Page 9 - MidWeek Kauai - Dec 7, 2022

DECEMBER 7, 2022 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK 9
T alk about taking your gaming seriously. Palmer Luckey, a de- fense contractor and, according to Vice, the father of modern virtual reality, has invented a VR headset that literally pres-
Dying In VR Game Means Dying In Real Life
said Luckey, co-founder of Oculus VR and the designer of Oculus Rift.
first pieces were of clay, but then a friend contacted her and asked if she could make a jew- elry set from her son’s ashes. Booth has “never said no” to a friend, and the set inspired oth- er customers — one who asked if she could use breast milk to make jewelry. She posted about the jewelry on TikTok and busi- ness took off, including orders for items made with umbilical cords, placenta and hair.
Get A ‘Jobs’
ents a life-or-death outcome. Inspired by the NerveGe- ar VR headsets in the anime Sword Art Online, Luckey’s headset features three explo- sive charge modules that det- onate and instantly destroy the user’s head if the user dies
He admits, though, that he needs to keep tinkering: “There are a huge variety of failures that could occur and kill the user at the wrong time. This is why I have not worked up the (nerve) to actually use it myself. At this point, it is just ... a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored ave- nues in game design.”
A pair of “well used” Birkenstock sandals once worn by Steve Jobs has sold at auction for almost $220,000, the Associated Press report- ed. The brown suede sandals, which date to the mid-1970s, retain “the imprint of Steve Jobs’ feet,” the auction said in describing the listing. The buyer was not named.
during gameplay. “Pumped-up graphics
In other Weird reports:
But the real creme de la creme came when people started requesting jewelry made from semen. Booth transforms the liquids to pow- der and mixes them with clay, then sculpts the jewelry piece.
Jobs’ home in Los Altos, California, where he and Steve Wozniak co-found- ed Apple, is now a historic landmark.
might make a game look more real, but only the threat of seri- ous consequences can make a game feel real to you and ev- ery other person in the game,”
Fashioned From What?
Designer Amanda Booth, 33, of Toronto, Canada, has a business making jewelry, apt- ly named Trinkets by Amanda, Oddee reported on Oct. 31. Her
“I am an open-minded art- ist,” Booth said.
Oddly Made Trinkets
ILLUSTRATION BY MARK GALACGAC
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to weirdnewstips@ amuniversal.com.
In the past fortnight, during which North Ko- rea tested a missile ca- pable of striking anywhere in the United States, Mother Nature deluged us with all manner of nasty weather and Taylor Swift fans suffered un- imaginable anguish, people have been talking and writing about ... Twitter.
PATERNITY WARD D. L. Stewart
There Are Options Beyond The Twitterverse
“What if Twitter dies?” headlined The Washington Post.
the public about impending disasters, although when Hurricane Fiona struck we somehow had plenty of warn- ing without it.
And TikTok, although that’s mostly used by young- er people to learn challenges and valuable life lessons. Just last week, for instance, they learned the valuable lesson that cooking a steak in a toast- er was a good way to set your house on fire.
Besides, it’s not as if Twitter is the only time-killer available; there are all sorts of social — and antisocial — media platforms out there. At least 281, according to researchers.
Who knows? And why should we care?
Ever since Elon Musk reached into his spare change drawer and pulled out $44 billion to purchase the social media platform, users have been worrying that the world’s richest man may ruin it.
Perhaps that’s easy for me to say, because I’m not among the estimated 23% of Americans who tweet regu- larly. According to my Twit- ter profile, I have exactly one “follower.” Her name is Don- na Deaton and I have no idea who she is.
other ways to keep in touch with people they may never have met? Will they discover it’s possible to communicate with calls and texts on their cellphones?
2011. They seldom mention the protest of Jan. 6, 2021, but my guess is there was at least one post saying, “Lets meat at congruss too overturn the elechun.” (Twitter is the world’s leading purveyor of misspelled words.)
Besides, it’s not as if Twit- ter is the only time-killer available; there are all sorts of social — and antisocial — media platforms out there. At least 281, according to researchers.
Somehow I’ve managed to get along without any of them. So I agree with The New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, who re- cently wrote, “I don’t know if Twitter will survive the Musk era and the turmoil at the company does not con- cern me.”
“Is Twitter Shutting Down?” Newsweek won- dered.
Emergency agencies note that it’s “a tool” for notifying
Or Instagram, where you read the latest celebrity news to stay up to date on who’s divorcing whom.
Sorry, Donna Deaton. Whoever you are.
But what will happen if the 192 million tweeters who do use it regularly no longer are able to spend every waking moment posting their wit and wisdom in 280 charac- ters or less? Will they find
Twitter tweeters point that the medium played an important role in protests such as the Arab Spring of
For old people, there’s Facebook, where you can post photos of your beautiful grandchildren, no matter how homely they may be.