Free Republic

Facial recognition technology is creeping into Ireland fast – and not everyone’s grinning about it. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has announced that controversial facial recognition legislation will be introduced before the summer, after years of political wrangling, privacy fears and digital drama. The tech – already rolled out across parts of the UK – is being hailed as the Gardaí’s new secret weapon in crime-fighting. But critics say it’s a step too far into Big Brother territory. Are we gradually sliding into that dystopian future? All we can say is, it edges a little closer every day. Back from the...

This is pretty funny stuff if you have as sophmoric a sense of humor as I have. F@rtttt F@rt Within The Matrix

PARIS, Nov 11 (AFP) - Herrings appear to be sociable fish who like to communicate among themselves and use their natural flatulence to do so, a team of British and Canadian researchers has reported. A report in the British review Biology Letters describes how the researchers studied the sounds produced by two kinds of captive, wild-caught herring. "At night herring squeeze bubbles out of their swimbladders through an anal pore, producing sounds not unlike people blowing raspberries," the team of three recounts. The Pacific species (Clupea pallasii) were found to emit distinctive bursts of pulses, known as fast repetitive tick...