Links

Stuff I find around the web that interests or amuses me.

Genetic Engineering

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NZ billboard protesting genetic engineering

Here’s an eye opener for you — a New Zealand billboard from Mothers Against Genetic Engineering protesting genetic engineering experiments that asks “Why not just genetically engineer women for milk?”

Aside from the obvious (and brilliant) attention-getting shock tactics of the image, there’s some interesting questions being raised here.

New Zealanders are allowing a handful of corporate scientists and ill-informed politicians to make decisions on the ethics of GE. Our largest science company, AgResearch, is currently putting human genes into cows in the hope of creating new designer milks. The ethics of such experiments have not even been discussed by the wider public. How far will we allow them to go?

Unfortunately, it’s time for me to head out the door to get to work. Discuss amongst yourselves.

(via MeFi)

Carver

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Carver

Oh, wow — I so want one of these!

Steer it like a car and the Carver will bank like a motorcycle. The fully automatic hydraulic-mechanical DVC system makes this exciting kind of driving possible, lending itself very well to a sporty driving style. Enjoy the steering and feel how responsive DVC balances the vehicle body for you, banking to the exact natural angle. Its low weight and aerodynamic design allows the modern 4 cylinder 65 bhp engine to take CARVER in 8.2 seconds to 100 km/hour and to a top speed of 180 km/hour.

This little vehicle looks perfect for me — small, great for in-city driving, lots of fun to drive around in, and very eye-catching. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s only available in Europe. Bleah. I can dream, though, can’t I?

(via Blue Stone)

French 'Engrish'

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One of the ladies here at work just came back from a week in Paris, and she brought back an inflatable Eiffel Tower for us. The greatest part, of course, is the instruction sheet — apparently, ‘Engrish‘ is multilingual…

WARNING
HELLO, I AM YOUR NEW INFLATABLE FRIEND
FROM ALEXIS LAHELLEC.
IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY WITH YOU FOREVER,
PLEAST TREAT ME RIGHT.
DON’T POKE ME WITH SHARP THINGS,
AND ALTHOUGH I KNOW YOU LOVE ME
DON’T OVER BLOW ME.
DON’T EVEN THINK OF PUTTING ME ON OR NEAR HOT STAFF,
AND I DO NOT LIKE STRONG MACHO ELECTRIC PUMP EITHER.

Gay couple kept out of US

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From the New York Times: Married Gay Canadian Couple Barred From U.S.

A married gay couple on their way from Canada to a human rights conference in Georgia were not allowed to enter the United States today because the two men insisted on filling out a single Customs clearance form declaring themselves a family.

Mr. Bourassa said he and his partner, Joe Varnell, first approached the United States immigration desk at Pearson Airport in Toronto and an officer stamped their forms. But when they went to a Customs agent for final clearance, the agent would not accept a joint declaration.

“He said same-sex marriage is not recognized by the United States of America and we would have to enter the country as single individuals,” Mr. Bourassa said. A supervisor agreed when Mr. Bourassa objected.

(via Tina)

Driving sounds better all the time

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In the midst of MeFi’s JetBlue discussion comes some more fun privacy information. This time, it’s about .

: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59652,00.html “Videocams Record Airline Flights”

Southeast Airlines said it plans to install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times, as a precaution against terrorism and other safety threats. In addition, the charter airline, based in Largo, Florida, will store the digitized video for up to 10 years. And it may use face recognition software to match faces to names and personal records, the airline said.

(via thomcatspike)