Sexual sounds can trigger porn filters

Moaning, screaming and titillating laughs are just some of the sounds of pornography that we know of. The sound of sex does not need the mind of a genius or the imagination of a normal person in order to know what a porn video sounds like. What if these sounds will be the determining factor for our computers to know the signal to filter porn?

At present, there exists several computer-monitoring software that analyze images to discern if photos have explicit contents or not. However, most of them struggle to distinguish indecent imagery from the contents with large flesh-colored regions, such as a person in bathing suit or a close-up face.

Analyzing the audio for sexual resonance could probably solve the problem most parents face with their kids. Electrical engineers MyungJong Kim and Hoirin Kim at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea are putting together a signal-processing technique called the Radon transform, which creates spectrograms of a variety of audio clips.

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Sunday Lunch at LiLi Restaurant, Hyatt Hotel

We rarely eat together as a family inside or outside home, mainly because we are not accustomed to such "activity" ever since we were young. Thanks to my sister who bought the dimsum buffet deal from Deal Grocer, we found ourselves at the LiLi Restaurant located at the 5th level of Hyatt Hotel in Manila.

It took us more than a month to finally be able to schedule a lunch out with my sister and dad for my dad's belated birthday celebration. Mom is a vegetarian, so she opted not to come with us.

Spending Php995 (valued at Php1,330) each for an unlimited by-order type menu with bottomless Guava Iced Tea and buffet dessert is, I can say, worth it. Each food in the menu can be ordered by either sizes of small, medium or large or an option to call by the number of pieces you'd want (say, 3pcs of Chicken Feet).

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Why is KFC So Good?

Who loves KFC, raise your hand? *raises both hands* Yes, I love KFC and in fact my whole events group also loves it. Ketucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has been there for many years now, which is why we've all learned to love this fast food chain that holds finger lickin' good chicken.

Just recently -- May 21 to be exact -- a big change hit all KFC stores in the Philippines that really shocked customers. No, no, no, it wasn't the taste of the chicken nor the removal of our

favorite food choices.

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Zespri Kiwifruits now in Manila

'Tis the season for kiwifruits! It's not everyday that we see kiwifruits around. I personally am able to eat the fruit only on special occasions, and would only know how to eat it... period.

A lunch gathering at Cerveseria, Greenbelt 3 not only treated us delicious food and yummy kiwifruit drinks and desserts, but also gave us a short lesson on kiwifruits. Yes, another day of higher learning for me thanks to Zespri -- a brand recognized as a world leader in premium quality kiwifruits.

The media briefing was hosted by Patricia Bermudez-Hizon and was attended by several online, tv, and print press people.

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HiSense HB600 Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit

A friend of mine recently bought a HiSense HB600 Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit from Digital Hub to aid him in doing and answering calls while driving. It's the most basic model from the HiSense bluetooth handsfree car kit product line available in the market today. While some models have text-to-speech and solar charging features, HB600 still serves its purpose of doing handsfree calls even if it doesn't have those.

Upon our initial testing, we did not have a hard time pairing the device to his iPhone -- in fact, it didn't require us to enter any code in spite of what's instructed in the manual. Overall, both the sound of the ringer and call/voice quality were crisp, loud, and clear.

The HiSense HB600 holds very thinly in the hands and comes with a metallic clip, which you can use to hang the unit in the car's sun visor. Charging is made easy by just plugging it into the car's charging dock. LED lights are your guides to know if it's on or off, or if it's running out of battery.

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Listerine Total Care Challenge Week 1: Pre-Dental Check-Up

As the number 1 mouthwash in the Philippines, Listerine has stepped onto the next level by introducing its newest innovation -- LISTERINE Total Care -- to help us achieve total oral health.

I have accepted their challenge to join a six-week long dare to get total oral care. And the journey starts today.

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ZeroTouch turns any surface touchable

The recently concluded premier international conference of human-computer interaction in Vancouver, BC called CHI 2011 showcased different innovations that focused on leveraging our diversity and connecting people, cultures, technologies, experiences, and ideas – one of which is ZeroTouch, a unique optical multi-touch sensing technology.

Created by Texas A&M University’s Interface Ecology Lab, ZeroTouch is new type of optical muti-touch sensor that provides zero-force, zero-thickness, completely transparent multi-touch sensing. It has the ability to track more than 20 simultaneous touch points, the use of a stylus or other objects.

ZeroTouch is a like an empty picture frame mounted with hundreds of modulated infrared sensors and several LED sensors similar to what television remote controls use.

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New CLEAR Total 3 with Nutrium 10

Unilever Philippines has introduced the new CLEAR Total 3 shampoo, highlighting the revolutionary Nutrium 10 and Pro Nutrium 10. The launch took place at Midas Hotel turned Clear Paris Institute last May 12, which was attended by media, celebrities, and bloggers alike.

Before the program started, guests were treated to a free Hair Analysis, where a series of questions were asked, followed by an actual hair scanning to assess the situation of the hair and scalp.

I got a result of 7/10, which means my hair is 70% healthy. As a recommendation, they told me to use the CLEAR Men Anti-Hair Fall variant to lessen hair fall, since we have a genetic history of balding.

There was also a section in the Institute where friends from CLEAR explained the ingredients of the shampoo, subtly comparing CLEAR to other brands. We were all delighted to know that the fragrance of the new CLEAR Total 3 is patterned from Escada Magnetism (for women) and Clinique Happy (for men).

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Game On for the Listerine Total Care Challenge

Join me, celebrity Drew Arellano, and other bloggers as we take on a 6-week challenge courtesy of Johnson & Johnson's Listerine Total Care.

We all know that having a fresh breath, tartar free teeth, and clean oral extremities are all important for us. However, at times, we do not take necessary actions to maintain such a clean and hygienic mouth due to different reasons - lack of time or money, laziness, etc. - that's why I openly grabbed the dare for a healthier, fresher, and better oral care when I was asked to participate in this challenge. It's good that I'm pushed to regularly brush and floss my teeth as well as eliminate bacteria by using Listerine.

Over the next 6-weeks, I will be featuring the different health benefits of using Listerine Total Care as I discover and prove them one at a time. I believe that genuine stories come from real experiences, right?

GLICH's LIFE be hosting a couple of contests and Listerine giveaways too, so stay tuned and come with me in this journey to a total oral care. Game on!

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Social Networking Violations

Do you spend lots of time on Facebook and Twitter everyday? Someone sent a question asking what common social networking courtesies people always violate.

We know that social networking is the same as face-to-face meeting. It needs us to be courteous and respectful of people’s time and efforts no matter what happens. In networking, think before you act and think about others before yourself. Soon enough, you will reap its benefits.

Which ones among these are you guilty of?

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Has Tech Made Us Spend More?

The Philippines is getting more and more inclined to technology as the years go by. Gone are the days of typewriters, CRT monitors and CD players, as we wave hello to Stevie’s wonders and all that competes against his masterpieces. Our spending power has increased tremendously for and through technology, up to the point that we purchase items we do not really need.

Do you remember how long it took before Apple’s first generation iPad reached the Philippine shores officially? Almost, if not, nine long months. But that was last year.

Just a few days ago, the excitement of owning a brand new iPad 2 has finally been fired out with its official launch in our country. If you can recall, we were not actually part of the 25 or so countries that should have received the said gadget when it was announced in March 2011.

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