Before I watched this video by the whip smart guys at AsapScience, I never considered eating bugs in my entire life. Now? Well. Damn. It actually makes a lot of sense. Raising bugs doesn’t take nearly as much space as raising animals and it doesn’t require the same amount of resources either. Heck, bugs may even be more nutritious than eating animals too!
Let’s face it: the theatrical security procedures at airports aren’t going away any time soon. However, they might just get more tolerable if a team of Israeli researchers bring a new, extremely sensitive bomb detection chip to an inspection line…
The European Commission has drastically slashed roaming rates in the EU, dropping them by 55-percent effective starting July 1. That’s not the end of the news, however: the Commission has also revealed that it is working on nixing roaming charges altogether. The charges haven’t been entirely eradicated as of yet, but henceforth the roaming rates have been slashed more than … Continue reading
The use of drones by the masses have certainly raised its fair share of concern by certain quarters – and the FAA has even gone ahead to ban the use of drones when it comes to deliveries. It looks like the Amazon Prime Air program would find it pretty difficult to get off the ground, at least at this moment in time. Other than delivering pizzas (at least this mode of delivery has yet to be banned in Russia), what other kinds of use do you think drones would come in handy? Peeping Toms might be a potential group, come to think of it. A lady in Seattle found a drone hovering right outside her apartment window which prompted her to call the police, but since there was nothing illegal about it hovering in mid-air, it could very well have been shooting a nearby construction site.
Miss Pleiss, living it up on the 26th floor, was not too convinced of that argument, as the drone which was allegedly decked out in camera gear left the scene before police officers arrived. Seattle police spokesman Drew Fowler shared, “There really aren’t any specific laws to the UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] other than not being dangerous.This is a new issue and I’m sure our lawmakers will provide guidance soon.”
Apparently, now that the dust has settled, it has been discovered that the drone’s owner happens to be Skyris Imaging, a Portland-based company that was performing photography related work to a future apartment building. Hopefully new laws will be drawn up soon that will regulate the use of drones in a mature manner, in order to prevent any potential Peeping Tom incidents.
Are Peeping Toms Using Drones Now? , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Just like how a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so too, is a Smart TV as “smart” as the apps that run on it. You can have all of the hardware capability available, but if it is unable to be accompanied by the relevant apps to keep it going or to maximize its potential, then it is all for naught. LG has then taken the step to unveil its Software Development Kit (SDK) in order to assist developers in creating new LG Smart+ TV apps without being bogged down like in the past.
There is this new website that will enable developers to be able to obtain all of the required information in order to churn out high quality webOS TV apps. With LG’s SDK, it will go some lengths to simplify the development process so that they can write apps that are compatible with the company’s Smart+ TVs.
The LG Smart+ TV Emulator will enable developers to able to set up a virtual webOS TV experience right there and then on a PC itself. The SDK boasts of a developer-friendly user interface, where it will play nice with standard web technologies which range from HTML to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript, among others.
You can also draw more information on the website through various tech-related documents, development tips, sample apps, design guide, FAQs and developer forum. With the Application Programming Interface (API) guide, developers ought to be able to get started right from the get go with a relatively low learning curve. After all, with over a million LG Smart+ TVs sold worldwide, the “field” has plenty of potential users. [Press Release]
LG Reveals SDK For LG Smart+ TV Apps , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
When you go and stay at a posh hotel, you would expect it to arrive with all of the creature comforts away from home, topped with an unrivaled service, of course. Well, individual hotel chains have their strengths, and being entertained on the road is one particular requirement for some folks who need to unwind after a long day at work. Samsung intends to maximize your visual entertainment experience in a hotel, thanks to its new Samsung HC890 and Smart TV 2.0 platform.
The new Samsung 890 Series will comprise of a couple of curved LED TV models, in addition to a new 75-inch model that makes up one of the largest TV format when it comes to the field of hospitality. The Samsung 890 Series merges high picture quality and enhanced energy efficiency thanks to its edge-lit LED technology, without taking up too much space in your room thanks to a sleek form factor.
One will be able to select from 46″, 55″, 65″ and a new 75″ form factor, where they will all boast of Smart TV 2.0 technology. Smart TV 2.0 would enable hotels to provide guests with mobile device support, where embedded features will allow the access to a multitude of apps and widgets as part of the in-room entertainment and content experience. Expect the Samsung HC890 Series to be made available from early August onward. [Press Release]
Samsung Curved Smart TVs Target The Hospitality Industry , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
By Toni Clarke and Sharon Begley
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) – White House changes to proposed rules for tobacco products significantly weakened language detailing health risks from cigars and deleted restrictions that might have prevented online sales of e-cigarettes, published documents show.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which analyzes the potential economic consequences of proposed regulations, deleted language in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recently proposed regulations describing how the rules would keep thousands of people from taking up cigar smoking and have enormous public health benefits.
The OMB also weakened language detailing the FDA’s concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes, according to documents published Tuesday in the Federal Register.
An FDA spokeswoman, Jennifer Haliski, said the FDA does not comment on changes to a proposal during the review process but said the period for the public to comment on the proposal is still open until Aug. 8.
“All comments will be carefully considered as the final rule is being developed,” she said in an email. “As the science base continues to develop for these products, the agency has the ability to take additional regulatory actions designed to further minimize the public health burden of tobacco use in this country.”
The FDA has authority under a 2009 law to regulate cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco, but must issue new rules before regulating e-cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, water pipes and other tobacco products.
In April, the FDA issued a proposal which would subject the $2 billion e-cigarette industry to federal regulation for the first time. It would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 and vending machine sales.
The proposal disappointed public health advocates who criticized the agency’s failure to restrict flavored products or television advertising, which they say attracts children, and criticized the agency for not moving to restrict online sales, where it can be harder to verify a person’s age.
In its draft, the FDA had proposed “prohibition of non-face-to-face sales (e.g. vending machines).” That would have opened the door to a ban on online sales. But OMB edited the sentence so that the prohibition refers only to vending machines.
In another significant change, OMB turned the FDA’s proposal as it relates to cigars from a two-part rule – one for traditional tobacco products and one for products that have not previously been regulated – into a “two-option” rule, one of which would exempt “premium cigars.”
The cigar industry, backed by some members of Congress, had lobbied OMB heavily for such an exemption. In a December 2013 letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg and Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who was director of OMB at the time and is now Secretary of Health and Human Services, 24 Republican lawmakers asked that premium cigars be exempt.
“As you know,” they wrote, “premium cigars are a niche product with an adult consumer base, much like fine wines. The majority of people who enjoy a cigar do so occasionally, often in social or celebratory settings.”
When the proposed rule came out in April, some public health advocates expressed dismay.
“The part of the proposal we are deeply troubled by is the sweetheart deal for the cigar industry,” Erika Sward, assistant vice president for national advocacy at the American Lung Association.
OMB also deleted an FDA analysis showing that exempting premium cigars from a proposal to require large warning labels would save manufacturers $1 million to $3 million but incur costs to public health of $32.6 million to $34.2 million.
The White House office also deleted an extensive section in which the FDA calculated how many lives would be saved by regulating cigars, as well as the value of those lives. And it deleted a similar analysis for the improvements in health that would come from dissuading people from smoking cigars, such as through warning labels.
The “welfare gain” from reducing the number of cigar smokers, FDA calculated, would be $16 million to $52 million.
Similarly, OMB modified or deleted FDA concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes, including manufacturing quality.
It deleted FDA draft language saying it would review electronic cigarette cartridges to respond to evidence of poor quality control, variable nicotine content or toxic ingredients such as diethylene glycol, a chemical that the FDA said has caused mass poisonings in products such as the painkiller acetaminophen and cough syrup.
Last week a panel of U.S. senators excoriated the chiefs of two of the biggest e-cigarette companies, blu eCigs, which is owned by tobacco giant Lorillard Inc, and privately held NJoy, saying they were irresponsibly targeting children with advertisements depicting cartoon characters, movie stars and other celebrities.
Both companies defended the advertisements, saying they target adult smokers.
To see the edited proposal, click here under “Supporting Documents” http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=FDA-2014-N-0189. (Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington and Sharon Begley in New York; Editing by Ken Wills)
He may be a white male, but the new Republican U.S. Senate hopeful from Oklahoma could bring some much-needed color to the upper chamber — at least as far as hair follicles are concerned.
Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who won a crowded GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Tom Coburn Tuesday night, stands a good chance of taking his ginger locks to the Senate.
If he does defeat his Democratic opponent in November, as most observers expect in traditionally red Oklahoma, Lankford will not only represent residents of the Sooner State but also a good swath of America.
Red hair occurs naturally on approximately 1–2% of the world’s population. In the United States, that would equal approximately 300,000 – 600,000 people.
Lankford isn’t the only lawmaker to boast red hair. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) also has the honor of that distinction. Over in the lower chamber, Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) represents red hair magnificently.
This is a pivotal moment in the global movement to protect the oceans from an ongoing trend of over-exploitation that threatens marine ecosystems worldwide. The ocean conservation community has now developed a more effective way to “save the seas,” by approaching political leaders, fishermen and local communities with economics-based proposals that move beyond traditional arguments for protecting biodiversity. By elevating conservation to nationally-prioritized agendas — like economic development and food security — conservation groups are engaging new stakeholders in demonstrating the positive long-term impact of environmental protection.
A set of recent announcements in the news has highlighted this progress in protection. Just last week, Obama’s extension of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (building on similar efforts implemented by President Bush in 2009) banned fishing and drilling from an area almost 800,000 square miles in size. In addition, Palau’s newly announced marine sanctuary will protect 80 percent of its EEZ, the Cook Islands have introduced a ban on commercial fishing from 12 to 50 miles around each island, and the Bahamas has committed to protecting 20 percent of its ocean territory by 2020. The island nation of Kiribati will be closing its Phoenix Islands Protected Area to commercial fishing by the end of this year.
What are the changes in ocean conservation today that are allowing for these strong developments? In a new report from Aspen’s Ocean Community Strategy Roundtable, a group of experts convened to discuss the scaling of investment in and deployment of ocean conservation tools, the following trends were highlighted as the key opportunities prioritized by the ocean community today:
Click here to read the full “Ocean Community Strategy Roundtable” Report.
The ocean conservation community is not yet ready to claim victory, however. The greater part of our oceans remain unprotected, and new studies are needed around the short- and long-term economic benefits of marine protection to better demonstrate their value to leaders, as well as studies on the geographies with both vulnerable ecosystems of high biological value, and also political opportunity.
To continue this important conversation, the Aspen Institute plans to offer roundtables and larger fora on developing ocean conservation approaches in the coming year, particularly focused on the connection between sustainable fisheries and global food security, and the role of former and current presidents as champions of these new approaches to ocean conservation. Follow our program at www.aspeninstitute.org/topics/energy-environment-program.
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