As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
Making Sure Witness Video Stands Up In Court
The killing of Walter Scott by a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, has fanned debate over excessive force by law enforcement, and has driven home how a witness’ recording of a crime can be used as a tool for justice.
PBS NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan on Friday examined how the proliferation of camera phones and social media have given new power to documenting wrongdoing. But challenges remain in making sure that video can be used as evidence in court.
The network reported on the nonprofit advocacy group Witness, which is using its “Video As Evidence” program to bolster the credibility of witness videos, and sharing tactics with citizens and justice groups. Witness’ training includes how to take better video and manage video files so that they will be admissible in court as evidence.
“Cameras in everyone hands means that there will be more transparency and more accountability,” Witness’ Kelly Atheson said.
The non-profit Witness was founded by musician and humanitarian activist Peter Gabriel and partners with other groups concerned with human rights violations.
Watch the PBS video above.
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In Memoriam: Google Glass
“The HuffPost Show” is an irreverent look at stories that are making news and being shared this week. On the other hand, our In Memoriam segment takes a tongue-in-cheek look back at a big story that’s cultural relevance has passed its expiration date. This week, we remember Google Glass.
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The Woman Behind MyFitnessPal Says If You Don't See A Female Role Model, Maybe It Should Be You
The wildly popular health app MyFitnessPal recently sold for $475 million to sports megabrand Under Armour.
Until about a year ago, it didn’t even have a marketing team.
But it didn’t take content guru Tara-Nicholle Nelson long to put her stamp on the already booming company. When Nelson first took on MyFitnessPal as a client at her consulting firm, the start-up already had 45 million users. In addition to its 85 million users, MyFitnessPal is one of the top health apps in over 72 countries around the world.
Nelson was eventually wooed to join as head of marketing, and her life experience seems almost predestined to have landed her in this role. She is a lawyer, published author and licensed real estate broker, and has a master’s degree in psychology. While working in real estate, she wrote a book called The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook, and it launched her into a career with HGTV.
At the age of 39, she has already had multiple successful careers by anyone’s standards. But even before all of that, she was a mother.
When Nelson got pregnant at age 16, her high school principal in Bakersfield, California, stepped in and called colleges on her behalf. Nelson had started school young and was already taking night classes at a junior college for fun (and so she wasn’t “bored,” as Nelson put it). Because of this, she was able to get into California State University, Bakersfield way ahead of schedule.
“I am the only person I know with as many degrees as I have who never took the SAT,” she laughed.
“I feel like my life story really is one of reinvention. Serial reinvention. When I decide that I want to do something or that something is not working, I’ll think about who I really believe I can be. I will start to change my belief system and behavior and even who I spend my time with.”
Nelson came from a hard-working family. Her 85-year-old grandmother and all of her grandmother’s sisters have college degrees. She describes her father as smart and very achievement-oriented.
“I think he probably drove me too hard as a very young child,” she said. “I went to this great private school and I was the valedictorian of my kindergarten class. That shouldn’t even be a thing. But it was. I was 4 years old and was really proud of it!”
Whatever normal childhood anxieties she may have had, Nelson said, she knew she was smart and knew she was good at school. “These things were a core part of my identity as a kid.”
As a freshman at Cal State Bakersfield, she was paired with a mentor who was a professor of psychology and had had multiple kids very early in life. “My first exposure to university was this woman who told me on day one that I had to start thinking about graduate school,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s drive, mixed with immense support from teachers and mentors, pushed her to take on graduate school, an internship at the FBI Academy and eventually law school — all while raising two kids with special needs.
She had one child with her first husband, and raised her stepchild for about nine years after getting divorced. Her older child has Asperger’s Syndrome, and the younger has glaucoma and learning differences.
“Now I look back on it and think, I’m so glad that I was that young when I was faced with all of those things,” Nelson said. Because she was awarded a scholarship for her undergraduate study, she was able to work part time while being in school. A big factor in choosing the University of California, Berkeley for law school was its fantastic childcare program and support for student families.
But raising kids while she was in school for multiple degrees was never something that Nelson saw as an obstacle. Thinking back to her grandmother, who was one of four black female students growing up in Texarkana, Texas, and still got her college degree, Nelson says being pregnant as a teen wasn’t a stumbling block.
“When you look at that kind of a history and people surviving and thriving with great obstacles, having a kid at 16 years old just didn’t seem like it should stop anything,” she said.
Nelson in front of the first home she ever bought.
Her personal mantra is three words: “Dwell in possibility.”
This Emily Dickinson quote is something that she said has guided her through every chapter of life. “That’s my theme song. I have had a number of people in my life at various important times that I call my ‘pivot people.’ My mentor in college was one.”
She tells the story of finishing her master’s degree in psychology and casually applying to a tiny law school called the Bakersfield School of Law, which no longer even exists.
When the school registrar received her test scores, she personally called Nelson and said she shouldn’t go to school there. “You can get into any school in the country. You have to go apply wherever you want to go,” Nelson said the stranger told her. Because of that, she got into the law programs at Stanford, UCLA and Berkeley — some of the best in the entire country.
“I have had a number of pivot people who have given me some variant on that Dickinson quote. Basically telling me this way bigger thing is possible and to go look at that.”
Her real estate book put her in the spotlight right around the time the market crashed in 2007, and as she went on press tours she began to learn about branding and marketing. Before long, Nelson was hired for a role specifically built for her at the popular real estate website Trulia in San Francisco.
She stopped selling real estate and joined the company full time in-house. After that, she moved over to the agency that did PR for Trulia (taking them with her as her client) and was so good at that, she decided to build her own marketing and consulting firm called Rethink.
MyFitnessPal became a client of Nelson’s at the firm — but her connection to fitness and health reinvention was not strictly business. In the summer between grad school and law school, Nelson lost over 60 pounds, inspired by a three-minute Tony Robbins speech about the power of identity.
“Every decision I made after that was filtered through that lens of what would a fit person do?” Nelson said.
“Sometimes the answer is yes, a fit person will eat truffle fries as part of staying balanced and not feeling deprived. I changed everything. I changed what I read in my spare time. I changed whom I hung out with.”
During law school, she worked as a personal trainer.
Her background in psychology, her marketing experience and even her personal history with weight loss all primed Nelson for MyFitnessPal. But she wasn’t overly eager to walk away from the business she had built.
Nelson was hired to map out exactly what MyFitnessPal’s marketing plan should look like — even down to hiring the roles for the company. All roles except the one at the top.
“CEO Mike Lee made the job offer over and over again,” she said. “Over time, I could hear how I was talking about the people in the company. They are very high quality human beings and are exceptionally empathic to users. I have worked with a lot of tech companies and it’s surprising how strong of a ‘helper gene’ people at MyFitnessPal have.”
Nelson says she accepted the job, expecting it to take four or five years to get to an acquisition. On almost exactly her one-year anniversary with MyFitnessPal, Under Armour acquired them for more money than they imagined.
Today her new title is VP, Marketing for Under Armour Connected Fitness, and she says it’s a little like being back at a start-up while they build a new organization under the Under Armour umbrella. The future entails a brand new holistic health, fitness and sports performance platform that will serve both Under Armour’s and MyFitnessPal’s massive audiences.
Nelson has taken risks at every turn of her career and shows no signs of stopping. This year she will celebrate her 40th birthday by attending and throwing parties and traveling around the globe — every other month for 18 months. She will do some of it alone and some of it with friends, and Mexico, Cuba and Croatia are already on the list.
Asked about her experience as a woman in tech, she said, “I leaned in because, frankly, I love to work and love to create impact in the world — and because I had a mortgage to pay and children to support. More women have this kind of an issue than women who don’t.”
She has her Dickinson quote and her pivot people, but she also is adamant about believing in yourself. “I think it’s great to have women modeling leadership roles for other women. But if you don’t see that, it doesn’t mean it’s not doable for you. Maybe that means you’re supposed to be that role model.”
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Weekend Roundup: As Mideast War Levels Ancient Cities, Asia Invests in the Future
While the Middle East is consumed by an orgy of destruction that has devastated ancient cities like Aleppo and Tikrit, Asia, led by China, is building out the infrastructure of the future. While past wounds drive the tribal and religious rivalries in the Middle East, in Asia the contest — and the cooperation — is about shaping the future.
The most recent scuffle in the contest over the future has been the slew of American allies — Great Britain, Italy, France, Australia and others — who have defied U.S. admonitions not to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which it sees as a rival to the World Bank and IMF system. In the “cooperation” column, Zbigniew Brzezinski observes in a WorldPost interview that China signed on as a guarantor of the Lausanne agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. This, along with the fact it has also joined with the U.S. to curb North Korean nuclear proliferation and fight climate change, shows China is stepping up to the plate as a responsible global power.
Former MI6 agent Alastair Crooke writes from Beirut that the U.S. has been “immobilized” in the Sunni-Shia proxy wars and must settle for “an equilibrium of antagonisms.”
Writing from Berlin, Joschka Fischer ponders whether the U.S. Persian pivot means a shift away from the Saudis as a partner. Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass lays out five reasons “not to assume” the Iran accord will succeed. European statesman Carl Bildt explains why Europe fully supports Obama’s leadership on Iran. World editors Eline Gordts and Charlotte Alfred survey Israeli experts on the Iran deal and report on the comments of a former Mossad chief in Israel who embraces the Iran agreement. WorldPost Middle East Correspondent Sophia Jones and Charlotte Alfred describe how there is no way out for many trapped in the Yemen conflict.
Reflecting on the success of the new Asian investment bank in attracting global partners, Wang Wenfeng writes from Beijing that China is reshaping the global order by default because the U.S. Congress has refused to support reform at the World Bank and IMF. Writing from Hong Kong, Rebecca Liao says China’s continuing ability to adapt and reform confounds Western critics. WorldPost China Correspondent Matt Sheehan visits Shanghai’s marriage market. He also profiles China’s “poison-tongued” transgender talk show host. Writing about an experience from the Red Flag Logging Commune in northeastern China, Michael Meyer tells the improbable tale of a lumberjack who says he slept with an alien.
Daniel Tudor writes that we need to update our view of North Korea to one in which the day when “people follow every rule imposed by the state is well and truly over.” Christine Ahn will test that proposition, as she writes, when a group of women activists, including Gloria Steinem, march to the Demilitarized Zone in May to promote North and South reconciliation.
In this week’s “Forgotten Fact” series, we remember Ebola, which though no longer dominating news headlines, is not over yet.
On the eve of announcing her candidacy for the U.S. presidency, Hillary Clinton reflects on what drives her to seek power. Steven Cohen of Columbia’s Earth Institute says the current drought must wake up Californians to the limits of their dream with more intelligent management of resources. X Prize founder Peter Diamandis, meanwhile, projects that three to five billion new consumers will rise by 2020, mainly from China, India and Africa. “Our Final Invention” author James Barrat explains why Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates fear artificial intelligence. Harvard’s Michael Porter presents the findings of the 2015 Social Progress Index, which he says is the best metric of national performance.
Buddhist master Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse says that the dominance of Islam and Hinduism in India has led the country to neglect its Buddhist heritage.
In our Singularity University series this week, S. Vollie Osborn hails the end of meaningless work. And Fusion reports that Ancestry.com has become a “medical research juggernaut” as people search for their genetic history.
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(VIDEO) GroupM's Norman: Facebook Lags Twitter For Video Advertisers
AUSTIN – Facebook wants to make a big splash in the world of video advertising. But failings in its offering mean it still has a way to go, according to a leading ad agency boss.
“The advertiser is competing with the regular newsfeed and the rest of the user-generated newsfeed. It remains a challenging environment,” GroupM chief digital officer Rob Norman tells Beet.TV in this video interview.
Norman also criticizes how Facebook charges advertisers for video: “The idea that, the moment a video enters the feed, the charging event takes place (when) people scroll using movie devices… I do not believe advertisers will find entirely acceptable.”
He reckons Facebook’s rival has a better offering right now: “Twitter’s six-second .gif preview for video is very effective and very interesting. Twitter’s video product for advertisers is attractive, both from an impact point of view and a pricing initiation point of view.”
One study out this week reckons more advertisers will pick Facebook than YouTube this year, but Norman thinks: “This race has a long way to go.”
Norman was interviewed by Beet.TV at the 4As’ (American Association of Advertising Agencies) Transformation 2015 event in Austin, Texas. Our coverage is sponsored by Videology. Please find more coverage from the conference here.
You can find this post on Beet.TV.
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I Just Want To Wear Sweat Suits to Work — Is That Too Much To Ask?
I have long been a proponent of function over fashion. Maybe it’s my total aversion to physical discomfort, but I just could never get behind spending the limited time I have on this earth with sore feet, or pants that make it hard to sit down, no matter how good they look. In fact, I would literally spend my life in a series of rotating sweat suits if only it were socially acceptable.
And I’m not saying that I roam the streets and workplace in my desired uniform (a.k.a. sweats and/or flannel pajamas). I’m a savvy enough person to know that my preferred choice of clothing would do more harm than good for me professionally (if not outright get me fired). So at the office or on any official business I stay within the expected and even “fashionable” arena. But I also know that the second I get home I’ll be changing into clothes I actually want to be wearing, and I know this is generally true of most everyone else I know.
So why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we, as thinking, rational creatures create a code of conduct that actively doesn’t feel good? Many people will argue that formal business attire increases worker productivity. But the actual consensus on this is hazy at best, and there has never actually been a single scientific study that supports it (and just ask the infamously casual yet immensely productive tech culture of Silicon Valley for some anecdotal evidence to the contrary).
I’ve also heard people say it’s a matter of self-respect. That the way you present yourself to the world is a reflection of how you believe others should treat you; that taking pride in your appearance is a way of showing pride in yourself. And to this I can only muster a half-hearted “meh.” I often feel just the opposite. I generally don’t care what others think of my style choices or appearance because I have self-respect and pride from within. I’m confident in what I have to offer when it comes to my mind and my ability to articulate my thoughts. Shouldn’t that be the better measure of self-love?
And others have just said, “Hey — at the end of the day, we’re animals, and we want to look attractive. It’s the most natural thing in the world.” My first response to this is simply, wait — isn’t the workplace one of the spaces we definitely shouldn’t be worrying about how attractive we are? And furthermore, I’m sitting here in front of an electric box that connects me with millions of other living souls, getting ready to file my taxes, and thinking about how I need to remember to pick up Drano for my shower. I think it’s safe to say we as humans have moved far passed the “we’re all just animals” stage of existence. I don’t buy that we’re all just slaves to our instincts or don’t have it in us to overcome “animalistic” tendencies.
So why do we do it? Why do we — myself included — consent to put ourselves through daily discomfort when we could literally all be working in a mecca of velour suits with elastic waistbands and cozy slippers? I genuinely don’t know but am curious what others think. And in the meantime, I’ll be the one at my desk waiting for the workplace revolution to come, Snuggie at the ready.
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Oscar Isaac Somehow Finds A Way To Link Disco, 'Star Wars' And Robots
Oscar Isaac is a name that’s become more familiar over the past several years. You likely first noticed the actor in 2010’s “Sucker Punch” or as Carey Mulligan’s boyfriend in “Drive.” Since then, Isaac has earned a Golden Globe nomination for “Inside Llewyn Davis,” received high praise for his performance alongside Jessica Chastain in “A Most Violent Year” and is appearing in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
While the actor has said little about his “Star Wars” character, X-wing pilot Poe Dameron, The Huffington Post still asked him about the franchise while he was in New York promoting his latest film, “Ex Machina.” As a fan of the space opera series, what classic “Star Wars” scene would Isaac want to be in? The cantina scene from “Episode IV.” “I could be one of the musicians in the background,” Isaac said as he imitated playing a set of bongos.
The actor’s musical abilities are far from news, though. Isaac showcased his singing and guitar skills when portraying fictional folk singer Llewyn Davis in the Coen Brothers’ 2013 film. Now, Isaac is unveiling another talent in Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina” during a scene that is at once unnerving and wildly fun: disco dancing.
In the film, Isaac’s Nathan, a reclusive tech genius, has built an artificially intelligent robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander). He invites one of his company’s coding employees, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson), to his home to conduct a Turing Test on Ava, which in layman’s terms is to determine whether or not Ava can fully think like a human. During his week-long visit, Caleb gets into drunken philosophical discussions with Nathan about consciousness (the most fascinating part of the script for Isaac), grows close with Ava, and gets swept into watching Nathan and his female companion break out into a full-on choreographed dance (watch it here) to Oliver Cheatham’s “Get Down Saturday Night.”
“That was just Alex [Garland] being smart as far as keeping everybody off balance,” Isaac said of the disco non-sequitur. “That was a moment, from a rhythm standpoint, that you needed to get a complete 180. But completely logical if you think about this guy who’s been [in his home] for years without any human beings and makes these robots and fucks these robots. What else is he gonna do with them? Dance with them!”
Image via Tumblr
That’s exactly what Isaac does, or as Nathan puts it in the film, “I’m going to tear up the fucking dance floor dude, check it out.” The choreography only lasts for less than a minute in “Ex Machina,” but Isaac told us that the dance was originally twice as long. It did take him a couple weeks to learn, though. “Not a natural disco dancer,” Isaac said with a laugh. Maybe we’ll see Isaac’s pilot teach the Mos Eisley band some dance moves in “Episode VII,” if we’re lucky.
“Ex Machina” is now playing in select theaters.
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9 Cell Phone Rules to Share with Your Sitter
When you introduce a new babysitter to your childcare repertoire or welcome back your family’s favorite sitter who is home for summer break, grab the opportunity to refresh and share your house rules, including your policies regarding your sitter’s use of cell phones and tablets while with your kids. Sharing ground rules with your sitter isn’t always the most comfortable conversation to have, but it’s key to defining and understanding each other’s expectations and ensuring the best possible care for your kids. Here are nine cell phone rules to add to the conversation:
1. Be selective about the time you spend on your phone. Time on the phone takes your sitter’s focus away from the kids. Suggest boundaries that work for you, whether it be only for use in an emergency or limited to your child’s nap or quiet time.
2. My children are adorable, but please keep your photos of them private. Determine your policy on your sitter taking photos or videos of your kids and set rules around sharing them on social media. Would you rather no photos be posted ever, or are you comfortable with the posting of appropriate photos without using names, tags or locations? Spell it out.
3. Here’s how to reach me. Decide if you want to be called or texted by the sitter with updates and photo. If so, how frequently? If you prefer to be contacted only in the case of an emergency, say so.
4. My children will undoubtedly try to hijack your phone. Decide if it’s OK if the sitter wants to play apps or watch videos with your child, then define which ones are appropriate by your family’s standards and if there is a limit to the amount of screen time. Encourage the sitter to add a passcode lock on her phone to stave off unknowing misuse.
5. Keep your phone charged and available. Suggest a spot where you sitter can charge his or her phone — maybe even provide a spare or portable charger — and ask that he or she remember to always carry the phone in the case of an emergency. Safety first.
6. Consider a Nanny Phone. If you have a part- or full-time nanny or sitter, consider purchasing a nanny phone that can’t be used for personal communications.
7. Let’s discuss what I’m comfortable with you sharing on social media. It’s likely your sitter uses social media — such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat — and may be unaware that posting photos of your kids may not be something you are comfortable with her sharing with the world. Have a candid discussion about what works for you.
8. Add emergency contact numbers to your phone contacts. Your sitter should have contact numbers and clear instructions for whom to call if you’re unreachable. Be sure to include all contact numbers for you, your spouse, your kids’ pediatrician, a trusty neighbor and other responsible family members or friends (also include your home address, kids’ birthdays and insurance information she may need for a 911 call.)
9. Remember, no cell phone use while driving! It seems obvious, but don’t assume your sitter knows safety rules that feel like second nature to you as a parent. This one is an important reminder to give anytime your sitter drives your kids.
Sharing these important cell phone rules with your sitter is part of providing the tools needs to succeed in providing the best care for your kids. If you feel that your babysitter or nanny is spending more time on the phone or engaging with social media while he or she should be watching your kids, be sure to voice your concerns and reinforce how important the rules are to you. Most sitters will be understanding of the importance of protecting your family and its privacy.
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Google Image Search Has A Gender Bias Problem
Not all doctors or CEOs are men. Not all nurses are women. But you might think otherwise if you searched for these professions in Google images.
It turns out that there’s a noticeable gender bias in the image search results for some jobs, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Maryland. This underrepresentation of women in image search results actually affects people’s ideas about professional gender ratios in the real world, the study found.
See for yourself…
This is what happened when I searched “nurse” in Google images:
This is what happened when I searched “doctor” in Google images:
This is what happened when I searched “CEO” in Google images:
That’s all white men in that last one, in case you couldn’t tell.
Though they’re in the minority, there are some chief executives who are women and who are not white.
Researchers looked at the top 100 image search results for 45 different jobs. They then compared the gender breakdown of those results to actual gender data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for each job.
It turns out that for some search terms, like “chief executive officer,” the gender imbalance on Google is a lot worse than it is in real life. The study found that only 11 percent of the people shown in an image search for “chief executive officer” were women, while BLS data indicates that 27 percent of CEOs are women. Similarly, a search for telemarketers showed 64 percent women, even though in reality it’s about a 50-50 gender split. Nearly 60 percent of bartenders are female, but in the image search results, only 23 percent were.
Not all jobs demonstrated such a gulf between search results and reality. But women were slightly underrepresented on average across all jobs the researchers looked at.
“I was actually surprised at how good the image search results were, just in terms of numbers,” said Matt Kay, a co-author of the study. “They might slightly underrepresent women and they might slightly exaggerate gender stereotypes, but it’s not going to be totally divorced from reality.”
And try searching a term like “female construction worker.” (According to BLS data, 2.9 percent of construction workers are women.)
“A number of the top hits depicting women as construction workers are models in skimpy little costumes with a hard hat posing suggestively on a jackhammer,” said Cynthia Matuszek, a co-author of the study. “You get things that nobody would take as professional.”
Google image search, like Google’s many other search tools, mines the Web for content based on algorithms that are designed to show you the results it thinks you’d most want to see. Google’s searches take into account a number of factors, like keywords, timeliness of the content, where you’re searching from and PageRank, which is Google’s way of analyzing how important a page on the Internet is. Google declined to comment about the study’s findings.
The sad thing is, the gender biases displayed in search actually do have an effect on how people perceive gender breakdowns in the real world, according to the study. After being shown skewed image results for a certain occupation, study participants did report a slight change in their perceptions of how male-dominated a field was.
Of course, none of this is exactly Google’s fault. Google is a reflection of what’s on the Internet. You can also see similar search results on Yahoo and Bing.
But the researchers suggested that search engine designers could actually use these study results to develop algorithms that would help work against gender stereotypes.
“Our hope is that this will become a question that designers of search engines might actually ask,” said Sean Munson, another co-author of the study. “They may come to a range of conclusions, but I would feel better if people are at least aware of the consequences and are making conscious choices around them.”
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Best Teen Tweets Of The Week! (4/10/15)
Every week, we round up the best 140-character quips and insights from our esteemed blogging team — and other equally awesome teen tweeters. Scroll down to read the latest batch and share your own suggestions by following @HuffPostTeen!
So cool to visit a school named after Kim and Kanye’s daughter pic.twitter.com/zhDpK6VY0Q
— eden friedman (@edenfriedmannn) April 9, 2015
The day snapchat tells you how many times you viewed the same story will be the end of the world for me.
— Julii ☯ (@julii0502) April 7, 2015
ON THIS EPISODE OF “WILL AUDRY MAKE IT TO SCHOOL ON TIME?!”
— Aud (@HOLLAITSAUDRY) April 10, 2015
Easter egg hunt but instead of chocolate you look for all the times you wronged the people you love and try to fix irreparable relationships
— Celeste Yim (@celesteyim) April 5, 2015
chemidying and chemiscrying cause I’m done CHEMISTRYING
— valen (@valen_arismendi) April 7, 2015
Happy spring break! I’m single
— Nathan (@luvyoulikexo) April 5, 2015
i’ve officially learned how to type on a computer without looking at the keyboard so pretty much im an adult now
— abbey (@abbeyradeka) April 6, 2015
“If you love something, let it go.” Does this mean I have to stop eating pizza???
— Julia Fast (@juliafast16) April 9, 2015
i’m dropping out of school to become a nail polish namer
— brit (@BrittaCole22) April 7, 2015
I’m on an Easter cleanse where I eat nothing but chocolate for three meals a day until I run out
— Sam Goodyear (@UnofficialSam) April 6, 2015
Whenever I walk into a room & forget what I was about 2 do, I feel like God is playing Sims & clicked cancel on the “go here” command
— Joey King (@JoeyKingActress) April 9, 2015
drakes deeper than the mariana trench tbh
— Justina Sharp (@bentpieceofwire) April 10, 2015
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: it is in fact okay to wear an outfit twice in a row if no one saw you in it the first time
— ya boy anthony (@LOHANTHONY) April 7, 2015
Mom: have some fruit with breakfast
Me: pic.twitter.com/pEvVvbx6WF
— KAMI BAKER (@Peeta_is_aBAKER) April 6, 2015
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Origami-Inspired Personal Shelter Provides A Quick Solution For Homeless
Tina Hovsepian didn’t just want to get an “A” on her class project — she wanted to change people’s lives, too.
The architect is the inventor of Cardborigami — the collapsable, transportable and origami-inspired personal shelter she started inventing as a University of Southern California student in 2007. What started as Hovsepian’s academic assignment has become a feasible way to alleviate homelessness in her hometown of Los Angeles.
(Photo: Tina Hovsepian)
Hovsepian — who is currently raising funds to expand her product onto the streets of L.A. — was honored at a Women in the World event on March 18 for the design, and was awarded the Toyota Driving Solutions grant of $50,000 to further her work helping the homeless.
As she explained at the event, Hovsepian was moved to advocate for those in need after studying abroad in Cambodia, where her program helped redesign an impoverished school.
“It was… the first time witnessing firsthand third world poverty, and it got me really thinking about how privileged I am to be able to live in America, in Los Angeles, have an education, have supportive… people around me,” she said in a video produced by Women In The World, noting homelessness on Skid Row “is worse than [in] any third world country,” because the U.S. has the resources to do something about it.
Hovsepian at a Women in the World event on March 18. (Photo: Tina Hovsepian)
Hovsepian is the founder and executive director of Cardborigami, the nonprofit, which is aiming to use the product as a way to secure permanent, long-term housing for those who need it.
The organization developed a four-step path out of homelessness, according to Hovsepian. First and foremost, Cardborigami will prioritize providing immediate shelter — such as its product — to those who need it. Secondly, the nonprofit will work with partner organizations that can provide social services to clients.
Securing permanent housing and then sustaining that housing through job placement are the third and final steps in the group’s model.
Hovsepian is trying to better a homelessness crisis in her hometown: Los Angeles County had 58,423 homeless individuals in 2013, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) — about a 16 percent hike from 2011.
Cardborigami — which is similar to other personal shelter inventions that could help the unsheltered homeless — may be one small step in the right direction. Hovsepian said she’s aiming to reduce the price of creating her product from $30 to $20 to be able to help more people with less funding.
“When you speak to people on the streets like I have done, you just learn that everyone has their own story,” Hovsepian said. “I want to be that voice to share that — maybe we can all have a new perspective towards homelessness, and utilize design to attract more resources towards the cause.”
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These Apps Are Helping People Document Police Abuse
It’s hard to imagine a more clear example of the power of recording on-duty police officers than the video that led to the arrest and charging of North Charleston, South Carolina, police Officer Michael Slager on Tuesday.
Were it not for the footage shot by witness Feidin Santana, the sole account of the officer’s fatal confrontation with 50-year-old Walter Scott would have come from the local police department, which offered a version of events that was not corroborated by the video Santana filmed.
Because some police officers will order people to turn off their cameras or will attempt to confiscate or destroy phones, it bears repeating: It is, in fact, perfectly legal to film police officers in the U.S. while they are on the job, in a public place, so long as you do not physically interfere with their ability to do their jobs.
In an effort to protect that constitutional right, developers, in recent years, have been partnering with advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union to develop smartphone apps aimed at making it easier for members of the public to document allegations of police abuse — and to know their rights while doing so.
Below are some examples of such apps, including those in development and others that are already downloadable:
Cop Watch
Created by the Network for the Elimination of Police Violence in Toronto, the free Cop Watch app — compatible with iOS platforms — has a setting that allows for video to be recorded as soon as the app is opened. The footage is then automatically uploaded to YouTube. The app also has a guide outlining the public’s rights when it comes to filming police. An Android app is “coming soon,” according to the NEPV website.
Five-O
Five-O, a free Android app created by three high school students from Decatur, Georgia, allows its users to rate and review their positive or negative interactions with police officers. Those ratings and incident comments are then aggregated and become searchable. Five-O also includes a “know your rights” section, as well as community boards that allow users to communicate and plan responses to any local trouble.
I’m Getting Arrested
With just one click, the I’m Getting Arrested free Android app allows users to send a custom text message to contacts they have pre-programmed into their phones — friends, family and even legal help — in the event they are arrested. Available in 14 languages, the app was developed in 2011 and was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests. The Panic Button app, available on both iOS and Android platforms, could serve a similar purpose.
Stop and Frisk Watch
The free Stop and Frisk Watch app was created by the New York Civil Liberties Union and is available on both Android (in English and Spanish) and iOS platforms (in English). The app allows users to film interactions with police by pressing a trigger on their phone’s home screen. When filming is complete, users can complete a survey submitted to the NYCLU about the incident. Users can also be alerted to when a user in their vicinity is stopped by police and can use the app to report a police interaction they saw or experienced. The Mobile Justice App from the ACLU’s Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska and Oregon chapters function similarly, though all of these are only available on Android currently.
SWAT
The SWAT (“Safety With Accountability & Transparency”) app-in-development will allow for live video of a police interaction to be streamed to a secure server. The app will also make it easy for a person to submit an official complaint to the police department with accompanying photos, his current location and time and date stamps. Data from the app will also be aggregated into a database to offer a real-time view of police violence in America for policymakers, academics and others. To stay updated on when the app is released, sign up on SWAT’s website. A similar app, called the International Evidence Locker, is also in the works.
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Circular Economy
By Woodrow W. Clark II, MA3, PhD (1) and Danilo Bonato, MBA (2)
There are currently many pressing climate, environmental and economic issues facing Europe and the rest of the world now that will impact our children and grandchildren. That is why the European Commission launched a new, comprehensive research and innovation program in 2013 named Horizon 2020 that will build a more solutions-oriented approach to climate change.
As a matter of fact, it is of particular importance to not only develop a program that is convincing from a research perspective, but also one that is relevant in terms of the goals of the European Union, including prosperity, quality of life, sustainability, growth and jobs. These are the main reasons why another version of this blog post has already been published in Italy. Now it is time to bring this topic and ideas to the U.S.A and other English speaking nations. Then also to other nations around the world. Stay tuned in the EU, Western Hemisphere, Asia and Africa as well as Island Nations as we will be blogging there too with this article soon.
One of the key objectives of Horizon 2020 is to position Europe as a frontrunner in the development of a “circular” and “green” economy that focus on sustainability. At this point in history, the EU needs to enhance its international competitiveness through resource productivity and improving its position for low-impact, resource efficient technology, products and services, in order to achieve its sustainable development goals. This is a dramatic change from the conventional neo-classical economics of Adam Smith (Qualitative Economics, 2008) and needs focus on more than the “market.”
The EU (world) is facing a series of systemic crises ranging from economic, environmental, natural resources, social, etc to population growth, conflicts and wars. Eco-innovative solutions are required to tackle almost all of these systemic challenges in order to transform the economies and to make the way of life of European citizens more sustainable. The Green Industrial Revolution book published in 2014
This dramatic green revolution has started in the EU and is now in China and other areas of Asia.
A sound, systemic economic model for eco-innovation within a broader perspective, is needed that considers all innovative solutions which are sustainable from a triple economic, social and environmental point of view or paradigm change called the “Next Economics.” The Circular Economy is the best approach that makes the most sense and is now a policy for the entire EU due to Belgium’s Presidency of the council of the European Union, Flemish Environment Minister Joke Schauvliege became President of the EU’s Environment Council, since appointed in July 2014.
Circular economics was created through a collaboration between American design architect, William McDonough, who was at the Cradle to Cradle (C2C), and German chemist Michael Braungart when they teamed up also with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in the USA.
One of the key priorities for Europe in the circular economy context. For example, Remedia is active is related to the sustainable supply of non-energy and non-agricultural raw materials. Started in 2005, Remedia has a long-term vision to tap the full potential of secondary raw materials and to boost the innovation capacity of the EU secondary raw materials sector. This dynamic of the circular economy then turns into a strong sustainable pillar of the EU circular and green economy. Industries (and governments) must be active in addressing societal environmental challenges, which increase benefits for every person and community.
This can only be done by gaining relevant knowledge about secondary raw materials in Europe. It also requires that stakeholders, including relevant authorities, ra