Massive Biometric Project Gives Crores of Indians an ID: Aadhaar faces titanic physical and technical challenges: reaching millions of illiterate Indians who have never seen a computer, persuading them to have their irises scanned, ensuring that their information is accurate, and safeguarding the resulting ocean of data. This is India, after all—a country notorious for corruption and for failing to complete major public projects. And the whole idea horrifies civil libertarians. But if Aadhaar’s organizers pull it off, the initiative could boost the fortunes of India’s poorest citizens and turbocharge the already booming national economy. [more inside]
posted by infini
on Aug 30, 2011 -
30 comments
iD Software has been acquired by ZeniMax media. (Reports
here,
here, and many other places.) John Romero, the co-founder of the company,
had some initial concerns but seems to have
cheered up. No doubt a wide variety of retrospectives, histories, opinions and flames will rise from this most infamously-independent of game studios joining forces/merging/being swallowed by another, younger one. (
ZeniMax was founded in 1999,
iD in 1991.) With iD releasing games with years-long gaps between them, younger readers might not have grown up playing this company's output, but if you've ever
run down a hallway with a gun bouncing earnestly before you and looking through a heads-up display, iD has touched your life too.
Masters of Doom is an excellent history of the company in book form, assuming you still read.
posted by jscott
on Jun 24, 2009 -
56 comments
DOOM is a 3D adventure game with arcade-style elements. It was programmed for computers running
DOS Flash 10. Here's the plot: your character is a Space Marine on the planet Mars, who uses guns his fist, and even a chainsaw to kill monsters from another dimension.
posted by Smart Dalek
on Dec 4, 2008 -
85 comments
Science is better: An enormous scientific study has conclusively demonstrated that "diet had no effect" on rates of women getting cancer or heart disease. Because the study investigated the efficacy of
overall low fat diets, rather than the more recently developed
hypothesis that saturated fats are the only pernicious kind, some leading medical researchers accept these findings but still think there MAY be a direct link between certain diets and major health problems in women, but (and here's the money shot) "if they did a study like that and it was negative, then I'd have to give up my cherished hypotheses for data." Now that, my friends, is a heartwarming example of one of the pinnacles of human creativity, the scientific method, which is under so much attack these days
. . .
posted by twsf
on Feb 7, 2006 -
29 comments
Tired of standing in line at the airport? Worried that you might share a name with a known terrorist or subversive on the TSA's mysterious no-fly lists? Relax. Get fingerprinted and/or iris scanned. And pay $79.95 a year to become a
Registered Traveler, and
fly Clear in the fast lane. (And note how quickly
conceptual art projects become indistinguishable from
reality.) Meanwhile, the Feds
settle an ACLU lawsuit over the no-fly lists... while revealing no information about them. [Lists recently discussed
here].
posted by digaman
on Jan 25, 2006 -
52 comments
How "Real ID" Act will affect you [CNET]
Starting three years from now, if you live or work in the United States, you'll need a federally approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service.
posted by dand
on May 6, 2005 -
94 comments
I feel safer already! A US requirement for foreign visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed is being expanded to include citizens from America's closest allies, starting September 30th.
posted by johnnydark
on Apr 2, 2004 -
22 comments
"Feminism" isn't the problem , it's Woman's Super Ego that's the problem.
"...there comes a time in every relationship when a woman has to be tender and empathetic. If she can't or won't do that, it doesn't matter if she has the face of Helen of Troy with George Eliot's mind."
posted by vito90
on Feb 6, 2003 -
55 comments
Gephardt wants Congress to consider a national ID card. As far as I can see, no bills have been introduced yet. The following quote from Gephardt makes it sound as though he has this in mind for everyone, not just foreigners in the US on Visas: "What kind of identity cards would we make citizens and others carry? Would they carry more information?"
posted by Potsy
on Sep 18, 2001 -
28 comments
Apple is apparently tidying up their corporate image even more while riding the wave of Jobs. They'll be eliminating the 'computer' part of the company name and will standardize on a series of 3D-ish solid color logos. The logos themselves, look as if they were stamped out of jello if you ask me. The next question is, of course, how long until Apple gets feeling retro about their identity, and starts using the old rainbow logo again. Anyone remember their 70's corporate typeface?
Motter Tektura
posted by grant
on Dec 31, 1999 -
1 comment
