on by oxygen toxicity. But this is still interesting.
UNLESS YOUR IDEA OF HUMAN RIGHTS IS BOLSHEVISM: Cathy Young: Sorry, Angela Davis is No One’s Human Rights Hero.
The Davis kerfuffle reminds me of when Davis came to speak at Brandeis when I was a student there. I got to ask the first question. She had given a rather moving account of she and her family being denied voting rights as black people in the Deep South, so I asked her why, given that history, she would join the Communist Party when that party deprives *everyone* of the right to vote when they take power. She skillfully avoided answering the question, but I heard through the grapevine that my question caused quite a stir in left-wing classes in sociology and whatnot, as students wondered why I would think that her American communism had anything to do with communism elsewhere. In other words, the leftist students were utterly ignorant of the widely-known fact that the USSR controlled the American Communist Party. From what I can tell, the current generation of leftist student activists are that much more ignorant about relevant matters, as incredibly insipid “intersectional” analysis substitutes for actual knowledge of history, economics, philosophy, and other forms of knowledge.
OH THE MANY WAYS DEMOCRATS SCHEME TO LIMIT POLITICAL SPEECH: Just for starters, the Institute for Free Speech’s David Keating says he and colleagues say the official name of House Democrats first official bill should be changed from “For The People Act” to “For The Politicians Act.” It gets worse from there.
INEXPLICABLY IS THE NEW UNEXPECTEDLY:
But you can be sure that these “inexplicable” errors will all point in one direction.
GOVERNING-CLASS FADS GENERALLY RUN OUT OF STEAM AFTER A WHILE: Is the bike-lane fever breaking? And I’ve never been anywhere where the bike lanes were busy.
FIRE-FIGHTING DRONE ON DISPLAY AT CES:
Walkera has began developing and testing with their local fire agency to secure a bid for a full scale deployment. The Zhun has an ultra strong load capability and anti tremor design, folds up ready for a fire fighter’s deployment. The quadcopter carries a high magnification telescope and the high frame rate night vision camera. With high precision, it can launch the fire extinguisher projectile accurately in a complex fire weather environment.
The drone to its right can lift up to 30 pounds. To get a sense of their scale, compare them to the popular DJI Phantom drone on the right hand desk:
BOTOX May Help Prevent Migraines. But the impact isn’t huge: “The pooled data showed that in comparison to a placebo, Botox injections resulted in an average 1.6 fewer attacks per month for chronic sufferers — those with more than 15 headaches a month.”
YOUR DAILY TREACHER: Kevin Hart Will Not Negotiate with Terrorists.
CES MORPHED INTO TOP GEAR SO QUICKLY, IT WAS HARD TO MISS. The car section of CES 2019 contains both car electronics manufacturers, such as Pioneer, who displayed a Pioneer car stereo-equipped classic Toyota Land Cruiser…
…to car manufacturers such as Mercedes, who displayed a vehicle that definitely looks Syd Mead-approved:
Other displays featured a variety of cars that look like they would be Iowahawk approved:
And since we’re all still waiting for our flying cars, Bell has us covered:
HANDGUN OF THE YEAR: The Sig P365.
CES 2019: SONY’S ROBOT DOG AIBO MAKES SECOND APPEARANCE.
Sony’s robot dog Aibo appeared at CES 2019, the second time the canine with artificial intelligence has graced the Las Vegas conference.
While the price tag for the pooch is a large number of bones — $2,899 USD — Sony employee Leon Michor said the robot companion has sold all 2,000 units available for purchase in the U.S. since it came to market stateside in September. More than 20,000 have been sold in Japan.
“There is talk about having a second litter, Aibo has been very well received in the market,” Michor said.
“A second litter?!” Although the bond between some Aibo owners and their robot dogs definitely qualifies for the recurring “21st Century Relationships” headline.
ANGRIER AND ANGRIER ABOUT LESS AND LESS: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) Says Women ‘Have Every Right to be Angry and Upset and Mad and to Curse’ in Public.
HOW’S THAT SPACE PROGRAM COMING ALONG? Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Triggered A Mile-High Tsunami Across The Globe.
