Retailers caught selling real fur as fake, Humane Society says

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It’s a faux fur fake-out.

Two online retailers, Boohoo and Zacharia Jewellers, have been called out in separate rulings for promoting pompom sweaters and headbands featuring fake fur — when in fact it was real, likely rabbit.

“Consumers should be able to trust the ads they see and hear — and they certainly shouldn’t be misled into buying a faux fur product in good conscience only for it to turn out to be from a real animal,” Miles Lockwood, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority’s director of complaints, told The Guardian. “That’s not just misleading; it can also be deeply upsetting.”

Real fur products being advertised as fake is a widespread issue in the UK that animal activist group the Humane Society International has been cracking down on. It spotted the mislabeled fluffballs in September and sent samples out for lab testing, which confirmed they were far from fake.

Both Boohoo and Zacharia have since ceased sale of the fur products — a sweater and a headband, respectively.

“We have a strong commitment against the sale of real fur in any of our products. We have robust policies and procedures in place to ensure that we are able to adhere to this,” Boohoo reps said in a statement. “Following the inquiry by HSI the item has been removed from sale. We continue to investigate the matter internally and with the supplier in question, as a matter of priority.”

Zacharia, meanwhile, blamed its Chinese manufacturer for the mix-up and pulled its listing from Amazon.

“It’s completely unacceptable that compassionate consumers setting out to buy fake fur are being misled into buying animal fur,” Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International, tells the BBC. “These two examples are the latest in a long list of ‘fake faux fur’ items we’ve found for sale, so we hope that the ASA’s rulings will send a strong message to the industry and make retailers work harder to give consumers confidence in avoiding cruel animal fur.”

The ‘Mona Lisa’ isn’t actually staring at you

The Mona Lisa Shutterstock

The “Mona Lisa Effect” — the impression that the eyes of a subject are staring right at or following a viewer — is actually a misnomer, German researchers found in a study published this week.

The eerie effect — named after the world’s most famous portrait — is real, just not in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the study found.

“The effect itself is undeniable and demonstrable,” said Dr. Sebastian Loth, a researcher at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology at Bielefeld University and one of the two authors of the study.

The effect only works when the subject of a painting stares straight ahead. But La Gioconda’s gaze tilts right, researchers found.

“With the Mona Lisa, of all paintings, we didn’t get this impression,” Loth added.

For the study, 24 people looked at the Mona Lisa on a computer screen and tried to assess the direction of her gaze — and almost all the 2,000 assessments indicated that she was staring at their right-hand side.

More specifically, the angle of her gaze was at 15.4 degrees on average, landing approximately on a viewer’s right ear, or over their shoulder — and not their eyes.

“Thus, it is clear that the term ‘Mona Lisa Effect’ is nothing but a misnomer,” concluded Dr. Gernot Horstmann, the study’s other co-author and Loth’s university colleague.

“It illustrates the strong desire to be looked at and to be someone else’s center of attention — to be relevant to someone, even if you don’t know the person at all.”

The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal i-Perception.

WWE in uproar over star forcing tampon down rival’s throat

A WWE Mae Young Classic competitor has been branded “disgusting” after she pulled out her tampon and shoved it down an opponent’s throat.

Priscilla Kelly’s stunt from December’s Suburban Fight event quickly went viral as thousands were left repulsed by the spot in her match.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was one of those leading the charge, calling it “embarrassing.”

Former WWE superstar Gail Kim wrote on Twitter: “I’m seeing this post of a women’s match that got disgusting and I’m not gonna repost it Bc it’s seriously a disgrace.

“Why??? Whoever thought that was a spot that was gonna get a pop and was worth it….. NO. how about telling a story in the ring with your wrestling instead?”

And DX legend “Road Dogg” Jesse James commented: “This stuff is the reason some people despise our industry. It’s got nothing to do with ‘taking life seriously’ it’s about dignity and a personal pride. She obviously has none!”

But Kelly, who lost to Deonna Purrazzo in the first round of the Mae Young Classic last year, has come out fighting in her defense.

She claimed people were only shocked because it involved a “vagina,” while in wrestling “a penis is funny and awesome.”

Kelly tweeted: “Hey guys. Ya know, it’s all fake. 21+ show with a bar. Can’t take life so serious all the time.

“A penis is funny and awesome. A vagina is disgusting and trashy. #Equality?”

Kelly shot to fame initially after appearing on reality TV show “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding,” and she used to go under the nickname of “Gypsy Princess” or “Gypsy Queen.”

She has since changed her persona to a much more sexual and gothic tone, and she is known as “Hell’s Favorite Harlot” and regularly licks and bites her opponents.

The grappler, who is married to fellow wrestler Darby Allin, also has been likened to WWE star Paige.

Despite her many critics, Kelly did receive some support from other performers and fans.

ECW and hardcore icon Tommy Dreamer wrote on Twitter: “Dear @priscillakelly_ I get it Its Mr.Socko female cousin Ms.Stinkflo. Whatever it takes to entertain. You my dear are HARDCORE.”

While wrestling fan @Jake_Radio tweeted: “I’m pissing at how upset this is making folk. Joey Ryan flips guys with his d–k. Rikishi used to rub his unwashed fat ass in people’s faces.

“Hot Lesbian Action. Live Sex Celebrations. Staple guns to the forehead ffs. And THIS is where people go ‘oh no no, this is too far.’”

We must fight the invasion of the killer robots

If nations of the world automate their nuclear weapons, we could be faced with WWIII.

“Killer robots” are taking over. Also known as autonomous weapons, these devices, once activated, can destroy targets without human intervention.

The technology has been with us for years. In 1959, the US Navy started using the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, an autonomous defense device that can spot and attack anti-ship missiles, helicopters and similar threats. In 2014, Russia announced that killer robots would guard five of its ballistic missile installations. That same year, Israel deployed the Harpy, an autonomous weapon that can stay airborne for nine hours to identify and pick off enemy targets from enormous distances. In 2017, China introduced its own Harpy-type weapon.

But, with the US’s plans to launch drones based on the X-47B in 2023, the invasion of killer robots is going to a new level. These stealth, jet-powered autonomous aircraft can aerially refuel and penetrate deep inside a well-defended territory to gather intelligence and strike enemy targets, a more aggressively lethal tool than we’ve seen before.

Is it ethical to deploy “killer robots?” The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School says no, arguing that artificially intelligent weapons fail to comply with the “principles of humanity” and the “dictates of public conscience” in the Geneva Convention.

Aware of the resistance to killer robots, the US Department of Defense issued Directive 3000.09, which requires that weapons “be designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.” The word “appropriate” requires a human operator be “in-the-loop” (i.e., control the weapon) or “on-the-loop” (i.e., supervise the weapon) and have the final say in taking human lives. As a result, the Navy currently only uses the X-47B prototype in a semiautonomous mode, always keeping a human operator involved.

The pace of war is escalating exponentially, driven by the increasing use of computer technology. As the arms race continues, the potential for an unintended conflict is going up. As seen during the Cold War between the US and Russia, we came dangerously close to nuclear war on a number of occasions. Only human judgment averted all-out armageddon.

So, where does this leave us?

As I outlined in my book “Genius Weapons,” there are only three ways to ensure killer robots are kept in check:

Focus autonomous weapons on defense, not offense. In a defensive role, autonomous weapon systems have the potential to lower the probability of conflict. For example, if the United States deployed autonomous weapons that could destroy any missile targeted to hit the US or its allies, a potential adversary would judge such an attack as futile and avoid conflict.

Focus on semiautonomous weapons, as is current US policy. Semiautonomous weapons requiring a human either in-the-loop or on-the-loop injects human judgment and provides some assurance that weapons will be able to discern combatants from non-combatants. It also adds accountability, which aligns with international humanitarian law.

Limit which weapons we give autonomy to. It would be reckless to make weapons of mass destruction autonomous. If nations of the world automate their nuclear tipped missiles, one erroneous line of computer code could ignite World War III. It’s critical that nations like the US and Russia, which have the capability to destroy the Earth, follow the policy. Thankfully, North Korea doesn’t have a nuclear capacity anywhere close to the US and Russia, nor even does China at this time.

As current AI technology is unable to replicate human judgment, all nations must adopt these three measures now and for good. Anything less threatens the survival of humanity.

Razer Blade Stealth 2018: Upgraded Specs, Features And More

Razer has launched an upgraded model of the 13.3-inch Razer Blade Stealth laptop. The new version of the Blade Stealth comes with a new chassis, an optional 4K touchscreen and smaller bezels.

At first glance, the new Razer Blade Stealth may appear smaller than the previous generation, but it is in fact a bit thicker, according to The Verge. The new model only looks like it has a smaller footprint because the bezels around the display are now 60 percent thinner than the older model.

Speaking of the display, the new Blade Stealth can be configured to have a glossy 4K touchscreen. There’s also an option for a 1080p full HD screen. Both display configurations will have the thinner bezels and they will cover 100 percent of the sRGB color space.

The new Razer Blade Stealth also ditches individual key backlighting in favor of a single-zone RGB lighting layout in the keyboard. This decision was probably made in order to improve battery life and make the keyboard “feel punchier and more responsive.”

The touchpad now comes with a larger glass surface area and it has Microsoft Precision support. Other changes in the new gaming laptop include the addition of an infrared 720p webcam that supports Microsoft’s Windows Hello facial recognition system and a smaller 65W USB-C power adapter. The new Blade Stealth is also packing a 53.1Wh battery.

Razer claims that the base model of the new gaming laptop comes with a battery life of 13 hours. The new Razer Blade Stealth comes in three different configurations and its base model comes with a full HD display with integrated Intel UHD Graphics, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage.

For gamers who want more power, they can get the new Razer Blade Stealth with full HD display, GeForce MX150 graphics and 16GB of RAM. The top-tier model of the Blade Stealth comes with the 4K touchscreen, GeForce MX150 graphics, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. The 4K version of the laptop has a battery life of eight hours, while the mid-tier version can deliver up to 11 hours.

All three configurations of the Razer Blade Stealth are powered by Intel’s 8th Generation Core i7-8565U processor clocked at 1.8GHz with a Turbo Boost of up to 4.6GHz. The previous version of the gaming laptop arrived with an Intel Core i5-8250U CPU.

“The Blade Stealth has excelled at being the best productivity laptop on the market,” Razer co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said. “We pushed the boundaries further by incorporating NVIDIA graphics with up to four times the graphics performance while continuing to keep the system incredibly compact and thin. The results of our efforts have lead Razer to create one of the world’s most powerful ultraportable laptops ever.”

Finally, the new Razer Blade Stealth comes with four stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, Thunderbolt 3, USB Type-C 3.1, two USB Type-A 3.1 ports and a 5mm headphone/microphone combo port.

The new version of the Razer Blade Stealth is now available to buy from Razer’s website, with a starting price of $1,399. The mid-tier model costs $1,599, while the top-tier 4K model with the 512GB of SSD storage costs $1,899.

The Razer Blade Stealth has been given a refresh. Photo: Razer