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Sleep cool and dry all night long with the Perfectly Snug Smart Topper. This smart air-conditioned mattress topper boasts Controlled Airflow with adjustable temperature settings for a cooled or heated airflow, improving sleep. The Smart Topper also sports a Dual-Zone Climate Control function, which allows each sleeper to independently control the temperature on each side of the bed. Moreover, the Smart Topper can also accurately monitor a person’s body temperature via built-in sensors, and automatically adjust the cooling/heating temperature to fit any sleeper’s ideal climate. Lastly, it also boasts foot heaters at the bottom for each sleeper, and everything can be controlled by Perfectly Snug’s app.
Keep your oral health in check with the Mode Electric Toothbrush. This smart electric toothbrush is IPX7 waterproof rated, and comes equipped with soft tapered bristles that gently clean the surface of your teeth, gums, and everything in between. It also features a powerful Sonic Vibrations Mode that can run at 38,000 vibrations per minute, making it capable of removing up to 10 times more plaque than any typical toothbrush. It also has a 2-minute built-in Brushing Timer that reminds you to clean all 4 quadrants of your teeth, as well as a built-in Nightlight for illumination during nighttime. The battery, charged by the included wireless charging dock, lasts for 30-days on a single charge.
UVCeed UVC Mobile Sanitizer – Smartphone-Enabled UVC-Light Sanitizing Device
Keep surfaces clean and germ-free with the UVCeed UVC Mobile Sanitizer. This Smartphone-enabled Sanitizing Device has mercury-free LED UVC light that kills bacteria, germs, and viruses on just about any surface within seconds, including COVID-19. Compatible with MagSafe phones and MagSafe phone cases, simply attach the device to the back of your phone, then turn on the UVCeed App, and follow the on-screen instructions to operate the device by simply pointing it at the surface you’re looking to sanitize. Then you press and hold the App’s Button, and the device will irradiate its mercury-free LED UVC light to disinfect that surface, all the while, showing you in real-time the level of sanitation within the surface you’re disinfecting.
For outdoors enthusiasts, check out the Goliath Defender Backpack. This military-grade outdoors tactical backpack is offered in 32L or 42L versions. The larger can even house a large axe and even has the capability of carrying Big Axes. It also has a tear-proof and rain-proof construction, thanks to high-grade ballistic nylon and its waterproof zippers. Best of all, it features a belt strap for extra support, plus an Internal Velcro Separation System, a 17″ Laptop Sleeve, and a MOLLE System for carrying extra pouches and essential survival gear. Finally, the Velcro front allows you to attach any Velcro-padded gear or patches.
CookingPal Multo – Smart Multi-Functional Cooking System & Food Processor
Make your cooking easier, learn new recipes, and take your cooking skills to the next level with the CookingPal Multo. This smart multi-functional cooking system features 15 different cooking functionalities, which can replace most kitchen appliances and cooking tools, and also includes a Smart Cooking Timer, plus 2 Cleaning Modes. Thanks to built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2, you can control the system remotely, either via its included LCD Smart Kitchen Hub or via the CookingPal App, and there’s also support for voice controls. Best of all, you’ll get access to an ever-expanding digital recipe library that’s updated weekly, and features over 400 smart-guided digital recipes that are all crafted by professional chefs.
Alien Worlds and Gods Unchained have ruled NFT card games for some time now. While Gods Unchained is a top NFT collection by trading volume, Alien Worlds is one of the most trending NFT games out there.
Top NFT collections, 17 Oct 2022, Source: DappRadar
However, their supremacy is coming to an end as a new NFT card game takes charge with gripping game mechanics and lower barriers to entry. As revealed by a rapidly progressing presale, Calvaria will mark the beginning of a new era of card games.
A Crypto Game for Non-crypto Users
There are dozens of NFT card games. But most bite the dust a few days into launch, failing to penetrate the mainstream gaming market. One of the key reasons is the jargon-laced blockchain and crypto narratives that can be a major turn-off for traditional gamers.
This is where Calvaria comes in.
Calvaria: Duels of Eternity
The emerging battle card game marks itself off in the packed gaming market by targeting both traditional and crypto gamers. It offers free-to-play and play-to-earn versions, which are customized for both categories of users. That way, it aims to convert traditional gamers into crypto gamers over time, by introducing the benefits of going play-to-earn.
The free-to-play version will be available for download on both Google Play and App Store. It will give users an opportunity to get acquainted with the game without installing a wallet or purchasing costly NFTs and crypto tokens. Once they’re well-versed in gameplay, they can move to the play-to-earn version. It will help them turn their gaming skills into a source of income with a small initial investment.
One of the key features that will establish Calvaria’s supremacy in the coming days is its unique theme. Calvaria is centered around the afterlife. The theme opens a lot of creative possibilities, as it has not been used much in gaming or even popular media.
The main game from Calvaria is Duels of Eternity, which is currently in the development phases. The card game hosts tournaments where the cards represent different characters, each with its own unique sets of abilities. You need to defeat opponents using complex strategies and tactics to win rewards and upgrades.
If the gaming mechanics unfold as detailed in the whitepaper, it has the potential to give top NFT games like Alien Worlds and Gods Unchained a run for their money. It is designed to grab the attention of traditional gamers, not just crypto gamers, who prioritize the earning aspect. Calvaria mini-games are already out.
What gives Calvaria high upside potential in 2022, apart from ease of access and addictive gameplay?
DAO
Scholarships
In-game store
Gamified staking platform with multiple pools.
Experienced team of founders and developers
Compelling P2E Opportunities
Calvaria rewards gamers for the time and effort they put into the game and the ecosystem. $RIA token is the fuel of the Calvaria ecosystem. You need $RIA to access all game features and buy an initial deck of cards.
It can also be used to buy cards, upgrades, energy replenishment packs, and more. If you have idle $RIA holdings, you can stake them in the ecosystem to earn daily passive income rewards. A specific amount of $RIA tokens locked on the staking platform allows users to participate in the governance of the ecosystem.
The presale of $RIA is fast selling out, as a result of the massive traction from crypto investors and gamers alike. Predicted to gain around 30X growth next year, the token is one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy now. Zero vesting adds to the appeal of the presale. The pioneering gaming model introduced by Calvaria has already secured high-profile partnerships with KuCoin, Gate.io, and XT.com to name just a few.
Haiti’s descent into anarchy accelerated, predictably, after its president’s assassination 15 months ago. Only now is the Biden administration throwing its weight behind international intervention — sending in a force that would presumably include U.S. personnel in some capacity. That stance, too long in coming, is justified on humanitarian grounds and dovetails with the United States’ own interests. It also sets the stage for a risky and possibly violent insertion of police or soldiers in a country where armed criminal gangs have made the capital city a lawless dystopia.
In backing an intervention, Washington and its allies must calibrate the deployment to meet the undeniable dangers. President Biden and other key leaders should make the case that the perils of acting are outweighed by the urgency of containing a security and public health emergency that threatens hundreds of thousands of lives.
The United States and Mexico introduced a resolution at a special session of the U.N. Security Council on Monday, urging what the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called “a limited, carefully scoped, non-U.N. mission led by a partner country with the deep, necessary experience.” The draft echoes a similar recent proposal aimed at reinforcing the Haitian police from U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, who on Monday called Haiti’s crisis “nightmarish.”
The immediate trigger for action is that gangs in Port-au-Prince, the capital, have blockaded the country’s biggest fuel terminals and severed roads, meaning hospitals, schools, food outlets and banks can no longer provide basic services. Water supplies are also breaking down, and a cholera outbreak that began several weeks ago is spreading, with no effective public health system to contain it.
Haiti, long the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, is now in free fall. According to the United Nations, nearly half of Haiti’s 11 million people face “acute hunger,” including 1.8 million at risk of a food “emergency.” In Cité Soleil, a sprawling slum in the capital, 19,000 people face a food “catastrophe.”
Virtually anyone who can leave the country has done so, often making their way to the U.S. southern border. Others will surely make desperate attempts to follow, despite the deployment of a large U.S. Coast Guard vessel just offshore. This cannot continue.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has sent what it calls an “elite” disaster response team to Haiti — of seven individuals. That is inadequate. What’s needed is a highly prepared force — police experienced in urban environments are preferable to troops trained to kill. The first priority should be to reestablish access to fuel facilities and reopen transportation links. That will mean suppressing gangs now in charge, which are allied with powerful Haitian commercial clans. It would be useful if international public health workers quickly followed, with expertise and supplies to alleviate hunger and stop cholera from spreading.
Beyond that, Haiti needs a longer-term multinational peacekeeping force, without which there will be no possibility of future elections or a legitimate Haitian government — the preconditions of durable stability.
Since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021, we and other observers have warned of a humanitarian meltdown absent swift international action. Dire consequences materialized rapidly; they are no longer ignorable.
The Post’s View | About the Editorial Board
Editorials represent the views of The Washington Post as an institution, as determined through debate among members of the Editorial Board, based in the Opinions section and separate from the newsroom.
Members of the Editorial Board and areas of focus: Deputy Editorial Page Editor Karen Tumulty; Deputy Editorial Page Editor Ruth Marcus; Associate Editorial Page Editor Jo-Ann Armao (education, D.C. affairs); Jonathan Capehart (national politics); Lee Hockstader (immigration; issues affecting Virginia and Maryland); David E. Hoffman (global public health); Charles Lane (foreign affairs, national security, international economics); Heather Long (economics); Molly Roberts (technology and society); and Stephen Stromberg (elections, the White House, Congress, legal affairs, energy, the environment, health care).
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Apollo, Gemini astronaut James McDivitt dies at age 93
James McDivitt, a former U.S. astronaut who commanded some of NASA’s earliest and most ambitious missions in space, died in his sleep last week at age 93, NASA said in a statement on Monday night. McDivitt, who was selected for NASA’s second astronaut class in 1962, was the commanding pilot for the U.S. space agency’s Gemini 4 mission in 1965 and Apollo 9 in 1969, a mission that helped pave the way for the first human lunar landing.
Virgin Orbit to launch first satellite in Europe within six weeks – Branson
Richard Branson’s small satellite service provider Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc will be doing its first launch from European soil within the next six weeks, its founder said on Tuesday. “Virgin Orbit can launch satellites into space from anywhere in the world into any orbit at a days notice,” Branson said during a press conference in Milan.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DETROIT (AP) — Eleven additional people were killed in U.S. crashes involving vehicles that were using automated driving systems during a four-month period earlier this year, according to newly released government data, part of an alarming pattern of incidents linked to the technology.
Ten of the deaths involved vehicles made by Tesla, though it is unclear from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s data whether the technology itself was at fault or whether driver error might have been responsible. The 11th death involved a Ford pickup truck.
The deaths included four crashes involving motorcycles that occurred during the spring and summer: Two in Florida and one each in California and Utah. Safety advocates note that the deaths of motorcyclists in crashes involving Tesla vehicles using automated driver-assist systems such as Autopilot have been increasing.
The new fatal crashes are documented in a database that NHTSA is building in an effort to broadly assess the safety of automated driving systems, which, led by Tesla, have been growing in use. Tesla alone has more than 830,000 vehicles on U.S. roads with the systems. The agency is requiring auto and tech companies to report all crashes involving self-driving vehicles as well as autos with driver assist systems that can take over some driving tasks from people.
The 11 new fatal crashes, reported from mid-May through September, were included in statistics that the agency released Monday. In June, the agency released data it had collected from July of last year through May 15.
The figures that were released in June showed that six people died in crashes involving the automated systems, and five were seriously hurt. Of the deaths, five occurred in Teslas and one a Ford. In each case, the database says that advanced driver assist systems were in use at the time of the crash.
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said he is baffled by NHTSA’s continued investigations and by what he called a general lack of action since problems with Autopilot began surfacing back in 2016.
“I think there’s a pretty clear pattern of bad behavior on the part of Tesla when it comes to obeying the edicts of the (federal) safety act, and NHTSA is just sitting there,” he said. “How many more deaths do we need to see of motorcyclists?”
Brooks noted that the Tesla crashes are victimizing more people who are not in the Tesla vehicles.
“You’re seeing innocent people who had no choice in the matter being killed or injured,” he said.
A message was left Tuesday seeking a response from NHTSA.
Tesla’s crash number may appear elevated because it uses telematics to monitor its vehicles and obtain real-time crash reports. Other automakers lack such capability, so their crash reports may emerge more slowly or may not be reported at all, NHTSA has said.
NHTSA has been investigating Autopilot since August of last year after a string of crashes since 2018 in which Teslas collided with emergency vehicles parked along roadways with flashing lights on. That investigation moved a step closer to a recall in June, when it was upgraded to what is called an engineering analysis.
In documents, the agency raised questions about the system, finding that the technology was being used in areas where its capabilities are limited and that many drivers weren’t taking steps to avoid crashes despite warnings from the vehicle.
NHTSA also reported that it has documented 16 crashes in which vehicles with automated systems in use hit emergency vehicles and trucks that were displaying warning signs, causing 15 injuries and one death.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which also has investigated some of the Tesla crashes dating to 2016, has recommended that NHTSA and Tesla limit Autopilot’s use to areas where it can safely operate. The NTSB also recommended that NHTSA require Tesla to improve its systems to ensure that drivers are paying attention. NHTSA has yet to act on the recommendations. (The NTSB can make only recommendations to other federal agencies.)
Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from Tesla. At the company’s artificial intelligence day in September, CEO Elon Musk asserted that, based on the rate of crashes and total miles driven, Tesla’s automated systems were safer than human drivers — a notion that some safety experts dispute.
“At the point of which you believe that adding autonomy reduces injury and death, I think you have a moral obligation to deploy it,” Musk said. “Even though you’re going to get sued and blamed by a lot of people. Because the people whose lives you saved don’t know that their lives were saved. And the people who do occasionally die or get injured, they definitely know, or their state does, that it was, whatever, there was a problem with Autopilot.”
Teslas with automated systems have driven more than 3 million vehicles on the road, Musk said.
“That’s a lot of miles driven every day. And it’s not going to be perfect. But what matters is that it is very clearly safer than not deploying it.”
In addition to Autopilot, Tesla sells “Full Self-Driving” systems, though it says the vehicles cannot drive themselves and that motorists must be ready to intervene at all times.
The number of deaths involving automated vehicles is small compared with the overall number of traffic deaths in the U.S. Nearly 43,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, the highest number in 16 years, after Americans returned to the roads as the pandemic eased. Authorities blamed reckless behavior such as speeding and driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol for much of the increase.
Mayor Adams’ chief tech honcho is being squired around town by an NYPD security detail — prompting political and law enforcement observers to question why he needs one and why taxpayers are footing the bill for it.
Chief Technology Officer Matt Fraser is protected by at least two NYPD detectives — Steve Gordon and Victor Robalino, according to three sources familiar with the situation who spoke to the Daily News under the condition of anonymity.
One of the sources who confirmed the existence of Fraser’s detail and spoke anonymously out of fear of retribution pointed out that there’s no precedent for someone in his post to be provided with a protective unit.
“He is the civilian head of technology for the city,” the source said. “He doesn’t do law enforcement for the city.”
New York City Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Matthew C. Fraser (left) and New York Mayor Eric Adams (right) at City Hall in lower Manhattan, New York on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
The source noted that very few city officials are provided with an NYPD security detail aside from the mayor.
While a spokeswoman for Mayor Adams didn’t dispute that the two detectives work under Fraser, she denied that they constitute a police detail.
“While CTO Fraser has an expanded and unparalleled portfolio as head of OTI, he does not have a security detail,” said Adams’ spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak. “Those who work for him serve multiple roles, including providing CTO Fraser with important real-time insights and context on issues at the nexus of technology and public safety.”
Adams himself also denied that Fraser has a detail, saying at an unrelated press conference that “no police is around him all day trying to protect him.”
“No one is going after my chief technology officer, he doesn’t have a police detail,” he said, after audibly sighing. “Matt is looking at how do we use the technology to address public safety in this city. Having knowledgeable police officers participating in this role is so helpful.”
Still, two other sources confirmed the existence of the detail, which drew criticism from long-time political observers.
“It’s hard to justify when you’re losing so many cops on a daily basis,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime political consultant and former Port Authority cop. “It doesn’t look good politically.”
John Kaehny, who heads the government watchdog Reinvent Albany, described the decision to give Fraser a detail as “bad management,” given Adams’ calls in the first months of his tenure to remove cops from desk duty in order to increase the NYPD’s presence on the streets.
“It would be much better to have retired police detectives do it,” Kaehny said of Fraser’s protective unit.
Before being appointed by Adams as the city’s CTO, Fraser worked as deputy commissioner of the NYPD’s Information Technology Bureau and as a project manager for the city Department of Buildings.
“I said this about Chief Banks, Deputy Mayor Banks, they don’t have police details. We are using police officers with their knowledge to assist us in the overall scheme because that’s how I run the city,” he said. “The team is going to work together.”
Asked if any others in the administration have police details, Adams offered a vague response.
“People are using city employees wherever we need to utilize them,” he said. “That is what they’re doing. My order to the city is wherever you can utilize a city employee, you’re going to utilize that city employee. That includes NYPD, FDNY, DSNY — everyone is on this team together.”
Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who took his share of criticism about his use of his own NYPD executive protection unit, the only other non-elected city officials to get full-time details were the NYPD commissioner and Correction Department commissioner. The Council speaker, public advocate and comptroller — all of whom are elected — have traditionally had details as well.
Another source familiar with Fraser’s security team said that when Gordon isn’t driving Fraser to and fro, he’s doing administrative work.
“He’s not a cop,” the source said of Fraser. “He’s a civilian.”
A third source described Fraser as a police “buff” who has a new electric Ford Mustang outfitted with the “police package,” meaning it has police lights and is faster and more powerful than a Mustang normally sold at a car dealership.
The source noted that Gordon and Robalino are officially assigned to the NYPD’s Information Technology Bureau.
“It seems like a stretch that he would need a detail,” said that source. “What’s the basis — that he has to respond to late-night emergencies? Doubtful.”
Robalino, a 2nd-grade detective, earns about $151,880 annually. Gordon, a detective specialist, makes $126,469, records show. The two are still officially assigned to the NYPD Information Technology Bureau, according to the source
A fourth source, a former member of one of the city’s security details, questioned why Fraser would get a detail when his predecessor, Jessica Tisch, who served under de Blasio as head of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, did not. Under Mayor Adams, DoITT was combined with several other city tech offices to form the Office of Technology & Innovation, which Fraser now helms.
Anne Roest and Samir Saini, who both served as DoITT commissioners prior to Tisch, also did not have police details.
Mamelak said Fraser’s role as CTO is “not comparable to previous positions of leaders in citywide technology operations” and added that the Daily News’ reporting on his NYPD security amounted to a “hit job.”
When told about City Hall’s denial, one of the sources who confirmed its existence to The News, described Team Adams’ response as splitting hairs and as a “bold-faced lie.”
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/YWGP6AHFUBDQDOVKVJZBMKHETQ.jpg "NYC City Hall Disputes Matt Fraser Has NYPD Security Detail - New York Daily News 23")
