Smoking Simpsons

A crusty Australian public health specialist Guy Eslick examined instances of smoking in the cartoon show The Simpsons.

He watched 400 episodes and found that smoking was depicted 795 times over the 18-season period, featuring in a negative context 35 percent of the time, neutral 63 percent and positive 2 percent. He determined that the show may promote smoking with its frequent depictions of references to cigarettes.

He concluded that while smoking may be responsible for Krusty the Clown's heart condition and sisters Patty and Selma's raspy voices, the show may actually promote tobacco use by showing it so often. I would like to know who the heck pays these people to watch hundreds of hours of cartoons and come up with these crusty conclusions.

Smart Phones?

A new Apple iPhone application called Email 'n' Walk from Phase 2 Media takes a live feed from the phone's camera, which is mounted on the rear of the device, to show the user what's in front of them as they type.

The text of your email appears as white lettering superimposed on top of the video feed - and is more than clear enough to read without blocking the view of the path or road ahead. Let's not let reality get in the way of email, duh!

Sexy Over Sixty

Massachusetts House Bill 1668, (filed Jan 13, 2009) "An Act Relative to Posing or Exhibiting or Disseminating Material of an Elder or a Person with a Disability in a State of Nudity or Sexual Conduct" would make it a crime to "photograph with 'lascivious intent' a person over the age of 60 or a person with a disability who has been declared mentally incompetent."

If it is passed, a person violating the new provisions of the law "shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years, or by a fine of not less than ten thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment." This would include spouses photographing one another with "lascivious intent" and the person who poses.

State Democrat Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, above right (unmarried) says the bill she sponsored was intended to protect vulnerable (elderly) populations from sexual predators, but some disability advocates and law buffs have criticized the amendments as restricting the sexual freedom of seniors and people with disabilities.

Adding insult to injury, the proposal amends a bill designed to punish those who make child pornography. It treats fully functional adults who happen to be over 60 the same as children under 18; it explicitly takes away their right to consent to pose or be photographed nude.

I looked it up and she is from Revere, MA. with a population of 47,000, 84% Caucasian, and with 9,000 over 62 years old. She was born Jan 31, 1971 (38).

Protection in the form of stealing people’s rights isn’t protection. This is the same argument that was used to deny women the right to vote 100 years ago: “Protecting” them from the upset of digesting political information and the pressures of citizenship. Hey, AARP - where are you?

Not only is this stupid and unnecessary, it is also unconstitutional. Do you think she might have seen her parents naked, and they were ugly?

Light a Picture

This is so ridiculous that I first thought it was an April Fool's joke, but it is not. A group at MIT proposed the idea of a matchstick embedded with a tiny camera and microphone (green half) and micro projector (red half).

A user swipes the red side of the match, physically lighting it on fire. This sets off the camera and microphone to start recording, moving down the length of the match in response to heat. The match stores the image and sound in the middle. When a user lights the other end, a mini projector plays back the video once before burning away (literally). The group has so far designed a prototype, based on two coupled matches synced to a computer webcam and playback program. A one-time recorder and playback might be a fun party trick and a fleeting reminder to appreciate moments, but it's still a stupid idea.

Telling Time the Hard Way

Here is a robotic clock. Fully functional, accurate, interesting for a minute, but not very practical.

Pay Toilets on Airplanes

Ryanair in England is considering charging airline passengers a pound ($1.45) to use the toilet onboard the plane. Is this the beginning of another new crappy trend? Passengers better remember to bring cash.