Hapifork ‘smart fork’ review: eat slower to eat better

“A 2010 study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that people who were given identical meals released more hormones that made them feel full when they ate the meal in 30 minutes rather than five. The Hapifork, the surprise darling of CES 2013, promises a quick and intelligent way to help you eat more slowly. (It also says it will help you ‘eat healthier,’ ‘lose weight,’ and ‘cut calories.’) The fork passively monitors how fast you eat, vibrating and lighting up to let you know when you take too many bites too quickly. It claims to be the answer to all your bad eating habits, with one simple tweak.”

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/15/5309032/hapifork-review

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NHS introduces £1,500 talking plate which warns fat families [2011]

“Doctors have a new weapon in the battle to beat obesity – a talking plate that tells people not to bolt their food.  The Mandometer monitors the amount of food leaving the plate and tells users who gobble: ‘Please eat more slowly.’  Now the £1,500 Swedish device is to be used in an NHS initiative to help hundreds of obese families lose weight.  Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield, who is leading the initiative, said obese children and adolescents using the Mandometer ate from 12 to 15 per cent less per meal at the end of the 12-month trial.   Six months after they stopped using the device they still ate less and continued to lose weight.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2063851/NHS-introduces-1-500-talking-plate-warns-obese-families-eating-habits.html

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How many bites do YOU take per day? New device helps you keep track

Dieters already track calories and steps, and now researchers have developed a device that they can wear on their wrists to count the number of bites they take of their food. Researchers at South Carolina’s Clemson University say that The Bite Monitor measures subtle wrist motions to detect bites with what they claim is 90per cent accuracy – and helps users get to the ‘optimum’ 100.  ‘It’s a little bit like a pedometer for your mouth,’ Eric Muth, a psychology professor who created the device with computer-engineering professor Adam Hoover, told The Wall Street Journal.   The concept will soon be tested in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2723096/How-bites-YOU-day-New-device-helps-track-100-recommended-losing-weight.html

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Vessyl is the smart cup that knows exactly what you’re drinking

 

“Vessyl can tell the difference between strong and weak coffee, Lee says, noting caffeine disparities. It can even measure the sugar, protein, calories, fat, and caffeine inside any beverage you pour into it, mass-produced or homemade. As you go about your day, the device tracks how much you’re drinking, and when you tilt Vessyl to its back, it displays a bright blue line that rises and falls to indicate your hydration level.  Even sleek apps like Up Coffee, which tracks your caffeine consumption, require you to input your consumption manually drink by drink. The big idea behind Vessyl is to provide transparency, automatically, about how terrible most of our drinking habits are.”

http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5801106/vessyl-smart-cup-that-knows-exactly-what-youre-drinking

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UK police test ‘faster-than-ever’ facial recognition software

“Facial recognition surveillance software being tested by British cops that allows ‘faster than ever’ data searching and tracking of subjects is raising concerns among privacy activists.  NeoFace software analyses dozens of facial features from digital CCTV images or police body cameras and matching them with the 90,000 photos stored on Leicestershire Police’s database, which had become the first unit in the UK to test it.  Processing takes a matter of seconds.  ‘Besides the speed it’s also impressive because it can even find family members related to the person we’re trying to identify.’ Identity unit Manager Andy Ramsay adds.”

http://rt.com/uk/173292-facial-recognition-surveillance-software/

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This Company Saved Money By Tracking Employees With Fitbits

“One day soon, your company could hand you a fitness-tracking device as a gift.  The gift could have a sizeable payoff for the company. They could use it to track your fitness habits and, if you and your coworkers behave well, use that data to negotiate lower insurance premiums.  In fact, hot Valley startup Appirio did exactly that, handing out Fitbits to about 400 employees. And thanks to CloudFit, Appirio convinced its insurance company to lower its rates by 5%. That added up to a hefty  $280,000.  Thanks to provisions in the Affordable Care Act, which offers companies incentives for implementing wellness programs, and savings like that, more companies may try similar programs.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/company-saved-lot-money-tracking-005949318.html

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Why Google’s Waze Is Trading User Data With Local Governments

“Planners in Rio de Janeiro are watching the aggregated data feeds of thousands of smartphones being walked or driven around a city, thanks to two popular travel apps, Waze and Moovit.  The goal is traffic management, and it involves swapping data for data. More cities are lining up to get access, and while the data the apps are sharing is all anonymous for now, identifying details could get more specific if cities like what they see, and people become more comfortable with being monitored through their smartphones in return for incentives.  The app can tell how fast a driver is moving and even get a complete record of their driving history.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/07/07/why-google-waze-helps-local-governments-track-its-users/

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Face recognition pioneer now worried tech enables mass surveillance

“Dr. Joseph Atick was described as ‘one of the pioneer entrepreneurs of modern face recognition’ before the New York Times explained that Atick is now worried about face-matching biometrics enabling ‘mass surveillance’ and ‘basically robbing everyone of their anonymity.  He is reportedly not concerned about the government openly using facial recognition such as to combat identity theft or fraud. There’s no mention of the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) biometric database, which will reportedly hold 52 million face images by 2015.  Atick used the NameTag app as an example of face-matching technology being taken too far.”

http://blogs.computerworld.com/privacy/23925/face-recognition-pioneer-now-worried-tech-will-be-used-mass-surveillance

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Samsung data center fire causes outage, errors on smart TVs, phones

“Seeing an error message on your Samsung phone, tablet or Smart TV today? You’re not alone, as the Samsung.com website appears to be down and owners worldwide have reported anything from error messages to being unable to access apps on their smart TVs. Reports have spread on Twitter — mostly from a community news site called Wikitree — that a fire at a Samsung SDS building in Gwacheon, South Korea is the culprit. Despite some scary photos and video of the blaze (after the break) Korean news reports indicate there were no fatalities. The big question left? Why a fire at one location seemed to have such a large affect on the company’s devices and services.”

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/20/samsung-com-outage-sds-fire/

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Biometric payments system trialled by Swedish university

“An engineering student at Lund University in Sweden has launched a biometric vein-scanning payment technique for stores and coffee shops in the country. After talking to players involved in vein-scanning terminals, banks and stores, a system that worked was developed. There are now currently 15 stores and restaurants, mainly around the Lund University campus, that use the terminals, with 1,600 active users.  Other countries have also begun using biometrics as a payment method. Banks in Japan use vein technology, which allows customers to take money out from their accounts and helps reduce the risk of fraud.”

http://business-technology.co.uk/2014/05/biometric-payments-system-trialled-by-swedish-university/

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