REYKJAVIK, Iceland – You meet someone, there’s chemistry, and then come
the introductory questions: What’s your name? Come here often? Are you
my cousin? (source)
The globalnews.ca,
had an interesting article about a new app. that could tell you if you
are related to someone by just bumping their phone with yours. In most
parts of the world people wont find this a real need but according to
the article, “It’s not a good feeling when you realize that girl is a second cousin.
People may think it’s funny, but (the app) is a necessity.” The app. was created for the Icelandic community and has the name "The Islendiga-App — “App of Icelanders”".
New app helps Icelanders avoid accidental incest
In Iceland, a country with a population of 320,000 where most
everyone is distantly related, inadvertently kissing cousins is a real
risk.
A new smartphone app is on hand to help Icelanders avoid accidental
incest. The app lets users “bump” phones, and emits a warning alarm if
they are closely related. “Bump the app before you bump in bed,” says
the catchy slogan.
Some are hailing it as a welcome solution to a very Icelandic form of social embarrassment.
“Everyone has heard the story of going to a family event and running
into a girl you hooked up with some time ago,” said Einar Magnusson, a
graphic designer in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
The app was created by three University of Iceland software engineering
students for a contest calling for “new creative uses” of the
Islendingabok, or Book of Icelanders, an online database of residents
and their family trees stretching back 1,200 years.
So I suppose, hooking up with someone only to realize he/she is related to you, especially if people knew you were together. Major social embarrassment....
