Showing posts with label company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label company. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

CEO arrested in sex sting

The founder of two chains of natural foods grocery stores has been arrested in a child prostitution sting in Phoenix. Sunflower Farmers Market CEO Michael Gilliland, 52, was accused of soliciting sex online with someone who identified herself as an underage girl. He faces a charge of felony child prostitution. Gilliland resigned from Sunflower, which has locations in seven states. He also founded Wild Oats Markets Inc., which was bought by Whole Foods Market in 2007. Gilliland was one of eight men arrested in the sting. Sunflower said he told the company he believed he was not guilty and would be exonerated. Mr Gilliland was not available for comment on the charges.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Fake Robot Baby Provokes Real Screams

Uncanny valley, heard of it? No worries, you're knee-deep in it right now. It's the revulsion you feel to robots, prostheses, or zombies that try, but don't quite duplicate their human models. As the robot becomes more humanlike, however, our emotional response becomes increasingly positive and empathetic. Unfortunately, the goal of Osaka University's AFFETTO was to create a robot modeled after a young child that could produce realistic facial expressions in order to endear it to a human caregiver in a more natural way. Impressive, sure, but we're not ready to let it suckle from our teat just yet.


Thursday, January 20, 2011

Pay by app at Starbucks

Starbucks customers can now use an app to pay for their coffee at thousands of locations nationwide. With a smartphone, an app and a Starbucks card, users can get a barcode they can use to pay. An Android app reportedly is in the works.