Truth and Hammer

Author: Truth & Hammer

  • Starbucks Stock Is Up, but So Are Expectations, Analyst Says

    Starbucks Stock Is Up, but So Are Expectations, Analyst Says

    The S&P 500 is down. Starbucks got downgraded. And the coffee maker’s shares? Barely a blip. That says something about demand for Starbucks stock (ticker: SBUX), which was about flat at $75.11 as the S&P 500 was down early Monday afternoon. That followed UBS analyst Dennis Geiger ’s changing his rating on the shares to Neutral from Buy, even as he raised his price target by $6 to $78. Starbucks stock is up nearly 30% over the past year, well ahead of the S&P 500. Geiger—like some other analysts whose reports Barron’s has recently covered —thinks investors have already pulled the shares up far enough. “Improved same-store-sales momentum and streamlined operations better position Starbucks going forward, but we believe shares reflect this and expectations are now elevated,” he wrote. Starbucks reached record highs late last year as investors decided to back management in its quest to keep domestic performance going strong while the chain grows overseas. Since then, the stock has continued to climb. Editor’s Choice Geiger’s position, meanwhile, is largely in line with those of other Street analysts. The average target among those tracked by FactSet is for the stock to trade at $70, which is below current levels. The stock’s price relative to anticipated earnings for the next 12 months is near the five-year average, according to FactSet. The company has given itself some protection against difficult operational conditions by committing to substantial buybacks and dividends. That could support the shares. But near-term results—second-quarter financial results are due later this month—are still closely watched even as the company tackles broader challenges , such as competition in its key Chinese growth market . “Repurchase activity and upside to forecasts could support further multiple expansion,” Geiger wrote. “But we see risks from downside to more elevated sales/earnings expectations as an offset.” Email David Marino-Nachison at david.marino-nachison@barrons.com . Follow him at @marinonachison and follow Barron’s Next at @barronsnext .

    This content was originally published here.

  • Space: The Final Illusion – Scientific American Blog Network

    Space: The Final Illusion – Scientific American Blog Network

    Many of the great advances in science are marked by the discovery that an aspect of nature we thought was fundamental is actually an illusion, due to the coarseness of our sensory perceptions. Thus, air and water appear to us to be continuous fluids, but we discover on deeper experiment that they are made of atoms. The Earth appears to us motionless, but a deeper understanding teaches us that it moves relative to the sun and the galaxy. One persistent illusion is that physical objects only interact with other objects they are close to. This is called the principle of locality. We can express this more precisely by the law that the strengths of forces between any two objects falls off quickly—at least by some power of the distance between them. This can be explained by positing that the bodies do not interact directly, but only through the mediation of a field, such as an electromagnetic field, which propagates from one body to the other. Fields spread out as they propagate, with the field lines covering a constantly greater area—providing a natural explanation for the laws that say the forces between charges and masses fall off like the square of the distance between them. Locality is an aspect of an even more compelling illusion: that we exist within an absolute space, with respect to which we mark our positions as we move “through” it. Thus, Newton opined that motion is ultimately defined as change of position with respect to absolute space. If this seems obscure—because no measurement can establish a relation of a physical object to this imagined absolute space—Newton assured us that absolute space is seen by God, making your location relative to it an aspect of the divinity of the world. We humans must make do with relative positions and motions—which are defined relative to physical objects we can see. Leibniz broke the mystification by declaring that all that exists is relative positions and motions. He proposed as a matter of principle that any acceptable science of motion must be formulated in terms of relative motions alone. And this, after two centuries of waiting, is what Einstein delivered to us in his general theory of relativity. In this glorious construction, space is subsumed into spacetime, which is explicable as a dynamically evolving network of relationships. And what defines those relationships? Nothing but causality. The elements of space-time are events—the ultimate expression of locality—and each of these is caused by events in their past. Each event will also become a cause of events in the future. Most of the information in the geometry of spacetime is actually a coding of the relations of causality that relate the events. So, we see that the idea that physical forces must act locally is a consequence of a deeper principle, which is that physical effects are due to causal processes. And the basic principles of relativity theory insist that causes can only propagate through space at a finite speed, which cannot exceed the speed of light. We call this the principle of relativistic causality. This principle would seem to be so natural that it must be true. But not so fast. Of all the strange aspects of quantum physics so far discovered, the strangest of all has to be the shocking discovery that the principle of relativistic causality is violated by quantum phenomena. Roughly speaking, if two particles interact and then separate, flying far apart from each other, they nevertheless may continue to share properties of a strange kind, that may be ascribed to the pair, without each of the individuals having themselves any definite properties. We say the two particles are “entangled.” When two particles are in such an entangled state, an experimenter can, it turns out, affect the properties of one of the particles, directly and immediately, by choosing to measure some particular corresponding property of the other. It matters not at all that it would require a signal much faster than light to effect directly such an influence. This has been shown in many experiments carried out since the 1970s, which test a notion of locality formulated by John Bell in 1964—and all the results show that entangled pairs violate that concept of locality. In its present form, quantum mechanics only predicts statistical averages for the outcomes of many kinds of experiments, including these. Consequently, it is not possible to use the nonlocality present in entangled pairs to send a signal faster than light. But many physicists, in an ambition going back to Einstein, de Brgolie, Schrödinger and the other inventors of quantum mechanics, aspire to discover an improved version of quantum theory. This would go deeper and replace the present statistical theory with a more complete theory, which would provide a complete and exact description of what goes on in every individual quantum process. For such a theory to work, it would have to be based on influences traveling arbitrarily faster than light, thus destroying the principle of relativistic causality as well as our intuitive notions of local influence. Is such a more complete understanding of quantum physics possible? And, how are we to search for it? I believe it is not only possible but an inevitable next step in the progress of physics. I believe that the completion of quantum mechanics will be a major part of the resolution of another deep problem—that of unifying our understandings of gravity, spacetime and the quantum, to produce a quantum theory of gravity. The reason is that there is good evidence that the quantum theory of gravity will itself engender big violations of locality. And, as Fotini Markopoulou and I first proposed in 2003 , the violations of locality forced on us by quantum gravity are precisely what are needed to explain the nonlocality brought on by quantum entanglement. If we are to have a complete physics, we must unify the geometrical picture of spacetime given by general relativity with quantum physics. There is some theoretical evidence that this project of making a quantum theory of gravity will require space and spacetime to become discrete and built out of finite atoms of geometry. In the same sense that a liquid is just a description of the collective motions of myriads of atoms, space and spacetime will turn out to be just a way of talking about the collective properties of the large number of atomic events. Their constant coming in and out of being, causing the next ones as they recede into the past, make up the continual construction of the world—also known to us as the flow of time. The aim of a quantum theory of gravity is then first to hypothesize the laws that govern the elementary events, by which they continually come into being and then recede into the past. Then we must show how a large-scale picture emerges, in which these discrete events become subsumed in an emergent description of a smooth and continuous spacetime—as described by Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity. Initially there is no space—just a network of individual elementary events, together with the relations expressing which of these were the direct causes of which other events. The notion of the flow of events collectively giving rise to a smooth description in terms of the geometry of a spacetime must emerge—and the most important aspect of this is locality. The notion of distance must emerge, and in such a way that those events that are close to each other are, on average, correspondingly more likely to have influenced each other. Getting this right is the holy grail of quantum gravity theorists. Notice that if this is right, there are two notions of locality: a fundamental locality, which is based on the actual facts of which fundamental events were causes of which, and an approximate, collective, emergent notion of which events are near to each other in space and spacetime. The familiar macroscopic notion of distance is then based on a collective averaging of all the myriad of fundamental causal processes. To get a sense of how much is involved in this average, we expect that during each second there are around 10 120 elementary events happening within each cubic centimeter of space. Indeed, one way to approach quantum gravity is to aim to derive the Einstein equations, which are the laws general relativity applies to spacetime, from the laws of thermodynamics, applied to myriads of elementary events. This strategy was introduced by Ted Jacobson in 1995 in one of the few papers admired by quantum gravity theorists of all stripes But here we get a surprise and, quite possibly, an opportunity. For the collective, large-scale notion of nearness is only meant to correspond to the fundamental notion of causality when averaged over vast numbers of events. This gives the individual fundamental events and their causal relations a great deal of freedom to depart from the averages. For example, let us pick just two elementary events, one in the cup of coffee you are now drinking and the other in a cup of whatever it is they drink on one of the planets of Proxima Centauri. These events may be separated by four light-years—but nothing prevents one from being an elementary cause of the other. We can choose these two events so that they are nearly simultaneous as we (or the Proximas) measure time. So, it violates the principles of Einstein’s theories of relativity to have one of these events be the cause of the other. But there need not be a contradiction if we regard the laws of relativity as emergent regularities to govern the collective large-scale average. This is just how we regard the laws of thermodynamics as arising from averages over large collections of atoms, whose individuals follow different laws. When a law emerges from a statistical averaging, there are always relatively rare events, in which individual atoms violate the rule that holds on average. We call these fluctuations. A good example is the tendency of collections of atoms, when cooled, to form regular crystal patterns. But from time to time an atom ends up in the wrong place, disrupting the beautiful symmetry of the crystal arrangement. We say the pattern has been disordered. I can then summarize the story I’ve been telling by saying that when locality, and space itself, emerge from averaging over fundamental processes involving a myriad of individual events, it is inevitable that locality will be disordered. Mostly, influences will be local, because most of the time, causally related events will end up close to each other in the emergent rough description we call space. But there will be many pairs of events that are causally related, that will end up far from each other—thus disordering space and locality. Could this disordering of locality serve to explain the quantum nonlocality inherent in entangled particles? I believe the answer is yes, and indeed we have shown that this is the case in two different models of fundamental completions of quantum mechanics. The details are unimportant, especially at this early stage. But the takeaway lesson is that the intuitive idea that objects influence each other because they are close in space is soon to become another of those easy beliefs that turn out to be wrong when we look deeper. The smoothness of space is soon to become an illusion that hides a tiny and complex world of causal interactions, which do not live in space—but which rather define and create space as they create the future from the present.

    This content was originally published here.

  • Ruth Carter Confirms Eddie Murphy Will Star In Coming to America 2 | MadameNoire

    Ruth Carter Confirms Eddie Murphy Will Star In Coming to America 2 | MadameNoire

    An Instagram post from costume designer Ruth E. Carter confirmed that Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall will be in the Coming to America 2.

    This content was originally published here.

  • Tulip Festival at West Side Community Garden | I Love The UWS

    Tulip Festival at West Side Community Garden | I Love The UWS

    The 45th annual tulip festival at West Side Community Garden will be kicking off on April 20th ! The West Side Community Garden (located at 123 West 89th Street) will be displaying more than 13,000 tulips, blossoming trees, and other plant life. Each spring, many West Siders find themselves enjoying the outdoors once again and strolling amongst the garden’s beautiful flowers. The annual tulip festival is one of our favorite springtime events to attend and a wonderful way to reconnect with the magic that nature brings with it. Not only does the festival attract plenty of New Yorkers but also flower enthusiasts from all around the world. It’s the perfect place to snap some Instagram-worthy photos of the tulips and their vibrant colors while walking around in a serene environment. The community garden is open from dawn until dusk during the blooming season and admission is free through the entrance found between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. View this post on Instagram A post shared by iLovetheUpperWestSide.com (@ilovetheupperwestside) on Mar 31, 2018 at 9:53am PDT It’s hard to imagine this green landscape used to be nothing more than a large vacant lot filled with garbage and dirt. Most of the flowers and vegetables showcased in the garden now are raised at the greenhouse of St. John the Divine found a few blocks away on Amsterdam Ave. The Tulip Festival is funded through the donations and generosity of many Upper West Siders. The Community Garden also receives support from the Greenacre Foundation and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. It is a privately owned and not-for-profit entity which comes with an all-volunteer staff and is completely accessible to those who suffer from disabilities. Make a donation, become a member and tell your friends and family about this gem of a garden to keep it blossoming year after year. Learn more here!  Join our newsletter for more community events!  Email *

    This content was originally published here.

  • How Virtual Reality Is Transforming the Future of Surgical Training

    How Virtual Reality Is Transforming the Future of Surgical Training

    FundamentalVR is a pioneer in immersive and simulation-based learning for the medical community. They have recently partnered with a haptics company HaptX to create a simulated risk-free environment where surgeons can hone their skills using virtual reality technology. Adding haptics to training simulations allows surgeons and medical professionals to navigate artificial three-dimensional spaces with the same visuals, sensations, and sounds experienced in a real-world medical procedure.

    The New Era of Surgical Training

    Haptic technology pertains to the use of tactile feedback in recreating the sense of touch in immersive experiences. FundamentalVR has pushed the limits of their surgical training platform, Fundamental Surgery, by making it compatible with the HaptX Gloves.

    Virtual reality is on the rise. And now, its applications are becoming suitable for various purposes such as surgical training. Haptic-based VR simulations can make a profound impact on the quality of the training, the skills of the surgeons, as well as the costs of teaching procedures. Unlike traditional practices, immersive surgical training delivers guided lessons without any need for supervision. Surgical residents can practice as many times as they like until they are confident enough to perform the procedure successfully.

    These virtual reality solutions can help medical institutions reduce healthcare costs. Schools around the world still use human cadavers to teach young students. This practice can be costly. By using training simulation instead of cadavers, medical institutions can cut costs and provide enough training to residents.

    Not to mention, VR training procedures can lessen the risks of medical errors. Through Fundamental Surgery, novice surgeons can hone their skills by learning new procedures or practicing ones that they seldom perform.

    The State of Haptic-Enabled Virtual Reality Training Simulations

    Launched in August of 2018, Fundamental Surgery is the first of its kind. It’s different from other platforms on the market because it supports any laptop model and virtual reality headset. It’s now also compatible with any haptic device. The company put the SaaS platform’s capabilities on display at the annual gathering of the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS). There, they showcased Fundamental Surgery with HaptX gloves, as well as a 3DS haptic arm.

    Today, haptic technology in the medical setting usually involves a tool like a glove or a stylus which applies vibrations, forces, and all sorts of motions. These tools give users more tactile experiences in the training simulation. Fundamental Surgery’s Surgical Haptic Intelligence Engine enables it to mimic tactile sensation. They considered a wide range of medical tools and numerous tissue variants to come up with realistic simulations.

    Microfluidic technology powers HaptX Gloves, along with 130 sensors that press into the user’s skin. Together, these technologies mimic the sensation of touching a physical object. Meanwhile, its force feedback exoskeleton delivers as much as four pounds of pressure into each finger. This augments the user’s perception of rigidity and shape in the artificial space.

    Several medical institutions across the globe are taking advantage of Fundamental Surgery. For example, in the US, the University of California and Mayo Clinic are using such technology to train young surgeons. Other institutions that leverage this include Sana Kliniken AG in Germany and the University College London Hospitals in the United Kingdom. As of now, Fundamental Surgery mainly supports orthopedic surgical fields. That means surgeons can practice procedures like Spinal Pedicle Screw and Total Hip Arthroplasty on the SaaS platform. With the rise of virtual reality in healthcare, we can expect FundamentalVR to add more procedures in the near future.

    This content was originally published here.

  • Kate Beckinsale’s back on our TV screens with The Widow after series of toyboy lovers and raunchy selfies

    Kate Beckinsale’s back on our TV screens with The Widow after series of toyboy lovers and raunchy selfies

    WITH legs that go on for days, lustrous locks and ever-youthful face, Kate Beckinsale has never looked better.

    Of late, Kate, 45, has also been quick to show off her charms with some daring red-carpet outfits and sizzling social media posts.

    She is back in our living rooms tonight in The Widow, her first TV drama role since her A levels. The ITV series is the latest addition to a glittering career on both small and big screen.

    The Widow was filmed partly in South Africa and Kate says: “It was a leap of faith. I’ve been saying for years, ‘When my daughter goes to college, I’m going to be able to go off and do jobs that are far away’.

    “The minute she went to college, they went, ‘Do you want to go to South Africa for six months?’ and I felt, like, ‘I’ve got to’. It’s been really amazing.”

    The eight-part drama follows Kate’s character Georgia Wells as she travels to Africa to investigate the disappearance of her husband, who she believed had died in a plane crash.

    But filming was demanding. She says: “It was incredibly hot — so hot, I ended up getting taken to the hospital one day after passing out.”

    Recently, she has also been in the spotlight over her relationship with toyboy Pete Davidson.

    Photos of Brit beauty Kate getting cosy with the 25-year-old US comic at ice hockey games and film premieres have been all over gossip websites.

    Pete is famous in the States for his comedy skits on American TV sketch show Saturday Night Live and his failed engagement to Ariana Grande last year.

    Kate Beckinsale stars in upcoming ITV drama The Widow

    He gained notoriety with a tasteless “joke” about the 2018 bombing at Ariana’s Manchester Arena gig, saying: “Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert”.

    Speaking about Pete, Kate says: “I’ve never been in this position before — never dated anybody who comes with their own bag of mischief. It’s all quite shocking.”

    Pete, not much older than Kate’s 21-year-old daughter Lily, adds: “People have a crazy fascination with our age difference but it doesn’t really bother us.

    “Then again, I’m new to this.”

    Kate, though, is not new to younger men. In November, she was snapped kissing 30-year-old comic Jack Whitehall.

    A year earlier she dated another comedian — American Matt Rife. He was just 21 when they met, and last week he spoke openly about the relationship. He admitted: “It was complicated, for sure.”

    Of Kate’s latest squeeze, Pete, Matt added: “I hope they’re happy but my advice is to be careful.”

    Stepping out with a series of young men, Kate seems to be enjoying herself since her 2016 split from husband of 12 years, US film director Len Wiseman.

    Although they are now on good terms, before their separation Len was seen partying with 28-year-old US model CJ Franco, known for X-rated topless shoots.

    But Kate has proved she is just as desirable as a woman decades her junior, with her increasingly raunchy posts on social media.

    In one, she smouldered in a black bodysuit, and in another she shared a snap of her cut-away red dress for the GQ Men Of The Year Awards.

    Growing up in West London, Kate was the only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe.

    She made her first TV appearance at age four, in a 1978 episode of This Is Your Life dedicated to her dad, star of Rising Damp and Porridge.

    Just a year later, aged 31, he died from a heart attack.

    Growing up, Kate had years of counselling over her dad’s death — and she also battled anorexia, at age 15, weighing just five stone.

    Kate’s mum went on to marry TV director Roy Battersby. But actress and family friend Anna Calder-Marshall, 72, says: “I’m sure the death of her father is what led to Kate’s problems as a teenager.”

    Kate herself says: “There’s an anxiety that comes with losing a parent very early. Ideally, you should learn about mortality when your hamster dies.

    “Losing a parent puts you in a strange spot that you have to spend quite a bit of time making your peace with. I don’t know that you ever quite do.”

    Last month she posted a tribute to Richard on Instagram, to mark the 40th anniversary of his death.

    Under a montage of photos, she wrote: “Forty years is a lot of missing. Thank you so much to everyone who has been kind.”

    After excelling at school, she studied French and Russian at Oxford University — but jokes: “Now I only speak Russian with the woman who gives me a bikini wax.”

    Her Oxford contemporary Victoria Coren, host of BBC TV quiz show Only Connect, describes her as “whip-clever, slightly nuts and very charming.”

    Others are less kind. One ex-student described her as “a rather bohemian figure in long coats and skirts, skinny and pale and not very friendly”.

    Another claimed she was voted the “sixth most boring person in college”.

    She quit Oxford in the third year of her degree and acting success came fast.

    Kate won her first film role, in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing, aged 20.

    Two years later came cult TV film comedy Cold Comfort Farm — and in 2001, aged 28, she hit the Hollywood big time with World War Two romance movie Pearl Harbor.

    In 1995, aged 21, she and Welsh actor Michael Sheen appeared in Anton Chekhov play The Seagull together and fell in love.

    pants night

    Emily Atack admits she lost her knickers following a sex romp after the Brits

    hol lot slimmer

    Holly Willoughby insists ‘everybody knows’ how she transformed her body

    SOAP SHOCKER

    Dark night out in Emmerdale will end in horror as Victoria Barton is raped

    lou’s that girl?

    Jamie Redknapp spotted on night out with ‘Louise Redknapp lookalike’

    Katie’s rock

    Katie Price sparks engagement rumours as she flashes huge diamond ring

    TORN APART

    Katie Price ‘in pieces’ after Harvey moves into residential care an hour away

    They were partners for eight years and he is Lily’s father.

    Though they split in 2003 Kate says: “He’s really dear, close family. I love him a lot.”

    Back on our screens and more stunning than ever, fans also seem to be falling in love with Kate all over again.

    • The Widow starts at 9pm Monday night on ITV

    Widow is exotic and sexy

    By Rod McPhee

    AFTER years of dreary Scandi thrillers, we finally get a drama with some serious steam, on every level.

    The Widow is a sexy adventure which takes Kate out of her comfort zone into the rainforest in search of the husband she thought had died in a plane crash.

    And whether it’s in the chilly hills of Wales or the tropical jungle heat, she smoulders in every scene, while delivering a great performance.

    To be fair, she has a gift of a script courtesy of Jack and Harry Williams, the brothers who brought us hits including Liar and The Missing.

    Like the The Missing and spin-off show Baptiste, The Widow has a central character desperately searching for a lost loved one – and this standard Williams formula is perhaps the only criticism.

    But it does thankfully boast the siblings’ signature twisting, interwoven storylines that keep you guessing what’s going to happen from one minute to the next.

    It’s obvious that there’s been some serious cash splashed on this mini-series – which is partly down to Kate’s involvement, but also because it is a co-production with Amazon.

    There are plenty of gritty dramas around, but The Widow is proof that they can still be exotic and ambitious without compromising on quality.

    Kate Beckinsale shares hilarious video of her mum with a HUGE purple sex toy to celebrate Mother’s Day

    This content was originally published here.

  • Best smart thermostats for 2019: Reviews and buying advice | TechHive

    Best smart thermostats for 2019: Reviews and buying advice | TechHive

    The best smart thermostat will have an outsize impact not only how comfortable you are in your home, but also on your household budget. Heating and cooling your home accounts for nearly half of the average home’s utility bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A programmable thermostat can help reduce those costs by turning your HVAC system on when you anticipate being home, and off when you don’t think you’ll need indoor climate control. A smart thermostat goes far beyond relying on a simple schedule. It will not only enable you to create more sophisticated schedules for every day of the week, and give you complete control over your HVAC system, even when you’re away from home. We continually test and evaluate smart thermostats and can help you find the right one for your home. Updated April 2, 2019  to add our review of the  Sinopé smart thermostat for line-voltage heaters . If you heat your home using electric baseboard, convector, or radiant (in the floor or ceiling) heaters, the more commonly known smart thermostats (Nest and Ecobee, for instance) won’t work. This model from Sinopé is the first of its type that we’ve reviewed, and we like it. But since it is our first, we’re not quite ready to name it the best in its category.  [ Further reading: A smart home guide for beginners ] Ecobee remains our favorite thermostat, but adding Alexa functionality seems rather extraneous. Nest usually gets all the attention—and the company deserves credit for shaking up a once sleepy market—but we think the Ecobee4 is the best choice when it comes to smart thermostats. The big change over the Ecobee3? The new model harbors an Amazon Echo clone. We’re not sure the addition was absolutely necessary, but it doesn’t inflate the thermostat’s cost over our previous pick (and there’s really no reason to upgrade if you already own one). Most of the other smart thermostats we’ve tested rely on measuring a home’s temperature in just one spot: Where the thermostat is located. Trouble is, that spot is usually in a hallway or somewhere else that you never spend any time in. The Ecobee4 lets you place sensors in multiple rooms in your home, so you’ll always be comfortable where you do spend most of your time. The Ecobee4 is also compatible with just about every other smart home device you can imagine, including Samsung’s SmartThings, Wink, Haiku ceiling fans, and Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem. The Nest is still the best for users who don’t want to think about their thermostat, but it’s no longer our top pick. Don’t count Nest out of the thermostat game. The Google division has worked harder than anyone to build out a comprehensive smart home ecosystem with its own products—the Nest Cam security camera series and the Nest Protect smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors—as well as a wide array of third-party products: Everything from ceiling fans to lighting controls and even smart appliances. The recent addition of the Nest Temperature Sensor makes this device even smarter. So why does it garner runner-up status here? Nest counts on your buying other Nest products to help determine when you’re home and away, for starters. And anyone investing—or planning to invest—in Apple’s up-and-coming HomeKit ecosystem should steer clear of Nest products. Best budget smart thermostat The Lyric T5 is less sophisticated than many other smart thermostats, but you might not care given its price tag. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles that fancier smart thermostats offer (and you don’t need to control a humidifier, dehumidifier, or ventilator), Honeywell’s Lyric T5 is a great choice. It’s not as sophisticated as our top picks in this category, but it’s considerably less expensive. The lower price tag for most of the same functionality should put a Nest thermostat in more homes. Building the Nest Thermostat E with plastic, instead of glass and stainless steel, helped the company shave $80 on its price tag. While it’s designed to blend into its surroundings, versus calling attention to itself in the way its pricier stablemate does , the model E has most of the same smarts, and it’s compatible with the Nest Temperature Sensor . It is not, however, capable of controlling some of the more sophisticated HVAC systems on the market. Make sure it’s compatible with yours before you purchase one. What to look for when shopping C-wire requirement Most smart thermostats require more electrical power than a set of batteries can provide. Fortunately, they don’t require so much power than they need to be plugged into the wall. They rely instead on low-voltage power provided by your HVAC system. Many smart thermostats require the presence of a dedicated C (common) wire for this purpose, while others can siphon electricity from another source, typically the R (power) wire. But the latter practice is known to cause problems with some HVAC systems, including permanent damage. If you pull out your existing thermostat to install a smart model and find no C wire connected to it, look inside the wall to see if there’s one that hasn’t been connected. If there’s no C wire, our advice is to have one installed. Only a couple of the thermostats reviewed here require a C wire, but all the manufacturers highly recommend using one. Ease of installation A thermostat shouldn’t be difficult to install, even if you’re only moderately handy. The manufacturer should provide comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand instructions with plenty of photographs or illustrations to guide you through the process. The thermostat itself should be clearly indicate which wires go where, and most companies provide labels that you can attach to the wires coming out of the wall as you disconnect and remove your old model. The wires themselves should be color coded, but a good practice is to photograph your old thermostat for reference before you take it down. Honeywell Geofencing This feature uses the thermostat’s app and your smartphone’s GPS chip to establish a perimeter around your home. When you leave the perimeter, you presumably no longer need to heat and cool your home, or you can at least have the thermostat adjust the temperature so that it’s not running unnecessarily. When you cross the perimeter again as you come home, your HVAC system can kick into action so your house is comfortable when you walk in the door. Remote Access Remote access enables you to control your thermostat from afar, so that you can check in and adjust the temperature from wherever you have a connection to the internet. System complexity Each of the thermostats we tested support multi-stage heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, as well as heat pump systems. If your home is divided into zones that are heated and cooled independently of each other, you’ll probably need one thermostat for each zone. A single app should be able to control multiple zones. Sensors Geofencing is great—provided everyone who lives in the home has a smartphone. Motion and proximity sensors offer an alternative means of determining if your home is occupied and therefor in need of climate control. The original Nest thermostat was often criticized for relying too much on its motion sensor. If no one walked past it often enough, it would decide that the house was empty and it would stop heating or cooling. Some smart thermostats can also tap into door and window sensors as well as the motion sensors for your home security system. And proximity sensors on the thermostat itself can trigger a thermostat’s display to turn on when you walk past it, making the screens a handy feature in their own right, even if for no other reason than providing a nighttime pathway light. Samsung The best smart thermostats can be integrated into broader smart home systems, such as Samsung’s SmartThings. Smart-home system integration Every smart thermostat comes with an app so you can control it with your smartphone or tablet, but the best models can also be integrated with other smart-home devices and broader smart-home systems. This can range from being able to adjust the temperature with a voice command via an Amazon Echo or Google Home digital assistant, to linking to your smoke detector so that your fan automatically turns off when fire is detected, preventing smoke from being circulated throughout your home. Other options to consider include IFTTT and Stringify support, Apple HomeKit compatibility, smart-vent connectivity, and tie-ins with home security systems. User interface Long gone are the days when a thermostat’s user interface consisted of numbers on a dial. The more sophisticated a device becomes, the more difficult it can be to learn to use. The last thing you want to be doing is staring at inscrutable hieroglyphics on the wall when all you really want is to be warmer or cooler. A smart thermostat should convey important information at a glance and should easily adapt to your specific needs. How we test smart thermostats We install thermostats in a single-family home with a conventional HVAC system and use each one for a week or more to determine how effective it is at maintaining a comfortable environment. The home’s existing thermostat was wired with G, R, W, and Y wires. There was also a C wire in the wall that was connected to the furnace, but that had not been previously used. While there is no regulated standard for color-coding HVAC wires, industry practice has the G wire connecting the thermostat to the fan. This wire is typically green. The R wire, typically red, is for power. Some systems have separate power wires for heating and cooling and are labeled RH and RC respectively. The typically white W wire is for auxiliary heat; i.e., a second source of heat. The Y wire, which is typically yellow, connects the thermostat to your air conditioner. Finally, the C or “common” wire is used to carry power and is typically blue (think cerulean if you need a mnemonic). Our smart thermostat reviews

    This content was originally published here.

  • Scottish Man Decides To Cycle Across The Globe Solo But Finds A Stray Cat Which Accompanies Him

    Scottish Man Decides To Cycle Across The Globe Solo But Finds A Stray Cat Which Accompanies Him

     

    In September 2018, Dean Nicholson had one goal – to cycle across the globe solo – and he began his long journey riding from his hometown Dunbar, Scotland. The 31-year-old Scottish traveler was tired from his nine-to-five job as a welder so he wanted to change his lifestyle and see the world from a bicycle seat.

    The trip went great as he traveled south, passing through eight different countries and sharing his wild adventures online. But when he was crossing the Bosnian border into Montenegro, his plans had to change a little bit.

    He knew that since they were in the middle of nowhere and the kitty was desperately hungry, her previous owner had intentionally dumped her. After a trip to the vet, Nicholson named her Nala, after one of the characters in his favorite movie ‘The Lion King’ and took her on his journey.

    At first, Nicholson didn’t have a place for kitty so he had to be creative. He made some space in his front basket, clearing out some of his digital equipment and carefully placed her there. In that way, his new companion was granted the best seat in the front and had the honor to lead the way.

    Nala quickly showed her loving personality and adventurous soul. She loves traveling and is super relaxed and chill showing no signs of discomfort traveling long distances. Sometimes she jumps out of the box and sits on Nicholson’s shoulder. She attracts everyone’s attention and they always ask for a picture of her.

    Read more and see great pictures of the two of them!

  • Perfect Idea to Replace Plastic Bags

    Perfect Idea to Replace Plastic Bags

    Organic, safe, fun and beautiful!  Why not.  Use cabbage leaves and eat the packaging!

    It should be one of the main goals in today’s society to reduce plastic consumption and to educate people on the environmental and global changes and problems that we are currently facing. Even though many of us believe that recycling will solve the problem, and continue using plastic, it is actually the complete opposite. In 2013, 254 million tonnes of trash was produced in the U.S. alone, and only around 30% was recycled. This means that the rest ended up in a landfill and will stay there for up to 1000 years creating toxic gas, polluting the earth and even ending up in the oceans killing many innocent creatures. Since most of us don’t get to see the reality, which is often hidden from us, there is an important task to educate people and to open their eyes to understand that the plastic packaging that we use for a couple of seconds will take up to 1000 years to decompose.

    In order to start a positive change, supermarkets across Asia have started using leaves to pack their vegetables

    This type of packaging is not only cost-efficient it also saves so much plastic that would otherwise be recycled or would end up in a landfill.

    Recently, China has stopped importing trash from all over the world and concentrated on recycling their own waste. Before this, over 30% of the world’s waste would end up in China causing a popular belief that Asian countries are those responsible for creating the majority of the waste in the world. Now, Asian countries, including Vietnam and Thailand, are looking for new ways to avoid plastic at all. This became a solid ground for new business ideas. One of those ideas was a new, eco-friendly way to pack their goods by avoiding plastic packaging.

    One of their team members noticed a creative way to reduce plastic that a supermarket called Rimping Supermarket was using and decided to capture their shelves with their phone. Little did they know that people from all around the world would absolutely love this idea and would start sharing it like crazy. “We just popped in to get a few items while we were waiting to sign some contracts with our lawyer, who was delayed, so we were not even meant to be there at that time. When I noticed the veg wrapped in banana leaves and simply liked the idea ad showed my wife who picked a few up to buy. I thought I would take a few pictures and just post to the page, and that was it,” in an interview with Bored Panda said one of the Perfect Homes Chiangmai’s team members who took these pictures.

    With more than 3.5 million views and over 17 thousand shares, the idea became something people can encourage more supermarkets to implement. “I had no idea it was going to go viral, I was shocked when it hit 20 shares. It was not until the morning while I was in the gym that I started to realised what was happening, I pointed out to Stig my friend that it had now something like a thousand shares ad that this was crazy. Once we had finished the session an hour later it had nearly doubled that is when it really started to go off!”

    Some have noticed that not everything on the shelves is completely plastic-free, to which the supermarket responded that they are taking one step at a time and trying their best, but it’s not that easy. Many products come to the supermarkets pre-packaged and many companies are interested in wrapping their produce in plastic since it is the cheapest and the easiest option. “I feel it is now up to the shoppers to show the supermarket which they prefer. Because without a doubt if every one opts for the banana leaf packaging then they will stop stocking the items in plastic and this will also drive other great ideas forward.”

    Now, more than ever, people are starting to understand the terrible state our planet is in. If you want to learn more, you can check our post about positive initiatives that people from all around the world are taking in order to help our earth, as well as a list of genius zero-waste ideas you can implement in your daily life.

    source

  • Does Iran Revolutionary Guard Equal Terrorist Group

    Does Iran Revolutionary Guard Equal Terrorist Group

    What makes an army a good one or a bad one?  What makes a religious group religious?  Can they be both?

    The Trump Administration declared Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “foreign terrorist organization” on Monday.  The unprecedented move is the first time the United States has labeled another country’s military a terrorist group.  “This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft,” President Trump said in a statement.  The IRGC was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.  According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Iran’s military numbers 125,000, is in charge of the nation’s missile and nuclear programs and controls a large slice of Iran’s economy.

    The Trump administration hopes the declaration will diminish the IRGC’s financial resources and presence in the Middle East.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the designation comes with sanctions against the Islamic state, including a freeze on assets the IRGC may have in US jurisdictions and a ban on Americans doing business with the Guard.  The WSJ also reported that national security advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed for the move.  In February, Pompeo attended a US-led security conference in Poland that focused on deterring Iran’s influence in the region.  “You can’t achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran,” Pompeo said during the conference. “It’s just not possible (with) their malign influence in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Syria and Iraq.”

    Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said he supports the move in a statement.  “A formal designation and its consequences may be new, but these IRGC butchers have been terrorists for a long time,” Sasse said.  Iranian leaders threatened to blacklist the United States as a terror entity if the US follows through on Monday’s designation.  “If the Revolutionary Guards are placed on America’s list of terrorist groups, we will put that country’s military on the terror blacklist next to Daesh (Islamic State),” Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, Iran’s head of parliament’s national security committee, said on Twitter.

    The WSJ report said that senior Pentagon officials were uneasy about the move, fearing it could endanger US troops in the region.  The UC Central Command, which oversees US forces in the Middle East is reportedly planning to alert US troops in the upcoming days, just in case Iran or Shiite militias try to retaliate.  Reuters reports that Central Intelligence Agency and military officials are concerned the designation will open the US up to similar actions by hostile governments abroad.  It is unclear what impact the declaration will have on America’s activities in countries that have close ties with Iran.