Canadians have new patriotic swagger

Canadians have new patriotic swagger - Canadians have long been known to be coy about bragging about how great their country is and displaying nationalistic symbols but a recent survey says that is changing.

Canadians have new patriotic swagger

Canadians have new patriotic swagger

The survey was conducted by Ipsos-Reid online. It polled 1,100 people between 20-22 June and was produced for the Historica-Dominion Institute. Results suggest that Canadians are getting brash and proud about their country and in-your-face patriotism is becoming far more normal.

Of course much of this centers around the use of the famous flag symbol, the Maple Leaf. Apparently One in five said they would consider getting a tattoo of it somewhere on their body. This was heightened in the under 55's and strongest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

From my years in Canada I recognise the red leaf as a distinct Canadian symbol. Like Canadas image it appears non-offensive, does not symbolise war or oppression and looks far cooler than most flags. It's a lucky piece of branding for a country to have!

The years of people saying things good about Canada and celebrating the leaf must be rubbing off if the results of this survey are to be believed.

As a non-Canadian I like the symbol too and like that Canadians don't feel bad displaying it and are ever more interested in going beyond using it just as a flag. Of course if you are not careful nationalism can go too far the wrong way but I think as a whole that is a long way off.

Interestingly the maple tree where the symbol comes from only grows in Eastern Canada but the West seem to love it just as much!

More details of other findings from the survey, including where Canadians rate Poutine as a national food and what they think of Beavers, can be read  in this article over at MSN.

Are you Canadian, how do you relate to your national symbols and patriotism? Do you see a problem with it and would you prefer the old more humble Canadian style to be on the rise instead?

Republished from The Random Forest.

World's fastest skateboarder reaches 80mph

World's fastest skateboarder reaches 80mph - Mischo Erban broke the current land speed record on a skateboard by quite an astounding amount recently in Quebec, Canada and says he didn't even feel challenged.

World's fastest skateboarder reaches 80mph

According to the story from Digital Spy 28-year old Mischo Erban reached 130kph which broke the current record by a massive 16kph.

The record success took place in Quebec on a road they call locally "the landslide".

He seemed relaxed and of the event said "I came to the hill thinking I would be scared but at the end it was just a game. I didn't really even feel challenged.", he also joked that he will double his speed if someone builds the right road.

Check out the crazy video of the record breaker below:

Wow, just wow!

Story details sourced from Digital Spy.

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/worlds-fastest-skateboarder-reaches-80mph/

Scissors, Paper, Stone: unbeatable robot wins every hand

Scissors, Paper, Stone: unbeatable robot wins every hand - Stone, Paper, Scissors is a classic that some people have an inherent, almost telepathic way of winning! Of course it probably comes down to reaction time and also character judging so how can it be possible that the very human game has been infiltrated by an unbeatable robot?

Scissors, Paper, Stone: unbeatable robot wins every hand

The Japanese robot is a cheat! It simply recognises the hand gesture and responds according. It only takes one milisecond too recognise so the reaction is pretty much impossible to spot. Of course the current application of the robot is a little fun but it's implications could be far reaching. Check it out in the video below.

Amazing, eh?

Now the uses of such a gesture recognition system could be anywhere from medical to transportation to home help. Just think a gesture based walking robot could give new leg life to amputees again. It could be used as a braking system in cars or even for automated driving improvements.

What applications can you think up?

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/scissors-paper-stone-unbeatable-robot-wins-every-hand/

WTA to install Grunt-O-Meter

WTA to install Grunt-O-Meter - Grunting of mostly female tennis players has been annoying spectators so much that apparently the WTA is considering a 3-step plan to bring the noise levels down.

WTA to install Grunt-O-Meter

WTA to install Grunt-O-Meter

Watch any Tennis match and the players will make a noise when the hit the ball. Women are often pointed out for their loud and shrill grunts on contact, particularily the likes of Maria Sharapova amongst many. Many Male players also have loud grunts.

Apparently spectators have been complaining and the World Tennis Association has a plan.

According to an article from USA Today the 3-part plan includes:

• The development of a handheld device — a kind of Hawk-Eye for noise — for umpires to objectively measure on-court grunting levels.
• A new rule setting acceptable and non-acceptable noise levels based on acoustical data gathering and analysis.
• Education at large tennis academies, national development programs and at all levels of junior and lower-tier professional events.

WTA chief executive and chairman Stacey Allaster stopped short of calling it a Grunt-o-Meter but we all know that it is!

Now, what do I think?

I don't know if you want to hear my opinion but I honestly don't see an issue with grunting. It's a physical game and physical exertion is often helped by exerting noise. I am sure many would not hit quite the same if they had to curb it.

Sportspersons should be pretty much allowed to exhibit whatever quirks make them work hardest and curbing the grunt is a bad idea. Plus it's a character thing too!

What do you think about the ideas proposed by the WTA?

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/wta-install-grunt-o-meter/

James Hackett assault and battery

James Hackett assault and battery - A man is being charged over allegedly throwing a carton of McDonalds fries at his 11-year old step daughter in a moment of anger.

James Hackett assault and battery

At first a charge seems a little over the top. The story goes that the family, James, his wife and step-daughter visited McDs and on the way home in the car the couple started arguing over money.

The 11-year old interjected and out of anger James threw the fries into the backseat where they hit the girl in the face.

Thinking about the incident a little more I see the charge a little more clearly if it happened that way. The fries have been described as hot and oily with potential to burn and the act itself was violent and maybe aimed at the child.

Lowell Sun: Man plans not-guilty in French fry assault

The Lowell Sun reported that James Hackett pleaded not guilty in district court. He is on bail on condition he goes no where near the girl.

More details can be found on The Smoking Gun.

What do you think? Is a charge harsh or should he be seriously reprimanded if it is decided events did happen like this?

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/james-hackett-assault-battery/

Anthony Davis trademark

Anthony Davis trademark - You gotta give it to Anthony Davis. His amazing basketball skills shown playing for the University of Kentucky were often equalled by remarks of his looks. His unibrow stole the show but despite advice he refused to get rid of it.

Anthony Davis trademark

Now Anthony is heading for the big time and gearing up for his first NBA draft. It's his chance to shine and show that all the brow mocking and pro-brow talk was worth it. He has trademarked his unibrow and is sure to cash in on the unique feature.

So, expect to see trademarked "Fear the Brow" merchandise popping up and see Anthony cashing in.

Good luck to him and his drafting.

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/anthony-davis-trademark/

Romney billed 10000

Romney billed 10000 - A visit to Newport Beach, California isn't cheap it seems as Mitt Romney is facing a $10k bill after his recent campaign visit. Of course it is a drop in the ocean for the money he has raised so far.

Romney billed 10000

So why would a town bill someone bringing a big campaigning event to town? Well big events cost money and Mitt Romney was billed because of police officer overtime.

If you think this is a dig at the Republican's candidate then think again. When President Obama rolled into town it was reported "Newport Beach charges president 35000".

It seems Romney is edging ahead of Obama, at least in the fund raising stakes as it was said that he raised $76 million in May. I find that kind of sad in a world where that money could be going to some real use! In comparison Ron Paul only raised 1.78 million.

Romney billed 10000

Do you think the town should just be happy to have them in town?

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/romney-billed-10000/

TSA grandfather ashes

TSA grandfather ashes - TSA workers are back in the news again after an alleged and very sad sounding disprespectful incident regarding a man carrying his grandfather's ashes.

TSA spills grandpa ashes laugh

TSA grandfather ashes

John Gross says he was travelling on 19th June on a Express connecting flight to Newark and then onwards to his home Indianapolis when his bag was called for a bag check after going through an x-ray.

He alleges that a TSA officer opened a small jar containing his grandfathers ashes and spilled around a quarter of them onto the floor. As he was frantically trying to mop them up he says the lady was laughing, not chuckling, laughing!

Man wants TSA to apologize over ashes incident

The TSA doesn't need anymore bad publicity so if this turns out to be true (although that could be hard to be 100% sure on) the employee should be seriously reprimanded. John Gross says he wants a formal apology from the TSA which I am sure we can all fully respect.

The jar was marked Human Remains and should have been checked via an x-ray.

In an article from Seattle Times John said:

"I didn't want to cause a scene because I didn't want them to throw me off my flight or put me on the no-fly list," said Gross, 30, a restaurant manager. "It didn't really hit me until I got on the plane."

And on talking to a lady on the number sympathetic TSA officials gave him:

"She basically hung up on me because there was nothing she could do," Gross said. "I don't want anything. All I want is an apology. And I want to understand where they get off treating people like this."

And on his grandpa:

"My grandpa I'm sure is up there in heaven laughing about this. I'm wondering who stepped in his ashes and where they are now. Maybe a little bit made it to Cubs' stadium," Gross said. "You've got to laugh about it but when you get down to it, it's not a laughing matter."

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/tsa-grandfather-ashes/

Stephanie Rice bikini

Stephanie Rice bikini controversy - Like much controversy these days it all started with a Tweet....

On 23rd June from her @ItsStephRice Twitter handle she tweeted:

"Thankyou to the Gorgeous @elliegonsalves for my birthday @veveswimwear bikini"

And this the image via Instagram.

Stephanie Rice bikini via Twitter / Instagram

The thing is I don't understand anything negative going around. It's her right to do this if she wants although some concerns were spreading over sponsorship issues but she isn't sponsored by Speedo anymore.

She is used to being in public with revealing clothing si I guess this doesn't bother her and that is absolutely fine and her choice.

What do you think?

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/stephanie-rice-bikini/

Rainbow Oreos - It seems the battle for Gay Rights has taken a step forward with a major product endorsing the cause and although causing controversy showing that being Gay is now becoming ever more ok in the mainstream.

Rainbow Oreos

Oreo is an all-American cookie, something that symbolises the America of the last 60 years and something that everyone has fond memories of growing up. The NaBisCo favorite has to be careful because it is a cookie, not a political statement however it seems that being gay is now ok enough for the corporation to support the Pride movement. I think this is awesome!

So what happened?

Kraft has produced an image on their Facebook page showing a rainbow colored layered Oreo in support of Gay Price. The image can be seen below.

Rainbow Oreos

Kraft have also said this is just the beginning of a line of support images from their brands coming this month.

Of course the anti-gay lot are calling for an Oreo boycott now but many people are hailing Kraft for the move including me.

Many are calling for the cookie to be made, sadly the image above is just photoshoped so they don't even have a prototype yet!

You can go and like the image here.

More details can be found in the story from Time.

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/rainbow-oreos/

Impaled at WTC

Impaled at WTC - following 4 World Trade Center's celebration of it's final steel beam on Monday there has been a sad accident where a worker has dropped approximately 5 feet and impaled himself on a bit of metal.

Luckily for the worker he is expected to survive although he is in critical condition.

More details can be found in the Huffington Post.

Below you can see a rendering of what 4 World Trade Center is going to look like on completion, it's pretty impressive.

Image source from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:4wtcrendering.png

Story republished from: http://therandomforest.com/impaled-wtc/

What makes a product cool?

What makes a product cool? - Some things just have it and some don't. We can all take a glance at a product and almost like an instinct decide if it is cool or not. Much of what makes cool is an illusion, a contextual decision we make based on what we feel is currently cool and what kind of cool we personally identify with.

What makes a product cool?

Corporations invest a huge amount of time and money studying trends and working out what is going to be perceived as cool. If 5" thick solid metal blocks were thought to be something people would think of as cool then the iPads of today may well have looked like that. You just need to peak back to the crazy 1980s to know that cool changes dramatically although saying that a large proportion of hip youngsters have now brought elements of the 80s back and decided they are now cool again. It's a hard thing to nail down.

Form and function

The two overriding factors are generally how the thing looks, which is ever changing things and how it functions which could be seen as a constant. It's a constant in the fact that a cool product will usually be one that fills a need or does something that nothing else can do. An iPad is cool because you can do all the basic things of a previously much larger device. You need no additional equipment such as  a mouse and it's read to use i seconds. The form works because it is streamlined and fits in any bag. Apple have rewritten the book on cool in many ways in recent years and other companies base much of what they release on how Apple's current line of products look.

The function does not always have to be a need though. That can be attested to with items that litter shops like Urban Outfitters. They sell many retro-replica's and the function in that aspect is that these things can do something that old things used to do. An example being the low-grade copies of Russian communist cameras. These film cameras have red hues on the images and burned edges plus barely focus. In aspects of quality they are horrible but they are cool because they replicate something interesting of the past. Of course things like Instagram manage to use modern devices to produce the same thing, now that is a hybrid of cool!

Demand is also another aspect of cool. If someone you think is cool has something then their cool passes onto that thing. They could like drinking a cheap supermarket wine because it's cheap and it doesn't make them sick. All their friends who look up at them may well start doing the same thing thinking it is a cool idea. That product gets caught in a wave and could become cool. This has already happened with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, a cheap beer that is drinkable and is now a hipster favorite.

I can't nail what is cool but I like to think it's more function heavy for me. Of course like anyone I like a bit of Retro and reminding of things I loved as a kid. If I saw a Goonies T-shirt I would think that was cool, a homage is always cool!

What do you think makes things and products cool?