North Denver News reported that Thomas Martel, 28, had his thumbs surgically altered so he could better use his iPhone. A new surgical technique called "whittling" involves making a small incision into both thumbs and shaving down the bones, followed by careful muscular alteration and modification of the fingernails.
Mr Martel reportedly said, "Sure, the procedure was expensive, but when I think of all the time I save by being able to use modern handhelds so much faster, I really think the surgery will pay for itself in ten to fifteen years. And what it's saving me in frustration - that's priceless."
InformationWeek claims the story is false - the doctor who developed the procedure is not listed in the Denver phone directory and writer of the story hasn't returned any of their calls.
Original link | Information Week article - via Spluch
Comments (6)
FAKE FAKE FAKE!!!!
Anyone believing this is stupid.
I hope he got the vasectomy, too.
Yes, we should.
sm.
I think we should save them if we can, because they are a unique and incredible animal. Isn't that enough reason?
Taken from Wikipedia:
400 to 450 North Atlantic Right Whales live in the North Atlantic;
50-100 North Pacific Right Whales live in the eastern North Pacific and perhaps 200-300 more in the Sea of Okhotsk;
12,000 Southern Right Whales are spread throughout the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere;
9,000–10,000 Bowhead Whales (Aka Greenland Right Whale) are distributed entirely in the Arctic Ocean and sub-polar seas.
There will still be Right whales out there, if the North Atlantic Right Whales disapear. Save their genetic information as best we can, and salute them goodbye, IMO.
If a species is going extinct naturally, then we should let it die out – as attempting to stave off extinction of such a thing is as damaging to the natural order of things as killing off a species that is not dying out naturally.
Adaption tends to take little time as it is a change in populations actions. ( that is: Colonialist adapted to the new england climate in a generation, by changing their actions)
Evolution takes generations and depends on the speed at which a species generates new generations. So ecoli will evolve faster than a Right Whale.
@drake123
I don't think it's possible to say how we would have turned out if we imposed current policies and ideals on our past selves. One could argue if we had the feelings toward the whale as we do now we wouldn't have had appropriate lubrication for motors that drove the industrial revolution. But one could also argue that human are highly inventive and they would have developed other lubrication.
Conservation is the ultimate conservatism.