BagOfNothing.com

Yesterday Omron released a very interesting piece of technology “Smile Measurement Software”, basically, and as you will see in the picture below, Omron is able to detect the smile factor of one or several people on a scale of 0% to 100%, here is an explanation from Omron Staff regarding this new software.

“The software measures’ how much a subject is smiling and outputs a ‘smile factor’ on a scale of 0 to 100% 3D face mapping technology ensures accurate smile detection and measurement even if the subject is not looking directly at the camera, something which other technologies on the market have not always been able to do, and which opens up avenues for applications in mobile devices.

Link

The conventional response to myths and urban legends is to counter bad information with accurate information. But the new psychological studies show that denials and clarifications, for all their intuitive appeal, can paradoxically contribute to the resiliency of popular myths.

This phenomenon may help explain why large numbers of Americans incorrectly think that Saddam Hussein was directly involved in planning the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Iraqi. While these beliefs likely arose because Bush administration officials have repeatedly tried to connect Iraq with Sept. 11, the experiments suggest that intelligence reports and other efforts to debunk this account may in fact help keep it alive.

Similarly, many in the Arab world are convinced that the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 was not the work of Arab terrorists but was a controlled demolition; that 4,000 Jews working there had been warned to stay home that day; and that the Pentagon was struck by a missile rather than a plane.

Link

It’s an interesting study and article, but I think I can sum it all up by saying that people tend to believe what they want to believe.

From Britain’s Got Talent with American Idol’s Simon Cowell.

A mobile phone salesman does good.

I found that video on this site which provides links to more videos, even a Today Show interview.