Machines now beat humans at lip-reading

http://www.zopag.com/news/computers-now-better-at-lipreading-than-humans/7169.html

Washington, September 10: A new study has revealed that computers are better at lip-reading than humans – a finding that could lead to novel methods of lip-reading training for the deaf and hard of hearing.

The research team from University of East Anglia compared the performance of a machine-based lip-reading system with that of 19 human lip-readers.

They found that the automated system significantly outperformed the human lip-readers – scoring a recognition rate of 80 per cent, compared with only 32 per cent for human viewers on the same task.

Unlike the traditional approach to lip-reading training, where viewers are taught to spot key lip-shapes from static (often drawn) images, the new video-based training system significantly improved their ability to lip-read monosyllabic words.

"This pilot study is the first time an automated lip-reading system has been benchmarked against human lip-readers and the results are perhaps surprising," said the study''s lead author Sarah Hilder.

Charge your car while you drive

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/153299/german-innovation-would-charge-your-car-while-you-drive/

One of the usual complaints about electric cars is how you handle long road trips. If an electric vehicle has a range of just a couple hundred miles, and then requires eight hours plugged into the wall, well, that family drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles turns from one long (but manageable) day of driving into a three-day ordeal.

But what if you could charge your car while you were on the road? That's the idea behind Germany's IAV Automotive Engineering, which has patented a system that embeds charging electronics right into the roadway, juicing up cars as they merrily roll along.

The idea is similar to any number of wireless power innovations: Electromagnetic field generators embedded in the road would induce an electrical current in charging equipment on the underside of your car, which would charge your battery as you drive. The chargers would activate only when a vehicle is present, using an RFID tag to identify the vehicle to the charging system (in part, presumably, to bill you appropriately for power used).

IAV says the system currently works at 90 percent efficiency and would be ready for commercial rollout in about three years. Similar systems could also be adapted for home use while cars are parked: Wireless chargers could be installed in your garage, for example, freeing you from the hassle of having to remember to plug your car into wall power after a long slog home from the industrial park. Nissan has a garage-based charging system in the works, as well.

Naturally there's a bit of a problem with the idea, and that's the little matter of how you outfit a highway system as vast as America's with what sounds like relatively complicated charging equipment. The U.S. has over 46,000 miles of interstate highways alone. Adding charging circuitry to all that roadway would surely cost tens of billions of dollars or more -- and that doesn't even consider adding equipment to intrastate roads.

Still, great idea... at least in theory.

"thank you littell f***ker", says waiter

http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/09/11/329843/rude-waiter-sacked-from-halifax-restaurant.html

A waiter has been sacked after signing off a customer’s bill with the misspelt words “thank you littell f***ker”.

The waiter at the Cactus Joe Mexican restaurant in Halifax put the message on the bottom of a family’s bill referring to their two year old, who had complained during the meal, according to reports in today’s Metro.

The family visited the restaurant on its opening weekend and had been seated in the advertised kid’s zone but had been frustrated by slow service and poor food which had led to complaints from the little girl.

Dad Craig Cartin said: “The meal was indifferent anyway but to be abused on the bill is unbelievably offensive, it’s awful behaviour.”

Restaurant owner Steve Ryan apologised unreservedly to the family for the message, admitting the behaviour was “inexcusable” and has invited the family back this weekend as his guests.

Bank wants thumbprint from man with no hands

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=112587

Tampa, Florida -- While most banks require a thumbprint to cash a check from someone who doesn't have an account, a Tampa man says that policy was impossible to comply with.

Steve Valdez says he was shocked when he was told he had to put his thumbprint on a check written on his wife's Bank of America check. Valdez says the check was written to him with the same address he has on his driver's license. Although he had two forms of identification both with pictures, the bank still required Valdez to give a thumbprint before it would cash the check.

But that was impossible, because Valdez was born without arms and wears prosthetic devices.

According to Valdez, when he gave the teller the check, she said "Obviously you can't give a thumbprint." But Valdez says the manager refused to cash the check unless he did.

When Valdez told the manager giving a thumbprint would be impossible, she suggested he either bring in his wife or open an account. Valdez says that's not the way the bank would treat someone without prosthetic arms, and he refused.

Valdez says he asked the bank if it had ever heard of the American with Disabilities Act and he says they told him they were accommodating him by offering the choices. But the ADA says businesses must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment.

A spokesman for Bank of America says while the thumbprint is a requirement for those who don't have accounts, the bank should have made accommodations.

City goes vegetarian for health and environment

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8046970.stm

The Belgian city of Ghent is about to become the first in the world to go vegetarian at least once a week.

Starting this week there will be a regular weekly meatless day, in which civil servants and elected councillors will opt for vegetarian meals.

Ghent means to recognise the impact of livestock on the environment.

The UN says livestock is responsible for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, hence Ghent's declaration of a weekly "veggie day".

Public officials and politicians will be the first to give up meat for a day.

Schoolchildren will follow suit with their own veggiedag in September.

It is hoped the move will cut Ghent's environmental footprint and help tackle obesity.

Around 90,000 so-called "veggie street maps" are now being printed to help people find the city's vegetarian eateries.

Roadkill cook-off, Spam Jam lure bold foodies

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/05/14/food.festivals/index.html

(CNN) -- Thousands of people converge on the small town of Marlinton, West Virginia, each fall for a feast whose main ingredients were unlucky enough to crawl, slither or lurk too close to a speeding car.

It's RoadKill Cook-Off time, where past years' crowds have sampled dishes like Pothole Possum Stew, Fricasseed Wabbit Gumbo and Smeared Hog with Groundhog Gravy.

Welcome to the world of unusual -- dare we say weird? -- food festivals.

Sure, you can find plenty of culinary celebrations dedicated to everything from rhubarb to seafood, but there are also options to satisfy your cravings for rattlesnake, fried pig intestines or garlic ice cream.

The RoadKill Cook-Off is so popular that it fills all the motels and hotels in the county when it takes place on the last Saturday in September, said David Cain, who runs the event and samples all the dishes.

"There are some that are better than others, but I've never really had anything that I really didn't like," Cain said. "But there was one year they cooked a rattlesnake in some kind of stew, and ... there was no way I could taste that one."

The RoadKill Cook-Off began in 1991, when organizers thought it might boost attendance at the main event: the Pocahontas County Autumn Harvest Festival.

Did it ever.

About 10,000 people from all over the country came to last year's gathering, Cain said. All dishes featured in the festival must have animals commonly found dead on the side of the road -- such as deer, squirrels and snakes -- as their main ingredient. But the meat doesn't have to be actual roadkill.

"Judges will deduct points for every chipped tooth resulting from gravel not removed from the RoadKill," the official rules warn. "All judges have been tested for cast-iron stomachs and have sworn under oath to have no vegetarian tendencies."

All about Spam

Thousands of miles away, in Honolulu, Hawaii, aficionados of canned luncheon meat gather in April for the annual Waikiki Spam Jam, described by organizers as "a street festival that celebrates the people of Hawaii's love for Spam."

Some may call it mystery meat, but it's not advisable to do so in Hawaii, which has the highest per-capita consumption rate of Spam products in the United States. Almost 7 million cans worth of the pinkish product are eaten every year in the Aloha State, according to festival officials.

The crowds at this year's Spam Jam sampled dishes such as Spam Fried Rice, Spam Burgers and Guava Mango BBQ Spam Sliders.

"I think people are amused by the whole idea because it is pretty different. Like, why would you celebrate Spam?" said Barbara Campbell, one of the founders of the festival. "It's just about having fun, and they love the different Spam items."

A restaurant that offered Spam Chili Nachos at the festival was so amazed by their popularity that it's thinking of adding the dish to its permanent menu, Campbell added.

Fans who admire the yellow and blue design of Spam cans also have a chance to splurge on Spam-themed merchandise, including T-shirts, baby items and slippers.

Celebrating the 'stinking rose'

Some unusual food festivals can tickle the nose as well as the palate. Vampires may hate garlic, but the pungent cloves draw huge crowds of hungry mortals each July to the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California, "the garlic capital of the world."

If you're a fan, pack some breath mints and enjoy everything from traditional garlic-infused fare like scampi and stuffed mushrooms, to more exotic choices. Garlic ice cream, anyone?

Those who have tried the frozen dessert describe it as an "acquired taste."

"I would say when you first taste it, it's like regular vanilla ice cream, and then give it about 10 seconds, and you feel the kick of garlic," said Peter Ciccarelli, director of media relations for the festival.

"It's not something that people would eat by a bowlful, nor would they put chocolate syrup on it."

Last year's festival drew more than 100,000 people who consumed more than 15,000 servings of garlic bread and 10,000 servings of garlic fries. Almost 3 tons of the "stinking rose," as garlic is sometimes fondly called, were used to flavor the dishes.

A meal with legs

The truly adventurous foodies may opt for BugFest and the leggy dishes served up by Café Insecta at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh each September.

Popular choices include the Ant-Chilada, a cheese enchilada in which toasted freeze-dried ants are used as both the filling and topping, and Hush-Grubbies, in which wax worm grubs are coated with hush-puppy batter and deep fried.

For dessert, visitors can try Chocolate-Chirp Cookies, which have crickets baked in.

"We basically use recipes that we would use for any other dish and substitute the protein," explained Matthew Busch, head chef at the museum's Acro Café, who creates the dishes at Café Insecta during BugFest. So, instead of doing a shrimp stir-fry, the museum might do a scorpion stir-fry.

Busch, who said he tries anything he cooks, recommended the Hush-Grubbies, calling the bugs inside "tasty" and "a little buttery." Stir-fried scorpions, on the other hand, can be a little bitter, he cautioned.

Watching the reactions of visitors who dig in to the bug-laden food is Busch's favorite part, and he described seeing an entire range of responses, from people who are gung-ho and want to try everything to those who are squeamish and have to be peer-pressured to take a bite.

Some people's strategy is just to eat around the bugs, Busch said.

Tenants asked to give 'death notice'

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Tenants_to_give_1_month%92s_death_notice&in_article_id=654465&in_page_id=34

Some council tenants are being asked to give their landlord four weeks notice of when they might die.
The ruling has sickened families who have been left to pay the rent charged to their relatives after their deaths.

But Charnwood Borough Council in Leicestershire said the only way the charges could be avoided was if the tenant notified officials of being a month away from death's door.

Jim Seaton, of Ibstock, Leicestershire, was sent a rent bill 18 days after his stepfather, Raymond Smith, died aged 80.

'I asked the council, “How does a dead man give one month's notice?' But they told me, “Sorry, rules are rules.”'

And Amanda Harrison said the council acted like 'vultures' after she was sent a bill for £229 after her aunt died, aged 88.

Cllr David Slater, lead member for housing, said he would do 'everything in his power' to overturn the 'absolutely ludicrous' and 'distasteful' policy.

However, Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, which deals with the contract, insisted the notice period was needed to maintain income and to ensure properties were re-let quickly.

Grow up, stop fretting, dying cancer teen told

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1160894/Grow-stop-worrying-What-doctor-said-X-Factor-singer-months-killed-cancerous-tumours.html

A teenager died from massive cancerous tumours after his GP repeatedly failed to diagnose the disease and told him to 'grow up a bit and stop worrying', an inquest has heard.

Christopher Chaffey, 19, was so worried about his failing health that he visited his doctor's surgery half a dozen times in the 15 months up to his death.

His symptoms were dismissed as minor and allegedly put down to 'panic attacks'.
Even when a blood test was 'significantly abnormal', the GP thought it indicated mild anaemia instead of taking it more seriously.

X Factor contestant Mr Chaffey found the same attitude at a hospital casualty department when he was taken there by ambulance with a headache, vomiting and chest pains.

A doctor at Hull Royal Infirmary believed he had an anxiety-related condition and told him to consult his GP.

But the teenager's body was gradually being ravaged by cancer and he died two months later - two days after doctors finally discovered the true nature of his condition.

A post-mortem examination found tumours in his neck and skull, as well as a huge tumour affecting his heart and lungs which weighed four-and-a-half pounds.

The alleged medical blunders were revealed at an inquest in Hull.

Dr Sahra Ali, a consultant haematologist who was involved only at the very end of his treatment, told the hearing that the lymphoma would have taken months to develop.

The doctor added: 'It's a very sad case which is treatable and potentially curable if it would have presented at an earlier stage.'

Mr Chaffey, of Coniston, near Hull, was a music fan and had been a contestant in The X Factor two years earlier, although he failed to get beyond the first round.
He was forced to postpone his A-level studies in media and law because of his health problems.

The inquest heard how Mr Chaffey's GP, Joseph Austin, ordered blood tests in July 2007 after the teenager complained of excessive sweating and hair loss. The tests showed abnormalities, but were not considered important.

Repeat blood tests the following April showed his haemoglobin levels had fallen, which the GP diagnosed as a mild type of anaemia.

Independent expert Bill Holmes said these blood test results should have been 'explored more actively'.

He said night sweating was a well-recognised symptom of lymphoma, although GPs usually came across more innocent causes.

Mr Chaffey's mother Patricia, 40, told the hearing that when her son went back to the GP with his taxi driver father Paul, 43, they were allegedly told 'he should grow up a bit and stop worrying there's something wrong with him'.

She took him back to the GP when bouts of fainting prevented him from doing voluntary work at a charity shop.

Mrs Chaffey told the GP about prominent veins on her son's chest, his voice becoming hoarse, and that she sometimes had to sleep in his bedroom, but the doctor put it down to panic attacks, the inquest heard.

Dr Austin said he never suspected his patient was suffering from anything serious. Asked by coroner Geoffrey Saul whether he had ever suggested to a member of the family that the problem was in the mind, Dr Austin replied: 'No, I never told him that.'

On July 19 last year, when Mr Chaffey was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, tests were ordered by Dr Mohammed As'Ad, who also decided there was nothing physically wrong with him.

Later, consultant Mark Higson concluded there had been 'several' missed opportunities at the A&E department when the cancer could have been picked up.
Mr Chaffey's father got in touch with the Psychosis Service for Young People, which put him on a six-month plan to cope with anxiety, but his health continued to worsen and his weight to drop.

On September 17 last, the family spotted a lump on his neck and he was seen by an out-of-hours doctor. He was admitted to hospital but by then it was too late.
The inquest continues.

Free lunch on offer

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/3/5/lifefocus/3385487&sec=lifefocus

AS the credit crunch bites deeper into Londoners’ pockets, many restaurants are at their wits’ end trying to boost their fledgling business.

First, there was Cha Cha Moon near Oxford Street. It caused a stir with its price-busting £3.50 (RM18.50) deals for popular hawker fare such as Singapore fried noodles and Penang prawn mee until recently.

Then came Little Bay in Farringdon, which literally tore up the bills and asked customers to name their price instead.

“No food bills – pay us what you think the food is worth,” declared a blackboard outside the eatery in east London. Some see it as a psychological ploy to test one’s self-respect.

In the end, many would have paid up more than what was on the table – an ego-boosting trip for some, while saving the blushes for others.

Of course, there were also those who saw the chance for a too-good-to-be-true meal. Some had the audacity to leave as little as two pence (about 10 sen) for the food before slipping off.

But no one had bargained for what a Vietnamese Chinese restaurateur came up with next – he’s paying customers £1 (RM5.30) to eat as much as they can!

Now, that’s what you call a real Chinese takeaway. It’s about paying people to stuff themselves with aromatic duck, honey roast spare ribs and chicken noodle soup while fighting recession at the same time.

“It’s my way of giving a little back to my loyal customers who had supported me during the good times,” said James Huynh of Oriental Aroma in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire.

He admitted that he had been incurring losses every day. Yet the day would come when his goodwill would earn back more business from his return customers.

“My mother used to tell me from childhood that if you’re prepared to give a little without expectation, in time you can only prosper,” said Huynh who arrived in Britain as a refugee about 30 years ago.

So it looks like the advice has been working well for him so far. Hence, the extraordinary offer believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

And since the promotion began recently, it has become the talk of the town, attracting a growing number of customers with queues forming even outside the restaurant.

Critics may sneer that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Well, the catch is you have to spend at least £5 (RM26.50) on drinks to qualify for the offer.

Huynh, however, insisted the drinks price was not a catch but merely to prevent undesirable people from “gate-crashing” the restaurant.

Say what you like. The ineluctable truth is that the economic crisis has left restaurateurs scraping the barrel for more innovative ideas to attract customers.