Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi officially unveiled its first drone today, ending a week of teasers about it, and the low price of the product might bring some serious competition to the space. Read More
Gamers come from all walks of life, and while many of us gamers have the use of both our hands and all of our digits, unfortunately there are some gamers who might not. Take for example a recent post on Reddit in which the poster by the name of zak552 has basically praised Blizzard for giving Overwatch accessibility options that lets him play like everyone else.
According to the poster, “I was born with Cerebral Palsy. I can’t walk and have very limited use of my hands. I love video games of all shapes and sizes and have been playing since I was 3 years old. I play them when I’m happy, I play them when I’m sad, and I’ve started and strengthened some of my best friendships because of them.”
It is because of these limitations that there are certain games that are off-limits. For example as he is only able to use one hand for one action at a time, there are certain games with certain mechanics, like Yasuo in League of Legends, that would basically be impossible for him to play with.
So how has he managed to get Overwatch up and running the way he likes it? “I turned on aim toggle and mapped fire to left analog stick button. this config has also allowed me to play spray heroes like Mei and Winston.” He notes that he’s not sure if this was Blizzard’s intention all along, but regardless he’s pretty chuffed about it. “I really hope someone at Blizzard sees this because even though this probably wasn’t their goal I want to make it aware that this kinda game design matters.”
Gamer Praises Blizzard For Overwatch’s Accessibility Options , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Last week Microsoft sold off the feature phone business that they acquired from Nokia to Foxconn. It made sense especially since smartphones are now the defacto phone of choice amongst many consumers, even those in emerging markets where we have affordable handsets like the Android One to choose from.
However that was simply a sign of things to come because Microsoft has since announced that they will be exiting the consumer smartphone business as well, and in the process they will be cutting another 1,850 jobs and will be taking a $950 million charge as a result of their latest decision.
According to Microsoft’s Windows and Devices head Terry Myerson in an email he sent to staff, “When I look back on our journey in mobility, we’ve done hard work and had great ideas, but have not always had the alignment needed across the company to make an impact.” He also notes that Microsoft is not out completely, but rather they are simply scaling back.
Microsoft’s focus will now be towards the business market and if hardware partners are so inclined, the company will be more than happy to license Windows 10 out to them to make devices for. We’re not sure what this means for the rumored Surface Phone, but it looks like the smartphone market will now be pretty much iOS and Android (as if it weren’t already).
Microsoft To Exit The Consumer Smartphone Business , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
NO AMERICAN HAS been more associated with the Navy SEAL mystique than Chris Kyle, known as the deadliest sniper in military history.
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Partisan gridlock has halted many important policies from becoming realities. One of the promising policies, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, is currently stalled in the Senate. If enacted, the legislation will have a colossal effect on Latinxs. Once incarcerated, Latinxs face limited economic opportunity, family trauma, turmoil, and deportation — consequences that do not in any way reflect reasonable punishment for the often minor infractions that occur.
Rita Becerra is one of those Latinxs. Rita, who was a single mother of two children and a new grandmother in 1994, was arrested and sentenced to 27 years behind bars for drug charges stemming from her live-in boyfriend’s involvement in the drug trade. Prior to that, Rita had never even had a traffic ticket. Although Rita had never touched any drugs or delivered them, she was charged with conspiracy with intent to distribute. Rita’s boyfriend was able to reduce his sentence to 9 years because he provided details about criminal activities to the prosecution. Yet, Rita could not plea bargain because the only information she knew of concerned her boyfriend’s illegal enterprises and the prosecution already had that knowledge.
This dilemma, where those most involved with a crime possess the lion’s share of information and can bargain for time off while those who may have little involvement — and thus little knowledge of crimes — receive a full sentence, is a frustratingly common occurrence. Rita’s story is as tragic and unjust as it is commonplace. Women are the fastest growing group of prisoners, boasting an incarceration rate almost double that of men leaving more than one million women behind bars.
Another alarming trend is that Latinxs are unjustly targeted because of policies and practices that perpetuate their involvement in the criminal legal system and immigration system. Consequently, Latinxs are twice as likely to be incarcerated as whites and are over-represented in state prisons in 31 of the 50 U.S. states. They are also overrepresented in the federal system, where Latinxs–who are 17.4 percent of the U.S. population–make up 33.8 percent of the incarcerated population in federal prisons. Indeed, today, 1 in every 6 Latino men and 1 in every 45 Latina women can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. As a result, 1 in 28 Latinx children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent compared to 1 in 57 white children. Research shows that children who grow up with an incarcerated parent are more likely to go to prison themselves, in addition to suffering from a host of long-term effects and disabilities like attention deficits, mental illness, and physical health issues such as obesity, trauma, depression, and anxiety.
The picture is bleaker for Latinxs with multiple identities who face further criminalization, such as Latinxs with disabilities, LGBTQ Latinxs — especially trans and gender non-conforming Latinxs, and Latinxs who are not U.S. citizens. For instance, non-citizens who serve time in jail or prison for a criminal violation run the risk of deportation upon release according to federal law. Thus, people who are not U.S. citizens — people like Rita — are expected to pay for their crime twice.
Rita emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 12. She was a green card holder at the time of her conviction. Still, when her sentence ends in November 2017, it is likely that Rita will be deported to a country she left more than 50 years ago. Legal implications for non-citizens who are caught engaging in even minor criminal activity are so severe that a new framework dubbed the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline has emerged to describe the criminal consequences of pushing non-citizen youth, most of whom are Latinx, out of school and into the criminal legal system.
While incarcerated, Rita earned a cosmetology instructors license and a certificate in paralegal studies, and even taught English as a Second Language (ESL), among other notable accomplishments. Her story, coupled with her achievements, recently earned her a spot on Can-Do Foundation’s list of top 25 women who deserve clemency. Nonetheless, President Obama has yet to grant clemency in favor of releasing Rita, or many other Latinxs. Although Rita has exhausted all of her appeals, there is still hope in the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act.
This bill would reduce mandatory minimums for many non-violent offenders and give judges more discretion in sentencing. If passed, this bill would join a range of other criminal justice reform initiatives President Obama’s Administration has championed, such as banning solitary confinement for youth in the federal juvenile justice system and pushing to “ban the box” to grant formerly incarcerated people more job opportunities by removing discriminatory questions about past criminal activity from job application forms.
Make no mistake: criminal justice reform is a Latinx issue. But more importantly, it is a human rights issue of epic proportions that touches the lives of many people just like Rita. It demands our immediate attention and Congress’ immediate action.
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The other day Gary from Prepress walked by my office and told me he’d been prepping my cookbook, Scratch, for the printer and commented that all the recipes looked so good and so easy.
“But,” he said, “I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ll mess something up. Is it really as easy as you make it look?”
Yes! It really is that easy. I remember that fear. I remember being a 20-year-old single mom and not wanting to accidentally feed my baby (or myself!) the wrong thing. I remember not knowing how to cook anything basic and being afraid I’d mess things up–or worse, as I got older, afraid that I wouldn’t live up to other people’s expectations.
Thirty-plus years later, I’ve realized and learned a few things:
 
I’ll show you how in Scratch. Pre-order now RIGHT HERE and receive some fun free gifts! Be sure to check back for more #MadeFromScratch updates and preorder gift details…
 
From the Editors: We would also love for you to share your own favorite memories of cooking from scratch!
What comes to mind when you think of home-cooked meals you’ve prepared and shared with those you love? Is it rolling out the crust on your grandmother’s homemade chicken pot pie, mashing the potatoes for your dad’s turkey stuffing, the smell of your aunt’s vegetable casserole baking in the oven, or the memories of loved ones gathered around the table celebrating holidays with a special meal? Rodale Books wants to hear your stories and share them as part of a podcast we are creating around the release of Maria’s upcoming cookbook, Scratch. Please share your stories via email, and if selected, we’ll include a brief audio recording of your story (2 to 5 minutes long), which will be available on Maria’s Farm Country Kitchen and our Scratch cookbook website.
Please submit your stories to ScratchCookbook@Rodale.com by no later than June 3rd.
For more from Maria Rodale, visit www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com
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Surely you’ve heard people saying that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are neck and neck?
Or that Bernie Sanders would trounce Trump, meaning the voters (and superdelegates) supporting Clinton are backing the wrong horse.
These aren’t mere theories — they’re backed up with polling. So they MUST be right. Right?
Nope.
Here’s why you shouldn’t freak out about these polls and should probably totally ignore them.
1. History shows party voters come around to their nominee.
Anti-Hillary Bernie supporters. (Sarah Hina/Flickr)
Despite the fact that the delegate math isn’t on Bernie’s side, there’s a passionate #NeverHillary #StillSanders movement. Many Sanders supporters are very angry about how the race is going and how they feel the senator is being treated by the Democratic party — and saying they’ll never vote for the Democratic nominee.
We’ve been here before. Flash back to 2008, and we had something very similar. A group of Hillary supporters calling themselves PUMAs (for Party United Means Action, or else Party Unity My Ass) were enraged at how things went for Hillary and about superdelegates — and many refused to vote for Barack Obama.
There was also a group called Heroes for Hillary or Just Say No Deal. They said they refused to vote for Obama.
But, many or most of them did go on to vote for Obama (and some even don’t support Clinton this time around). Partly because Clinton herself called for unity.
I guess I should just put my thoughts on the Dem race in one place…. pic.twitter.com/rmKPr01ZPx
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) May 19, 2016
Things do shift, and many voters surprise themselves when it comes down to it and they head to the polls with a stark choice in front of them.
2. The attacks haven’t really started.
Hillary Clinton has been excoriated since Bill Clinton was first running for president, and Republicans attacked her fiercely when she was a U.S. senator and when she was Secretary of State, as well as since then.
Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has gotten a pretty free ride. Clinton, his Democratic rival for the nomination, hasn’t gone after him too harshly or directly. Neither have the media or Donald Trump or the Republican party.
In 2004, the story and reputation of the Democratic nominee, John Kerry, a Vietnam War hero, were twisted and dismantled by an effective smear campaign that became known as the swiftboating of John Kerry. Many political experts believe that Republicans would unleash a blistering swiftboating attack on Bernie Sanders if he won, and if so, that would certainly affect his poll numbers.
This is why Bernie Sanders does better than Hillary Clinton in polls against Donald Trump… For now. https://t.co/M5XNYpbMAX
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) May 21, 2016
So polling that shows Bernie Sanders does better against Trump than Clinton aren’t as meaningful or reliable as they might appear.
Clinton’s numbers among Democrats look good/fine. The trick is that many Sanders voters are independents, so easy to miss their importance.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 19, 2016
Whereas many Sanders voters defect to undecided (and a few to Trump). Of course, that could change if she wraps up nomination. 2/
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 19, 2016
And by the way, the Democrats haven’t unleashed their attacks on Trump either, so it goes both ways. Some of those #NeverTrump Republicans are already starting to change their tune.
3. The general election hasn’t begun.
In at least four fairly recent presidential elections, the candidate running behind in June ended up winning the White House in November.
Take a look at the polls from spring 2008, showing matchups between Obama and John McCain and Clinton and John McCain. Most polls had either Democrat beating McCain, but not all did, and few showed Obama winning by as wide a margin as he ended up winning in November. Why? Because at that point the general election was only theoretical. Obama was still battling Hillary Clinton for the nomination, and Obama and McCain hadn’t debated yet or chosen their running mates. In 2016, we’re still at that point now.
4. There is no national election.
There are states, including swing states, and there’s the electoral college. There’s no popular vote for president. Just ask Al Gore, who beat George W. Bush in the overall popular vote, 50,999,897 (48.38 percent) to 50,456,002 (47.87 percent), but lost the White House. (The popular vote winner has lost the White House three other times in U.S. history.)
@benchmarkpol This is what the polling average looks like if you whack (just) Rasmussen with moderate smoothing. pic.twitter.com/1aLUFInxwo
— Rich Blinne (@rblinne) May 23, 2016
What’s going to matter most is what certain constituencies of voters do, and how voters in swing states vote. Will young voters turn out or stay home? How about voters of color? And women? And voters in states like Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, which are battleground states — states that are more in play than others and have a lot of electoral votes and therefore can help win the election.
So national polls are interesting but ultimately not that meaningful.
5. Polling at this point is inaccurate.
@KaivanShroff @ShaunKing Pew Research Ctr examined polls from 1959-2003 and found them highly inaccurate. Research. https://t.co/7kqxQyjtNN
— Politicade (@Politicade2016) May 20, 2016
The final nominees in both parties aren’t clear yet. The nominating conventions–which get people fired up- – aren’t happening until July. There’s still talk about a possible third party candidate (beyond the ones who are already sort of kind of running.)
We still don’t know who the VP nominees are. There’s no head-to-head race yet. The two main candidates haven’t debated each other yet. The general election ad blitz is still ahead of us.
I just, I’m starting to feel like people who say “pick Bernie bc he polls better than Trump right now” have never seen an election before.
— natcassidy (@natcassidy) May 23, 2016
In short, it’s just too early. There are so many factors that could push voters one way or another.
Asking you who you plan to vote for now is a little like asking you what you want to eat on a specific date six months from now. You might be totally, 100 percent, rock-solid sure you want the chicken or the fish. But maybe you like both choices pretty equally and are really torn right now, but when someone presses you on it, you say one impulsively, then come to regret your decision and want to reverse it when the time comes to sit down at the table. And maybe you’re a vegetarian so you can’t stomach either one, but will opt for one of the dishes and resign yourself to valuing the side dishes as much as you can — and to going away a little hungry.
The most dedicated, decisive voters have already made their minds up, but plenty of others are undecided and can be swayed, and polling them right now doesn’t really tell us all that much about how they’ll feel when push comes to shove.
This article was written by Holly Epstein Ojalvo and originally appeared on Kicker. Kicker explains the most important, compelling things going on in the world and empowers you to get in the know, make up your own mind, and take action. For more, check out the Kicker site, like their Facebook page, or subscribe to their email newsletter.
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by guest blogger Toni Becker, member of the Rodale’s editorial team
Sunshine is great, but the sun’s rays? Not so much. Both UVA and UVB rays pose serious health risks, such as premature aging, eye damage, and skin cancers.
While the skincare industry has made many advances in creating sun-protective products over the years, just how safe are the products currently on the shelves, really? According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), 80 percent of the 1,700 products they examined for their 2015 sunscreen guide offer inferior sun protection or contain worrisome ingredients like oxybenzone and vitamin A.
There are two main types of sunscreen, those made with chemical filters and those made with mineral filters. Zinc oxide, which provides a mineral filter, is EWG’s first choice for sun protection. But there are other important considerations regarding these products.
Before you liberally apply that sunscreen, read up on these safety tips:
#1: Avoid sunscreens with oxybenzone. This hormone-disrupting chemical is easily absorbed into the bloodstream. In a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, oxybenzone was detectable in 97 percent of the population. This type of endocrine disruptor can cause issues that range from thyroid problems to cancer. Oxybenzone has also been linked to skin allergies.
#2: Skip the vitamin A. Also known as retinol, vitamin A is regularly used as an additive in sunscreens. But some government studies have suggested that when the sun hits the skin, the vitamin could trigger the development of skin tumors and lesions. EWG recommends that consumers avoid sunscreens, lip products, and skin lotions that contain vitamin A.
#3: Avoid chemical aerosols. Spraying on your sunscreen protection is not a good idea because the chemicals make their way into your body via the nose-to-lung route.
#4: Skip the fragrance, too. Research suggests that some synthetic fragrance chemicals, which are listed simply as “fragrance” or “parfum” on the ingredients label, can lead to allergies and asthma. The term fragrance is also a catchall that can indicate any of thousands of different chemicals, including some that are carcinogens and reproductive toxins.
#5: Be wary of nanoparticles. While EWG rates sunscreens containing mineral filters like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as safer than sunscreens made with chemical filters, when the minerals are made into tiny particles, those nanoparticles can be a concern. As the particles in sunscreen get smaller, the SPF is increased, but protection against UVA rays worsens. Data also suggest these tiny particles can enter cells and produce toxic effects when they accumulate in the human body. Also, titanium dioxide nanoparticles in particular have made their way into in water runoff and are destroying beneficial microorganisms that keep our watersheds healthy. Particles of zinc oxide like those in this Suntegrity Face Sunscreen + Primer are larger, so are safer even while offering broad-spectrum protection.
#6: Don’t be fooled by high SPFs. The Food and Drug Administration has proposed regulations to prohibit sunscreen companies from labeling products as having an SPF higher than 50 because it’s misleading. A bottle with a high SPF might give people a false sense of security that leads them to stay in the sun longer than they should or to not apply it correctly or reapply it often enough. There’s also no clear proof that these higher SPFs really protect any better than a sunscreen rated at 50.
#7: Don’t just rely on just sunscreen. There are steps you can take other than slathering on lotion to protect your skin from sun exposure. Be sun smart: Avoid being outside during the sun’s strongest times, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) reminds us that if our shadows are shorter than we are, we should find some shade. And be extra defensive when you are near water, snow, or sand…the reflection can boost your risk of a dangerous burn. Also, consider wearing UPF-30 clothing, beach cover-ups, and a broad-rimmed hat.
Toni Becker is a part-time content creator at Rodale’s. She is also the personal chef, event planner, chauffeur, and best of all playmate to her young daughter. Her family of three lives in the woods where she finds time to write, cook anything she can from scratch, garden, and build her case of why she needs goats.
Some of the content in this post was taken from an article that originally ran on Rodale Wellness.
For more from Maria Rodale, visit www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com
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The boys ’round here don’t really eat sushi, which is why Jimmy Fallon basically had to force Blake Shelton to try some.
The talk show host took Shelton to Nobu, a very fancy Japanese restaurant, to try some sake (rice wine), pickled ginger, sushi, sashimi and more. At certain points during the bit, the country singer looked visibly pained and more than a little grossed out. Shelton didn’t care for sake (which he said tasted like “easter egg coloring”) or the ginger (“the texture of pre-chewed gum”).
And just wait until you watch him try the raw fish:
“This looks like human tongue!” Shelton said before snapping up a piece of tuna with his chopsticks fastened with a blue helper. “The texture is Play-Doh, but I will say this, man to man, I like how that tasted.”
The whole video is hilarious, but it’s even funnier when Fallon nearly chickened out about eating a dish that Shelton devoured before him. We sort of have a feeling Gwen Stefani’s boyfriend won’t be going back for seconds.
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As someone who is a prolific writer, I happen to respect good writing.
These days, however, writings skills are not generating much by way of compensation. Journalism, for instance, a profession that was a good livelihood generator for writers, is an imploding industry.
Against that backdrop, here is a startup idea that could become a good earning mechanism for writers, while not getting run over by the Media industry’s existential crisis.
Here, I am thinking of writers becoming affiliates of a specific genre of e-commerce merchants.
I would like to see some new entrepreneurs develop some new, highly curated affiliate networks in specific genres. For instance, clothing for professional women, dress shirts for men, children’s clothes, original art, adventure travel, culture travel, etc.
For each network, there would be, say, 50-100 affiliate partners, and 50-100 e-commerce sites that sell those products/services/experiences.
The writers – affiliates – would write about the products of the 50-100 e-commerce merchants that they represent. Traffic would develop through organic search, and ongoing relationship with the readers. As the products sell, the writers (affiliates) will get paid affiliate commissions.
Let’s look at some numbers.
For an affiliate partner to make a good living, the network needs to help generate $100k in affiliate fees for the year. At 10% affiliate commission, that entails selling $1M worth of merchandise. If the average selling price (ASP) per order is $50, that means, each affiliate needs to generate 20k orders. If the ASP is $100, that means, each affiliate needs to generate 10k orders. So forth..
For high-end travel affiliates, for example, the ASP could be $200, in which case they only need to sell 5,000 units to make the numbers.
The network, if it operates on a business model of 10% off the top-line, would make $5M (10% of $50M) with 50 affiliates, and $10M (10% of $100M) with 100 affiliates.
So far so good. Win-win across the board.
Is it a win for the e-commerce merchants? Let’s check the numbers.
On average, if the 50 affiliates are generating $50M for 50 merchants, then the average revenue per merchant is $1M. The merchants are paying 20% commission (10% to the network and 10% to the affiliates), so $800k post-commission margin. Assuming the products have a 50% gross margin, there is another $300k left for running the business. If the business can be operated within $150k, there is another $150k in profits.
Of course, some merchants will do better than others. Some products will be hits. But overall, with a set of right strategic decisions, a 3-way win-win can be created such that the unit economics do work well.
If we can develop 100 entrepreneurs, each running a network with 50 affiliates and 50 merchants each, we’ve developed 10,100 (100 x 101) viable entrepreneurs.
Not bad, eh?
Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going.
Photo credit: Adikos/Flickr.com.
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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.
