Category: technology

Posted on

Check out This Artist’s Amazing Steampunk Sculptures Made out of Broken Watches

Dan Tanenbaum‘s work is pretty mindblowing. The Toronto-based artist utilizes old watch parts and makes incredible “steampunk“-inspired art pieces.

A lot of Tanenbaum’s creations are miniature motorcycles, but, as you’ll see in these photos, he makes plenty of other one-of-a-kind objects as well.

Take a look at these, you’ll be blown away.

1. A mini chopper.

View this post on Instagram

Custom chopper

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

2. Steampunk teddy bear.

View this post on Instagram

Custom KAWGS holiday

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

3. The details are amazing.

4. Rip it up!

5. Big wheel bagger.

View this post on Instagram

Custom big wheel bagger

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

6. Sweet pair of Jordans.

View this post on Instagram

Baby Jordan1s “sneakgear III” @nike #nike #jordan1 #HSKicks

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

7. A pride motorcycle.

View this post on Instagram

Custom “Pride MotorcycLGBTQ”

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

8. The Knight Rider.

9. Heart like a hand grenade.

View this post on Instagram

Time bomb IV

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

10. Get a load of this skull.

View this post on Instagram

My one and only encrusted skull

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

11. Luke, I am your father.

12. A café racer.

View this post on Instagram

Custom cafe racer

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

13. Vintage hot rod.

View this post on Instagram

Watch parts rat rod

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

14. Encrusted concrete robot.

15. This is so cool.

View this post on Instagram

throwback to the custom full encrusted Watch parts camera I made

A post shared by Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) on

I’m blown away by how amazing Tanenbaum’s work is. Simply incredible!

Which piece is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

The post Check out This Artist’s Amazing Steampunk Sculptures Made out of Broken Watches appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A Corpse on a Body Farm Was Caught Moving

This can safely be filed under: Nightmare Fuel.

Apparently, corpses don’t stop moving for up to a year after death, due to the various decomposition processes they go through.

Which makes me wonder how many of those bells rang at Victorian gravesides even though the people in the coffins were, in fact, dead.

Yikes.

The research that brought you this lovely tidbit of macabre information comes from an Australian body farm (a place where scientists study how bodies decompose in order to improve forensic techniques.

In a time-lapse video containing images taken every 30 minutes over a period of 17 months, researchers saw movement for far longer than they expected to – over a year and a half in some cases. In an interview with ABC News Australia, the authors said they believe the movements were mostly the result of drying ligaments.

“What we found was that the arms were significantly moving, so that arms that started off down beside the body ended up out to the side of the body.”

View this post on Instagram

So from Obesity TV programmes I go straight onto food!!: This is an amazing "5 Stages of Decay Cookie" by Claire Ratcliffe for the special Halloween event I'm holding at Barts Pathology Museum where I work: "Delicious Decay – The Edible Body Farm!!! The event (Friday night 28th and all day Saturday 29th) will feature edibles – savoury and sweet – based only on human decay and decomposition. The point is to raise awareness for the need, in the UK, for a Body Farm (or Taphonomy Research Facility) that actually uses human remains, like the one in Tennessee. We use pigs at the moment and they're consistently unreliable. That's why I'm working with @conjurers_kitchen (amazing food artist) and Dr Anna Williams (Forensic Anthropologist) to make this incredibly realistic. We even have the scents used to train cadaver dogs and a make up artist to make you look "decomposed"! www.deliciousdecay1.eventbrite.co.uk and www.deliciousdecay2.eventbrite.co.uk (I'll talk about the 5 stages in another post ?⚰) #humanremains #decomposition #remains2beseen #ediblebodyfarm #decay #deliciousdecay #taphonomy #bodyfarm #anthroplogy

A post shared by Carla Valentine (@past_mortems) on

They’ve yet to publish their study, but hope their findings will continue to add to a body of research that helps police solve murders, among other things.

“This research is very important to help law enforcement to solve crime and it also assists in disaster investigations. It’s important for victims and victims’ families, and in a lot of cases it gives the victim a voice to tell their last story.”

Just an FYI: Body farms exist all over the world, and they depend on body donations from people looking to assist science after they’ve expired.

I say you might as well be helpful. Either way, you’re just going to be decomposing.

The post A Corpse on a Body Farm Was Caught Moving appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A Tree-Planting Search Engine Saw a 1150% Increase in Use After the Amazon Rainforest Fires

Step aside, Google. An eco-friendly search engine saw a 1150% increase in daily downloads in a single day after the Amazon rainforest fires.

Ecosia is a search engine that uses 80 percent of its profits from advertisements to plant millions of trees in Brazil, Ethiopia, and other emerging economies, Business Insider reports. The website claims to have planted 65 million trees to date – an impressive number.

Usually, Ecosia sees about 20,000 downloads per day. But recently, large swaths of the Amazon went up into flames in an urgent environmental disaster. As more people became aware of what was going on, people began using Ecosia en masse in an attempt to help combat the damage.

Photo Credit: iStock

On August 22, the company experienced 250,000 downloads in a single day, but the record-breaking moment was bittersweet for Ecosia.

“We had our team meeting and people were, on the one side, very happy because of the numbers but also very sad because of the forest fires,” Christian Kroll, Ecosia’s chief executive, told Business Insider. “So it’s both exciting and a tragic occurrence.”

The sudden burst in popularity is largely thanks to word-of-mouth. The app is frequently mentioned by Instagram and Twitter users who are spreading the word about the rainforest fires. Ecosia is now the top-ranked iOS app in Brazil.

Photo Credit: iStock

The Amazon rainforest experienced over 72,000 fires this year so far, an 83 percent increase from 2018. This is partly because of dry weather, and party because Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has walked back a decade’s worth of environmental protections. His actions have given cover to thousands of illegal farmers and ranchers to light fires to burn down forest to create more arable land for them to use. It’s a difficult situation because many of them have no other way to earn income, but the damage they’ve done to the forest – and thus to the world – is enormous.

Christian says he was inspired to start Ecosia after learning about environmental damage during his travels to South America and Nepal.

“In my opinion, planting trees helps people and the environment at the same time,” he said. He’s right.

He founded Ecosia in 2009, but it doesn’t do all that search work on its own. It partners with Microsoft’s search engine Bing to power its search results and display ads.

The post A Tree-Planting Search Engine Saw a 1150% Increase in Use After the Amazon Rainforest Fires appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

This Artist Uses Illustrations to Try to Tackle Some of Society’s Problems

And though there are a hundred different ways to discuss the impact of what’s wrong with the world, art is one of the most poignant and, for many people, the most relatable without being preachy.

If you’re an art lover, or someone who enjoys pretty, scathing commentary, these 18 images are going to take your breath away.

18. Well, that’s an awful image to consider.

17. Why have we let governments do this to people forever?

16. There won’t be anything else for penguins to live on, soon.

15. My heart is breaking.

14. I’d like to be able to break this addiction, myself.

13. How often do we stop and wonder what the other person is thinking?

12. And everyone loves turtles, you know?

11. Heartbreaking to think of what’s happening in the Arctic.

10. I wonder how many people would notice?

9. A few companies have recently vowed to stop these practices – about time.

View this post on Instagram

Companies get away with using cheap labor and inhumane working conditions by manufacturing their products in countries with little regulation. It‘s our job to take responsibility and be conscious buyers. If we learn that a product is made under unethical conditions then choose not to buy from that company. Although it may take more time, doing research into the sources of your food, clothing and products is a crucial step in raising awareness and promoting better labor regulations. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com/sophia-armenkas-/wake-up-teen-consumers_b_8363126.html #iconeo #consumelocal #fairtrade #inhumane #responsibility #awareness #conscious #ecofashion #ethicalbrand #ethical #sustainableliving #sustainablefashion #fashionblogger #ecology #consuming #creativeart #creativehappylife #creativeminds #helpinghands #manufacturing #ecofriendly #humanity #savetheplanet #bekind #kindness #kindnessmatters #empathy #loveoneanother #slowfashion #ethicallymade

A post shared by Steffen Kraft aka ICONEO (@iconeo) on

8. It’s not subtle but it does make its point.

View this post on Instagram

80% of plastic in our oceans is from land sources. For example: ?Litter dropped on the street doesn‘t stay there. Rainwater and wind carries plastic waste into streams and rivers. ? Plastic you put in the bin ends up in landfill. When rubbish is being transported to landfill, plastic is often blown away because it‘s so lightweight. From there, it can eventually clutter around drains and enter rivers and the sea this way. ? Many of the products we use daily are flushed down toilets, including wet wipes, cotton buds and sanitary products. Microfibres are even released into waterways when we wash our clothes in the washing machine. They are too small to be filtered out by waste water plants. (source: www.wwf.org.uk) #iconeo #plasticpollution #endplasticpollution #plasticfree #plasticocean #noplastic #zerowaste #seabird #cleanoceans #oceancleanup #recycling #sustainable #sustainability #ecofriendly #ecodesign #ecofashion #singleuseplastic #stopsucking #illustrationart #oceanart #adobeillustrator #illustrationartist #illustration #contemporaryart #creativeart #wwf

A post shared by Steffen Kraft aka ICONEO (@iconeo) on

7. You wouldn’t do that, would you?

6. How much stuff do we need, really?

5. Another one that’s straight to the point.

4. They need us as much as we need them.

3. There’s more than one way to do almost everything.

2. Talk to your neighbors.

1. A literal representation of the Earth in a few short years.

 

These illustrations definitely did their job because they made me think (and also feel sad and guilty and like it’s time to do something – past time).

If you loved them, make sure and follow the artist – Steffan Kraft, who also goes by the name Iconeo – on Instagram and Facebook.

How did they make you feel? We’d love to hear about it!

The post This Artist Uses Illustrations to Try to Tackle Some of Society’s Problems appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Period Trackers Used by Millions of Women Are Sharing Your Sensitive Data with Facebook

A new research study showed that period tracking apps, including MIA Fem and Maya, have sent your personal information to Facebook. This not only includes when you’re on your period, but the type of contraception you use, how often you are having sex, and any PMS symptoms like mood swings.

When does the invasion of privacy stop?

Photo Credit: Pedro Sandrini, Pexels

Buzzfeed news explains:

“The data sharing with Facebook happens via Facebook’s Software Development Kit (SDK), which helps app developers incorporate particular features and collect user data so Facebook can show them targeted ads, among other functions. When a user puts personal information into an app, that information may also be sent by the SDK to Facebook.”

Great. So they know about your period because – you guessed it –advertising.

“Advertisers are often interested in people’s moods because it helps them strategically target ads to them at times they might be more likely to buy. And women who are pregnant or seeking to become pregnant are likely to change their shopping habits.”

When BuzzFeed News broke the story, the owner of the Maya app emailed a warning to BF, fighting back:

“As BuzzFeed has not been the intended recipient of the email, it should have never been shared with BuzzFeed and you as its representative,” the email said. “Considering that the unauthorized disclosure has already happened, we hereby urge you to erase all the material erroneously obtained without prevarication and delays. We shall be waiting on your confirmation of the erasure.”

“All data accessed by Maya are also essential to the proper functioning of the product. Predicting information pertaining to menstrual cycles is complex and dependent on thousands of variables,” the email added. “Location information, the significance of which is highlighted in the report, helps us triangulate regional variations in cycle lengths and thus help improve accuracy of our prediction over time.”

Right…as if a news agency that received info on a story ‘erroneously’ is required to delete the info because of its ‘erroneous’ origins. NOT.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

I mean, maybe they don’t share all your info, as they suggest, but there is residual proof that what their app collects can trigger certain ads even without specific information. Per Buzzfeed:

“MIA Fem asks users about all kinds of habits ranging from smoking to coffee consumption and tampon use. This data isn’t immediately shared with Facebook, Privacy International’s analysis found, but it enables MIA Fem to suggest articles to app users. Those articles — which are tailored to a user’s selected interests — are shared with Facebook. It also shared “reminders” within the app to take birth control medication with Facebook.”

Really what this is telling us is to read the terms of service before downloading an app. As consumers, we need to understand what information these companies are collecting. Sure, it might seem like a waste of time to read pages of legalese, but it just might save you the headache of your privacy being invaded.

Or maybe our government could step up and regulate an industry that is clearly flouting the reasonable standards of privacy that we’ve lived with in the law for generations? Or not. Whatever.

The post Period Trackers Used by Millions of Women Are Sharing Your Sensitive Data with Facebook appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Some Police Departments Can Now Monitor Neighborhoods Through Amazon’s Ring Doorbells

Ring, Amazon’s home security company, makes video doorbells that allow homeowners to answer the door from anywhere using their smartphone. In what some are calling an invasion of privacy, Amazon is now collaborating with law enforcement agencies to give them access to the video streams from Ring doorbells — though only in certain regions.

Amazon named 405 different law enforcement agencies currently working with Ring. Police can submit a request for a video recording of an incident from a Ring doorbell through Amazon’s neighborhood watch app, Neighbors Portal. Authorities can also view and comment on public posts on the app, where users are encouraged to share “tips” about criminal activity in their neighborhoods.

Giving access to these video streams will help police “make decisions about how to deploy emergency personnel,” Lifehacker reports.

Photo Credit: Amazon

Ring says it doesn’t provide personal information about its customers to the police without consent. When police request access to video footage, they don’t know where the request goes until the user chooses to share the video.

The company’s collaboration with the police doesn’t end there. Amazon has also pursued access to real-time emergency dispatch data to help push out alerts about crime activity. This data includes personally identifiable information, such as names and even precise GPS information.

So, how do you find out if this is happening in your city? Amazon posted an interactive map of all the law enforcement agencies they’re currently involved with. They include police departments in Miami, Phoenix, Houston, Denver and Detroit.

Photo Credit: Amazon

If you’re curious how ring works, check out this video:

I can see the appeal of giving law enforcement access to this data, I really can – but with all the data breaches and secret government surveillance programs we’ve dealt with, can we honestly say it’s a good idea for a private company to be helping law enforcement get video of what happens on our own doorsteps?

It seems like a short hop to panopticon.

The post Some Police Departments Can Now Monitor Neighborhoods Through Amazon’s Ring Doorbells appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

This Hack Reveals That Private Instagram Accounts Are Not so Private

It’s a battle keeping your photos and posts private on social media – no matter how many times you update your privacy settings, Facebook and Instagram always change them (Facebook owns Instagram).

And now there’s a creepy work around where your followers can easily get your photos and videos and share them. It doesn’t matter if your account is public or private – your followers can distribute your pics and vids either way.

And that’s not supposed to be the case.

Photo Credit: Pexels, energepic

Here’s how the simple hack works

  1. Open up Google Chrome
  2. Go to the Instagram photo you would like to ‘rip’ the URL from
  3. Right click anywhere in the browser
  4. Click “INSPECT”
  5. A side bar will open. Click on “NETWORK” at the top tool bar of the sidebar.
  6. Click IMG

Photo Credit: Google Chrome, Nicole Flasco

Below this tool bar a list of several small thumbnails with apear. You can right click the IMG and copy the web address. I tried it and this is a valid fact.

According to BuzzFeed News, this is possible for public feeds, “private feeds and stories” and “can be viewed, downloaded, and shared publicly…”

Is this the same as taking screen shots of photos?

A Facebook spokesperson says yes.

“The behavior described here is the same as taking a screenshot of a friend’s photo on Facebook and Instagram and sharing it with other people. It doesn’t give people access to a person’s private account.”

The report says no.

“There is a difference between being able to screenshot a private image from a webpage and being able to easily publicly share the URL of that private image with un-authenticated users. These public URLs contain some basic info about the photo or video they link to, including details about how it was uploaded and photo dimensions. They also prove authenticity; you can’t fake one. Beyond this, deleted photos and videos are being stored and accessed on Facebook’s content delivery network after a person took an action to remove them from their profile.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The other issue with ripping the URL is traceability. All of your IG and Facebook data is hosted by the social media company’s content delivery network. Currently, Instagram tracks who sees your content. However, if someone grabs the URL, traceability is lost. Now your photos can be used without your permission, and you’d never even know they were floating around the internet.

We’ve all heard the news about Zuckerburg and the privacy issues Facebook has gone through in the past. He promised users that Facebook would shift to being a privacy focused network. So far, I’m not sure things have gotten better.

It this a flaw in Facebook’s security? Or is it unavoidable given internet browser permissions to view HTML? Let us know what you think!

The post This Hack Reveals That Private Instagram Accounts Are Not so Private appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

10 Fascinating Facts to Get Your Juices Flowing

If you’ve been in a rut lately, let’s put an end to that RIGHT THIS INSTANT!

You know why? And you know how? Because of this stellar fact set!

It covers all kinds of topics and it will give you a big BOOST.

Let’s dig into these facts.

1. Get busy, over 50 folks!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

2. Beware of the Zone of Death

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

3. That’s one way to go out

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

4. Folks, I really hope this is true

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

5. “He was…an American Gravedigger”

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

6. Smoke ’em if you got ’em!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

7. I’ll do it if you do it

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

8. I did not know that!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

9. Do you see the world differently?

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

10. I think women were happy about that

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

Now that’s better, wouldn’t you agree!

Work your brain out folks, it’s good for you!

The post 10 Fascinating Facts to Get Your Juices Flowing appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A New Planned Parenthood App Will Let Users Order Birth Control in Every State in the U.S.

This is important news, so pay attention.

Planned Parenthood (and women’s reproductive rights in general) has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny and argument over the past several years from some politicians and people, but I, for one, think that this is a great development. Why you wouldn’t want affordable birth control to be available to all women in every corner of the United States is beyond me, but that’s just where we are right now.

Luckily, a lot of people and women are still fighting the good fight. It was recently announced that the Planned Parenthood Direct app is now available in 27 states across the U.S., and it will be available in all 50 states in 2020.

In 2019, pretty much everything is on-demand. Why not #birthcontrol, too? Check out Planned Parenthood Direct, the…

Posted by Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson Action on Monday, May 13, 2019

The app allows users to order birth control, make appointments at Planned Parenthood clinics, and get prescriptions for antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections.

Alexis McGill Johnson, the acting President and CEO of the organization, said, “As politicians across the country try to restrict or block access to critical reproductive and sexual health care, the Planned Parenthood Direct app is just one part of the work we do to ensure that more people can get the care they need, no matter where they are.”

Planned Parenthood pulled out of the U.S. government’s Title X funding program in August because the Trump administration passed new rules wherein the organization would no longer be allowed to refer patients to abortion services. Planned Parenthood would have received $60 million in federal funding if they had stayed in the Title X program, but its leaders decided to withdraw.

We're committed to helping all patients get the care they deserve. Through the Planned Parenthood Direct app, you can…

Posted by Planned Parenthood of Southern New England on Saturday, September 7, 2019

The Planned Parenthood Direct app doesn’t take insurance, but birth control can cost as little as $20 for a three-month supply, and users can get birth control just by answering standard questions.

You can check to see if the app is available in your state HERE. This is definitely a small step in the right direction, despite all the negative news surrounding reproductive rights in America right now.

The post A New Planned Parenthood App Will Let Users Order Birth Control in Every State in the U.S. appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

This Is Why Some Power Lines Have Brightly-Colored Balls on Them

If you’ve paid attention, you’ve probably seen those reddish-orange balls that hang like Christmas lights on power lines here and there, but have you ever stopped to wonder why they adorn some and not others? Is there a reason, or do the electrical companies in some towns just feel more festive than in others?

The verdict is out on whether electricians look at the balls and feel a holiday spirit, but there is a reason for the balls: they’re to keep aircrafts safe.

The helpful little orbs are called visibility marker balls (or just marker balls), and they help make power lines more obvious to low-flying planes and helicopters. The reason you don’t see them everywhere is because they’re typically used near mountain passes, deep valleys, major freeway crossings, and airports – all locations where airplanes are more common and run a greater risk of getting tangled in cables they couldn’t see in time.

Marker balls are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including specifications as far as size and shake. Their diameter must be at least 36 inches on wires that cross canyons, lakes, and rivers but can be as small as 20 inches across on power lines below 50 feet above ground and within 1500 feet of the end of an airport runway.

They’re also required to be spaced evenly – 200-foot intervals on regular wires and 30-50 feet intervals near the ends of runways.

Lines that sport fewer than four balls will be “aviation orange,” but otherwise, the markers should alternate between orange, white, and yellow.

Marker balls came about in the 1970s, when then-Arkansas governor Winthrop Rockefeller noticed how close he came to power lines while landing his aircraft, and they have also come to assist boats in the same manner.

They’re installed by the power companies (sometimes by helicopter), and they allow pilots and boat captains everywhere tpo sleep a little easier.

The post This Is Why Some Power Lines Have Brightly-Colored Balls on Them appeared first on UberFacts.