• Traditionally people did not wear white or seersucker clothes after Labor Day as it unofficially marked the end of summer.
• In the late 1800s the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks to eke out a basic living. Children as young as 5-6 years old worked in factories and mines. For more Labor Day facts, check out this article on Forbes
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With school right around the corner, the last rays of summer are starting to fade. What better way to go out with a bang than with an end-of-the-summer barbeque? Make sure you invite all of your friends, neighbors and most important don’t forget you Coolest Cooler. The Coolest Cooler is a revolutionary cooler jam-packed with endless feature to ensure your barbeque is the best one yet. Have you ever wondered why cooler designs haven’t changed since you were a kid? Well, that's what was going through the mind of Ryan Grepper when he developed a cooler equipped with a blender, Bluetooth speaker, USB charger and beach wheels. This all-in-one invention started as a Kickstarter but has now exceeded its $500,000 goal by 2,000%. Its rechargeable battery makes it eco-friendly and great for day trips. The blender can make six gallons of drinks on one charge while the LED light leads the way using barely any power. However, we think that the most advanced addition to this cooler is, drum roll please, the bottle opener. How many times have you been somewhere and forgotten a bottle opener? Brilliant! Check out more from Coolest or sign up for updates here. This past Sunday morning, Northern California experienced the biggest earthquake in 25 years. The 6.1 magnitude earthquake jolted many awake in the epicenter in Napa, California as well other neighboring cities. Jawbone’s data science team released a chart highlighting the percentage of Up wearers whose slumber was disturbed, and in correlation to the epicenter. Up, is a wristband that tracks users steps throughout the day and their sleep patterns during the night.
Jawbone’s analysis revealed that 93 percent of users in Napa, Sonoma, Vallejo and Fairfield woke at the exact time the earthquake hit, precisely 3:20am. 45 percent of those people did not fall back asleep. Almost no Up wearers in Modesto and Santa Cruz woke up. The collection of this personal information may seem invasive. However, Jawbone obtains this data from users who opted in to the anonymous data mining when they signed up for the app. “Our privacy policy is really clear,” a spokesperson for Jawbone said. ‘We don’t share people’s individual data without consent… Also, all of these visualizations are aggregate data. It’s never identifiable.” Does your fridge smell bad? Do you always leave the fridge door open? These nifty fridge gadgets can help you out. First, never leave the fridge open again with the Go Green Fridge Alarm. The alarm beeps any time you leave the door open for too long, keeping your cold and preventing you from wasting electricity. A stinky fridge is gross and unappetizing. The 03 Pure Rechargeable Refrigerator Purifier Deodorizer and Odor Eliminator deodorizes and purifies the air in your fridge. The chargeable device not only saves you from the contaminants in spoiled food, but it also claims to keep your food from expiring for up to 5 more days. Make sure your fridge is always as at your preferred temperature with the AcuRite super thermometer. The smart device tracks the highest and lowest temperatures in your fridge and freezer—if it goes below your ideal temperature, the thermometer notifies you with an alarm. Eggs are a fridge staple. With the Quirky Egg Minder, you no longer have to worry about wondering how fresh your eggs are or try to remember while your at the store if you need eggs. The device tracks the number of eggs you have and alters you if they begin to lose freshness. With the accompanying app, you can check it while your at the grocery store. Everyone plans to start the school year more organized than they were the year before. You get notebooks, planners, folders and maybe even a few expensive new gadgets, like a laptop, tablet or smartphone. If that’s the case for you, it’s time to beef up your devices with a few key apps made specifically with students in mind.
It seems that before now, using “the force” was the only way to levitate something. However, recent innovations have allowed a company called OM Audio to mimic the levitation powers previously only practiced by Jedi’s. OM Audio has combined Bluetooth speaker technology with high tech magnets to create the OM/ONE floating speaker.
The Bluetooth technology can connect to smartphones, tablets and computers providing a wireless listening experience. If you are on-the-go, the floating orb can also be taken off the base and used as a portable speaker. In addition to being a speaker, the OM/ONE also has a built in microphone for conference calls in the office. This versatile speaker lasts up to 15 hours on one charge and will be for presale and arrive before the holiday season. Whether you use it for portable music, conference calls or a stellar floating centerpiece, the OM/ONE is the speaker of the future. Most of us have seen the superb sketch comedy skit with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake where the two converse in the relatively new “hashtag dialect”. If you haven’t, check this out on your #lunchbreak. The boys prove hashtags can be funny, but often times – as evidenced by their performance – they allow social media users to engage in their own monologue. Example: Fallon begins to talk about Halloween costumes “#lifedecisions” when Timberlake suggest he might go as a ninja turtle “#GottabeRaphael#LeonardoSucks #TheTurtleNotTheItalianRenaissancePainter#MonaLisa#IsSheSmiling.” Hilarious as these two are, the idea that people are communicating in a style not far from what is demonstrated here is a little scary. Hashtags enable us to ramble to ourselves, draw attention on social media and pander to our cultural ADD. Some of these examples of “hashtag movements” have included #YesAllWomen, #BringBackOurGirls and the most recent, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. That same symbol we use for our #ManCrushMonday is sparking dynamic conversations about critical social issues where everyone can chime in. #YesAllWomen – now with it’s own Wikipedia page – grew out of the Isla Vista tragedy and became a tool for women to speak about about stories of misogyny and violence. It even sparked the creation of a #AllMenCan response. Within four days the #YesAllWomen had over 1.2 million hits on Twitter. The White House jumped on board with #BringBackOurGirls in effort to put pressure on the Nigerian authorities regarding the young girls kidnapped by Boko Haram this past spring. #IfTheyGunnedMeDown began this past weekend in reaction to the unarmed deaths of minorities and the media’s response.
For many of us our smartphones are the key to everything while on the road, from playing our favorite tunes to helping us navigate to our destination. However, danger arises when we have to avert our eyes and take a hand off the wheel to change the song or double check the name of the upcoming exit. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), touchscreen controls take the driver’s eyes off the road increasing the chances of getting into an accident by three times. Inspired by Google Glass technology, Doug Simpson CEO and founder of Navdy designed a heads-up display that allows drivers to interact with their smartphones without taking their eyes off the road. Navdy is fashioned to mount on your dashboard and project a transparent display on your windshield to show maps, notifications and music apps. The display is designed so the content is projected six feet in front of you so drivers can easily view the display and the road behind it. Simpson says that pilots use the same technology when they land an airplane. Once the device is connected to your phone via Bluetooth it allows you to take calls, reply to texts and ask for directions simply through voice commands and gesture-based controls. Navdy is currently available for pre-orders at a price of $299 and will eventually retail for $499. The device is scheduled for shipments in early 2015. Do you ever find yourself thinking of various escape routes during a boring conversation or an awkward date? Finding an excuse to leave without being rude can often be extremely tricky. However, thanks to Bluetooth and some creative minds, Tiyo provides a way for that smooth exit you had hoped for. Tiyo, an acronym for This Is Your Out, is a device that gets you out of sticky situations simply by the push of a button. Small enough to fit on your keys, Tiyo is a discrete device that sends a signal to your phone causing it to ring. When you politely pick it up, a voice on the other end has a written script to follow so you don’t freeze on the spot. With the phone call you can casually end the more boring, time-consuming conversation without looking like a jerk. The other person thinks you received an important call and you walk away in the clear. A win-win for everyone. Although Tiyo is still in its early stages, be weary next time someone gets an urgent phone call halting your conversation. |
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