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Japanese government to track kids via mobile handsets
Here's a tip: don't relocate to Japan unless you're entirely down with being monitored practically everywhere you go. Sure, things aren't that serious quite yet, but with RFID tracking going on in schools, prisons, airlines, and now, um, everywhere else, you can pretty much rest assured that big brother is indeed taking notes. The next step in mass monitoring involves GPS, RFID, and cellphones, and the service is intended to track kids' whereabouts and alert parents whenever they enter potentially "dangerous areas." Reportedly, RFID readers will be setup in various areas (like school gates and electric polls) and track tags carried by (incredibly obedient) children, or better yet, simply monitor the GPS locator in the youngster's handset. Of course, we've no idea where these "danger zones" could be, nor how long the crime lords of the area will actually let that pole-sitting RFID reader remain in tact, but the system is supposed to be piloted in "20 regions across the country" real soon.[Via Textually]
CBS green lights 'Genius Bar' TV show
Apple's Genius Bar will soon be able to add 'entertainment' to its list of things it does for people, as CBS has given two thumbs up for a show pilot titled Genius Bar. The show apparently follows the employees of a place similar to Apple's Genius Bar and their adventures with "the cool, hip and beautiful" employees of a nearby Ambercrombie & Fitch-like store.Excuse me while I gag.Ok, and.. we're back from the gagging break. What on earth are these people thinking? Granted, Apple is flying high right now, but hold the phone. If Apple wanted a show to pimp themselves and their products, they could have conjured (or had CBS conjure) anything cooler than this: a Matrix rip-off where all the white and candy blue code looks like AppleScript, and the Agent Smiths look more like clones of Bill Gates, or a CSI spin-off where all the lab machines are Xserves and Mac Pros, and all the camera work in the field is done with MacBooks and iSights. Knowing CBS, the hip but slightly-too-arrogant Johnny from the Kinda-Genius Bar will have to cancel his date with Electra from Kimbercrombie & Fitch because he has to fix Heath Ledger's iPod. Ugh. But who knows - maybe the saving grace of the show might be that its straight-from-radio pop soundtrack will be available from the iTunes Store.
Hands on with ARINC's iLiad-based eFlyBook
We had a chance to spend some quality time this week with ARINC's eFlyBook, essentially an iRex iLiad all gussied up in aviation trim. True, we know the subject matter may not interest the lion's share of our readers, but finding appropriate vertical markets may prove crucial to the short-term success of the iLiad and products like it -- besides, the eFlyBook is a dead ringer for its unbranded sibling, so if you're in the eBook market, do read on.
Nick Jr. debuts "mini pilots" on mobiles
Jumping on the mobile TV bandwagon, kid's channel Nick Jr. has debuted three new "mini pilots" on wireless carriers, ahead of launching them on Nick Jr.'s broadband video service and the channel itself. The three pilots include Pass the Pinha, Jinny Starfly and All Aboard, all developed by Nick Jr.'s Institute of Applied Play, and run between one to three minutes each. Unfortunately, Nick Jr. wasn't kind enough to say which carriers would actually be carrying the pilots.[Via MocoNews]
Airbus turns to robots for in-flight emergencies
The Wall Street Journal reports that Airbus is planning on turning the controls of its planes over to Skynet friendly onboard computer copilots in case of emergencies like an impending midair collision. Currently, pilots are trained to turn off the autopilot when they encounter an emergency and maneuver the plane to safety themselves. But Airbus thinks that pilots sometimes overreact in such situations, unneccessarily shaking up the passengers (at best). The company plans to install the system on its A380 jet as early as next year and eventually install them on all their aircraft. Pilots, not suprisingly, are none too pleased with the move; Air Line Pilots Association safety offical Larry Newman says it's leading to pilots getting further and further away from the process of responding to emergencies themselves (well duh). Not to mention the whole, you know, robots making decisions that could directly affect hundreds or thousands of human lives thing. For its part, Boeing has said it will continue to rely on human pilots in case of emergencies.
