Jul 10
Reminiscent of those wall-mounted foldaway beds, these shelves hinge out from their main, framing structure to create impromptu, versatile storage.
Jul 10
Google's making it even easier to attach Drive document in Gmail: on the right-hand pull-down menu i
Posted in: Today's ChiliGoogle’s making it even easier to attach Drive document in Gmail: on the right-hand pull-down menu in the Android app, there’s now an “Insert from Drive” option. Neat.
Jul 10
Solar farms need three things: sunlight, photovoltaic panels and a huge expanse of land. It’s the third in that list that’s hampering green efforts in countries like India, where space is scarce and therefore very expensive. That’s why India is…
Jul 10
The long-awaited arrival of Spotify in Canada is nearing, if a new pre-invite queue page that has surfaced is any indication. Interested parties in Canada can now submit their email address to get in line for an invitation to the music service. The Canadian launch of Spotify has been awaited for years, and though it seems the time of launch … Continue reading
Jul 10
At long last, archaeologists can finally put down their tools and the ghosts of the past can be finally put to rest. One chapter of gaming history can finally be closed and all the questions of that bygone era have finally been answered. The last remaining Halo 3 Easter Egg has been found! Easter Eggs in games have come from … Continue reading
Jul 10
LG G Watch makes worldwide debut
Posted in: Today's Chili
Owning a watch can be a source of pride and joy for anyone, and after all, being punctual is definitely one of the better traits that one can exhibit, don’t you think so? While some of us rely too much on our smartphones to tell the time, perhaps it is time to jump aboard the smartwatch bandwagon that is starting to gain momentum. With a fair number of players in the market already peddling their respective wares, here we are with the LG G Watch that runs on Google’s very own Android Wear platform.
Those who are interested in picking up the LG G Watch will be able to do so now, where you can place your order via the Google Play Store. Of course, worldwide availability does not automatically translate to every single market getting this smartwatch, since it will still be subject to availability according to the various regions that LG is involved in. One thing is for sure – the LG G Watch happens to hold the status of being the first Android Wear device that boasts of a button-free design alongside a display that remains “always-on”, delivering maximum convenience and usability.
As for the hardware specifications of this chic yet modern timepiece, we are looking at a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor running proceedings from within, accompanied by a 1.65” LCD IPS display at 280 x 280 resolution, 4GB of internal memory, 512MB RAM, a 400mAh battery, Android Wear that is compatible with smartphones running Android 4.3 and above, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, all crammed into a 63 gram chassis that is IP67 rated for dust and water resistance, measuring 37.9mm x 46.5mm x 9.95mm. Interested parties will be able to pick it up in White Gold or Black Titan colors.
The LG G Watch has arrived both online and offline in a dozen countries: United States, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Japan and South Korea. Another fifteen countries, where among them include key markets such as Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Singapore and New Zealand, will hit retail stores in due time. Pricign varies from market to market.
Press Release
[ LG G Watch makes worldwide debut copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Jul 10
At last, it’s time to meet the victors of the outstanding 2013-14 television season. Mindy Kaling and Carson Daly will announce the Emmy nominations on Thursday morning, live from the Television Academy headquarters in Los Angeles. We’re around for all of the big revelations. Below you’ll find the list of nominations, which we’ll update as the categories are unveiled. Stick around HuffPost TV to see who was snubbed, how the nominees are reacting and what we make of this year’s crop. You can start by comparing the list below to the suggestions we made weeks ago for who should make the cut.
Check back at 8:15 a.m. EST for live updates.
COMEDY AWARDS
Outstanding Comedy Series
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
DRAMA AWARDS
Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
MOVIE/MINISERIES AWARDS
Outstanding Miniseries
Outstanding Movie
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
VARIETY AWARDS
Outstanding Variety Series
Outstanding Variety Special
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special
REALITY AWARDS
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
Outstanding Structured Reality Program
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program
Head over to the TV Academy’s website to see the full list of nominees.
Jul 10
My inbox is bombarded daily with pitches from retirement planners who claim to hold the secret to my “dream retirement.” They all basically regurgitate the same message: Spend less, save more, and be sure and give them your money to invest because they know better than all the other guys who are trying to sell you the same thing.
Here’s the problem I have with them: They ignore the elephant in the room, which is, it’s too late for most boomers to join their party. Spending less and saving more — if even possible — won’t close the gap between what we have and what we will likely need. And investing our paltry savings (just 40 percent of us even have $100,000 in the bank marked “this has to last me for the rest of my life”) in anything that carries even a slight risk feels akin to bellying up to a craps table to me.
What I don’t understand is why everyone isn’t talking about the crazy awfulness that awaits us — and by us I mean the vast majority of people who are woefully unprepared for retirement. And I don’t mean the glorious kind of retirement you see in the pretty pictures, where people walk hand-in-hand with a silver fox along a magnificent beach and clank wine glasses at sunset on the sailboat.
No, I mean the kind of retirement where you have a roof over your head, food on your table, and can afford the insurance to keep driving your car. It’s a no-frills retirement, as my husband likes to call it, the kind where a single small health issue can cost you the roof over your head. Literally.
Retirement planners used to talk about the “three-legged stool of retirement income — Social Security, traditional company pensions, and personal savings.” Nowadays, many of us are sitting on legless stools. We talk about Social Security with our fingers crossed for its sustained health; traditional pensions were long ago replaced by contributory plans such as 401(k)s; and our personal savings were gobbled up by the recession. The 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 60 percent of us have less than $100,000 in retirement savings.
Before anyone goes saying that our high-living ways got us in this predicament, let’s not forget what happened to older workers in the recession: We got body slammed against the brick wall big time. We lost our jobs, watched our homes devalue (and in some cases, lost those too), and saw our pension and stock portfolios turn to dust. While all generations took a hit in the recession, it is the boomers who have the least amount of time left to recoup what they lost.
Couple this with the fact that our kids haven’t been faring much better and are leaning on us for support. One-in-five of our adult children have moved back home and 60 percent of young adults are still getting financial aid from their parents.
A generation ago, only 1-in-10 young adults moved back home and most managed to support themselves by finding a job after that college diploma opened some doors. Not so, anymore. Today’s young adults graduated college just as the financial system crashed and the housing bubble burst. And with the dubious distinction of carrying the highest debt burden of any graduating class in history, suddenly their childhood bedrooms start looking mighty appealing.
So pray tell how do we “spend less?” And without spending less, it’s pretty darn near impossible to “save more.”
I’m 64 and I can assure you that I spend 25 hours a day thinking of little else but my “dream retirement.” (OK, sometimes I think about how this one little pill my husband takes every day must be made of gold because it costs so damn much and isn’t covered by our plan’s formulary.) But mostly, I think about what my retirement will look like. And that invariably leads to this thought: Thank you Lord for allowing me to keep my job, unlike the thousands of my peers who aren’t fortunate enough to just have to worry about the future but also must worry about how they are paying next month’s rent.
As I said, retirement worries may just be a luxury we didn’t fully appreciated.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
Jul 10
Dear Tea Party, America's Addiction to Illegal Drugs and Cheap Labor Causes Illegal Immigration
Posted in: Today's Chili
Why aren’t Americans still talking about the abducted Nigerian school girls or the VA crisis anymore? The reason is that we have an attention span only long enough to process talking points and media driven outrage; a fatal flaw when it comes to creating solutions to complicated dilemmas. Groups like the Tea Party would rather focus on immigrants who break the law than look in the mirror and ask how our own decisions (and lawbreaking) cause the problems we face.
As for the current immigration crisis with tens of thousands of desperate children at our borders, these young people are fleeing violence and political mayhem in their home countries for a reason. We helped foment this chaos with our drug habit. They’re choosing to risk death in order to immigrate to a country that hires illegal immigrants for a reason. Americans, possibly even Lou Dobbs, hire illegal immigrants. This crisis, and the entire immigration issue, rests squarely upon the shoulders of the American people. If we didn’t buy the drugs that have ruined Central America or employ the illegal immigrants who represent over 5% of the U.S. labor force, we would not have an immigration problem. Unlike the Tea Party and Murrieta protesters who think illegal immigrants are invading the country, we caused this immigration fiasco long before courageous young people decided to flee their countries in search of political asylum.
According to MSNBC.com in 2013, the United States is the world’s largest consumer of illegal drugs. As stated by Yardena Schwartz of MSNBC, our war on drugs has entailed, “more than 40 years, $1 trillion, and 2.3 million imprisoned Americans since the war began” and still “the U.S. still leads the world in illegal drug use.” Not only are we tops in the world in drug use, but we’re second only to Scotland in the consumption of cocaine. As of 2008 according to the UN, there were around 6.2 million cocaine users in the United States. Also, about 40% of high school students have tried marijuana. The insanity of allowing marijuana to remain a Federal offense is highlighted by the fact that half of the drug seizures in the world are cannabis seizures. Furthermore, if budgets are about values, then a closer look at how much Americans spend for drugs will speak volumes. According to the Rand Corporation, U.S. citizens spend $40.6 billion on marijuana, 28.3 billion on cocaine, 27 billion on heroin, and 13 billion on meth. All this money on drugs should lead to a question that Gov. Rick Perry and the Tea Party will never ask: Who supplies our voracious appetite and demand for drugs?
A Guardian article in 2013 titled, Guatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’ our demand for drugs is the primary reason Guatemala and other countries in the region are experiencing such profound social and political turmoil:
In any war there are innocent victims. In the 40-year war on drugs, the central American state of Guatemala can lay claim to being just such an innocent casualty. It has been caught in the crossfire between the nations to the south (principally Peru, Colombia and Bolivia) that produce illegal narcotics and the country to the north (America) that has the largest appetite to consume them. Guatemala does little of either.
The problem is that the drugs – principally cocaine – have to be transported from the producing countries to the US, from the south to the north. Unfortunately for Guatemala, it’s in the way…
The situation in Guatemala has become more serious as Mexican cartels – taking refuge from an attempt to militarily defeat them – have inserted themselves into Guatemala and sought to control the trafficking routes through that country. And with the cartels come other nightmares: kidnapping, extortion, contract killers and people trafficking.
The cartels are now posing a serious threat to the Guatemalan state, as Pérez Molina concedes: “Drug traffickers have been able to penetrate the institutions in this country by employing the resources and money they have. We are talking about the security forces, public prosecutors, judges. Drug money has penetrated these institutions and it is an activity that directly threatens the institutions and the democracy of countries.”
The article goes on to explain how Nicaragua is receiving Russian weapons to fight drug cartels and Honduras has become a nation of drug transit. The sad reality of American politics is that Laura Ingram will have no problem advocating that entire families be deported, but will remain silent about our role in causing havoc in countries like Guatemala. In a saner world, the Murrietta protestors would replace their nativism for genuine concern about America’s demand for drugs. As a result of our illegal drug addiction, CNN reports that, “Drug gangs have gained control of major chunks of Central America.” The consequence is that young people have no choice but to flee or “work for the drug lords.” Furthermore, the violence is so horrendous that the choice is to “flee or die.”
Our willingness to employ illegal immigrants to do jobs that Americans won’t do is another reason for the border crisis. While Tea Party types like Rick Perry will evoke conspiracies or “patriots” will shout hate filled statements at bus loads of children, the truth is Americans hire illegal immigrants. According to the Pew Research Center (a non-partisan source) in 2011, illegal immigrants are important to the U.S. economy:
There were 8 million unauthorized immigrants in the workforce in March 2010, down slightly from 2007, when there were 8.4 million. They represent 5.2% of the workforce, similar to their proportion for the past half-decade, when they represented 5% to 5.5% of workers.
States with the largest share of unauthorized immigrants in the workforce include Nevada (10%), California (9.7%), Texas (9%) and New Jersey (8.6%). Because unauthorized immigrants are more likely than the overall population to be of working age, their share in a state’s workforce is substantially higher than their share of a state’s population.
Sorry, but when illegal immigrants make up 10% of Nevada’s workforce, and at least 9% of the workforce in California and Texas, then illegal immigrants are integral to the economy. One out of ten employed people is an illegal immigrant in Nevada, so don’t blame the poor people doing the dirty jobs, blame the Americans who hire them.
As for the tired and blatantly false allegation that illegal immigrants drain the country of resources, the Congressional Budget Office analyzed the accusation in 2007:
Over the past two decades, most efforts to estimate the fiscal impact of immigration in the United States have concluded that, in aggregate and over the long term, tax revenues of all types generated by immigrants–both legal and unauthorized–exceed the cost of the services they use. Generally, such estimates include revenues and spending at the federal, state, and local levels…
The amount that state and local governments spend on services for unauthorized immigrants represents a small percentage of the total amount spent by those
governments to provide such services to residents in their jurisdictions.
If illegal immigrants “exceed the cost of the services they use” just from their taxes, it’s safe to say that their economic impact (taking into account their work in agriculture and other sectors that aren’t filled by citizens) is profound.
Overall, we created the mess at our border. The brave young people currently there deserve political asylum after we negatively impacted their countries because of our drug habit. It’s against the law to buy $28 billion of cocaine and it’s against the law to hire illegal immigrants to pick our crops, but we do both. It’s time to face the reality that we’ve caused the border crisis.
Jul 10
I am sitting at JFK. It has been a very long day that started in South Carolina. It is very late at night. Flight home — I made it while in the frugal mode — is not direct. I am slowly learning that there are all sorts of triggers just lurking out of sight. Out of mind. Just waiting for me to step on them. Just waiting to jump out at me. Just waiting, waiting, waiting…..for me.
I did not think JFK would be different from any other airport I have traveled through in the recent months. Hey, look! They all have three letters: BOS, SFO, CLT, RIC, SBA, ETC. My famous battle cry, “How hard can it be?!?!” showed me just how hard it can be.
Waiting for the plane to arrive and passengers to deplane. Waiting for the plane to be cleaned and prepped. Waiting for the boarding to begin. The gate area is filled. An awful lot of people traveling. Couples, families, friends. And I am sitting alone, waiting.
And then it hits me. I am sitting at JFK. That means I am sitting in New York. We grew up in New York. We went to school in New York. We met in New York. I am flooded with memories and tears are streaming down my face.
The memories are of long ago. Images I have not thought of in years. Lying on the grass in Central Park waiting for that magic time of lining up for free tickets for Shakespeare in the Park. Or a concert with Dylan or Judy Collins or Joni Mitchell. Being young and in love. Walking side-by-side holding hands. And now feeling so bereft. And tears are streaming down my face.
And then, well I need an aside to explain this next occurrence. There is a movie with Annette Bening and Ed Harris called The Face of Love. It is about Nikki, a widow of five years who sees a man who looks exactly like her beloved husband. She stalks this man, meets him, and has an affair with him — never telling him she loves him because of whom he looks like. I saw it with a friend, armed with bowls of popcorn and fresh boxes of Kleenex. Together we wept and laughed at the story.
Why this aside? These memories are of Robert when he was young and had a full rich reddish brown beard. And as I am sitting alone I see a couple standing off to the side. They are in their mid-twenties. And he has a full beard. And for one insane moment I wonder if I could walk up to him and just put my hand on his beard. Sigh. My cupped palm just barely caressing his beard. I recognize I am channeling Annette Bening/Nikki and let the desire stay where it is, in my mind and do not act on the impulse. Sigh.
The tears are continuing to stream down my face. I apparently have my bubble walls up as no one makes eye contact or says anything to me. And boarding begins. With my tear streaked face I walk down the aisle to my seat. This is a three-by-three seat plane and the overhead compartments look so high and out of reach. I look at my roll on and look up at the compartment and mutter to myself, “This is just not going to happen.”
A man seated in front of me jumps up, grabs my bag and effortlessly tosses it into the overhead compartment and sits down. He does not say one word. And when we land? He again leaps up, and gets my bag down before he gets his and his family’s. Moral? There are hidden advantages to having a tear streaked face?
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.