Nokia applies for vibrating skin patent
So, how much more connected to your mobile phone do you want to be? Phone giant Nokia might have the answer for those especially daring among you. It has described details of a patent that would allow users to have a tattoo, stamp or spray on their skin using a ‘ferromagnetic’ material which links to another device. Mobile, tablet, laptop, you name it.
When your phone rings, or you get a new calendar alert, your skin rings too. Or, more accurately, vibrates.
Different vibrations would mean different things such a low battery, a phone call or text message, a reminder of a meeting or birthday, or even who is calling.
So, sound like something you’d be into?
Firefighters in drag called on to put out car fire
Well this might brighten your day. These US firefighters were wearing women’s clothes as part of a fundraising parade (as you do) when there was an emergency call for a vehicle fire. Rather than wait, they grabbed the hose and dashed to the rescue in all their dressed up splendour.
Prove you’re not malnourished, Israel says to models
Israel has passed a law this week that requires models to be in the ‘healthier’ weight ranges before they can work.
The new law requires models to produce a medical report no older than three months at every shoot for the Israeli market, stating that they are not malnourished by World Health Organization standards.
The U.N. agency relies on the body mass index, calculated by factors of weight and height. WHO says a body mass index below 18.5 indicates malnutrition. According to that standard, a woman 1.72 meters tall (5-feet-8) should weigh no less than 119 pounds (54 kilograms). On top of this, any advertisement for the Israeli market must disclose if it digitally ‘thinned’ its models.
It is estimated half of Israel’s 300 models would need to gain weight to work again. Critics said the laws should have focused on health and not weight.
Opponents of Indigenous Intervention to rally in Canberra
Opposition to the extended measures of the Northern Territory Indigenous Intervention, slightly changed under the Labor Government and called ‘Stronger Futures’, will meet in Canberra today to deliver a petition of 33,000 signatures against the bills which passed the House of Reps and will soon be debated in the Senate.
Farifax reported:
The legislation includes measures to expand income management, extend alcohol restrictions and pornography bans, continue limits on courts considering cultural practice or customary law in bail and sentencing decisions, and allow for the continuation of a program under which parents of truant children can have their welfare payments suspended.
A Senate committee report tabled last week warned that proposed tougher penalties for alcohol offences could exacerbate already alarming rates of Aboriginal incarceration, and recommended minor offences be dealt with through infringement notices. Senators also expressed concern about proposals to allow state and territory authorities to refer people for income management, which means a portion of their income may only be spent on essentials such as food and clothing.
Top Comments
Wow Israel, love the good intentions but in practicality how effective will it be in bringing about real changes in how the models' health & appearance are perceived? Not likely.
Because, um, people don't get real medical certificates to cover for "fake" sick days so they can stay employed, do they, lol????
'Critics said the laws should have focused on health and not weight.' How exactly would this be established? It's a good start I reckon.