Iceland Creates Anti-Incest App

[chamber-music]

If you meet someone in a bar and hook up for the night, there are some risks involved. We think you know what they are.

If you live in Iceland, though, there’s yet another risk: The object of your desire could be a very close relative. Iceland has only 320,000 inhabitants, and virtually all of them trace their ancestry to the island’s 9th century settlers.

How, then, to determine whether you may be skating close to incest with that attractive stranger? There’s now an app for that.

Developed by three young software-engineering students at the University of Iceland, it lets users instantly compare their lineage by bumping their mobile devices together. The app includes an “incest-prevention alarm,” says Arnar Freyr Adalsteinsson, one of the developers. “When you bump, it shows your nearest common ancestors. If you bump with someone who’s too closely related, you get an alarm sound and a text warning.”

The app draws on an Icelandic genealogical database called Islendingabok, or Iceland Book, which traces the lineage of all the country’s current inhabitants, in some cases going back to 9th century settlers. The app, called IslendingaApp—yes, Iceland App—this month won a contest organized by the university to celebrate the database’s 10th anniversary.

Icelandic citizens have long been able to use the national database for genealogical research, including access via mobile phone. An ad by a local mobile-phone operator a couple of years ago showed a couple lolling happily in bed after a romantic interlude, only to have their smiles disappear when they consult the database on their smartphones.

Iceland's duelling banjo industry is going to go bust

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

I had no idea that this was a problem in Iceland.

Kinky...

 

[chaseter]

I'm moving to Iceland where I am guaranteed a woman (who at least is disgusted by incest).

 

[MrMaooz]

Not bad.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Hey chamber, think you can post a link to the article? I'd like to share it on Facebook.

 

[chaseter]

You moving there with me?

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I was waiting for an invitation

 

[MrMaooz]

Weird.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Don't you judge us moose, you don't even watch breaking bad

 

[MrMaooz]

My avvy tho.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Great, so you're a poser

 

[MrMaooz]

Hey, I'm trying to show it some love for it's last night.

 

[Hyde]

Maooz, you don't watch Breaking Bad? Sacrilege!

 

[MrMaooz]

Nein.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

You need a nice long vacation, moose. May I suggest...BELIZE?

 

[Hyde]

Send Huell to take care of it

 

[MrMaooz]

You need a nice long vacation, moose. May I suggest...BELIZE?

You're from Belize? I don't need a long vacation especially since you're there.

I thought you were 'Murican.

I am dissapoint.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I am American lol...it's a reference from breaking bad. You'd know that if you weren't a lame sauce golem

 

[chamber-music]

Hey chamber, think you can post a link to the article? I'd like to share it on Facebook.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/iceland-app-warn-hookup-relative-200939264.html

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Thank you chamber music.

 

[Xeno]

Iceland's duelling banjo industry is going to go bust

An app like that would be useful in some parts of the US, too, and I'm not talking about backwoods. When I did my stint working for social services some of us case managers realized that many of our clients were unwittingly committing incest, or were in danger of doing so. The reason? A whole lot of people in that area grew up without knowing who their fathers were. Some of them were led to believe that they knew, but in the days before paternity tests became common mothers often lied to their kids (and partners) or simply did not know for sure who fathered their children.

Also, a whole lot of men hopped from bed to bed, fathering multiple children with many different women. For example, four women in my caseload had seven children total by one man. Another man fathered four kids by two women. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Most of these women didn't know about each other and their kids definitely didn't know about their half-siblings. Since all of these families lived in the same school district the kids from these fathers often attended the same schools and were in class together. As they grew older it was all but inevitable that some of them would hook up without ever knowing that they were siblings.

 

[coffeebreath]

And you still hear those horror stories about sperm banks being populated by one active doctor...

 

[Hyde]

Imagine realising that you bedded your cousin, or an even closer relative.

Gross.

 

[MrMaooz]

Well, that happens a lot among middle easterns and Desis, Hyde.

 

[Hyde]

And in Westeros.