Sony is planning to ditch its battery business, the company announced today. According to Sony Corporation, it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Murata Manufacturing that it (Sony Group) will transfer its battery business to the latter company. The two companies hope to have binding agreements in place by mid-October, says Sony, and if all goes as … Continue reading
It’s been nearly a year since Google underwent a major organization do-over, with a renaming of the overall parent company to Alphabet, while Google itself was now just a sub-firm within. But, as its latest earnings results suggest, a majority of Alp…
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter….
New drivers have to face the reality that every time they get behind the wheel, the risk of being in an accident is lurking. Car crashes can result from many situations, including speeding, drugs and alcohol, calling or texting, fatigue, or not paying attention. Sometimes accidents are entirely caused by someone else.
The thought of a car accident is very disturbing, but taking precautions will help you avoid them.
Let’s go over some simple best practices for being on the road, how to avoid an accident–and what to do if you’re in one.
1. Always wear your seat belt
And ensure your passengers do the same. Ensure that you don’t move the car until all your passengers have buckled up. It can save their lives. The effectiveness of seat belts has been argued by researchers over the years, but still, accident cases have shown that using seat belts significantly reduce the risk of being fatally injured.
2. Slow Down
You can be James Bond later.
Speeding is one of the leading causes of accidents among new drivers. The faster you are driving when you hit an object, the greater the impact and the greater the damage done. Rather than race around trying to “make up” time on the road, plan ahead and give yourself enough time to get where you’re going safely, without speeding. It’s safer, and you’ll save money on traffic tickets and car insurance. Also remember to avoid following too close. It takes a significant distance to stop a car from 50 km/h.
In fact it takes 14 meters to stop while driving on that speed. Stay far enough so that you can stop safely without striking the vehicle in front. That goes for the distance between you and the car in front at stop signs and lights. A safe following distance is just as important, if not more important, than keeping a safe speed. After all, you could be going 120mph but as long as there is enough space between you and other vehicles, you’ll never hit anyone.
3. Your hands are for driving, not for texting.
In a recent online poll of 16-19 year olds, over 50% admitted that they text while driving. The numbers already show that even talking on a cell phone will increase the chances of getting into an accident, and that’s when your eyes are actually on the road! When you text, your eyes aren’t fully watching the road. Those few precious seconds back and forth can be the difference between life and death.
If you don’t think you’ll be able to resist answering or checking your phone while driving, a good rule of thumb is to put it somewhere in the car where you absolutely can’t get to it while you’re driving, like the very back. Yes, your friends may have to wait a few extra minutes to get a reply from you, but at least you won’t be causing accidents or getting hurt. There’s no text message or phone call that can’t wait until you’re off the road.
Anything that takes a driver’s attention from the road is a distraction, and distractions can be dangerous. This also includes eating or drinking.
Putting on your makeup, changing the radio station, friends wrestling in the back seat. All these things can lead to you losing focus and taking your eyes off the road. Avoiding accidents often require a split-second decision to brake or swerve, so eliminating distractions is vital to increase your odds. For new drivers, it is recommended to limit passengers to Parents or Instructors for the first year.
4. Driving Under the Influence
Driving under the influence (DUI) is completely not worth it. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration alcohol-related crashes cause approximately $37 billion in damages annually. Before you indulge, think about the importance of your life first. Don’t drink and drive, and don’t ride with anyone who has been drinking. It doesn’t matter if you think you can pull it off. Chances are, you can’t and you’re most likely to get into a crash. Call parents or other, non-drunk friends to take you home if you need a ride. Similarly, don’t drive or ride with anyone who has been doing drugs. This can include over-the-counter drugs, depending on how drowsy they can make you.
5. Adjust all accessories before you pull out into traffic.
This includes the mirrors, seat, and stereo. Secure loose objects in the vehicle. If you had to make an unexpected stop you don’t want you or a passenger to get hit in the head with a backpack or an umbrella. Remember back when cars didn’t even have cup holders?
Maybe you do? You don’t? Neither do I.
But at one time, cars were just cars. These days, cars have on-board computers, GPS systems, satellite radios, video players, and even flat screen televisions. From people driving pets around to screaming kids in the back seat and stuff we can’t really talk about on this site, distractions are enormous. You don’t need that text book hurling at the back of your head when you hit a bump. Secure all loose items.
Now despite following all these tips religiously, accidents can still happen. It could be caused by your error or another driver on the road. And although accidents are a frightening and emotional situation, try and remember the steps below.
• Immediately call 911 if anyone is injured. If everyone’s okay, assess the scene.
• If possible, do not move any cars until photos have been taken.
• Call your car accident attorney and insurance agent.
• Get information from the other driver(s), including their name, address, phone number, license plate, and their insurance carrier.
• Take photos with your phone or your passenger’s phone. Be sure to get pictures of the position of the cars, the damage, and anything else that’s relevant. This can later help to prove how the crash happened.
• Get the names and numbers of any witnesses to the accident.
• Write down a note for yourself, or make a voice memo for yourself while the details of the accident are fresh in your mind. This can help with questioning later.
Before you get into the car, be sure to adhere to these safety tips. Understand that your life is important, likewise that of others in your car and on the road. These precautions can help you avoid common accident injuries, and generally make you aware of the activities of other drivers on the road with you.
— 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.
By now, many of us in the baby naming business (whether a parent-to-be or a name enthusiast) are aware of the 2015 Most Popular Baby Names as reported by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Many of the same names from the last ten years appear on this list, including the most popular names, Noah and Emma. What we haven’t seen yet, however, is an analysis of state-by-state data. Mallory Moss Katz, founding partner of BabyNames.com, presents a breakdown of regional and state-by-state differences in baby naming trends for 2015.
One notable regional difference is that the name Elijah appears in the top ten baby names of most of the states in the Southern U.S. but is absent in the top ten for the mid-Atlantic and New England states. In contrast, the New England states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire have the name Jack in the top ten while the name Jackson is far more pervasive in the Southern United States, likely after confederate general Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson.
The name Lucy appears on Utah’s top ten but does not appear on any other state’s top ten list. Utah also shares the name Hazel with Montana but no other states. Hazel is a fast rising name in the U.S., perhaps made popular by the book and movie The Fault in Our Stars. Another quickly rising name is Aria/Arya, notable for being the name of a heroine in the book and television series Game of Thrones, as well as the TV series Pretty Little Liars. Aria is on the top ten lists for Hawaii, New Mexico, and Wyoming; however, it could also mean that these states are just early adaptors to the rising-star girl names. This phenomenon is less commonly seen in boy names, with the exception of the name Hudson, which has risen from rank 587 to 65 in the last decade, and appears in the top ten 2015 boy names only in the state of South Dakota.
Another name unique to South Dakota’s top ten is Levi, which has not been in the top 1000 names for the last decade. Other boy names that appear in top ten lists but are not popular overall in the United States include Sebastian (Texas, Nevada, California, and Arizona), Lincoln (Utah), Christian (Mississippi), Ezekiel (Hawaii), Josiah (New Mexico), Dylan (New Jersey), Jose (Texas), and Ryker (Wyoming). Unique girl names showing as popular in one state but not on the overall top ten lists for the others include Brooklyn, Mary and Chloe (Mississippi), Skylar (South Carolina), Savannah (Delaware), Mila (Hawaii), and Natalie (Wyoming).
So what states are most likely to reflect the top ten names in the nation? For boy names, Maryland and Illinois were the most closely matched to U.S. popularity. Many more states had girl names closely aligned with the U.S. list, including Georgia, Colorado, Nevada, Indiana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The most common popular name left out of top ten names across these states is Harper, which seems to be less popular in the Mid Atlantic states. Madison was the most common name creeping into the top ten, with no regional trend to its popularity. Of note, Madison just left the top ten U.S. girl names and is currently number eleven. The least common state to reflect the U.S. top ten list is Mississippi, boasting alternate girl names including Brooklyn, Paisley, Addison and Chloe as well as alternate boy names of John, Elijah, Aiden, Carter, Jayden, and Christian. Maine and California also deviated significantly from the top ten U.S. names.
So the trends that we’ve seen, overall: The top ten boy names by state are less likely to reflect that of the U.S. top names, however girl names are more likely to match the top ten list of 2015, albeit mostly in the non-Southern states. The most adventurous baby naming states seem to be Hawaii and Wyoming.
So what are the up and coming names slowly rising in the ranks? For girls, Paisley appeared as ultra-popular in seven states and Sebastian shows up as a top name in four states. And, as we have seen in several our baby names trend analyses, people name their babies after their favorite fictional characters. Thus, along with Arya/Aria and Hazel, we may see more names like Dory (Finding Dory), Esme (still rising and made popular by Twilight), Ella (Frozen) and maybe even a Maverick (Top Gun) or two.
You can see the top ten boy and girl names in your state by clicking here!
Dr. Mallory Moss Katz is a board-certified nurse practitioner in psychiatry and founding partner of BabyNames.com. Dr. Katz’ passions lay in community-based mental health and destigmatizing mental health diagnoses. Since its launch in 1996, BabyNames.com has been heralded as one of the top parenting sites on the internet. Dr. Katz was also the editor of the popular online parenting advice column, “Ask Grandma Maggie.”
— 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.
We’re all probably familiar with the expression, “No one knows what goes on behind closed doors.”
Yup. Familiar.
For the most part, being married (or in a long-term relationship) has a lot to do with forms of communication. How we talk, the tone of voice we use, and how we fight.
Some couples have very loud, public screaming matches. I’m not talking about those types of fights here. Some couples engage in dangerous, abusive behavior when they fight. I’m not talking about that right now either.
I’m talking about how everyday married couples actually fight when no one is around — behind those proverbial closed doors.
In most seasoned partnerships, there usually isn’t a succession of big, dramatic arguments in the middle of a thundering rainstorm like we see in the movies. That kind of thing can be reserved for the more passionate dating/beginning-of-relationship phase.
When long-time couples are not vibing with each other, many times the people around them are completely oblivious. Signs of discourse could be a flutter of sarcastic jabs back and forth to let each other know they are annoyed. It can be a large amount of silence between a couple that gives away their displeasure with each other. It can even be body language.
Then there are the looks. The eyes have so much power. Glances can express a plethora of emotion within a relationship. It could be a look across a dinner table that expresses, “Why did you say that?” or, “I’m so over you right now.” Sometimes words are just not needed at all.
When you’ve been with someone for years, you already know what makes them angry and where their vulnerable spots are.
Sometimes a fight could be a quick exchange of sharp words followed by silence. Maybe one of you simply leaves the room. It’s not always about through the roof yelling and screaming.
There can be a lot of frustrated silences in a marriage because over time and with experience each partner knows getting into a huge fight can be a waste of time and energy. Most of the time spouses already know exactly what the other is going to say in retort to their grievance — so why even go down that road?
At the end of the day, most couples know they’re in it for the long haul so they opt to skip the dramatics and choose a cool-down period instead.
A fight when you’re married could just mean a night on the couch because you just want some alone time and your partner is irritating you in some way. Maybe you just want to watch something on TV that you like for a change.
Generally speaking, a fight may not have anything to do with your partner and more about the need for personal space.
And therein lies a massive part of fighting when you’re married and sharing a life together. It’s almost never about the amount of love in the relationship. It’s frequently about external influences. Kids, money, jobs, decisions, chores — all the things that bind you both together and also make life as a functioning couple extremely challenging.
Fighting when you’re married is normal. When I meet a couple who says they never argue — I do find it hard to digest. There are going to be at least some disputes that come up over the course of a relationship.
Occasionally, having a huge fight where yelling is involved can bring up repressed issues and even relieve tension. A big fight every once in a while can be healthy and lead to productive resolutions. The important thing to remember is while losing our temper is human — learning to manage anger and communicate clearly in a relationship is vital.
As you move along in life with your partner you should be able to learn how to fight better. By this, I mean you can learn how to express your needs without a bad attitude, the use of name-calling, or habitual silent treatments.
It takes time and effort to learn how to engage with a partner about your frustrations without losing your mind. That’s why they make you take vows when you get married. For better or for worse — even behind closed doors.
More from Michelle: 5 Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Relationships
Originally a Vancouver Island native, Michelle now resides in California where she is an ex-corporate slave, writer, artist, mother, stepmother, & wife.
Join Michelle as she explores & stumbles through society, parenting, step-parenting, health, beauty, relationships & much more.
Catch more at The Pondering Nook and The Pondering Nook’s Facebook page.
— 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.
Once we are aware and accept that we are where we are, we must then act and there in lies the most vital step to not only changing our circumstances, but transforming ourselves and our lives.
The entrance into personal transformation always begins with noticing, becoming aware of how we view the world, how we are wired, what triggers us and the beliefs we hold, consciously or unconsciously, that either honor our values or become obstacles along our journey.
Once we are aware, we begin to notice when we resist and when we accept the people and circumstances in our lives. And just as we cannot accept what we are not consciously aware of, so too we cannot act on what we resist. Acceptance enables us to take our foot off the break of resistance and accelerate forward. In doing so, we often come face to face with the limits of our comfort.
No matter our displeasure or discomfort with where we are, moving into the unknown and uncertainty that lies on the other side of our comfort zone challenges our resolve and moxie. It takes courage, faith and tenacity to change behaviors that have been with us for most of our lives and no longer benefit us.
I had one client who was so tired of being used and abused by his spouse; he noticed his part in his circumstances as he looked back on years of infidelity and his choice to ignore or minimize it and instead believe empty promises and keep taking his wife back. He accepted that he had a part in the dance that led to their divorce and the many years of loneliness and unhappiness he endured.
When we began to look at his current relationships, the same pattern showed up. He needed to say yes and please the people he loved. We looked at what it would be like for him to change HIS behavior. His fear and discomfort in setting boundaries stopped him in his tracks. Even a baby step of saying ‘no’ to something he did not want to do or setting a boundary with his daughter led to such severe discomfort, that he choose to leave coaching rather than push through his comfort zone.
I can relate to his resistance and I bet you can too. When it is someone else’s story or someone else’s comfort zone, it is easy for us to judge. And yet the truth is we each have areas where it is ALMOST easier to stay in the old familiar unhealthy behavior than to push through and be different by doing something different.
Fear comes racing to the surface…
What if they reject me?
What if I fail?
What if she is angry at me?
What if I am left all alone?
What if I cannot afford…
What is I am not good enough…
The list is endless. The common element is the unknown. The unknown stokes our fears. Our mind’s job is to figure things out. When we are faced with the unknown, our mind tends to focus on worst-case scenario, squared. We enter change with trepidation because our mind is telling the story of the gloom and doom that might be awaiting us on the ‘other side’.
According to Henry Cloud, author of the series on Boundaries, “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” The pain of changing is hardwired to our fear, which is a creation of our mind.
The opposite perspective of fear is possibility, “a chance that something might exist, happen, or be true.” When we know that what we have been doing has not been working, the likeliness that our choice to “be” different and in turn, “do” things differently opens up possibility.
How do I take a leap of faith when I am so very uncomfortable and afraid?
The answer is baby steps. We all move at our own pace. Do not judge where you are or what your baby step looks like. Accept and Act.
Find the smallest possible step you can take… how does that feel?
What do you need to act on?
What support do you need?
How important is it for you to experience a change?
What is your greatest fear around acting?
How true is that fear?
This is a critical question because our fears are often unfounded or at least grotesquely magnified, inciting fear and paralysis.
You know what you want to do, what your fears are around taking that step and how much of your fear is based in reality. You have elicited support, confirmed your motivation and now it is time to act.
Don’t judge yourself. See what thoughts and emotions come up. When you do act, notice how great it feels. Don’t judge it… what may seem like an insignificant step to one person is a leap for another. Celebrate! You will feel accomplishment, liberation, and excitement. You will have gotten a glimpse of possibility.
As you continue to step out of your comfort zone, you will realize that your comfort zone is a prison of make believe walls designed by your mind to confine you to what is familiar. Follow these steps and walk at your own pace into the future you desire.
1. Trust your intuition
2. Taking a leap of faith
3. Create a support network (gentle and encouraging)
4. Have an accountability partner (non-judgmental)
There is nothing comfortable for any of us in change and stepping out of our comfort zone is facing change head-on and pushing through our fear of the unknown. It requires faith and boldness AND the rewards are brilliantly liberating and immensely pleasing!
— 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.
The upcoming elections have opened a floodgate for turning difference of opinions into full out social media wars and sometimes loss of friendships. In a day and age when nearly two-thirds of American adults (65%) use social networking sites, it’s almost impossible to ignore the question of how social media really affects political deliberation, dating and even people’s level of stress due to the upcoming presidential elections.
Political memes and GIFs overwhelm Facebook news feeds, whether someone is a Democrat, Republican or anything in between. We can’t all agree on everything, that much is certain. But when a friend goes out of their way to inform their social media followers of their political preferences with hate or disrespect towards the opposing view or candidate, how do you respond in a calm and reasonable manner?
Well for one, keep it civil. It’s okay to share your opinion about a certain political topic or candidate but don’t be mean or degrading towards another group. Fact-check before you post. Make sure your posts are well informed or funny but not malicious. Just because we are entitled to our opinions doesn’t mean we are entitled to our own made-up facts.
Related article: How to Kiss and Make Up The Right Way
And in regards to responding to others’ “tasteless” posts, I simply wouldn’t. Keep scrolling. There’s no need to insert your personal opinion into every political complaint. Sometimes the best answer is no answer. If a person makes a habit of such posts, simply unfollow until the end of Election Day. Ignoring doesn’t get easier than that.
Another tip you might want to consider is joining a closed Facebook group dedicated solely to whatever your political point of view may be. Here you can rant and rave all you want with people that believe in the same things you do.
But beware. Don’t assume your posts are private because the Internet can be a vicious place where every word you say, can and will be held against you.
Related: Are You Entering REAL Adulthood?!
If Facebook isn’t your thing, drop it altogether and make the switch over to Twitter, which is more news based nowadays. The marvelous thing about Twitter is you select who you follow so if you don’t like someone’s opinion, chances are you won’t even see them. This is good and bad since we all want to keep an open mind to different opinions.
The bottom-line; it might be hard to keep your sanity during election season.
More from KnowMore.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.
Ever since she was a kid, wedding photographer Shalyn Nelson has admired her grandparents’ long, loving and committed marriage.
So in November 2014, she did a photo shoot with her Papaw Joe Ray and Mamaw Billie Wanda to celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary on their ranch in Jewett, Texas.
“No marriage is perfect, and my grandparents will be the first to tell you that,” Nelson told The Huffington Post. “But they never gave up. They never let their vows down. Ever.”
Recently, Papaw’s health has been ailing; just last week the family was told he wouldn’t make it through the night. Though he’s still in the hospital, Nelson said he’s now on the mend. On Wednesday, Nelson saw that the photos from 2014 were posted on BuzzFeed ― a surprise that gave her some peace during this difficult time.
“This man means the world to me,” she wrote on Instagram. “So when I saw that BuzzFeed featured my grandparents on their blog, my heart swelled. The timing could not be more perfect.”
For the photo shoot, Mamaw, now 83, wore two different flowy gowns, while Papaw, now 86, sported a pinstripe suit and bowtie.
“After all was said and done, Mamaw looked at me and said, ‘Well, that sure was special,’ and gave me a big hug,” Nelson said. “My Papaw brought his little point-and-shoot camera and took photos of me and my friends who helped bring the shoot to life. My mom tells me all the time how much that day meant to my grandparents. They talk about it all the time.”
Nelson credits her grandparents with teaching her the true meaning of marriage.
“My husband constantly reminds me that we will be old and gray, like them, walking hand in hand,” she told HuffPost. “I pray for that every single day. Even now, watching my Mamaw sit by his side with his hospital visits these past few months. It just puts life and love into perspective for me even more than it did before.”
Up until she went to college, Nelson lived next door to her Mamaw and Papaw, whom she calls her “heroes” and the “the best people I know.”
“I didn’t have much of a fatherly role in my life, but my grandparents made up for that and filled that void,” she told HuffPost. “I’ll never be able to thank them enough for it.”
This shoot was the first part of Nelson’s passion project, which spotlights long-married couples all around the world. Now she is figuring out how to fund the project; someday, she hopes to compile the love stories into a book.
“I have received well over 150 love stories from strangers around the world,” she said. “I will be traveling to these couples, and documenting these stories, as well as photographing them on film ― my medium of choice ― so hopefully we can figure out a way financially sooner than later.”
Below, see more photos from Joe Ray and Billie Wanda’s heartwarming shoot.
H/T Style Me Pretty via BuzzFeed
— 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.
Few people know that Starbucks uses over 4 billion paper coffee cups per year and that those cups, made by clearcutting forests, are mostly not recycled. But the word is getting out and pressure is ramping up for the coffee giant to walk its talk on sustainability. Today’s announcement indicates that Starbucks may finally be starting to change its ways.
Stand, which launched a campaign earlier this year calling on Starbucks to use recyclable paper cups instead of its current cups, is encouraged to see that the company will test out ‘fully recyclable’ cups in its UK stores. The announcement comes after intense pressure on the company over its wasteful practices in the UK.
Starbucks uses a coffee cup with a thin plastic liner that makes the cups waterproof, but that plastic clogs up recycling mills, which means that in almost all cases, they end up in the trash – even if customers put them in recycling bins. More than a million trees are cut each year to produce the Starbucks cups that quickly pile up in garbage cans – and then landfills – around the world.
In 2008 Starbucks made a public commitment to make its cups recyclable by 2012, then the company extended the deadline to 2015, but there has yet to be a change in the cups. Starbucks has repeatedly asserted that the problem is not its cups but the recycling process, which varies from location to location. The company has suggested that recycling machines and systems around the world should be changed to accommodate its plastic-lined cups. That exorbitant expense doesn’t make a lot of sense. How about making a cup, which costs a few pennies, that regular paper recycling machines can accept? If the customer is always right, then Starbucks, one of the biggest customers, and consumers of paper cups in the world, can surely get its cup manufacturers to deliver a better, recyclable cup.
Anyone who grabbed a cup of coffee to go this morning knows full well Starbucks’ ability to change our culture. The company has literally transformed the world’s relationship to coffee, and we know it has the ability and the innovation to transform its paper cups. We will keep pushing until we see a commitment from the company to switch to fully recyclable cups worldwide.
Already, thousands of supporters have joined Stand’s campaign demanding a #BetterCup. Last month, volunteers erected a massive wall in front of Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters made of 8,181 cups, which is the amount of cups served every minute of every day by Starbucks.
To find out more about our Better Cup campaign and download a copy of our ‘Supermermaid vs. Starbucks Monster’ comic, visit www.BetterCup.earth
— 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.
