#and i work electronics at a big box retailer in the united states | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

travisfbxw182 · 3 years

Text

Programmers

Content

Augmented Reality Application.

Why Should You Make Use Of Devteam Area To Employ Freelance Application Developers?

Company News, Suggestions & Reviews.

Peerbits Declared As One Of The Top Iphone Application Programmers In U.s.a. By Topdevelopers Co!

Individual Experience Style.

You'll continuously carry out research and get client responses throughout the process. You can invest months or possibly years refining the application as well as investing hundreds of countless dollars to create it. The system is super clean and actually simple to make use of, especially for novices. Follow my overview, and also I'll show you the most budget-friendly means to create your very own application if you don't have the funds to pay someone else to do it.

Competence in and experience with numerous significant shows languages such as HTML, C++, Java, Python, etc . If the candidate reveals a full understanding of your long and temporary goals, they're suitable for your task. After that there are platforms such as Gun.io and also X-Team, who do choose and also vet their profiles. yet are extra for companies with bigger budgets and also little working with knowledge. And also, you can't actually interview people from these 2 websites yourself, so you need to trust their management when it pertains to choosing the appropriate candidates.

By clicking Accept Cookies, you accept our use cookies as well as various other monitoring technologies according to our Cookie Policy. Permits DOM breakpoints and also supplies the capacity to profile your JavaScript code execution time. jQuery mobile calls for jQuery and jQuery UI for DOM control, whereas Sencha Touch has no exterior dependencies. jQuery Mobile supplies lots of 3rd party extensions and is inherently made to be extremely extensible, whereas Sencha Touch is currently a lot more of a "shut" structure. Remember to utilize the appropriate filters to preclude SQL query injection that could otherwise jeopardize the safety of your site as well as web server. 60% of mobile internet individuals say they anticipate a website to fill on their smart phone in 3 seconds or less. Remember to confirm ahead of time that the performance you're searching for is sustained throughout the tool landscape that your customers are most likely to be using.

Increased Reality Application.

You can get even more ideas and also support on just how to hire a mobile app designer in this article. Principally at Apple, I have actually worked on native iphone and also macOS applications for the past 6 years in a specialist capability. I am likewise highly skillful in full pile development, and also can lead a job from perception to QA to manufacturing. Check out my profile at lindytech.io I am an iOS programmer with a concentrate on service.

Mobile applications ought to utilize the complete variety of smartphone functions, which is much easier claimed than done. A terrific useful short article about mobile application growth firm in the UNITED STATES. This would certainly be excellent for brand-new company owner that are thinking of creating apps for their organization. Considering that 2010, Core Lab has been making, creating as well as supplying mobile and also internet applications that increase business capability, produces good brand name, and beats competitions from the business rivals.

youtube

Why Should You Utilize Devteam Room To Work With Freelance App Designers?

I have actually gotten on both sides of the table and also recognize precisely what customers want and also require. Not just do I offer top quality development yet also conscientious service that is transparent, concentrated and also diligent. I have actually released manufacturing grade apps which have been utilized by over 100,000 people world vast. From concept to growth yashna infotech - androiddevelopers.co to manufacturing as well as beyond, my years of experience are at your service. I am punctual, trusted and also prepared to assist you reconcile your concept. App home builders are best for existing entrepreneur who intend to utilize a mobile application to enhance their firm. A company has a wonderful suggestion for a product, or in your instance, a mobile application.

If you recognize the premier mobile application designers in the USA besides over 25, please reference in the remark box. The firm obtained associated with the customer at each action of the mobile app development process to provide top-notch and also feature-rich outcomes. The former customers are Century Fox, PepsiCo, ABInBev, Synchrony Financial, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Alliant Cooperative Credit Union, National Geographic, and Regal Cinemas. So, to make you devoid of studying, we have actually done a thorough research on the most effective mobile applications on developers in the U.S.A. as well as detailed out all in this article.

Agicent offers top quality mobile app advancement services to start-ups, entrepreneurs, and also growing companies throughout the world. We assign you a committed designer for your task, regardless of just how little or big job it is to make sure that you have full control and also never have communication gap. We have been the preferred selection as a modern technology seeking advice from partner for software application advancement for SMBs and also Startups. Being an AWS Qualified, Microsoft Partner, ISO Licensed, INTUZ works long-term with clients seeking Web, Mobile, IoT, Blockchain and also Cloud application growth experts.

Business News, Suggestions & Endorsements.

SemiDot InfoTech is an excellent mobile application advancement and also internet site layout company satisfying start-ups, SMB's and business. We are a coolest and also experienced group that does extremely well to fulfill your software program requires through newest innovative IT Technologies. Going for quality, we supply what your clients imagine as well as past that. If you are reading this, it can be safely presumed that you are wanting to have a mobile application for your business or have a company built upon it.

The firm works with a key objective to please the customers with a high quality project job under customer friendly environment. Working with VC-Funded Startups as well as Enterprises consisting of Google, Citi, as well as Red Bull, we offer expertise in iOS, Android, and also online mobile applications. As a worldwide venture with offices throughout in the UNITED STATE, South America & India, Raindrops InfoTech has the knowledge, site growth bench, as well as mobile app services to range to fulfill virtually any kind of service need. FATbit Technologies is a web services company with a worldwide client base, giving digital business and turnkey marketplace options.

Peerbits Proclaimed As One Of The Leading Iphone Application Developers In United States By Topdevelopers Co!

youtube

Because its facility in 2009, offering solutions to small as well as big entrepreneurs in web advancement, digital marketing, and SEO. MobileCoderz has actually developed itself as a first choice of small as well as tool size Company in the wheelchair space within a short period of time. We have a young & skilled team of mobile strategists, UX/UI designers and also Application Programmers. We have client base that spreads out across arising startups to little & medium dimension Company around the world. MobileCoderz has actually assisted in the advancement of World Class mobile apps for 50+ clients, working together with its group of 30+ geeks.

Furthermore, they have a system for picking the ideal expert android, Swift, and other types of developers whom they associate with via their platform.

Mobile application development services hold an enormous chunk in the economic situation, approximated to be valued over $6 billion by 2023.

Each has its own benefits, but mobile web applications will frequently represent your most reliable development (and therefore time-to-market) choice.

The firm will certainly provide you a possibility to do your tasks right into truth in the most sensible cost.

A number of versions are constructed from the exact same fundamental application that can be read by different sorts of tools, such as cell phones, tablet computers as well as personal computers.

Launch new adverts and engage with your customers - an all-in-one platform that advertises your brand and also builds interaction.

The group of 30+ developers produces products for a selection of markets, including financial as well as organization solutions, consumers, education, health, and retail. Established in 2005, Invemo is a tech firm headquartered in Santa Monica with an additional area in IST, Turkey. Their team of 4 supply mobile application development, UX/UI style, IT technique, and app innovation solutions to clients. Sileria is a mobile application, IoT, as well as AR/VR advancement business in Los Angeles that introduced in 1994 as well as rebranded in 2001. The seasoned 10+ group prides itself on supplying improved electronic products that permit companies to outperform their competition. They have workplaces in Ukraine, the UNITED STATE, Norway as well as a group of over 100 experts. They are concentrated on indigenous mobile advancement, web growth, IT technique, website design, arising innovations, and also cross-platform services.

Customer Experience Design.

The third selection for becoming a mobile app designer entails a combination of our last 2 options. For those of you who want to construct apps for various other services, app structure tools such as this provide you the choice to deal with numerous design templates all on the very same system. If you want to become a mobile application designer, finding out to code is your very first option. Or you can simply stick to familiarizing yourself with the very best devices for mobile application designers. SoftwareWorld is a software program evaluation system that showcases leading software remedies ideal for various markets, offering an extensive review service by contrasting the most effective software remedies available on the marketplace. The system creates honest checklists of the top software program remedies by classification, aiding companies find the right service for them.

2 notes · View notes

peterchristensen89-blog · 5 years

Text

A Perfect Fit - Chapter 1

Peter Parker is a high-school graduate, on his way to Empire State University. As a potential Stark Internship candidate, Peter dreams of the day working under his idol, Tony Stark. Unfortunately, life remains as cruel as ever.

An attack by a supernatural gang, The Demons, leaves the streets of Queens laced with a new bio-plague. With thousands dead at the hands of "The Devil's Breath", only Peter Parker stands alive in the wake of the attack, saved by his Aunt May. Transformed by Devil's Breath, Peter learns from Tony Stark that he's far from human anymore. A Super-Soldier with the power of the Hulk, the control of Captain America, and the stealth of Black Widow. And, oddly enough, he can stick to surfaces like a spider.

As the only living human with an immunity to the plague, Peter is the last hope of the Avengers. The only weapon they have against The Demons and their cruel leader, Mister Negative. With his newfound powers and training from Iron Man himself, Peter races against the clock with the help of the Avengers to stop The Demons. To stop Mister Negative's crusade of revenge, and save the life of his last living relative.

By any means necessary.

Read on A03 or Below the Read More

“May, I’m home!”

Peter stumbled inside the Parker apartment, both arms donning plastic bags. He kicked off his sneakers, popping out his earbuds, and made his way through the modest apartment. Pausing in front of his Aunt’s bedroom, he heard the sound of a shower running. That, and the sound of her off-tempo singing with the radio. Peter rolled his eyes, laughing.

Stepping into his room, Peter felt the summer breeze blowing through the open window. The bustling street of Queens, New York echoed from down below. He tripped over his box of high school memorabilia, knocking out a wrinkled cap and gown.

Peter sat at his computer desk and stared inside of a bright pink terrarium. A fuzzy tarantula scurried in her home at the sight of her owner.

“Karen, you are not going to believe my haul today.” Peter collected his pet and sat her on the top of his hand. With his other hand, he produced a red and gold metallic action-figurine from a thrift store bag. “Look at it! A limited edition 2016 Iron Man Mk 2 Comic-Con exclusive metal-plated model! 80% off! Know why?”

Karen scurried up Peter’s arm, coming to rest on the top of his shoulder, facing away from the figure.

“Oh, come on! At least pretend like you care! Ned’s gone off to MIT, and MJ’s off saving the rainforests! You’re the only one I can talk to!” Peter tugged at the figurine’s arm, which popped off with zero effort. “See that? A huge discount all because the figure’s arm falls off! As if someone couldn’t spend a few hours, a little ingenuity, and five bucks on fixing that! They act like because it’s broken, it’s not worth anything…”

Peter scoffed, staring around his room. Most of his electronics were jury-rigged or in varying states of repair. Like his figurine, most of Peter's possessions were a thrift-store price for retail value.

His eyes fell on a shelf of dozens of other Iron Man figures, each their own shape, size, and model. All, at one point, had been an imperfect copy, like the one in his hand.

“You’d think people would have a little more respect for the world’s greatest hero.” Peter sat the figure on his desk, beside a whole host of tools and parts. As he lifted his head, Peter’s eyes fell to a photograph beside his computer, beside a badge of gold and blue.

Peter picked up the frame, seeing himself as a child in the arms of an officer of the NYPD. Both were smiling. “Well… Second greatest hero…”

Scurrying across Peter, Karen came to rest beside the photograph. She crawled to the top of the frame and settled on Ben Parker’s head.

Sighing, Peter leaned backward in his chair and chuckled. “You’re going to have to give me a break on that one, Uncle Ben… I’ll always love you, but Tony Stark is my idol.” Peter looked past the picture and up at his ceiling. Every inch of it covered with posters of Iron Man, Stark Expos, The Avengers, and Tony Stark. “Mr. Stark is one of the smartest people on the planet! He's Iron Man, Uncle Ben, the coolest superhero of them all! He even turned Stark Industries into something that’s going to change the world! When everyone tried to ignore their climate change findings last month, Mr. Stark flipped off congress and told the President of the United States to suck a dick! He’s so cool, Ben! He’s the man that science and the world need right now, more than anybody!”

Peter put the frame next to the badge, sighing as he collected Karen from the photograph. “But, even then… You’ll always be my number one hero. Always.”

Closing his eyes, Peter’s shoulders fell. He sat in silence, letting out a tired sigh. “…anyway...“ Peter sat a fussy Karen back into her terrarium. Karen made herself home inside a hollowed out plastic tree.

Peter sighed, collecting the other sack, emblazoned with a crimson “ESU” graphic. “My less impressive, haul, Karen.” Peter shook his head, dumping out a pile of college textbooks. “All those AP classes and I still have to take a crap ton of useless classes, Karen! Fun tip, Karen, “Full-Ride” does not always mean “Full-Ride.” Do you know how much this semester, in books alone, is going to cost me? I’ve already burned through the entire Midtown Decathlon Scholarship!” He groaned, laying his head down atop the books, tracing his hand on the glass of Karen’s home. “To put it in a way that you would understand... Enough crickets to feed about a million of you every day for a lifetime.”

Karen poked out from her tree for a moment, her front legs buzzing at the mention of food.

Peter rolled his eyes, reaching for a second plastic container. He popped a few crickets inside the terrarium for Karen to hunt. “…I don’t even want to think about how much the materials are going to cost if I get into the Stark Internship. Do you think they pay for that, or does that come out of the check they pay you? No way it’s free, though. Nothing in life is free.”

“Wait…”

Peter gasped and rushed to his computer. He clicked through his bookmarks to the Stark Internship Application website. After logging in and slamming his mouse many times, Peter reached the "News" section of the site.

All dissertations are currently under review.

Due to the high volume of candidates for the 2019 selections, decisions for internships and research grants will deliver via certified mail in approximately 3 months.

Peter sunk back into his chair, groaning. He stood up, pacing back and forth in his room. “It’s been three and a half months since the cutoff, Karen! What are they waiting for?!” He stopped, staring outside the window, and to Stark Tower, far off in the distance. It glimmered in the summer sun, like a star in the night sky, so close, but still so far.

A chill overcame Peter, despite the warm sunlight all around him. “What if my dissertation didn’t even make it into the main pile they looked at? Do they even send rejection notices about those?” He folded his arms, head dropping. “What if I mailed to the wrong address? No, no… That’s impossible, I mailed it certified, and made May double checked the address.” Peter clutched his stomach, overcome with a nauseous pain. “What if that pissed someone off?” Peter’s pacing intensified. “What if I made the front desk guy at Stark Industries get up off his butt, and ruined his coffee break? What if he threw it in the trash?! What if they never saw it? Should I call? Should I make sure they even got it?” Peter groaned, slapping himself in the face. “It’s past the deadline! I should have checked BEFORE the cutoff! Now it’d be too late!”

Peter leaned against a wall, sliding down and crumpling into a heap, tucking his legs beneath his chin. “Or what if they hated it?” He turned, now tucked into a tight ball. “What if they took one look at my essay and laughed me into a burn pile?” He banged his head against the ground. “Was I stupid to talk about you and Ben in my essay? I mean… You and Ben are both a big part of my research. You guys inspired it, so I felt like you deserved mention… I thought it was personable. I thought… I should just be myself?”

As Karen munched on a cricket, Peter whined, now splayed on his back and covering his eyes. ”Why didn’t I listen to Ned? Nobody wants that!”

“Can’t you have a mental breakdown with your friends, like a normal kid?”

Peter screamed, spinning around as he spotted May in the doorway to his bedroom. Her long brown hair still damp from a shower. She smirked, hiding the faintest sign of wrinkles that had overtaken her face in recent years.

“Aunt May!” Peter gestured to Karen. “How rude can you be? This is a private conversation!”

May rolled her eyes, hands tucked behind her back as she let herself inside Peter’s room. “Oh please, you’re acting like this is the most embarrassing shit I’ve caught you talking with that thing? Like, oh… Senior year, about a month before Prom, talking to Karen about asking out that cute Junior? You know, the time you went on and on about how much you liked his butt when he wore tight jeans?”

“That never happened and you never heard any of that!” Peter’s face flushed, eyes planted on the floor.

“I know, I know-“ May chuckled, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulder and tucking him in close for a side-hug. She smirked, prodding Peter on the nose. “I happened to overhear your crisis about the Stark Internship. Which reminded me our mailman made me sign for a certified letter while you were out.” May presented Peter with a silver envelope, embellished with an embellished "S". “Stark Industries?”

Peter hitched his breath, standing still for far too long. He forgot to breathe as his body shook, gasping for air. He struggled to grasp onto the letter, requiring May’s help from dropping it. The sender was the Stark Internship Selection Committee.

“…it’s here. This… This is it.” Peter choked out, voice cracking mid-sentence.

“Yep,” May said, stepping backward, clapping her hands together, and waiting for Peter to act. “Well?”

Peter stared at the letter, noticing how thin it was. Roughly the same size as the junk mail they received daily. His arm dropped, the envelope dangling in his hand.

“Not going to open it?” May slid beside Peter, clasping a hand on his shoulder. She offered a sympathetic smile. “All these months of teenage angst for nothing?”

Peter turned away, hiding the red on his face. “I’m scared, May…. This is…” He bit his lip, hand clenching against the letter, crumpling the edges. “This is everything to me. If I failed, I-”

“Hey-“ May grabbed both of Peter’s shoulders, spun him back around, and brought her face within inches of his. She planted a soft kiss on his forehead. “No matter what’s in that envelope, you’re going to do great things, Peter Parker. You don’t need the approval of Tony Stark or anyone else in this world to tell you that.” Leaning back, May cocked an eyebrow. “This letter does not define your value as a person or your future. Do you understand me?”

Peter’s shoulders unglued themselves. He nodded at May, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Tearing open the envelope, Peter yanked out the letter, unfurling it. He felt the silky-smooth material of the paper, like ice on his hands.

With one final push and a slap to the back of the head from May, he opened his eyes and scanned the letter.

Dear Mr. Parker,

Out of an approximate 62,600 applicants for the 2019 Stark Industries Internship Program, we are pleased to announce that you have been selected for one of our 10 open positions.

Your dissertation ranking among the applicants was: 1

As a result of your ranking, we assign Dr. Anthony Stark as your mentor.

Your date of employment will begin on August 1st, 2019.

Stark Industries is also pleased to announce that you have been selected as a candidate for a potential Research Grant due to the content of your dissertation:

“Chemical Tensility for Law Enforcement Officers – Saving Lives with Non-Violent Webbing Deterrent & Spray-On Ballistic Weaving.”

Your presence is requested on July 1st, 2019 for a formal panel interview to defend your dissertation from their professional critique.

Please bring copies of your research notes and have a presentation prepared to share the theory of your study. You will present your theory to Stark Industries CEO Pepper Stark, Stark Industries CRO Dr. Anthony Stark, Stark Industries Head of Research and Development, Dr. Bruce Banner, as well as nine representatives of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.

Please call to confirm your appointment immediately with my secretary, the number is listed on the back of this letter.

We look forward to hearing from you and finally putting a face to the most exceptional submission Stark Industries has accepted in the last ten years.

As CEO, I am excited to see what the future holds for you, Mr. Parker.

Sincerely,

Pepper Stark, CEO, Stark Industries

“Well?!” May broke the silence, trembling in place as she clasped her hands together. “Peter, you’re killing me here! I just turned 40, you can’t play with my heart like this! Do we celebrate or am I heading out to buy us some eggs to throw at that asshole’s car!?”

Peter gulped, mouth finally parting. “I got it,” He cracked.

May’s mouth dropped a mile. “You got it?”

Peter nodded, tears rolling down his face and dribbling over the letter which he handed to May. He started to laugh. “I got the internship AND an interview for a research grant! May, I got both! I got both!”

May read the letter, and after a brief stint of silence, the woman reared her head back and roared in pure joy. She grabbed Peter, lifted him like a small puppy and spun them around in a tight hug. They squealed in unison, as loud as their lungs could manage.

“I got it!”

“You got it!”

“We got it!” They both yelled together, before tripping over Peter’s textbooks. The duo tumbled to the ground in each other arms on a plush beanbag. The letter fluttered down, landing on Peter’s face.

May grabbed the letter, giggling as she scanned the letter, buzzing from head to toe. “I cannot believe it, Peter! Do you realize how many people’s asses you kicked? I am so-” She rose up from the ground, pausing as she hovered over a single sentence. “Uh, Peter-“ She pointed to a paragraph in the middle. “Sweetheart, this is a “formal” interview.”

Peter rose an eyebrow, taking May’s hand as she helped him up from the floor. “And?”

May laughed, poking at Peter’s chest. “I don’t think your usual wardrobe is going to cut it here. Not even the punny science shirts with the cats on them.”

“Uh-“ Peter turned around, staring into his closet, lined with nothing that even came close to formal. Unless he was going to comic-con, that is... He groaned, shaking his head. “Probably not.”

May set the letter aside, folding her arms. “You’ll need a suit and tie, Peter. Which, unfortunately, is not going to be in either of our budgets.” She bit her lip, eyes staring outside of Peter’s room and down the hallway.

“I’ll call down to Mr. Lee’s pizza place!” Peter ran to his cache of take-out menus, digging through them. “Stan always needs delivery boys, I can save up and find a suit somewhere cheap!”

“Peter, your interview is next week, and suits are expensive. You’d need more than one week's paycheck to afford it, and Stan can only afford part-time. Besides the fact that tips around here are the absolute worst!” May huffed, planting on a pained smile. “Besides, you need time to prepare a presentation. That, and figure out how you’re not going to pass out in front of Tony Stark the instant you meet him.”

Peter frowned, glancing down at the menu. “Then… Should I rent one?” He cringed at the idea, recalling how expensive it’d been at Prom. They’d both had to save for that expense well ahead of time as well.

Taking Peter’s hand, May guided Peter down the hallway. “I think… I’ve got a better idea.”

They stopped at the furthest end of their apartment, to a spare closet neither of them dared to open. A mausoleum of sorts, untouched for almost 8 years now. May sighed, opened it, revealing a wall of plastic totes on one side. The other filled with several well-preserved NYPD uniforms, in clear garment bags.

“May-” Peter muttered.

May pulled out boxes and rummaged through the closet’s contents. “I couldn’t bear to throw anything away after Ben passed on. Still can’t. I know it’s not healthy, but my therapist can kiss my ass. I’ll cope how I damn well please.” She sat Ben’s uniforms gently on the ground, careful not to wrinkle them. She reached the far end of the closet. “Besides, I’d always hoped… One of these days, they might come in handy for you.”

May pulled out another clear bag, this one holding a man's suit and tie. She smiled, unzipping the bag and casting its casing away, admiring the outfit. “Ben wore this to every formal event since I started dating him. He took better care of this than he did his own uniform. Said that every man needs at least one good suit.” She handed it to Peter, letting it fall against his hands. “Turns out he was right.”

Peter nodded, gulping as he slid the jacket from the hanger. He slipped into it, watching as the sleeves slid well past his wrists. Too big in the chest, the suit engulfed him, as the tails of the coat went well past his waist. At least a size and a half too big.

“A little big on you…” May sighed, trying to tuck the suit in at key places, wiping away a tear as she laughed. “I’ll do what I can to help you with the fit, and we can fake it’s a better fit than it actually is. You won’t be able to sit without a needle in your ass, but, hey, women deal with that bullshit all the time in fashion. Welcome to my world, bucko!”

Peter chuckled, letting May help him out of the jacket. “Uncle Ben had some big shoes to fill. A big suit, too, apparently.”

“You’ll grow into it.” May hung the suit back on the hanger, winking at Peter while she slid it back into the garment bag. “Now, enough of this mopey bullshit. I haven’t cried this much since the funeral, and I’ll be damned if we’re going to ruin your big day with bullshit feelings.”

May gathered her oversized purse from the closet door, the suit, and Peter himself. She dragged them both of them towards the front door. “After we chuck this at the dry cleaners, we’re heading to Mr. Lee’s for pizza and ice cream! We’ll eat like kings and pay like peasants!”

“Two for one date night coupon?” Peter smirked.

“Two for one date night coupon.” May winked.

“Hell yeah!” May and Peter said in unison, high-fiving each other as they exited their apartment.

#iron dad #spider son #protective tony stark #tony stark has a heart #hurt and comfort #peterchristensen89writes

1 note · View note

rgvhaulingjunkmoving · 3 years

Link

Tips for Junk Removal and Garage Storage Ideas Junk Removal Decluttering Tips McAllen TX | RGV Hauling Junk & Moving More information is at: https://junkremovalmcallentx.org/junk-removal-tips-near-me/ Junk Removal Problem in McAllen TX? Declutter your life! Home and office junk removal, decluttering, organizing and junk removal tips from McAllen TX`s #1 junk removal experts. Cure your cluttered house woes! Call RGV Hauling Junk & Moving! For most homes, the garage is often a built-in storage unit. The problem is that the items that we store often end up just becoming junk that we need to get rid of. The truth is that for many of us, the family garage is just a place to pile up our stuff. Cost of Junk Removal? Free estimates! Call today or book Junk Removal online fast!

REQUEST A QUOTE TODAY

JUNK REMOVAL TIPS

Junk Removal Decluttering Done Better: How Your Unwanted Stuff Can Make Your Community and the Planet Happier

RGV Hauling Junk & Moving Junk Removal Decluttering is all the rage. After tidying up all the stuff you want to keep, how about everything else? What you do next can change lives and make the earth greener. Give Vases Another Shot at Love Do you have a cabinet full of vases thanks to all those lovesick paramours sending you flowers? Or maybe you’ve been the lucky recipient of one too many edible deliveries. Either way, if you’ve got more vessels than a glassblower and potter combined, call the florist’s in your area. Offer to drop off your stash of vases so they can be reused for future bouquets. Provide Bedding for Four-Legged Friends If your leopard-print sheets no longer spark joy, don’t toss them. Instead, donate them to an animal-friendly business. Kennels, rescue organizations, and veterinarians can use your sheets, as well as blankets and towels, as bedding in crates. Do Good with Your Excess Baggage It’s not unusual for a household to amass a serious amount of baggage. Meaning, you probably have an assortment of backpacks, duffels, suitcases, and wheeled luggage. Many organizations can use the bags that you no longer need. Foster care agencies will distribute them to children within the foster care system. Or, if you’re about to embark on a trip, you can pack athletic, medical, pet, or school supplies in a spare suitcase and drop it off to a specific nonprofit in the community you plan to visit. Outfit a Kitchen with Your Surplus Supplies Your extra pots, pans, and flatware can help individuals in need. Contact your local social services organization. They can arrange for your donation to be sent to a specific household, or they may recommend that your kitchen items are a better fit for a nearby senior center, soup kitchen, or veterans association.

Replenish Tool Kits

Whether you have a spare ladder or a shed full of tools, tradespeople can benefit from the equipment you no longer want. Ask about tool collection drives at hardware stores and home improvement chains. Donate your items to trade schools, or offer your tools to artisans, carpenters, landscapers, painters, and plumbers.

Responsibly Recycle Your E-Waste

The Pew Research Center reports that 92 percent of U.S. adults have a mobile phone, 73 percent have a desktop or laptop computer, and 45 percent have tablets. As Americans upgrade their devices, the result is an astounding amount of e-waste. Fortunately, manufacturers and electronics retailers provide in-store and online recycling programs. The EPA also provides a comprehensive listing of recycling resources per state. Many charities, community centers, and schools also accept electronics donations.

Donate Appliances and Building Materials to a Reuse Center

Decluttering often includes clearing your home of big-ticket items, particularly if you are renovating. These items include appliances, bathtubs, cabinetry, doors, fixtures, flooring, lighting, mantels, and windows. Rather than throw them in a dumpster, donate them to a reuse center where they can be sold to builders, decorators, and homeowners at deeply discounted prices. Many reuse centers offer a pickup service to make donating more convenient.

Decluttering is even more satisfying when you find a second home for your unwanted stuff. Give vases to florists, provide bedding to animal-friendly businesses, put your baggage in the hands of a foster child, fill a suitcase with needed supplies, outfit a kitchen for someone less fortunate than you, replenish the tool kits of tradespeople, responsibly recycle your e-waste, and donate big-ticket items to a reuse center. Your charitable efforts will promote community goodwill and a greener planet!

Tips For Junk Removal And Garage Storage Ideas – Organize Your Junk or Get Rid of It!

For most homes, the garage is often a built-in storage unit. The problem is that the items that we store often end up just becoming junk that we need to get rid of. The truth is that for many of us, the family garage is just a place to pile up our stuff. In fact, it's been estimated that less than 20 percent of homeowners and renters in the United States use their garages to park their cars in. This is not because we prefer to keep our cars parked out in the elements during the day and overnight. It's because most of us have no room in our garages for a car, let alone two!

Storage Space is at a Premium

The major issue for most people when it comes to garage storage is with how to best use the space that's available. This is even more of an issue with small, one car garages, but it's still true for the larger, three car structures on many homes. Most garages are not built with shelving and closets are rarely included except, perhaps, in a custom built home.

But simply piling boxes, storage containers and piles of stuff doesn't work well.

Maximizing the available space is a challenge and somewhat problematic. For example, any doorways into and out of the garage have to be kept clear, and the large garage door, or doors, must be avoided, as well. The end result is often unsightly, disorganized piles of stuff crammed into the open area of the garage, with a narrow path or two between doors. This is, of course, highly inefficient, awkward to move around, and even dangerous. Piles have been known to fall over and there is also the increasing fire danger as junk piles up everywhere. And, over time, we have a tendency to accumulate and hoard, Which leads to more stuff, bigger piles, and less space.

Organizing the Stuff and Shedding the Junk

At some point you realize things have gotten out of hand. You can't find things you need, you can't reach things you want, and you trip over stuff that should be tossed out. That's when it's high time to begin organizing and eliminating. Before you consider building, installing or paying for storage solutions, you need to winnow out the junk from the good stuff. Staging, categorizing and separating your belongings is essential for good organization when it comes to cleaning the garage. While it is easiest to use the driveway or yard for this step, it might be possible to do this inside the garage itself. Begin by separating out anything and everything that you do not want to keep, or are even uncertain about. You can always change your mind later.

This step is a big part of this process.

The items you know for certain you want to be rid of can be sold through sites such as Craig's List or eBay, donated to local charities, or simply given to willing neighbors who can then store them in their own garages! After you have sold off everything you can possibly can, set the remainder aside for a Short of selling or donating these items, you can always call on a reliable junk hauling service like RGV Hauling Junk & Moving. The important thing is to reduce the overall quantity of stuff in your garage before setting up storage options.

Storing Your Things Efficiently Requires Hardware One of the best methods, of course, is to provide shelving. Simply putting everything that fits into plastic storage containers, for example, is a good start, but these can only be stacked so high before creating a different hazard. Storing everything on shelves is a far more efficient and safer method. The goal is to store "up", not all over. Shelving allows you to accomplish this. Part of the beauty of a garage, of course, is that it easily lends itself to a variety of shelving methods. And the space used for shelves is only limited by the height of the ceiling, the number of doors taking up wall space, and the methods used.

Garage storage shelving solutions involve four basic options:

Cabinets

These can be anything from kitchen or bathroom cabinets that have been re-purposed for your garage, to high-end systems especially designed to be used in the garage. While this option is usually the costliest, it can also be the most appealing visually and provide sufficient "out-of-sight" storage for most homeowners. Aside from the cost and the need for installation, a disadvantage is that these are fixed in place and somewhat limited in capacity.

Free-Standing Shelf Units

There are an abundant variety of shelf units that can be purchased from department stores and big box hardware outlets. These range from all plastic shelves that are usually designed for lighter weight storage, to professional-grade units built to withstand almost anything. Typically, the stronger the shelf unit the more weight it can hold, but also the higher the price tag. Units that are open shelves without sides, backs or doors, can be quite versatile in that they provided great access and can be re-positioned throughout the garage, if need be.

Built-In Shelving

Many homeowners find that building shelves along the walls of the garage provide the best of both worlds for storage. These shelves cannot fall over like free-standing are prone to, especially in earthquake states like California. In addition, they can be built all the way to the ceiling, providing maximum storage capacity. Shelves built along the walls can also be designed to run above doorways and with alternating heights between shelves.

Ceiling Shelves

One more option that can be utilized is the empty space in the ceiling of your garage. This requires sufficient hardware to secure the shelves properly, but it allows a homeowner to make use of overhead space efficiently and "out-of-sight." These units should be reserved for items that are a) not excessively large or heavy, and b) not used and accessed very often.

Minimizing Your Storage Needs by Removing the Junk

Ultimately, when all your stuff is separated and organized, you are bound to end up with stuff that needs to be gotten rid of. And if you haven't been able to sell it or donate it - or don't want to take the time to do so - then you need the services of a good junk hauling firm. Cleanliness and organization make a happy home. Stuck with useless junk? Let RGV Hauling Junk & Moving take care of the garbage and unwanted stuff: Hauling services for large and bulky amounts of junk. House cleanouts for moving, spring cleaning, converting rooms, or just getting a clean slate. Property cleanouts for landlords, real estate agents, or inherited homes full of old belongings. Trash removal for yard waste, construction projects, and cleaning projects Our residential junk removal services provide an easy solution for clearing out clutter and hauling away unwanted junk. People love RGV Hauling Junk & Moving because we provide the highest level of professionalism and fantastic customer service. You get a no-hassle experience with upfront pricing, easy scheduling, and fast service. Schedule a no-obligation appointment, and when you say the word we’ll haul away the junk and sweep everything clean.

Being Green, Being Kind

Junk does not have to end up in a landfill, and RGV Hauling Junk & Moving believes in recycling every bit of material possible. You can feel good about doing the eco-friendly thing when you work with us. We also send usable items to local non-profits and donation centers to help the community and reduce waste. One person’s unwanted furniture or electronics may do a stranger a world of good! Our professional and insured trash removal team will show up at your home or office; we call 15 minutes before we arrive on site and we’ll give you a free estimate based on how much room your items take up in our truck. You point and we haul your items into our junk removal trucks, with no hidden fees. Ready to get rid of that junk? It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3. You make an appointment by booking online above or by calling RGV Hauling Junk & Moving!

OUR SISTER COMPANIES NEAR MCALLEN TX:

RGV CLEANING COMPANY (956) 587-9628 http://cleaningservicesmcallentx.org/

RGV JANITORIAL SERVICES (956) 587-3486 http://www.rgvjanitorialservices.com/

RGV HOUSEHOLD SERVICES (956) 587-3487 http://www.rgvhouseholdservices.com/

VALLEY JUNK REMOVAL (956) 587-3003 http://www.valleyjunkremoval.org/

ROOFING CONTRACTORS OF MCALLEN (956) 587-5023 http://roofingmcallen.org/

RGV HAULING JUNK & MOVING (956) 587-3410 http://junkremovalmcallentx.org/

HANDYMAN MCALLEN (956) 587-3488 http://handymanmcallen.org/

A1 CLEANING OF MCALLEN WESLACO (956) 429-3412 www.mcallenhousekeeping.com

0 notes

shanevciu925 · 3 years

Text

Wi-fi Modem Fritz! Box 6820 two four Ghz 4g Lte White

While barebones in its design and features, for less than $30, this modem provides everything you want to create a wireless web connection on your devices. The modem is supplied with a 5dbi antenna, which provides ample range for a small home or condo. If you do opt to go ahead and rent your gear from AT&T, you’ll obtain one of a few different models utilized by the ISP. One of the best is the Arris BGW , which supports the quickest VDLS2 connections. It additionally presents four gigabit ethernet ports along with VoIP assist for telephone service. With that stated, there isn't any must get a separate modem and router when you’re organising your house internet connection.

Do I need a modem for wireless Internet?

To bring the internet into your home, you're going to need a modem. Your modem shares this connection with a computer or a router via an Ethernet cable. Modems aren't one-size-fits-all solutions; the type of modem you'll need depends on the type of internet service you receive. If that's DSL, you'll need a DSL modem.

The second feature is the ability to quickly join to 1's ISP, achieved by remembering the analog and digital characteristics of the phone line and utilizing this saved data when reconnecting. The retail value of these early 56K modems was about US$200, in comparison with $100 for traditional 33k modems. Compatible equipment was also required on the Internet service providers end, with costs varying depending on whether or not their current gear could be upgraded. Consumer sales had been comparatively low, which USRobotics and Rockwell attributed to conflicting requirements. The dial-up modem was once a extensively known expertise, since it was mass-marketed to customers in many countries for dial-up internet access.

On-line Providers

You’ll always have some useless spots in the house or condo, but attempt to find the most effective router with the vary you need. There’s no point in having one of the best ISP velocity whenever you can’t have the signal throughout the house. Check what quantity of antennas the combos have and ask the corporate how robust the signal is. You can swap Spectrum’s in-house modem for our prime choose, the ARRIS SURFboard SB8200, or go for the cheap-but-efficient NETGEAR CM500. But what should you look for when purchasing for a Spectrum router or modem?

What is the best wireless modem?

youtube

Best modem/router combo devicesModem/routersPrice*Recommended to work with internet plans up toMotorola MG7700 Best overall$169.99600 MbpsARRIS SURFboard SBG7600AC2 Best for speed$199.00600 MbpsNETGEAR Nighthawk C7000 Best for gaming$189.99400 MbpsNETGEAR C3700 Best budget option$109.99340 Mbps1 more row•Jun 21, 2021

Available around-the-clock via telephone, e mail and chat, the assist team uses a CRM based ticketing system to make sure resolution and continuity of service across brokers. To activate your modem, you’ll need to attach a pc to the modem with the Ethernet twine or via WiFi using the default wireless community and password on the label on the back of the new modem. You can get rid of your old modem and wireless router or recycle them at an area electronics recycling heart - there is not a need to return them to us. Locate your present modem and wireless router offered by Atlantic Broadband. Plug the ability twine to the power source and then attach the opposite end to the again of the wireless modem.

How To Change The Password To A Westell Router

Many routers and modems nowadays can handle these speeds, however cheap models or older inventory could not have the necessary protocols. As for precise networking, the MD1600 can support any DSL pace you've, and it provides four Ethernet ports for your units if you prefer a direct connection. The router takes knowledge from the Internet that passed via the modem after which sends it wirelessly to units in your home, like smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, computer systems and extra.

A modem/router combo takes the 2 devices and puts them in one box for comfort.

But as we collect increasingly more online devices in our homes, MU-MIMO turns into more important.

A modem at all times is put in outdoors your rooms, similar to at your personal home door.

Now let’s take a look at each facet of Internet connection that may matter to information shoppers and find out which gadget works best in every case.

The easy means to consider routers—especially on your personal home network—is like this.

The precise efficiency of a cable modem is decided by the number of channels that it helps, and that is normally expressed because the variety of obtain channels by the number of upload channels. So, for example, a "32x8" DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem would supply 32 download channels and eight upload channels. If the cable modem/router combo that you're renting out of your ISP isn't assembly your wants in terms of Wi-Fi range or efficiency, you will find yourself needing a standalone router anyway.

It’s the nature of the know-how as a result of your WiFi sign is susceptible to obstacles in your house and interferences from surrounding units. However, if you team your WiFi reference to a wired answer likeHT-EM4 MoCA adapters, your Internet connection becomes extra direct and due to this fact is immediately sooner and more reliable. MoCA technology, or Ethernet over Coax, is designed to strengthen your WiFi sign attain and overall efficiency. MoCA uses your present coaxial cable wiring in your house to create a bigger “pipe” for your Internet connection.

LAN ports are used to connect a pc to the router using an Ethernet cable. Many internet-connected sensible residence gadgets, corresponding to Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings products, require a LAN port-connected hub to function. If you want more LAN ports than the router has, you'll be able to increase the number out there by adding an Ethernet change, which is kind of like an influence strip that provides open Ethernet ports. These are composed of a number of units (you’ll often discover three in a pack) that you simply place strategically round your house, where you need a great internet connection probably the most. One unit connects directly to your modem, then communicates wirelessly with the opposite two, creating a big “mesh” community to spread WiFi round your house extra effectively. All Cox Internet plans embrace 1.25 TB per month of knowledge utilization.

If all that feels like gibberish, don’t worry—all you need to know is that this modem/router combo packs a ton of modern features into one modern package to maximize your internet speed and reliability. NETGEAR Nighthawk Ultra-High Speed Cable Modem for XFINITY Voice delivers gigabit pace cable internet and one of the best name clarity. This high-performance DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem helps all of today’s web service plans and is designed for the fastest internet velocity tiers in close to future. Using an alternate router may improve your network’s performance, or it might not perform any higher than the router that’s already built into your modem.

0 notes

droneseco · 3 years

Text

XGIMI Mogo Pro+ Review: Native 1080p Portable Projector Is Good, but Not Perfect

Xgimi Mogo Pro Plus

7.00 / 10

Read Reviews

Read More Reviews

See on amazon

If you're in need of a portable projector and have the money to spare, the Xgimi Mogo Pro+ is certainly one of the best in class options. The audio is clear and loud (if perhaps lacking in bass), and the image is bright and true HD. The software experience and ease of use are unrivaled thanks to deep Google integration. Overall, it's an incredibly neat little device. If Netflix or Amazon Prime Video is your main use case though, look elsewhere.

Specifications

Brand: Xgimi

Native Resolution: 1080p

ANSI Lumens: 300

Connectivity: HDMI, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Throw Ratio: 1:1

Audio: Dual 3W Harman Kardon tuned

OS: Android TV 9.0

Lamp Life: 30,000 hours

Pros

Runs Google Android TV 9.0, with thousands of apps available

Snappy interface and easy to navigate

Chromecast works well

Full size HDMI input

Bright enough for massive screens at night

Cons

Battery life is a little short

Lacklustre bass

No case included and lens is exposed

Buy This Product

Xgimi Mogo Pro Plus amazon

Shop

// Bottom var galleryThumbs1 = new Swiper('.gallery-thumbs-1', { spaceBetween: 10, slidesPerView: 10, freeMode: true, watchSlidesVisibility: true, watchSlidesProgress: true, centerInsufficientSlides: true, allowTouchMove: false, preventClicks: false, breakpoints: { 1024: { slidesPerView: 6, } }, }); // Top var galleryTop1 = new Swiper('.gallery-top-1', { spaceBetween: 10, allowTouchMove: false, loop: true, preventClicks: false, breakpoints: { 1024: { allowTouchMove: true, } }, navigation: { nextEl: '.swiper-button-next', prevEl: '.swiper-button-prev', }, thumbs: { swiper: galleryThumbs1 } });

The Xgimi Mogo Pro+ is a native 1080p projector with a maximum brightness of 300 ANSI lumens. Running Android TV, it has access to a wide range of apps, as well as a full-size HDMI port if you need it. The audio is tuned by Harman Kardon, and the whole package is rather nifty. But it's not cheap by any means, retailing at around $700.

youtube

Buyer Beware with Portable Projectors

The world of portable projectors is fraught with shoddy plastic tat. You'll find countless Amazon listings for small flat rectangles that claim to "support HD" with a brightness similar to any cinema projector that costs ten times the price. Look, here's one, and I've left the brand name in so you know to avoid this company in the future:

2600 lumens, indeed.

What they don't tell you is that it actually projects at a pathetic 480p natively, with about as much luminance as a birthday cake candle—because "lumens" or "lux" is an entirely made-up metric. Instead, you need to look for "ANSI lumens", which is a standardized metric. This is why I'm rather skeptical about approving any review of a portable projector. Thankfully, the Xgimi Mogo Pro+ is not one of those.

Xgimi, unlike other sellers, doesn't lie about the brightness of its projectors. It's about one-tenth the luminance of a similarly priced home cinema projector, and I appreciate the honesty.

Xgimi Mogo Pro+ Design

Measuring 5.8 inches tall, with a rounded 4 inch or so square profile, and weighing just under 2lb or 0.9kg, the Xgimi Mogo Pro+ truly is portable—but there's no carry case included. You should source a suitable protective case if you're taking it out into the wilderness, as the device itself has no ruggedization to speak of. There isn't even a lens cover, which is a little more concerning for something designed to be carried around.

Note: if you purchase from Xgimi's official site, there's a coupon code to get a free case. Our package didn't include this, so we can't comment on it, but worth knowing if you're happy to not buy on Aamzon.

On the underside of the unit is a mechanism you can pull out to tilt the device up to around 45-degrees, and you'll also find a screw thread for attaching to a tripod or other stand (not included).

Around the rear is a single USB port, the DC power socket, an HDMI port, as well as an AUX stereo out. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi round out the connectivity side of things.

Internally, there's an AMLOGIC T950x2 SoC, featuring Mali G31 graphics, 2GB of system RAM, and 16GB onboard storage.

Sofware Experience

Many projectors, portable or otherwise, claim to offer an Android UI, while at the same time only featuring a handful of apps from the Apptoide store.

Again, the Xgimi Mogo Pro+ is not like those. It runs actual Android TV 9.0, and is Google certified.

The included remote even has a button to summon the Google Assistant, and the system is Chromecast compatible, making the process of casting content from your other devices seamless. Anyone who has painful memories of trying to get Miracast to work will certainly appreciate this, and I had no issues casting from either iOS or Android.

In fact, setting up the device was seamless too, with a simple "set up my device" voice command on my phone. It all just worked, which was nice, and avoided having to use an on-screen keyboard on the projector, which is usually awkward and time-consuming on these kinds of devices.

But it's not perfect. Despite offering over 5000 apps in the Google Play store, not all are compatible. Netflix and Amazon Prime, for instance, are not certified for the Xgimi Mogo Pro+. To view those, you'll need to use an external streaming stick. I also found BBC iPlayer was absent from the store, but thankfully that one was easier to solve by simply casting it from my phone.

Auto-Focus and Auto-Keystone

Able to correct for up to 40-degrees of horizontal or vertical angle projection, the auto-keystone and the auto-focus feature worked well, and it kicks in automatically whenever it detects movement. You can disable this if you want, but there's no reason to. A micro-switch on the base of the remote control enables manual focus using the volume keys.

While impressive, it's worth bearing in mind that any kind of keystone adjustment will lead to a sub-optimal image. You can see below the keystone at work in the most extreme example.

The dark grey area of the wall is the potential projection size, distorted because of the placement angle of the projector. The Xgimi Mogo Pro+ successfully corrects for such extreme distortion, but in doing so, wastes half of the available pixels.

For that reason, you should always try to project as orthogonally to the surface as possible. Just because you can put it at weird angles doesn't mean you should.

For those looking to hang the Mogo Pro+ from ceiling, the projection can be rotated, as well as reversed for rear projection.

Throw Ratio and Brightness

As mentioned, the device claims to run at a maximum 300 ANSI lumens of brightness. While I don't have the right equipment to verify the claim, I do have a home cinema projector that runs at 2800 ANSI lumens, and it sounds about right by comparison.

The image below was taken in the daytime, with the curtains closed but still a good amount of ambient light from a side window. At this size (around 120-inches), full brightness isn't quite enough. But at night, it's absolutely sufficient. If you have the space to project from, you can go big.

The throw ratio—which is the relationship between the size of projected image and the distance you place the projector from the surface—works out at about 1:1. Which is to say, if you want a 6-foot diagonal projection, you'll need to place the Xgimi Mogo Pro+ about 6 feet away from the screen.

This isn't technically a "short throw" projector, but nor is it bad at all. But if you want a massive screen in a small space, this isn't for you. Short-throw projectors aren't something you often find in the portable market, so this isn't unusual.

Battery Life

For an extreme test, I fully charged and ran the battery down by streaming live over Wi-Fi, at full brightness and full volume. The battery lasted about an hour and a half before forcefully switching to Eco brightness. At this point, I got another good 15-30 minutes out of it. But I should note that once you hit the low power state, Eco brightness is the only option, and it's not good.

It's impossibly dim in the daytime, and even in darkness, it has a horrible green tint. I would have much preferred to just continue to run the battery down for another 5-10 minutes at full brightness.

90 minutes should therefore be considered a minimum battery life. Turning down the brightness, lowering the volume, and playing back local files with Wi-Fi disabled would all lengthen potential battery life.

Audio Quality

With Harman Kardon on the box, you expect some good quality audio. The laws of physics put a slight damper on that. You simply can't get deep bass from something so small.

The Xgimi Mogo Pro+ definitely gets loud enough for any impromptu movie night without distortion creeping in, and across the rest of the spectrum it sounds clean, crisp, and well balanced. I had no trouble hearing voices, which is ultimately the most important aspect of any projector speaker. I tested with a variety of TV and movie content, and documentaries, and had no complaints about muffled speech.

However, if you're watching explosion-heavy action flicks or gaming with electronic soundtracks, the lack of decent bass becomes more noticeable.

But this isn't hard to fix if it bothers you. Supporting Bluetooth 5.0 or AUX stereo out, you're free to connect your favorite pair of headphones or external speakers for an even better auditory experience.

Repairability and Replacement Parts

While projectors in the past had a costly lamp that would need replacing after around 5,000 hours, modern projectors such as the Xgimi use an LED light source rated to over 30,000 hours. This makes it effectively an end-of-life issue, and cannot easily be replaced. Xgimi doesn't sell replacement parts of any sort.

But to put that in context: even if you watched a 2-hour long movie every day of the year, it would still be 41 years before the LED light source broke.

More likely is that the battery will degrade to the point of being unusable in five to ten years. Of course, you will still be able to run it from AC power, but a built-in battery always reduces the lifetime of a product.

Should You Buy the Xgimi Mogo Pro+?

That said, I feel like a slightly larger all-in-one package would have served the target audience better. It would have allowed for larger speaker drivers and a slightly larger battery. I also would have liked to see a carry case included, and a lens protector built-in.

Before purchasing, you should also really consider how much you value that portability and the all-in-one design. If you're taking a large AC battery with you anyway, you could purchase a shorter-throw home cinema projector with larger built-in speakers, for around the same price. You'd get a larger screen, ten times the brightness, and better audio. And if sustainability is your primary concern, you should never purchase "all-in-one" products.

XGIMI Mogo Pro+ Review: Native 1080p Portable Projector Is Good, but Not Perfect published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

0 notes

ladystylestores · 4 years

Text

The rise and fall of Adobe Flash

Soon, Adobe itself will remove Flash Player from computers, too.

Few technologies have yielded such divisive and widespread passion as Flash. Many gush over its versatility and ease of use as a creative platform or its critical role in the rise of web video. Others abhor Flash-based advertising and Web design, or they despise the resource-intensiveness of the Flash Player plugin in its later years.

Whichever side of the love-hate divide you land on, there’s no denying the fact that Flash changed how we consume, create, and interact with content on the Web. For better and worse, it helped shape the Internet of today.

But now, after roughly 25 years, Flash is finally nearing its end. In less than six months—December 2020—Adobe will officially end support and distribution of Flash Player, the browser plugin we all associate most strongly with the technology. And already, months ahead of this end-of-life switch, Flash has been disabled in most Web browsers (often flagged as a security risk should you choose to override the default settings). Even Google Chrome, long the browser of choice for Flash content, will soon remove Flash Player.

Technically speaking, the technology will live on. The Flash authoring tool is part of Adobe Animate, while the rendering engine is included in Adobe AIR—which will be handed over to enterprise electronics company Harman International for ongoing maintenance, as it’s still widely used in the enterprise arena. But it’s safe to say that, after a decade in decline, Flash as we know it is about to say goodbye.

In recognition of its service to content creators and consumers of all stripes, of its contribution to the proliferation of online video and multimedia, and of that divisiveness that’s followed the platform around, the time has come to revisit the rise and fall of Flash—with a little help from its principal creator, Jonathan Gay; a raft of Web resources; and interviews with others who had a hand in its ultimate success.

youtube

You may not know the name FutureSplash Animator, but you certainly know the software it birthed

Birth, or a wave of the future

Sometime around the middle of 1992, Jonathan Gay decided he wanted to start a company to make something. What, precisely, he’d not figured out. But something.

More than eight years earlier, his friend and former boss Charlie Jackson had founded Silicon Beach Software—a Mac-focused software company that had great success with its Dark Castle games and the SuperPaint and Digital Darkroom creative tools. Gay had been there from day one as a teenage programmer working afternoons after school. (Not just any programmer, either, but the “most phenomenal programmer” that Jackson had ever seen.) Then early in 1990, to fund his dream of competing for the United States in international rapid-fire pistol shooting (a dream he later fulfilled), Jackson sold Silicon Beach to Aldus Corporation.

Gay asked Jackson for help starting this new company, but Jackson still had six months remaining on his non-compete agreement with Aldus and couldn’t do anything until then. He told Gay to take that time to think of a product. The pair soon landed on the idea of making software for GO Corporation’s PenPoint operating system, an OS designed specifically for tablet computers and personal digital assistants.

It was impressive technology. PenPoint-based tablets could be the next big thing, and the new EO Personal Communicator, made by a company spun out from GO’s hardware division, seemed particularly impressive.

Silicon Beach had built its success on being early to market—on embracing the Macintosh before bigger companies jumped in. This new company, which they named FutureWave, would endeavor to do the same. “The idea was, ‘We can own the graphics space on this tablet,'” Jackson told Ars. “So we started to design a vector drawing program. And we called this SmartSketch.”

With the combined business acumen of FutureWave’s three co-founders—marketing VP Michelle Welsh was the other one—plus Gay and programmer Robert Tatsumi’s technical wizardry, SmartSketch quickly took shape. But the gamble backfired when AT&T bought a majority stake in the company behind the EO tablet—also called EO—and subsequently killed the product, then bought GO and, to cut a long story short, effectively killed them too.

“I think we sold two copies,” Jackson said. “And one was to the architect who was designing Bill Gates’ house.”

FutureWave soon ported SmartSketch to Windows and Mac, and they hoped to find an audience that appreciated their efforts “to make drawing on a computer as easy as it is drawing on paper.” But the company struggled to pull attention away from their many larger competitors (Corel, Adobe, Autodesk, etc).

Their course changed when Wacom—which had been bundling SmartSketch with some of its digitizer tablets—ran into budgetary problems and needed to pull out of SIGGRAPH ’95. They gave their booth to FutureWave and told the tiny startup to bring lots of SmartSketch boxes—as it’s always a good event for product sales. “We didn’t sell anything,” recalled Gay. “It was pretty embarrassing.”

Across the aisle, a company called Animo had a Disney-style animation package for television and movie production. Lots of people were drawn to that booth, and many of them stopped by FutureWave’s space to look at SmartSketch—whereupon they’d recommend FutureWave make a rotoscoping app. “We thought there was never going to be a market for an animation tool,” said Gay, “but it sounded like a fun thing to build.”

Around the same time, Jackson had been struggling to convince retailers to stock SmartSketch. Then he noticed that CompUSA had kiosks and shelves of products in prime positioning with the phrase ‘made for the Web’ stamped on them. So, he told Gay they needed to do something for the Web.

Gay wondered if maybe somehow they could combine these ideas together: a cel-based animation program that could produce animations that play on webpages.

They initially called this new program SmartSketch Animator, though they would later rename it CelAnimator and then FutureSplash Animator. And to fulfill the Web requirement, they hacked together a prototype Web animation player—the FutureSplash Player—in Java.

They’d grown tired of running a company with no money and no market traction, however, so before they shipped they decided to try to sell the technology. Their friend and fellow Silicon Beach co-founder Eric Zocher—who was VP of engineering at Adobe—set up a meeting for them with Adobe CEO John Warnock.

“I still remember getting on the airplane with a 486 mini desktop in a duffel bag to go meet with John Warnock and show him our incredibly slow Java prototype,” said Gay. “It was doing like two frames a second of this simple animation. It worked, but it was just really slow.”

Listing image by WebDesignMuseum.org

Source link

قالب وردپرس

from World Wide News https://ift.tt/3f7IAwP

#World Wide News

0 notes

bicyclehobo · 4 years

Photo

I have preserved almost 100% of my initial "Bicycle Touring" related articles from my old site. I am looking to be a little more well rounded in my bicycle focus moving forward...I'll certainly focus on touring but you will probably see more info around commuting, maintenance, industry, and geral bicycle stuff.

Have a look at my legacy bicycle touring articles:

Finding a Good Bicycle Touring Frame

Bicycle tours begin with the right bicycle touring frame. Consider geometry, compatibility, fit, function, and material to pick right bicycle touring frame.

In another article I suggest using any bicycle for bicycle touring. You don’t need a special bike to tour on; however, if you really want to limit the hassle of the “daily workaround” there are criteria that makes a bicycle frame a good bicycle touring frame.

Buying Used Bicycles is Easy

I am a big believer in buying used bicycles. The last time I bought a new bicycle was in 1991 while working as a mechanic/sales person at a Cannondale shop. I sold the bike to myself. Since then I have been buying used bicycles on ebay, craigslist, and at garage sales.

Dynamo Chargers Outside of the Hub

Dynamo chargers don’t have reside in the hub. Let’s look at some new designs of bicycle dynamo chargers that mount on the bicycle. All of the dynamo chargers in this review are not hub dynamo chargers. I am not against using a hub dynamo charger. I love my current set of wheels and am not open to any changes to accommodate any hub dynamo chargers. So what are the new developments in non hub dynamo chargers.

Bicycle Touring Toolkit

The proper bicycle touring toolkit depends on a number of factors. Am I riding in a group? What type of terrain am I covering? Will there be bicycle shops nearby? A group of bicycle tourists can spread out an extensive bicycle touring toolkit across their panniers quite easily. Credit card bicycle tourists on established routes can get away with a spartan bicycle touring toolkit. Solo remote adventure cyclists may need to carry more or are able to get by with less than a fully operational bicycle. What do you use?

Thermarest Mattress Repair

I am in need of Thermarest mattress repair. My prolite has sprung a leak. I searched around and found several guides on how to affect the repair myself but also saw that I could send the mattress back to Thermarest for repair. I have never had a Thermarest leak before and am a big believer in the Prolite model and the Thermarest brand. I promote the Thermarest brand throughout this site. This was a good opportunity to see if a company I go out of my way to use and promote would get behind me the customer.

Bicycle Touring Equipment Distribution

Bicycle touring equipment distribution or how I place my gear across my bike to ensure that I have a balanced center of gravity, oft used items are easily available, and items that are used together are grouped together.

I’ve got three boxes of bicycle touring equipment and I need to start deciding what will go on my next adventure. This is a painstaking process of packing up, test riding, unpacking, repacking, more test riding, until I am comfortable with my bicycle touring equipment distribution.

Bicycle Touring Stretching Warmup

My bicycle touring stretching warmup begins in my sleeping bag, progresses as I break camp and extends into my first ten to fifteen minutes on the bike. I follow up a good thorough stretch by hitting a low gear and spinning my legs for another ten minutes. I don’t waste any time as every stretch is geared toward getting on the road. It makes getting started on a rainy or chilly mornings a little easier.

Shimano XT Thumb Shifters

Shimano XT Thumb Shifters are perhaps the finest bicycle component ever engineered. For the bicycle tourist riding a mountain bike style bar Shimano XT Thumb Shifters offer the perfect blend of functionality, reliability, adaptability, and ease of use.

Best Touring Bicycle Ever

I see a lot of questions on different sites with people asking ‘What is the best touring bicycle?’ or ‘Can I use this bicycle to tour on?’ The best touring bicycle exists only as an idea. I tour on a bicycle that is NOT the “best touring bicycle”. A good deal of experienced bicycle tourers might think of it as a poor choice. In my eyes the best touring bicycle is more about you the bicycle tourist and not the bicycle. So what is the best touring bicycle? You may already own it.

Publishing Outdoor Adventures

How do you capture edit and begin publishing outdoor adventures? Things are changing so quickly that I often lock into a ‘mobile publishing solution’ on one day and abandon the idea the next day. I’m certain that I want to be capturing media and publishing to my site, maybe write a book, and/or create a film. How will I capture, store, and power the assets while on the road? How will you be publishing outdoor adventures?

I’m not flying in the wind on this subject. I have done this before. At least I have tried to do it. I met with some success and a great amount of failure. I have a positive mindset and some ‘working knowledge’ this time around. I know exactly what I failed to consider last time. Publishing outdoor adventures is combination of your publishing device, power, connectivity, capture, software, media storage and how you manage them together.

Backup Media Off the Grid

How do you backup media off the grid? Storage solutions are changing almost as rapidly as the devices that use them. You are out in the woods snapping photos, shooting video, and recording time-lapses. How do you make sure you have them backed up on a storage device? Many devices record to different mediums so saving them to one or two secure backup sources needs to be thoroughly thought out.

Worst Bicycle Touring Product Ever

I give you the Kamp-Rite Midget Bushtrekka Bicycle Camper Trailer with Oversize Tent Cot complete in its lunacy and available for purchase at Amazon.com. This is the worst bicycle touring product ever conceived because of its weight, complexity, and inability to solve any problems.

iOS vs Android Mobile Publishing

Utilizing iOS or Android for mobile publishing helps to keep my tour kit light and powerful. Having almost the power of a laptop in device that is comparable in size to a cassette tape is one of the biggest ways bicycle touring has changed for me over the years.

Connectivity Off The Grid

Connectivity off the grid is hard to maintain. If you think your device will stay connected while bicycle touring, hiking, or camping in the most scenic, tranquil, important, and distant reaches you are mistaken. If you venture far enough away from it all you will drop connectivity during your adventure. This is not a problem it is a ‘feature’ of adventuring.

Charging Electronics Off The Grid

Charging electronics off the grid is as much about your approach as it is about the equipment. I desire to find myself in unpopulated areas where charging electronics via a wall outlet is impossible. I need generate my own power for charging electronics off the grid. I accept this. The best method for charging electronics off the grid right now are solar chargers, cache batteries, and dynamos.

Bicycle Touring Camera Selection

The perfect bicycle touring camera doesn’t exist. We all have different tastes, needs, and mediums we publish in. I have learned a great deal since my first tour and cameras have changed quite a bit in size, function, and capability. What hasn’t changed is that you still need to carry, power, protect, capture, store, and output your media. I cannot tell you what the perfect bicycle touring camera is for your tour. I can outline the criteria I am using in selecting the bicycle touring camera set up I will use.

Bicycle Touring Motivation

I wrote this list for me but have decided to share it with everyone. We may not be in full agreement on all of these but I bet that more than a few will make you wax poetic on bicycle touring or possibly give you the itch to get back on the road. I write them as I get excited for my upcoming tour, and read them when my planning hits a brick wall. I give you bicycle touring motivation: 50 reasons to Bicycle Tour.

Bicycle Touring Equipment Recommendations

Bicycle touring equipment that I need on a bicycle tour. I have crossed the United States three times and have learned more than a few lessons. Sometimes I skimp and get stuff from a thrift store and then there are times when I bite the bullet and buy direct from retail/adventure stores. If you are going on a bicycle tour you need this equipment!

Thrift Store Adventure Gear

My favorite outdoor outfitter is by far Goodwill Thrift Stores with The Salvation Army coming in at close second. I’m lucky as I live in NYC and have 2 very active Goodwill and 1 Salvation Army Thrift stores in between my home and work. I find so much high quality thrift store adventure gear that I can be picky about what I decide to add to my kit. Let’s look at what I found over the past month in three visits.

Mother Nature and Exposure

Exposure is a killer. You are rarely aware of it until it ups the stress level and smacks you in the face. It is where there is no hiding from Mother Nature and Exposure. The funny part is she usually appears at that point in the trip that you have sought out the most. The killer mountain view overlooking the valley, the desert landscape out of Lawrence of Arabia, or maybe the ridge you just climbed. Just when you get to that place where you want to take it all in, pop out the camera and start snapping photos, mother nature and exposure enter into the picture when you are the most vulnerable. You hear about it all the time but what exactly is exposure?

Bicycle Touring Online

Ok…so I’m not on tour. How do I keep my bicycle touring chops sharp and in touch. Where do I read about the latest gear and get feedback on what works and what doesn’t? Where do I spend the hours, minutes, and seconds I should be riding online reading about bicycle touring?

NOTE: I would love any suggestions of sites to add to this short list. These are not ranked in order. These are my bicycle touring online destinations:

Sell Everything You Own On Ebay

Sell everything you own on ebay before you leave on your next adventure. The first step in a successful tour is getting rid of all my ‘crap’. Fortunately I have done this before and have made the mental note of not accumulating too much ‘crap’. Storage is a dirty word in my book and there is no such thing as sentimental value. Downsize the crap, lose the clutter, simplify your life, cut your fixed costs that need to be maintained while adventuring and spend the money on better gear.

Rei Minimalist Bivy Sack Review

I purchased the REI Minimalist Bivy Sack in Boulder Colorado mid tour on my last cross country ride. It was one of those sales at REI and my sleeping bag needed replacing badly. I picked up a cheap summer bag and noticed the bivy marked down from $89 to $59. I don’t know why it was marked down. I gave it a quick once over and it seemed to be in perfect condition. MINE!

Bicycles Prohibited Signs

icycles Prohibited signs used to rub me the wrong way but they exist for very good reasons. As per ‘Me’ I had to learn this the hard way. I have no excuse to offer here, I just wanted to share my experience and own up to something stupid I did.

Luci vs Luminaid: Solar Light Showdown

I saw mpowerd.com’s Luci solar powered light on a gadget site and instantly made the purchase. Small pack size and internal solar power would make for the perfect tent light. After purchasing I saw someone had commented on LuminAid’s entry into the same market and I also had to have it….ok…here it is: Luci vs Luminaid.

Eureka Backcountry 1 Review

The Eureka Backcountry 1 is a freestanding, 1 person, double wall, tent that assembles in minutes, and boasts a roomy interior. When I say freestanding I do mean “truly freestanding”. You can completely erect this tent without using any stakes or guidelines.

BikePacking Feedbags DIY Cheap!

Cheap bikepacking feedbags can be yours for less than $17. A bunch of new companies are changing how we carry gear when bicycle touring. I am a huge fan of some of these methods and look forward to incorporating them into my bicycle touring set up.

Thermarest Old School vs New School

Thermarest Old School vs New School was a difficult decision for me. I spend a good deal of time lusting after new equipment online. When I saw that Cascade Designs, maker of Thermarest sleeping pads, modified their Neo Air line, trimming the corners, to fit into a mummy shaped bivy, I penciled it in as a goto piece of gear for my next trip; however, I’m not so sure anymore.

When Your Bicycle Tour Becomes A Nightmare

Sometimes the trip of a lifetime can seem like a series of bad decisions. When either 'the Rider’ or 'the Equipment’ cannot outperform the challenge your bicycle tour becomes a nightmare.

I’m sitting here planning my upcoming tour and all of my thinking reflects perfect conditions and equipment that works but I know that all kinds of things are going to go wrong: equipment failure, getting lost, body fatigue, injury, wildlife issues, and issues with humans. Limiting these disasters keep you sharp and go a long way in preventing when your bicycle tour becomes a nightmare.

How Much Does It Cost to Bicycle Tour

How much does it cost to bicycle tour? On all the 'Bicycle Touring’ sites I visit there is always a question about the costs associated with bicycle touring. What is the cost? What is your daily budget? How do you get the time?

Lately I am seeing a lot of questions that revolve around sites like 'kickstarter’ where people are actually attempting to have others 'fund’ their tour. This post is not about that. I am simply breaking down the costs of touring into three verticals that I can then plan around and price out.

How much does it cost to bicycle tour?

My time is worth BILLIONS!

When I tell people I am planning a bicycle tour that could take 'years’ the first reaction is usually: 'How can you afford to do this?’

Kayak + Bike = ATV

This past summer I headed up into the wilds of Upstate NY for a weeklong fishing trip / bachelor party. While cycling wasn’t on the menu, I was there to send off a long time cycling buddy who has ridden across the country with me twice. I picked up a $98.00 cheap inflatable kayak to make sure that everyone had a spot in a boat. I was very impressed with the kayak and have been looking for a way to incorporate one into my adventure gear.

The Meditation that is Bicycle Touring

When people ask me “why I bicycle tour?” I often cannot articulate a satisfactory answer. If you are a bicycle tourist or endurance athlete: marathons, triathalons, rock climber, whatever…perhaps you can understand this.

If It Touches The Bike It’s Going To Hurt – Hands, Feet, and Butt

My first tour was on a super stiff aluminum frame with an equally stiff aluminum fork using worn out bar tape on set of Michelin Highlight Super Comp 700c x 20mm tires. I didn’t wear gloves. It destroyed my hands inside of eight days. I still feel the effects 14 years later. Pay particular attention to the equipment that interfaces your body to your bicycle. Hands, feet, and your butt all make contact with the bike and need to be protected to have a successful tour.

Dispersed Camping

This campsite in the photo was a welcome one. I had just climbed up and out of the desert from Phoenix and into the mountains near Payson, Arizona. The day started in a beautiful ‘cactus forest’ desert at an elevation of 1,140 feet and ended in a much cooler piney mountain landscape at 5000 feet. Located at the base of the Mongolian Rim and well inside the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. Free Dispersed Camping near Pine, Arizona.

alt=“Electricity on a Bicycle Tour”/>

Electricity on a Bicycle Tour

On my last tour I employed a Brunton Explorer foldable compact solar panel charger and back up battery to keep my smartphone, camera, and hardrive charged. I was able to stay powered up throughout my trip and never once was without power for my media kit. The downfall was that T-Mobile seemingly had no service from Phoenix, AZ until I neared Denver, CO, perhaps the best part of my trip. I was able to capture media but had to rely on wifi to publish in many places throughout my trip.

Post Bicycle Tour Depression – PBTD

Perhaps you know what I’m talking about. You spend years dreaming about your next tour and finally a window opens up. You spend hours at the computer accessing the best routes. You identify all of the areas where you will be away from services. You work on the bike nonstop to get it perfect. You are constantly playing with your gear set up, buying new gear, selling old gear, and then adjusting how you place it on the bike. This goes on for months. Once you are all set you dive into making all of the travel arrangements to get to your launch point. You pack everything you will need for the upcoming trek in a cardboard box and ship it or bring it on a plane with you. Finally it’s day one of your tour. Finally after months or years of prep you are on your way, but the bike ride is only a small slice of how a tour comes off.

Making the Switch to Bikepacking Bags

I have been on three tours and each time I return home with a list of items I will not be taking on my next trip. My last trip was a little over a year ago and I am reviewing in preparation for an upcoming trip. Not unlike my previous preparatory stages I am trying to lose some equipment. I will be shedding the racks and pannier bags on my upcoming trip. I have seen a lot of upstart companies that produce a new type of bicycle bag. No racks are needed and they offer a more streamlined form factor. They refer to these bags as “Bikepacking” bags. The BicycleHobo is making the conversion to a bikepacker.

1994 Specialized S-Works M2

I am the proud owner of a 1994 specialized s-works m2. This thing is a stumpjumper on steroids. I can remember when Mountain Bike Action had this plastered on the cover with a full two photo spread inside. I lusted after it then and I jumped at the chance to grab this off Ebay for $800. History of the 1994 specialized s-works m2

Specialized Future Shock

In 1990’s Specialized looked at the work Rock Shox was doing and reached out to them to build a the Specialized Future Shock. This is a ‘Specialized’ branded version of the Mag 21 SL that would eventually be mated to a Metal Matrix compound frame called M2. I can remember staring at this bicycle fork for hours on end in all of the MTB magazines. It was so special that our local Specialized Bike Shop didn’t get a window model. Travel is up to 2.5″ and has negative springs with with carbon fiber stanchions, alloy steerer, alloy drop outs and titanium hardware ($650 retail). This is not your average touring fork, in fact many may think this is a foolish choice. The Specialized Future Shock is perhaps one of the nicest looking forks ever created.

Bivy Sack Personality

Every since I was a young boy I have slept with the covers pulled up and over my head. Completely covered by the blanket. When I am unable to do this I often position a pillow so it covers the top of my head all the way to the tip of my nose so that just my nose and mouth are exposed. I have no explanation for this and have been derided by every single girlfriend who was witness to this behavior. Sleeping in a bivy sack comes quite naturally to me.

Stealth Camping

Stealth camping is finding a free, usually illegal, always inconspicuous campsite, spending the night and leaving without being noticed. Questions on forums abound on the practice of finding a free camping spot. It’s usually called stealth, ninja, hobo, guerrilla, urban, vagabond, whatever camping. People talk about it’s morality, legality, practise, and execution. I have successfully stealth camped 100’s of times in many different conditions. I’m fairly adept at it because I am usually very prepared with equipment on a bike trip. There are people who make a life out of stealth camping and spend every night for years this way.

Hygiene on

#bicycle touring #bicycle

1 note · View note

shirlleycoyle · 5 years

Text

The First iPhone Was a Landline

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

Phone lines, while not initially designed to transfer binary data, turned out to be a good enough way to do so—at least until the 2000s, that is.

From sending faxes to browsing the internet, people relied on effectively the same copper wires they used with Ma Bell-leased telephones.

While most of the personal tech evolved towards greater connectivity, landline phones mostly got better only at the ergonomics of calling and dialing.

But a few dared to be smarter—decades before smartphones found their way into our pocket.

Let’s talk about the evolution of the landline smartphone.

“Man-to-man, man-to-machine, machine-to-machine. In a short time, we’ve come a long way.”

– A line from “Challenges of Change,” a 1961 promotional movie from AT&T. Filmed on a height of Space Age anticipation, it shows “Data-Phones”—essentially, modems which could transmit data from punched cards, tapes, or even handwritten notes.

The earliest visions of smartphones didn’t anticipate that we wouldn’t communicate with our our voices

The AT&T video, filled with otherworldly visual effects, is delightful to anyone with an interest in history. At the same time, it shows why landline phones did not become the interactive mediums that smartphones later did.

While the narrator talked about changes in communication, scenarios from the movie showed data exchanges at best, as all meaningful interactions were done by voice and between humans. For example, before loading a punched card, a Data-Phone operator had to chat with the person on the other end of the line. Even in the age of rocket deliveries, shopping over a credit card-enabled videophone would be done by talking to a manager, as if one would in a retail store.

Admittedly, Bell engineers envisioned the future where people would only need to use the keypad to communicate with the source over a phone. A year later, Touch-Tone phones were presented to the U.S. public. While the speed of dialing was what AT&T promoted to customers, the DTMF (Dual-tone multi-frequency, informally known as “touch-tone”) signals generated by buttons allowed for menu navigation still used today.

Image: Gillfoto/Wikimedia Commons

How the United Kingdom failed to start an online revolution

By 1970, additional buttons on each side of a zero competed the 12-button keypad. Twelve buttons were what the UK Post Office had to rely on while developing Prestel, a nationwide service which let people use interactive services on a home video terminal.

Looking back, if there is one thing the UK engineers in the 1970s were fascinated with, it’s putting text on TV screens. In the United States, there wasn’t any notable progress in this field between a TV Typewriter electronic kit and the advent of home computers. The British, on the other hand, went straight towards transferring news, financial data, and TV guides—long before the booming popularity of the Internet, developing two coexisting ways to broadcast text.

One of these technologies, teletext, still lingers to this day across Europe. The text data, complete with color and pseudographics, is being broadcast alongside a TV signal—literally stuffed in between video frames. By design of the aerial transmission, teletext provides no interactivity, leaving the user to flip between different “pages” and occasionally revealing hidden text (the latter was mostly used to hide quiz answers).

Using a phone line instead allowed for higher transfer rate, more personalization (and billing for premium pages) and the ability to run remote software. Over several years since the mass introduction in 1979, Prestel accumulated several online banking, shopping, and booking offerings—even before the home computer boom which pushed operators to add software downloads and games.

Prestel used phone lines and required a phone-like keypad for navigation—surely, it was a fitting technology to build phones of the future around. That didn’t happen on a scale required to ensure Prestel’s success. Instead, the Post Office bet on marrying the network with TV—by offering not even set-top boxes, but Prestel-enabled TVs, priced at £650 at the very least. By contrast, France Télécom leased terminals for their similar Télétel network for free, making Minitel popular enough that it survived until 2012.

Executel. Image: Internet Archive

There was just a single Prestel phone—but boy, what a device it was. A wide unit with a small CRT screen and a QWERTY keyboard, STC Executel was an “intelligent display telephone” which combined voice and text communications with almost every productivity feature of its era.

The 1984 ad touted contacts book, calendar, ability to take notes and a “£500,000 in a national advertising campaign directed at top executives.” Being essentially an Intel 8085-based computer, it stored its software on a dictaphone cassette and could connect to a “secretarial unit” which allowed updating the data from another desk.

Just 10,000 Executel devices were sold, according to the designer David Leers. Only five thousand of them were sold, with the rest repurposed.

What might have saved Executel from being completely forgotten is its sleek, modern look.

Several Executels found their way in industrial design museums, although the plastics used for the keyboard turned out to be prone to yellowing. Just last week, one appeared on the YouTube channel Techmoan.

Image: Compass Design

The most advanced landline phone of 1998 was literally called “iPhone”

A British oddity, Executel was simply unknown stateside. Still, the idea of a “computer phone” was a part of the social consciousness, and the manufacturers have toyed with it—if only by exploring. One of the most well-known prototypes was made by Apple by 1984. The “MacPhone” concept had a touchscreen for sending notes and signing checks, but, like other projects by Hartmut Esslinger, was only meant for finding new design elements.

But in the 1990s, the rising popularity of the Internet, a desire for a “post-PC” device and plain old technical progress paved the way for household devices which were meant to connect to the phone line. These so-called “Internet appliances” were promising easy Web and email access in a device which supposed to be as easy-to-use as TVs, music centers … or phones.

But while most IAs were simply low-end computers with a handset on top of it (I’m looking at you, Intel Dot.Station), there was just one which could actually replace a landline phone. And yes, it was actually called the iPhone.

Released in 1997, the original iPhone was made by InfoGear, a startup made from one of the National Semiconductor labs. Despite its big, full-VGA touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard, it looked like a contemporary phone. But on top of making calls, it could work with email and “full” versions of web sites—a feat achieved by off-loading some of the computational power to InfoGear servers.

It isn’t even the name or the web capabilities which made one think of the Apple iPhone, but the way all features were integrated. Just like on modern mobile phones, it was possible to dial a number from a web page by tapping it. The InfoGear’s phone did not only have a voicemail, but could transcribe the incoming messages to text.

While the phone made the international headlines, it was eventually forgotten alongside with the rest of the IA market—especially when InfoGear was bought by Cisco. The story took another turn when Apple released its iPhone—Cisco sued them for trademark infringement. Eventually, the two companies came to an out-of-court settlement.

(It wasn’t the last time Apple and Cisco discussed trademark issues. The iOS name, in fact, belongs to Cisco and is licensed to Apple—and might be the reason the latter doesn’t want people to use the phrase “iOS devices.”)

Alan Sugar hosts The Apprentice in the United Kingdom. Image: Getty Images

A British lord asked all users of his “superphone” to harass a journalist

To people focused solely on computing history, Alan Sugar is a businessman whose Amstrad micros and ZX Spectrum models contributed heavily to the UK home computer industry.

But to everyone else, he is a bigoted, homophobic billionaire in power who keeps his domestic relevance by hosting a TV show originally presented in the U.S. by Donald Trump.

And by the year 2000, his company had lost all that goodwill by releasing products that few people wanted. The PenPad PDA was slow, bulky and had a deteriorating rubber shell; the PcW16 desktop computer had a black-and-white screen and a processor from 1976 despite being released in 1995; the GX4000 game console was just a reason to sell cassette computer games on cartridges for a higher price. Eventually, Amstrad spun off its computing division and focused all its resources on Betacom, a communication company it had acquired. The result was Amstrad E-m@iler, the last attempt to push an Internet-connected landline phone to the mass market.

The Amstrad E-m@iler. Image: philgyford/Flickr.

As a piece of hardware, it wasn’t much different from the InfoGear iPhone. What set it apart was the business model: instead of offering a monthly fee, Amstrad made the E-m@iler operate exclusively through a premium-rate phone number—and put another fee on top. “Sure, if I was organized and could send a day’s worth of emails and SMS messages in one sitting then the prospect of paying 12p for a single session online (plus the cost of the phone call) would be a small price to pay. But I’m not. And I can’t,” noted Tim Richardson of The Register in their 20002 review of a revised E-m@ailer Plus.

Later models of E-m@iler, like the 2004 E3 Superphone, added new features and new ways to get as much profit per user as possible. The ability to play ZX Spectrum games was added, although it was only possible to rent them—again, with paying per call and per service at the same time. The new color screen was used to display ads, with the phone periodically dialing home to download new banners (thankfully, on a toll-free number).

In 2011, the year Amstrad E-m@iler services were shut down, Sugar admitted that “it was slightly too late,” but noted that the subsidized lineup eventually recouped all the costs with services.

He definitely was not as accepting in 2001, though, when he noticed E-m@iler in the list of “techno-flops” in The Independent. The mild criticism (“not proving the success that Sir Alan Sugar had hoped” was all that was ever written about the phone) pushed Sugar to send a message to all 95,000 service subscribers, asking them to send an email to Charles Arthur, the newspaper’s tech editor.

“It occurred to me that I should send an email to Mr. Charles Arthur telling him what a load of twaddle he is talking. If you feel the same as me and really love your e-mailer, why don’t you let him know your feelings by sending him an email,” he wrote in a letter with Mr. Arthur’s address attached.

While the journalist had to cope with more than 1,300 letters—none of which were written by Sugar himself—some of them, eventually published online, exposed hardware faults, annoying bugs, and a helpline being directed to a premium-rate number.

“With this device we can charge advertisers, say, 10p for each customer to receive an ad they will see all day, and charge the advertisers £10 whenever a customer calls them by pressing the ‘services button.’ Or it may be that we give them the ad—free but they pay £25 whenever somebody calls—it’s a no-brainer.”

– Alan Sugar, positioning the E-m@iler as an “electronic billboard” to the readers of Marketing Week. Even considering that Internet phones were not as widespread as PCs, the ballpark cost per click sounds insane. However, as we’ve seen in the past, no one really knew by then how much web advertising should cost.

When asked to reflect on the 1997 iPhone, Robert Ackerman, a venture capitalist who pushed for the independence of InfoGear, said: “We were early into the marketplace. Ten years later, a very different story.” By contrast, Alan Sugar said he was ten years too late—and God knows which decade would be right for the Executel.

The world seemed to be fine with landline phones staying in their lane. But I can’t help but wonder how they would have evolved if the phone industry wasn’t controlled by the Bell System, the Post Office, or other nationwide monopolies. The original telecommunication industry, in my opinion, would have envisioned the connected world differently, based on the phone network paradigms rather than mainframe-terminal ones. Instead, manufacturers had to find faults in a PC-dominated world to make the case for their devices.

Smart landline phones still exist. Some VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and SIP (session initiation protocol) systems for business—arguably the only purchasers of landlines in 2019—are not only using the Web as an infrastructure, but can open web sites and use Android apps. But I think, when it comes to elegance, they pale in comparison to a device I noticed in Moscow Apple Museum.

After licensing the Newton technology from Apple, Siemens made the NotePhone, their own spin on the original MessagePad PDA. When used by itself, it’s functionally indistinguishable from the Apple device. What makes it special is the base with a handset which added phone and fax capabilities. Even back then, mobile computer expansions were nothing new, but this one seems like an integral part of the device while managing to be self-sufficient.

Maybe, instead of being either “smart” or “dumb,” landlines should have been more elegant in their connection to the world of computers.

Yuri Litvinenko is a trade journalist from Russia. When not covering the dairy industry, he spends time being fascinated by legacy technology, both “retro” and gadgets approaching retro status.

The First iPhone Was a Landline syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

0 notes

savetopnow · 6 years

Text

2018-04-02 05 BUSINESS now

BUSINESS

Business Insider

Mexico's former ambassador to China explains 'how China capitalizes where the United States is retreating'

13 of the best places to visit if you're planning a vacation in April

This $60 car sensor can diagnose the cause of a check engine light without a trip to the mechanic

Shaq has a wild story about spending $70,000 at Walmart — the biggest purchase in company history

China's bus-size space station could crash to Earth in about five hours — or sooner

Harvard Business Review

Becoming More Conscientious

To Combat Physician Burnout and Improve Care, Fix the Electronic Health Record

The Most Common Type of Incompetent Leader

5 Things We Learned About Creating a Successful Workplace Diversity Program

Research: When Retail Workers Have Stable Schedules, Sales and Productivity Go Up

Inc

April Fools' Day 2018: Celebrate With These 9 Products (That Will Ignite Your Inner Geek)

5 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Relationship When You're Swamped with Work

A Possible Fix for Small Businesses That Don't Have the Resources to Implement Loyalty Schemes

Why Founders Are Promoting Sports, Health and Fitness to Employees

4 Things Every Leader Should Know Before Starting A Big Data Project

New York Times Business

Your Money Adviser: With New Tax Law, I.R.S. Urges Taxpayers to Review Withholdings

‘Ready Player One’ Overcomes Challenges to Dominate Box Office

The Week Ahead: White House to List Chinese Products Facing Tariffs and the March Jobs Report

Card Data Stolen From 5 Million Saks and Lord & Taylor Customers

Live Nation Rules Music Ticketing, Some Say With Threats

Reddit Business

If Trump Declares War On Amazon, Who Wins?

London firm revamps pay by letting staff set salaries

Saks, Lord & Taylor hit by payment card data breach

where i can find a detailed uber expansion timeline?

Always interesting to see what canada is doing tech-wise

Reddit Startup

Share your startup - April 2018

What should I be doing while my website is being built?

Need some feedback on pricing for a job/gig based startup

Paul Buchheit: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good.

The Economist Business and Finance

Wakandanomics

America’s trade strategy has many risks and few upsides

Technology has upended the world’s advertising giants

Mexico switches on its government-run wholesale mobile network

Uber makes a tactical retreat from South-East Asia

Wall Street Journal Business

Saks, Lord & Taylor Hit With Data Breach

After the Facebook Data Scandal, Can Users Have Too Much Privacy?

Dominant 'Black Panther' Box Office Run Highlights Hollywood's Problem

Hospitals Fear Threat From Potential Walmart-Humana Deal

How Apple, Amazon, Pandora and More Are Trying to Gain on Spotify

Yahoo Finance

Ryan Reynolds Comments On Marriage Trouble Rumors Like Only He Can

Why Is Easter Always Changing? It Has to Do With the Moon

Cat Stuck Between Two Automatic Doors is Rescued

China and Vietnam call for maritime disputes to be settled

Boat carrying Rohingya stops on Thai island: official

#business

0 notes

vrisrael2013 · 3 years

Text

HTC Vive Pro 2 VR headset hands-on review

The Vive Pro 2, HTC's follow-up to its commercial-level HMD, is aimed at both professionals and high-end gamers.

The Vive Pro 2 is being marketed as a premium VR solution for gamers, as opposed to the original Vive Pro, which was primarily aimed at industrial and commercial users. I can't say I blame them for doing so. The Vive Cosmos, which replaced the original consumer-oriented Vive, improved the visuals but fell short on several other fronts.

You won't be able to buy the new Vive Pro 2 at your local electronics store. The only way for consumers to get a Vive Pro 2 is through the Vive website. Even so, in the ANZ region, it's only available as a headset — no retail package includes the necessary IR base stations or controllers. They're sold separately, but I imagine HTC intends for the Pro 2 to be an upgrade for those who already have the accessories.

📷

The Pro 2 looks almost identical to its predecessor right out of the box. It's a large headset, roughly the same weight as the original Vive but lighter than the Vive Cosmos (with the Tracking Faceplate). When I first picked it up, the first thing I noticed was how solid it felt. In comparison, the original Vive and Cosmos feel like they're made of eggshells. While I doubt it will bounce, the Vive Pro 2 appears to be built to take a beating.

Two pass-through cameras and a full array of sensors are located on the front of the headset (as opposed to the reduced amount on the Cosmos Tracking Faceplate). An on/off button and a button for adjusting the distance between the lenses and your eyes are located on the left side of the headset. People who wear large glasses will find this useful (although I could still wear glasses and have the lenses right up close without rubbing against them). The IPD (interpupillary distance), or distance between your eyes, can be adjusted with a dial on the right side. When you turn this dial, a cross appears, which aids in finding the sweet spot when you put it on.

The volume controls are on the left side of the integrated audio headset, while the mic mute button is on the right. The audio components can be removed and replaced with a third-party audio headset. A couple of plastic discs are included to keep things tidy by covering the headphone connectors if they are removed.

The Vive Pro uses SteamVR infrared Lighthouse base stations for extremely precise tracking, unlike the base Vive Cosmos, Oculus Rift S, and a slew of Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets. These aren't cheap, and they require a higher level of technical expertise to set up and operate. We already had the base stations mounted to the office walls and a pair of Vive controllers as original Vive/Cosmos owners. While a pain to set up at first, the extra effort pays off because the base stations track the headset and controller with far greater fidelity than any other method.

📷

Putting on the Pro 2 took some time, as it does with most VR HMDs, to find the sweet spot — the point at which your eyes must be positioned over the lenses to see the display clearly. It appeared to be smaller than the original Vive's, but comparable to the Cosmos'. I was good to go after a little careful adjusting.

In comparison to what I was used to with the Vive Cosmos, the Pro 2's stated 120-degree wide field-of-view was fantastic. On paper, the Cosmos has a 110-degree field of view, but in practice, it's closer to 90 degrees. The Pro 2 provided me with a breathtakingly wide vista when I held the lenses as close to my eyes as possible.

Using the ROV Test FOV & Resolution SteamVR environment to check the horizontal and vertical FOV, it appears that the horizontal FOV is closer to 110 degrees horizontal and 80 degrees vertical. In any case, in normal use, both the horizontal and vertical FOVs are sufficient. The horizontal line of sight for a normal human is 124 degrees, and the vertical optimum eye rotation is 55 degrees (which explains why I had to strain to see the Pro 2's 80 degrees). The Vive Pro 2 uses Fresnel lenses, as do all of HTC's HMDs, to keep the lens thickness low. Without the use of thick lenses, tiny concentric rings (raised on the inside of the lens) increase refraction. I'm not a big fan of it. The disadvantage of this technology is that bright objects can cause glare. When the HMD is properly fitted, the effect is reduced, and you eventually grow accustomed to it.

It may sound strange, but I believe the lenses are too far apart. As the binocular effect is disrupted, you may notice a circular shadow in the middle of your view if your eyes become tired or if the lenses are positioned too far away from your eyes. This happened to me a few times.

📷

The default settings for the Vive Console software are an automatic resolution and display frequency, which may not be ideal. The Vive Console does have the option of manually applying one of five settings: Performance (2448x1224 @120 Hz), Balanced (3264x1632 @90 Hz), High (3672x1836 @90 Hz), Ultra (4896x2448 @90 Hz), and Extreme (4896x2448 @120 Hz) are the four different types of performance. I'm not sure why there isn't a 3672x1836 @120 Hz option.

The Vive Pro 2 has a pair of 2448 2448 low persistence LCD panels, so these resolutions are the combined resolution of both eyes. I couldn't get a resolution higher than 3672x1836 at first. Display Stream Compression is required for the 4896x2448 resolution (DSC). This is a visually lossless compression built into the DisplayPort 1.4 standard that allows for the large amounts of data required for 5K resolutions to be transferred. This means you'll need not only a powerful GPU to access the Ultra and Extreme settings, but also one that supports DSC. The Vive Pro 2 is, of course, backwards compatible with DisplayPort 1.2, allowing it to work with older equipment at lower resolutions.

After some back-and-forth with the Vive engineers in Taiwan, I discovered that I needed to unplug one of my three monitors (which was overloading the GPU driver) in order to achieve the Pro 2's top performance settings. With the Pro 2 running at 4K 3672x1836 resolution, I was already impressed. My mind was blown when I turned on 5K (4896x2448).

TheBlu was the first thing I tried on the Vive Pro 2. The first thing I tried on the original Vive was this immersive underwater VR experience. I was standing on a reef 20 meters beneath the sea's surface, watching as realistic-looking fish darted around me. It was just as incredible as the first time I saw them, but without the pixelated screen door effect this time.

With modern graphics cards favoring higher resolutions, the Pro 2's higher fidelity image at the Extreme setting didn't result in the performance hit I expected. In most VR applications, the crisp visuals were complemented by a framerate that didn't skip a beat.

Because of the higher pixel density, gauges and readouts in Microsoft Flight Simulator were clearer, with virtually no performance loss when using the game's default VR settings. The scenery and airports looked well-defined and photoreal as I looked out the window of my plane over California. Not only were the gauges in Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) easy to read, but I couldn't make myself sick doing spins and loops because the framerate was rock solid. It was incredible to fly over Las Vegas in a UH-1 chopper. It's not all about the games. While HTC recognizes that the technology is sought after by the high-end gaming community, the Vive Pro 2 is designed as a commercial/industrial VR solution, according to the company.

Because of the higher resolution and wider field of view, watching movies on the free Bigscreen app feels like you're sitting in a cinema. Previously, I've found that watching movies in VR, particularly 3D movies, has been a skewed experience with washed-out details. All of that changes with the Pro 2. I was able to present in a hosted room using the desktop, which was crisp and readable in VR for a potential audience, thanks to Bigscreen.

The Pro 2 also comes with detachable earphones that reproduce audio reasonably well. However, it didn't seem as loud as previous Vive HMDs. I used to be nearly deafened by the Deluxe Audio Strap for the original Vive. When there was no other sound, the provided review unit had a quiet AC hum. It wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but I could hear it. The dual microphones are adequate for chatting, but I wouldn't use them to broadcast or record professional audio.

The Vive Pro 2 will be an over-the-top extravagance for most users. It's quite pricey at AU$1299/NZ$1449 for just the headset. If you already own an original Vive or Vive Pro, as well as the base stations and controllers, the Vive Pro 2 is a good upgrade. Owners of the Vive Pro 2 can keep their existing Base Station 1.0 and Vive controllers or upgrade to the updated Base Station 2.0s, which can be purchased separately. You can even use Valve's Index Knuckles controllers for fully immersive per-finger tracking if you can find them.

HTC's Vive Pro 2 is the step up from the Vive Cosmos that I had hoped for. It isn't cheap, but it should appeal to gamers who want the best VR experience possible. The unit is durable and uses a VR system that is widely used in the industry. I see the Pro 2 becoming standard not only in VR arcades, but also in a wide range of commercial and industrial VR applications.

Virtual Reality, Augmented and Artificial Intelligence 2021 specialist Amit Caesar wrote the article. Send me an email: [email protected]

Advertisements

// &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

0 notes

kathleenseiber · 4 years

Text

When Americans go back to work, things won’t be the same

When the United States returns to work, things won’t be the same as they were, Jonathan Caulkins argues.

“I think it’s unrealistic to think that we will be able to re-open as we were before. In fact, I don’t want us to,” says Caulkins, professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. “But society can, and should, make changes now to ease the transition and help the economy.”

In his opinion, the best way to boost the economy by getting some people back to work soon is to focus on manufacturing and construction.

In a recent op-ed he wrote for Politico, Caulkins notes that 20 million Americans work in those fields, which is more than those in leisure and hospitality. Many restaurants are open these days for take-out. Manufacturing plants, unless they produce health supplies, are mostly shuttered.

“…a typical factory is used to putting a premium on controlled work processes that are safety-driven. Many could open now.”

“Yet if you walked through both a typical restaurant kitchen and a manufacturing floor, you would see that many kitchen workers are forced to work much more closely to each other than on a factory floor,” Caulkins says.

“Modern manufacturing plants are very capital-intensive enterprises with a lower population density. And a typical factory is used to putting a premium on controlled work processes that are safety-driven. Many could open now.”

For the record, Caulkins thinks restaurants should stay open, too. But, with more creativity and flexibility from governments, he sees a pathway for millions of additional workers to soon join cooks and cashiers back at work with even greater safety than we have today. Even furniture and electronics stores are potential candidates.

“Target can stay open and sell TVs and lamps because they also sell groceries. But other big-box businesses, with equally large buildings that don’t sell food, can’t open their doors,” Caulkins says. “Perhaps we limit the number of customers at a time. Or allow sales people to use video technology to show items remotely and take orders on the phone.”

Caulkins sees three categories of businesses in this COVID era: those that are essential and must remain open, such as hospitals; less-essential businesses that should stay closed for now because they introduce more risk than value, such as concert venues and theme parks; and those in the middle that should be given leeway for getting their employees back to work.

“Some could open now, predicated on a plan the business develops that implements safe social distancing protocols. Government officials would visit and inspect the business in the days and weeks to come,” he says.

“The people who know best about how to make their workplaces safe are those who work in them.”

“Other businesses would have to first submit their plans for review before being approved to re-open. The people who know best about how to make their workplaces safe are those who work in them.

“Our country’s current mindset is very binary: companies are either life-sustaining or not,” Caulkins adds. “They can stay open or they must close. We can’t economically survive with that rigid outlook indefinitely in place until life eventually returns to whatever ‘normal’ awaits us.”

Caulkins has several ideas that could bring more Americans back to work, in addition to new ways to create revenue for businesses that aren’t currently open:

Keep stores open longer

“I see many stores shortening their hours in an attempt to minimize social contact. But it also forces the same number of customers into a smaller window of time. Keep the stores open later, even 24 hours, to disperse the crowds. It would also provide more shifts for employees,” Caulkins says.

Make gas stations full-service

“Gas stations should remain open, but self-service involves scores of people touching the same pump handle every day. With so many people needing work, why not require gas to be pumped by gloved attendants with payments made online?”

Changes for retail

“Limit the number of customers in the stores, or allow sales persons to use video technology to show items remotely and take orders on the phone. Pick-ups could be curbside or inside the store using social distancing guidelines.”

Open golf courses

“It’s odd to me that golf courses are closed. When you’re playing, you’re more socially distant than walking down the sidewalk. But if a golf course can’t open, cities could rent the property for the next few months and turn it into a temporary park with walking trails. Parks are very busy these days, as people look for ways to get outside. Golf courses would increase available green spaces for the public.”

Create new jobs

“We have hundreds of thousands of people who are scared and lonely while self-isolating. They could be depressed and out of work, or too sick to have visitors,” Caulkins says.

“Thousands of people could be hired by the government to simply call them to provide comfort, entertainment, and interaction in order to address psycho-social needs that aren’t currently being met.”

Source: Carnegie Mellon University

The post When Americans go back to work, things won’t be the same appeared first on Futurity.

When Americans go back to work, things won’t be the same published first on https://triviaqaweb.weebly.com/

0 notes

365xinwen · 4 years

Text

How A Cardboard Box Is Made

How a cardboard field is made at Kite Packaging. The corrugated box making machine market in EMEA saw a decline in demand for corrugated bins during 2012-2015 within the wake of low crude oil costs, which led to the general economic slowdown in the Center East region. It is now probably the most advanced and multifunctional box making machine, providing all types of personalized packaging options for finish customers in addition to box vegetation. The two liners are then adhered to the board by the machine; the cardboard is then minimize both sides with a circular saw to provide the board straight sides. Popular for their power, durability, lightness, recyclability, and value-effectiveness, corrugated packing containers are used for the shipping of quite a lot of objects. In case you are planning to start a cardboard manufacturing business, this article offers you all the mandatory particulars from equipment to legal permissions. Because our machines provide short and medium run solutions, providing packing containers that meet niche customer calls for is easy and would not take away out of your lengthy-run processes. Resulting from rising manufacturing in Europe and China, cardboard prices within the USA dropped marginally. With 120+ Carton Sealing & Packaging Options with a wide variety of excessive velocity Case Sealers, Carton Sealing Tape, Box Erectors, Field Formers and Excessive Speed Box Tape Heads, BestPack is your one stop store to automate your packaging course of. The most dominant participant within the industry is the one-wall corrugated board which accounts for over ninety % of all production. Carton Box Machine BM2508-Plus is much like BM2508 to a big extent, which is a multifunctional carton field packing machine of horizontal slotting and scoring, vertical slitting and creasing, horizontal slicing. We provide global consumers with an entire useful resource for their packaging wants resembling low-cost China Carton Field Making Machine. A wide variety of carton box making machine options can be found to you, similar to paper bowl machine, envelope making machine, and egg tray machine. Cardboard Help is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. SPB Machinery has one of the largest collection of paper product machines and I have all the time been amazed by their devoted assist and after-sales service. It is a perfect equipment to produce paper box such like hamburger box, chips box. You now not should depend on third events, but can produce customized boxes, in small or medium runs, the moment they’re required. These totally different grades of corrugated cardboard might be made by combining different grades of kraft paper. You too can select from ul, ce. In addition to from paper slitting and rewinding machine, winding machine, and printing machine. This report focuses on Skilled Global Corrugated Field Making Machine Market 2019-2024 volume and worth at International stage, regional degree and firm stage. Glue strength, bursting strength, compression, and extremely correct dimensional tests determine the quality of the manufacturing course of. During 1992, more than 25 million tons of corrugated cardboard have been produced within the United States. In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the worldwide corrugated box making machine marketplace for 2017-2021. As skilled workers run batches of field blanks via the flexo machines, individual boxes are pulled and inspected. Among all points of the cardboard field manufacturing trade, there was an exponential improve in the demand for inexperienced production both by the federal government and consumers. The calls for of multiple handbook handlings, automated sortation, and uncontrolled stacking in vehicles or air containers put severe stress on boxes, field closures, and the contents. BM2508 is a totally automatic carton field making machine for corrugated cardboard, appropriate for field plant with small quantity orders and massive dimension cartons, which effectively solves the problem of scattered orders. A complete one stop sourcing platform for packaging & printing suppliers, producers and factories, we’re sufficiently big to be able to provide an expanded product line of labels and packaging design capabilities yet small enough to be able to provide the personal service that is nonetheless so very important in enterprise right this moment.

Thanks for choosing BestPack, your whole tape sealing, carton erecting answer provider, box erector provider and case sealer resolution supplier. Finally, batches of finished packing containers are banded together for shipping to the food processor, toy maker, automobile components distributor, or any of the 1000’s of companies that depend on corrugated cardboard packaging. MDPI assures nice efficiency for very small-quantity corrugated packing containers of many different sizes. Corrugated cardboard is a stiff, strong, and lightweight material made up of three layers of brown kraft paper. The FEFCO (European Federation of Corrugated Board Producers) information is the bible of corrugated cartons, and descriptions each fashion you possibly can imagine – with a number of classes together with 01 categories for industrial rolls and sheets, 02 for slotted-kind boxes using one piece of glued board, 03 for telescope style bins consisting of more than one piece (normally a bottom and lid design), 04 for folder type boxes just like ebook wrap mailers and 05, 06, 07, 08 and 09 which consist of more difficult types. The major market driver for corrugated box making machines market arises from the speedy growth in lots of African countries, which is anticipated to increase the demand for FMCG and electronics products, owing to the speedy progress in middle-class inhabitants and overall disposable incomes. You get the advantages of over forty years of box and corrugated cardboard expertise, providing your organization with the tools it must fulfill buyer calls for – no matter the sort of field, pallet or carton they require. We have provided the very best degree of equipment to a whole lot of field vegetation all over the world, in addition to enabling finish-user businesses to take control over their packaging and save money. Out there to deal with urgent calls for corrugated containers. Computerized Carton Erecting Machine with firm structure, prime quality, low noise and excessive efficiency. The demand for retail-ready corrugated boxes is predicted to extend by 7 percent annually making up to $three billion by 2020. The rising urbanization and the growth in center class inhabitants that led to the rise in gross sales of merchandise from various industries will subsequently rise the demand for corrugated bins. As brief and medium-run machines, the AutoBox or Boxer take the load from excessive pace converting tools, allowing long-run machines to work with out interruption and with most effectivity. This shift among client demand has forced producers to take significant measure to make their containers atmosphere-friendly, at the similar time letting consumers know of their efforts to draw customers. Other than the talked about info,progress rateof Corrugated Field Making Machine market in 2025is additionally explained.Moreover, sort clever and application clever consumptiontables andfiguresof Corrugated Box Making Machine marketare additionally given. Having just lately invested in further technological advances within the manufacturing space CartonPack is effectively poised to have the ability to meet the adjustments wants of your production necessities. Paperboard packaging is created from recycled merchandise and is best than fossil gas-based mostly plastic packaging. We have now a number one organization in offering a supreme quality assortment of Carton Box Making Machineto our clients. With rising urbanization and growth of the center-class population, the demand for numerous merchandise across different industries is predicted to develop throughout the forecast interval. Paper Board 200-600gsm; corrugated board paper with thickness not exceed 1.5MM. Gigantic, sq. buildings up to 600 toes long (182.88 meters), these machines contain a wire mesh by which the paper is initially shaped. World demand for cardboard containers is ever rising with almost 60% of all paperboard packaging products getting used in the food segment including drinks, dairy merchandise, dry foods, frozen meals etc.

purlin bracket suppliers

Excessive-Pace Oblique kind Fingerless Corrugated Box making 2 ply machine connected with Servo Sheet Cutter. Paper boxes don’t have any chemical reaction with meals and drinks compared to other containers; furthermore, consumers favor to retailer and stack cardboard containers for their convenience. Minimized house occupied by stock corrugated containers. Paper is fed into the corrugator, where it is steam-heated and pressed to type corrugated cardboard. They can now create their very own cardboard partitions simply to separate the fragile items and always have the capability to provide the right measurement box at their fingertips. Totally different grades of paper comprise each layer that makes up a corrugated box. Because of the high quality and safety of packaging items in corrugated boxes, they are used broadly in the meals trade. Additionally it is one of many many reasons for corporations to go for cardboard packing containers because of rising demand for setting-pleasant packaging by customers. The production of primary slotted containers is feasible from single wall as much as triple wall board. High quality and the after promote service is our intention: we do not only promote the merchandise but solutions. Nonetheless, the greenback value of the shipments has dropped marginally from $8.7 billion to $eight.5. The PPC (Paperboard Packaging Council) predicts that by 2020 the gross sales are expected to extend at a rate of 0.3% and 0.5% in tons. It’s now the most superior and multifunctional carton field making machine, providing all types of custom-made packaging solutions for finish users in addition to field plants. Skilled staff prepare job tickets for every stack of box blanks and route the blanks to fabrication machines. Contemplating firm branding and adventures, cardboard bins are good printing and graphics holding functionality. On the plant, layers of kraft paper are crimped and glued to kind corrugated cardboard, which is then cut, printed, folded, and glued to make boxes. We now have more than ten years of expertise in producing corrugated cardboard production line. After pulping and other processing, the fibers are despatched directly to the paper machine the place they’re fashioned, pressed, dried, and rolled into the wide, heavy rolls of kraft paper despatched to corrugating vegetation to be made into cardboard. The demand for corrugated containers within the meals and beverage and digital goods industries is anticipated to increase in the course of the forecast period because these two industries are the top customers of corrugated bins. With the growing recognition and demand from the web retail industry, producers will begin developing box making machines that support the manufacturing of smart packaging. Then a bending machine folds the boxes along the crease made by the corrugator, on the same time making use of glue. Cardboard containers are nice at producing excessive-quality pictures holds prints longer than other packaging material. As the main carton sealing solution provider, BestPack offers comprehensive packaging solutions for a wide variety of business functions all over the world. A flexo is a large, flat machine that processes field blanks. On one hand, there is an increase in productiveness but the common basis weight of the corrugated board has declined marginally. A cardboard field is principally made up of a flute (made up of recycled paper), sandwiched between two liners. Creasing and Die Slicing Machine is a special equipment for creasing and die slicing cardboard, corrugated board, plastic board and leather-based, and is extensively utilized in printing, packaging and plastic industries. Cardboard bins come underneath the packaging solution business phase and manufacturers produce a variety of merchandise and packing containers in varied styles and sizes to meets as we speak’s market calls for. The Compack Series is a extremely flexible box making machine accessible in a number of configurations to fulfill your computerized packaging wants. This semi-automatic BOXMATIC Handbook machine is good for manufacturing of corrugated packing containers, trays, partitions and minimize-out parts with the choice of additional die-cuts and flexo printing.

One roll of cardboard is corrugated and then glued between two different layers. We’re fanfold cardboard factory with overseas trading property, that’s to say, we will produce the fanfold cardboard and we can export to prospects by ourself. Due to the powerful manufacturing capacity, low-cost labor, and dependable provider, our carton field machine worth could be very aggressive. As customers are moving in the direction of buying as a subscription, thereby obtain totally different products each time, the e-commerce corporations have began producing specifically design boxes with a unique and hanging design to attract more prospects. All our packaging products are product of recycled fibers. Dedicated to engineered high quality and manufacturing reliability for over 35 years, BestPack gives price efficient and extremely environment friendly automated and semi-automated case sealers, box erectors & field formers in addition to high speed case sealing machines with its unique tape sealing machine applications encompassing a wide range of industries, together with food and manufactured goods. Out of both of those processes the Kraft is both used there after which and as talked about before is dark brown in colour, or bleached during the pulping course of to provide a white Kraft. A completed piece of corrugated cardboard is comprised of a single corrugated layer sandwiched between two liners. Then, when a plant receives an order for containers, a product engineer specifies the mix of medium and liner to produce a cardboard to match the customer’s requirement. One roll of cardboard is corrugated and then glued between two different layers (liners) by the same machine. Because the crash of 2008, the corrugated cardboard box market has increased steadily. This may improve the demand for corrugated bins for packaging products. BestPack is the innovation and customization professional for the packaging industry all through the globe, providing some of the best case sealers, field tapers & box erectors available at this time. We provide a big selection of paper processing machines, together with ice cream paper cone machine, computerized paper punching machine, paper cone cup machine, and so forth. At the end of the corrugator, the cardboard is trimmed and cut into large sheets, or field blanks, which then slide right into a stacker that loads them onto a platform. Prospects acknowledge that oversized cardboard packing containers aren’t environmentally pleasant and it has been identified to impression return gross sales. If I have to name 3 best firms in paper product machine category, I would definitely pick SPB machinery for its sheer high quality, dedicated assist, and high-notch performance. Moreover, products ordered through on-line platforms requires packaging at multiple stages together with the vendor and the website. Moreover, the manufacturers are expected to see growing demand for top-high quality graphics, customization, and distinctive field designs. The top supplying nations or areas are China, Malaysia, and India, which supply ninety nine%, 1%, and 1% of carton box making machine respectively. Many begin-ups are already incorporating marketing content material on their packages and customers agree that branded packaging has a positive effect on their product choice. The worldwide inexperienced packaging market is driven by government and American consumers who now have increased environmental consciousness for all merchandise including paper packaging objects. The primary course of within the manufacturing of cardboard field together with process the uncooked supplies. Oct 08, 2019 (The Expresswire) – World Corrugated Box Making Machine Market comprehensive evaluation of the enterprise fashions, key ways, and particular person market shares of among the most excellent players during this panorama. For instance, within the US, the Department of Transportation has jurisdiction and revealed requirements in Title forty nine of the Code of Federal Laws Corrugated packing containers are described in 4G necessities. Thus recycling of waste paper is in demand, which can be utilized to provide products like paperboards, binding sheets, candy box cartons and different packing cartons.

The post How A Cardboard Box Is Made appeared first on Diy Script.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2IfbXi5 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes

biofunmy · 4 years

Text

Black Friday 2019: What You Need to Know

In the age of e-commerce, Black Friday can feel like an anachronism. But don’t be fooled. The Friday after Thanksgiving remains enormously important — at least symbolically — to the retail industry. And millions of shoppers will still be out in stores, working off that turkey and stuffing by racing to find the best deals.

Many others will simply stay at home, content to cruise the internet to do their shopping. Whether it’s in stores or online, our reporters will be covering it here, with a little help from our friends at The Wirecutter.

Shopping has become easier, and more fun

It’s hard to think of a better time to be a shopper. There’s one-day delivery, online purchases with in-store pick up, even $17 cocktails served while you shop for shoes.

Retailers are trying to be all things to all shoppers, but it is proving to be a tough and, some say, unsustainable way to run their business. The more money retailers invest in new initiatives to boost sales, the more their profit margins seem to shrink.

Amazon is driving a lot of this pain, as old-school retailers try to catch up with the online giant, which sets the standard for speed and convenience.

— Michael Corkery

Online sales start strong. ‘Frozen 2’ toys, L.O.L. Surprise dolls and laptops are hits.

Let’s get real: Black Friday shopping, online and in stores, really starts on Thanksgiving and lasts all weekend. So it will be awhile before we know how the retail sector did this year. But one early indicator was positive: Shoppers spent $4.2 billion on Thursday, about 14.5 percent more than on Thanksgiving 2018, according to Adobe Analytics.

Adobe, which tracks purchases made on thousands of websites, said the top-selling items online were toys and products affiliated with the movie “Frozen 2,” L.O.L. Surprise dolls and toys, Amazon Fire TV products and Apple laptops.

Separately, the software company Salesforce projected that online sales would reach $7.4 billion in the United States on Friday alone, about 16 percent more than last year, and $40 billion globally, about a 24 percent increase.

The company found that more people had started their Black Friday shopping early by looking for deals online on Thanksgiving, and 60 percent of those digital orders were placed on mobile phones.

At Costco, the website was slow so the store extended one-day online deals intended for Thanksgiving into Friday. “The website is currently experiencing longer than normal response times,” Costco wrote in a banner across its home page. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”

— Jacey Fortin

Hoping for Gucci in the bargain bin? You’ll have to wait a bit longer.

When Barneys, the iconic Manhattan department store, was sold for pieces last month, it marked the end of an era in New York retailing. It also set the hearts of consumers racing, as talk of an unprecedented liquidation sale swirled. What sorts of deals could be had on cashmere? Would Gucci be in the bargain bin?

Alas, consumers have since been disappointed. Barneys’ liquidators — led by B. Riley Financial’s Great American Group — have largely limited the discounts to just 5 percent or 10 percent off the chain’s luxury wares. Twitter has been rife with incredulous shoppers. “I just checked out Barneys New York closing down sale and socks are $97,” one user wrote. Another remarked that they needed more than 10 percent off, noting, “This is like a rich folks sale.”

This week, however, B. Riley said it would deepen discounts at Barneys beginning on Wednesday, for an average of 30 percent to 35 percent off items throughout the weekend. It promised additional promotions for in-store shoppers. There’s a chance that will spur sales — though shoppers may continue to wait for even bigger discounts during December, as the liquidators will have to offload all of the inventory at some point.

— Sapna Maheshwari

Some shoppers are done already

People who get an early jump on their holiday shopping inspire both envy and awe, and there has been even more early shopping this year.

During the first week of November, consumers had completed 24 percent of their holiday shopping, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. It was the highest level in the history of the trade group’s survey, and up 16 percent from a decade ago.

For the retail industry, it means that the all-important holiday shopping season is getting longer, and Black Friday’s importance is increasingly fading.

— Michael Corkery

How to not get fooled by bad tech deals

Black Friday offers an avalanche of tech sales, and many aren’t worth your time, either because of the quality of the item or a discount that isn’t very exciting.

TV doorbusters, for example, are usually filled with low-quality, off-brand products, or even stripped-down models from top brands that are only available for the holidays. But that doesn’t mean all TV deals are bad deals. The Wirecutter Deals team has found large high-end models from last year at a bargain. We’ve also seen nice discounts on well-regarded midrange sets for everyday viewing or gaming.

While many people are hoping to snag Apple products for a steal, only select product lines are exceptionally priced. Surprisingly, some of the newest models are being discounted, though the reductions are meager. The best deals we’ve seen have been on older model watches. In general, you’re more likely to see discounts on Apple tablets and accessories from big box stores, but if you see a too-good-to-be-true price from a third-party site, it’s likely a refurbished unit with a shorter warranty and no quality guarantee.

In the world of gaming, consoles, controllers and subscription plans have seen strong discounts, as have tech accessories like wireless mice and keyboards. But before you get swept up in the hype and marketing language, we always suggest comparison shopping to ensure you’re getting the best deal on the best products.

— Nathan Burrow

Black Friday in France: Sales and a backlash

Thanksgiving is just another Thursday in Europe, but Black Friday is a bone of contention: embraced by some and rejected by others as an alarming invasion of American consumerism.

Black Friday sales can be found in many countries, from small stationers to major chains to car dealers. In Britain, many retailers, like John Lewis & Partners, a source of appliances and furniture, started offering Black Friday discounts days ago. Curry’s PC World, an electronics retailer, has a “black tag” event claiming savings of up to 50 percent.

On the rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais district of central Paris, nearly every boutique within a one-block stretch is plastered with signs promoting “Black Friday” in English. While France has been slower than other European countries to join the trend, retailers forecast 6 billion euros in sales this year around the event.

In some cases, something is lost in translation. In Germany, the “Friday” is often dropped in signs promoting a “Black Sale” or “Black Week.”

But a backlash has been gaining steam. In France, lawmakers this week proposed to ban some Black Friday promotions starting next year, citing misleading pricing tactics and the rising environmental cost from the delivery of millions of packages.

Élisabeth Borne, the French environment minister, warned of “a frenzy of consumption” in which people are encouraged to buy products they don’t need.

“We need to consume better, not more,” she added.

Parisian authorities also asked the government to allow cities to slap a so-called eco-tax on Amazon and other delivery platforms to make e-commerce players pay for pollution and rising delivery traffic.

Protesters from the Extinction Rebellion movement and other environmental groups held “Block Friday” demonstrations throughout France. Many of the events were aimed at Amazon, with some banners saying “No to Amazon and its world.”

— Liz Alderman and Stanley Reed

Is a short holiday season ‘the fright before Christmas’?

How did the week of Thanksgiving become so entwined in consumerism?

It may have started with Franklin D. Roosevelt. The 32nd president of The United States was so eager to jump-start the economy in 1938 that he moved the holiday’s official date up a week in order to create more shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It was a bold move — and unpopular. The nation had been celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November ever since Abraham Lincoln declared the day a federal holiday following the battle of Gettysburg.

Roosevelt reversed course in 1941 and returned Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of the month, where it remains.

The holiday’s late arrival this year is worrying retailers since it means there are 26 shopping days before Christmas, six fewer than last year.

The abbreviated shopping period is one of reason Morgan Stanley analysts labeled their 2019 holiday retail outlook “The fright before Christmas” and are expecting a less than stellar shopping season.

— Michael Corkery

Santa’s list is packed with everyday items

Black Friday may be known as the raucous kickoff to gift-giving season (especially this year, as Christmas and Hanukkah overlap), but some people aren’t actually shopping for loved ones.

Instead, Wirecutter readers’ lists seem squarely rooted in everyday products. Some of the items our readers have asked us to look out for deals on: baby gates, electric toothbrushes and a garage door opener. And the retailers know this. The Wirecutter Deals team has found excellent pricing on everything from shower curtains to fly traps to computer cables that don’t exactly scream gift. Though, perhaps, nothing says “I love you” like a dongle.

— Annemarie Conte

Sahred From Source link Fashion and Style

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2ryQ08p via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes