Silicon fingers
Finger-scanning biometric security technology as it turns out is pretty easy to hack, A news report from the BBC reveals that a 29-year-old Brazilian doctor, Thaune Nunes Ferreira, working in a small town outside Sao Paulo was arrested over the weekend for allegedly using prosthetic silicone fingers to fake the presence of six of her colleagues.
Continue reading… “Brazilian doctor caught using silicon fingers to hack biometric scanner”
You probably took away a couple facts if you watched Poltizane’s viral video on U.S. wealth inequality. America’s rich claim an even more mind-bogglingly huge share of the nation’s wealth than they do of its income, and most people in this country would like them to have less of it.
Continue reading… “U.S. wealth inequality is extreme by global standards”
Americans in almost every demographic group increasingly claim “no religion.”
The number of Americans who are not religious is on the rise. Researchers from University of California, Berkeley and Duke University went through the recently-released results of the biennial General Social Survey and found that…
Continue reading… “More Americans than ever before “have no religious affiliation”: Survey”
A communal cell for juveniles in a Yemeni prison.
Mohammed Haza’a was put to death last week by the Yemeni government despite legitimate questions as to whether he was under the age of 18 when he committed an alleged murder.
Continue reading… “Children still sentenced to death by firing squad in Yemen”
Moms tend to lead shopping and mobile trends.
More shoppers are becoming increasingly comfortable using the smartphone or tablet to browse retailer offerings, look for discounts and compare products. For moms especially, who tend to lead shopping and mobile trends, the use of these smart devices may have reached the tipping point: Mobile has become more than a nice accessory to augment the shopping process; it has become an essential stop in the path to purchase.
Continue reading… “Moms lead trend in mobile shopping”
The question of whether college is “worth it” continues to be hot.
Last week, the national unemployment rate fell from 7.9 percent to 7.7 percent after a strong Non-Farm Payrolls report. But the unemployment rate differs greatly for people with different levels of education.
Continue reading… “Difference in unemployment by level of education”
Colorado has more than 1.1 million dogs and not quite 350,000 children under 5 years old.
Don’t worry about the “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Earth is far more likely to become the “Orb of the Dogs” demographically, as human fertility rates plummet for a slew of reasons, including canines substituting for kids in many households.
Continue reading… “Human birth rate declines, people turn to pets”
The majority of high-achieving kids from low-income backgrounds fail to apply to any selective colleges.
Middle-class American high-school seniors with good grades go through a familiar ritual of the college application process each year. The seniors file a bunch of applications. They submit test scores, grades, essays, and letters of recommendation. They apply to a “reach” school or two and a “safety” school or two along with some in the middle. The idea is to see where you can get in and then decide where you want to go after researching both the quality of the schools on offer and the actual financial cost of attending. This system is a bit stressful and annoying, but basically it works. Students get matched with schools that roughly suit their level of academic preparation and people have a chance to shop around a bit for the myriad forms of financial aid that make college attendance feasible.
The dependable mid-budget, R-rated action movies that Hollywood once relied on are now anything but dependable.
Hollywood has had a series of tent-pole and more modestly budgeted movies that have collapsed at the box office this winter. Revenue and attendance are both down 15 percent from the same period last year, reports the Hollywood Reporter. The industry got some surprise relief this weekend from Oz the Great and Powerful despite middling reviews. It’s also one of the few big new movies of 2013 so far clearly marketed toward kids. If you were to look at the state of the box office in the past few months, you might come away with two impressions: One, the dependable mid-budget, R-rated action movies that Hollywood once relied on are now anything but dependable. And two, Hollywood is basically just for kids.
Continue reading… “The death of the R-rated action movie”
It might not be enough to to just work out at the gym of you spend much of the rest of the day sitting down. A government survey shows that Americans are more sedentary than ever. That is a problem even among people who exercise regularly.
Continue reading… “How little do Americans actually move?”
Epidermal electronics
Researchers have devised a way to “print” devices directly onto the skin so people can wear them for an extended period of time while performing normal daily activities. Such systems could be used to track health and monitor healing near the skin’s surface, as in the case of surgical wounds.
Continue reading… “Wearable electronic sensors printed directly on the skin”
800 million Android activations have taken place to date and the rate is about 2 million per day.
Android data is occasionally reported by Google. The last time Google reported Android data was in September 2012. We then learned that activations were running at 1.3 million per day and that a total of 500 million total activations had taken place.
Continue reading… “Where are the Android users?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.