LAST UPDATED: 28 October, 2020
GeorgeTakei.com in the United States is concerned about privacy issues and wants you to be familiar with how we collect, use and disclose information. This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we collect through the website owned and controlled by us, or operated by us or on our behalf, from which you are accessing this Privacy Policy (the โSite").
UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
The โLAST UPDATED" legend at the top of this page indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on the Site. Your use of the Site following these changes means that you accept the revised Privacy Policy.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
โPersonal Information" is information that identifies you as an individual or relates to an identifiable individual:
Collection of Personal Information
We and our service providers collect Personal Information in a variety of ways, including:
- We collect Personal Information through the Site, for example, when you sign up for a newsletter or make a purchase.
- We receive your Personal Information from other sources, such as publicly available databases;
- joint marketing partners, when they share the information with us
If you connect your social media account to your Site account, you will share certain Personal Information from your social media account with us, for example, your name, email address, photo, list of social media contacts, and any other information that may be or you make accessible to us when you connect your social media account to your Site account.
We need to collect Personal Information in order to provide the Site to you. If you do not provide the information requested, we may not be able to provide the Site. If you disclose any Personal Information relating to other people to us or to our service providers in connection with the Site, you represent that you have the authority to do so and to permit us to use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Use of Personal Information
We and our service providers use Personal Information for legitimate business purposes, including:
- To provide the Site's functionality to you.
- To respond to your inquiries and fulfill your requests.
- To send administrative information to you, such as changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
- To allow you to send messages to a friend through the Site. By using this functionality, you are telling us that you are entitled to use and provide us with your friend's name and email address.
We engage in these activities to manage our contractual relationship with you and/or to comply with a legal obligation.
- To send you marketing communications that we believe may be of interest to you.
- To facilitate social sharing functionality that you choose to use.
We engage in these activities with your consent, to the extent consent is required by applicable law.
Analysis of Personal Information for business reporting and providing personalized services.
We provide personalized services either with your consent or because we have a legitimate interest.
- We may offer you the opportunity to participate in a sweepstakes, contest or other promotion.
- Some of these promotions have additional rules, which could contain information about how we will use and disclose your Personal Information.
We use this information to manage our contractual relationship with you.
- We may aggregate and/or anonymize Personal Information so that it will no longer be considered Personal Information. We do so to generate other data for our use, which we may use and disclose for any purpose.
- For data analysis, for example, to improve the efficiency of our Site.
- For audits, to verify that our internal processes function as intended and are compliant with legal, regulatory or contractual requirements.
- For fraud and security monitoring purposes, for example, to detect and prevent cyber attacks or attempts to commit identity theft.
- For developing new products and services.
- For enhancing, improving, or modifying the Site and our services.
- For identifying usage trends, for example, understanding which parts of our Site are of most interest to users.
- For determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns, so that we can adapt our campaigns to the needs and interests of our users.
- For operating and expanding our business activities, for example, understanding which parts of our Site are of most interest to our users so we can focus our energies on meeting our users' interests.
We engage in these activities to manage our contractual relationship with you, to comply with a legal obligation, and/or because we have a legitimate interest.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We disclose Personal Information:
- These can include providers of services such as website hosting, data analysis, payment processing, order fulfillment, information technology and related infrastructure provision, customer service, email delivery, auditing, and other services.
- On message boards, chat, profile pages, blogs and other services to which you are able to post information and content. Please note that any information you post or disclose through these services will become public and may be available to other users and the general public.
- To identify you to anyone to whom you send a message via the Site.
- Through your social sharing activity. When you connect your Site account with your social media account, you will share information with your friends associated with your social media account, with other users, and with your social media account provider. By doing so, you authorize us to facilitate this sharing of information, and you understand that the use of shared information will be governed by the social media provider's privacy policy.
- To comply with applicable law.
Other Uses and DisclosuresWe also use and disclose your Personal Information as necessary or appropriate, especially when we have a legal obligation or legitimate interest to do so:
- This can include laws outside your country of residence.
- These can include authorities outside your country of residence.
- To enforce our terms and conditions; and
- To protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you or others.
- We have a legitimate interest in disclosing or transferring your Personal Information to a third party in the event of any reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings). Such third parties may include, for example, an acquiring entity and its advisors.
OTHER INFORMATION
โOther Information" is any information that does not reveal your specific identity or does not directly relate to an individual:
If we are required to treat Other Information as Personal Information under applicable law, then we may use and disclose it for the purposes for which we use and disclose Personal Information as detailed in this Privacy Policy.
Collection of Other Information
We and our service providers collect Other Information in a variety of ways:
- Certain information is collected by most browsers or automatically through your device, such as your Media Access Control (MAC) address, computer type (Windows or Mac), screen resolution, operating system name and version, device manufacturer and model, language and Internet browser type you are using. We use this information to ensure that the Site functions properly.
- Your โIP Address" is a number that is automatically assigned to the computer that you are using by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). An IP Address can be identified and logged automatically in our server log files whenever a user visits the Site, along with the time of the visit and the page(s) that were visited. Collecting IP Addresses is standard practice and is done automatically by many websites, applications and other services. We use IP Addresses for purposes such as calculating Site usage levels, helping diagnose server problems, and administering the Site.
-
Cookies are pieces of information stored directly on the computer that you are using. Cookies allow us to collect information such as browser type, time spent on the Site, pages visited, language preferences, and other anonymous traffic data. We and our service providers use the information for security purposes, to facilitate navigation, display information more effectively, and to personalize your experience while using the Site, as well as for online tracking purposes. We also gather statistical information about the usage of the Site in order to continually improve the design and functionality, understand how the Site is used and to assist us with resolving questions regarding the Site. Cookies further allow us to select which of our advertisements or offers are most likely to appeal to you and display them while you are on the Site. We also use cookies in online advertising to track responses to our advertisements and we use cookies or other files to track your use of other websites.
-
If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows you to automatically decline cookies, or be given the choice of declining or accepting the transfer to your computer of a particular cookie (or cookies) from a particular site. You may also wish to refer
here and here. However, if you do not accept these cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of the Site. For example, we may not be able to recognize your computer and you may need to log in every time you visit the Site. You also may not receive advertising or other offers from us that are relevant to your interests and needs.
- The Site will continue to operate as described in this Privacy Policy, whether or not a โDo Not Track" signal or similar mechanism is received from your browser.
- Pixel tags (also known as web beacons and clear GIFs) are used in connection with some Site pages and HTML-formatted email messages to, among other things, track the actions of Site users and email recipients, measure the success of our marketing campaigns and compile statistics about Site usage and response rates.
- We collect the physical location of your device by, for example, using satellite, cell phone tower or WiFi signals. We use your device's physical location to provide you with personalized location-based services and content. We also share your device's physical location, combined with information about what advertisements you viewed and other information we collect, with our service providers and/or marketing partners to enable them to provide you with more personalized content and to study the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. In some instances, you may be permitted to allow or deny such uses and/or sharing of your device's location, but if you choose to deny such uses and/or sharing, we, our service providers and/or our marketing partners may not be able to provide you with the applicable personalized services and content.
- Information such as your preferred means of communication is collected when you voluntarily provide this information.
Uses and Disclosures of Other Information
We may use and disclose Other Information for any purpose, except where we are required to do otherwise under applicable law. In some instances, we may combine Other Information with Personal Information. If we do, we will treat the combined information as Personal Information as long as it is combined.
THIRD PARTY SITES OR SERVICES
This Privacy Policy does not address, and we are not responsible for, the privacy, information or other practices of any third parties, including any third party operating any site or service to which the Site contains a link. The inclusion of a link on the Site does not imply endorsement of the linked site or service by us or by our affiliates.
THIRD PARTY ADVERTISERS
We use third-party advertising companies to serve advertisements regarding goods and services that may be of interest to you when you access or use the Site.
When you use our website, we share information that we collect from you, such as your email (in hashed form), IP address or information about your browser or operating system, with our partner/service provider, LiveRamp Inc. LiveRamp returns an online identification code that we may store in our first-party cookie for our use in online and cross-channel advertising and it may be shared with advertising companies to enable interest-based and targeted advertising. To opt out of this use, please click here (https://optout.liveramp.com/opt_out).
You may receive advertisements based on information relating to your access to and use of the Site and other websites or online services on any of your devices, as well as on information received from third parties. These companies place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser (including through the use of pixel tags). They also use these technologies, along with information they collect about your online use, to recognize you across the devices you use, such as a mobile phone and a laptop. If you would like more information about this practice, and to learn how to opt out of it in desktop and mobile browsers on the particular device on which you are accessing this Privacy Policy, please visit here and here.
SECURITY
We seek to use reasonable organizational, technical and administrative measures to protect Personal Information within our organization. Unfortunately, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Please also be aware that we use third-party cloud service providers that provide hosting, data storage and other services pursuant to standard terms and conditions that may be non-negotiable; these service providers have informed us or the general public that they apply security measures they consider adequate for the protection of information within their system, or they have a general reputation for applying such measures. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure (for example, if you feel that the security of any account you might have with us has been compromised), please immediately notify us in accordance with the โContacting Us" section below.
CHOICES AND ACCESS
Your choices regarding our use and disclosure of your Personal Information
We will try to comply with your request(s) as soon as reasonably practicable. Please note that, if you opt-out of receiving marketing-related emails from us, we may still send you important administrative messages, from which you cannot opt-out.
How you can access or change or delete your Personal Information
If you would like to request to review correct, update, suppress, restrict or delete Personal Information that you have previously provided to us, or if you would like to request to receive an electronic copy of your Personal Information for purposes of transmitting it to another company (to the extent this right to data portability is provided to you by applicable law), you may contact us by writing to us here or to Personal Information Request, GeorgeTakei.com, 1001 6th Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY, 10018. We will respond to your request consistent with applicable law.
In your request, please make clear what information you would like to have changed, whether you would like to have your Personal Information suppressed from our database or otherwise let us know what limitations you would like to put on our use of your Personal Information. For your protection, we may only implement requests with respect to the Personal Information associated with the particular email address that you use to send us your request, and we may need to verify your identity before implementing your request. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable.
Please note that we may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you began prior to requesting such change or deletion (e.g., when you make a purchase or enter a promotion, you may not be able to change or delete the Personal Information provided until after the completion of such purchase or promotion).
RETENTION PERIOD
We retain Personal Information for as long as needed or permitted in light of the purpose(s) for which it was obtained and consistent with applicable law.
The criteria used to determine our retention periods include:
USE OF SITE BY MINORS
The Site is not directed to individuals under the age of thirteen (13), and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from individuals under 13.
JURISDICTION AND CROSS-BORDER TRANSFER
Your Personal Information may be stored and processed in any country where we have facilities or in which we engage service providers, and by using the Site you understand that your information will be transferred to countries outside of your country of residence, including the United States, which may have data protection rules that are different from those of your country. In certain circumstances, courts, law enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies or security authorities in those other countries may be entitled to access your Personal Information.
If you are located in the European Economic Area (comprised of the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, together โEEA"): Some of the non-EEA countries are recognized by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of data protection according to EEA standards (the full list of these countries is available
here. For transfers from the EEA to countries not considered adequate by the European Commission, we have put in place adequate measures, such as standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission to protect your Personal Information. You may obtain a copy of these measures by contacting us in accordance with the โContacting Us" section below.
SENSITIVE INFORMATION
We ask that you not send us, and you not disclose, any sensitive Personal Information (for example, social security numbers, credit card information, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic characteristics, criminal background or trade union membership) on or through the Site or otherwise to us.
THIRD PARTY PAYMENT SERVICE
We will use a third-party payment service to process payments made through the Site. If you wish to make a payment through the Site, your Personal Information will be collected by such third party and not by us, and will be subject to the third party's privacy policy, rather than this Privacy Policy. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, this third party's collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information.
CONTACTING US
GeorgeTakei.com is located at 223 W 38th Street, Unit 114, New York, NY 10018, is the company responsible for the collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information under this Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email
here, or please write to the following address
GeorgeTakei.com
Unit 114
New York, NY 10018
Please note that email communications are not always secure; so please do not include credit card information or sensitive information in your emails to us.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR INDIVIDUALS IN THE EEA
If you are located in the EEA, you also may:
Contact us here with any questions about this Privacy Policy.
Lodge a complaint with a data protection authority for your country or region, or where an alleged infringement of applicable data protection law occurs.
Macaulay Culkin Is Having Fans Vote On What He Should Legally Change His Name ToโAnd The Options Are Bizarre ๐ฎ
Have you ever wanted to help your favorite celebrity reach their potential by giving them a new name? Fans of Macaulay Culkin will be able to do just that, as he's allowing them to vote and pick his new middle name.
The choices are beyond strange.
Thanks for having me @jimmyfallon @FallonTonight !!! I'll let you know how the name change works out! https://t.co/iIkTC8OyXHโ Macaulay Culkin (@Macaulay Culkin) 1543452222.0
In a segment on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Culkin announced his desire to change his middle name to something else. He allowed people to submit names for the last month, and narrowed those down to the top five.
Some of the suggestions were interesting, to say the least.
@DevonESawa Weird. I'm about to change my middle name. Any good suggestion? Go to https://t.co/BYXGIWJK3gโ Macaulay Culkin (@Macaulay Culkin) 1540529059.0
@IncredibleCulk @FallonTonight @jimmyfallon It should be "Culkin, Macaulay" as a middle name. Will be read as: Macโฆ https://t.co/xRo5AiR8jdโ carmineenimrac (@carmineenimrac) 1543469371.0
@IncredibleCulk @jimmyfallon @FallonTonight How did you miss "Macaulay Skulking Culkin"?!โ Caleb DAVIS (@Caleb DAVIS) 1543487990.0
@ComicBook @IncredibleCulk Pls add Cacaulay Mulkin as an optionโ Matt Michler ๐น (@Matt Michler ๐น) 1543603411.0
@ComicBook @IncredibleCulk Kevin! Obviously.โ Andrew ๐ผ ๐ (@Andrew ๐ผ ๐) 1543603516.0
The official choices: Shark Week, The McRib Is Back, Kieran (submitted by his famous younger brother), Macaulay Culkin, and Publicity Stunt. That last one was suggested by Culkin's girlfriend, actress Brenda Song, and gives away the game.
Fans are still excited to vote for his new name.
@IncredibleCulk @jimmyfallon @FallonTonight Macaulay โShark Weekโ Culkin has a nice ring to it.๐ฐย Vote onโฆ https://t.co/AS5ce275jlโ Shark Week (@Shark Week) 1543526453.0
The moment of joy that hopefully comes to us all during the day just transpired for me and funny enough, it took leโฆ https://t.co/stOVPePmpyโ Sia Brooks (@Sia Brooks) 1543606608.0
Macaulay Culkin Needs A New Middle Name https://t.co/HO9ZMUM1O1 via @bunnyearsweb @IncredibleCulk I voted for "Kierโฆ https://t.co/jnVAa6NTlpโ Stetson (@Stetson) 1543815411.0
I voted for @IncredibleCulk new middle name, what did you do today?โ Catalina F ๐จ๐ฑ (@Catalina F ๐จ๐ฑ) 1543801274.0
@IncredibleCulk @jimmyfallon @FallonTonight I like Keiranโ Melissa (@Melissa) 1543517677.0
McAuley Culkin is allowing fans to vote on what is legal middle name should be, two of the final 5 is โMacauley Culโฆ https://t.co/KUPTU0HnKRโ YOUAREDEAD (@YOUAREDEAD) 1543620499.0
@IncredibleCulk @jimmyfallon @FallonTonight Just for you to know, I voted Macaulay Culkin!โ ๐ Maria (@๐ Maria) 1543495868.0
This is all a publicity stunt to drive traffic to Culkin's website, Bunny Ears, launched earlier this year in March. The site bills itself as a lifestyle and holistic health brand, similar to Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. However, the articles are jokes or satirical.
Good luck finding the site if you tried to go there right after the Fallon segment.
@IncredibleCulk @jimmyfallon Look at the bunny ears website now after @jimmyfallon voted on @IncredibleCulk middleโฆ https://t.co/PFAwxsRB8Eโ Charles John Kelly (@Charles John Kelly) 1543485190.0
With articles like "A Tour Guide Of The Places Where Men Have Dumped Me" in their 'Travel Guides' section, or "Meditative Things White People Can Do While Black People Attempt To Explain White Privilege" under 'Spiritual Wellness,' it's difficult to imagine the site is wanting for traffic.
Time will tell what Culkin's new middle name will be, but as of this writing, it's looking like he'll be known as Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin. Which is a shame, because Macaulay Shark Week Culkin had such a nice ring to it.
H/T: Huffington Post, Bunny Ears
Arkansas High School Suspends Student Paper For Publishing 'Disruptive' Investigation Into Shady Football Transfers
Halle Roberts is the editor-in-chief of the Har-Ber Herald, the school newspaper for Springdale High School in Arkansas. The 17-year-old student was suspended after she wrote an investigative piece criticizing the transfer of five football players to a rival school.
Players are not allowed to be transferred to a different school because they would like to play for a different team. They are allowed to transfer only for academic reasons. So Roberts got to digging. Her paper filed FOIA requests and received official information from the Arkansas Activities Association saying that the students were transferred for academic reasons. However, the students themselves said otherwise.
Roberts quoted one student in her paper saying:
"We just want to go over there because we have a better chance of getting scholarships and playing at D1."
Another student told Roberts:
"I just feel like it's better for my future to go out there and get college looks."
Soon after the report was published, the superintendent of the district, Jim Rollins, asked the teacher advisor for the school paper, Karla Sprague, to take the story down. She obliged.
Rollins wrote a letter stating that the piece was:
"intentionally negative, demeaning, derogatory, hurtful and potentially harmful to the students addressed in those articles."
Roberts, undeterred, is still working on a new edition of the story that includes the school's censorship.
Mike Hiestand of the Student Press Law Center had this to say:
"School officials at this point seem to me to have completely thrown up their hands and said, โweโre not going to lโฆ https://t.co/PgVYFlVAlMโ Amber Jamieson (@Amber Jamieson) 1543687827.0
And Halle Roberts, who dreams of being an ESPN reporter, stated:
โThey are like โwell you raised an uproar, weโre going to try and silence you,โโ said Halle Roberts, 17, the editorโฆ https://t.co/6dKFeF0so4โ Amber Jamieson (@Amber Jamieson) 1543690272.0
People were impressed with Roberts.
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews I'm so proud of you! You're not just fighting for yourself, you're fighting for studentโฆ https://t.co/hjVIvzstZ1โ ๐บLisa Daily is writingโฑ (@๐บLisa Daily is writingโฑ) 1543718652.0
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews I shared your story on my Facebook page and am so proud of you kids for telling the storโฆ https://t.co/9gekpHSweyโ Derryl Trujillo (@Derryl Trujillo) 1543694164.0
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews Keep up the fight Halle!!โ Katie Maner (@Katie Maner) 1543762811.0
Some had harsh words for the school's administration.
@BuzzFeedNews @KatinaParon The principal and the superintendent should be fired, not the teacher. And the studentsโฆ https://t.co/AfE6JTmowpโ Jody Beck (@Jody Beck) 1543754569.0
@ambiej @BuzzFeedNews Abuse of power by the school administrationโ Lovehersports50 (@Lovehersports50) 1543686742.0
@ambiej Hey @sdaleschools School board members. Why are you allowing Arkansas Har-Ber High School Principal Paul Grโฆ https://t.co/8pdT0St1FOโ Nancy Levine (@Nancy Levine) 1543693785.0
And most had high praise for Roberts and the other student journalists working on this piece.
A great example of investigate student journalism, and why it needs more recognition. https://t.co/s4MBLn0HiNโ Gabija Gataveckaitฤ (@Gabija Gataveckaitฤ) 1543692451.0
Much to appreciate about @ambiejโs reporting on this Arkansas school districtโs effort to suppress a high school paโฆ https://t.co/fIk5vTaWCZโ Pat Berry (@Pat Berry) 1543688372.0
High school students do real journalism, school district immediately tries to shut them down, despite state law guaโฆ https://t.co/HqOgXTv1blโ Jeff Amy (@Jeff Amy) 1543692270.0
Oh this is the good stuff. I love this editor. Great work. Stand for journalists. https://t.co/QlrTTzrqs8โ Scott Lewis (@Scott Lewis) 1543693549.0
And Halle Roberts herself closed by saying:
thank you so much. #freedomofthepress https://t.co/LsjWT7nycDโ halle roberts (@halle roberts) 1543685392.0
Fight on, Halle!
Clever Dog Tricks McDonald's Customers Into Feeding Her By Pretending To Be A Stray ๐
It's a dog eat dog world out there and sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. At least that's what one dog owner realized when she caught her pooch trolling the streets looking for an easy meal.
Facebook user Betsy Reyes busted her dog Princess who was out moonlighting as a stray in order to play on the sympathies of strangers. It seems Princess likes to wander off to her favorite hangout, the local McDonald's, and work the drive through lane like a pro.
And that's what she did right up until Reyes busted her scam. Reyes, who lives in Oklahoma City, took to Facebook and outed Princess in the most hysterical way, saying:
"If you see my dog @ the McDonald's on shields, quit feeding her fat ass bc she don't know how to act & be leaving the house all the time to go walking to McDonald's at night. She's not even a stray dog. She's just a gold diggin ass bitch that be acting like she's a stray so people will feel bad for her & feed her burgers."
Lots of scammers out there.
@CBSNews My lab Would jump the fence every morning as I got ready to work and when I went to leave he would reappeaโฆ https://t.co/NJhg4ZuGq1โ Anneik ๐ (@Anneik ๐) 1540434345.0
@CBSNews https://t.co/UqWvClKi8zโ Bruinlover- follower of Nakia (@Bruinlover- follower of Nakia) 1540418292.0
@CBSNews I TOOK MINE TO THE DRUGSTORE AND WHILE I WAS PAYING HE STOLE A CANDY BAR, WALKED RIGHT OUT THE DOOR WIโฆ https://t.co/U3DlWunzcKโ PUEBLO294 (@PUEBLO294) 1540415919.0
@LCaro294 @CBSNews Mine stole a butterdish at my mumโs house, ate all the butter then buried the butterdish to hide the evidence.โ Tricoteuse (@Tricoteuse) 1540418005.0
@CBSNews My dog would 100% do this if she could get out of the house. On our walks she stands in the doorways of foโฆ https://t.co/33ovz44HUXโ Skulls&Bacon (@Skulls&Bacon) 1540420511.0
@BillichThomas @skullsandbacon @CBSNews 100% would hand over my bagel, if only because she looks so annoyed with meโฆ https://t.co/aQs5qKhETNโ Claire Pettie (@Claire Pettie) 1540434235.0
It's an adorable story, but maybe get the dog a collar with identification?
@CBSNews Pretends? Leaves the collar stashed around the corner, or what?โ Jim Snell (@Jim Snell) 1540429214.0
@CBSNews This is adorable but this dog should 100% be wearing a collar and also get microchipped! Love this story :)โ Minka โACABโ Eisenhower (@Minka โACABโ Eisenhower) 1540418766.0
Not everyone thought the story was cute.
@CBSNews Great way to keep your dog safe. ๐โ ๐ง๐ปโโ๏ธ Free Hugs ๐ ๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ด๐ซ๐ฎโฎ๏ธโ๏ธ โ๐ฑ๐ท (@๐ง๐ปโโ๏ธ Free Hugs ๐ ๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ด๐ซ๐ฎโฎ๏ธโ๏ธ โ๐ฑ๐ท) 1540414161.0
@CBSNews Unless you can keep your dog safe at home and not out in traffic where she could be hit by a car, stolen,โฆ https://t.co/6BMPMLYgYsโ Lindsey McBride (@Lindsey McBride) 1540435397.0
Of course, when a girl's gotta eat, a girl's gotta eat.
@chabsmescudi Funny.... but time to build a super gate. https://t.co/NZBE1s3lm6โ OEL๐๐๐ (@OEL๐๐๐) 1540238320.0
@chabsmescudi The dog: https://t.co/FSmeFYhspTโ Angie (@Angie) 1540231585.0
@BetsysReyes @chabsmescudi Your dog every night after standing on the road https://t.co/mrTCMOtOVAโ N.A.S.A (@N.A.S.A) 1540235406.0
@chabsmescudi I would have been mad if my dog didnโt bring anything back. https://t.co/qb7ED7cwMGโ Name Change (@Name Change) 1540325221.0
Let's hope Princess has learned her lesson and stays home.
H/T: Huffington Post, Mashable
This Creepy Robot Phone Attachment Moves Just Like A Real Human Finger
Tapping on and swiping your mobile device just got a whole lot creepier thanks to an unnecessary invention. But there's clearly a market for these kinds of things, amirite?.
Introducing โ MobiLimb, a finger-like attachment to your phone or tablet that aims to make your life easier and give you nightmares in the process.
The MobiLimb was created by researchers in France and is made up of "five servo motors, an Arduino microcontroller and a sensor, and it can do a number of unsettling things that are straight out of nightmares," according to Engadget.
MobiLimb: Augmenting Mobile Devices with a Robotic Limb #UIST2018 @ACMUIST https://t.co/vm0fqHe2gaโ HCI Research (@HCI Research) 1538308062.0
Marc Teyssier, a PhD student and one of the researchers behind the project for the dismembered limb, legitimized its existence.
"In the spirit of human augmentation, which aims at overcoming human body limitations by using robotic devices, our approach aims at overcoming mobile device limitations (static, passive, motionless) by using a robotic limb."
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier This is terrible.โ Jason TheVirtualFAE (@Jason TheVirtualFAE) 1538435690.0
Th MobiLimb can prop itself up so you can watch a video, or provide an alternate way to grip your device.
But there's one function that is really disturbing.
The articulated digit can be skinned to resemble a human finger, and it can stroke your wrist while you're using your phone.
Someone implied that single people could benefit from this invention as a companion.
@Gingerheaddad Keep in mind that many people are alone, so any physical contact... #Yuck #Creepy #WhatTheHellโ Ephraim Gopin (@Ephraim Gopin) 1538743523.0
"Reach out and touch someone": MobiLimb is awesome. https://t.co/HPq6FsefJv https://t.co/Dq7h7sSSCRโ Bryan Alexander (@Bryan Alexander) 1538839006.0
What would the next-generation MobiLimb offer consumers?
@EphraimGopin I was hoping it would go full face-hugging alien. I better wait for the upgraded MobiLimb.โ Jim Martin (@Jim Martin) 1538744153.0
@HCI_Research @ACMUIST https://t.co/qsY5O1Y0Udโ Henri Fischer (@Henri Fischer) 1538322698.0
@arduino https://t.co/h90xJNrwvHโ Femtoduino (@Femtoduino) 1538511034.0
The attachment could come in handy should an unfortunate life-changing incident were to occur.
@HCI_Research @ACMUIST I want this! Not for the reason in some of the tweets below but you never know. I could useโฆ https://t.co/C5inclfv8tโ Kristina (Kricket) Hodgdon (@Kristina (Kricket) Hodgdon) 1538330323.0
But the gadget is still giving people goosebumps.
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier That is creepy. =)โ GritsnGravy (@GritsnGravy) 1538412080.0
@MailOnline @JonathanHoenig That is terrifying.โ W. Clayton (@W. Clayton) 1538811801.0
Others saw a more erotic potential.
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier Lol, the adult videos Industry is interestedโ Dario Glz (@Dario Glz) 1538690202.0
@HacksterPro @marcteyssier "why does your phone have a penis?"โ Nolimb chan (@Nolimb chan) 1538413674.0
@theprojecttv Or, if your date searching goes awry, it could stroke whatever you want!โ Matthew Barker๐ณ๏ธโ๐ (@Matthew Barker๐ณ๏ธโ๐) 1538717283.0
@MailOnline https://t.co/2SRRzsM72Iโ Matt โข ๐ (@Matt โข ๐) 1538811840.0
Now here's a function not advertised by MobiLimb's creators.
@EphraimGopin The MobiLimb is a terrible name. It should be named after its most important function: Bird Flipper.โ Jim Martin (@Jim Martin) 1538743026.0
@Gingerheaddad Now THAT'S putting it to good use! Flip people off without taking your eyes off the screen. Perfect.โ Ephraim Gopin (@Ephraim Gopin) 1538743134.0
Feelings are mixed. But the jury is in.
To be honest I don't like MobiLimb. But the point really is, I could be wrong.โ Dr. Kenneth Huang (@Dr. Kenneth Huang) 1538801646.0
As to why such a creepy gadget was invented, we can't quite put our finger on it. But then, when it comes to consumers' needs, these guys may be out of touch.