In between shooting up enemy spaceships in Eve:Gunjack and watching your favorite shows in virtual reality, you can also use your Gear VR to browse 360 Videos on Facebook. Now, in addition to viewing them, you can also show what you think about them….
Home automation producer Nest wants to make things easier for you when it comes to building your connected home. That’s why it will soon curate select items that work with your Nest products so you can buy them directly from its online storefront.
For those who don’t play guitars, you might not be familiar with guitar pedals like the Wah pedal. Essentially what the Wah pedal does is that it shifts the tone of your guitar’s sound as you step on it, and how much it shifts depends on how much you step. Guitar players are known to rock the pedals back and forth which ultimately ends up creating the “wah” sound.
That being said, it looks like Converse has decided to be extra efficient by building a Wah pedal into a pair of Converse All-Star hi-top sneakers. The idea of these sneakers actually came about several years ago by design agency Critical Mass during a Chuck Hack event, but Converse recently decided to bring it to life with the help of CuteCircuit.
How this shoe works is that there are flexible sensors built into the sole of the shoe that will detect movements similar to a Wah pedal. They’ve also made it wireless (the prototype in the video above is still wired) which means that information from the shoe is sent via Bluetooth to a Wah Box, which in turn helps generate the Wah sound based on your movement.
Its wireless connectivity also means that users can connect the shoes with their phones and computers instead of an amp. Unfortunately it seems that these shoes are extremely limited as there are only 23 pairs at the moment, and there is no word on how much they will cost or when they will be released.
Converse Debuts All-Star Sneaker With A Built-In Wah Pedal , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
So far what we know about the next-gen iPhone is that for the most part, at least on the surface, the phone will resemble its predecessors, the iPhone 6 and 6s. There are some rumored changes and if the rumors are to be believed, this includes removing the antenna break running across the back of the device, removal of the headphone port, and possible dual camera lenses.
However a new report from Macotakara (via 9to5Mac) has revealed that Apple will be making additional changes to the phone, albeit rather small ones. For starters the report claims that the earpiece on the iPhone 7 will be larger and that its ambient light switcher will be relocated. There are also claims that the proximity sensor will be changed to “dual specification” in hopes of making it more accurate.
Now on the surface it doesn’t sound like these changes aren’t particularly huge, but they might be a big deal for those who are planning on reusing their old accessories for their new iPhone. For example the larger earpiece and relocated ambient switch would mean that existing screen protectors might not necessarily be compatible.
In any case if anything, this report serves to corroborate the rumors that Apple will be ditching the 2-year redesign cycle and saving its major iPhone refresh for 2017, which also marks the phone’s 10th anniversary and moving into its rumored 3-year cycle.
The iPhone 7 Will Have Some Minor Changes , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Instagram is a photo sharing social media platform used around the world. This means that from time to time, users will come across posts that aren’t in their native language, although we suppose you could argue that a picture speaks a thousand words. However if you were after a thousand words and then some, there really wasn’t anything you could do.
Unlike Facebook, there was no option to translate the text on the screen into your native language, or at least until now. Instagram has announced that in the coming month, they will be rolling out a new translation feature that will allow users to translate posts and profiles into a language that you’re familiar with.
According to Instagram, “In the coming month, you’ll see a translation button on feed stories and profile bios written in languages different from your own. The Instagram community has grown faster and become more global than we ever imagined. And we’re excited that you’ll soon be able to understand the full story of a moment, no matter what language you speak.”
This feature has been a long time coming and one that we’re sure many users are probably going to appreciate, so keep an eye out for its release, which should be soon!
Instagram Adding A Translation Feature To Its Platform , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
*This blog is jointly written by Shahnaz Taplin and Carl Pope
The tragedy in Orlando called forth amazing and eloquent responses. But we think the most powerful — certainly of the responses from public officials — came from a Utah Republican, Lt. Governor Spencer Cox. We urge you to read it. He reminds us that our humanity is measured by our response to hatred and terror. He quoted Muhammed, “You will not enter paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another,” as well as Jesus, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you…”
Huge numbers of Americans — not just Cox — have reacted to Orlando in this spirit. Gay Muslims are seeing a breakthrough in recognition of their struggles from mainstream Muslim organizations. The Gay community in Orlando reached out to combat Islamaphobia and show solidarity. A Google search for “Vigils, Orlando, images” produce scrolled page after scrolled page of Americans expressing this solidarity, this belief that as President Obama said, we must come together around “respect and equality for every human being.”
Religions – all of them – honor and respect love and peace. They do throw off cancerous sects that embrace hatred and violence – whether it is Jim Jones leading his followers to mass murder/suicide in Ghana, the murdering cult of Thugee in India, or the massacres of other Christians led by a Catholic Pope in the medieval Albigensian Crusade in France.
Narrowness and intolerance take over; anyone who differs becomes an enemy. Hatred and fear replace love. Violence drives out peace. Trust is replaced by paranoia. Instead of seeking security in broad social bonds, cults turn in on themselves and prepare for war. As David Brooks put it Friday, what he called the spirit of dominion seeks “to heal injury through revenge and domination.” The Islamic State in Syria and the Levant is such a cancer within Islam. But Americans must confront our own homegrown “spirit of dominion” sect – the worship of guns.
SHAHNAZ: I’M A MUSLIM
Omar Mateen, a devout Muslim was clearly deeply disturbed – uncomfortable in his own skin, perhaps unclear about who he even was. But who taught him and is teaching other Muslims that they can get away with murder – not just metaphorically but literally as Omar Mateen thought he could? The tragedy here is that 49 people died in the course of his deathly rampage. Precious lives were lost, families were torn apart and for what? Islam condemns this kind of brutal killing. But ISIS does not. Too many people hear it as the voice of their faith. The why, what and how of this massacre will affect not only the families of the 49 victims who died, not only loved ones left behind, but the fabric and well-being of entire communities, not only in Orlando. This planned but senseless act destroyed the integrity of so many families, and put the bonds that connect us all as Americans at risk.
I’m a Muslim woman of Indian origin. Nowhere did I learn, study or hear a hint that mass killings are being acceptable in our Islamic faith. In my family we think of Islam as a religion of peace–even as I realize that the world views Islam now as a faith that has become fraught with violence. I sat glued to the TV most of this week, there was much to absorb. One of the quotes by an imam from Florida being interviewed on TV struck me: “I don’t consider a terrorist to be a Muslim.” The imam is right on.
In her speech this week, Hilary Clinton warned that “Hate crimes tripled after Paris and Brussels.” She urged action to “prevent on-line radicalization.” She went further to say: “You will have millions of allies who will always have your back and I am one of them.” She continued: “America is strongest when we are not a land of winners and losers.” She is right – marginalization is not a plus. As Clinton says: “We are a country in which all Americans need to stand together and we need to bridge our divides.”
CARL: WE WORSHIP GUNS
Shahnaz, a Muslim, feels terrible because her faith was invaded by the cult of ISIS. I feel equally terrible because my country has been permeated by a culture of guns. A disturbed young man filled with hate and confusion, placed on a terrorist watch list, but alone, was able to carry out the worst massacre in our history only because our gun cult empowered and encouraged him to buy a military assault weapon and ammunition with no legitimate civilian use. (From 1994-2004 such weapons were banned. American freedom was not notably disturbed.)
But for the NRA, and the gun cult it leads, we cannot rely on a peaceful society for protection, but on arming ourselves against an invasion of our homes.The NRA claims that the writers of the constitution would have wanted us to own assault weapons (if they had been invented), because “the only way for us to stay free was by having whatever guns the bad guys have.”
There it is, the logic of a cult: fear; hatred of diversity, with those who are different “bad guys”; violence as the solution.
The day after Orlando, the NRA urged Americans to buy more assault weapons. We should hold more vigils instead, vigils with the kinds of people we don’t really know. That, not arming up, is how the Founding Fathers – as well as the prophets of our faiths — would have wanted America to respond.
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The U.S. economy is in good shape, despite some setbacks in very recent months. The latest IMF review of the U.S. economy can be summed up in three numbers: above 2, below 5, and 4. What does that mean?
The Four P’s
What are those four forces? Declining labor force participation, falling productivity growth, polarization in the distribution of income and wealth, and high levels of poverty in the U.S. Let me elaborate.
First, labor force participation is declining.
Second, productivity growth has also declined.
Third, the distribution of income and wealth has steadily become more and more polarized. This is a double-edged sword.
Fourth, the share of the population living in poverty is at very high levels.
The latest official poverty measure shows almost 15 percent of Americans–or 46.7 million people–living in poverty. Measured by the supplemental poverty measure, which takes into account effects of government programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Earned Income Tax Credit, the poverty rate is even higher.
Regardless of which measure you use, poverty is even higher than the average for certain minority groups; for single parent (and particularly female-headed) households; for children; and for those with disabilities.
All in all, our assessment is that, if left unchecked, these four forces–participation, productivity, polarization, and poverty–will corrode the underpinnings of growth (both potential and actual) and hold back gains in U.S. living standards.
What are the policies needed to counter these “forces”?
We have outlined a range of possible options. Let me highlight a few:
None of this is easy. However, there are many good ideas out there as to how best to address these issues. And that provides a strong foundation for progress.
In conclusion, let me return to my “above 2, below 5, and 4”: We think that growth should be 2.2 percent this year and higher still in 2017; unemployment is below 5 percent; and by countering the “four forces,” I am confident that the United States can remain on the frontier of innovation and opportunity.
From iMFdirect blog
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Mrs. T, age 79, suffers from diabetes and hypertension, among other conditions. Like about one in three older Americans, she takes more than five medications on a regular basis–in her case, nine.
On a recent phone call with Nurse Alicia Schwartz, Mrs. T mentioned taking a medication that her nurse knew was no longer among those prescribed for her. “I wasn’t feeling well, and this helped me before,” Mrs. T. said. Alicia explained that the doctor had replaced the discontinued medicine with another prescription that addresses a similar condition, and the two together can cause dizziness and a severe drop in blood pressure.
“That must be why I was dizzy last week,” Mrs. T confessed.
Over the next several weeks, Alicia, who has been coordinating care for Mrs. T for several years, was able to “negotiate” with her over the phone to get rid of old medications, advising her to put them in a bag and dispose of them. “It’s like many things in nursing,” says Alicia. “They have to build up that confidence in you, that you’re telling them the right thing.”
Medications play an increasingly big role in the daily lives of older Americans and those with chronic conditions. Some 15% of Americans regularly take five or more medications (known as polypharmacy), according to a recent article in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. This is up from about 8.2% a decade earlier. For Americans age 65+, the figure for polypharmacy was even higher–39% (up from 24% a decade earlier).
“Medication can be a big chore,” says Alicia, a care coordinator at VNSNY CHOICE Health Plans. “When you’re elderly, that’s an added obstacle in your life. We have some patients who are taking ten or fifteen medications, which is hard for them to keep track of.”
Patients taking so many medications often fail to take them as prescribed, which puts their health and well-being at risk. Some just don’t take their prescribed medication (or even fill the prescription), while others hold onto and dip into discontinued or expired medications, which can also be risky. The National Consumers League reports that nearly three out of four Americans do not always take their medication as directed. Each year in the U.S., this poor adherence is linked to more than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations, nearly 125,000 deaths, and $290 billion in avoidable healthcare costs.
To help people better manage their medications, particularly those with many to manage, clinicians at VNSNY CHOICE have compiled a to-do list and five questions to ask your pharmacist or primary care physician (PCP) on a regular basis, at least annually.
To Do
• Compile a complete list of your medications, including name, condition and dosage. This can be done with your pharmacist, and/or your PCP in combination with specialists. Take this list with you to all PCP and specialty care appointments. To help you compile the list, you may want to take your medicines with you to the pharmacy or PCP. This way, all doctors know what you are already taking when they evaluate a new prescription.
• Get all your prescriptions filled at a single pharmacy, if possible. That way, a pharmacist can check your existing medicines when you add or change a prescription.
• Dispose of any discontinued or expired medications, according to FDA suggested guidelines.
• Let your doctor know if a medication disagrees with you–rather than just not taking it. The doctor can often recommend a similar medication that you may tolerate better.
• To keep from running out of medications that have to be specially authorized for insurance, reach out to your doctor to reauthorize when you still have one refill left. If you do run out, speak to your doctor about getting samples, so you can continue treatment as you wait for reauthorization or refills.
To Ask
1. What is this medication for, and how am I supposed to take it?
Over time, you can forget why you are taking a certain medication. Let your pharmacist refresh your memory, as well as remind you how to take the medicine. Some medicines should be taken on an empty stomach, and others a full stomach. Timing can be important, too. For some antibiotics, “every six hours” means just that–including waking at night to observe the schedule. It is not the same as “four times a day” within waking hours.
2. Can these medicines interact with other things, including food?
Some medications can interact with others, which is why it’s important to make sure your pharmacist knows all the medications you are taking and to ask the pharmacist this question when adding a new medication. Medications can also interact with foods we eat. Some blood pressure medicines cannot be taken with the salt-alternative Mrs. Dash. Vitamins and juices can also affect medicines. Lipitor, for example, cannot be taken with grapefruit juice.
3. Can I crush these pills, as I have trouble swallowing?
While there are medications that can be crushed, others cannot. Extended-release medicines, for example, are designed to be absorbed over time. They should not be crushed, or they will release too quickly and can have severe effects on the system. If you have trouble swallowing, talk to your doctor about an alternative prescription, perhaps a liquid.
4. Do these natural medications or vitamins have side effects or can interact with the medications ordered by my doctor?
You might think that natural medications, also called Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), are free of interactions and side effects because they are “natural.” This is not the case. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if the natural medicines, supplements or vitamins you take are safe in combination with your prescription medicine and whether there are side effects. (Nearly half of those who take CAM, according to a national study, do not discuss it with their conventional medical providers.) Ginkgo biloba, for instance, may lower blood sugar and blood pressure, and may place an individual at risk for bleeding. It must, therefore, be stopped before planned surgery.
5. Can I stop this medication on my own?
If you are having uncomfortable side effects, speak to your doctor immediately. Even if you are feeling better, you should never stop a medication without consulting with your physician. It’s important to adhere to the prescribed course of antibiotics, for example, to ensure that all the bacteria has been killed and won’t return (and become drug-resistant). And if side effects like nausea or sleeplessness are keeping you from taking the prescribed treatment, talk to your doctor about alternatives that may be easier for you to tolerate.
After all, medicines can only help when you take them.
Do you have any tips for managing medicines, for yourself or someone you care for? Let us know.
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In many ways Hillary Clinton is a paradox, someone who does not fit our standard configuration of how a politician performs and what skills they bring to a successful career. Yet she is now a presumptive candidate for the presidency of the United States from one of the two major political parties. An unexpected source of historical analysis provides some, although not all, explanations as to why Secretary Clinton has come so far.
A recent biography of Richard Nixon, of all people, offers some insight into this subject. Whereas most biographers chronicle the details of their subject’s life, Evan Thomas, in Being Nixon: A Man Divided, starts instead with a tantalizing question: how did Richard Nixon, with a terrible shortage of the social graces that most pols command in abundance, get elected to the nation’s highest office by popular vote, twice? Thomas wrote, “One wonders how someone who preferred to be alone, who often seemed so ill at ease in company, chose as his life’s calling a profession that requires constant attention to others–in the stereotype of the classic pol, endless glad-handing, schmoozing, shoulder-squeezing, and baby-kissing.”
The author starts by documenting Richard Nixon’s astounding lack of people skills. His prime example: during the 1970 elections, Nixon was in St. Petersburg when a policeman who was part of the presidential motorcade had his cycle flip over and was severely injured. “Nixon rushed from his limousine to express his sympathies. As was his way, he didn’t know what to say, blurting to the policeman who lay bleeding on the ground, ‘Do you like your work?'”
Yet RMN still enjoyed a long political career with many victories. Thomas claims Nixon achieved these milestones by dint of advanced political competancy and very hard work: “politics…was something at which he could succeed. He may have lacked the natural gifts of the smooth sophisticates…but by dint of shrewdness and hard work, he could work around, compensate, overcome….Nixon possessed a long-range vision….”
This analysis parallels Mrs. Clinton’s weaknesses and strengths, and helps explain her rise to the top. Like Nixon she lacks the communication talents of many of her contemporaries. In a famous line she recently admitted, “I am not a natural politician, in case you haven’t noticed, like my husband or President Obama….”
But much like Nixon, she brings to her candidacy clear assets: top political skills, a long career resulting in more and more varied experience than most seeking the presidency, the ability to work–and fight–in different arenas. Also, one other trait she shares with the 37th president: a pronounced ability to overcome opposition and persevere, what Thomas called, “a great capacity to accept discomfort and endure blows.” Employing this quiver of resources, Hillary Clinton, like Richard Nixon, may reach the highest office.
Conservatives will now leap on this analogy, declaring that she exhibits one other trait of the Nixon years, that of the profound corruption that lead to his downfall, and that will inevitably lead to hers. But a close reading of Thomas’ book also makes clear other, fundamental differences that explain Nixon’s demise and rebuts any argument that Mrs. Clinton will follow in those ignoble footsteps. He argued that Nixon’s disaster stemmed, not from any fundamental trait of dishonesty, but from an overwhelming self-pity, insecurity, and self-doubt, character flaws that lead to the terrible crimes of his administration. But Hillary Clinton exhibits few of these symptoms. The right claims instead that she is anything but insecure, depicting her as arrogant and driven. Based on their own claims, it is unlikely that she will fall into a similar funk of profound proportions.
There is one other fundamental way that she differs from her predecessor, and that is their respective genders. And that may be the most significant factor of them all in explaining her rise to the top despite all odds.
A remarkable article by Ezra Klein that raised the same issues as the Thomas biography bore the title, “It’s Time to Admit Hillary Clinton is an Extraordinarily Talented Politician”. But Klein wrote, “it would be impossible, and dishonest, to not recognize gender as a central, defining, complicated, and often invisible force in this election. It is one of the factors that shaped Hillary Clinton, and it is one of the factors that shapes how we respond to her.” He pointed out that presidential campaigns favor male traits, which disadvantages a woman. “Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are both excellent yellers, and we love them for it. Nobody likes it when Hillary Clinton yells….research shows people don’t like it when women yell in general….Even though women are interrupted more often and talk less than men, people still think women talk more.” Still, even among the small pool of women politicians on the national stage, Clinton comes up short: “It is not that no women possess a public magnetism; Sarah Palin could rock a room, and Elizabeth Warren can work a crowd.”
Thus the key to Clinton’s success, therefore, and what makes her unique in the history of American presidential politics, is her female-centered approach, eschewing the standard male route. Klein described how, “Clinton employed a less masculine strategy to win. She won the Democratic primary by spending years slowly, assiduously, building relationships with the entire Democratic Party. She relied on a more traditionally female approach to leadership: creating coalitions, finding common ground, and winning over allies….This work is a grind — it’s not big speeches, it doesn’t come with wide applause, and it requires an emotional toughness most human beings can’t summon.”
But as a result of this gendered strategy, “Clinton is arguably better…than anyone in American politics today. In 2000, she won a Senate seat that meant serving amidst Republicans who had destroyed her health-care bill and sought to impeach her husband. And she kept her head down, found common ground, and won them over. ‘We have become, actually, good friends,’ said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who served as one of the Republican prosecutors during impeachment. ‘And that was a surprise to both of us.'”
Hillary Rodham Clinton brings an astounding and sometimes unique set of qualifications to her candidacy, some harkening back to past presidents, while others are unprecedented. If she succeeds, she may change our definition of what it means to be a winning politician.
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CO-AUTHORS:
Hana Abu Hassan: Dr Abu-Hassan works in the UK and Jordan. In Jordan, her country of origin, she holds an academic post at the School of Medicine, University of Jordan, where she conducts research and teaches both medical students and Family Medicine residents. She also works at a Family Medicine clinic based at Jordan University Hospital which covers patients in the capital Amman and those commuting for healthcare to Amman from the outskirts or other rural areas.
In the UK, she is a self-employed GP and works between different GP surgeries in London, Hampshire and Jersey. In addition to her work at the University of Jordan and in the UK, Dr Abu-Hassan works with refugee populations pro bono in both Jordan and Greece. [hana.hani@gmail.com]Lucy Waterfield: Lucy is a UK trained doctor with an MBBS from University College London and three years post-graduate experience working in the NHS. With a Diploma in Medical Care of Catastrophes (refugee health focus) as well as a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Dr. Waterfield has taken time out of training to work with the SAMS Global Response in Greece. [lucywaterfield@me.com]
Those of us working on the ground with Syrian refugees understand that their stories remain with us long after we hear them. Now thousands of miles away, the harrowing stories of adversity we heard last week from Syrian refugees while on a medical mission with the Syrian American Medical Society Foundation on the border of Greece and Macedonia repeat uninterruptedly in our minds.
Shireen, 7 years old, lost both parents while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Lesvos. Before she and her family made the journey, Shireen was told to wait for her parents on the shore in case they got separated. When rescue workers found her, she was speaking to her teddy bear, Luna, about her parents. She refused to leave the shore for 5 days, believing her parents were still coming. “Daddy and mommy are just swimming slowly, Luna. I am going to see them again very soon.” Today, she is one of thousands of unaccompanied minors in Greece, some of whom refuse to believe that their parents have died.
Mohammad, 35 years old, was a nurse in Syria before he escaped to Greece. Last week, he, his wife, and his 1-year-old girl left one of the camps on the Greece-Macedonia border to be smuggled into Macedonia. Several miles away from there, police officers heard the daughter’s cry and sent the family back to the camp. Next week, Mohammad is paying to be smuggled in the opposite direction: back to Turkey. “All Syrian refugees here have died several times already. We died when we left our home and our families in Syria. We died when we literally crossed the world on our feet to get to Turkey. We died on the way to Lesvos. The worst death of all, however, is the slow one experienced right now in this camp- where we are expected to merely eat and sleep without any understanding of what will happen to us tomorrow. I would rather go back to war in Syria than be treated like this in Greece.”
Dalal, 23 years old, lives with her husband in a camp and is active on social media. “I saw on Facebook that people are talking about an animal killed somewhere in the world and how that’s been one of the most important pieces of news. I think if we were animals, the world would care more about us. Because as humans, the world has demonstrated over and over again that we do not matter. Europeans do not want us. We are not worthy enough to be humans in Europe.”
There are close to 57,000 refugees in Greece of whom a proportion live near the border of Macedonia. The misconception is that these refugees were able to escape harrowing adversity, war, and persecution to achieve stability and peace in Greece. That said, Syrians on the border reiterate that the worst part of the journey thus far has been their experience in Greece. Denied sufficient medical and psychological attention, denied sufficient amounts of food after long days of fasting Ramadan, denied opportunities for jobs and education, refugees stuck on the border of Greece and Macedonia have been denied basic human rights.
The Greek government is currently stretched far too thin. With a lack of resources, personnel, and a very limited budget, they are doing what they can with what they have to help Syrian refugees. The responsibility then falls on us, citizens of affluent nations, to pressure our governments to offer more financial support to help enhance the conditions of these camps. The responsibility falls on us to ensure Shireen, Mohammad, and Dalal are not further denied their humanity.
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