NASA has partnered with American Airlines in a deal that will span the next five years, giving NASA researchers observational access to AA cockpits during flights throughout the years. The observations will be used as part of the space agency’s work on improving cockpit displays, as well as flighting training and “other flight desk operations,” NASA said in a statement. … Continue reading
Are you tired of other people complaining about their first world problems? Get out your fingers, and play them the world’s tiniest violin. This version actually works, thanks to the folks at Design I/O. It produces actual sad music.
It is based on Google’s Project Soli, a tiny radar-based chip that can detect tiny movements of your fingers. Now when you play them the world’s tiniest violin, it can reproduce the sounds of the actual instrument. This is a very handy device given how so many people moan about the temperature of their lattes, the battery life of their smartphones, and other insignificant stuff.
Even though this one is a bit large and to bring with you everywhere, the Project Soli chipset will eventually show up in smartphones and watches. So one day you will be able to play the violin anytime someone complains, and give them their own personal sad concert.
[via Gizmodo]
Since launching its Android Security Rewards program last year, Google has paid out more than $550,000 to 82 people for their discoveries of security flaws in the company’s mobile operating system. Now, the tech giant is offering between 33 percent a…
Although J.J. Abrams and Star Trek: Beyond director Justin Lin lobbied hard for the movie studio to drop their lawsuit against the crowdfunded Star Trek fan flick Axanar, Paramount is apparently ready to engage their lawyers once again. As the Hollyw…
Virtual reality makes everything better, right? Not so fast. I got a chance to play World Rally Championship 6 with an Oculus Rift and a bucking, hydraulic-powered racing rig with a steering wheel and pedals. As you’ll see in the video above, I spun…
If you like cooking at home, then there’s a good chance you’ve dealt with trying to make a dough of some kind. While some aren’t terribly sticky, many are, and not having enough flour means you’re in for a not-so-pleasant experience. Not only is the dough going to stick to your rolling pin, but you’ll have to wash your hands of all the mess and dry them well just so you can put flour onto the dough again.
To save time trying to pull dough out from under your fingernails three or four times in an hour, this Flour Shaking Rolling Pin will certainly help to keep you primed and ready. This is made of ceramic, and is hollow with a rubber stopper at the end of the pin to let you put in or take out flour. On the opposing side is a shaker to let a dusting of flour escape from the rolling pin onto your mat or dough so you don’t have to take five minutes to get more.
While this isn’t a cheap kitchen tool at $19.99, it’s a real time saver for those who really like to make sticky dough recipes. There’s also a ruler to make sure you’re not rolling anything out too thick or too thin! Thankfully this is dishwasher safe, and it can hold up to 3 cups of flour at a time. Just make sure you’ve dried this out fully before using it, or you’ll have a new sticky situation to deal with.
Available for purchase on uncommongoods
[ The Flour Shaking Rolling Pin – making bread doesn’t have to be a sticky situation copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
You read about them all the time and perhaps shake your head a little.
Thrill seekers who challenge themselves with dangerous adventures such as climbing Mount Everest, jumping out of airplanes, and even scaling frozen waterfalls.
But what is it about these daredevils that make them so fearless?
In fact, experts say they’re not fearless at all. It’s fear that keeps them so intrigued with such arduous journeys.
Glenn Sparks, Ph.D., of Purdue University explained that thrill seekers take part in such dangerous journeys because of the gratification they feel from mastering something that is so frightening.
“They might engage in this sort of thing because they crave the intense adrenaline rush or thrill that comes with doing it,” Sparks told Healthline.
Death on Mount Everest
This fascination has come under a spotlight following the death of Maria Strydom while climbing Mount Everest last month.
Strydom, 34, and her husband Robert Gropel set out to reach the world’s highest summit together. However, Strydom stopped once she realized she was suffering with altitude sickness, and encouraged her husband to continue without her.
After reuniting with her husband, Strydom collapsed and died on their way down the mountain.
Why would anyone do such a thing knowing the potential risks that come with it?
“The risks are actually an essential part of it,” Sparks said. “Without any perceived risk, there can’t be a feeling that any significant challenge has been conquered. As for sensation seekers, no risk — no adrenaline.”
Gropel told journalists he felt responsible for his wife’s death, but thrill seeking experts explained that determining how sick one is under the conditions on Everest is not a laboratory diagnosis. Strydom may have died anyway if Gropel had stayed with her and began the descent.
“It was a decision between two people who loved each other that outsiders might never comprehend,” said Frank Farley, Ph.D., professor at Temple University in Philadelphia and former president of the American Psychological Association.
“Life, and death, is like that,” said Farley.
Personality of a Thrill Seeker
Farley told Healthline there are various motives people have for doing something like climbing Everest, but one predisposing quality that is almost required is risk tolerance.
“Situations of high risk will always be encountered. Risk averse people will never be seen on Everest,” said Farley.
He explained that the height of Everest carries its own health risks such as oxygen and altitude sickness problems, and exhaustion. But for elite mountaineers, personality makeup is a big factor, with the Type-T thrill-seeking/risk-taking personality a prime candidate.
“T-Types are usually motivated by such factors as novelty, variety, challenge. They’re often innovative/inventive, optimistic with high self-confidence, believe they control their fate, and have high energy,” said Farley.
According to Farley, summiting Mount Everest is the gold standard for an elite climber and most elite climbers are risk takers.
“It is for many the jewel in the crown of climbing. Summiting Everest has got to be in an elite climber’s CV,” he said. “There are a lot of dead bodies on Everest. Despite the known number of deaths, they feel confident they can do it. And they also feel that summiting Everest is one of the most glorious moments and accomplishments in their life.”
It’s in the Brain
Where does this thrill-seeking personality trait stem from?
“This high sensation seeking personality trait has genetic roots. It runs in families and appears to be caused by dopamine dysregulation,” Keith Johnsgard, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author, told Healthline.
While the brain encompasses several distinct dopamine pathways, one pathway plays a significant role in reward-motivated behavior. For sensation seekers, engaging in life-threatening activities is gratifying.
“Lazy dopamine receptors located in the pleasure centers of the brain require far greater than normal stimulation to deliver the highs needed by those with those aberrant dopamine receptors — so they jump out of airplanes,” said Johnsgard.
Johnsgard added that the sensation seeking personality trait, which includes thrill and adventure seeking, grows in a steep manner in both boys and girls until it peaks in the late teens. After that, it declines in a constant way until age 60.
Johnsgard was a thrill-seeker himself and although he has never desired to climb Everest, he did climb a nearby Nepal peak above 20,000 feet without oxygen at age 60. He’s also done a dozen high exit parachute free falls near the Arctic Circle in Norway, as well as kayaked the Zambezi in Zimbabwe.
Johnsgard began a series of studies in the 1970’s of the personality makeup of men and women who were thrill seeking risk-takers. He tested hundreds of racecar drivers from novice to world-class and dozens of elite parachutists.
He explained that back then, racecar drivers and the like were widely labeled in the media as being stupid, crazy, or possessed with a death wish.
“My studies conclusively proved that they were just the opposite — above average in intelligence, remarkably emotionally stable, and non-neurotic. They are characterized by a unique personality profile, whether stunt pilots, downhill ski racers, or mountain climbers,” said Johnsgard.
Seeking New Heights
Joe Arvai, Ph.D., professor, thrill seeker, and director of Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, told Healthline that he gets an emotional rush from such arduous journeys.
“I’m driven by new experiences that test my own limits,” said Arvai.
Arvai is an ice climber, motorcycle rider, and high elevation mountaineer. He has climbed in the Cascades, Canadian Rockies, Denali, and Eiger.
“I guess I would say, I’m a risk seeker, in addition to being a decision scientist,” he said.
Arvai said that his reaction to the prospect of an adventurous trip simply appeals to him on an emotional level.
“I like challenges, but I do my best to work within my limits. This means tempering my emotional attachment to these activities with some rational thinking during the lead-up to the trip, and while its happening,” said Arvai.
Arvai said that one warning sign individuals should be wary of when taking such a trek is overconfidence.
“This is the big one for me. This occurs primarily in younger men, but women may exhibit it also. The basis for this is what we call a motivational bias. That is, many people are motivated to think of themselves as ‘special’ — talented, skilled, etc.,” said Arvai.
He said that this is a motivational bias because we are motivated to think this way because “special” people tend to be highly valued in society.
“The reality is, sadly, most of us aren’t really that special,” Arvai added. “So, the trick is to recognize this, and work within our limits. Accidents can still happen, but we can dampen, not eliminate, the risks if we are prudent.”
Arvai stresses that explorers should train extensively when planning to climb Everest.
“Training, training, and more training. This entails physical training to withstand the stress on the body. It entails skills training to master the many complex moves that are needed on a long climb.
It also entails training the mind to think clearly in the lead-up to, and importantly during, the activity, and mindfulness while the activity is actually happening.”
The experts said that climbers must plan carefully with a plan of ascent and descent, full understanding of weather projections, etc., and climb in the right season for Everest.
“In many people’s lives, to stand atop the highest peak would be a ‘transcendent thrill.’ But you need all the personal qualities and preparation I’ve noted. If not, don’t go. Try something less risky,” said Farley.
By Angelina Tala
The original article can be found on Healthline.com.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Wildin Acosta remains in detention after he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officals in January. Credit: Morgan Whithaus
By Morgan Whithaus
Open Letter to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson
I graduated from Riverside High School on June 8. As my classmates and I walked across the stage at Cameron Indoor Stadium, we graduated with one less student.
For Wildin Acosta, June 8 was the day he saw his dreams of graduating from high school slip through his hands. It was the day that Wildin’s goal of becoming an engineer felt even more unreachable.
June 8 was just like the previous 163 days that Wildin sat in his cell at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. There he has been mistreated and emotionally and mentally drained. He continues to live in unhealthy conditions for a teenage boy and receives absolutely no schooling.
I traveled to Washington D.C. in May to speak on Wildin’s behalf at a Congressional briefing and spoke with several members of Congress and the Department of Education and met several of your assistants from the Department of Homeland Security. My three classmates and I explained to your staff members as well as to members of Congress, White House staff members, and Secretary of Education John King that Wildin is receiving no lessons or educational opportunities other than the homework that his teachers send him while he is at Stewart. Despite your staff being aware of this, you continue to detain Wildin.
I heard time and time again, including from your staff, that immigration reform is a monstrous task and that many of the people in power, including you, Secretary Johnson, are only following the law. As much as I agree with the statement that immigration reform needs to take place, large scale immigration reform is not what I am writing to you about today.
I am writing to you about Wildin Acosta, Yefri Sorto Hernandez, Pedro Salmeron, Bilmer Pujoy Juarez, Alexander Josue Soriano Cortez, and the other detained youth in North Carolina, Georgia, and across the United States.
And let me remind you, Secretary Johnson, some laws, even though they had good intentions when they were passed, are not morally right. Slavery was once allowed by law, followed by Jim Crow, and right now, taking students away from their high school education in the name of immigration is law. But not all laws are right.
Additionally, Secretary Johnson, as I am sure you are aware, America’s public schools, including Riverside High School, are legally bound to teach anyone, regardless of race, religion, or legal status. Schools across the United States pride themselves in teaching “whoever walks through the door.” Riverside is one of those schools. Moreover, I know that it is in your power and discretion to release Wildin at this very moment pending resolution of his immigration appeal.
How much damage is educating young immigrant students really going to cause? Shouldn’t we want our youth to have a high school diploma regardless of their immigration status? Wildin was in good academic standing while he was at Riverside. He was active in clubs and organizations and held a job after school to help support his family.
Before January 28, 2016, for me, a white, middle class, United States citizen, the most I knew about America’s current immigration policies was that some of the undocumented students at my school qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), while others did not.
I knew that many of the students at my school spoke English as their second language. Some were new to the United States, while others had lived here for years. As I learned their stories while covering them for the school newspaper, I realized that many of the students had fled violence and corruption in their home countries, taking perilous risks that many Americans cannot even begin to fathom.
Then, on January 28, 2016, the day that Wildin was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials as he was leaving his house to come to school, these immigration issues became even more personal.
Since Wildin’s detainment, I have seen some of my classmates stop `coming to school. Others knew they or their family members could be arrested at any moment, but despite their fear, they came to school anyways. This made it clear to me that immigration and education should be separate issues and that ICE’s new policies do not deserve to destroy classrooms, schools, and communities.
The emotional and mental stability of so many of my school’s students has severely deteriorated as they have shaken in terror of what the future holds for them and their families.
So many of these students have already been through horrific events in their home countries as they watched their fathers, brothers, and uncles slaughtered before their own eyes. They have experienced firsthand how drug-trafficking and gang-related activity consumes their cities and their countries. The emotional trauma that these students have already sustained before they fled their home countries, combined with the fear of being arrested and deported at any time during these raids, has pushed many Latino students in the Durham community past their breaking point.
Terrorizing society’s youth does not line up with the American values that the United States government, and specifically the Department of Homeland Security, are supposed to uphold. Additionally, the lives of young people seeking asylum in the United States are being torn apart.
It is singularly deplorable that these young people who were living productive, responsible lives are being detained and deported while this country was built upon young adults coming to a new land as they were escaping religious persecution. It is horrendous that Wildin was placed in solitary confinement for three “minor violations” on June 7, the day before he was supposed to graduate.
It is horrendous that he was in solitary for more than a week and was not released June 16 after allies in North Carolina and Washington D.C. placed extreme pressure on your department.
As Wildin’s detainment stretches on, I ask you, Secretary Johnson, to rethink the reasoning behind keeping Wildin and the other young people detained as their high school education slips past them. I ask you to question why someone like Wildin, who has the backing of the Durham City Council, Durham Human Relations Commission, Durham Public Schools’ School Board, and countless schools and community members, are considered threats to their communities.
Secretary Johnson, as a student who recently received my diploma, I call on you today to allow students like Wildin to finish their high school education while their cases for asylum and their appeal processes play out.
Stop the raids, free these youth. Rethink a new approach to curb undocumented immigration that does not tear apart schools and communities across the United States. Do allow these students to miss another day of school.
Sincerely,
Morgan Whithaus
Riverside High School Class of 2016
Durham, North Carolina
Morgan Whithaus will attend Meredith College in the fall with plans to become a high school English teacher. She is an immigration advocate for her friends and school mates.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
There’s a reason people use the word “navigating” when they talk about government regulations and FLSA compliance. Avoiding potential hazards just beneath the surface, making sure everyone is on board and accounted for, and staying on course (and afloat) when unexpected obstacles arise feels a lot like guiding a boat through uncharted water.
And of course, it’s not just any boat. It’s your livelihood, your employees’ livelihoods, your plans for the future, and your contribution to the world.
If you know me at all, you know how I feel about regulations and policies–we’ll just say they’re not my favorite topic of conversation. But good, bad or indifferent (I don’t know many people in this last camp), the new overtime regulations that will kick in on December 1, 2016 are being called “the most significant change to the economy in a decade.” About 4.2 million workers will now qualify for overtime in a little less than six months. Not to mention the 8.9 million workers who are currently misclassified. Meaning, there’s some choppy waters ahead.
Six months isn’t much time to prepare, and as a business owner myself, I know how hard it is to prioritize everything jockeying for prioritization on your to-do list. Understanding the implications of the FLSA, including the new rulings, has weighed heavily on my mind. Not just for myself, but for the 30 million other small business owners in the United States–20,000 of which are my own customers.
With that in mind, I turned to my team at TSheets, and some of the nation’s leading FLSA experts to answer the questions that business owners (including myself) need answered right now. “What are my options?” “How can I prepare?” and “Where am I at risk?”
This is what they had to say.
The Golden Triangle
When I spoke with Maria O. Hart, a wage and dispute attorney specializing in employment law with Parsons Behle and Latimer (and a fellow Idahoan), she said,
“Policies, procedures, and the law are the golden triangle when it comes to preparing for a change like the new FLSA overtime regulations. Neglect one area, and you open the door to lawsuits. Give all three the proper attention they deserve, and you’re going to be in pretty good shape.”
I (like many of you) bristle at the words “policy” and “procedure.” Strict office dress codes, a long list of “don’ts,” and a buttoned-up corporate office environment jump to mind. But as Maria (and the two other FLSA experts we consulted with) explain below, that’s not the kind of policy we’re talking about.
Know the Law and Watch the Courts
According to Daniel Abrahams, partner with Brown Rudnik LLP and author of The Employer’s Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act,
“Even very savvy companies with significant HR resources end up with wage and hours lawsuits on their hands. Most wage and hours violations aren’t willful, and it’s not that kind of thing that happens only to ‘bad employers’.”
In other words, don’t think that just because your employees seem happy and enjoy coming to work, that you’re not at risk here, especially with the new rulings on the horizon.
Maria added, “Whether you’ve dealt with a wage and hours suit in the past or not, preparation is crucial. It’s impossible to say how much of an increase we’ll see in FLSA suits with the new overtime regulations in December, but you can safely assume that with at least 4.2 million workers suddenly eligible for overtime, and the upward trend in wage and hours suits we’ve seen over the past 15 years, employers need to take this seriously. The time and expense involved in these suits can be enormous.”
When it comes to the new overtime regulations, here are the basics of what you need to know, in plain English:
The new overtime ruling in three sentences: Prior to December 1, 2016, if an employee is classified as “exempt” and earns more than $23,660 annually, he or she doesn’t qualify for overtime pay. After December 1, 2016, that threshold increases to $47,476, with additional increases scheduled every three years. According to the Department of Labor, the new rule is intended to correct misclassifications, improve employees’ work/life balance, and raise the salary threshold above the poverty level.
Like most rulings, there’s room for interpretation, and a number of options for applying the new regulations to your business. Daniel said, “There are quite a few resources for employers to understand how the new regulations apply to their situation. The most important thing is to dedicate the time and resources to monitor how the changes will impact your business–on an ongoing basis. Ignorance isn’t a defense when it comes to potential lawsuits.”
However, he also cautioned,
“The FLSA’s wage and hours provisions are a complicated, shifting target. And the law is being reinterpreted in new ways all the time through court rulings, making it very difficult to stay on top of every nuance in real time. Make sure your HR team has an ear to the ground when it comes to pivotal court cases in your industry, and enlist legal counsel to help you stay abreast of changes that may impact you.”
In other words, don’t try to go this alone. The sheer volume and complexity of the FLSA is staggering–and the nuances involved in the way it applies to your business make it critical that you have HR on point, and a legal expert in your corner.
Create and Enforce Good Policies
According to Maria, the second arm of the golden triangle is creating–and then uniformly enforcing–good policies that meet federal, state, and local requirements when it comes to wage and hours matters in your business. We’re not talking about what I like to call “personality policies”–policies based on the preferences of the business owner. These are policies that ensure you’re staying compliant with the law.
Maria stressed that it’s critical to have wage and hours policies that are comprehensive–and outline expectations and guidelines concerning shift standards, comp. time, general business hours, timekeeping expectations, the process for approving overtime, the consequences for unauthorized overtime, and any other issues that govern how employees are paid and what the company expects of its workforce when it comes to hours.
Think you already have a pretty good policy in place when it comes to wage and hours matters? I hope so, but don’t be too quick to mark that box as checked.
“Many business owners are surprised–even horrified–to read what their actual policy states when they’re forced to confront it in a pending wage and hours suit,”
said Lee Schreter, co-chair of Littler Mendelson’s Wage and Hours Practice Group. “Make sure you know what your company policies actually say, and review and update them quarterly.”
If your policies need an overhaul, the good news is that with a little legwork, you can do a lot of the work yourself. Resources like SHRM.org has excellent resources for business owners who want to beef up or create a functional, comprehensive policy on wage and hours matters.
Maria said, “It actually saves me time–and business owners money–if they create a draft of a policy before I review it. Taking an active role in policy creation also helps business owners make sure they know what’s in that policy.”
And just as important as creating a policy in the first place is enforcing it. Maria adds, “Even the most comprehensive, well-drafted policy isn’t going to protect your business if you’re enforcing it willy nilly. If you’re only enforcing your policy when it’s convenient, you’re opening the door to claims of discrimination.”
One of the hallmarks of a good policy that’s being enforced is a company that has regular touch points in place to train employees and touch base on the policy. Maria said, “You need to be having ongoing discussions with your managers and employees. If the only time your employees really hear about your policy is during onboarding, there’s a problem.”
Implement Smart Procedures
With smart policies in place and a watchful eye on the law and ongoing developments in the courts, implementing smart procedures is the final–but no less critical–component of keeping your company in good shape.
When is the right time to start? Right now. Maria said, “Now is the ideal time to create smart procedures that protect you down the line.” Some incur a small cost, others are free–they just take effort and consistency. These are the most important things you should be doing–right now–to protect your company from potential lawsuits, and avoid having things go from bad to worse if a lawsuit does land at your doorstep:
“When it comes to wage and hours suits, I like to say ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’ So often you have a manager who thinks he’s doing an employee a favor by letting something slide, only to have that come back around in the form of a suit from another employee.”
It’s a lot of work upfront to create and enforce policies and procedures that protect your business, not to mention staying informed of changes that affect your business when it comes wage and hours matters in the FLSA. Ultimately, how you decide to apply the information in this article is up to you, but arming yourself with that information is the first step toward choosing how to guide your business through potentially rough water.
Like it or not, in today’s business world, thoughtful–and sometimes creative–navigation of regulations like these is the price of smooth sailing.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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.
