Hasta La Gadget!

As the summer quickly approaches, we are bombarded with this season’s newest technologies and products for protection against dangerous UV radiation from the sun. Seen in new sunscreens, make-up products, and even clothing, sun protection is this summer’s biggest trend, and it’s easy to get confused by all of the terms — SPF, UPF, UVA rays, UVB rays — and by what they all actually mean.

SPF and UPF refer to protection levels, and UVA and UVB are both types of solar rays that you want to protect your skin against.

We’ve heard about sunscreen use and SPF for years, but did you know that SPF stands for “sun protection factor”? Think of the factor, or number on the bottle, as a multiplier. The number indicates how much longer that product will protect you from visibly burning. That means if you hit the beach wearing SPF 15, it should take you 15 times as long to burn than with bare skin.

With up to 90 percent of the yearly skin cancer cases in the United States related to sun exposure (Skin Cancer Foundation), sunscreen may not even be enough. The average adult needs a shot glass-sized amount of sunscreen for a day spent in a swimsuit (Food and Drug Association) — and that’s not including the reapplications necessary after a few hours or swimming or sweating. Plus, many people misuse sunscreen, forgetting to reapply or missing hard-to-reach places.

Over the past few years clothing — especially active wear — that protects against UV radiation has become increasingly popular. The term UPF stands for “ultraviolet protection factor” and refers to the rating scale used for protective clothing, just as SPF is used for sunscreen. The UPF scale gives a garment a rating typically between 15, adequate protection, and 150, excellent protection.

But how do they determine how well a piece of clothing blocks the sun’s harmful rays?

All clothing blocks the sun to some extent because it acts as a physical barrier between UV rays and your skin. Laboratories further evaluate various garments by putting them through tests that simulate how they would be used every day throughout the summer. A material for protective swimwear is soaked in chlorinated water, washed repeatedly, and exposed to UV radiation, and the results of these tests determine the garment’s final UPF rating. (International UV Testing Laboratories)

(Skin Cancer Foundation)

With interest in UV-resistant clothing on the rise, many active wear manufacturers are using specific fabrics, chemical treatments, and dyes that are known to protect against UV rays.

So what does all this mean when you’re searching for a swimsuit, golf shirt, or other active wear for the summer?

Experts recommend covering skin as much as possible when outside, though the thought of pants and long sleeves doesn’t sound too appealing on a hot August day. If you’re worried about the heat, look for loose-fitting garments with mesh paneling for extra breathability. Just be sure the mesh paneling is on parts of the garment that don’t receive direct sunlight, like under the arms or down the sides of the torso; the loose weave of mesh is much less effective at blocking UV rays than more tightly-woven materials.

Like mesh, other sheer or thin materials may not offer much protection from the sun, so although they are lightweight you may need sunscreen beneath them. The good news is that, since many sportswear brands now use moisture-wicking material to draw sweat away from the body, there’s no need to fear the long-sleeved tennis shirt this summer.

Check the tags of potential purchases and look for materials like polyester, which is naturally effective at diffusing UV radiation, and try to avoid pieces that are largely made up of cotton, which doesn’t offer much protection. (Skin Cancer Foundation)

With proper use of sunscreen and the right clothing, you can spend a day at the beach, on the green, or in the backyard feeling cool and comfortable and knowing that you are safe from the sun.

A Georgia man charged with murder after his 22-month-old son died in a hot SUV searched online for information about kids dying in cars and told police he feared it could happen, according to documents released Saturday as the boy’s family held his funeral in Alabama.

The warrants released by the Cobb County Police Department provide more insight into the investigation of Cooper Harris’ death on June 18.

Justin Ross Harris, 33, has told police he was supposed to drive his son to day care that morning but drove to work without realizing that his son was strapped into a car seat in the back.

In an interview after his son’s death, Harris told investigators that he had done an online search on what temperature could cause a child’s death in a vehicle. The warrant doesn’t specify when Harris did the searches.

“During an interview with Justin, He stated that he recently researched, through the internet, child deaths inside vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for that to occur. Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen,” one of the four warrants released to The Associated Press stated.

Harris also told police he was on his way to meet friends after work when he realized his son was in the back seat and pulled into a shopping center to get help, according to the warrants.

Harris is charged with murder and second-degree child cruelty in his son’s death, and remained in jail on Saturday as family members held a funeral in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Harris called the ceremony from the Cobb County Jail in Marietta, Georgia, and emotionally thanked people for their support since his arrest hours after the boy’s death.

“(Cooper) never did anything to anyone,” Harris said. “I’m just sorry I can’t be there.”

The boy’s mother, Leanna Harris, also made her first comments about her son’s death and the charges against her husband at the funeral ceremony.

“Ross was and is a wonderful father,” Harris said to the applause of about 250 mourners according to the newspaper.

Police have said facts in the case “do not point toward simple negligence.” A previously released arrest warrant stated that Harris stopped with his son for breakfast and returned to put something inside his car during the day while the child was still inside. The Cobb County Medical Examiner’s office said Wednesday that it believes the cause of Cooper Harris’ death was hyperthermia and manner of death was homicide.

The temperature that day was 88 degrees at 5:16 p.m., according to a warrant filed the day after the child died.

Police searched the Marietta, Georgia condo where the family lives, looking for a laptop, electronic devices documents, photographs and any “evidence of child neglect, child abuse.” They also searched Harris’ cellphone and the light blue 2011 Hyundai Tucson that Harris was driving when his son died.

In an obituary published this week, the child’s family said Justin Ross Harris and his wife, Leanna, were “the most proud parents there could ever have been.”

Cooper Harris loved trucks and cars, had just learned the color red and was a happy baby, it read.

“His 22 months of life were the most happy and fulfilling times of his mother’s and father’s lives, and we will miss him greatly,” the obituary read.

NANTUCKET, Mass. (RNS) It is an old family story that has become part of the island’s lore.

In 1929, two bohemian sisters visiting this island about 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod were driving up the cobblestones of Main Street when a herd of cows cut them off. On a whim, Hanna and Gertrude Monaghan decided to follow them.

After a couple of turns, the cows headed for an old barn behind a row of mansions built by Victorian-era ship captains. Between the horse trough, the hayloft and piles of cow and pig manure, the two sisters from Pennsylvania had a vision.

Where others saw an eyesore, they saw “Greater Light,” their soon-to-be dream home, art studio and expression of their Quaker faith.

“I think of these two indomitable women,” Joanne Polster, a Nantucket Historical Association “interpreter” said as she waited for visitors at Greater Light at the beginning of the summer season that’s expected to bring 40,000 tourists to this once quiet island. “Everybody in town was against them, but they stuck to their principles. They had faith. Greater Light is a monument, a testament to their faith.”

Nantucket has numerous historical sites and houses, including an old wooden windmill, a house built in 1686 and a world-class museum dedicated to the whaling industry that sustained this island for decades. But Greater Light is the only site where religion is a master key to local history.

The fact that Greater Light exists at all is a work of faith. The building reopened to visitors in 2011 after renovations by the NHA. The sisters spent years adapting the gray barn, adding a mishmash of gilt pillars, wrought iron balconies, mahogany doors and carved wood church windows. The horse trough became a bed, the hayloft became a garden balcony, the pigsty became a patio.

And somehow, Greater Light became a physical manifestation of the sisters’ faith in God. They took the house’s name from Genesis: “And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.”

It is also a direct reference to the Quaker idea of the “inner light,” the interior personal connection between each individual and God. But like everything else in Greater Light, the sisters had their own version of inner light.

“Gertrude and Hanna Monaghan chose to devote their lives to art, as an expression of their faith,” wrote Betsy Tyler, a Nantucket historian, in a companion book to the house. “They were Quakers, but of a decidedly different mold from the earlier Quaker population of Nantucket. Rather than rejecting art, they embraced it.”

Hanna Monaghan, writing in her memoir 40 years after the purchase of the barn, put it this way: “Something happened in this Quaker household. A virus struck under the pseudonym of ART. How it entered this sanctuary and hit two who came from a long line of Quaker martyrs cannot be explained. Thereafter these two victims lived for nothing but art.”

But they needed a place to put it. In Philadelphia, the sisters were unquenchable collectors. They frequented junk yards, demolished buildings, auction houses and secondhand stores. Hanna Monaghan, the younger by 10 years, would be frequently overcome with the need to own someone else’s junk — old windows, pieces of fabric, abandoned statuary.

In her memoir, she recalls the most audacious of their purchases, made before they ever set eyes on Greater Light — two black wrought iron gates that measured 12 feet by 6 feet. When the gates were eventually sent to Nantucket, they fit the opening from the barn to the garden as if custom-made.

“They didn’t believe in accidents,” Polster said, standing in front of the massive gates, which frame a sunburst pattern, a symbol that echoes Quakerism’s inner light. “They believed in divine accidents. While Hanna was fretting about where they would put things, Gertrude was saying God will provide. And he did.”

The locals — who numbered about 3,000 in the 1930s — were less accommodating. Many considered the sisters’ house a disgrace to the island, and told them so.

But by the time of their deaths — Gertrude in 1962 and Hanna in 1972 — the house and sisters were seen as assets, not the least to the local Quaker community. Once the dominant religion on the island, membership had dropped to only a handful of “Friends,” as the Quakers call themselves, at the time of the sisters’ arrival. They helped revive meetings at the old Quaker Meeting House, also on Nantucket’s list of historical sites.

“Here, (Quakerism) matters,” Polster said. “The house substantiated their faith because it all worked out in the end.”

There are very few types of behavior that are more disturbing than bullying. Most children have run-ins with bullies — be they incidental or ongoing — and most adults can painfully recall the experience of being bullied — or, in some cases, the shame and regret of being the bully. As both children and adults have flocked to social media, so too, has bullying become a problem. But what constitutes true bullying and what is simply a difficult relationship, especially among adults?

A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that bullying is associated with poor physical and mental health among children, particularly among those who were bullied in the past and are being currently bullied.

The effects were strongest among children who were bullied continuously, in more than one grade, particularly in terms of psychological health, said lead author Laura Bogart, associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital. Psychological measures included negative emotions, such as anger and depression. – CNN.com

Michael Morones, a boy who was mercilessly harassed because he liked My Little Pony, attempted suicide at the age of 11. Yes, 11 years old! He now lies in a vegetative state. He was bullied for years before hanging himself.

What about adult bullying?

In the workplace, these are the types of bullies adults are most likely to encounter:

1. Conceited Adult Bully: This type of adult bully is egotistical and shows little or no mercy for others. They feel good when in control, or when hurting people
2. Imprudent Adult Bully: Adult bullies in this category lash out at their victims and have no emotional control.
3. Somatic Bully: While adult bullying rarely uses physical abuse, they threaten to hurt victims and destroy their belongings or property.
4. Verbal Adult Bully: Words are powerful and have a negative effect on its victims. Verbal bullying on a victim can result in less interest in the workplace and even depression.
5. Ancillary Adult Bully: these are people who ‘suck up’ to bullies and avert attention from themselves by helping bully others. Secondary bullies may feel guilty about their deeds, but will let it go in view of saving themselves. – nobullying.com

What about cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying (click on the link for a more extensive explanation) is defined in legal glossaries as:

• Actions that use information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm another or others.
• Use of communication technologies for the intention of harming another person.
• Use of internet service and mobile technologies such as web pages and discussion groups, as well as instant messaging or SMS text messaging with the intention of harming another person.

There are legitimate and serious cases of adult cyberbullying. People’s livelihoods and reputations are at the mercy of a destructive adversary (or adversaries) who can, with the ease and speed of a Facebook post or tweet, start rumors and spread gossip. In cyberspace it’s nearly impossible to “take back” something once it’s said. Privacy is non-existent. E-mails can be forwarded. Phone conversations can be recorded, Texts can be shared with ease.

But not all disagreements and bad relationships are examples of bullying. It’s important to keep one’s perspective when considering whether a mean comment or innuendoed (see: vaguebooking) Facebook post constitutes bullying.

The most important thing to remember about social media is that it’s public, and what you say, post, or share is a representation of who you are, especially to people who may not know you very well. Unless someone is being constantly and overtly harassed, a comment that insults or contradicts you isn’t bullying. As an adult, it’s important to keep in perspective just what impact the “mean girls” of the world have on you. Children and teens have nowhere to run if bullies are harassing them at school or even online, given their maturity level. They often feel paralyzed about what to do to escape their tormenters and embarrassed to ask for help from parents or teachers.

It’s essential and proactive for parents to be aware of their children’s and teens’ online activity and to be alert to changes in mood or behavior. Most of the time, a bad day means nothing — but sometimes a bad day can be the worst day ever.

For adults — especially online — it’s easier to disconnect from people who upset us and even bully us. Block, unfriend, or unfollow. If the bullying persists, there are ways to try and stop it. And if it continues, contact law enforcement. Be the adult about your situation that you would be about your child’s. Keep your activity on social media in perspective, and realize that just like in real life, not all relationships will last or be productive. Sometimes we have to let people go.

What cyberbullying is not:

• Expressing a difference of opinion.
• Sharing good news that others may resent.
• Unfriending or blocking someone on Facebook or Twitter who is no longer of interest or becomes annoying or disruptive.
• Posting articles, information or memes that may be offensive to some.
• Ignoring friend requests, private messages or requests to connect.

If we all start crying “bully” every time someone disagrees with us publicly or hurts our feelings, the word will lose its meaning and impact.

As Sue Scheff, author, parent advocate, cyber advocate, and president of Parents’ Universal Resources Experts, Inc. (P.U.R.E.™) says:

I think the word bullying is overused in general — with both adults and minors. We see the word being used inappropriately or out of context in many cases today. For example, when confronted with a rude waitress, some customers will immediately refer to her as bully. I think society has co-opted this term, which is sad, because it is actually weakening it and people are not taking it serious as they should.

There are bullies — destructive, cruel, and abusive– and then there are people who are just mean or who simply disagree with you. Knowing the difference, and knowing when to cry “bully” is essential to a successful and positive experience on social media and to keeping true and impactful the meaning of the word “bully” by using it when it’s a genuine problem.

Previously published on Midlife Boulevard

Read more from Sharon Greenthal on her blog, Empty House Full Mind

Earlier on Huff/Post50:

“Wet Hot American Summer”

“Wet Hot” is the perfect camp movie, whether you’ve been to camp or not. David Wain’s brilliance is best immortalized in Christopher Meloni’s relationship with the fridge, a trip into town gone awry and Elizabeth Banks’ burger breath.

“The Parent Trap”

Pre-everything Lindsay Lohan is a dream. Dare we say the 1998 remake of “The Parent Trap” is better than the original 1961 version starring Hayley Mills? But the updated Disney film has so many good movie montages. There’s that incredible bridal photoshoot, the classic camp prank war and a terrible hiking trip with the evil almost-stepmom. Plus, “The Parent Trap” taught all tweens two very important lessons: all you need to pierce your ear is a needle, an apple and an ice cube, and Oreos are best eaten with peanut butter.

“Do The Right Thing”

Spike Lee’s seminal film is set in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. “Do The Right Thing” was nominated for two Academy Awards, earned controversial but fantastic reviews and highlights racial tensions that are still relevant 25 years after the movie’s release. Summer’s never been so real.

“Camp”

Your artsy friend who went to Stagedoor Manor for one summer probably made you watch “Camp” at a sleepover. It’s a feel-good movie about theatrical outsiders before “Glee” was even a thing. Plus, there’s a straight-up insane Anna Kendrick cameo.

“Moonrise Kingdom”

Wes Anderson’s symmetrical summer camp saga is all about precocious young love. “Moonrise Kingdom” has every necessary ingredient to make it an Anderson classic: Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, a super nerdy protagonist and Roman Coppola credits.

“It Takes Two”

“It Takes Two” is prime Steve Guttenberg in the early ’90s. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen star as “identical strangers” trying to set up one of the girl’s wealthy father with the other’s — an orphan — lovable caseworker, played by Kirstie Alley. The girls meet at summer camp and decide to get rid of terrible Clarice. It also features the best food fight in cinematic history. (Sorry, “Animal House.”)

“Heavyweights”

Fat camp rules in “Heavyweights,” where Ben Stiller is a terrifying exercise freak-turned-camp director. Things we love: A young Kenan Thompson and his buddies made “the blob” the ultimate lake toy, and Paul Feig plays a counselor who, in the off-season, lost a ton of weight and gets made fun of for being skinny.

“Dirty Dancing”

Botched abortions, water dancing, “No one puts baby in a corner,” etc. “Dirty Dancing” is the classic I-hate-my-parents-on-this-summer-vacation film and Patrick Swayze is the only way to get through it all.

“Friday The 13th”

Sometimes, camp is full of murderers, or rather, one killer. The Camp Crystal Lake counselors just want to get it on, but instead they ignite a “death curse.” Summer fun for the whole family.

“Indian Summer”

Eight adults head back to their summer home, Camp Tamakwa, and get thrown back into all the love, freedom and fun they felt 20 years before as campers. Alan Arkin plays camp director to some of 1993’s finest stars: Elizabeth Perkins, Matt Craven, Diane Lane, Bill Paxton and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.

“Meatballs”

From Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis, “Meatballs” launched Bill Murray’s career as a movie star, and showed us just how ridiculous sleepaway camp can be. It’s a classic ’70s screwball comedy featuring girls girls girls, short shorts and dorky guys who triumph outside of the big city.

“Camp Nowhere”

When a group of kids create a fake summer camp staffed by Christopher Lloyd, viewers are treated with chaos and early-’90s hilarity. The tweens — Jessica Alba’s included! — trick their parents into sending them away to what the adults think is camp, and even fix up a faux visiting day. It’s basically every antisocial 13-year-old’s dream come true.

“Adventureland”

Post-grad Jesse Eisenberg returns to work at the amusement park near his parents’ house, falls in love with Kristen Stewart’s character and screws around with Bill Hader and Martin Starr. The sweet, sad, tragicomedy makes you miss your hometown, but not enough to go back there for the summer.

“Dazed And Confused”

“All right, all right, all right.” The first day of summer vacation is full of possibilities and hope, especially if Parker Posey is drenching you in condiments. Chock full of incredible one-liners, now-classic bong hits and young Matthew McConaughey, “Dazed And Confused” gets everything about leaving high school just right.

“Stand By Me”

The summer of 1959 will always be about “Stand By Me.” Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix star in the ultimate coming-of-age ’80s film that launched its stars’ careers — some tragically doomed — and became the template for hundreds of movies about teens.

“Jaws”

You may never get the “Jaws” theme song out of your head, but Steven Spielberg’s classic tale of terror on the beach is a summer keeper. Shot mostly on Martha’s Vineyard, the beautiful scenery is almost enough to distract you from the man-eating shark. Just kidding, this is “Jaws.” You’re never going swimming again.

“Addams Family Values”

Even Wednesday Addams had to go to camp. The “Addams Family” sequel follows the Addams kids as they get booted off to camp by accident. Obviously they don’t mesh very well with the other campers and try to escape. Classic Addams mayhem — like attempted murder — ensues.