The Secret of the Claw Machine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In arcades, claw machines are crowd magnets. And understandably so. 

Most people have a soft spot for adorable plushies perched in well-lit boxes, just begging to be taken home – like this one kid who decided to crawl into a claw machine to take matters into his own hands. Many also love the thrill of knowing that the toy of their choice could fall into their hands (or out of it) with one skillful move. 

 

But whenever it seems like the prize is sitting precariously close to the exit chute  – just one solid grab away from being yours forever – the claw drops the damn toy. This happens again and again, until you’re out of patience or out of coins, or both.

 

In a TikTok video, Katie Clark @clarkatie who bought a used claw machine found the operating manual inside. It indicated that there's a DIP switch that can be set to change how frequently the claws actually work. It can be set to allow a player to win every time, or as little as one out of fifty times. The default setting is one out of ten times. 

 

Here's what the instruction page looks like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found an April 21, 2021 Vice report by Koh Ewe that claimed that claw machines are “100% rigged”, with experts explaining that business owners can manipulate the game to only produce a toy every-so-many tries.

 

“Hell yeah!” affirmed Umehara Keiji, a Singapore-based content creator who documents his frequent trips to the arcade on his YouTube channel. “Claw machines are 100% rigged in the arcades”. 

 

To be clear, we’re defining “rigged” as claw machines having certain features that make it intentionally harder for players to win.

 

"Owners can vary the claw strength for when the claw goes up, down, or back above the chute. This makes people feel like they’re on the verge of winning when the toy is close to the chute. But of course, the claw strength would be 'crap at that moment'. That is the dark truth about claw machines”, Umehara who calls himself the Arcade Ninja added. 

 

Meanwhile, another Singapore-based toy catcher known as Claw Coach pointed out another insidious function of claw machines – predetermined win rates or “payouts”. Meaning, they are meant to be programmed such that the cost price of the prizes are fulfilled before issuing a payout, he explained. 

 

Rey Chua, an events manager at a Singapore-based claw machine rental company, told VICE that while there are different types of claw machines, they all pretty much work the same way. 

 

“Whereby the claw only [catches] tightly part of the time and not all the time”, he said. “There [is] some element of skill and luck involved". He added that the difficulty of winning a prize would depend on the requirements of their renters.

 

Still, Umehara gave the best advice. “If you want to play with the claw machine, just play to have fun. Go in with the mindset of ‘Hey, [even] if I lose, I had fun’”.

Xiaomi Launch Home-grown Cross-device System with HyperOS

Smartphone and gadget giant Xiaomi Corp have become the latest Chinese industry player to unveil a unified operating system for their mobile devices, cars and Internet-connected home products, as US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies work towards liberating their own integrated OS completely from Google’s Android. 

 

Xiaomi described HyperOS, their recently introduced OS, as a combination of a highly customised Android system and the company’s proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) platform Vela, launched three years ago to support a range of smart devices from wristbands and smartwatches to speakers, home appliances and sensors. The Beijing-based firm touted HyperOS as a “human-centric” OS that is a culmination of efforts to bring their vast and expanding product portfolio under the roof of one single OS for centralised and easier management. 

 

HyperOS will come pre-installed on the latest Xiaomi 14 smartphone series, as well as devices launched in the mainland Chinese market, such as smartwatches and televisions, the company said.

 

Xiaomi are not the only Chinese company that have taken a shot at developing a home-grown OS. Huawei Technologies, one of the first domestic handset makers to make such an attempt, are now preparing a bolder move to launch HarmonyOS Next. 

 

Huawei have confirmed that HarmonyOS NEXT will commence official developer beta activities in early 2024, followed by closed and public beta tests before the full public release. 

 

The Next system is Huawei’s attempt to sever their ties with the Android ecosystem by removing support for Android apps on Huawei devices equipped with their new OS. HarmonyOS was launched in August 2019, several months after the US Department of Commerce added Huawei to their Entity List that barred the Shenzhen-based telecoms titan from buying technologies from American companies – including Google apps and services – without Washington’s approval.

 

While the Android Open Source Project is still free for anyone to use, Huawei have been pushing through with efforts to expand the use of HarmonyOS, which was first released on a smart television, to all their IoT and personal devices. But to soften the blow to users, Huawei – which were briefly the world’s top-selling smartphone brand before US trade sanctions decimated their international handset business – have so far allowed Android apps to run on HarmonyOS devices.

 

Android held a roughly 70 percent share of the global mobile OS market in September, according to data service StatCounter, while HarmonyOS had a negligible share.

 

Still, Huawei appear ready to move forward. 

 

“HarmonyOS had four rough years. Looking back now, the light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains”, Richard Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business, said at a launch event for HarmonyOS 4 in September, citing a famous line written by ancient Chinese poet Li Bai. 

 

Today, more than 700 million devices run on HarmonyOS, with more than 2.2 million third-party developers creating apps for the system, according to Yu. 

 

Meanwhile, other Chinese smartphone manufacturers continue to build their customised OS on the open-source Android. They include Oppo’s ColorOS and Vivo’s OriginOS.

More Gun Violence Over Halloween Weekend

The United States continues to grapple with high levels of deadly gun violence, driven by easy firearm access and poor gun control, according to a news report in The Guardian.

 

At least eight people are dead and more than 50 others injured after multiple shootings across the country over the Halloween weekend: Texarkana, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Wichita, Kansas; Tampa, Florida; Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Chicago, Illinois.

 

Gun violence is a fixture in American life. And mass shootings are on the rise. In fact, for each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings – almost two a day on average.

 

I did say the killings never stop, didn't I?

 

Yesterday, Liverpool managed to take all three points to continue their good run of form in the Premier League matchday ten fixture against Nottingham Forest at Anfield. They won by three goals to nil.

 

Diogo Jota gave Liverpool a 31st-minute lead, turning home a rebound after the opposing side’s goalie had made a save. Liverpool’s second came just four minutes later – it was a brilliant team goal as they sliced the Forest rearguard apart before Dominik Szoboszlai pulled the ball across the goal for Darwin Nunez to turn home. Mohamed Salah then struck Liverpool's third goal in the 77th minute, profiting from the goalkeeper’s error to slide the ball into an empty net. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel a lot more confident about Liverpool's title prospects this season after seeing a display like that.

The Mass Murder of Children in Gaza

 

 

More children have now been killed in Gaza in the last three weeks than the total killed in conflicts around the world in every year since 2019, the non-governmental organization Save the Children have detailed. 

 

Figures released by the NGO on Sunday, referencing Palestinian health authorities, show that at least 3,324 children have been killed in Gaza since October 07, while 36 have died in the West Bank.

 

According to reports from the UN Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, a total of 2,985 children were killed across 24 countries in 2022, 2,515 in 2021, and 2,674 in 2020 across 22 countries, Save the Children said.

 

It is claimed a further 1,000 children have been reported missing in Gaza and may be under the rubble arising from fierce Israeli bombardment. Children make up more than 40 percent of the more than 8,000 people confirmed to have been killed in Gaza. And more than 6,000 children have been injured in Gaza since the war began. 

 

Which country will step forward to defend and protect Palestinian innocents from the murderous Israelis?

 

465 Couples Share Spaghetti Strands

Vapiano Germany gathered 465 couples to recapture a romantic Guinness World Record for the most people eating a single piece of spaghetti simultaneously. 

 

The German restaurant chain originally set the record in 2020 to commemorate their limited-edition dish of 60-cm long pieces of linguine called “Italian Kiss”. 

 

The fancy name aside, the expression “Italian Kiss” actually refers to when two people share a strand of pasta that ends with their lips touching, reminiscent of the 1955 Disney film “Lady and the Tramp” (right). 

 

Vapiano's record was later broken by the Belgium housing association Upgrade Estate with 433 couples, so Vapiano endeavored to take back its crown.

 

The record required each spaghetti strand consumption to end in a kiss, and the couples had to complete the process without breaking the spaghetti and within 30 seconds of starting.

 

The eatery gathered the massive group of couples at the Tempelhof airport hangar in Berlin on July 06, which is International Kissing Day. To create a romantic dining experience, the hangar was decorated to look like a restaurant, complete with tables draped with red tablecloths, which took 20 hours to complete. A mobile kitchen was brought in to make the copious amount of spaghetti.

 

The European chain restaurant franchise specialises in offering fresh, handmade pasta and pizza at their branches worldwide. 

 

Yesterday’s Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Hibernian ended in a goalless stalemate. I’m sorry to say neither side were at their best in a pretty turgid game.

UNGA Vote For Palestine

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. 

 

The 193-member body passed the resolution, drafted by a group of 22 Arab countries, by a margin of 120 to 14, with 45 countries abstaining. 

 

Obviously, the United States and Israel voted no as well as twelve other countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.

 

Speaking before the vote, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that voting against the resolution “means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing”. Israel denounced the vote as “infamy”. Needless to say, the US is firmly in cahoots with the Israelis and so, they too oppose peace.

 

Russian soft drinks brand Dobry overtook Coca-Cola in sales on the domestic market in January-August 2023, news website RBK reported on Thursday, citing a study by NielsenIQ. 

 

The Dobry Cola brand is produced at factories that belonged to Coca-Cola HBC Russia, the bottler of the original drink. 

 

According to the report, Dobry came in second in the ranking of the 50 most popular FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brands. Based on the results of the first eight months, the brand’s share in total sales on the FMCG market is 1.2%, the study showed. 

 

The original Coca-Cola did not even make it into the top 50 brands in Russia, despite finding its way into the sanctioned country through parallel imports.

Disbelief Over Palestinian Death Toll

 

The list of Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza stretches for more than 150 pages, at times featuring dozens of people with the same last name: Entire families have been wiped out by Israeli air attacks. 

 

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza released the list on Thursday, documenting the deaths of more than 7,000 Palestinians, including nearly 3,000 children, since the "war" began on October 07. 

 

Each name is paired with a government identification number – a step meant to indicate transparency. 

 

But less than 24 hours earlier, US President Joe Biden (left) expressed his disbelief, casting doubt over the figures – and saying that he has “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using”. 

 

For Palestinian rights advocates, the US president’s comments are another episode in his administration’s push to “dehumanise” Palestinians and dismiss their suffering, as Washington continues to support Israel’s bombing campaign. 

 

Moreover, critics were quick to point out that human rights experts, including at the United Nations, have long found the Palestinian Health Ministry’s data to be reliable. 

 

Palestinian American activist Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison (right) said Biden’s remarks seem to question Palestinians’ humanity “even in death”. She told Al Jazeera: “The president’s statements are outrageous, irresponsible and flat-out racist and anti-Palestinian”. 

 

As if the world doesn't know! What's important to Israel and its accomplice, the United States, is war and death!

Maine Shooter is Dead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The suspect in the mass shooting that killed 18 people in the US state of Maine has been found dead on Friday night. 

 

Robert Card (above), a sergeant at a US Army Reserve base, is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, multiple media outlets said, citing law enforcement officials. His body was found in woods close to the nearby town of Lisbon, where police found his abandoned vehicle shortly after the shooting. 

 

Authorities on Thursday said they had found a suicide note, addressed to Card’s son, which did not specify a motive for the shooting. 

 

Card had a history of mental illness and was committed to a psychiatric facility for two weeks earlier this year, according to law enforcement officials. 

 

Card, who enlisted in the military in 2002 but had not been deployed to a combat zone, had reported auditory hallucinations and made threats to shoot up a national guard base, according to a law enforcement bulletin issued after the shootings. 

 

The discovery of Card’s body brings to an end a 48-hour manhunt that followed the deadliest shooting in the modern history of Maine, a sparsely populated state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States.

18 Dead in Maine Mass Shooting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Police have released the names of the 18 victims fatally shot on Wednesday, the deadliest US mass shooting this year. Those killed in the attack ranged in age from 14 to 76. 

 

The suspected gunman identified as 40-year-old Robert Card injured an additional 13 more people during the attack, which happened at a local bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine. 

 

A manhunt for the suspect is now underway.

 

If the reported death toll stays at 18, the Lewiston mass shootings would be the tenth deadliest in the US since at least 1982, according to the data-gathering company Statista, the Gun Violence Archive and a database maintained by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. 

 

As per Specturm News today, already this year, 35,275 Americans have been killed by guns, including nearly 20,000 by suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Almost 800 children from ages zero to eleven have been killed or wounded by guns this year prior to the Maine shooting. And nearly 4,500 teenagers, ages 12 to 17, have been killed or injured in 2023.

 

That's because the people's right to bear firearms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. To exacerbate matters, many Americans are sick!

 

And so, the killings never stop.

Drivers Torture Residents with Celine Dion Songs

Car drivers armed with a playlist of songs of Celine Dion (left) have been plaguing residents of a small New Zealand city for months on end with loud, late-night “siren battles”. 

 

The Canadian singer’s melodies lose their charm when blared at high volume as late as 2:00 AM, say the sleepless residents of Porirua, just 20 minutes north of Wellington and home to 60,000 people.

 

Actually, siren battles have erupted in parts of New Zealand for at least seven years. 

 

Local media have reported on contestants – often people with family links to Pacific Island nations – using large siren-type speakers on cars and even bicycles to drown each other out with their powerful systems.

 

They “love Celine Dion”, Porirua Mayor Anita Baker (right) said. “They like anyone with a high pitch and great tone in their voice”.

 

In Porirua, people have had enough of hearing the power ballads, including “My Heart Will Go On” and “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”. The contests start as early as 7:00 PM and can go on until as late as 2:00 AM. “It’s really loud music. They only play a quarter of the song, so it’s like having a turntable and it comes screeching out”, the mayor added.

 

Competing cars park with their engines running, blasting out music before moving to avoid police. 

 

Baker elaborated that the late-night music sessions started in November 2022 during the Rugby League World Cup when local fans celebrated Samoa’s run to the final. “We had a parade down here and they have just continued on. Summer is starting and they are back"

 

It appears there are no set nights when the high-decibel music will start up. It’s absolutely random and it can be any day of the week. 

 

Baker herself has attended organised siren battles. “I can see why they like them, they are a bit of fun. There were families watching and it finished at 10:00 PM, not one or two in the morning when people need to sleep". 

 

The mayor indicated she will meet with police to find a resolution.

In Solidarity with Palestine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fans of Scotland’s Celtic Football Club defied their club’s directives and waved thousands of Palestine flags during their team’s UEFA Champions League match against Atletico Madrid. 

 

The Scottish Premiership champions hosted the Spanish club for their group-stage match at Glasgow’s Celtic Park on Wednesday. As per yesterday's post "Ukrainian Troops Ordered to Advance 500M Daily".

 

Even Paul Doherty (left) – a politician from Northern Ireland – posted a photo of himself holding up the flag at Celtic Park on X, formerly Twitter. 

 

“Standing with 60,000 Celtic supporters tonight showing solidarity with the people of Palestine”, he wrote in the post.

 

Liverpool did very well in the Europa League as they scored five goals, cemented their favorites tag, even gave two players debuts and kept up their perfect winning record at the top of Group E in Europe's secondary tournament.

 

Going into this round of games, Toulouse were the only other team in the group to have won a game, so defeating them sets Jürgen Klopp and his players on their way to the knockouts.

 

The hosts burst into the lead in the ninth minute at Anfield as Diogo Jota skipped past defenders before burying the ball into the net – although Les Pitchouns evened the score seven minutes later.

 

Stand-in captain Trent Alexander-Arnold quickly made amends, crossing for Wataru Endo who headed home his first Liverpool goal in the thirtieth minute, before Darwin Nunez (34) blasted in a third to give the Reds a 3-1 lead at half-time.

 

Midway through the second half Nunez glided past the Toulouse keeper, but struck the post and was thankful to see Ryan Gravenberch (65) score a fourth on the rebound. Liverpool ultimately cruised to their win as substitute Mohamed Salah (90+3) scored a fifth, coolly converting a close-range shot in off the crossbar for his ninth goal of the season.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the Reds must win the said competition, even as they were ruthless in their 5-1 demolition of the French Cup winners on Thursday – no two ways about it! Anything else isn't good enough!

The Egyptian's goal for Liverpool against Toulouse didn't have much impact on the outcome with the Reds well on their way to a big win, but it was enough for him to break a record held by Thierry Henry for 17 years. 

 

French international Henry scored 42 goals in European competition for Arsenal, the last of them coming against Porto in September 2006. He didn't add to that tally during his second spell with the Gunners, during which he played just once in Europe. 

 

His record of most European goals from a Premier League player stood for more than a decade and a half. However, Salah has finally surpassed Henry with his second Europa League goal this season to add to his 41 in the Champions League in Liverpool colors.