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Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Thursday 2 January 2014

Now Disney Can Track Your Every Move with NSA-Style Wristbands -

Now Disney Can Track Your Every Move with NSA-Style Wristbands - 



Families planning trips to one of Disney’s theme parks can now get waterproof rubber wristbands embedded with computer chips in lieu of paper tickets. When scanned, the bands can act as a park entry ticket, a FastPass, a hotel room key and a credit card. The “Magic Bands” — which are currently optional — are part of a new MyMagic+ “vacation management system” that can track guests as they move throughout the park.

Efficient? Perhaps. But post-Snowden, some worry that Magic Bands are nothing more than NSA-esque tracking devices. The MyMagic+ system is designed to track users’ purchasing habits, and if parents agree to certain settings, employees playing characters in the park can use hidden sensors to track children and their information; so Goofy can walk up to a child and say something like, “Hi Bobby. Happy birthday.” Pretty creepy. Plus, others worry that someone might be able to hack your band and thus access your hotel room and credit card.

Massachusetts Rep Ed Markey publicly criticized the bands after they were announced last year, saying that he worried that the new tickets invade the privacy of millions of children. Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, responded by calling Markey’s statements “ludicrous” and “ill-informed.”

Disney fanatics, for their part, can’t wait to get their hands on the devices.

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Walmart recalls donkey meat in China - after tests showed the meat contained DNA from other animals -

Walmart recalls donkey meat in China - after tests showed the meat contained DNA from other animals - 



Walmart has recalled donkey meat sold at some of its China stores after tests showed the meat contained DNA from other animals.

According to Reuters, Walmart said it had set up an investigation team to look into the incident, will strengthen its food safety rules and will take legal action against the supplier. 

The Shandong Food and Drug Administration earlier said the product contained fox meat.

The person in charge at the supplier factory has been detained, the report said. 

Walmart will reimburse customers who bought the "Five Spice" donkey meat.

"We are deeply sorry for this whole affair," Walmart's China president and CEO, Greg Foran, said. "It is a deep lesson (for us) that we need to continue to increase investment in supplier management."

Donkey meat is popular in some parts of China, although it only accounts for a tiny fraction of overall meat consumption.

Walmart came under fire in China last year after officials in the city of Nanning accused it of using expired eggs in baked goods, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

A Walmart spokeswoman said that the issue was resolved, without elaborating. 

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