I can haz moregaje refynance now?
(Credit: Icanhazcheeseburgers.com)UPDATED at 12:05 on May 13: The RSS feed has been fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.
It's an odd day in the studio this week as Dong attempts to end his honeymoon with President Obama by complaining about not being about to refinance his house. This of course leads him to take out his frustrations on black people. Namely, me. I play the world's smallest violin while he does this.
When is it OK as a 50-something man to stalk 20-something girls on the Internet? Before you answer, listen to what Dong and I have to say on the subject. Here you'll also discover why he needs to stay away from my nieces.
Thanks to the power of Japanese comics, Eric is learning lots these days. About electricity, statistics, and schoolgirl outfits.
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A chart on Weather News' site details the pollen threat around Japan, with a picture of the round robot that can help detect it.
(Credit: Weather News)Allergies are probably the most obvious way nature tells you it doesn't want you around. I know this love/hate relationship very well because it's spring and I've been sneezing in fits. What I don't always know, however, is how much nature hates me and just when it'll show it.
Fortunately, there are robots to help you with just that--if you live in Japan, that is.
This pollen bot is blue, which means the pollen level is on the lower side.
(Credit: Weather News)According to NTDT TV, Weather News, a Japanese weather information company, has produced 500 globe-shaped robots that change color depending on the amount of allergy-causing pollen in the air. These fourth-generation pollen-detecting bots are smaller than previous iterations, according to the company.
The robots can detect different levels of pollen and put them on a scale from 1 to 5 via different colors. The robots actually look more like big fluorescent lights. Actually, I'm not why sure they're called robots; they don't even look cute.
Nonetheless, the robots have been installed across Japan. Apart from telling the owner and people around about the pollen threat levels, the robots also collect data on temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure and transmit it to Weather News, which then combines and releases it to the public via the Internet.
This helps allergy sufferers decide when they should stay inside and when and it's safe to go out. Pollen watchers can also sign up for a service that sends pollen conditions to their cell phone every morning.
NTDT TV notes that Japan, and especially Tokyo, is a place where allergies are a big problem because of the ubiquity of cedar trees. These trees can be found everywhere in the country, and on nice days, pollen can even be seen with the naked eye like a cloud hovering above the forest.
I hope someday we can find these robots in the U.S. In the meantime, I guess I will continue to have to take pills while loving nature.
CNET's Takayuki Sakurai contributed to this report.
A group of "electro-sensitive" Santa Fe residents has asked the city government to ban Wi-Fi from public buildings. The group's members attribute a range of symptoms, such as chest pains and headaches, to the electric fields produced by Wi-Fi routers and cell phones.
The citizens claim that Wi-Fi networks in libraries and other civic buildings constitute discrimination as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city attorney is looking into the matter and expects to make a legal recommendation by the end of the month.
This isn't the first report of a so-called "gadget allergy." We mused on the subject about a year ago, when the Daily Mail ran a story about a woman who experienced a severe allergic reaction to a broad range of electromagnetic fields. And even earlier, scientists at the University of Essex found sufficient numbers of people claiming to suffer from "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" (EHS) to launch a scientific study of the matter.
It's worth noting that the World Health Organization currently doesn't give much credit to EHS claims: "Well controlled and conducted double-blind studies have shown that symptoms were not correlated with EMF exposure." Judging from the comments on the original news story, the average citizen doesn't, either.
Master Vacuum
(Credit: Samsung)
Master Chief
(Credit: Microsoft)Even in the dead of winter, some of us at Crave suffer the worst of allergies--and, when spring rolls around, we'd be better off in a bubble. That's why we're always on the lookout for anti-allergy technologies, even when we're in the car.
Naturally, Samsung's "Silencio" uber-vacuum cleaner got our attention, as Appliancist says it has a "suction power rating" of 360 air watts that exceeds its conventional counterparts. (We also like its name, as well as the blue LED lights.)
The bagless Silencio automatically adjusts the settings of its two-chamber system depending on the surface it's attacking, "catching 99.95 percent of micro-particles such as dust and allergens," all while making as little noise as possible. Most awesome of all is its design, which makes it a dead-ringer for the Master Chief.
(Credit:
Appliancist)
It's the height of summer, and for some of us that means allergy hell. Even our fortified caves and vehicles can't keep out all the offensive particles that make life miserable. So it may seem like desperation to you lucky non-sufferers out there, but we're sorely tempted to invest in this "Pro-Aqua" air-cleaning system, which sounds like a combination of a "Scooba" and one of those industrial-strength mosquito machines.
The indoor system improves air and climate quality through wet and dry cleaning mechanisms, including "wet vacuuming, air washing and scenting, inhalation, bed and mattress cleaning, carpet and upholstery cleaning and vacuuming." Sounds like a germaphobe's dream.
Appliancist notes also that the system is "aesthetically designed." We agree, but to us it looks like it could be the little brother of "Robot" in Lost in Space.
(Credit:
Autoblog)
It's probably not generally known to the allergy-free public, but we pollen sufferers have been known to stay in our cars for temporary relief. Why? Because it's as close to a controlled air system as we can get, next to a plastic bubble. So it's actually not so weird that a major automaker has created what it calls an allergy-free model, especially at the height of hay fever season.
With its "Mondeo," which is about to go on the European market, Ford claims to have accomplished this by "abolishing chrome and nickel from the cockpit, using low-emission adhesives and allergen-tested textiles and leathers," according to Newlaunches, resulting in an "allergy-tested seal of approval from the German TUV Rhineland group." The upholstery, floor mats and even the steering wheel have been dermatologically tested, and it has a pollen filter to boot. (We hope it's not pine-scented.)
If all this works as planned, we may move out of our house altogether and live in a Mondeo down by the river.
Imagine being allergic to every single gadget on these pages.
Debbie Bird says she experiences a severe allergic reaction when some gadgets are nearby.
(Credit: The Daily Mail)According to this article in the Daily Mail, that nightmare is a reality for 39-year-old Briton Debbie Bird.
Bird says she experiences a severe allergic reaction when exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMF). That means no cell phones, no microwave ovens, no computers, and even no cars in some cases. Bird is also sensitive to public Wi-Fi hotspots, which limits her possibilities for social outings.
Bird has experienced symptoms such as headaches, skin rashes, a burning sensation, and swollen eyelids when exposed to the electromagnetic fields created by today's technology.
The one piece of modern technology in Bird's electromagnetic-proof home? A plasma TV, which purportedly emits fewer gamma rays than older style sets.
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