Smartphone tool helps users keep social distance

SAN FRANCISCO — Smartphone users have a new way to keep their distance  – a tool that lets them know when people are getting closer than pandemic guidelines recommend.

The Google-developed Sodar tool available this week taps into Android smartphone cameras to put users in the center of a white circle with a radius of about two meters, or 6.5 feet.


The perimeter, determined based on pandemic social distancing guidelines, is made using the same kind of augmented reality technology in smartphone games such as Pokemon Go.

Circles superimposed on surroundings move with users, keeping smartphones in the center. Users get a visual warning when they are within the potentially hazardous radius.




Sodar works through Google-made Chrome browsers on Android smartphones that support augmented reality, according to the California-based internet firm.

“This experiment uses (the application program interface) WebXR to visualize 2-meter social-distancing guidelines in your environment,” a message at the website said.


The tool came out of an “Experiments With Google” project on technology hacks to help people cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

Agence France-Presse

'Super-spreaders': COVID19 myth or reality?

PARIS, France — Can a single COVID-19 patient infect dozens of others? Although transmission rates in the current outbreak appear to be far lower, a variety of factors can lead to an individual infecting many.

The concept of so-called "super-spreaders" — patients who typically infect far more people than the standard transmission rates — emerged in previous outbreaks of diseases such as Sars and Mers.

Amesh Adalja, an expert in emerging infectious diseases at John Hopkins University, said the term was not scientific and there was no set quantity of transmissions that would define a super-spreader.

"But, in general, it is usually a markedly higher figure when compared to that of other individuals," he told AFP.

A range of variables govern how many people an individual infects, from how fast they shed the virus to how many people they come in to close contact with.

The novel coronavirus has a typical transmission rate of 2-3 — that is, every confirmed case appears to infect between 2 and 3 other people on average.

But the pandemic has thrown up at least two patients who appear to have been super-spreaders.

Suspected super-spreaders

One suspected super-spreader, a British national, appears to have infected a dozen others when he returned from Singapore and then went skiing in the Alps.

He recovered, but may have infected another five people after returning home.

In South Korea, which has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases outside of Italy, a woman known as Patient 31 appears to have infected dozens of others.

But in an ever better-connected world, it can be challenging to definitively link transmissions to an individual patient.

"It's possible that what we call super-spreaders exist, those patients who don't only infect 2-3 others but could infect dozens," said Eric Caumes, head of infectious and tropical diseases at Paris' Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital.

"The problem is we aren't spotting them."

According to Olivier Bouchaud, head of infectious diseases at that Avicenne hospital in Paris' suburbs, variable transmission rates could be down to how fast a patient sheds the virus once infected.

"That's just a hypothesis at this point," he said. "Obviously we don't have a clear explanation, and there's nothing specific to COVID-19."

Another unknown is the role played by young children, who are less severely affected by the virus but are capable of transmitting it — part of the reason many countries have moved to close schools in recent days.

'Highly variable'

Cristl Donnelly, professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford, said all disease transmission was by nature "highly variable".

"But we are not all the same, we vary in our immune systems, in our behaviour, and in where we happen to be," she said. 

"All of these things can affect how many people we would transmit to."

Bharat Pankhania, an infectious diseases expert at Britain's Exeter University, even disputed whether super-spreaders existed.

He said that the biggest factors determining transmission were environmental, made worse in dense-populated cities.

"These circumstances often are: crowding; a confined space with poor ventilation; poor infection control, meaning lots of non-porous, hard surfaces which can keep a virus viable for a longer time; a favourable ambient humidity; and the infected person usually being in the early phase of their illness, when virus secretions are at their peak," he said.

It's due to these contributing factors that many experts are reluctant to talk in terms of super-spreaders.

Added to this, as France's health minister has pointed out, the term might be used to stigmatise individuals, when it is likely they transmitted COVID19 without realising.

Agence France-Presse

Barnes & Noble suspends reissues of classics with new images

NEW YORK – Barnes & Noble is withdrawing a planned line of famous literature reissued with multicultural cover images that has been met with widespread criticism on social media.

“We acknowledge the voices who have expressed concerns about the Diverse Editions project at our Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue store and have decided to suspend the initiative,” Barnes & Noble announced in a statement Wednesday.

The author Adriana Herrera had called the books, scheduled to be launched this week, “the classics in blackface.”

“Diverse Editions,” a joint project between Barnes & Noble and Penguin Random House, featured 12 texts, including Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.”

The words are the same, but on the cover, major characters are depicted with dark-skinned illustrations by artists of “different ethnicities and backgrounds,” according to Barnes & Noble.

“Diverse Editions” was announced at a time when the publishing industry is already facing scrutiny over the novel “American Dirt” and its depiction of Mexican life and culture. “Absolute TONE-DEAF decision-making,” Mexican-American writer David Bowles, a leading critic of “American Dirt,” tweeted about “Diverse Editions.”

The decision also comes in February, which is Black History Month, an annual celebration of past and present achievement.

To much disbelief online, the organizers of “Diverse Editions” had said they used artificial intelligence in reviewing more than 100 older books and determining whether the race or ethnicity of a character is specifically stated.

Few would argue that Alice from “Alice in Wonderland” or the title characters of “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” are fitting for a tribute to black history.

“They could have Googled, chosen a dozen books by actual Black authors that are classics & sent those out with fresh covers & a big event,” author MIkki Kendall tweeted.

“Add in bringing in contemporary Black authors to discuss these works & the whole thing is a win. They didn’t do the easy or logical thing.”



In its statement Wednesday, Barnes & Noble acknowledged that the new covers were “not a substitute for black voices or writers of color, whose work and voices deserve to be heard.

“The booksellers who championed this initiative did so convinced it would help drive engagement with these classic titles,” according to the bookstore chain.

“It was a project inspired by our work with schools and was created in part to raise awareness and discussion during Black History Month, in which Barnes & Noble stores nationally will continue to highlight a wide selection of books to celebrate black history and great literature from writers of color.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Waking up to music could make you more alert

Your choice of alarm sound could have an impact on your level of alertness after waking, reports an Australian study published at the end of January.

If you are not an early bird, hopping out of bed at dawn can be something of an ordeal. And the choice of the alarm that you use may be more important than you think. Researchers at the Royal Melbourne institute of Technology (RMIT, Australia), who recently published a study in the journal Plos One, have studied the impact of different types of alarm sounds and how they help dispel feelings of grogginess on waking.



The phenomenon of “sleep inertia,” as it is called, is a state of incomplete transition to wakefulness that can result in a groggy feeling that can last for up to four hours after getting out of bed. The goal of the new study was to understand how the decision to use a sound or music as an alarm can reduce the persistence of this state.

“If you don’t wake properly, your work performance can be degraded for periods up to four hours, and that has been linked to major accidents,” points out Stuart McFarlane, who led the study.

The study involved 50 adults who participated in an experiment that was specially designed for them to conduct at home. The principle consisted of recording the type of sound they used to wake up, and then assessing their level of alertness by answering specific questions related to sleep inertia.

Opt for a melody rather than a startling ‘beeping’ noise


The results showed that people who used music as an alarm had higher levels of alertness than those who opted for a strident “beep” sound. “You would assume that a startling ‘beep beep beep’ alarm would improve alertness, but our data revealed that melodic alarms may be the key element. This was unexpected,” remarks Stuart McFarlane.

“We think that a harsh ‘beep beep beep’ might work to disrupt or confuse our brain activity when waking, while a more melodic sound like the Beach Boys ‘Good Vibrations’ or The Cure’s ‘Close to Me’ may help us transition to a waking state in a more effective way,” adds Adrian Dyer, a co-author of the study.

While further research on a larger sample may be needed to support this theory, the findings of this study highlight the potential benefits of waking up to music in the fight against sleep inertia.

“This is particularly important for people who might work in dangerous situations shortly after waking, like firefighters or pilots, but also for anyone who has to be rapidly alert, such as someone driving to hospital in an emergency,” points out Stuart McFarlane. JB

AFP Relaxnews

When skincare meets makeup: Introducing the BYS Cosmetics Full Coverage line

Makeup is empowering. These days, this message rings true as the craze for cosmetics is all about creating the best version of yourself.

This is why skincare-infused makeup products are quite popular. Beauty junkies everywhere are all about makeup that doesn’t just help them change up their look but also something that helps them feel comfortable with their natural skin.

BYS Cosmetics is all about this too. That’s why they created the Full Coverage line. The skin-perfecting formula won’t just help you cover up your blemishes, it clears your skin and keeps it looking its best. Backed by customer-focused research, the Full Coverage line marries the quick solution base makeup gives with the long-term effects of various skincare ingredients.

Skincare + makeup = Power combo

The BYS Cosmetics Full Coverage line features four main ingredients to help your skin look better every time you use it.  You get the benefits of Vitamin E for hydration. Add to that the wonders of hyaluronic acid, often praised by dermatologists for keeping skin elasticity. Say good-bye to fine lines!

Aloe Vera is also in the mix for maximum levels of moisture. This helps minimize your acne outbreaks due to skin dryness and maintains the skin’s plumpness.

Coconut water, a favorite secret of the beauty world, rounds up this ensemble for its anti-aging benefits.

Formulated for your needs

In this line, you get three different formulations. All of which you can use together for a flawless and long-lasting base. You may also just use one or combine two of your liking, depending on your preference.

If you want coverage for your entire face that’s buildable without being cake-y, reach for the Full Coverage Foundation. With a pump bottle, you don’t have to worry about using too much and keeping the foundation sanitary while you’re traveling.

This works best with the BYS Primer.

Next in the line is the Full Coverage Concealer. This boasts of silky texture and a formula that suits all skin types. For “no-makeup-makeup days,” this just might what you need. Tip: You can use your normal shade for concealer, a lighter shade for a subtle highlight, and a darker shade for your contour.

If you’re in search of a powder that provides coverage and effectively sets your liquid makeup, BYS Cosmetics has the Full Coverage Pressed Powder. Like the liquid foundation, you can layer this for extra coverage. Take it with you for quick touch-ups and to control midday shine.

All three formulations are available in four shades: Ivory, Natural Beige, Medium Beige, and Sand Beige.

Kind to all

Another thing about makeup these days: It should also help make the world prettier too. This is why BYS Cosmetics is committed to keeping its products earth-friendly.

The Full Coverage Line is cruelty-free, meaning it is not tested on animals and that’s 100 percent PETA-approved. It’s You can be guaranteed you only get the good stuff as it’s vegan, paraben-free, and hypoallergenic.

Your new routine

Given the options and benefits of the Full Coverage line, your every day makeup routine just got a boost. You get long-lasting coverage without the need to worry. You can do a range of looks with a perfect base or even just use it on its own to help you show off your skin.

Plus it’s accessible: BYS Cosmetics is available at SM Beauty Stores and Watsons branches nationwide.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

LG announces new home appliance for indoor gardening

With CES 2020 just around the corner, LG recently announced a refrigerator-like indoor gardening appliance that can water plants, moderate temperature and provide artificial sunshine.

LG is taking indoor gardening to the next level with its home gardening cultivator. The appliance resembles a fridge, but instead of simply providing cool, controlled temperatures in which to store food, it gives plants light and water, and can be monitored through a complimentary mobile application.



The unit mimics optimal outdoor growing conditions with temperature control, LED lights, forced air circulation and wick-based water management to help consumers who want to know “exactly what’s in their food and where it comes from,” and “anyone interested in pursuing a healthier, greener lifestyle” grow herbs and vegetables all year round, per LG.

Up to two dozen of LG’s available seed packages — each containing seeds, peat moss and fertilizer — can be moderated by the device. A non-circulating water system administers the appropriate amount of water to each packet while discouraging the growth of algae and the diffusion of odors. When the appliance launches, 20 different varieties of plants will be available, including various types of lettuces, basil and arugula.

The appliance will be unveiled in full and demonstrated at this year’s CES conference, which runs from January 7 to 10, 2020, in Las Vegas. Pricing and availability of the cultivator and accompanying seed packets have not yet been announced. NVG

source: technology.inquirer.net

Getting recommended amount of physical exercise linked to lower risk of 7 cancers

A new American analysis has found that hitting the recommended weekly levels of physical activity could lower the risk of developing seven different cancers.

Led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the new analysis looked at nine existing studies including a total of 755,459 participants to investigate whether meeting the recommended amounts of physical activity is linked to a lower risk of 15 different cancers.


Updated guidelines recommend that people should aim for 2.5 to 5 hours per week of moderate-intensity activity, or 7.5 to 15 METs (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) per week. MET measures an individual’s energy expenditure, with one MET defined as the energy it takes to sit quietly. Moderate-intensity activities burn three to six times as much energy per minute as sitting quietly (3 to 6 METs), and vigorous-intensity activities burn more than 6 METs.

After asking the participants to self-report their physical activity levels, the researchers then followed them for 10.1 years.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that engaging in recommended amounts of activity (7.5 to 15 MET hours per week) was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of seven of the 15 cancer types included in the study, compared to doing no physical activity. The team also found that the more exercise participants did, the more the risk was reduced.

Of these 15 cancers, physical activity was linked to a lower risk of colon cancer in men (8% lower risk for 7.5 MET hours per week and a 14% lower risk for 15 MET hours per week), a lower risk of breast cancer in women (6% to 10%), endometrial cancer (10% to 18%), kidney cancer (11% to 17%), myeloma (14% to 19%), liver cancer (18% to 27%), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in women (11% to 18% lower risk).

The researchers admitted that their analysis had some limitations. For example, though the total number of participants was large, the number of participants studied for certain cancers was limited. In addition, participants were mainly white, and participants self-reported their level of physical activity, a method that is prone to errors.

However, the authors still concluded that, “These findings provide direct quantitative support for the levels of activity recommended for cancer prevention and provide actionable evidence for ongoing and future cancer prevention efforts.”

“Physical activity guidelines have largely been based on their impact on chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” said study author Dr. Alpa Patel. “These data provide strong support that these recommended levels are important to cancer prevention, as well.” IB/JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Scarier than fiction: Climate worry driving ‘cli-fi’ boom

Imagine a world where storms inundate coastal megacities, entire species become extinct in the blink of an eye and conflicts are fought over dwindling natural resources.

Not so difficult in 2019, perhaps.

After a year of devastating extreme weather and worldwide unrest over the emergency posed by climate change, topics that used to belong to the realm of science fiction are finding their way into mainstream storytelling.

Back in 2004, Roland Emmerich’s disaster flick “The Day After Tomorrow” depicted a global weather catastrophe, with coastal areas devoured by the sea amid general meteorological mayhem.

Just 15 years on, scenes from the movie resemble images taken from real-life weather events today.

And as climate change makes superstorms, flooding, wildfires and droughts more likely, a new genre is gaining fatalistic fans the world over: “cli-fi.”

“It’s catching on like wildfire,” said United States writer and cli-fi aficionado Dan Bloom.

He credited U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he will withdraw from the Paris climate deal, with helping promote the genre.

“There’s a lot of people who say that climate change is not real,” said Bloom. “These people are making the rest of us very angry and as a result cli-fi is getting more and more power.”

Andrew Milner, a professor of comparative literature at Melbourne’s Monash University, said that cli-fi was yet to break out from sci-fi’s yoke — most people get into the new genre because they like the old one.

“Both its texts and practitioners — writers, readers, publishers, film directors, fans — relate primarily to the science-fiction tradition,” he said.


“(But) it is very clear that the sub-genre has grown very rapidly in recent years.”

Global appeal

Global protest movements such as the Youth Strike for Climate and Extinction Rebellion have heightened public awareness of the issue.

For J.R. Burgmann, co-author of “Science Fiction and Climate Change: A Sociological Approach”, cli-fi films and novels are a logical expression of an increasingly knowledgeable and concerned society.

“This rise is a response to real-world concerns,” he said. “And though I would argue that literature has been rather slow to respond to manmade climate change, it certainly appears to be making up for lost time.”

And, because climate change is a truly global problem, cli-fi has become a worldwide, multi-lingual phenomenon.

In France, two major television series focussing on dystopian but conceivable futures have received popular and critical acclaim.

“The Last Wave” tells the story of 10 surfers who go missing in bad weather. When they return they can’t remember what happened but some have strange new powers.

And “The Collapse”, set in a post-apocalyptic world where fuel is scarce, nuclear sites are threatened and medicines are rationed, debuted this week.

Recent cli-fi works from around the world include “Blackout Island” by Icelandic author Sigridur Hagalin Bjornsdottir, a Canadian adaptation of Jean Hegland’s “Into the Forest” and “Water Knife”, by U.S. author Paolo Bacigalupi.


In “The History of Bees”, Norwegian author Maja Lunde’s 2017 bestseller, humanity is forced to pollinate their crops by hand after pesticides have wiped insects off the face of the Earth.

“People are more and more worried about climate change and authors write about what scares them,” Lunde told Agence France-Presse last year.

‘Hard to ignore’

Novels and films about climate change are nothing new, of course.

J.G. Ballard’s “The Burning World” (1964) and John Brunner’s “The Sheep Look Up” (1972) depicted a world ravaged by environmental damage decades before scientists fully understood manmade climate change.

Even John Steinbeck’s generational “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939) is essentially a tale of the harrowing ordeal undergone by climate migrants from the Oklahoma dust bowl.

But, as leading cli-fi author Jean-Marc Ligny explained, greater public awareness and a seemingly unending string of drought, wildfires and heatwaves have made climate a topic that’s “hard to ignore.”

“Climate change needs stories, and readers need them to be told,” he said. “There are figures, statistics, but these don’t really say anything. Cli-fi makes people more aware of the situation.” CL/JB

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Fila Sneakers

After coming back to the US market about seven years ago, FILA was a family-type brand with its eye on huge channels such as Kohl’s Corporation. In that period, however, FILA set up a new channel called FILA heritage.

This channel is focused on expanding its presence in the sneaker space.

Fila Sneakers The Disruptor and Mind Blower

According to FILA North America’s director of heritage, Louis Colon III, the brand is currently all about the consumer’s attention.


The Heritage category has seen massive sales and becomes a key revenue source especially with its re-released iconic FILA sneakers.

FILA, arguably the most popular sportswear label in the ’90s is making not just a comeback but a rebrand as well.

At the forefront of this rebrand, the wave is the company’s hit sneaker from 1990 – The Disruptor.


This iconic FILA sneaker was first released in 1996.

It’s a massive sneaker with a saw-tooth sole.

The most popularly worn color of the Disruptor is pure white.

The new re-release of this legendary sneaker brings quite a number of fashion trends to the scene.

Trends like the surge of massively shaped sneakers, known as Dad sneakers, the revival of 90’s pop fashion, and possibly fashion’s new love for the intentionally ugly.

The second wave of the Disruptor is being termed the Disruptor 2.

This rebranded FILA shoe has done massive numbers in stores such as Foot Locker.

The CEO of this store, Dick Johnson stated recently that the FILA Disruptor 2 is one of its hottest foot-wears, alongside the timeless Vans, skate shoes.

The sneaker is a top contributor to FILA’s comeback US sales, which saw an increase of 21% in the last quarter.

Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst for research firm NPD Group expressed that the sales are quite a considerable leap.
According to him, dad’s shoes and retro wear are all the rage.

Another blast from the past being brought back by FILA is the Mindblower sneaker.

There are several colorways available for this trainer.

They include white and green and peach, classic navy and red.

The behemoth clumpy design of this shoe meshes well with fashion’s current love for dad sneakers.

Also, with the FILA logo imprinted on the upper, it’s set to mark its place in the logo-mania trend as well.

Although the Disruptor is already among the top sneakers of this season, the Mindblower is showing definite potential at catching up to it.

For quite a while, the FILA brand and its retro logo have been amassing clout in the fashion industry.

Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy who regularly draws style inspiration from the ’80s and ’90s displayed FILA branded wears on the runway around late 2016.

In February of this year, Fendi, the lavish label sparked up FILA’s clout, even more, when it used FILA’s design for its Fall line.

This season, more and more fashion fans are going for logo-centric clothes and retro footwear such as the Mindblower and the Disruptor in particular.

When the international search platform Lyst dropped its list of the hottest products from the last quarter, the Disruptor landed second place in the women’s category.

This list was based on variables such as page views, searches, and sales spanning 6 million items. The Disruptor surpassed hyped products from top brands such as Chanel, Off-white and Prada.

Another ranking list from Lyst of the hottest trainers in several UK cities showed that the Disruptor was the top sneaker in London.


Fila Journey to the Top

The FILA sneakers have the benefit of being easily available, selling at stores such as Urban Outfitters and Journeys.

Their pricing is also another advantage, going for $65 to $70, way less than the luxury brand versions of dad sneakers ( such as Balenciaga’s $895 Triple S) or a competitor like the $100 Nike M2K Tekno.

FILA sneakers are available for men as well as women.

However, Powell observes that the dad sneaker fashion is more prominent with women.

This season is the most significant one FILA has had in a long time in areas like the US and UK.

These are places where FILA vanished from their market after a solid reign in the ’90s.

A Forbes story from 2008 disclosed that in 1997, FILA’s US sales hit a peak of $687 million.

However, issues arose afterward, including a failed attempt at moving the brand to luxury retailers.

Forbes recounted that a decade later- the US division “lost $42 million on $61 million in sales”.

That same year—2007— Gene Yoon, founder of FILA’S Korean division, gathered funds together to purchase FILA’S trademarks from Sports Brands International, their owner at the time.

Yoon supervised FILA’s steady rebirth, which comprised making FILA’s “Heritage” category, a major influence in FILA’s present success.

The Relaunch of the Fila Sneakers

Disruptor and Mind Blower isn’t the only thing the brand is doing.

The brand has released a pocket-friendly collaboration with a weekday.

This release includes breathable water-proof joggers and sneakers all in the brand’s legendary colorway of white, green, pink and blue.

The collection has 20 pieces and according to Louise Lasson, creative director of Weekday, they function as an activewear collection from a minimalistic fashion POV.

Lesson stated that it was necessary to truly create the pieces with a focus on detailing and functionality as well as the fashion facet of urban sportswear.

Currently, as part of moves to solidify their rebranding.

FILA sneakers and clothes are fusing smoothly into wider trendsetting fashion, with the extra dash of authentic heritage.

Louis Colon III, FILA North America’s director of heritage stated last year that “When you see brands in high, high fashion selling the ugly shoe, the bulky shoe—we have had this in our brand DNA since 1993.

He further said they don’t intend to be only a nostalgia label or brand.

They are aiming at balancing the past, future and of course the present.

Clearly, FILA is determined to maintain its presence this time around.

source: usa.inquirer.net

Credit counseling Will Help You Improve Your Finances, This Is Why

Credit counseling is one of the most recommended debt solutions in America, especially for debtors filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Before visiting a credit counseling agency, you ought to know if credit counseling works. This post answers the questions, “does credit counseling work?” What are the benefits of visiting a credit counselor? Is It Right for me?

Like general psychotherapy, there are a lot of criticisms on Credit Counseling. Some critics accuse debt counseling agencies of predatory practices, which is defined as “imposing unfair and abusive loan terms on borrowers”.

According to a 2006 audit report from the office of inspector general (IG) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

These predatory practices include; charging exorbitant fees, failing to meet expected standards, inability to proffer practical solutions for debtors, and deceiving clients.

Every field has its own bad eggs, and credit consulting is not an exception.

However, the red flags should not deter you from seeing the benefits of credit counseling, a field that was created with the purpose of helping debtors get rid of credit card debt.

What Are the Benefits of Visiting a Credit Counselor?

There are four major functions of a debt counselor, namely; debt management, budgeting, education, and tools application.

To paint the full picture of what each function entails, I’ve provided a bulleted list of mini-functions under each head-function.

Debt Management Benefits

* Evaluates the client’s total financial case by reviewing monthly wages, properties, credit card debts, expenses, credit reports, or other financial information.

* Develop debt management plans (DMP’s) and budgets to help clients meet their monetary goals.

* Drafts debt repayment dates in favor of clients.

* Recommend methods, such as adjusting budgets, applying for debt management plans, using personal loans, or declaring bankruptcy.

* Speaks to clients by telephone or physically to garner more financial data.

* Prepare documents to solidify legal contracts after getting a go-ahead from the client and creditor agency.

* Update records of the client’s account activity, like correspondence, financial transactions, or counseling session notes.

* Direct clients to community services or resources in cases beyond credit counseling.

* Evaluate the duration for Credit card debt repayment using the volume of debt, interest rates, income, and savings.

* Negotiate with creditors agency on behalf of clients to help adjust payments, reduce interest rates, extend payment duration, or devise a better DMP.

Budgeting Your Money to Pay Off Debt

* Evaluate the financial capacity or status of clients.

* Devise actionable methods to help clients pay their credit card debt, obtain permanent housing or mortgage programs.

* Creates monetary plans for clients while making debt repayment a priority



Financial Education to Avoid Getting in Debt

* Informs clients on financial issues, such as consumer protection laws, credit report ratings, wage attachments, bankruptcy laws, or collection actions.

* Recommends way forwards on housing issues, like mortgage delinquency, housing rental, and homeownership.

* When it comes to financial planning, credit or budgeting, debt counselors recommend educational materials for clients.


* Explain federal policies to clients, such as the DMP rules, the pros, and cons of enrolling in debt repayment plans, or lender concession policies.

Tools and Apps To keep You Debt Free

* Studies financial records for missing cheques, payment history, returned cheques, held money, or other similar cases to resolve client’s issues.

* Releases funds to creditors on behalf of clients.


* Oversees the foreclosure, repossessions, or removal of levies.

Best Credit Counseling Agencies in America

Credit counseling is a legit practice in America. Credit counseling society is dominated by non-profit organizations and Christian/religious entities.

The idea of credit counseling was spearheaded by lenders and credit agencies during the mid-’60s in a bid to curb the continuous outbreak of personal bankruptcies.

Even though there’s a difference from nation to nation or within a nation, consumer debt is basically made up of credit card debt, car loans, and home loans.

Credit counseling aka debt counseling deals with consumer debt, which isn’t in the client’s capacity to pay.

Aside from educating the client and creating a proper budget that suits the client’s income, credit counselors assist debtors in devising a debt management plan aka DMP.

In the United Kingdom, DMP is also known as IVA, an Individual voluntary arrangement.

For a DMP to be effective, the client has to give the credit counselor the mandate to negotiate with the creditor(s) on the behalf of the debtor.

How Much Will You Save? Check If You Qualify In Two Simple Steps

* Step 1 – Select your debt amount below to see if you’re eligible


* Step 2 –Answer a few quick questions & join hundreds of thousands of Americans on the path to becoming debt-free

The aim of negotiation is to reduce the interest rate, extend payment date, lower monthly minimum payment, and waive outstanding late charges.

After the agreement has been made, the debt would be consolidated into a single payment, depending on the case at hand.

Not all debt cases demand a DMP or IVA, some debt counselors would go as far as negotiating debt relief or debt consolidation.

Does Credit Counseling Work: A Critic’s Perspective

Critics around the globe have criticized credit counseling, on the basis that the idea originated from credit agencies, who wanted to prevent debtors from seeking better alternatives.

Predatory practices include demanding unlawful or exorbitant fees, inability to meet the required standard, inability to proffer actionable solutions for clients, and neglecting the debtor’s interest in favor of the creditor.

Regulations Protecting Americans from Predatory Practices

The society of credit counselors is loosely regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in America.

The FTC is the nation’s debtor’s protection agency, which can slam credit agencies with a lawsuit for deception, extortion, and offenses of any nature.

Though the federal government has created policies protecting debtors, individual states may also regulate DMPs.

The attorney general of the state has the power to protect citizens from predatory practices.

There are two major associations representing the interests of creditors, namely: the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

SUMMARY

Like I noted earlier, the major benefit of enrolling for credit counseling is guidance.

To get the most out of credit counseling, you ought to be attentive to every debt solution proffered by the credit counselors.

Then, you can decide to opt-in for DMPs, debt relief, debt forgiveness, or bankruptcy.

With respect to education, tool application, Student loan Debt, debt management, and budgeting, debt counseling works.

It is also important to know that the debt counselor is not a magician: he/she can only persuade creditors to reduce the interest rates or extend the payment date, but the final decision lies in the hands of your creditors.

Though, most creditors prefer DMPs to bankruptcies.

source: ussa.inquirer.net

The secret to a perfect cake revealed

In one of Martha Stewart’s old interviews, her celebrity guest said she would just wing the recipe when baking. Martha could not conceal the horror in her face and later explained that in baking, one cannot just “wing” a recipe because baking is an exact science.

When you miss a portion of a recipe, even just a pinch, it is possible that the dough will not rise the way it should or the cake might turn out too dry or too sweet or not as expected.


That is why I have such enormous respect for pastry chefs, especially those who are required to produce not only specialty cakes for one occasion but those who need to make hundreds of cakes in a day. Each of those cakes must be consistent in terms of taste and texture. So the million dollar question is, how do you manage that?

Chef James Antolin of Tochi Desserts in Salcedo Village and founder of the Philippine Culinary Cup shares one of the secrets of some big companies: some of them work with a manufacturer to create a cake mix. This is because one of the biggest challenges is getting the measurements precise each and every single time. When a manufacturer can pre-measure or weigh the mix, it guarantees consistency in the end product and also saves a lot of prep time.


Joey Prats Ultra Mixes

One of the best-kept secrets of these big companies—and still a secret because the current owners will not divulge who their clients are—is Joey Prats Ultra Mixes. Their stall caught my eye at the last World Food Expo (Wofex) because there was a crowd.

Of course I also wanted to try it and lined up myself. When I finally had a bite of the brownies and butter cake, it became clear why there was a crowd. They were delicious! It was as if the cake and brownies were made from scratch.
I asked if they were selling cakes because I thought they were a dessert shop. The owner—let’s just call her The Ultra Mix Queen because she was too shy to be named—revealed they were just selling cake mixes.

She asked me if I bake. I said that was my sister Goldee, who is the baker in the family.

According to her, this mix is exactly what a person who doesn’t bake needs because the whole science and art of baking is simplified. So all you have to do is add eggs, stick it in the oven, and—voila!—you have a cake.

On the other hand, it is also ideal for cake shops because these professional bakers can deliver cakes with a “baked from scratch” quality consistently and efficiently.


The mix

I asked The Ultra Mix Queen how they achieve that “baked from scratch” quality. She revealed they refuse to do batch mixing.

Each mix is prepared separately and mixed manually. The other secret is that they invested in the best weighing machine. The Ultra Mix Queen’s engineer compared their machine to those used for measuring dosages for the components of medicine pills/tablets. That is how precise their machine is. So you can be sure that the 0.0045 grams needed in your recipe is exactly that.

The mixes are actually under the brand of Joey Prats, pastry chef and president/CEO of his own Joey Prats School of Baking & Pastry Arts.

From Prats’ original chocolate mix, the product line has evolved. Today, one of their bestsellers is the Butter Cake Ultra Mix. When you taste it, you will understand why. It is beautifully moist that you would not believe it was prepared using just the mix.

Cakes and brownies

The brand today has four cake mixes: Moist Chocolate Cake, Yellow Butter Cake, Red Velvet Cake, and Fluffy Chiffon Cake. They also offer a Fudge Brownie and a Golden Pancake mix.

While chocolate cake and brownies are friendlier to those who don’t really bake, the mixes are a big help especially for something like a chiffon cake, which should be very light, airy and fluffy, or for a red velvet cake, which should, as its name implies, have a velvety texture.

Using these mixes, life becomes so easy without having to sacrifice your kitchen credibility. Instructions come with each mix. These essentially tell you to preheat your oven, add wet ingredients (butter, oil, eggs) then bake … and that’s it.

So having the mix eliminates the need to buy each ingredient and relieves you of the tedious task of measuring each ingredient.


The Ultra Mix Queen even proved how easy it was to make the cake presentable and appealing. She showed a sample of a chocolate cake that even a child could prepare: the chocolate cake, prepared using the mix, wasn’t even lined with ganache; it was simply lined with chocolate pretzel sticks and covered on top with M&Ms. The result was a very colorful, appetizing and unique chocolate cake.

Great price, great product

A customer also expressed surprise at how affordable the mixes were, describing them as having an affordable price yet producing a luxurious taste.

The Ultramix Queen also shared the story of a village baker who decided to add cakes to his product line after seeing the income potential from the mixes. They have been selling cakes using Joey Prats Ultra Mixes for several years now.

Many business customers apparently have been purchasing their mixes through the years not only because of the convenience and consistency of the end product that the mix offers but also because of the ease in inventory that it affords. Your only other variables would now be eggs and maybe a bit of butter or milk.

Baking tip

The only added culinary tip that The Ultramix Queen gives her customers is to buy a thermometer to put in the oven to make sure the temperature is always accurate. Sometimes, she explained, even if you set your oven to the instructed temperature, the heat inside does not match the surface setting. Accuracy is important as even just a few degrees in error will make a big difference. Temperature is apparently an overlooked “ingredient” in baking but a good baker will always mind the heat.

If you remember this tip and use the mix, you may just make people believe that you went to culinary school … although in fact you just used one of the Joey Prats Ultra Mixes.

Now you know the secret of some of our best pastry brands and chefs.

Joey Prats Ultra Mixes available in select branches of All About Baking; Carli BoxiNation; CK Bakers; Wonderbake; Mr Baker; SM Hypermart Weekend Bazaar; Way2Bake; Bake and Beyond; Baker Heaven; Chocolate Lover, Metro Manila and Pampanga; Chocolatina in Batangas; Baker’s Eight in Cavite; Paolito’s; and the Baking Pantry in Davao. Also available online via joeypratsultramixes.com and with delivery options. Call 0917-8538299 or landline 636-5528.

source: business.inquirer.net

No space? No problem. Anywhere can be a restaurant in Hanoi

HANOI — Twenty years ago, Nguyen Hong Van opened her restaurant in an alleyway close to her home. From the outside looking in, it really doesn’t look much.

The criteria needed to open a restaurant in downtown Hanoi are thin at best.

Location, well anywhere will do. Space doesn’t necessarily need to be plentiful and as far as furniture goes, a few plastic chairs will suffice.

It’s difficult to actually put a number on the amount of eateries operating in the capital. You would struggle to walk just a few yards without passing a place selling food.

Even with your eyes closed, the aromas given off are a tell-tale sign that something good to eat is literally just around the corner.

Anywhere, it seems, can easily be converted into a restaurant.

Twenty years ago, Nguyen Hong Van opened her restaurant in an alleyway close to her home. From the outside looking in, it really doesn’t look much.

Space is tight, as alleyways usually are, but that doesn’t stop customers coming for her specialty: dried beef salad, or nom bo kho.

“I used to sell at a different location and had lots of customers,” she said.

“But when someone else rented that place, I moved into this alley because my house is right behind it.

“My neighbors also sell stuff here and gradually we have built up regular customers and they like it this way.

“But when it gets too crowded, I have to let them sit outside on the pavement.”


Hong Van makes preparation look easy. She’s a dab hand with a pair of scissors, expertly chopping up dried beef and mixing in the required herbs and broth to serve up a mouth-watering dish.

A friend told her what was needed to make the dried beef salad, but she added her own twist to make her dish stand out from the rest.

“A friend of mine showed me how to make this dish but she just showed me how to assemble the dish, not how to get the flavor right,” she said.

“I tried to learn it myself and my customers also gave me their suggestions so I made adjustments and finally came up with my own recipe.”

At Quan An Ngon restaurant in Hanoi, dried beef salad is often ordered as a side dish, enjoyed while waiting for the main meals. This, according to the chef, is because it is so quick to prepare.

“Diners come here, before ordering other dishes, almost everyone will order salad, and they really like the dried beef salad because this dish is very fast-served so they can enjoy it while waiting for other dishes,” said chef Tran Van Kien.

“When eating dried beef salad, they really like it because it delivers a delicious taste such as the creamy flavor of peanuts, and when blending with the broth, the taste is very special.”

The mixture of meat, herbs and vegetables has to be as fresh as possible. The beef is marinated in salt, sugar, garlic, oil, ginger and chili and often left overnight to ensure the flavors soak through.

As well as adding to its taste, the vegetables and nuts used also bring out a rich color making the dish even more appealing on the eye.

“The ingredients of making this salad are a combination of dried beef, papaya, carrots, herbs and roasted peanuts,” Kien added.

“It’s very crunchy when eating, with the creamy taste of peanuts that creates a very special flavor.

“A perfect salad will have the aroma of the beef. You can feel the crispness of the papaya and the creaminess of the peanuts.

“The sour of the broth has to be moderate, not too much and not too sweet. When using with salad, everything will be harmonious and very delicious when blending everything together.”

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Lagerfeld’s Chanel made $11 billion in his last year

Chanel clocked up sales of nearly 10 billion euros ($11.1 billion) in its final year under the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, the French label said Monday.

The notoriously secretive brand owned by the Wertheimer family, which has only reported its results publicly twice in its 109-year history, said sales rose more than 10 percent in 2018.

Chanel’s iconic creator — who had so dominated fashion that he was called the “Kaiser” — died of cancer in February aged 85.

Lagerfeld worked until the end, and despite his final illness his creations “achieved double-digit growth with great performances in leather goods and ready-to-wear”, the label said.

Profits rose to close to $3 billion, with finance chief Philippe Blondiaux hailing “another strong year”.

The performance was particularly strong given that the fashion house had sunk $1 billion into upping its digital presence, Blondiaux said, as well as securing “supply chains… and strengthening social and environmental commitments.”

He said its perfume and beauty division had also shown rapid growth with the launch of new fragrances such as Coco Mademoiselle and Bleu de Chanel.

Chanel is regarded as one of the world’s richest and most stable fashion brands, said to be worth in excess of $20 billion.

Only rival Paris house Louis Vuitton has more financial clout, although much of its profits come from its luggage and handbag business.

In terms of turnover, it is also comes second behind Vuitton, whose owners LVMH reported sales of “well over $10 billion” in 2018.

The results were released on the eve of Paris men’s fashion week, where a special event will honour Lagerfeld in the city’s vast Grand Palais, the scene of some of his greatest catwalk triumphs.

Chanel opened its books for the first time last year, showing that its owners Alain and Gerard Wertheimer were the fourth and fifth richest people in France and among the 40 wealthiest on the planet.

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source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Bon Appetit launches new food streaming channel

Gourmet United States magazine Bon Appetit has launched a new streaming channel for its three million YouTube subscribers and nearly 2.3 million Facebook followers.

Thanks in part to the magazine’s breakout stars like Brad Leone and Claire Saffitz and some witty editing, the magazine has managed to parlay its print presence into a series of popular videos which, on YouTube alone, has garnered more than 420 million views.

This week, the Conde Nast title launched a channel that can be streamed on TV via devices like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

Fan-favorite Brad Leone, who largely focuses on fermented foods as host of the show “It’s Alive” is particularly popular with the ladies and gents for his good looks, boyish antics and humor. New on the streaming channel, “It’s Alive” hits the road for original shows that take Leone to different food destinations, starting with Texas.

Pastry chef Claire Saffitz also generates millions of views for videos in which she attempts to recreate junk foods like Snickers candy bars, Pringles chips and Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Her video on making instant ramen published in November 2018, for instance, has so far racked up more than 7 million views.

Along with new and old shows, the channel will also stream all 24 episodes of Jamie Oliver’s series “The Naked Chef” which marks its 20th anniversary this year.

The channel is free to stream and download. JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Super Car: Lamborghini Urus, The Ultimate SUV

The Lamborghini Urus, it’s the ultimate combination of the soul of an extreme performance vehicle with the Lamborghini backing and the functionality of an SUV, what more could you possibly want?  Aside from of course a lower price point. However, if you’re looking into this vehicle, who looks at the price tag anyways? The world’s first ever super sport utility vehicle, a truly groundbreaking feat.  The Lamborghini Urus’ distinctive silhouette has a coupe line that shows the true super sport roots, while the proportions show strength, solidity and of course safety. At the heart of the Urus’, its success is due to the advanced design, extraordinary driving dynamics and extreme performance.  All the prior features allowed Lamborghini to launch the first ever Super Sport Utility Vehicle, remaining loyal to its true DNA. It is incredibly versatile and can meet whatever needs you might possibly need, from style to off road, the Lamborghini Urus’ does exactly what you need it to.

Lamborghini Urus 2019

Here’s what Lamborghini had to say about their groundbreaking exterior design, “Lamborghini Urus has a cutting-edge, distinct and streamlined design with multiple souls: sporty, elegant and off-road.  Its muscular surfaces make it appear strong and self-secure, while the mixed tires allow a luxury super sports car look. All the surfaces are designed with a clear attention to functionality” They’ve really outdone themselves with the Lamborghini Urus 2019, the world’s first ever super sport utility vehicle.  It’s the lowest SUV in its class and they made sure to keep some of the iconic items and body features that Lamborghini is so well known for. For example, the “Y” and the hexagon elements, the front bonnet with center peak and the cross lines on the rear door.

Lamborghini Urus integrates a V8 bi-turbo engine with a maximum power output of 478 kW / 650 HP, it gives them the best weight-to-power ratio on the SUV market.  There is a permanent 4-wheel drive system and has a standard 8 gear automatic transmission. No matter where you’re going the Urus can be truly enjoyed, whether that’s the snow, the dirt or the highway, its versatility is truly unparalleled.  Most of the torque however is directed towards the rear axle so the performance is mostly sporty.

What truly makes this SUV so special is the fact that it has an Anima system that controls the dynamics and the power distribution to all of the wheels.  Here are the modes and the description from Lamborghini on what they do. “The vehicle adapts according to the driving mode selected. There are three on-road modes: STRADA for easiness of driving, comfort and safety; SPORT for agility, responsiveness and fun to drive; CORSA for precision and maximum performance.  The three off-road modes enhance the Urus performance even more: NEVE ensures ease and safety even on slippery surfaces; TERRA ensures comfort and ease in off-road conditions; SABBIA is perfect for sandy surfaces. Finally, the EGO mode enables the driver to redefine the vehicle’s dynamics according to preferences and needs in terms of steering, suspension and traction.” The 2019 Lamborghini Urus really is a ground-breaking vehicle.  The fuel capacity of the tank is 19-21 gallons and the fuel economy is 14 mpg.

Lamborghini Urus Interior

In the Lamborghini Urus interior, you’ll see the luxury of Italian craftsmanship meeting state of the art technological advances.  The aeronautic design and driver-based instrument concept with three TFT screens, (one for the instruments, one for infotainment and one for comfort functions, including virtual keyboard feature with handwriting recognition) puts the driver first and truly makes the experience one of a kind.  The dashboard architecture follows the “Y” theme inspired by iconic Lamborghini models. The interior can be customized, starting from the five-seater architecture with bench seat, or four seats with two individual back seats and can be made even more elegant or sportier, through the selection of different kinds of colors and materials, such as: natural leather, Alcantara®, wood finish, aluminum or carbon – with the option for further sophistication on select materials through contrast stitching or Q-citra.  Urus features the largest range of any options ever offered on a Lamborghini, multiple souls converging to create a one of a kind vehicle. The Lamborghini Urus Interior is the first ever 5 seater super sports car.

Conclusion

All in all, this really is a one of a kind vehicle.  The 2019 Lamborghini URUS, the first ever super sport utility vehicle.  Truly a treat to drive, get out and test one today.

source: usa.inquirer.net

It’s all in the genes: Why some people stay thin no matter what they eat

JAKARTA — It’s the question we are all dying to have answered: How can some people eat whatever they want and never seem to gain any weight?

We all know that one person. They gorge on cookies, cake, burgers and candy, but somehow manage to maintain their trim figure without lifting a finger in the gym. For those struggling to keep a healthy figure, it can be maddening to watch.

Finally, scientists might have uncovered one of the secrets about that fortunate person who seems utterly blessed in ways you wish you were.

A report by Science Alert has put it down to some people having different genetic coding that helps them stay the same weight for life. For most of us, this is not the case, and we must rely on a balanced diet alongside regular exercise to maintain a healthy figure.

Previous research has linked genetics to obesity, however, this is the first study to look at genes related to genetic thinness.

The results suggest there is indeed a “thin” mix of genes that can be inherited – or more specifically, an absence of obesity-associated genes.

“This research shows for the first time that healthy thin people are generally thin because they have a lower burden of genes that increase a person’s chances of being overweight and not because they are morally superior, as some people like to suggest,” said Sadaf Farooqui, a member of the research team from the University of Cambridge.

“It’s easy to rush to judgement and criticize people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think.”

To carry out the study, researchers compared DNA from 1,622 people with a low body mass index, 1,985 severely obese people and 10,433 people of normal weight. The patterns were clear in the coding across the three groups. Lifestyle factors were also considered, ruling out things that could be significantly contributing to participants’ weight, such as eating disorders.

Researchers found that thin people had fewer genetic variants that increase the chances of developing obesity.

Of the naturally thin people in the study, 74 percent had a family history of staying thin and healthy, confirming that the “thin” genes are not unhealthy ones to have.

Of course, the study does not show that thinness and obesity are all based on a person’s genetics. It does, however, show that people gain weight differently, and sometimes genetics can be to blame.

It does seem unfair to some that in terms of weight, we are not all on a level playing field. It is still important to bear in mind the food and lifestyle choices we make, as researchers confirmed that diet and exercise are hugely important to our overall health.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Hainan envisions China as a medical tourism destination

BEIJING — Southern China’s Hainan province has unveiled plans aimed at building the tropical island into a world-class medical tourism hub, combining high-end medical tourism with characteristic Chinese healthcare.

The move follows a plan released a week ago by the National Development and Reform Commission to encourage tourism-related activities in Hainan, such as medical tourism, horse racing, sports betting and an instant lottery.

Focusing on four key areas — medical treatment, medical cosmetology, rehabilitation and health promotion — Hainan will introduce internationally renowned institutions, insurance providers and intermediary service agencies to build a high-end foundation for the international medical tourism market, the plan said.

In 10 years, Hainan is projected to become a major medical tourism destination with total annual business revenue reaching 40 billion yuan ($5.84 billion).

Eight major tourism projects will be developed, covering fields such as cancer treatment and rehabilitation, fertility therapy, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease treatment and rehabilitation, environmental healing and sports recuperation, traditional Chinese medicine and spiritual retreat.

Medical tourism has become one of the world’s fastest-growing emerging industries, and Hainan has unique conditions for developing it, Governor Shen Xiaoming said on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 in April.

Under the plan, Hainan will tap its characteristic resources of vast coastal areas, tropical rainforests and hot springs to cultivate innovative healthcare and leisure products, and develop a high-end and characteristic medical tourism service system.

It will strive to establish a complete healthcare tourism service system that provides high-end, precision medical treatment and high-quality specialty in medical beauty and health promotion services, it said

To stimulate the industries, Hainan will explore flexible policies, regulatory models and management systems for investment, financing, fiscal and taxation, financial innovation, entry and exit, to create a highland for medical tourism opening up.

Worldwide, increasing convenience in transportation, expansion of the internet and improvement of people’s incomes have led to a booming medical tourism industry, which grows at about 20 percent annually around the globe. According to media reports, the business volume of medical tourism jumped to $700 billion in 2017 from $10 billion in 2000. In China, more than 600,000 people went overseas as medical tourists in 2016.

As a demonstration project, launched in 2013 by the State Council to explore international medical tourism, Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone has been granted nine special preferential policies including permission to import medical technology, equipment and medicine, and cutting-edge technological research on stem cells before other parts of China.


Twenty-seven medical projects have been completed or are under construction in the pilot zone, and another 38 projects have passed medical technology appraisals. Eight projects are now open. All projects in the pilot zone are targeted to be completed within five years.

According to Shen, the pilot zone will first attract domestic patients who would otherwise travel abroad, and later patients from Southeast and even the whole of Asia. Last year, medical institutions in Sanya alone received nearly 20,000 medical tourists from overseas.

“Hainan will first attract domestic tourists with advantages of prices, convenience, language and culture over outbound medical tourism,’’ said Chen Yang­le, a professor at Hainan University’s Tourism College.

“The industry will also attract international medical institution investors. … In the long run, there will also be comparative advantages for Hainan to attract medical tourists from southeast Asian countries and other areas in terms of natural environment, favorable policies and convenient air services,’’ said Chen.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Elon Musk bores tunnel to revolutionize city driving

HAWTHORNE, US — Elon Musk on Tuesday took a break from futuristic electric cars and private space travel to unveil a low-cost tunnel he sees as a godsend for city traffic.

The billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX late Tuesday put the spotlight on the a 1.14 mile (1.8 kilometer) tunnel created by his Boring Company for about $10 million.

The sample tunnel is part of Musk’s vision to have an underground network that cars, preferably Teslas, can be lowered to by lifts then slotted into tracks and propelled along at speeds up to 150 mph (241 kmh).

“The only way to solve this is to go 3D, for the transport system to match the living quarters,” Musk said of solving the problem of traffic congestion in urban areas.

“It’s all relatively simple, no Nobel Prize is needed here.”

An entrance to a sample tunnel was shown publicly for the first time in this city near Los Angeles as the initial stage of Musk’s project to revolutionize city traffic by zipping along below congested streets.

Musk founded the Boring company two years ago as a self-financed, side-endeavor to his work at Tesla and SpaceX.

Specially designed equipment drills tunnels wide enough to accommodate a car on a track. The network envisioned is an infinitely expandable mesh of tunnels and elevators capable of having more than 4,000 cars pass through per hour.

“The deepest mines are deeper than the tallest buildings,” Musk said.

“The profound breakthrough is very simple: it’s the ability to turn a normal car into a passively stable vehicle by adding the deployable tracking wheels, stabilizing wheels,  so that it can travel at high speed through a small tunnel.”

Tunnels will eventually be open to all compatible self-driving electric vehicles, but for now Boring is using Teslas in the tube.


The idea for the project came to the billionaire of South African origin when he was fuming at the wheel of his car, trapped in traffic jams between his chic Bel Air villa and the SpaceX offices in Hawthorne.

It is a journey that takes him more than 90 minutes and he considered soul-crushing.

The “tunnel test” unveiled Tuesday appeared simple: a narrow tube, only 3.65m in diameter (12 feet), freshly painted white, in which a Tesla Model X is fitted with tracking wheels to stay in a track and avoid bumping the walls.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Why children believe (or not) that Santa Claus exists

(THE CONVERSATION) The holiday season is upon us, and so are its attendant myths, most prominent of which is the Santa Claus story. This is the time that many children are told about a man who lives forever, resides at the North Pole, knows what every child in the world desires, drives a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and enters one’s house through a chimney, which most children don’t even have.

Given the many absurdities and contradictions in this story, it’s surprising that even young children would believe it. Yet research from my lab shows that 83 percent of five-year-olds think that Santa Claus is real.

Why?

An evolutionary advantage?

At the root of this paradox is a very basic question regarding the nature of the young child as an inherently credulous being – that is, believing everything he or she is told – versus a rational one.

The noted author and ethologist Richard Dawkins, in a 1995 essay, proposed that children are inherently credulous, and prone to believing in just about anything. He even suggested that it was an evolutionary advantage for children to believe.

He illustrated that quite convincingly with an example of a young child living near an alligator-infested swamp. His point was that the child who is skeptical, and prone to critically evaluating his parents’ advice not to go swimming in that swamp, has much less chance of surviving than does the child who unthinkingly heeds his parents’ advice.

This view of young children who believe easily is shared by many, including 18th-century philosopher Thomas Reid, and developmental psychologists, who argue that children are strongly biased to trust what people tell them.

Not very different from adults?

Yet research from my lab shows that children actually are rational, thoughtful consumers of information. In fact, they use many of the same tools as adults to decide what to believe.

So, what are some of the tools that adults use to decide what to believe, and what evidence is there that children possess them?

I’ll focus on three: One is attention to the context in which new information is embedded. A second is the tendency to measure new information against one’s existing knowledge base. And the third is the ability to evaluate the expertise of other people.

Let’s look first at context.

Imagine reading an article about a new species of fish – let’s call them “surnits.” Then imagine you’re reading this article in two very different contexts – one in which your doctor is late and you’re in the waiting room reading the article in a copy of National Geographic, the official magazine of a scientific society.

In another context, you encounter a report of this discovery while waiting in line at the grocery store and perusing the National Enquirer, an American supermarket tabloid. My guess is that the context surrounding your introduction to this new information would guide your judgment about the reality status of this new fish.

We essentially did this with children. We told them about animals they’d never heard of, like surnits. Some children heard about them in a fantastical context, in which they were told that dragons or ghosts collect them. Other children learned about surnits in a scientific context, in which they were told that doctors or scientists use them.

Children as young as four were more likely to claim that surnits really existed when they heard about them in the scientific context versus in the fantastical context.

How children use knowledge and expertise

One of the primary ways we, as adults, learn about new things is by hearing about them from others. Imagine hearing about a new kind of fish from a marine biologist versus from your next-door neighbor who often regales you with reports of his alien abductions. Your evaluation of the expertise and trustworthiness of these sources presumably will guide your beliefs about the true existence of this fish.

In another research project, we presented young children with novel animals that were either possible (e.g., a fish that lives in the ocean), impossible (e.g., a fish that lives on the moon) or improbable (e.g., a fish as big as a car). Then we gave them the choice to figure out on their own whether the entity really existed or to ask someone. They also heard reports from either a zookeeper (an expert) or a chef (a nonexpert).

We found that children believed in the possible entities and rejected the impossible ones. Children made these decisions by comparing the new information to their existing knowledge. For the improbable animals – ones that could possibly exist but were rare or odd – children were significantly more likely to believe in them when the zookeeper claimed they were real than when the chef did.

In other words, children use expertise, just as adults do.

It’s the adults

If children are so smart, why do they believe in Santa?

The reason is simple: Parents and others go to great lengths to support the Santa myth. In a recent study we found that 84 percent of parents reported taking their child to visit more than two Santa impersonators during the Christmas season.

The Elf on the Shelf, originally a children’s picture book about elves who inform Santa about children’s behavior around Christmastime, is now a multi-million-dollar franchise. And the United States Postal Service now promotes a “Letters from Santa” program in which it provides personal replies to children’s letters to Santa.

Why do we feel compelled to go to such great lengths? Why does Uncle Jack insist on climbing onto the roof on Christmas Eve to stomp around and shake jingle bells?

The answer is simply this: Children are not unthinkingly credulous and do not believe everything we tell them. So, we adults must overwhelm them with evidence – the bells on the roof, the live Santas at the mall, the half-eaten carrot on Christmas morning.

How children evaluate

Given this effort, it essentially would be irrational for children not to believe. In believing in Santa Claus, children, in fact, exercise their scientific thinking skills.

First, they evaluate sources of information. As ongoing research in my lab indicates, they’re more likely to believe an adult than a child about what’s real.

Second, they use evidence (e.g., the empty glass of milk and half-eaten cookies on Christmas morning) to come to a conclusion about existence. Other research from my lab shows that children use similar evidence to guide their beliefs about a fantastical being, the Candy Witch, who visits children on Halloween night and leaves new toys in exchange for candy.

Third, research shows that, as children’s understanding becomes more sophisticated, they tend to engage more with the absurditiesin the Santa Claus myth, like how a fat man can fit through a small chimney, or how animals could possibly fly.

Wondering what to tell your child?

Some parents wonder whether they are harming their children by engaging in the Santa myth. Philosophers and bloggers alike have mounted arguments against perpetuating the “Santa-lie,” some even claiming that it could lead to permanent distrust of parents and other authorities.

So, what should parents do?

There is no evidence that belief, and eventual disbelief in Santa, affects parental trust in any significant way. Furthermore, not only do children have the tools to ferret out the truth; but engaging with the Santa story may give them a chance to exercise these abilities.

So, if you think it would be fun for you and your family to invite Santa Claus into your home at Christmas time, you should do so. Your children will be fine. And they might even learn something.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/why-children-believe-or-not-that-santa-claus-exists-70518.

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net