I can’t believe the press release. Aside from allowing someone to remove the bottom of a pint and replace it without detection (not that I know anything about that), a small plastic lid lock from Ben & Jerry’s costs almost twice as much as a pint of their ice-cream:
The Euphori-Lock is a tenacious two-part plastic security ring that slips around your pint’s upper lid for “udder” peace of mind. And not to worry – it comes complete with an easy-to-remember secret code when you’re ready to unlock your favorite treat!
An easy-to-remember secret code? What could go wrong? I mean for $6.64 I expect a plastic ring to have alpha-numeric upper-lower case code with symbols and more than eight characters. And that’s not to mention a motion-sensor, failed-access alarm and log…where’s the USB port or Bluetooth so it can communicate with my kitchen’s incident and event monitor?
The idea, still under development, is to create a simple robot with parts costing under $10 dollars that students would use to explore science and engineering topics. The robot would be connected via USB to a computer, and students would use open source software to program the robot’s behavior and share their results.
[…]
…AFRON was inspired by other robotics initiatives such as the European Robotics Network (EURON), but while most networks have concentrated on research activities, AFRON focuses more broadly on education, research, and industry, including efforts aimed at exposing school children to robotics.
Rules have not yet been announced but note the definition:
For the purposes of AFRON, “Robotics†is broadly defined to include related areas such as automation, computer vision, signal processing, machine learning, mobile games, and other related topics.
The Cairo Hackerspace (“Hack like an Egyptian”) is already looking for hackers to join its team in the AFRON $10 Robot Design Challenge.
Neil Gaiman, a popular writer who The Guardian lists as the “winner of 3 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 1 World Fantasy Award, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 6 Locus Awards, 2 British SF Awards, 1 British Fantasy Award, 3 Geffens, 1 International Horror Guild Award and 1 Mythopoeic,” gives a compelling speech on how he has ignored barriers and social engineered his career to success:
I completely destroyed two Apple iPhones within six months before I switched to Nokia. There has been no looking back.
My Nokia phones have taken far worse abuse than the Apple products ever did and yet there has been literally no signs of damage. It’s really an unbelievable experience.
When I pull out my N9 people ask me if it is brand new despite the fact that it has been through months of use and abuse all over the world. The following video gives a good demonstration of what I am showing them. It is a very dramatic difference in product quality. Try this with your iPhone:
Even the Motorola Defy, which is marketed as a tough phone, is easily destroyed. I just replaced the screen on one the other day. The upside to the Motorola is that parts are cheap and easily available. I would still prefer that over waiting in line at a retail location with a bunch of sad-faced Apple owners. There’s nothing worse than trying to find a specific retail location when you are on the road and then fighting to get a spot in line. No wonder kids think the 1980s are cool again. If they use iPhones they are literally in a proprietary retail experience of thirty years ago.
So if you want a sophisticated phone that is rugged, the Nokia Lumia 900 or N9 seems to be the clear (pun not intended) winner in the market right now. It’s not only beautiful, but its physical integrity and data availability are superior to the competition.
This isn’t taken well by analysts, of course, who try to come up with reasons why the data is flawed. Consider this example from SlashGear:
…since the Lumia 900 hasn’t been a commercial blockbuster, there are not as many customers to review it, meaning it’s much easier for that phone to get a 5-star average than something as incredibly well-selling as the iPhone 4S.
So when you eat a commercial blockbuster McDonalds McRib (pig tripe, heart, and scalded stomach) sandwich just remember how incredibly well-selling it is versus a top-chef Gary Danko dinner you could have been having instead. The 5-stars that Gary Danko received were much easier to get because far fewer people eat his food than the McRib, right?
a blog about the poetry of information security, since 1995
