Category: technology

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Parents, These Funny Tweets About ‘Screen Time’ Will Probably Look Familiar

I hear a lot of parents talk these days about “screen time.” I can’t seem to escape it for some reason.

Limiting screen time, extending screen time, it never ends!

In the spirit of SCREEN TIME, let’s look at these funny tweets…

1. Sure…

2. Not gonna happen, friends.

3. Don’t bother me anymore.

4. Great job.

5. Can’t get away from it.

6. Changed pretty quickly on that one.

7. You’re lying!

8. A different kind of screen.

9. Cat enforcer.

10. Don’t torture yourself.

11. The choice is yours.

12. Didn’t even bother looking.

13. A serious threat.

14. Definitely the better option.

15. That’s why she’s doing it…

Moms and dads out there, how do you deal with screen time for your little ones?

Tell us your methods and tips in the comments so we can all compare notes.

The post Parents, These Funny Tweets About ‘Screen Time’ Will Probably Look Familiar appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Man Created a New Dating App Where He’s the Only Man Available

Dating often means logging into an app and swiping away these days. It’s all very impersonal, and it can be hard to actually meet someone you click with. So, one man decided to make things easier for himself by making an app where he’s the only man to swipe on.

Aaron Smith of North Carolina created the app “Singularity.” He’s the only guy available on it. No matter how many times you swipe, you just get more versions of Aaron’s photo.

Aaron was inspired to create Singularity after he noticed a major problem with other dating apps.

“The biggest problem with the other apps is that my face is not featured prominently,” he told WFMY.

“If life gives you lemons, you should first make lemonade. Then make sure no other companies can produce or distribute their own soft drinks. So the only game in town is lemonade.”

Photo Credit: Screenshot, WFMY News 2

Smart move! To create the app, Aaron got some help from his best friend, Scott McDowell, who happens to be a software engineer. Scott definitely empathized with Aaron’s problem.

“All of us who have done online dating in some sorta way can all relate to the fact that it really does sometimes suck,” Scott said.

The photos on Singularity feature Aaron playing the guitar, Aaron in a Santa Claus hat, and Aaron jumping in front of an ice cream truck.

He advertised the app with a video on his YouTube channel.

“Online dating is terrible and getting more nonsensical with every passing year,” he says in the ad. “Singularity saves you countless hours of swiping, but just matching you with me!”

If only we all had a tech genius BFF to make us our very own dating app.

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Cows in Russia Are Wearing Virtual Reality Headsets Showing ‘Summer Fields’ to Combat Their Winter Depression

In Russia, cows are getting a new tool to help fight the winter blues that a lot of us deal with. A dairy farm in that country is outfitting its cows with virtual reality headsets to help the animals tone down their anxiety and to fight their winter depression. The moooooove (see what I did there?) is also intended to boost milk production from the farm animals.

The headsets display green fields and pastures to the cows in order to make them feel more relaxed. The project is taking place at RusMoloko farm, outside of Moscow.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow Region said that the virtual reality headsets have achieved “a decrease in anxiety and an increase in the overall emotional mood of the herd.”

The plan is to monitor the cows wearing the headsets to see if their milk production increases throughout the winter. The ministry said that “technology improvements should impact the industry as a whole.”

In addition to the look of green fields and pastures, the developers of the virtual reality headsets gave the design a predominantly red color scheme because studies have shown that cows see red better than other colors of the spectrum.

Is this the wave of the future in farming? Will the results show that the impact of these VR headsets is positive among the cattle and this technology become commonplace for animals?

Time will tell…

But I think I might need to get my hands on one of these for myself this winter.

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A Texas Man Built an Awesome, 2,500 Square Foot Home out of Shipping Containers

You’ve probably heard all about the tiny house craze that’s gained massive popularity over the past few years. Well, maybe the next big thing will be based on what Will Breaux did with his house.

Breaux decided to do something radically different by building a 2,500 square foot house in Houston, Texas, out of shipping containers – 11 of them, to be exact. Breaux stacked the shipping containers on top of each other to make a three-story house with a rooftop deck.

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We posted a photo about a month ago of the McGowen Container House, and that was an older photo showing the house as incomplete. Well, the house has been complete for some time now and has been lived in for several months. So, we wanted to share an updated photo of the home showing the end product. To learn more about the project post move-in, check out: https://bionicweapon.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/post-move-in-updates/ . . . All info and photo courtesy of @halo36000 | #mcgowencontainerhouse #containerhome #containerhouse #shippingcontainer #shippingcontainerhouse #houstoncontainerhomes #moderncontainerconcepts #moderncontainerhomes #modernhoustonhomes #modernhomeshouston #modernhouston #houstonmodernhomes

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He wanted to own a house like this since the early 2000s, and after years of not being able to find someone to design one, he decided to design the house himself. According to Breaux,

“I began looking at projects that were being built that I liked. Ultimately, a designer with a home builder family was hired to design a 3 story townhouse to be built on the lot. After going round and round for months, I eventually had to fire that group because they weren’t willing to give me what I wanted. Thus, the journey to design my own house began around 2011.”

He said he wanted to use shipping containers because they’re “strong, fireproof, long-lasting, hurricane resistant, and have common characteristics.” Breaux spent a long time learning everything he could about building with shipping containers and then he decided to go for it after he created a 3-D sketch of the house.

Let’s take a look at some photos of the inside of Breaux’s house because it looks awesome.

Photo Credit: WordPress

Photo Credit: WordPress

Photo Credit: WordPress

That is amazing!

Photo Credit: WordPress

Now I kind of want one of these for myself…

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Kenya Installed First Solar Power Plant That Transforms Ocean Water into Drinking Water

A lot of us, as Americans, take clean water for granted. It’s just something that’s part of our everyday routine, whether we need to grab a drink from the faucet, to wash the dishes, or to take a shower – water is always (mostly) there for us.

But that’s not the case in certain parts of the world.

Roughly 2.2 billion people around the globe don’t have access to clean drinking water, but an organization called GivePower is looking to change that. The nonprofit recently installed a solar-powered plant in Kenya that turns salty ocean water into fresh drinking water, benefiting 25,000 people per day.

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After being constructed in 1 week, the 6kW solar microgrid began serving power to 40 homes and businesses ? #GivePowerInNepal⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #GivePower⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #JoinTheCharge ⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ #actnow #takeaction #active #building #buildingthefuture #buildingabetterfuture #workforchange #agentsofchange #bethechange #bigsteps #solarpanel #solarmicrogrids #solarenergy #solaristheanswer #solaristhefuture #future #futuregenerations ⠀

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The plant was built in the small town Kiunga, Kenya because of the lack of clean drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa. Turning saltwater into drinking water is both expensive and energy-intensive, which is why GivePower decided to build the plant using solar panels that harvest energy. The two water pumps at the solar-powered plant provide clean drinking water to residents 24 hours a day.

Before the plant was built, people in Kiunga had to travel more than an hour to get clean drinking water. And bathing and washing clothing in saltwater is harsh on skin and fabrics, so access to clean water helps the people in that way, too.

Because of the success of the plant in Kenya, GivePower wants to use this technology to help out people around the world. The organization is already planning projects in Colombia and Haiti. If you want to help out this great cause and donate, you can do that HERE.

Great work!

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A Tumblr User Takes Us to School About Why Older Cars Are Definitely Not Better

How many times have you heard this?

“They don’t make them like they used to!”

It’s a refrain we hear often from the older generation around us, and about pretty much everything – cars, washing machines, people  – and even though most of us may just roll our eyes and mutter “OK, Boomer,” one Tumblr user was on the same page:

https://princealigorna.tumblr.com/post/179536633233/and-this-is-why-we-used-to-make-cars-out-of-steel

Yeah. That old car acted like my grandpa used to when a bee stung him in the garden – he grunted, swiped it away, and went about his business.

Luckily for all of us younguns, though, someone else on Tumblr was there to tell us exactly why (at least when it comes to cars) it’s a really, really good thing they don’t make them like they used to.

https://becausedragonage.tumblr.com/post/179727413742/freshest-tittymilk-princealigorna-and-this

While there are legitimate criticisms about the throwaway mentality that capitalism has engendered in American society, vehicle safety has improved dramatically over the last several decades. This is one area where government regulation has made a huge difference, and it is quite literally life or death.

Seems like the government isn’t always out to get us, y’all – they’re actually trying to help!

Who knew?!

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A High School Engineering Class Created a Prosthetic Arm so Middle Schooler Can Play Cello

High school kids in Irving, Texas put their engineering class to good use by fulfilling a middle school girl’s dreams of playing in the orchestra.

Kayla Arqueta was born without her left hand and part of her forearm. As a student at Austin Middle School, she wanted to join the orchestra, so she auditioned for cello. Orchestra director Carly Addison was happy to welcome Kayla to the group, but she wasn’t sure how to make it work.

“She told me she wanted to play cello and I had no idea how to make that happen, but I knew I couldn’t say no,” Carly said in a school district video.

Carly did some internet research, and she discovered another young girl who used a prosthetic arm to play the cello. The musical prosthetic was designed by Dr. Jennifer Mankoff at Carnegie Mellon University.

After contacting Dr. Mankoff, Carly found the blueprints for the prosthetic online. Next, she learned that the high schools in her district had 3D printers, so she reached out to Dwight Davison, an engineering teacher at Nimitz High School.

Dwight hadn’t been using 3D printing in his engineering class, but he created a new class project just to help Kayla out. It was optional for students, and six enterprising teens signed up.

They successfully designed and printed a musical prosthetic for Kayla, who is now blossoming as a burgeoning cellist.

“When Kayla pulled on the string, it made this big beautiful cello sound, and I knew we had done it,” Carly said.

As for Kayla? In addition to her new prosthetic, she’s learned a valuable lesson. “I learned that people are willing to help, and that it’s okay to be different,” she said. “I would like other students to know that life is challenging, but everyone is going to love you for who you are.”

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13 Things Millennials Grew up with That Today’s Kids Have No Idea About

It’s time for some Millennials to feel old for once…

Because these young kids today have NO CLUE about the technology that Millennials grew up with.

To them, the gadgets look like alien objects sent from another planet in a galaxy far away. Or something like that.

Enjoy these tweets and just remember. WE’RE ALL GETTING OLD.

1. A record player?

2. All the way back during the Civil War…

3. What is this foreign object?

4. Hmmmmm.

5. That makes me sad.

6. Wow. That is kind of insane.

7. Could be used for many things…

8. Did you make up something cool?

9. Fix it!

10. Close, but no cigar.

Photo Credit: Twitter

11. How did this activity work?

Photo Credit: Twitter

12. A forgotten relic.

Photo Credit: Twitter

13. He never forgave her…

Photo Credit: Twitter

Back in my day…

Man, that makes me sound really old…

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A Company Is Making “Meat” out of Air

The idea behind making food from air comes from NASA, who wondered during the early days of space slight whether they could take exhaled carbon dioxide and turn it into food that could sustain astronauts during a long voyage.

It never quite became a reality in space, but now a California-based company is revamping the principle to produce animal-free meat products.

If it worked, the sustainable form of meat could help address issues like feeding a constantly growing population and the strain on farming resources, not to mention the treatment of animals raised for slaughter and the negative effects on the environment. Plus, pulling CO2 out of the air could potentially be beneficial in fighting climate change.

Enter Air Protein, a probiotic production process that converts carbon dioxide into a protein substance using microbes. The “protein substance” has the same amino acid profile as an animal protein.

The microbes, called hydrogenotrophs, grow inside fermentation tanks. They eat carbon dioxide, water and other nutrients and produce a brown-colored “flour” that is 80% protein and has a “neutral” taste. It can then be blended with other ingredients to create meat substitutes.

CEO Lisa Dyson is excited about the potential.

“The statistics are clear. Our current resources are under extreme strain as evidenced by the burning Amazon due to deforestation and steadily increasing droughts. We need to produce more food with a reduced dependency on land and water resources. Air-based meat addresses these resource issues and more.”

Right now, animal agriculture emits more greenhouse gases than the entire global transport sector, which is one reason so many plant-based alternatives have started to be offered and consumed. There’s potential for trouble with those options, too, as deforestation to make room for crops comes with its own negative environmental impact.

This air protein doesn’t require plants or animals, it’s not sprayed with pesticides, and it can be produced in a matter of hours – all of which kind of makes it sound like the perfect food.

Of course, I still haven’t tasted it. But I’ll go out on a limb and say I bet we’ll all have our chance to do that in the not-too-distant future.

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