German pigeon flashed by speed camera goes viral

It was a quiet afternoon in Bocholt in western Germany when a pigeon broke the calm and the speed limit, flying down a residential street at 45km/h (28mph) in a 30km/h zone.

A mobile speed camera flashed as soon as the pigeon flew past.

Authorities in the town, a short distance from the Dutch border, published the picture last week, and it has since gone viral.

Under normal circumstances the penalty for speeding would be €25 (£21;$28).

The town said that even with a 3km/h margin allowed in speeding cases, the pigeon had been going 12km/h too fast and was "on a collision course with vehicles and pedestrians".

One local said it was clearly a racing pigeon, while another suggested an appropriate punishment would be community service as a carrier pigeon.

The Bocholt Facebook page said philosophically: "Whether and, above all, how the fast bird can and will pay its €25 on-the-spot fine remains to be seen."

Source: www.bbc.com

This new technology may soon be able to translate your pet's sounds into words

Animal lovers may soon be able to strike up conversations with their furry friends, according to a report commissioned by internet giant Amazon. One author of the study, futurist William Higham, believes the technology could be a reality within the next decade.

The findings come from a report called "Shop the Future" which was commissioned to coincide with the launch of the retailer's new platform under the same name. Alongside Higham, the paper was co-authored by London-based futurist Anne Lise Kjaer.

The idea of so-called pet translators has existed for a few years now, but the technology behind the products is yet to catch up to the vision. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning projects being spearheaded by academics that may soon change.

"Innovative products that succeed are based around a genuine and major consumer needs. The amount of money now spent on pets – they are becoming fur babies to so many people – means there is huge consumer demand for this," Higham told The Guardian.

The authors predicted that future pet translator applications will be able to play back a pet's barks or miaows and tell you what they mean. In the near-future, devices may be placed directly into a dog's collar which would tell the owner what it wants. Despite the lofty ambition, however, any timescale for release remains murky.

The Amazon-funded researcher based his analysis on the work of professor Con Slobodchikoff from Northern Arizona University, who has dedicated 30 years to studying the language and behaviours of North American prairie dogs using cutting-edge technology.

Using his research, Slobodchikoff is currently attempting to raise the necessary funds to build a fully-fledged cat and dog translation device.

"So many people would dearly love to talk to their dog or cat or at least find out what they are trying to communicate," Slobodchikoff said. "A lot of people talk to their dogs and share their innermost secrets. With cats I'm not sure what they'd have to say.

"A lot of times it might just be 'you idiot, just feed me and leave me alone'."

The professor plans to use algorithms to the "language" of pets using huge databases of recorded sounds. Not everyone is convinced it will work. Juliane Kaminski, a psychologist at Portsmouth University, believes animals' sounds are not language as we know it.

"We would not describe dogs' forms of communication as language in the scientific sense [but] they do give out rudimentary signals of what they want and how they're feeling," she said, noting this could be as simple as the wagging of their tails to the left or right.

Some similar products already exist – albeit in rudimentary stages. Back in 2010, Google released its "Translate for Animals" tool which remains in a beta stage. "We hope that Translate for Animals encourages greater interaction and understanding between animal and human," the firm said.

Source: http://www.msn.com

A look at Ailuromania Cafe – the UAE’s first cat café

Society’s fascination with furry felines has reached a fever pitch, amplified by daily online viral videos, fanciful Twitter feeds and celebrity kitties including the film star Grumpy Cat and Karl Lagerfeld’s Choupette, who has her own Instagram account.

But while the UAE has a steady stream of stray cats to adopt and an obsessive national love of coffee, the country has been so far left out of the latest trend, which combines the love of animals with cafe culture. That is all about to change in Dubai, where Saudi-born sisters Iman and Allaa Ahmed Al Aulaqi are opening Ailuromania Cafe – the UAE’s first cat cafe – at the end of the month.

In the meantime, Iman is introducing a few of her core team members, ET (sphynx), Mocha (Siamese), Snow, Mo and Jumbo (Persians), to their new home in Jumeirah, where she hopes to attract the kind of fanatical devotion found in cat cafes in other locations, including Paris, Portland, San Diego, New York and Yokohama, Japan.

"I’ve only chosen cats that are sociable, ones that will adapt to the surroundings easily," says Iman, 23, as she lifts the green-eyed sphynx that is wearing a snugly pink sweater. The cat struggles free from her embrace and leaps onto a fully wrapped couch in the still-unfurnished cafe.

"We call him ET because he looks like the character from the movie," says Iman. "Sphynx tend to feel very cold, so she wears a sweater. And she loves to snuggle around the neck to keep warm. She is like a parrot."

The young entrepreneur, who recently graduated from American University in Dubai, has five cats of her own and has fostered more than 12 in the past two years.

Last year, when she was contemplating a start-up, a friend sent her images of a cat cafe in Korea and that struck her as the perfect match for her career goals.

"I’m just combining my obsession with cats with my desire to be a businesswoman," says the finance graduate. "It’s what I’ve always wanted to do."

Iman began following and researching similar cafes around the world and flew to the United Kingdom to check out Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, the first cat cafe in London, which had a two-month waiting list when it opened in March.

"I wasn’t allowed in because it was only on a booking basis. I pleaded but it didn’t help. I waited outside for 30 minutes, watching the cats from the window. I was so disappointed."

She hopes for similar enthusiasm from residents here. At Ailuromania Cafe, the menu will take a back seat as regulars will be queuing up to play with the 12 rescue cats.

"I think it’ll be a hit with residents who adore cats but can’t keep one because of family members who are allergic or disapprove, or people who live in small apartments. This is where they’ll come to fulfil that want."

The story of each cat will be posted in the cafe alongside their portrait.

Iman shares the story of Bob, a 7-year-old Himalayan. "We found him wandering around in Barsha and [he] had a severely infected eye," she says. "So I took him to a vet and called the owners, but they said they couldn’t take him back.

"Bob isn’t much of a player, but he loves people and will enjoy being petted."

The sisters had to jump through a lot of hoops to make their dream business a reality, especially with the health and safety department.

"We won’t be preparing the food at the cafe because of health and safety regulations," says Iman. "So our cold drinks, snacks, sandwiches, pasta and desserts will be prepared by suppliers and transported and stocked fresh in the cafe every morning. We will, of course, brew the coffee at the venue."

Source: www.thenational.ae