Cyanogen, the company behind the popular open source operating system and the OS of choice for last year’s OnePlus One, wants to be even more independent from the Google-based software that lies at its foundation. According to Cyanogen’s CEO, Kirt McMaster “We’re attempting to take Android away from Google.”
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
One of America’s most innovative solar power plants officially opened in the Mojave Desert this past week…
Our 2015 calendars are about to turn over to February and there’s still no confirmed launched date for the Apple Watch. As a result, speculation on when the touchscreen wearable will hit shelves is beginning to reach a fervor. Fear not, however, as Ming-Chi Kuo, the analyst with a mostly reliable track record, is here to contribute to the prediction … Continue reading
Thanks to the Korean skincare phenomenon of the past few years, American consumers have learned their ABC’s via BB and CC cream. But many Korean beauty treatments remain fascinating, complicated procedures, such as the typical “Korean” skincare routine, which is rumored to contain up to 12 steps and products with questionable ingredients.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — More than 30 police commandos were killed in a clash with Muslim insurgents Sunday in the southern Philippines in the biggest single-day combat loss for Philippine forces in many years, officials said.
The commandos had entered the far-flung village of Tukanalipao at dawn looking for a top terror suspect, but had a “misencounter” with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other insurgents, Mayor Tahirudin Benzar Ampatuan of Mamasapano town told The Associated Press by telephone. Other insurgents in the area later joined in fighting the outnumbered police forces, the mayor said.
The Moro group signed a peace deal with the government last year.
Ampatuan, the Moro group and military officials said the police commandos did not coordinate their plan to enter the Muslim rebel village before sunrise, apparently resulting in the fierce fighting.
The fighting in the marshy village of corn and coconut plantations subsided after several hours when members of a cease-fire committee and foreign truce monitors intervened, Ampatuan said, adding he deployed a team of village leaders and guards, who saw more than 30 of the slain commandos scattered in the battle scene.
“What they described to me was gruesome,” Ampatuan said.
At least two Philippine security officials told The AP that the target of the police commandos was Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian terror suspect known also as Marwan, who has been blamed by U.S. and Philippine authorities for several deadly bombings. Marwan is believed to have been hiding in the country’s south since 2003.
The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about operations to capture Marwan, who they said may have been wounded or killed in Sunday’s fighting.
The villagers managed to extricate only five of policemen’s bodies by nightfall because they were afraid of their safety amid sporadic gunfire and the darkness in the village, which was 2 to 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.9 miles) from the nearest main road, Ampatuan said.
It remains unclear how many police commandos entered the village, he said, adding the death toll may increase.
By Janet Helm for U.S. News
Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy when it comes to food. Those little things that we say to ourselves before or after we eat may be doing more harm than we even realize. Do you need to re-language your food thoughts?
Here’s what nutrition experts say are the eight things you should stop saying to yourself about eating:
1. “I was so bad today.”
Do not allow judgment or morality slip into your eating lexicon. Guilt and deprivation are two of the most powerful emotional triggers for overeating, says Michelle May, a physician and founder of the “Am I Hungry?” mindful eating programs. This mindset leads to what she calls the “eat-repent-repeat cycle” that keeps people trapped in endless yo-yo dieting. “Eat for both nourishment and enjoyment,” she says.
2. “I shouldn’t be eating this.”
Do not ruin your eating experience with negative thoughts in your head. “Instead of fully enjoying what you’re eating, you’ll plan to pay penance by exercising more or skipping your next snack or meal,” says May, author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat. “As a result, exercise becomes punishment and you feel you have to earn the right to eat.” Often, the next thought is, “Well, I might as well eat it all then!” Instead, she recommends eating what you love mindfully and without guilt or regret.
3. “I can’t have that.”
Rather than keeping a mental list of forbidden foods, learn how to enjoy the tempting foods you crave and feel good about it because that’s one of the secrets to life-long weight management, says registered dietitian Carolyn O’Neil, author of The Slim Down South Cookbook. She explains that the allotment for “splurge” calories from sugar, fats and alcohol is about 250 per day for a healthy adult who is moderately active. “If you add more physical activity to your day, you get to add more splurge calories,” O’Neil says. “That’s the kind of math I like!”
4. “I blew it.”
Push those thoughts of perfection out of your head. “It’s the all-or-none approach to eating that leads to overindulgence and guilt,” says registered dietitian Lauren Harris-Pincus, owner of Nutrition Starring YOU. “I would rather hear someone say, ‘I ate more than I wanted at dinner today. No big deal, I’m going to pay more attention to eating slowing and savoring my food.'”
People often catastrophize their eating, says registered dietitian Jill Weisenberger, author of The Overworked Person’s Guide to Better Nutrition. These feelings of failure and self-loathing are likely to lead to more overeating. A 500-calorie “mistake” could turn into 2,000 calories or more.
5. “I’ll start over on Monday.”
There’s a mentality that you can’t get back on the healthy eating horse until the beginning of the week, says registered dietitian Vicki Shanta Retelny, who blogs at the website Simple Cravings Real Food. “I’d love people to understand that one decadent meal or indulgence doesn’t wreck the whole week.” Maybe you ate more than you intended, but move on. Get back on track with your healthy eating routine at your next meal or snack, she recommends.
6. “I deserve this.”
You always deserve to eat as a human being and have permission to eat anything you want, says registered dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield, a District of Columbia-based health and happiness expert. “Savoring a sweet after a not-so-sweet day once in a while is normal,” she says. “However, watch out if you’re frequently using food as a way to reward yourself or numb your painful feelings.
“Negative emotions are beneficial because they tell you there’s a problem that needs your attention,” Stritchfield continues. “Food won’t solve your problems and ‘reward eating’ can often lead to a vicious cycle of shame, blame and dieting.”
7. “I can’t help it, I’m addicted to sugar.”
Telling yourself that you are addicted to sugar or certain foods becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, May says. “You are actually giving your brain instructions on how to behave,” she says. “Instead of giving certain foods power over you, remind yourself that you are free to make decisions about eating, then proceed slowly and mindfully.”
8. “I simply can’t control my appetite.”
That thought is like a Chinese finger puzzle, says registered dietitian Marsha Hudnall, owner of Green Mountain at Fox Run, a women’s healthy weight retreat in Vermont. “The more you struggle, the harder it gets,” she says. “Instead, relax when eating. Believe in your ability to make choices in your own best interest. Use mindfulness to tune into what you feel like eating and add a little gentle nutrition knowledge to check in with what your body may need. Then enjoy.”
More from U.S. News:
Easiest Diets to Follow: in Pictures
7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet
Top-Rated Diets Overall
Training is not just hard physically, it’s hard mentally. We all know that training our bodies is the right thing to do, it’s sticking to it long term or getting inspired enough to even start in the first place that’s the tricky bit.
Our bodies often trick us and tell us “It’s okay” to skip this one session, or cut that other session short, or over-indulge in something for three days in a row coz “We’re going to make it up” (which we never do). It’s a mental trap few escape.
Now, there are a dozen biological reasons why the body we need to live in plays this cruel trick on us and they all make sense from a Paleo Man point of view. In that environment, a hunter-gatherer’s existence revolved around his ability to take “time off” and let the pressure for a successful hunt, ease off. Seeing how time-off could only come during good times, when food was plentiful and there were no enemies to fend off it made sense for the body to hold this dialogue with the mind, giving permission to slack off.
We don’t need to hunt for our food anymore and there are no enemy tribes gunning for our territory and resources. So the incessant talk that it’s “okay” to ease off that the body has with our minds is a remnant of a world that no longer exists, which is why it works against us.
There is a solution to this predicament of course. The best way to deal with the caveman tendencies trapped inside our modern bodies is to inject a little superhero logic in there: We admire Batman because he does what no one else can: having no superpowers he picks himself up, dons his bat costume and gets out there, night after night, keeping the streets of Gotham safe. To do that he trains like no man has before. For him training is survival.
We love the Arrow because he fashions himself into a crime-fighting machine, using his body as a weapon. He is high on our esteem horizon not because he can shoot with a bow (which is pretty cool) but because, when faced with impossible odds, when he clearly cannot win, he simply picks himself up and fights on. He keeps on going regardless because, he does not want to quit.
These are all voices that can silence the body’s whisper that says “take it easy.” They are personas we can slip into that transform our purpose and change our minds. No one, doing a Batman Workout would dream of saying to himself “I am going to go easy today.” No Arrow workout has a “I am just cruising” mentality to it.
A little role-play when we exercise provides a different context for our minds to govern our bodies and that actually makes a whole lot of difference. So next time you think about exercise don’t think about what’s “good for you” physically, or how you need to shed a little weight or tone up a little muscle. These things will happen, sure, but they are byproducts. Think instead that today you’re Batman or Oliver Queen. That your city and people depend on you. That the odds you will face are impossible. That you must somehow persevere.
You will find the body’s insidious whispers in your mind, silenced. Your workout more intense than ever before. Your focus and performance, reaching new levels. You will also never have trouble training hard ever again.
More themed workouts, fitness programs and challenged at neilarey.com
By Melissa Dahl
Follow @melissadahl
The best way to prevent yourself from becoming paralyzed with worry, writes psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell, is to simply make sure you never worry all by yourself. Hallowell argues in his new book, Driven to Distraction at Work: How to Focus and Be More Productive, that when you feel real or imagined concerns piling on, share them with a friend, and there’s a better chance that aimless anxiety will morph into problem-solving. He believes that worrying alone is one of the major reasons that people can’t focus, both at work and elsewhere in their lives.
More from Science of Us: Worrying About Stuff Is A Sign Of Intelligence
It’s an intriguing idea, so Science of Us contacted Hallowell via email for some additional thoughts and anxiety-management tips.
What exactly is so bad about worrying alone? Can you explain a few reasons why it’s so detrimental?
Worrying alone does not have to be toxic, but it tends to become toxic because in isolation we lose perspective. We tend to globalize, catastrophize, when no one is there to act as a reality check. Our imaginations run wild. Indeed, Samuel Johnson, a prodigious worrier himself, called worry a “disease of the imagination.” When we worry alone we risk losing touch with reality, becoming paralyzed in worry, making bad decisions, and even getting sick, as toxic worry depresses immune function.
And can you explain some of the benefits of worrying with someone else?
When you worry with someone else, you usually end up problem solving, as you feel more empowered and less alone. A good analogy is if you stand in a big warehouse in the dark alone, you tend to feel afraid, even paranoid, but if you stand in that same warehouse with someone, you feel better.
More from Science of Us: Social Media Reduces Stress For Women
What I call the basic equation of worry is this: increased feelings of vulnerability coupled with diminished feelings of power and control leads to toxic worry. So anything you can do to reduce feelings of vulnerability and increase feelings of power and control will reduce toxic worry. Note that the external reality is irrelevant; it’s the internal feelings that count.
But how is worrying with another person different from venting about your problems? And/or how can you ensure that your co-worrying doesn’t morph into venting?
Doesn’t matter. Venting is good for the soul as well. Just don’t make it your life plan.
What does worrying with someone else look like in action? For instance, does this mean you simply describe the things you are worried about to a friend? Or is it best if the pair of you talks about something you’re both worried about?
Doesn’t matter if the other person is worried about the same matter or not. You just have to find someone you like and trust. My basic three-step method of worry control is as follows:
1. Never worry alone.
2. Get the facts. (Toxic worry is rooted in wrong information, lack of information, or both.)
3. Make a plan. Having a plan reduces feelings of vulnerability and increases feelings of control.
And if the plan you make with your worrying partner does not work, then revise it. Life is all about revising plans.
More from Science of Us
Closing Your Eyes Helps You Remember Stuff
Facebookers With Too Many Friends Are Less Liked
Why Do Women Cry More Than Men?
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/01/closing-your-eyes-helps-you-remember-stuff.html?mid=huffpohealth
“American Horror Story” gives us the chance to watch a cast of actors reinvent themselves each season with some of the most terrifying, ass-kicking and cunning characters on television. But free of good and evil, or amount of screen time, who were the most well-written characters in the “AHS” universe? The ones who kept us on the edge of our seats, continually surprised us, and brought some of the most unnerving, charismatic and powerful storylines to life onscreen?
HuffPost Entertainment editors Erin Whitney and Ryan Kristobak ranked the top 25 characters, and no, not everyone is included, only the best of the best. (Obviously, spoilers lie ahead for the entire series.)
25. Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) — “Coven”
24. Derek (Eric Stonestreet) — “Murder House”
Image via Pop Sugar
23. Chester Creb (Neil Patrick Harris) — “Freak Show”
22. Paul the Illustrated Seal (Mat Fraser) — “Freak Show”
21. Nan (Jamie Brewer) — “Coven”
20. Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) — “Freak Show”
19. Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) — “Coven”
18. Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) — “Coven”
17. Johnny Morgan (Dylan McDermott) — “Asylum”
16. Ma Petite (Jyoti Amge) — “Freak Show”
15. Stevie Nicks (Stevie Nicks) — “Coven”
Image via Giphy
Shawls on shawls on shawls. –Ryan Kristobak
14. Sister Jude (Lange) — “Asylum”
Jessica Lange’s Sister Jude is the merciless foundation of Briarcliff Manor, the intolerable do-gooder who we find out is only torturing others to atone for her own past sins. While Lange’s other “AHS” characters have an unwavering strength and confidence about them, Judy Martin is her most human, a woman who is cracked at her core only to be broken down entirely. While Lange’s fierce, insult spewing is a trademark to her characters, it’s the ultimate innocence of Sister Jude that makes her Lange’s most lovable by the end of “Asylum.” –Erin Whitney
13. Charlotte Brown/Anne Frank (Franka Potente) — “Asylum”
Charlotte Brown’s time in “Asylum” was brief, but her fleeting presence was one the first jolts that let us know that this season was going to be exceptional. Through both of her episodes, the struggle to determine whether she really “is” Anne Frank is a tough tug-of-war, ending with a clue that propels the ultimate truth behind Dr. Arden. –RK
12. Moira O’Hara (Alexandra Breckenridge/Frances Conroy) — “Murder House”
Existing in a dual-dual state — she is young and old, she is with the living and with the deceased — Moira is like the glue that holds the Murder House together. While she shows compassion to Vivien, she also bites off Joe Escandarian’s penis, and that’s just crazy. –RK
11. Dr. Arden/Hans Gruper (James Cromwell) — “Asylum”
Dr. Arthur Arden, what a sicko. The former Nazi war criminal, formerly known as Hans Gruper, had a nasty past in Auschwitz (if you believe the Charlotte Brown story), but he became even more horrible when “Freak Show” revealed he was the one responsible for removing Elsa Mars’ legs. –Erin Whitney
10. Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) — “Coven”
Delphine LaLaurie is almost inarguably the most sadistic, want-to-watch-you-die-so-bad character in all of “AHS.” Yet, somehow, during her distantly affectionate moments with Queenie, or when her severed head is just sitting on that resting tray, you almost wish she could finally achieve death (albeit a most painful, deserving one). –RK
9. Myrtle Snow (Conroy) — “Coven”
Myrtle Effing Snow, ladies and gentleman. “Coven” may have been overflowing with unfinished sub-plots and nonsensical side tours, but there was always the quick-witted, red-headed queen of fashion. Whose last words are a French fashion house and who can scoop out eye balls like it’s their job? Don’t be a hater, dear. –EW
8. Twisty (John Carroll Lynch) — “Freak Show”
It takes a lot to go from “most terrifying clown of all time,” to the character that deserves all of the audience’s sympathy. Manic and absolutely unpredictable, Twisty’s mere presence is enough to send shivers down the most rigid of spines; give him a knife, and it’s probably best just to turn the TV off. –RK
7. Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) — “Freak Show”
Whether you were a fan of “Freak Show” or got bored by the end, Dandy was still one of the most wickedly entertaining characters of the season. He brought a puerile essence to the psychopathic killer trope “AHS” has employed each season, and emanated it completely, from his curled bangs to his pigeon-toed walk. –EW
6. Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) — “Murder House”
Image via Tumblr
One of the strongest aspects of “American Horror Story” is its delicate balance of horror and humanity, its ability to showcase the ugliest, most depraved depths of characters whom we learn to love and accept for their flaws. This was Tate Langdon: everyone’s favorite misunderstood rebel with a big heart. Sure, he was essentially a bad guy, but the fantastic writing behind his character was that by the time we discovered the truth, we felt like we could actually understand him. –EW
5. Pepper (Naomi Grossman) — “Asylum” / “Freak Show”
Seriously, what isn’t there to love about Pepper? Wrongfully committed for a crime, Pepper is nothing but a silent knight of good intentions, and after she is abducted by aliens (awesome), she proves that she is capable of standing up against even the evil men that surround her. –RK
4. Constance Langdon (Lange) — “Murder House”
Like most of Jessica Lange’s characters throughout “AHS,” it is difficult to determine the true nature of Constance throughout the season. On one end, she is rude, duplicitous and has no problem killing. On the other, she loves her children very much, has suffered greatly and does help out the Harmon’s here and there. However, what truly elevates Constance is her endless stream of insults that often fly over the heads of those they are directed at. –RK
3. Dr. Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto) — “Asylum”
There’s a surplus of psychotic murderers in “AHS,” but none as sickeningly disturbed, sociopathic and efficiently pristine as Dr. Oliver Thredson, aka the original Bloody Face. With his mix of charm and good looks, it was impossible for any character or viewer not to fall for Thredson’s facade, but even after his true identity was revealed he remained the most captivating presence on screen. If anything, it’s also a testament to how badly Murphy needs to bring Zachary Quinto back. –EW
2. Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) — “Asylum” / “Freak Show”
The transformation of Sister Mary Eunice is easily the most exciting of the series so far. From the timid, subservient, but kind-hearted bystander, to the sexual, impenetrable possessed murderer, she became one of the most intriguing characters in a season that seemed like it would be rather static for her. We’ll never forget the moment she calmly let out, “I’m the devil.” –RK
1. Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) — “Asylum”
Selecting the number one, very best “American Horror Story” character ever is no easy task, and one we debated for quite some time. But when it really comes down to it, Lana Banana is the best hero, the most admirable survivor, and the most deeply human in Ryan Murphy’s twisted universe. Lana went into Briarcliff with a mission and while every imaginable horror (some we honestly can’t even rewatch) impeded her, she triumphed and lived to tell the tale. She’s tough, but she’s no cookie. –EW
BONUS: Infantata
Image via Tumblr
The real hero.
Plagued by anxiety night after night? Relying on over-the-counter meds? Just not getting the seven hours your body requires? If any of this sounds all too familiar, this breathing trick will help you get to bed sooner — no prescriptions required.
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.
