Vest-wearing giant rats could be smugglers’ worst nightmare
New Atlas | October 30, 2024 | Michael FrancoMost of us are familiar with the vest-clad beagle that hunts for illegal fruits and plants in the travelers’ luggage at airports. Now, a species of giant pouched rat has been trained to fulfill a similar role in finding illegal wildlife products.
The rodents who underwent the training are African giant pouched rats and, despite their somewhat terrifying name, really only grow to be about 750 mm (about 2.5 ft) long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, with the tail taking up about half that length. While that’s indeed big for a rat, it makes the animal small enough that it could wander among tightly packed crates in shipping containers to combat illegally smuggled products.
Archive of entries posted on 30th October 2024
Cryptogram
i.e., a message delivered via a crypt:
And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’ Well, let me tell you something. I don’t — I — I don’t know the Puerto Rican that — that I know — or a Puerto Rico, where I’m fr- — in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.
Straight Line of the Day: What Would Your Robot Vacuum Yell at You?
Hacked Robot Vacuums Across the U.S. Started Yelling Slurs
Gizmodo | October 11, 2024 | Tom Maxwell“It could have been worse,” one owner incredibly concluded.
It’s a tale as old as… the Internet of Things era. Robot vacuums made by Ecovacs have been reported roving around people’s homes, yelling profanities at them through the onboard speakers after the company’s software was found to be vulnerable to intrusion.
ABC News in Australia reports that there were recently multiple instances across the U.S. when owners of Ecovacs vacuums noticed their devices acting unusually.
“It sounded like a broken-up radio signal or something,” Daniel Swenson told the outlet. “You could hear snippets of maybe a voice.” He opened the vacuum’s app to find a stranger was accessing its live camera feed and remote control feature, but assumed it might be an error. After resetting the password and rebooting the robot, the vacuum quickly started moving again.
And why don’t robot vacuums look like this?
Welcome to the Theoretical Alpha Male Who Is Considering Voting for Kamala
Bond Girlathon : 10/9/2024 Results : New matches 10/16/2024
We had another good set of matches I hope you enjoyed and here are the next two.
Due to the outage we are continuing this set with voting open through November 6th.
Results
| Mary Stovin | No Preference | Grace Jones |
|---|---|---|
| 232 | 1 | 8 |
| Maryam d’Abo | No Preference | Fiona Fullerton |
|---|---|---|
| 145 | 2 | 65 |
This week.
Kell Tyler (Linda) vs Carey Lowell (Pam Bouvier)
Actress: Kell Tyler Nationality: American Bond Movie: The Living Daylights (1987) Synopsis:
A lady of leisure, Linda was aboard her boat complaining on the phone to a friend. “It’s all so boring here Margo, there’s nothing but playboys and tennis pros. Ugh, if only I could find a real man.” At which point, Bond landed his holey and smoldering parachute on the yacht, hung up her phone and dialled exercise control. He said he would report in an hour, until Linda held up a glass of champagne, then he changed his mind to 2 hours.
VS
Actress: Carey Lowell Nationality: American Bond Movie: Licence to Kill (1989) Synopsis:
Pam Bouvier was a CIA freelancer pilot, and an informant against drug baron Franz Sanchez. Bond found her name on an informant list along with the time and place of her next meeting. He met her at a bar and escaped with her after Sanchez’s henchman Dario showed up. Pam then flew Bond to Isthmus City to find Sanchez, and became his executive secretary as a cover.
This poll is no longer accepting votes
Talisa Soto (Lupe Lamora) vs Eva Green (Vesper Lynd)
Actress: Talisa Soto Nationality: American Bond Movie: Licence to Kill (1989) Synopsis:
Lupe Lamora was the mistress of drug baron Franz Sanchez. Lupe frequently slept around, and Sanchez went to deal with one of her lovers in Florida, getting himself arrested by the DEA in the process. Bond met Lupe unintentionally when trying to kill someone aboard her boat. They met again at a casino, and Bond forced Lupe into taking him upstairs to meet Sanchez. Although Lupe was a love interest, Bond left her at the end of film to be with Pam Bouvier.
VS
Actress: Eva Green Nationality: French Bond Movie: Casino Royale (2006) Synopsis:
Vesper Lynd worked for Her Majesty’s Treasury, and was assigned to manage the funds lent to Bond for his poker game with villain Le Chiffre. She got caught up with a vicious fight between Bond and Steven Obanno, that ended in Obanno’s bloody death. Bond found Vesper sitting shivering and fully dressed in the shower, trying to wash away the blood. He comforted her, and the two bonded. When Bond was poisoned by Le Chiffre, Vesper came to Bond’s aid and saved his life. Later in the film, the pair were captured, and Vesper spared Bond’s life in a series of events that led to the end of her own.
This poll is no longer accepting votes