News time again

Engaget runs this story about an underwater camera system saving a kid who blacked out in a swimming pool in Wales. Apparently it’s a pilot scheme, which explains why they’re installing it in Wales, I suppose.

The Poseidon system … uses a series of overhead and underwater cameras to track movement in a pool. When a swimmer disappears beneath the surface, software triggers an alert, which can help a lifeguard reach the victim more quickly. In this case, the computer issued an alert within 10 seconds after the girl, who was swimming in the deep end of a 12-foot deep pool, sank to the bottom

They don’t mention whether it has automagic turd spotting capabilities.

Gadget wise and they have this little beauty from a research dept at Phillips. All a bit first gen, actually pre first gen, they don’t plan to market the thing, it’s been produced “to stimulate consumer feedback”.

I’ll give you some feedback; “I WANT ONE!!!”

Shockingly enough the press here, which is all bought from US networks, is saturated with some story about it raining a lot in the Southern States. Now I know what Don McLean drove his Chevy to. I’d always wondered about that. In all seriousness, it looks really bad over there and I understand that New Orleans was a very beautiful town, but didn’t they think that, just possibly, building a city below sea level in a tornado zone was a little risky? Perhaps that’s why they filled it with so many poor people.

Finally for today, a lovely story of the British service industry in which a Royal mail telephone customer (apparently the RM sell phone time now..?) was told in a letter that; “Failure to pay will result in you being hospitalized”. Nice.

That’s all for now. I’m off to Bangkok to meet up with Jezza tomorrow and then back for the final 2 week climb up hill to the dizzy heights of finally leaving this place.

Bomber out