July 28, 2016
Today's Specials
This week in eSports... ESL turns to Facebook Live
This week in eSports news: ESL uses Facebook Live to tantalize followers, Twitch bans a popular player for owning a gambling site, and eSport players turn to sponsors to pay the bills.
DID YOU KNOWs…
How good is your tolerance?
Andre the Giant could, literally, drink you out of house and home. According to former pro wrestler Floyd Gerald Brisco, Andre used throw back some adult beverages before hopping into the ring. Brisco claims that Andre could drink six bottles of wine in a single sitting. It’s also been claimed he could down 100 beers in a sitting. Our livers are rebelling just thinking about it.
Walk this way!
McDonald’s in Wales has been experimenting with a “walk-thru” for hungry late-night revelers too drunk to drive. The pedestrian lane has been open from 2:30-4am. The branch claims that the walk-thru is a hit but McD’s isn’t planning on adding such a service anywhere else at the moment. :(
Munchies for profit
The cannabis industry could reach $100 billion by 2029 in the US alone. However, there are still plenty of hurdles for entrepreneurs to overcome, such as the lingering social pressures from Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaigns. Not many people want to (publicly) invest in cannabis companies just yet.
HIBACHI & CHILL?
Why it’s important to you: Some stories just make you scratch your head.
Millennials, WTF? If a new report is to be believed, Generation Y members prefer a great meal to great sex. Yes, you read that correctly. Turns out with almost 12k men and women from 37 countries polled, Millennials think eating is equal in pleasure to sex, and 35% would opt for dinner over a roll in the hay. Unsurprisingly, more women (42%) would make the food/nookie trade, while only 26% of men found that choice palatable. For a generation with such promise, you guys sure do you have your priorities discombobulated…says this 50 something Gen Xer who is always planning his next meal. Bon Appetit!
Manneken-Pis? A woman claims she was sexually assaulted by a toy while dining at a Murfreesboro Tennessee hibachi restaurant. Isabelle Lassiter was dining with her husband, James, when the hibachi chef produced a toy replica of a little boy that squirts water from his nether region when his pants are pulled down. Isabelle was horrified when she was targeted by the toy’s “wee-wee” (this is a direct quote).
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS…
Why it’s important to you: What liability in your business can you turn into an asset?
If you are old enough to remember the twin nuclear disasters from Three Mile Island, USA and Chernobyl, Ukraine, then you will appreciate that the Ukrainian government has proposed building a solar power field on the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Developers already have plans to install four megawatts of capacity in the abandoned city by year’s end. It’s a fairly thoughtful idea, with existing power transmission infrastructure sufficient to carry that much energy and no resistance to reclaiming the land. Already two US and four Canadian companies have expressed interest in the project. This really could be a story that ends with chicken soup coming from chicken….
EYE IN THE SKY
Why it’s important to you: Is your security worth your liberty?
Much has been made of the security situation surrounding the Rio Olympics. With crime spiking, the Brazilian government claiming to have foiled an ISIS-inspired attack, and a multitude of visitors on their way, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice is deploying a new technology called Simera. It uses a hot air balloon equipped with 13 cameras that can watch movements over a 40 square kilometer area. Think Google Maps with TIVO as described by Logos executive (makers of Simera) Doug Rombough.
The technology was original developed to protect and patrol US compounds in Afghanistan/Iraq and the company has since reduced the weight and cost sufficiently that it makes sense for civilian use. Brazil immediately bought four units as soon as they were released. Rombough explains that the technology will allow authorities to find a crime that has been committed and wind back to where the perpetrators began their journey as well as track the movements of people and vehicles in real time.
Not to be too preachy here, but this is a bit Big Brother-ish. We all want to feel more secure and certainly these Olympics with all of their disasters needs as much help as it can get. The concern is whether we can trust the government to use this much information and surveillance with ethics and thoughtfulness. Keep your eye on Brazil, there will be a lot to learn from these games.