The BBC reports that biometrics soon will be used to prevent underage smoking:
A Japanese company is developing a vending machine that counts wrinkles and skin sags to check a smoker’s age.
It plans to use face recognition technology to prevent anyone under the legal age of 20 buying cigarettes.
My first thought is that a mask is all it would take to fool the machine. But maybe it is smarter than that. Maybe kids will have to smoke ten times as many cigarettes to prematurely age their face so they can buy more cigarettes.
The company says the system gets it right in nine out of ten cases. The remaining 10% would be sent to a “grey zone for baby-faced adults” where they would be asked to insert their driving licence or identification card.
What better compliment to a lady than to have the smoking machine require a second form of identification? Maybe this will become a whole new form of vanity — test your age with the smoking machine to see if you can be prompted for your card.
He has recommended a $4.8 billion cut for K-14 education, on top of a $400 million reduction for education in the current year. The net effect is about $750 less per student than K-12 education would normally receive or about $18,750 per classroom.
He is laying off teachers (while other states hire them away), increasing their workloads and closing libraries. In the meantime, he has not acted to close tax loopholes that allow for exotic luxury goods. Good governance? Here’s an ad that tries to put the situation in perspective:
Just one bottle of champagne to celebrate? That seems unusually stingy to me. An accountant at a boat show explained the loopholes and why they matter:
“I would imagine that most of the people with boats over 50 or 60 feet are probably working some kind of tax dodge,” agreed Jimmy James, a semiretired certified public accountant from Kingston who has advised many boat owners. “People with enough money to buy those boats got there by having tax dodges.” […] IRS officials said they don’t keep track of how much money the government could collect if these deductions were eliminated. Conservatively, the annual total could approach $1 billion.
Perpetual Kid has some funny stuff, including the infamous voodoo knife holder. I just noticed they have a pad for writing down all your “secret question/answer”. Note the disclaimer:
If a password corresponds to sensitive information, keep it to yourself – otherwise, write it down and free your brain for more useful things! Keep track of multiple internet identities without missing a keystroke!
The story about the virus at the Sun conference makes me think of one of Bruce Schneier’s “Movie-Plot Threat” competitions:
At the company’s JavaOne conference this week in San Francisco, more than 50 people came down with what officials believe is norovirus, a type of medical virus easily spread by touching dirty surfaces.
Wash your hands before and after discussing Java, just to be safe. And if you went to the conference, stay home for a few days.