- It’s funny how sometimes, a homeless person has more
class, character and integrity than the thousands of folks who pass them on the
street each day and refuse to look them in the eyes. An unidentified homeless
man in Boston proved that point emphatically over the weekend when he happened
across a lost backpack
with $2,400 in cash, $39,500 in travelers checks and a passport inside. The man
happened across the forgotten loot at South Bay Mall in Dorchester and rather
than pocket the cash and try to cash or sell the travelers checks, he quickly
flagged down police in front of a TJ Maxx Store. He informed officers that he
found a black backpack that contained a large sum of money and a passport in
the front of the store and turned the items over to them. Because of his
current life status, the nomadic Good Samaritan could only provide officers
with his name and the address of the shelter where he currently lives, Boston
Police said. Officers notified mall security at the South Bay Mall about the
backpack and given the amount of cash and passport involved, it didn’t take
long for the rightful owner of the backpack to realize what he had lost and
track down his belongings. Later that same day, police were contacted by an
Best Buy employee who said a customer lost his backpack. They were able to
match the customer’s identity to the passport found in the backpack and his
belongings were returned to him before they day ended. There was no word on a
potential reward for the homeless man who stepped up and did the right thing
when he had so many reasons not to, but with any justice at all, something good
will come his way because of his deed…….
- Disney and cutting-edge technology don’t always go hand in
hand. Ridiculously inflated ticket prices necessitating a second and third
mortgage just to take your family to the supposed happiest place on Earth,
sure. Walt Disney’s company is all over that idea. But pushing the boundaries
of the tech world typically isn't the company’s forte…until now. In order to
allow folks to share secret messages with their friends, Disney has developed a
technique it is calling "Inshin-Den-Shin," which is Japanese for "unspoken
mutual understanding." Disney’s Imagineers would like people to give their
pals a modified wet Willie, shoving their digits in someone else’s ear and
touch that friend’s tragus — that little rear-facing flap at the front of the
ear. Now, this alone is obviously not enough to communicate a secret message,
but using a specially designed microphone and a bit of Disney magic, it is possible. By holding the
microphone and executing Inshin-Den-Shin, a person can record a message
that is then sent to Disney's software. From there, the recording is looped and
sent back to the microphone as a high-voltage, low-current signal. A person’s
body then becomes a conductor for the recorded signal and by touching a friend
(or soon-to-be ex-friend), that person creates a natural amplifier, allowing the signal to be heard.
Linking a number of people together amplifies the effect and allows the signal
to pass through each of them before being delivered to its final recipient. For
now, the technology is part of an art installation, but Disney could certainly
find a way to capitalize on it commercially………
- Entertainment options are abounding for 2015 and it’s not
even here yet. Already, a new “Star Wars” movie is on the agenda, a second “Avengers”
film will hit the big screen and the “Batman” movie everyone already hates because
Ben Affleck will play the caped crusader will be released. Add a healthy dose
of zombies to the mix because AMC has announced that its spin-off from its hit
series “The Walking Dead” will debut. The new series, which hasn’t yet been
named, will be set in the same post-apocalyptic world. AMC revealed that it is in “the
initial stages of developing a companion series” to one of its most-popular
series, which is a small-screen adaptation of the long-running Image Comics
series co-created and written by Robert Kirkman about a group of human
survivors in a world filled with the undead. Kirkman will head up the creative group
developing the spinoff, acting as executive producer on the project alongside “Walking Dead” executives Gail Anne
Hurd and David Alpert. “I couldn’t be more thrilled about getting the chance to
create a new corner of The Walking
Dead universe,” Kirkman said in a network statement, adding that “the
opportunity to make a show that isn’t tethered by the events of the comic book,
and is truly a blank page, has set my creativity racing.” AMC president Charlie
Collier tried to explain how the show will straddle the line between past and
present by featuring “an entirely
new story and cast of characters,” while offering “another unforgettable view
of the zombie apocalypse.” Spin-offs seem to be AMC’s thing right now, as last
week the network announced “Better
Call Saul,” a prequel spin-off of the soon-to-end “Breaking Bad,” which
has but two episodes left………
- Aren’t the Olympics awesome? They bring excessive spending
on facilities that will likely never be used once the Games are over, a myriad
of traffic and logistical issues to the host nation and of course, increased
chances for a terrorist attack in a high-profile setting. Oh, and there is also
the possibility that this magical sporting occasion can lead to a person being
evicted from their home not once, but twice in the same lifetime. That is the
sad tale of Japanese tobacco salesman Kohei Jinno, who is getting the boot in 2013 the same
way he was back in 1964, when the Olympic Games came to Tokyo. Five decades
ago, Jinno was forced to give up his shop and home to make way for the
construction of a park around the National Olympic Stadium in Kasumigaoka.
Evicted and without a place to run his business, Jinno survived and supported
his family though odd jobs until he was able to open a new tobacco shop in the
shadow of the Stadium in 1966. At that point, he had to feel like he had
survived a tremendous obstacle and found a way to keep his dream alive, even if
that dream was selling toxic products that give people lung cancer and shorten
their lives with emphysema while turning their skin green and their faces
leathery. He had to feel that having his business taken from him because of the
Olympics was a once-in-a-lifetime ordeal….and he would have been oh, so wrong.
Now that the International Olympic Committee has awarded the 2020 Olympics to
Tokyo, plans for the reconstruction of a massive new National Stadium have
Jinno on track for yet another eviction. Roads around the city will be built or repaired at a cost of $5.5
billion and with 85 percent of the venues within 5 miles of the $1.1 billion Olympic Village, many
people will face eviction. The biggest culprit in forcing some of those moves
will be an 80,000-seat main stadium with a retractable roof at a cost of $1.3
billion. To clear the way for the venue, Jinno’s apartment complex will
be demolished. At least this time, city officials will offer current residents
of Jinno’s building — a third of whom are over the age of 70 — a spot
in a different apartment complex. However, the area he is likely to move to isn't
one where he can set up a tobacco shop, so the Olympics may just screw Jinno
over again……..
- Given the impressive nature of No. 2 Oregon’s 59-14
curb-stomping of Tennessee on Saturday, one might guess everyone in the Program
that Phil Knight Built would be happy. The Ducks are unbeaten, they’re rolling
even though Chip Kelly has departed for the NFL and left the program in the hands
of new coach Mark
Helfrich. However, at least one member of the team is none too happy despite
the lopsided outcome and he’s making his voice heard. Tight end Colt Lyerla
said Sunday he is "really upset" at how Helfrich responded when asked
about Lyerla’s absence from the win against Tennessee. The tale Lyerla is
telling is one of him being sick and missing practice between Tuesday and
Thursday, leading coaches to tell him to stay home Saturday and rest. However,
Helfrich wasn’t in an expository mood after the game when asked by the media to
explain Lyerla's absence from Autzen Stadium. "Circumstances,” the coach
succinctly explained. When it was suggested to him that perhaps he was being
unnecessarily vague and cryptic in a situation where national security secrets
were not at stake, Helfrich smiled and replied, "Circumstances is
extremely specific. That's one word.'' That Q&A session did not amuse
Lyerla, who took issue with the fact that his coach failed to mention he was
simply ill. "I'm really upset with the way Coach Helfrich said that after
the game,'' Lyerla said. "Really disappointed. I feel hurt about this. I
watched a little bit of what he said, then started reading all of it, and ...
it was unfair.'' The two men clearly have their issues and Lyerla was held out
of nine practices last summer for what the team called "personal issues.” When
informed of Lyerla’s beef with him, Helfrich unsurprisingly declined comment………
No comments:
Post a Comment