It must be tough being a U.S. Congressman. All those hard, long days sweating and grinding as they... wait. What does Congress even do again?This week, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) complained that he is "stuck here making $172,000" according to the National Review Online.Gingrey was complaining that his staff wasn't making any money now, but that in just a few years they could slink away off to K Street to make half-million dollar salaries working as lobbyists. Meanwhile, poor Congressman Gingrey has to settle on his low six-figure salary. It must be tough. But, in an effort to cheer up the Congressman, we combed through the benefits tied to being a member of the House of Representatives. Maybe the Congressman just doesn't know these benefits exist. So, Congressman Gingrey, we just wanted to let you know that you have the following benefits... that very few other Americans enjoy.
- A free company car
- Free gas
- Free parking - even at airports!
- Free flights almost anywhere in the world
- Per diem travel allowance... up to $3,000 per trip
- A month's paid vacation
- 3-day work weeks
- Free membership at a top-flight gym
- A pension plan and a 401(k) plan
- Full retirement benefits, including up to 44% of their six-figure salaries, at age 62
- Free top-of-the-line health insurance, with ten plans to choose from
- Fully covered by that insurance - even with pre-existing conditions
Gosh, sounds like he's really stuck in his career. The world's smallest violin is playing somewhere.
One reason that we prefer keyboards to pens is the dignity-saving presence of aspell checker -- but that won't help your average schoolchild, obligated to learn their language scrawling on dead trees. Now, a pair of German inventors have developed Lernstift, a learning pen that'll ruthlessly nag you into improving your spelling and handwriting with the power of vibration. Packing a stripped-down Linux system with a non-optical motion sensor, it'll work out what you're writing and buzz you if it thinks you've made a mistake, even if you're scrawling in mid-air. In addition, there's a calligraphy mode, which'll let you know exactly how you could make your penmanship a little more, you know, legible. The makers have taken toKickstarter to raise £120,000 ($181,476) in funding, with a pledge of £99 ($150) snagging you a device. If you're not sold, then you can head past the break, but we've already pre-ordered a ton for our local doctor's office.
Just when we're getting bored of all these static Moto X leaks, a couple of new video clips popped up to finally show off some of the software goodies. The first one appears to be a leaked Rogers promotional video (embedded after the break), in which a nice lady introduces us to a new Google Now voice command feature, which can be toggled with a custom phrase even when the screen is off (similar to a feature we've seen promised by a certain Wolfson audio chip). According to another clip uploaded by kronikbudz, said feature is called Open Mic, but there's no indication as to whether this will be exclusive to Motorola devices or whether it'll come with the next Android release.
The Rogers video adds that the Moto X will provide ambient "active updates" notifications on the screen when the phone is locked, and this is pitched as a more sensible replacement for the meaningless blinking light. Later on, the same lady demonstrates how one can activate the phone's camera -- even when locked -- by simply twisting the wrist twice. We're a bit worried that this may allow accidental activations, unless the phone can detect whether it is inside a pocket or bag.
Finally, the lady says the Moto X will be "exclusively" heading to Rogers this August in either black or white, thus confirming the "late Summer" window that we werepreviously told. Enjoy your very own exclusivity while it lasts, Mr. Schmidt!
Get the full story here: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/14/moto-x-open-mic-voice-command-rogers/
