Meet Ryan Kintner, 25, American hero: According to his suit, Kintner was home Aug. 10 when he saw a deputy park along a street and pull out his radar gun. Kintner then got in his car, drove a couple of blocks away, parked and pointed his vehicle at oncoming traffic and began flashing his lights. He was ticketed a short time later. On Tuesday, a judge in Sandford, Florida, ruled that flashing headlights with the purpose of communication information—"hey neighbors, the freaking cops are trying to meet their ticket quotas on our block today," for example—is constitutionally-protected speech. Hero #2 is Kintner's lawyer, J. Marcus Jones: "He felt the police specifically went out of their way to silence Mr. Kintner and that it was clearly ... Continue reading →
By Cory Doctorow at 7:13 am Tuesday, May 22 Matt Simmons, who writes the Standalone Sysadmin blog, has been wondering why there are ashtrays in airplane toilets, even though you aren't allowed to smoke anywhere on or near an airplane, and you haven't been allowed to do so for quite some time. It turns out that airplane toilet ashtrays are mandatory: "Regardless of whether smoking is allowed in any other part of the airplane, lavatories must have self-contained, removable ashtrays located conspicuously on or near the entry side of each lavatory door, except that one ashtray may serve more than one lavatory door if the ashtray can be seen readily from the cabin side of each lavatory served." (Code of Federal Regulations for airworthiness). Simmons ... Continue reading →
Josh Haner/The New York Times Ann Kornhauser of Hicksville, N.Y., decided to lose more of her leg to benefit from a new high-tech prosthetic, a marvel of microprocessors. Five years ago, on a muggy August morning in Hicksville, N.Y., Ann Kornhauser was out walking her golden retriever when bones in her left foot suddenly cracked. Ms. Kornhauser, then in her late 50s, soon learned why: doctors discovered a rare tumor in her foot. They amputated half of it. The prosthetic foot she received afterward left her in constant pain; she often cried in her car after trips to the grocery store because she dreaded carrying the bags into the house. Her prosthetist offered a solution. Artificial limbs had greatly improved, he said, and she could ... Continue reading →
Forget the zombie apocalypse–the real threat is an imminent Robopocalypse, a robot uprising! We at Epipheo care about your survival. That’s why we interviewed Daniel H. Wilson to find out exactly how to survive a robot uprising. Daniel is the world’s foremost authority on the subject and NY Times bestselling author of the book, “Robopocalypse.”[Via LS] Continue reading →
You start taking diet advice from an unlicensed nutritionist, and the next thing you know you're all pale and listless, you start sleepwalking, and your immortal soul is imperiled. Could this tragedy have been prevented? The Florida Department of Health is here to help. It has an official state website encouraging citizens to consult licensed nutritionists, decorated with the usual pictures of happy people with good teeth and appealing fruit. The site soberly warns: Risks of not using a licensed nutrition professional include: 1. Qualifications and experience are unknown because there are no educational or training requirements. You may purchase unnecessary or ineffective supplements or products 2. You could harm your health by following fad or unproven diet regimens that are not based on nutrition ... Continue reading →
