Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve always felt that Apple’s iCloud website could be more secure, you might be pleased to learn that it appears that Apple is testing out a new security system that will hopefully make it harder for hackers to hack your iCloud account. This is essentially a two-step verification system where users will have to enter their Apple ID and password, followed by a special code that will be sent to your mobile device.

Prior to this, all the user had to do was enter their Apple ID and password and they would be good to go, so we guess with the added layer, it would make things harder for non-authorized users to access your iCloud.com account.

It has also been observed that until the second step of the verification process is complete, all the web apps for iCloud will be on lockdown, save for the Find My iPhone feature which will remain enabled, presumably so that users can find their device in the event it goes missing and they need their verification code.

AppleInsider has since managed to confirm this new system, but it is unclear if Apple is merely in the testing stages or if they are planning on rolling out to the masses soon. However a report from MacRumors claims that Apple has since disabled the feature for accounts that could previously access it, suggesting that it might have rolled out a little earlier than expected.

Apple Reportedly Testing Two-Step Verification For iCloud.com , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

If you have ever used a messaging app like WhatsApp, iMessage, and so on, chances are you’ve probably come across Emojis. For those who are unfamiliar, Emojis are basically emoticons. They come in a variety of designs ranging, ranging from people, faces, animals, food, and there’s even a picture of a smiling poo!

That being said, Emojis act as a supplement to instant messaging apps, helping to spice up the conversation with a bit of color and humor. However are Emojis enough to warrant creating an entire app of its own? Well apparently some people think that it does as it has been announced that a new app called Emojli is in the works and has been pegged for a late July/early August release.

So what kind of app is Emojli? Well essentially it is a messaging app that allows users to send messages to one another using only Emojis. Yes, you read that right. It only way to communicate with your friends is to send them funny emoticons and pictures. Is there a demand for such an app? Well if the Yo app is any indication (it’s an app that only lets you send the word “Yo”), we guess there is some demand for it.

However according to the creators of Emojli, they plan to expand the app’s functionality further down the road, but for now sending Emoji is pretty much the only thing that the app will be able to do. For those interested in reserving their username, head on over to their website for the details.

Emojli App Will Let Users Chat By Only Using Emoji , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

We’re sure many of you guys have been to car parks where at each parking bay, there will be a light that glows either red or green, with the red indicating a spot has been taken, and a green light showing that the bay is empty. This saves drivers from having to drive around in circles as they can simply head straight to the bay with the green light.

Handy, right? Well what if you could apply that technology to other aspects in our lives, like the toilet, for example? You know how sometimes you enter a toilet and the stall doors are closed, and you’re unsure if there’s someone inside or if it closed by itself? It would be rude to knock or peek underneath it, which is where Tooshlights comes in handy.

Tooshlights is basically the same lighting system used in car parks, except that in this case it will be used in the toilet. It will function exactly the same way as the car park system, with the light glowing red/green depending on the stall’s availability. Is it a novelty? Sure, but the folks over at Tooshlights have highlighted some benefits for its use.

For example they state that it ensures privacy since a red light means that a stall is occupied, so they don’t have to worry about people trying to peek under the door to see if it is taken. It also helps to ease the traffic flow in toilets where a green light means that the stall is now vacant. Also by directing toilet-goers to empty stalls, it also helps to cut down on wait time when lining up to go to the bathroom, leaving attendees with more time on their hands.

Its creators expect that the company’s technology will be making its way into more stadiums and arenas, and estimates that there will be about 1,500-2,000 Tooshlights installed in toilet stalls by the end of the year.

Tooshlights Will Help Cut Down On Toilet Wait Times , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Without a doubt, Suzanne Warren, aka Crazy Eyes, is one of the most powerful characters on Orange Is the New Black. Both in Season 1 and the recently-released Season 2, Warren consistently earns her place as one of the most poignant (and entertaining) inmates at Litchfield.

See, Warren isn’t exactly the picture of sanity. Her “crazy eyes,” pattern of explosive behavior, borderline stalking of Piper and beatdown of Poussey, among other things, have earned her visits to the psych ward and a distinct reputation around the prison. While many of the inmates exhibit less-than-sane behavior (understandably, it’s prison), Warren is a different case. Through a little insight into her childhood, interviews with SIS, and self-harming tendencies, it’s clear that her mental health issues are not caused by being imprisoned — just greatly exacerbated.

Warren is a particularly important addition to the cast of Litchfield characters, because she represents the slew of mentally ill inmates that litter our prison systems. As she is especially vulnerable to violence, manipulation, and fright, so are all too many inmates wasting away among feces-filled showers and itchy bedspreads. In 2006, it was estimated that over half of all those incarcerated struggled with mental health issues — adding up to over 12.5 million mentally ill inmates, a number still on the rise.

When it comes to mentally ill inmates, the system is broken. This is a term we hear a lot — “the system is broken.” Prison spending, conflict of interests, unsanitary conditions. It can apply to a lot of things, almost all of which are subtly (and brilliantly) addressed over the two released seasons of Netflix’s booming success. When it comes to the imprisonment and subsequent treatment of mentally ill prisoners, Orange Is the New Black all too accurately shows how truly broken the system is.

Over the course of two full seasons, we never once see Warren receiving any kind of rehabilitative psychiatric treatment. The glimpses (and stories) we get of “pysch” are not of a place where sick prisoners receive the help they need, but instead a place of even harsher punishment akin to solitary confinement. In the first season, the inmates refer to it as even worse than ‘shu,’ and the irony that many prisoners descend into insanity after being put in solitary is not lost on the smarter-than-they-look inmates of Litchfield.

These dramatic conditions do largely reflect what we know about the reality of prison psych wards — conditions that are well examined by NPR’s discussion “Mentally Ill Are Often Locked Up In Jails That Can’t Help,” which glimpses inside the psych wards at Cook County Jail. One of the most startling features of the women’s ward, and one most reminiscent of Orange Is the New Black, is the “quiet room” — a dark isolation space complete with padded walls, a drain, and walls covered in slurs written in blood.

Though mentally ill inmates flail on the inside, Orange Is the New Black argues that the outside doesn’t offer much more hope for rehabilitation. When a senile character becomes a prison liability for wandering off grounds, the administration doesn’t even bother sending her to psych. Instead, she is granted “compassionate release” — bound to be homeless and dead on the streets within weeks. Although sources claim this particular scenario is an overly dramatic interpretation of the very-real compassionate release policy, it’s not uncommon to see mentally ill prisoners who’ve served their time released to the streets without any hope of getting the help they need. When it comes to mentally ill inmates, it seems the system is caught in a bit of a catch-22 — they’re not receiving the assistance they need on the inside, but the outside often presents a similarly poor scenario, and tends to lead released inmates right back into the system. With the shutting of most mental health clinics due to budget cuts, inmates like Warren are left with few options and fewer resources.

In terms of Orange Is the New Black, we are reminded that the point of art is to stimulate conversations grounded in truth — and the truth is we need to be talking about what Warren says about the situation of psychologically unstable prisoners. Instead of helping those like Warren or Christopher Lopez, a mentally-ill inmate who recently died in the presence of prison caretakers, the system forces those already sick into a downward spiral of mental illness. While we can’t directly attribute the attention this issue has recently gotten — such as the recently-established NYC task force focusing on reducing the number of mentally ill inmates — to Warren or Orange is the New Black, in this case we can appreciate the ways in which fiction gives us the opportunity to reexamine reality.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson believes he is one of many Republicans ready to acknowledge the serious threats posed by climate change.

In an interview featured on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS Sunday, the former George W. Bush official explained his stance.

“I think there are a lot of fellow Republicans, my fellow Republicans, business leaders and political leaders, that are ready for a serious discussion about the science and the risks that come out of the science,” he said. “And I think the resistance to doing some of the things we need to do is much broader than just the Republican Party.”

Paulson said his party’s resistance to a carbon tax now will only result in a need for more government interference later on.

“What I’ve said about a carbon tax is some people that oppose it are opposing it because they don’t like the government playing a big role,” he said. “And, you know, the perverse aspect of that is, frankly, those that are resisting taking action now are guaranteeing that the government will be playing a bigger role, because we’re seeing now and we’re going to see an increasing number of natural disasters, Mother Nature acts.”

Earlier this month, Paulson teamed up with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund manager turned climate activist Tom Steyer to release a report on the serious implications global warming carries for businesses.

“We just cannot afford to wait another minute,” Bloomberg said of the report. “Climate change is costing governments and businesses billions of dollars.”

The former treasury secretary also published an op-ed for the New York Times earlier this month laying out his concerns, prompting Rush Limbaugh to dismiss his warnings as “absurd” given the cold winter.