Besides projecting directions and e-mails in front of your face, Google Glass can also measure biological signs like heart and breathing rates, according to new research. The work suggests a new way for wearable devices to track a person’s stress level and provide instant fitness feedback.

Researchers from MIT’s Media Lab and the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Interactive Computing say that they can accurately ferret out this data by monitoring a Glass wearer’s head movements with the gyroscope, accelerometer, and camera built into Google Glass. A paper on the research will be presented at the MobiHealth conference in Athens, Greece, in November.

The project, called BioGlass, could lead to biometric-tracking apps for Google Glass. Looking beyond the controversial head-worn computer, researchers hope their work leads to less obtrusive sensors for self-monitoring via wearable devices.

BioGlass uses the Glass sensors and camera to track the wearer’s ballistocardiogram, or BCG, which is a mechanical signal measuring the tiny body movements that result from the heart pumping blood. BCG tracking has been around since the 1870s, but was hardly used for many years because it was tricky to track without special equipment (such as a frictionless table). More recently, though, research has shown that sensitive motion sensors for electronic devices can easily detect the BCG signal, and at least one company, Quanttus, is building a product that can do so at the wrist (see “This Fitness Wristband Wants to Play Doctor”).

In a study of 12 people, researchers were able to estimate heart and breathing rates nearly as accurately as they could with FDA-approved sensors for tracking the same signals. The results for heart-rate estimation were off by less than a beat per minute and respiration by less than a breath per minute, says Javier Hernandez, a graduate student in MIT’s Media Lab who coauthored the paper.

The researchers built an Android app that captured data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and front-facing camera of the Google Glass device; in order to get a range of physiological parameters, study participants wore it as they stood, sat, and lay motionless, and then again after riding an exercise bike. Researchers then isolated and extracted heart- and respiration-rate data from the accelerometer and gyroscope readings, and tracked motion in the video by noting pixel displacement over time. They then used this data to extract heart and respiration information.

The researchers are now working on several apps that would use this kind of data for practical purposes; Yin Li, a paper coauthor and graduate student at Georgia Tech, says they’re making an app that captures and analyzes the signals that were investigated in the study in real time (for the study, the signals were analyzed after the fact).

There are plenty of challenges ahead. The researchers still need to test their work with big motions, such as walking around, to see if they can get the same level of accuracy. And it may be difficult to convince people to wear Google Glass in the first place, let alone track their body’s signals with the device. At $1,500, the device is about 15 times more expensive than most fitness trackers, and its in-your-face style is polarizing.

But Rosalind Picard, a paper coauthor and MIT professor who heads the Media Lab’s affective computing research group, says that while the group’s work uses Google Glass, the method would work with any pair of glasses embedded with a camera and the right sensors.

“I would love for my glasses to give me a little quiet indication about my breathing so I can adjust it,” she says.


Facebook has decided to turn over to congressional investigators copies of roughly 3,000 advertisements purchased by Russian-linked groups during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The company confirmed Thursday afternoon that it would release details associated with the advertisements, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlining other steps the company is taking to step up transparency for ads.

“We believe it is vitally important that government authorities have the information they need to deliver to the public a full assessment of what happened in the 2016 election,” Facebook’s general counsel Colin Stretch said in a post.

“That is an assessment that can be made only by investigators with access to classified intelligence and information from all relevant companies and industries — and we want to do our part.”

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Sen. Mark Warner Mark Robert WarnerHillicon Valley: Senators urge Trump to bar Huawei products from electric grid | Ex-security officials condemn Trump emergency declaration | New malicious cyber tool found | Facebook faces questions on treatment of moderators Key senators say administration should ban Huawei tech in US electric grid Addressing repair backlog at national parks can give Congress a big win MORE (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been a leading critic of Facebook's handling of the probe into Russian activity on its platform, called the move a "necessary first step."

“Important & absolutely necessary first step. The American people deserve to know the truth about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election,” Warner tweeted.

Zuckerberg said the release was only one of the steps the company is taking to make the platform less vulnerable for those looking to use it as a tool for election interference.

“We will continue our investigation into what happened on Facebook in this election. We may find more, and if we do, we will continue to work with the government,” Zuckerberg said during a Facebook Live.

Zuckerberg noted that the company would be expanding its analysis of election interference into other former Soviet countries — something that Warner has been pressing it to do. He also said that Facebook will push to make its political ads more transparent.

“Not only will you have to disclose which page paid for an ad, but we will also make it so you can visit an advertiser's page and see the ads they're currently running to any audience on Facebook,” he said.

Facebook will also devote more resources to its security team and double the number of staff on its election integrity team, Zuckerberg said.

“I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy,” he said. “That’s not what we stand for.”

Facebook said its decision to turn over copies of the ads to Congress came after “an extensive legal and policy review," noting that federal law "places strict limitations on the disclosure of account information."

The company has previously cited federal privacy laws for its delay in releasing more information about the Russian-linked advertisements to congressional investigators.

Meanwhile, Facebook had given more details to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team for its probe of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and any Russian ties to President Trump's campaign.

Facebook did not mention releasing further details on the matter to the public, which some lawmakers have pushed for.

The social media company revealed earlier this month that Russian actors purchased $100,000 in political ads during the 2016 presidential campaign, but has remained tight-lipped about additional details.

Facebook has been criticized by lawmakers for not revealing enough information about the extent of Russian activity on its platform to potentially influence the election.

“I question whether Facebook has put near the resources they need into getting us all the facts,” Warner told reporters last week.

Warner’s counterpart on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffTech takes heat as anti-vaxers go viral Demands grow for a public Mueller report Bharara: It would seem 'odd and unusual' if Mueller report isn't made public MORE (D-Calif.), had similarly called for more details on the ad buys.

Warner and Sen. Richard Burr Richard Mauze BurrHillicon Valley: Senators urge Trump to bar Huawei products from electric grid | Ex-security officials condemn Trump emergency declaration | New malicious cyber tool found | Facebook faces questions on treatment of moderators Key senators say administration should ban Huawei tech in US electric grid Five tantalizing questions about Mueller’s investigation MORE (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence panel, say they plan to have Facebook, and potentially other companies, testify on the matter in the fall.

Twitter has also received scrutiny. A company spokesperson told The Hill on Thursday that it will meet with Senate Intelligence Committee staff over its inquiry of Russian interference in the 2016 race.

The spokesperson declined to comment on if it has found evidence of Russian influence on its platform.

Updated: 4:45 p.m.


Gun-control advocates and their allies in the state legislature are gearing up for another battle in 2014 in hopes of making New Jersey gun restrictions, already among the toughest in the nation, even more stringent.

Last year, during a tumultuous legislative session following the murder of 20 children in a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, the legislature passed 22 new pieces of gun legislation. About a dozen became law, while the balance were struck down by the governor's veto pen. Advocates for more limits on guns say important legislation was left on the table.

TIMELINE: 2013 was a big year for gun legislation

It's those measures — in particular, a restriction on ammunition magazine size, a ban on .50-caliber rifles, stricter limits on children’s access to firearms and mandatory safety training for gun owners — that will be their focus in the coming year. "Our top priority is a 10-round limit on magazine size," said Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God's Call, a faith-based organization focused on preventing gun violence.

"Nobody needs a 15-round ammunition magazine unless they are a domestic terrorist or a gangster," Miller said. "We expect the legislative leadership to get behind this and the governor to see some sense."

In last year's session, the magazine restriction never made it to the governor's desk. Instead, it was the Senate and president Steve Sweeney who stood in its way. The state currently restricts clips to 15 rounds, a limit Sweeney described last year as "effective."

But Miller said he is confident the Senate president is on board with the 10-round limit this time around.

For the families of the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, the 10-round magazine has become a rallying cry.

"We do a lot of studying and research and we speak to gun owners and people all

over the political spectrum," said Mark Barden, advocacy director for Sandy Hook Promise whose son Daniel was among the children murdered. "We hear universally

for hunting, home protection and sport shooting that a 10 round magazine is

certainly plenty."

Barden said to back up the claim that the limit would save lives, you need only look to the number of shootings that are halted when the shooter stops to reload.

For their part, Second Amendment advocates say the magazine restriction is arbitrary and does nothing to prevent gun violence. What it does, gun advocates say, is limit only the firepower of those who follow the law.

"For the most part this is the same feel-good, do-nothing legislation that the New Jersey legislature is so fond of sponsoring," said Frank Fiamingo, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society. "As usual, the legislation targets the law-abiding gun owner who has purchased a gun legally and does not address the gangs and the career criminals who are committing the crimes."

Likewise the ban on .50 caliber rifles, a weapon gun advocates say is irrelevant to the discussion because it's used only by wealthy hobbyists and has never been used to commit a crime in the state.

Last year, Gov. Chris Christie himself advocated for its ban but later reversed course with a veto of the measure.

The governor hinted that the veto was punishment for Democratic overreach; however, gun-control advocates believe he also was pandering to a New Hampshire pro-guns group that urged its members to contact the Christie and warn him against signing various gun-control measures.

Miller said he's hoping the governor makes good on the ban this year.

"Both houses of the legislature and the governor himself supported the ban prior to passage and then, just to teach Democratic leaders a lesson, he vetoed it," Miller said. "Is this leadership? And who was he really talking to, the citizens of New Jersey or the right wing pro-gunners of New Hampshire."

Mandatory safety training was part of Sweeney's centerpiece bill, passed by both houses of the legislature last year but conditionally vetoed by the governor. The bill would have changed the way the state issues firearms licenses, made background checks instant and included private sales in the law. It also would have required proof of safety training prior to the issuance of a gun license. Training was among the elements altered by the governor's veto. After the conditional veto, Sweeney abandoned the measure.

"It's the most logical of the group," Miller said. "You need safety training to drive a car. Everybody who owns a gun should know how to store it and use it safely."

But Fiamingo said the devil is in the details. If the legislation is aimed at providing free common-sense training on gun storage and other safety factors, his group could back it. The problem, he said, is the parameters are always left out of the bill.

If it's true training and it's provided free, he could back it, Fiamingo said. But if it's just a financial barrier erected to make it harder to obtain a gun permit, he said, it's a non-starter.

Sweeney already has reintroduced the bill in the current session. Asked about specifics of this year's agenda, however, Sweeney issued only a broad comment.

"The governor vetoed common-sense gun-safety reforms, including legislation I sponsored that would have made New Jersey a national model on background checks," he said. "We will be examining these issues again during the new term."

As he was last year, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald is a strong advocate of gun-control measures, including the magazine restriction.

"I made a personal commitment to the families of Newtown that we would not stop fighting, no matter how long it takes until we get the magazine limit passed," Greenwald said. "In talking with the families, they will tell you, the single most important piece of legislation to stop this kind of insanity in the future is that magazine limit."

While gun-control supporters ask "Why not?" when it comes to the magazine-size limit, pro-gun advocates say that's the wrong question.

"The question is, what is the statistical evidence that shows that reducing the limit on a clip from 15 to 10 rounds will reduce gun crime?" Fiamingo said. "If this passes, are the Latin Kings or the Bloods or the Crips going to reduce their magazine capacity to 10 rounds?"

Despite objections from gun-rights groups, polls taken in the aftermath of Newtown showed nearly 60 percent of New Jersey residents favored stricter controls on guns, and a year later, public opinion remains on the side of gun control. And while the political climate in the state has changed significantly over the past year, it's too soon to tell if it will result in a sea change on gun control.

Christie, though he's fresh off a landslide reelection victory, is politically wounded. Once the frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, the dual scandals surrounding lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and Hurricane Sandy recovery funding in Hoboken have cast a pall — at least for now — over his viability as a national candidate. Whether that will mean he'll focus on a more Jersey-centric agenda or move more to the right remains to be seen.

Sweeney also faces an altered landscape. His own reelection in the 3rd Legislative District, where gun owners and sportsmen are commonplace, will no doubt allow him more freedom to navigate the issue. He has his own sights set on the governor's office, so he will likely adopt a more statewide focus on a host of issues, gun control being among the most obvious.

Barden and others plan to attend a press conference with the state's legislative leaders later this month in hopes of finishing what was started here last year.

NJ.com reporter S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.


Share. You're soaking in it! You're soaking in it!

The latest update for The Sims 4 adds pools and other pool-related activities to the game.

The Build mode used for home creation has been adapted to pools, which should help streamline the pool-building process.

In addition to being created in Build mode, pools can also be built diagonally and on rooftops. Windows can be added to pools to create infinity pools, wall height can be adjusted to make deeper or shallower pools, and a slew of new swimwear has been added to the game as well. The new line of swimwear can be perused in Create A Sim.

Having a pool means that Sims can just sit around the pool and enjoy all that owning a pool entails, from swimming, to relaxing pool side, to getting splashed by other Sims. It also means the return of death by drowning, which means Sims ghosts may express their displeasure for water, on account of it being the cause of their untimely simulated demise.

In addition to pools, there are a number of bug fixes including the tweaking of some performance issues and graphical oddities.

The Sims 4 launched at the beginning of September and help propel EA to huge earnings in the second quarter of its fiscal year.

Seth Macy is a freelance writer who just wants to be your friend. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy, and MyIGN at sethgmacy.


Syria is almost completely cut off from the global Internet.

Several Internet monitoring companies reported Thursday that Syria suffered an almost complete Internet shutdown. This is the latest in a long series of Internet blackouts in the war-torn country.

The blackout started around 8:30 a.m. ET, according to Internet monitoring firm Renesys, which first spotted the outage. Renesys reported that 84 networks experienced an outage in Syria starting at 12:26 UTC, which is 95% of the routed networks in the country, the company wrote.

Internet in Syria almost entirely down at 12:26 UTC. Only Aleppo link to Turkey remains connected. pic.twitter.com/o6flIEbkVy — Renesys Corporation (@renesys) March 20, 2014

The disruption was then confirmed by other companies like Akamai, BGPmon, OpenDNS, and Google.

Near complete Internet disruption in #Syria detected by @Akamai traffic monitoring, starting at ~12:30pm UTC pic.twitter.com/MqGovceSHy — StateOfTheInternet (@akamai_soti) March 20, 2014

Country wide Internet outage in Syria starting at 12:25 UTC Only remaining network are the Aleppo, AS24814, prefixes pic.twitter.com/s74fStmBEz — BGPmon.net (@bgpmon) March 20, 2014

Looks like Syria is offline again. pic.twitter.com/F1eovuPjnE — Think Umbrella (@ThinkUmbrella) March 20, 2014

At this point, the source of the outage is still unclear. In the past, the government has often blamed technical issues — claims that experts meet with skepticism, arguing that the outages seem to coincide with important military operations or offensives, instead indicating that the government might purposely shut down the Internet. This is possible thanks to Syria's stranglehold over the country's single point of failure, the state-controlled Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, which controls the flow of the Internet in and outside of the country.

Doug Madory, a researcher at Renesys, said that only the link from Aleppo to Turkey remains working, something that "is consistent with outages over the past few months."

"Aleppo's outages occur independently from the country-wide blackouts," he added.

The last Internet blackout in Syria was reported Feb. 20, 2014.

UPDATE, 3.31 p.m. ET: The Internet has apparently been restored in Syria, after a blackout that lasted more than 7 hours, according to Renesys and Akamai.

Apparent restoration of #Syria Internet connectivity detected by @Akamai traffic monitoring at ~7:00pm UTC. pic.twitter.com/eQnRJvE1Ho — StateOfTheInternet (@akamai_soti) March 20, 2014

The outage was caused by "a breakdown in the optical fiber cable in Damascus Countryside," according to the Syrian government-owned news agency SANA.

Madory, the Renesys researcher, told Mashable that from the outside world, it's impossible to know for sure what caused the outage, and whether the government's explanation is accurate. But its explanation is plausible.

"If they have a single fiber line that connects Tartous with [Syrian Telecommunications Establishment]'s central office in Damascus and that was what was cut, then this is possible," he said.


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A man was arrested several months after he put six puppies in pillow cases, tied the pillow cases in a knot and dropped them into a culvert near a storm drain, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

Ernest Martin faces six counts of animal abandonment.

Martin, 39, was arrested Saturday, but the incident took place last September, police said.

According to the Sheriff's Office, a passerby noticed the pillow cases, and people then took out the puppies, which had been stolen from their owner.

JSO booking photo of Ernest Martin on surveillance image

EXTENDED VIDEO: Surveillance shows puppies stuffed into storm drains

A resident checked their surveillance video, and Martin was seen in it, stuffing the puppies into the culvert at the corner of Clyde Street and Van Buren Avenue, police said.

"It just breaks my heart to see someone hurting animals like that," said the person who recorded the surveillance video. "He throws them real high into the air and over the fence and they're hitting the ground. He came back outside with some pillow cases, grabbed the puppies up one by one, came out here to the drain and started shoving them into the drain."

The witness, who wished to not be identified, told News4Jax on Monday that when the man couldn't stuff all the puppies into one drain, he went to another one.

"When they started moving around, he was kicking them, trying to shove them back into the drain," the witness said.

Fortunately, all six puppies, which police said belonged to Martin's stepfather, survived the attack. News4Jax learned that one of the puppies now lives with the stepfather, and the others were given to family members.

Martin's mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said her son's actions were the result of schizophrenia.

"When he saw the dogs, he though they were little demons," she said. "He goes through little spasms, but he put them in there. He put them in the ditch."

Martin was booked into the Duval County Jail and ordered held on $90,000 bond.

Viewer warning: The videos, shown in this story, contain graphic details and images that may be considered disturbing to some people.

Copyright 2017 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.


Today I have a Do-It-Yourself guide on how to "dropkick" a Claymore Anti-Personnel mine for you guys. This is a technique I learned in Ranger Battalion and was able to use later on when I was in Special Forces. The term dropkick is of course just shorthand for a method of rigging the Claymore mine for a very fast employment when outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy. Also known as the "red vapor mist machine" in some circles, the Claymore mine is typically used to protect soldiers in static positions such as patrol bases, or used to initiate an ambush against enemy troops. The dropkick technique is different in that it is used by snipers, recce patrols, or other small SOF teams who are breaking contact with the enemy and attempting to escape and evade.

So here it is, the Claymore Mine that we all know and love. With a layer of plastic explosives lining the inside of the curve shaped mine, there are about 700 ball bearings laid into the explosives that fire forward at enemy troops as shrapnel. I'm out of the military now so this demonstration was done with an inert trainer rather than the real deal!

Step 1: Take inventory and test equipment. You will need everything you see above and a knife for this project. Use the test set to test the Claymore out on the range for functionality. Go through the entire process, EIB standards and everything. If you actually have to use a dropkicked Claymore in combat, you need it to work, so don't cut any corners here. Check the mine, wire, and clacker for serviceability and scrounge up some rubber bands; you'll see why in a minute.

Step 2: First we need to prepare the Claymore bag that the mine comes in. Directions on how to employ the mine are sewn into the cover of the bag. This is going to get in the way as we move forward, so do yourself a favor and cut or tear these out now.

Make your Claymore bag look like this and we are ready to move on to the next step.

Step 3: The Claymore bag is partitioned down the middle into two pouches, one for the Claymore mine and one for the wire with blasting cap, clacker, and test set. We need to cut down this partition so that we have one big pouch in the bag.

Once your Claymore bag looks like this you will be ready to go on to the next step.

Step 4: Extend the legs of the Claymore mine and put it in the bag to see where the legs poke into the bottom.

Use your knife to cut slits in the bottom of the bag and ensure that the legs of the mine can slide through.

Step 5: Back to the lid of the bag. Cut slits up both sides of the lid, three on each side. Make sure that they are equally spaced apart and don't go past the buttons.

Step 6: Take the rubber bands and loop them through the slits that you made in the cover, then loop the bands back on themselves, making a bite around the fabric of the lid. Do this for each of the six slits that you cut.

Step 6: This is where it gets a little tricky. Figure out how much length of the Claymore wire covers and surpasses the length of the lid. In my case, I can wrap the cord around my elbow and over my palm to make a spool, and that fits nicely for our purposes. This might require some experimentation on your part to get it right. You will need to make three separate wraps that will be locked into place with the rubber bands, so plan ahead.

Start stringing the Claymore wire back and forth. Once you get enough wraps, separating the wire equally into thirds, go ahead and lock the ends into the loops of the rubber bands. You may need to twist the rubber bands and loop them back around the wire a second time to make sure it's in there nice and snug.

This is what it should look like when you are done. During this process it is critical that you are careful with the blasting cap when doing this with a live mine. When I worked with live demo, I'd keep the cap inside the plastic spool that the wire comes on for safety purposes.

Step 7: Put the Claymore mine back in the bag, push the metal legs through the slits you cut in the bottom, and fold them down and out of the way for transportation.

Step 8: Arm the mine. Screw the blasting cap into the mine when appropriate. This depends on unit SOP, so if you Privates out there need to check with your Squad Leader before you Sua Sponte this! Army regs say that no charges or explosives can be primed with initiation systems until they are going to be used. Most SOF units these days are priming their charges on the FOB beforehand and rolling out to their targets. How your unit does is METT-T (situation) dependent.

Here is the finished product, you've dropkicked a claymore mine. The mine can now be carried by the sling or kept on an external pouch on a rucksack. When a small recce patrol makes contact and can't wait for air support, it's time to use this bad boy. Extend the claymore legs, stick it in the ground (THIS SIDE FACES ENEMY), pull however much wire you need to get you behind cover and concealment, run to cover, pop the shipping plugs, and attach the clacker. Once a pursuing enemy closes in on your position, you know what to do!

Writing up this DIY guide cost me some money; would you believe that a used Claymore trainer costs almost 200 dollars?! I think it was worth the trouble, but if you guys learned anything from this post, please help us out and make this DIY guide famous. Use the like button and share this with as many people as possible. Thanks guys.

Kit Up! contributor Jack Murphy is a former Ranger, Special Forces Soldier and is the author of the military thriller Reflexive Fire.


With most of our games, our initial prototypes are made with simple shapes to get the gameplay working as soon as possible. With Don't Grind, the concept was so simple that we decided to set the project up properly right away. So we created the spritesheets and started building the scene as we worked on the gameplay.

Characters - Injecting life into inanimate objects

It's important with a game like Don't Grind to feel connected with what is going on. We really wanted to bring the characters to life but avoid the whole "grinding up cute cats and dogs", so we chose to use inanimate objects. There have been thousands of games where you put animals in blenders and stuff since way back in the early days of flash, and we didn't want to make one of those.


Every new business wants to differentiate itself, to stand out from the crowd. It is a bit of a mystery, then, why so many websites for smaller cider companies proudly state that they are different because they don’t make sweet cider, unlike the big bad Big Players (you know who they are). So many cideries make this claim that it no longer seems to be much of a distinction. More to the point it does an incredible disservice to sweeter ciders, seeming to say that if it’s sweet it’s therefore bad, and implying that if it’s dry it is therefore good. As with most simplistic statements, this ain’t necessarily so.

First, when we talk about sweetness in cider, just what is it we’re talking about.

Sugar is the obvious answer, and how much of it is either left in the cider from the original juice or added back at some point post-fermentation either in the form of un-fermented juice or plain old table sugar. The amount of sugar in a finished cider can be reported in any of a number of ways – in grams of sugar per liter (which can also be expressed as a percentage), specific gravity, or degrees brix (often used in the wine world). There are any number of calculators and tables available that can convert these measurements from one to the other, so for the purposes of this discussion we’ll stick to grams per liter (g/L).

The good folks at the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) have tried to bring some order to the world of cider evaluation by setting some general boundaries for various categories of cider-based on sugar content.

Dry Medium-Dry* Medium Medium-Sweet Sweet g/L 0 – 4 4 – 9 9 – 20 20 – 40 >40 % 0 – 0.4 0.4 – 0.9 0.9 – 2.0 2.0 – 4.0 >4.0 SG 1.000 – 1.002 1.002 – 1.004 1.004 – 1.009 1.009 – 1.019 >1.019

(*aka semi-dry or off-dry)

To put this in perspective, regular Coca Cola® has a sugar content of 108 g/L, and freshly pressed apple juice will typically come in at 117 – 260 g/L.

Left to their own devices yeasts will most of the time keep eating up any sugar they find until there is nothing left, resulting in dry cider. But not always. The traditional production method for French ciders, for example, starves the yeasts of other essential nutrients so that they more or less give up before all the sugar has been consumed. The result is a naturally sweet often quite complex and wonderful cider. A similar process can be used in the making of ice cider, which starts with highly concentrated (by freezing and thawing) juice and results in a very sweet dessert cider (upwards of 165 g/L) that more often than not avoids being cloying by wrapping all that sugar around a sturdy backbone of bright acid.

Sugar content isn’t quite the last word on sweetness, though. Our brains can sometimes be fooled into thinking something is sweeter than the actual available sugars would suggest. The amount of acidity in a given cider will, for example, influence how sweet it tastes. A high acid cider that has a sugar content that would put it into the medium cider category may taste less sweet than a low acid cider having a sugar level in the medium-dry range, which is also why to many palates fresh apple juice will taste less sweet than a Coke®. Furthermore, because taste and smell are so closely intertwined a fruity aroma will also encourage us to taste a cider as sweeter than it is, while conversely an earthy aroma will make a cider be perceived as less sweet. (Genetics can play a role in sweetness perception, too.)

So why take issue with sweetness? For one thing, it’s an easy target. The most common complaint of people that don’t like cider is that it is too sweet. Generally this kind of statement suggests that the speaker hasn’t had the opportunity to try many ciders, and certainly the ciders offered by the Big Players are on the sweet end of the spectrum. What’s more, the Big Players muddy the waters by labeling some of their offerings as “dry” when on an objective basis they are anything but.

Take a couple of examples produced by some of the nationally distributed large brands. One “dry” cider has, according to the label, 7 grams of sugar in a 355 ml serving, which works out to 19.7 g/L of sugar, on the high side of medium. Another labeled as “dry pear” has a whopping 17 grams of sugar per 355 ml serving, coming in at an astonishing 48 g/L, so far from dry that it can’t even see it in it’s rear view mirror.

Why, one might ask, don’t the Big Players make actual dry ciders if, as one assumes from the marketing pitches of their smaller competitors, there is in fact a market for them? The easy answer is that while there are those that do prefer drier beverages, Americans as a whole seem to prefer their drinks sweet, particularly in an emerging category or market.

More to the point, it’s actually more challenging to make a decent tasting dry cider than a sweet one. With a truly dry cider there is nowhere to hide. It requires more attention to apple varieties and blends, and to production dynamics, in order to create something that isn’t just a complete thin and watery acid bomb. In addition, when you are starting with juice concentrates, which once a company is making cider at a certain scale is an absolute must, it is simply impossible to add back all of the subtle complexities inherent in fresh juice that get stripped out during the concentration process. Sugar can make this diminished character less obvious, although at some point all you can taste is the sugar itself rather than the harmonious flavor you’d get from actual juice.

Dry shouldn’t be the considered the ultimate goal. There are certainly as many uninteresting dry ciders on the market today as there are sweet ones, and more than a few that could be rescued by just a little more attention to balance. Complexity, proportion, nuance – those are the watchwords of a great cider regardless of where it sits on the sweetness scale.

There are a handful of cider companies (such as Seattle Cider Company and Redbyrd Orchard Cider) that have taken it upon themselves to add some sort of scale information on their label in an attempt to help consumers find their way through the fog. This sort of information along with the writings of thoughtful reviewers, those that work hard to describe a full range of a cider’s characteristics not just whether or not they liked it, can help to bring some clarity to an otherwise murky area.

Meanwhile, here’s hoping that the next time a new cider company’s marketing team sits down to describe what sets the company apart he/she/they work a little harder to find something a little more original to say.


Talk about insult to injury. Judith Reese, Rockies fan and birthday girl celebrating her 69th, was not only forced to watch the Rockies get crushed by the San Francisco Giants, but also gets nailed in the head by a foul ball and carted out of the game in the fifth inning.

"My friend Kim and I have gone to opening day for years," Reese told 9News. And this year she was celebrating her birthday with great seats -- third row, behind the rail and down the third base line.

But in the fifth inning, the birthday celebrations came to a screeching halt when Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer hit a foul ball right along the third base line that went flying right into Reese's temple and knocked her out.

Cuddyer, who was making his Rockies debut at home, described the hit from what he saw from the field, "I saw the ball off my bat, saw the stands part ways and boom – saw it hit the head," CBS4 reported. "I hope (she) is all right and everything is well. It’s tough. That’s the scary part of this."

The game was delayed briefly as medical personnel attended to Reese who was carted off and eventually taken to Denver Health Medical Center where she was treated for a concussion and bruised head, according to 7News. Reese never did hear her birthday song at Coors Field that her friends arranged for her, but she has already been released by the hospital, is recovering and going to be okay.

"I want to thank the fans, the paramedics and the community for their instant support," Reese said in a statement released by Denver Health.


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CG Honey Dew

Nano Skin Auto Scrub

Pinnacle Souveran Liquid Wax

Purple Power APC (diluted 5:1)

Mother’s Wheel & Tire Cleaner

Mother’s Tire Gloss

Lexol Leather Cleaner

Lexol Leather Conditioner

This vehicle was in a roll-over accident crushing all four doors, the roof and basically the whole car. The body shop did a excellent job bringing this car back to life. They still have some work to do but this is a long way from what it was.

This was the inside. Dust had been building up from sitting around a paint and body shop for months.

The exterior of the car was washed thoroughly, decontaminated and then sealed with Pinnacle Soveran.

The inside definitely needed the most attetion. There was dust in every crack and crevice. First all the top surface dirt had to be removed before we could start any real detail work. It took some time but the results were well worth it.

Lovely reflection.


New alcohol advice published today reiterates that the recommended maximum intake weekly for male adults should fall from 21 to 14 units - barely enough to fill a bowl with electric soup*.

“To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis,” the UK government guidelines state (PDF).

The guidelines attracted widespread criticism after they were published in January.

The opinion of the UK’s Chief Health Jobsworth (official title: “Chief Medical Officer”) Dame Sally Davies is that there is “no safe level” of drinking.

Professor Spiegelhalter, the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at Cambridge University, pointed out that the “no safe level” message contradicted the working group’s guiding principle that the public needed to be able to make an “informed choice”, not get scared into obedience. Eating a bacon sandwich, or watching an hour of TV, posed more long-term health risks than moderate alcohol consumption, he wrote. Graham Stringer MP pointed out the zero-alcohol advice would have a “perverse effect” - most people would simply ignore it.

For a Puritan, however, the thrill comes from denying another’s pleasure, and the Puritanism and the “no safe level” recommendation remains, albeit in different wording, and in specific relation to cancer:

The expert group was also clear that there are a number of serious diseases, including certain cancers, which can occur even when drinking within the weekly guideline. Whilst they judge the risks to be low, this means there is no level of regular drinking that can be considered as completely safe in relation to some cancers.

However the following passage modulates a little:

This level of risk is comparable to those posed by other everyday activities that people understand are not completely safe, yet still undertake.

Alcohol industry trade body the Portman Group responded to the new guidelines by saying "it is regrettable that the guidelines still include a reference to the Guidelines Development Group's view that there is no safe level of drinking... Placed alongside low risk guidelines it will render the CMOs' advice confusing and contradictory for consumers."

Following the EU referendum the media remarked, with some dismay, how people “don’t trust experts”. But perhaps it depends on how self-interested, or "expert", the experts are perceived to be. The Times in May reported that “four key figures behind [the new recommendations] were closely associated with the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), a lobby group financed by the temperance movement.”

This wasn't news to Register readers - we wrote four years ago that the IAS is funded by something called the Alliance House Foundation. This was created in Manchester in 1852, and by 1853 rejoiced in the name “The United Kingdom Alliance to Procure the Total and Immediate Legislative Suppression of the Traffic in All Intoxicating Liquors”. It subsequently spawned better-known temperance groups. In turn, the largest funder of the AHF is the European Union. In 2008 it raised just £70 in donations from members of the public.

Perhaps one unexpected "Brexit Bonus" might be a diminution in killjoy lifestyle regulation. Which would be ironic, really. For years we were promised "continental drinking", the boozy Europeans offering a more liberal drinking culture than the uptight British. ®

*Bootnote

For younger readers.


In addition to its new trio of GT factory drivers for 2017, Porsche has announced at its Night of Champions that it will send a factory squad to the 2017 FIA WEC to race in the GTE Pro class with its new 911 RSR.

“This is a significant boost for our motorsport involvement and underlines that we have chosen the right platform with the WEC,” said Michael Steiner, member of the executive board for research and development at Porsche AG.

The Porsche Motorsport GT team will campaign a pair of new 911 RSR in the top GTE class, after the brand was represented by just a sole Proton Competition-run 911 this season. The drivers confirmed so far are Michael Christensen, Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz.

Next season the GTE Pro class has been granted FIA World Championship status for the first time, with factory efforts from Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Ford all confirmed.

The mid-engined 2017 Porsche 911 RSR was fully officially unveiled last month by the brand, and shown off to the WEC paddock at the Bahrain season finale.


WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is shrugging off contradictions with his own cabinet picks that have been on display during Senate hearings this week. “All my cabinet nominee are looking good and doing a great job. I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!” Trump said over Twitter early Friday.

This Jan. 11 file photo shows U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York. Trump has shrugged off the strikingly divergent positions his cabinet picks have taken on a number of issues. ( TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/GETTY IMAGES File Photo )

The comment comes after members of Trump’s future cabinet separated themselves from the president-elect on a series of issues, including Russia, torture and Muslim immigration. Partly as a result the nominees have gotten mostly gentle treatment from Senate Democrats who say they’ve found the cabinet choices more palatable than the future president himself. “As I meet members of the cabinet I’m puzzled because many of them sound reasonable,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat. “Far more reasonable than their president.”

Article Continued Below

Sen. Jeff Sessions, picked for attorney general, said he’s against any outright ban on immigration by Muslims, in contrast to Trump’s one-time call to suspend admittance of Muslims. Secretary of State candidate Rex Tillerson affirmed U.S. commitments to NATO and took a relatively hard line on Russia, both in contrast to Trump — though Tillerson irked GOP Sen. Marco Rubio by refusing to label Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.” And CIA pick Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, affirmed his opposition to torture and said he would refuse any Trump order to torture, adding he could not imagine Trump would give such a directive. Trump, while campaigning, suggested bringing back waterboarding and more. Tillerson’s nomination is in question in light of concerns from Rubio and others, but it looks like smooth sailing for Pompeo; retired Gen. James Mattis for Defence; and retired Gen. John Kelly for Homeland Security, among others. “Pompeo’s very popular, Mattis, Kelly — these are popular selections,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Sessions was denied confirmation once before by the Senate, but that was three decades ago for a federal judgeship. This time around the Alabaman is a sitting senator and was treated gently, for the most part, by his colleagues, even when Democrats brought up the racial issues that brought him down him last time around. There was potential for drama as Sen. Cory Booker, D-N. J., broke with Senate tradition to testify against his colleague, but it came on the second day of the hearing after Sessions had finished testifying, so he was not even in the room.

“The purpose of confirmation hearings is to examine the record and views of potential nominees and I think that’s what these hearings are doing,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “I think it’s likely that all of the cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed, I think the hearings have gone quite well this week.” The outings also lack drama due to Democrats’ decision while in the Senate majority to lower the vote threshold for cabinet nominees and others from 60 votes to 50, allowing Republicans to ensure approval as long as they can hold their 52-seat majority together.

Article Continued Below

There could be fireworks yet to come because several of the most potentially explosive hearings are still pending, including for former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary. Democrats have set up a website to solicit stories from the thousands of people whose homes were foreclosed on by OneWest Bank while Mnuchin headed a group of investors who owned the bank. They hope to use Mnuchin’s nomination hearing to attack Trump’s populist appeal with working-class voters and cast themselves as defenders of the middle class. Also pending are hearings for Rep. Tom Price for Health and Human Services; Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a vocal denier of climate change science, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; and fast-food executive Andrew Puzder to head the Labor Department. MORE ON THESTAR.COM 10 times Donald Trump’s cabinet picks directly disputed him

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U.S. Air Force F-15 and Russian Bear Bomber. Air Force photo

Russia Admits It Isn’t Ready to Fight Space Aliens

Fortunately America’s got a plan

David Axe Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 2, 2013

by DAVID AXE

A Russian space official just admitted that Moscow has no strategy for combating an invasion by galactic marauders. Lucky for Planet Earth, the United States does have a plan. And it counts on Russia and America fighting together.

Sergei Berezhnoy, on the staff of the Titov Space Control Center near Moscow, said that Russian air-defense officers “have not been tasked with preparing for the contingency of an alien attack,” according to Rianovosti.

“There are enough problems on Earth and in near-Earth space,” Berezhnoy added.

A team of scientists from America’s NASA Planetary Science Division have disagreed. “While humanity has not yet observed any extraterrestrial intelligence, contact with ETI remains possible,” Seth Baum, Jacob Haqq-Misra and Shawn Domagal-Goldman wrote in a 2011 paper.

The scientists conceded that extraterrestrials could be friendly or ambivalent—but we can’t be sure. “Contact with uncooperative ETI seems likely be harmful to humanity,” they warned.

The Pentagon isn’t taking any chances, if one U.S. military instructor is to be believed. Prof. Paul Springer, a history teacher at the U.S. Air Command and Staff College in Alabama, told an Australian TV program last year that Washington has plans for even the least likely military threats—including attackers from beyond the solar system. “We make all kinds of contingency and war plans,” Springer said.

But America’s interstellar war plan is surely pretty thin. After all, the Pentagon wouldn’t know anything about the attackers until the first laser bolt or disrupter blast or photon torpedo was fired and Earth forces were already in retreat.

In the event of an alien invasion, “the first thing you would need to try to do is preserve your forces,” Springer said. In other words, hide. After that, “learn as much about the enemy as possible.” Presumably with spy satellites, drones, electronic eavesdroppers and old-fashioned sneaking around.

The aliens, meanwhile, would probably target Earth’s communications networks and its most potent weapons, nukes, Springer said.

As the world’s leading military powers, America and Russia would be the biggest targets … and the leaders in the eventual counterattack. Combined, the two countries could field huge air, land, sea and space forces numbering thousands of warplanes, millions of soldiers, hundreds of ships and most of the world’s spacecraft.

Assuming Earth survives and wins, human society could be turned upside down. Springer said former rivals could become close allies, even unified. “Keep in mind many of the greatest civilizations in human history formed to counter a common enemy,” Springer pointed out.

Plan or no, Russia is bound to join America on the front lines in the First Alien War.

Subscribe to War is Boring here.


There is one thing about Mark Zuckerberg that has never changed since he launched Facebook and became one of the youngest billionaires in the world: the grey T-shirt he wears every day.

The Facebook CEO shared a picture of his wardrobe and the two types of t-shirts he wears every day this week as he returned to work following his paternity leave.

His bland outfits may seem dull, but Zuckerberg has a legitimate reason for donning the same T-shirt every day. He claims dressing in the same way allows him to focus his energy on more important decisions at work.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

First day back after paternity leave. What should I wear? Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, 25 January 2016

The 31-year-old explained this during his first public question and answer session in 2014 when an audience member asked why his outfits never changed. “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community,” said Zuckerberg.

“I'm in this really lucky position, where I get to wake up every day and help serve more than a billion people. And I feel like I'm not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life.”

Considering Zuckerberg is worth an estimated $37.5 billion after launching Facebook from his room at Harvard University while still a teenager, it might be worth bearing his sartorial stance in mind.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.

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In the same hotel where Alexander Graham Bell once demoed coast-to-coast telephone calls, Microsoft will announce plans for a new white space internet service on Tuesday. This ludicrous technology sends broadband internet wirelessly over the unused channels of the television spectrum. It’s also ingenious.

Understandably, you probably have some questions about this postmodern concept. If you were born before 1985, you might remember the days when TV signals floated through thin air, delivering episodes of Married With Children to homes across America without any wires. Those TV signals still exist, and in between the channels, there’s unused spectrum called white space. Enterprising scientists have figured out how to turn that white space into a sort of super wi-fi and broadcast internet service to a many miles-wide radius. What’s extra special is that, unlike wi-fi or cellular service, the stronger TV signal can penetrate buildings and other obstacles. This makes it ideal for rural areas, where conventional broadband service is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.

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As Tuesday’s announcement makes clear, Microsoft scientists have been on the bleeding edge of white space research. The increasingly hip company intends to drop $10 billion to launch a new white space service in 12 states, including New York and Virginia, connecting an estimated two million Americans to the internet, The New York Times reports. This plan ought to please FCC chairman Ajit Pai, who’s made expanding high speed internet access a priority since he took the helm of the agency. Then again, many believe that Pai’s mission amounts to an empty promise, one that stands to line the pockets of big telecom companies instead of actually helping rural America. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of beans.

Exciting as it may sound, Microsoft’s new white space initiative does face some tricky challenges. Infrastructure is a big one. While white space internet service does utilize the very familiar TV spectrum, the ability to connect to the internet requires some special hardware. On the regional level, we’ll need to build special base stations, equip them with white space antennas, and supply them with electricity. (Solar power is an option for base stations that are off the electric grid.) On the local level, white space customers will need to access to special receivers that can turn the white space signal into something their computer understands, like wi-fi. All of this will cost money.

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Good news is Microsoft has a lot of money. It’s not yet clear how much the company will charge for the new service, but presumably, it will cover the expense of building the new base stations. Customers will have to buy the hardware for their homes at a sobering price of $1,000 or more, but Microsoft says these costs will come down to $200 per device by next year. That’s not nothing for a lot of rural Americans, and then they’ll have to pay for access — a fee that Microsoft says will be “price competitive” with regular old cable internet (again: not cheap).

But hey, progress matters. While this white space internet technology has been in development for years, Microsoft is set to become the first major company to bring it to the masses, and that might just mean others will follow. Far-future solutions for rural broadband access like Facebook’s laser-powered drones, Google’s silly balloons, or Elon Musk’s pie-in-the-sky satellites remain theoretical for the time being, while white space already works. And soon, it could be working in a middle-of-nowhere near you.

[New York Times]


Paul Beeston denies that the Toronto Blue Jays are being held back by financial restraints from ownership.

During a guest appearance Friday on Brady & Walker on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, the Blue Jays president and CEO said Rogers Communications has been more than accommodating when they’ve needed to add salary, adding that the club’s payroll is going to increase for 2015.

“I’ll set the record straight. We’ve never gotten to Rogers and asked them for money for anything we haven’t got,” Beeston said. “They’ve been very, very generous with us when we took our salaries up from $90-million to $125-million. I think we’ll be up next year. There’s no question about that. They’ve been very supportive.”

Beeston also took issue with recent criticism directed at the Blue Jays’ inactivity at the trade deadline. Many, including right fielder Jose Bautista, expressed their disappointment that the Blue Jays didn’t add a player while the division rival New York Yankees added Brandon McCarthy, Chase Headley and Martin Prado.

But Beeston said the club’s lack of movement had nothing to do with money.

“When I hear last week that we didn’t make decisions because we didn’t have the money or there was a hockey contract, it’s just flat out wrong,” he explained. “It’s patently false. We’ve got what we need to do. If there wasn’t a trade that was made, it was because Alex (Anthopoulos) and the baseball people didn’t think they wanted to part with the players for what they’d get back.”

It has been a tough week for the Blue Jays, who have lost five of their past six games and saw third base Brett Lawrie return to the disabled list after just three innings of play Tuesday with an oblique injury.

“When we lose, all of a sudden it’s because of finances. It’s because we don’t have the money. That’s really not fair to Rogers,” said Beeston. “That’s because of decisions we made or because of injuries or the way we play. It’s nothing to do with the financial part of it.”

The Blue Jays enter play Friday with a 61-55 record. They are 5.0 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East and 0.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the wild card standings.


At 3:00 p.m., [presiding] judge R. notified me that I had been appointed to assist with the execution. I feel repulsed, but I can't get out of it. I thought about it all afternoon. My role will consist of taking note of the prisoner's statements.

The execution scene from "La vie, la mort, l'amour" (Life, Love, Death), by Claude Lelouch (1969). "Life, Love, Death" was made before the abolition of capital punishment in France. The movie's central message is the inhumanity of the death penalty. (NB: The video's English subtitles are at times erroneous and misleading.)

Plot: François Toledo, a married businessman and father, falls head-over-heels in love with Janine, a work colleague. However, after three dates, he feels dishonored when he suffers from impotence. In frustration, he strangles three prostitutes before being arrested. He is tried and convicted, and sentenced to death...

The execution scene from "" (Life, Love, Death), by Claude Lelouch (1969). "" was made before the abolition of capital punishment in France. The movie's central message is the inhumanity of the death penalty. (NB:: François Toledo, a married businessman and father, falls head-over-heels in love with Janine, a work colleague. However, after three dates, he feels dishonored when he suffers from impotence. In frustration, he strangles three prostitutes before being arrested. He is tried and convicted, and sentenced to death...

At 7:00 p.m., I went to the cinema with B. and B. B., then we had something to eat at her place and watched a late-night movie until 1:00 a.m. I went home, I did some chores, then laid down on my bed. Mr. B. L. telephoned me at 3:15 a.m., as I requested. I got ready. A police car came to pick me up at 4:15 a.m. During the journey, no one said a word.We arrived at Marseilles' Baumettes prison. Everyone was there. The District Attorney (DA) [avocat général] arrived last. A large group formed. Twenty or thirty guards, the 'officials.' All along the path, brown blankets were spread on the ground to cover the sound of our footsteps. On the path, in three places, tables holding basins of water and towelsThe cell door was opened. I heard someone say that the prisoner was dozing, but not sleeping. He was made to 'get ready.' It took a long time, since he had an artificial leg and it had to be put on. We waited. No one spoke. I think this silence, and the apparent calmness of the prisoner, relieved those present. No one would have wanted to hear crying or protests. The group reformed itself, and we took the path back. The blankets on the ground had been pushed to the side slightly, and we were no longer trying to avoid making too much noise with our steps.The group stopped beside one of the tables. The prisoner was seated on a chair. His hands were locked behind his back with handcuffs. A guard gave him a filter cigarette. He started smoking without saying a word. He was young. Very dark hair, neatly styled. His face was rather handsome, with even features, but he was pallid and had dark circles under his eyes. He looked neither stupid nor brutish. Simply a handsome young man. He smoked, and complained immediately that his handcuffs were too tight. A guard approached and tried to loosen them. He complained again. At this moment, I noticed the executioner standing behind him, accompanied by two assistants. He was holding a cord.Originally, it was intended to replace the handcuffs with the cord, but in the end it was decided to just remove them, and the executioner said something horrible and tragic: 'See, you're free!' It sent a shiver down the spine... The prisoner continued to smoke his cigarette, which was nearly finished, and he was given another. His hands were free and he smoked slowly. I understood then that he was beginning to realize that it was all over - that he could not escape now - that his life would end here, and that the moments that he still had would last as long as that cigarette did.He requested his lawyers. Mr. P. and Mr. G. approached. He spoke to them as quietly as possible, because the executioner's two assistants were standing right by him, and it was as if they wanted to steal his last moments as a living man. He gave a piece of paper to Mr. P. who tore it at his request, and he gave an envelope to Mr. G. He spoke to them very little. There was one on either side of him and they did not speak to each other either. The wait continued. He requested the prison director and asked him a question about what would happen to his possessions.The second cigarette was finished. Quarter of an hour had already passed. A young and friendly guard approached with a bottle of rum and a glass. He asked the prisoner if he wanted a drink and poured him half a glass. The prisoner began to drink slowly. He understood then that his life would end when he had finished drinking. He spoke a little more with his lawyers. He called back the guard who gave him the rum and asked him to gather up the pieces of paper that Mr. P. had torn up and thrown to the ground. The guard bent down, picked up the pieces and gave them back to Mr. P., who put them in his pocket.It was at that moment that everything became confused. This man is going to die, he knows it; he knows that he can do nothing but delay the end by a few minutes. And he became almost like a child that will do anything to delay bedtime! A child who knows that he will be treated indulgently, and who makes use of it. The prisoner continued to drink his rum, slowly, in little sips. He called the Imam who came over and spoke to him in Arabic. He responded with a few words, also in Arabic.The glass was nearly empty and, in a last attempt, he requested another cigarette: aor a[unfiltered cigarettes made with strong, dark tobacco], because he didn't like the brand that he had been given. The request was made calmly, almost with dignity. But the executioner, who was becoming impatient, interrupted: "We've already been nice with him - very humane - we have to get this over and done with." In turn, the DA intervened to deny the cigarette, despite the prisoner repeating the request and adding very opportunely: "It will be the last." A sort of embarrassment came over the assistants. About twenty minutes had passed since the prisoner sat down on his chair. Twenty minutes, so long and yet so short.The request for this last cigarette brought back the reality, the 'identity' of the time which had just passed. We had been patient, we had stood waiting for twenty minutes while the prisoner, seated, expressed wishes which we immediately granted. We had allowed him to be the master of that time. It was his possession. Now, another reality was appearing. That time was being taken back from him. The last cigarette was denied, and to get it over and done with, he was hurried to finish his glass. He drank the last sip. Passed the glass to the guard. Immediately, one of the executioner's assistants took a pair of scissors from his shirt pocket and began to cut off the collar of the prisoner's blue shirt. The executioner signaled that the cut was not large enough. So, to simplify things, the assistant made two big cuts to the shoulders of the shirt and removed the entire shoulder section.Quickly (before the shirt collar was cut), his hands were tied behind his back with the cord. He was helped up. The guards opened a door in the corridor. The guillotine appeared, opposite the door. Almost without hesitating, I followed the guards who were pushing the prisoner and I entered the room (or, rather, a courtyard?) where the the 'machine' stood. Beside it was an open brown wicker basket. Everything went very quickly. His body was practically thrown down but, at that moment, I turned away. Not out of fear, but by a sort of instinctive and deep-rooted modesty (I can't find another word).I heard a dull sound. I turned round - blood, lots of blood, very red blood - the body had toppled into the basket. In a second, a life had been cut. The man who had spoken less than a minute earlier was nothing more than blue pyjamas in a basket. A guard took out a hose. The evidence of a crime needs to be erased quickly... I felt nauseous but I controlled myself. I had a feeling of cold indignation.We went into the office where the DA was childishly fussing around to prepare the official report. D. carefully verified every part. It's very important, the official report of an execution! At 5:10 a.m. I went home.I am writing these lines. It is 6:10 a.m.-- Monique Mabelly (Juge d'instruction)


Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Silence in our community is not striking a blow at our enemies. In fact it just makes them stronger and more confident in their actions. Pretending to be heroes in the face of evil never helps anyone. We Black women are not superwomen. We are as vulnerable and as susceptible to violence as our white female counterparts (and maybe even more so). Sexual assault does not happen “out there”—outside the walls of our community. No, it occurs daily within our own borders right under our noses by those we trust the most.Partner rape is not a myth and causes as much emotional and psychological damage as stranger rape, domestic abuse, incest and molestation. For many people the idea that your trusted husband, boyfriend or girlfriend could be your rapist is as much of a fable as is the Loch Ness monster; but it does exist.According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest NationalNetwork (RAINN) , “survivors of partner rape are more likely to be raped multiple times when compared to stranger and acquaintance rape survivors. As such, partner rape survivors are more likely to suffer severe and long–lasting physical and psychological injuries.”As Black women we have been taught since we were first knee-high that in order to protect our Black men first, our community second and ourselves last, that we needed to learn the value of a closed mouth. Shouldering responsibility in silence was always the best course of action lest it be known publicly—giving our “white enemies” another chance to disparage our people. We were expected to suffer alone; to workout the problem as quietly as we could and to never, ever bring shame into our households. Unfortunately, this responsibility has also caused on our humanly demise.For me, it was (and still is) one of the most distasteful, disgusting and sinful burdens ever to be laid at the feet of Black women. We have been so effective in this community strategy that it has left many of us deathly afraid to speak up and out against those we have loved and claim to have loved us. Those human beings who promised to protect us and instead raped us.I have read the stories from women of color who were raped by their husbands, boyfriends, partners and girlfriends. Women who suffered unimaginable and unbearable agony in fear of what would happen to them should they say anything. They were left unaided by friends, family, and even church members because they did not want to break with tradition, or better yet be seen as a victim.We must stop living like this. We must break our silence and begin coming out in droves telling our stories and confronting those men within our communities, within our lives, who have brought upon us despicable acts of violence and torture. If we do not what will happen to those left behind us? To those growing up now? If in 2011, as reported by NewsOne, “sixtypercent of black girls [had] experienced sexual abuse at the hands of black menbefore reaching the age of 18 ,” what are the chances that the number will double in say the next two or three or four years? How long are going to keep protecting others at the expense of our souls—our bodies—our dignity?I know that coming forward is not, by any means, easy for anyone regardless of the type of abuse but is necessary if we want to control this problem within our community. Black women you have the right to protect yourselves and to place your humanity as your number one priority. Partner rape happens every day to so many of beautiful sisters. Have the courage to stand up and place your perpetrator behind bars. You not only save your life but the life of someone else.For more resources check out:I would also urge you to check out No!: The Rape Documentary by Aishah Simmons who documents the stories of African American women breaking their silence.Alice J. Rollins is an aspiring freelance writer and blogger who holds an M.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from DePaul University. Her areas of interest include African American women’s spirituality, feminist/womanist pedagogy and politics of migration. She is currently based in Chicago, IL. Email her at: alice@forharriet.com


(Reuters) - Online video rental company Netflix Inc said it won pay TV rights to Dreamworks Animation movies starting in 2013, the first time a major Hollywood studio has chosen an Internet streaming player over a traditional cable channel.

The headquarters of Netflix in Los Gatos, California, September 20, 2011. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

News of the deal drove Netflix’s stock up nearly 7 percent to a high of $137.88 in early trade on Nasdaq on Monday.

Netflix did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

However, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told The New York Times that the deal, worth $30 million per picture to Dreamworks over a number of years, was “game-changing” and represented a bet that viewers would soon no longer make distinctions between content streamed on the Internet or through cable.

The Netflix deal means Dreamworks — the studio behind family friendly fare from “Shrek” to “Kung Fu Panda” — is eschewing premium pay-TV operator HBO in favor of online streaming, the Times reported. HBO is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

“We are really starting to see a long-term road map of where the industry is headed,” Katzenberg was cited as saying to the newspaper in an interview.

The content agreement comes days after Netflix, which has seen its share price decline sharply after a series of missteps, sealed an agreement to broadcast TV shows from Discovery Communications Inc.

Netflix needs to add more content to its streaming service to keep drawing in new customers and fend off competition from the likes of Amazon.com, Google Inc and Apple Inc.

Shares of the one-time Wall Street darling have fallen 50 percent in two months. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has apologized for failing to explain moves adequately, from a surprise price hike in July to a separation of its DVD-mail from streaming services, and the company is trying to win customers back.

But adding customers is suddenly proving difficult, with Netflix on the receiving end of heated complaints from customers still upset over the price hike announced in July.

It cut its subscriber forecast by 1 million, saying it now expected to have 24 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter. The last time Netflix reported a subscriber decline was the second quarter of 2007, when Blockbuster was aggressively pushing a DVD rental package called Total Access.

According to the Times, Netflix was quick to pump up the Dreamworks deal.

“This is one of the few family entertainment brands that matter,” Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos was quoted as saying. “It’s also a signal to people that we are in no way moving away from movies. Our programing is just reflecting more and more what people want.”


On the other hand, they found being satisfied can lead to good communication

Athens, Ga. – One of the top reasons couples seek counseling is communication issues, so does better communication predict a more satisfying relationship?

The answer may not be that simple, according to a study by the University of Georgia’s psychology department published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

“Although communication and satisfaction were correlated, communication wasn’t a good guide for determining partners’ satisfaction with their relationships over time,” said the study’s lead author Justin Lavner, an assistant professor in UGA’s clinical psychology program in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Although communication practices could predict satisfaction to some extent for some couples, the lack of a definitive causal relationship calls for additional attention to other factors that influence marital satisfaction, such as environmental stressors, what activities and interactions a couple has, and the personality traits of the individual partners.

“It’s absolutely right to say more satisfied couples do communicate more positively, as well as to say couples who communicate better on average are more satisfied,” he said. “But it gives us a lot more pause to say that one caused the other one, which is really important. I think what this leaves us wondering is what are some of the other factors that matter for couples’ relationships and how these factors predict how couples do over time.”

Previous research and theories emphasized communication—or the lack thereof—as a predictor of marital satisfaction and even divorce. Lavner and his co-authors decided to look at whether communication was really a cause or if communication was a consequence of being satisfied, or was simply connected to it instead.

More than 400 low-income newlywed couples in Los Angeles participated in the three-year-long study, during which they were assessed four times. At each meeting, conducted in a couple’s home, participants would first complete three different tasks to gauge communication and then fill out a report on their satisfaction with their marriage.

The communication tasks were meant to determine whether the couple used positive, negative or effective communication while completing tasks such as picking a problem in their marriage and discussing how to rectify it.

“In general, the correlational findings were pretty strong, showing—as we kind of expect—the more satisfied you are, basically, the better you communicate with your spouse,” Lavner said. “What those results showed was that couples who were more satisfied also demonstrated higher levels of positivity, lower levels of negativity and more effectiveness.”

The authors were surprised, however, to see that there wasn’t a strong causal link showing that good communication caused satisfaction, Lavner said.

There was some evidence of communication being a predictor of satisfaction, but it wasn’t “as strong as it should have been given how central that assumption is in theory as well as practice. Overall, the pattern was one that it wasn’t as robust as theory would lead us to believe,” Lavner said.

Indeed, in the majority of cases, communication did not predict satisfaction, nor did satisfaction predict communication, Lavner said.

“It was more common for satisfaction to predict communication than the reverse,” he said. “I think the other thing that was surprising is that when one effect was stronger than the other, satisfaction was a stronger predictor of communication. These links have not been talked about as much in the literature; we have focused on communication predicting satisfaction instead.”

The authors chose to look at couples with incomes at or below 160 percent of the 1999 federal poverty level for families of four because of the unique stressors present in low-income households. The first few years of marriage are usually a high-stress transition period for couples, with a high risk of divorce, Lavner said. Financial worries further compound the already stressful newlywed period.

Lavner is currently focusing on personality characteristics and how they affect relationships, satisfaction levels and divorce.

The study, “Does Couples’ Communication Predict Marital Satisfaction, or Does Marital Satisfaction Predict Communication?” is available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12301/full.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under grant numbers HD053825 and HD061366.


Just 5 days from election day, and Hillary is hit with new major huge scandal – her involvement in Benghazi tragedy!

And with new emails form WikiLeaks, now we know how sick and evil monster she is!

According to The Political Insider about Wikileaks published email:

Hillary Clinton is having the worst week of any Presidential candidate in history.

Read More: Trade DAX and Kilauea volcano video

The FBI is closing in on her criminal use of a private email server to transmit classified material. We now know – without a doubt – that foreign governments had easy access to the server.

But what’s an even bigger deal is Hillary’s actions which directly lead to the deaths of four Americans – Including a U.S. Ambassador – in Benghazi, Lybia.

The terrorist attack was easily avoided, but Hillary refused to provide the security they needed at the embassy.

Today, in a new batch of emails, WikiLeaks reaffirmed exactly how Hillary caused the foreign policy disaster in Benghazi.

WOW!

Hillary Clinton could have saved their lives, but chose note to. She was trying to keep the danger in Benghazi a secret, and left Americans to die. She is unfit for office.

America need better candidate for president than Hillary!

Is Trump is going to be our greatest president ever or Hillary will be next president ?

Please VOTE HERE to see:

If you agree, please share and comment below.

By sharing this story, you are helping Donald J. Trump to become our new US president.

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This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM witnessed the impact of the conflict on the civilian population in the town of Yasynuvata, and met – in Chernivtsi – with Ukrainian activists delivering supplies to the area of fighting. The SMM deployed an advance team to Mariupol (113 km south of Donetsk) last night at 22:30hrs. They will be reinforced today. Reporting will also be initiated today.

The situation in Kharkiv was calm.

The SMM talked to the family of an 82-year-old woman, who was reportedly shot by a member of the Ukrainian voluntary ‘Aidar’ battalion in the village of Oleksandrivka, around 90 km north-west of Luhansk (see Daily Report of 28 August 2014). The chief surgeon in Severodonetsk (97 km north-west of Luhansk) hospital confirmed to the SMM that an 82-year-old woman with bullet wounds had been brought to the hospital on 23 August, and was in intensive care.

The SMM visited Yasynuvata (20 km north-east of Donetsk) and saw around 80 people in an underground bunker approximately 110 metres long, and 25 metres wide. Most of the sheltering civilians were elderly women. They said that they had been there since 12 August, and were worried about their situation, especially taking into consideration the onset of autumn and winter. In another shelter, located in the basement of a school, the SMM saw around 60 persons, including elderly people and infants, apparently housed there for two or three weeks. There was no electricity in the basement, which consisted of an unspecified number of small rooms – the sheltering civilians used small torches and candles. They seemed to have food and water.

The SMM observed in Yasynuvata several multi-storey apartment buildings with most of the flats apparently empty. One of the apartment buildings had two indications of projectile impact. The SMM saw remnants of Grad rockets next to the building. Several combatants from the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (‘DPR’) approached the SMM and reported that on 12 August one of the apartment blocks, used by them as an observation post, was partially damaged by Ukrainian artillery. The SMM also saw a large playground with two signs of artillery impact. Trees, branches and demolished tiles from rooftops littered the place.

An entrepreneur from Kramatorsk (97 km north of Donetsk) told the SMM that small and medium-sized enterprises were reviving their activities after several months of interruption. However, many of them had difficulties in delivering current orders because of insufficient capacity.

The situation in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Odessa was calm.

A doctor from Chernivtsi, and social activists providing supplies such as clothes, shoes, military uniforms, food, and medicines to soldiers fighting in Donbas, told the SMM that their convoys, and volunteering medical personnel, had become sniper targets of either the ‘DPR’ or the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’.

The Ivano-Frankivsk metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church expressed dismay about the damage to two churches in Donetsk belonging to the Greek-Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) Churches. He informed the SMM that chaplains from the Greek-Catholic Church were going to the east to support soldiers, for example, by providing medical care, or they were acting as military chaplains. The church collected funds for flak jackets and helmets for troops. The bishop also said that during the Maidan period, 70 Greek-Catholic priests from Ivano-Frankivsk worked on rotation in Kyiv.

The situation in Lviv was calm.

Nearly 1,000 participants of a peaceful demonstration held in in front of the Ministry of Defence in Kyiv called on the Government for more intensive support of Ukrainian forces, in particular for the Donbas battalion, which is reportedly encircled by ‘DPR’-affiliated fighters in the town of Ilovaisk (47 km south-east of Donetsk).


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Just a few months ago, Grishin Robotics made its robotic first investment (that we know of) by writing a check for a cool quarter million to Double Robotics and its rolling iPad telepresence thingy. Today, Grishin has announced investment number two, with another $250,000 going to Elad Inbar's RobotAppStore.

What is RobotAppStore? We'll break it down for you: it's a store, that sells apps, for robots. You can buy (or download for free) apps for a variety of consumer robots (Naos, Pleos, Roombas, Lego NXT kits, and more), each of which has been checked out by RobotAppStore itself to make sure it won't cause your hardware to explode. On the other end, developers can sell apps through the store, keeping 70 percent of whatever their apps bring in.

Here's Dimtri Grishin on why he decided to go with RobotAppStore:

“Robotics is a combination of good hardware and software – thus, the important role of a project like the RobotAppStore in the market ecosystem is unquestionable. The concept of ‘Cloud robotics’, which implies ability of all robots to connect to the internet, share a common knowledge database and seamlessly upgrade their functions in real-time, is a soon-to-be future; one reminiscent of the of personal computer industry. We believe that the strong team behind RobotAppStore coupled with their ability to leverage the advantages of having strong community already built around the product, can make this future closer”, said Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, Co-Founder & CEO of Mail.Ru Group.

That mention of cloud robotics isn't coincidental; Grishin is betting that there's a future in giving robots the same ability to benefit from cloud software and cloud hardware that smartphones have now. Like, let's take some sort of stupendously difficult problem that may or may not be solved (depending on who you ask), like grasping, and imagine how a cloud-based app store or service could improve it: your robot could be about as smart as a plastic spork with an arm and a Kinect on it, but as long as you've got the right app and a connection to the cloud, it doesn't matter. Your bot can simply send a 3D image of the object in question, some supercomputer somewhere can do some number crunching, and send back grasping instructions faster than you can say "wow, that was fast." Obviously, the RobotAppStore isn't set up for this kind of thing yet, but that's why now's the time to invest, I suppose.

Anyway, here's what Elad thinks about the whole thing:

“The support provided by Grishin Robotics is a great vote of confidence in our plans for the company,” said Elad Inbar, Founder & CEO of RobotAppStore. “It shows their belief in our vision and the importance of the marketplace for robotics applications. The robotics industry has reached its tipping-point with broad market acceptance, usability of robots, and the ability to extend the robots' capabilities. Being a part of Grishin Robotics’ portfolio provides high synergy with other robotics companies and better resource utilization. We are excited to use this funding to secure our place as THE market-leader of the consumer and educational robot-apps™ industry."

As much as I'd like to believe this, "the robotics industry has reached its tipping-point" is a sentiment that I've heard consistently ever since I started writing about robots back in 2007, and as far as I can tell, nothing has tipped yet. I think it's more likely that Grishin's investments, and RobotAppStore itself, will help the robotics industry reach some sort of tipping-point in the first place. An app-type ecosystem, where you can download new capabilities for your robot that someone else has come up with rather than taking the time to develop them yourself, is one of the things that has made ROS so successful in robotics, and has the potential to do something similar for consumer robots in general. The only question I have at this point is whether there are really enough robots out there for RobotAppStore to get a good foothold, but even if there aren't (yet), the existence of a place to share apps will perhaps motivate people to buy more robots knowing that new capabilities are already available.

[ RobotAppStore ] via [ Grishin Robotics ]


Replacing articles of clothing every time they get holes can become an expensive proposition. Instead, use the darning technique to repair small holes in socks, shirts and other apparel. With a darning needle and yarn, you'll form a network of stitches across the gap. It’s easy to do and can be a big cost-saver.

Find thread or yarn that matches the sock in color and texture; you can use embroidery floss to repair a crew sock, while wool yarn is appropriate for a wool sock. Choose a darning needle as well.

Place a lightbulb in the sock and position the hole over the lightbulb. Your needle will glide smoothly over the bulb's surface, making your stitching go faster.

Thread the darning needle with the yarn or thread and leave the end unknotted. The darning process should create a tight weave that makes knots unnecessary.

Start your work on either side of the hole. Take several small vertical running stitches in the intact fabric of the sock, about 1/2 inch to the left or right of the hole. Turn the sock upside down and make another row of stitches next to the first.

Increase the number of running stitches you make as you come closer to the hole. When you reach the point at which the hole begins, your stitching line should extend from 1/2 inch above the hole to 1/2 inch below it.

Continue making vertical running stitches. When your stitching reaches the hole, take your thread or yarn over the hole and into the fabric on the other side, forming what resembles a vertical bridge over the hole. Stitching should extend 1/2 inch beyond the hole at both the top and bottom edges.

Cut the thread end once you have covered the hole with vertical threads and extended the stitching 1/2 inch past it so that both sides of the hole look identical.

Thread your darning needle and begin your work 1/2 inch from either side of the hole at either the top or bottom. Take the threaded needle and weave it under and over the vertical threads that cover the hole as well as the vertical threads that lie within 1/2 inch of the hole.

Turn the sock upside down once you reach the opposite end of the hole, and weave another yarn strand next to the first. Continue stitching back and forth until you've completely filled the hole. Trim excess thread.


A new report uncovers the role of US psychologists in torture and criticizes the American Psychological Association for supporting interrogation in the name of national security

This week the Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) have published the most comprehensive study on the role of psychologists in the War on Terror. At 269 pages, the full report is as detailed as it is grim, concluding that American psychologists collaborated extensively with the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and the CIA to develop a range of interrogation methods used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay.

The list of methods is horrifying: beatings, exposure to extreme cold, shackling, repeated slamming into walls, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, exposure to prolonged white noise and yelling, forced nakedness, exploitation of phobias, slaps to the face and abdomen, cramped confinement, prolonged stress positions (such as having hands and feet chained to the floor), forced feeding via gastrointestinal tubing, sexual and religious humiliation, forcible restraint of the head, deprivation of basic items such as sheets, blankets and mattresses (termed "comfort items"), threats to the detainee’s family, asphyxiation, and waterboarding.

The report documents how psychologists consulted with the military under the Orwellian euphemism of "safety officers". Their official role was to work in Behavioral Science Consultation Teams to "identify vulnerabilities of detainees and collaborate with interrogators in exploiting them". Psychologists were selected for these positions based on professional training in clinical and forensic psychology. Yet while clearly valuing these qualifications, the military classified the psychologists as "combatants" rather than health practitioners, a move which enabled them to bypass normal ethical standards.

Those ethical standards themselves are unclear. The American Psychological Association (APA) – the official professional body for psychologists in the US – officially rejects torture but it also supports the role of psychologists in interrogation: "It is consistent with the APA Ethics Code for psychologists to serve in consultative roles to interrogation and information-gathering processes for national-security related purposes". The APA has yet to indicate which, if any, of the methods listed in the IMAP/OSF report would be consistent with its ethical policy.

The position of the British Psychological Society is even less clear. On the one hand the Society condemns torture yet at the same time remains silent on whether psychologists can assist with interrogation or other military objectives. As with the APA's policy, the point at which interrogation becomes abuse is left unsaid, the boundaries of unethical conduct given room to move.

The report makes a number of concrete recommendations, calling for US president Barack Obama to apply more strict prohibitions on the use of "sleep deprivation, isolation, exploitation of fear, and other interrogation methods that violate international standards". It also urges the APA to clarify its ethical policy and "repudiate the report of its Presidential Task Force…that condones the participation of psychologists in interrogation".

These are undoubtedly vital reforms, but the facts uncovered by this study raise even more fundamental questions. In the quest for national security, is there a genuine balance to be met between the ideologies of "do no harm" and "prevent harm being done"? At what point (if any) is it morally acceptable for psychologists to be deployed as weapons of war? As important as it is for the psychological profession to clarify its policies on these issues, it is also not for psychologists alone to provide the answers. That responsibility is shared by all citizens of a free society.


Shanghai, China – Since four-fifth of the Chinese students wear glasses. An Asian dad beat up his son for having perfect 6/6 vision. He was convinced that wearing glasses would mean an increase in his sons grades.

A boy named Wang Wei, a 15 year old student from Shanghai was badly beaten up by his dad Fang Wei. He then took him to a doctor and forced him to prescribe glasses for his son.

Wang was just an average student who would pass all his exams. This want enough as his father’s expectations were very high of him. He attributed this on him having a perfect 6/6 vision and proceeded to beat up his child.

The doctor tried convincing his father that corrective glasses are not required with no results. He said he wouldn’t leave until the doctor gave his son glasses. Hence the doctor was left with no choice and prescribed him a Rayban aviator sunglasses.

China and many other East Asian countries do not prize time outdoors. Being outdoors and exposure to daylight helps the retina to release a chemical that slows down an increase in the eye’s axial length.

Schoolchildren in China are often made to take a nap after lunch rather than play outside; they then go home to do far more homework than anywhere outside East Asia. The older children in China have poor eyesights, as they stay indoors and not because of the country’s notorious pollution.

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