Strange.

The gadget could be a godsend in a country where a growing number of young people find child-rearing too burdensome, although some experts are cautious about an almost science-fiction world where babies are understood with machines before they learn to talk.

Shinohara’s group has been conducting experiments involving mothers and their babies by monitoring the infants’ cries, facial expressions and body temperature changes in a project backed by the government-subsidized Japan Science and Technology Agency.

“We are trying to read babies’ faces numerically such as the distance between eyebrows and the nose tip,” Shinohara tells AFP.

As for other clues on what babies mean to say, researchers are also analyzing whether high or low frequencies in the sound of the cries show they want specific things.

The team is also monitoring the temperatures of babies’ bodies, mostly the face, through thermography. Shinohara says changes in temperature normally indicate particular desires.

The professor, who declined to elaborate on his conclusions or the shape of the gadget pending patenting, aims to launch the device by mid-2006.

“The technology will be completed by around summer this year,” he says. “Commercialization will likely come in spring or summer of next year as it is expected to take some time to make the device smaller.”

The product would be for use at both medical institutions and in homes. The professor says he wants to make the price for a home-use version below 10,000 yen (95 dollars).

While perusing the newly minted Huffington Post, I was impressed by this perspective from Quincy Jones, regarding fame.

All I know is that, on their own, human beings are not programmed to be able to handle that much fame, that much adulation, that much success. The only way to deal with something that overwhelming — even overwhelming success — is if you are spiritually centered.

If you believe that you deserve all that money and adulation, that’s a problem. If you believe you don’t deserve it, that’s also a problem. And if you don’t understand this, you’re in trouble.

I’ve been in the business 57 years and I’ve seen it over and over again. It’s all about trusting a higher power; believing in divinity. It’s about cause and manifestation. Cause being God’s job, manifestation clearly being our job. The moment success leads you to say, “I’ll take it from here, God,” God’s reply will be, “Be my guest.” And God will walk out of the room.

Also, as a side note, I’m not sure what it says about my “hipness” - but I don’t recognize most of the names on this new celebrity group blog. Maybe I should peruse the tabloids at the supermarket a bit more next time I’m there.

Day one of The Huffington Post yesterday, and they’re claiming scoops.

According to the book, which will be released to the public on May 17, based on National Security Agency electronic intercepts, the Saudi Arabian government has in place a nationwide, self-destruction explosive system composed of conventional explosives and dirty bombs strategically placed at the Kingdom’s key oil ports, pipelines, pumping stations, storage tanks, offshore platforms, and backup facilities. If activated, the bombs would destroy the infrastructure of the world’s largest oil supplier, and leave the country a contaminated nuclear wasteland ensuring that the Kingdom’s oil would be unusable to anyone. The NSA file is dubbed internally Petro SE, for petroleum scorched earth.

Back Seat Drivers has a take on it (Saudi’s relying on NSA to spread the word?), as does the large headed Jonathan Schwarz.

Daniel Pipes has more.

If such a system is in place, two implications leap to mind. Should the Saudi monarchy retain its grip on power (which I consider likely), it has created for itself a unique deterrence against invasion. But, should the monarchy be replaced by an Islamic emirate in the spirit of Afghanistan’s Taliban (the main contender for power), this ferociously anti-Western government would have at its disposal a cataclysmic suicide-bomber capacity; with one push of a button, conceivably, it could shake the world order. And it would be well-disposed to doing just that.

Western intelligence services need urgently to do more than listen in on Saudi conversations; they need to find the truth out about those explosives. Should they exist, Western governments need profoundly to reassess their relationships with the kingdom.

Great comment by RightWingSparkle over at Ace of Spades on the NY Times’ Adam Cohen blog-bashing piece.

RWS is addressing the question of why bloggers blog in the first place, and this probably gets to the heart of the matter for a lot of us.

It’s a release actually. We are saving our family and friends from our infernal yakking about things they care nothing about.

And Michelle Malkin thinks Cohen has a double standard.

There are so many others discussing this story, I’m not going to add my bloviating, go find ‘em yourself. :-)

From Eugene Volokh you will find an interesting discussion of this case.

The Court has repeatedly held that the Establishment Clause bars public schools from endorsing and disapproving of theological beliefs. Schools are quite free to express the view on whether homosexuality is wrong and on whether hostility to homosexuality is wrong; that some view on a secular topic corresponds to or is opposed to a religion’s view doesn’t keep the school from teaching that view. But schools are not free to express views on how the Bible should be interpreted, what is or is not sin from the Biblical perspective, and which religious groups have good interpretations of the Bible and which have bad ones.

More from Pillage Idiot, the League of David, the Debate Link, the Unalienable Right, and Secure Liberty.

Wired News Releases Source Review. And the AP reports.

An investigation into the sourcing and accuracy of news stories by a freelance journalist at a leading Internet news site concluded that the existence of dozens of people quoted in the articles could not be confirmed.

Wired News, which publishes some articles from Wired magazine, paid for the review of stories by one of its frequent contributors, Michelle Delio, 37, of New York City. It disclosed results late Monday.

The review determined that dozens of people cited in articles by Delio primarily during the past 18 months could not be located. Many of the people who were cited as sources and who could not be located had common names and occupations and were reported to be living in large metropolitan regions.

Wow, this is a riot! Click through to check out the message that Washington State University students sent to Christine Gregoire.

Via MM. More here, here, here and here.

Now we know.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Google or Technorati search for Jennifer Wilbanks Toast. Nuts. And hilarious.

Perry Lonzello

Think you have it bad at work? Check out this site: The Worst Jobs in History.

Take this one, for example. The Guillemot-egg collector.

Collecting guillemot eggs – a common practice in what is popularly known as the ‘Dark Ages’ – involves climbing over the edge of a cliff and making your way down to the precarious ledges where the nests are found. To assist you in this task, you will be provided with a rope fashioned from seal skin and a bucket.

As well as the obvious danger of falling from a great height into a raging sea and being crushed against jagged rocks, you also run a high risk of being attacked by guillemots who quite naturally want to keep their eggs from your clutches. Such bird assaults may result in cuts and bruises or, more seriously, in loss of contact between you and the cliff face.

Via another Eric.

There are just so many things wrong with this story: Convicted Child Molester Arrested After Babysitting.

First problem. No jail time for sexual assault on a child under 12?

Moreland was sentenced to three years of probation eight months ago after pleading guilty as an adult to committing lewd acts on a child under 12. That molestation happened in 2002.

Compounded problem: He is babysitting young children? And the mother did not know his history?

According to the arrest report, a mother who apparently did not know Moreland’s history had him watch her five children — two boys ages 11 and 8, and three girls, ages 9, 6 and 3 — on Thursday.

Now, I’m all for innocent until proven guilty. However, if it turns out that he is in fact guilty, the book better be thrown at this guy to protect other young children. None of this “three years probation” stuff.

One of my all time favorite toys is on sale - at my favorite Discovery Toys Consultant’s website!

Check out the special sale edition of the Super Marbleworks Raceway Construction set. The normal set sells for $36.99, but the comparable sale version is selling for $19.99.

Click here (http://shop.teachwithtoys.com), and put the item number 3869 in the “Search Catalog” box on the left.

The full description is:

For a limited time, get this special set! Offers a unique mix of SuperMarbleworks® pieces. 50 pieces plus 10 marbles and decals sheet. 2 standard ramps, 1 bumper ramp, 1 paddle wheel ramp, 1 snake ramp, 1 maze ramp, 1 start gate, 1 split track, 32 posts, 1 jump chute, 6 feet, 1 landing ramp, 1 finish gate. While Supplies last. Appropriate for 5 years and Up

I think it’s one of those “while supplies last” things, so go get ‘em!! :-)

UPDATE: I’ve also noticed that they are also running a special on “Science and Discovery” items, so while you’re there, check out that link on the left side as well.