The Razzies - Review Podcast

The Raspberry Awards Review

The Razzies

The first Golden Raspberry award ceremony was held in 1981 to award films released1980, its creator was a copywriter and publicist named John J. B. Wilson.

John J B Wilson founder

He held the event at his home in Los Angeles, It began after the completion of the 53^rd Academy Awards, he invited a few dozen friends and colleagues and created ballots for ‘worst of ‘ categories, and create random award presentations; dressed in a tacky tuxedo, with a cardboard podium, and using a broomstick with a foam ball as a fake microphone.  That night was a success; and being a publicist, he sent out a press release about his event the next day, which got picked up by a few local newspapers. 

The second year the number of people who attended doubled, and exponentially the number at the 3^rd annual Raspberry awards doubled from the last attendance number. Which prompted CNN and two major wire services to cover the event, it was around that time when Wilson realized that holding the event before the Oscars when all the world media was in town and having nothing really to do before hand, that the Golden raspberry awards would have the most press coverage.  As a result, we are celebrating the 34^th Annual Golden Raspberry awards this year.

The Golden Raspberry awards or Razzies are now traditionally held the night before the Oscars, only a very select few stars have ever had the courage, or sense of humor to accept their awards.  The two biggest names to date have been Halle Berry for Catwoman, and Sandra Bullock for All About Steve.  Coincidently, the next night Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for ‘The Blind Side”, a first in anyone’s book.

There are only 10 Categories, to see this year’s nominees click here

Nike Wristband

The Nike Wristband product was introduced a year ago, so this new Fuelband SE is a minor upgrade; this year Nike has added Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity for more continuous, energy-efficiency.  In other words, it enables devices to connect and disconnect and sync automatically in the background, with less strain on the battery. So over the course of a week of solid use and many wireless syncs, You only need to recharge once. Charging via USB only takes a little over an hour.

So here is what it does and what it is - It's a wristband that doubles as a cool watch, counts steps, measures your motion, and your Fuel score and sends that data to an iPhone app, or to your computer. It can be worn in the shower, and has some fun social features that link you with friends who use NikeFuel apps. As a deeper coaching tool or life assistant.  Its like a video game you can compete with fellow teammate or work out with partner(s), at your own time and schedule. Likewise with those you interact with.

A single button operates everything on the FuelBand SE: clicking cycles through Time, Hours Won, Fuel "earned" for the day. You can add Calories (measuring estimated daily calorie burn), Steps (a pedometer), and offers hourly Move motivational reminders by changing settings via the FuelBand iOS app or Nike+ Connect Windows/Mac software and syncing.

I know I keep saying fuel, fuel, and fuel. Ok damn you marketing guy, the four-letter F word refers to a universal points system called NikeFuel that serves as a measurement of activity.

The bad news for people like me; it does not work on androids phones, only iPhone 4S and up, and it cost about $160 after taxes. So if your a sloth like me and need an incentive, it maybe worth checking out.

Biometrics the next level in Security?

According to an article written in December by the wall street journal, about 28% of the worlds’ airports now use biometric technology to search passengers, that’s up 18% in 2008.

As the world moves more to automated airport security, the looming concern is - will airport security personnel become too reliant?  Last year, in London, Gatwick airport experimented with 3000 passengers using a biometric scanner.  To scan the iris of passengers instead of using a boarding pass when they first checked in.  Now entered into the system, cameras can identify the travelers at security checkpoints and gates automatically.   Advocates believe this technology will make boarding passes obsolete.   The concern with the human factor is that screeners will become too dependent, and thus would dull their senses.  An argument was made that scanning the iris will identify you, but checking someone’s identification and noticing a passenger is sweating profusely is something biometrics does not implore. As a curious note - European Airports have embrace the technology much faster than in the United States.

But is biometrics credible?  To answer that  - the leading company behind its development and creation is “Integrated Biometrics”.  Founded in 2002, and headquarters in South Korea & South Carolina, they are the developer and manufacturer of FBI certified fingerprint biometric sensors.  That utilizes a patent called ‘LES’ (Light Emitting Sensor).   The company slogan is LES is more.  With world class Algorithms – meaning the encryption of the technology is virtually impossible to break or hack into.  Its light weight, durable, powerful, with long battery life, and delivers at fast speeds. 

 

In Florida, Both Universal Studios & Walt Disney World uses biometric measurements from fingers of guest to ensure that a ticket is used by the same person from day to day.  In Toronto, the public transit system uses biometrics in their security surveillance. It’s also a method to secure their drivers; select personnel can only access cameras on buses or in stations. Those select few with biometric clearance can retrieve the data on cameras, preventing any outside tampering.

For consumer friendly technology, one needs to look no further than the smartphone. Apple has introduced in its the next generation  a fingerprint scanner.  The iPhone 5S & 5C contains ‘Touch ID” which reads the user’s fingerprints in order to unlock the phone.   The sensor is located on the home button of the iPhone.

IView Systems focuses mainly on facial recognition technology, that technology has been sold to casinos to help keep track of undesirable customer; now that technology has shown it is not 100 % reliable in poor lighting conditions or if there is too much movement.  So security industry are leaning more to fingerprint, DNA, and Iris Scanning methods which have more definitive results. 

On the flip side to that last statement you here gruesome stories of removed fingers, or copying your fingerprint from a glass, so there is always that ambivalent argument to be made, on what is considered foolproof.