Category: technology

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Amazon Employees Are Suspiciously Tweeting About Their Amazing Work Conditions

In years past, Amazon has been in the news for having unfit working conditions for many of their employees, especially employees working in their call and fulfillment centers (FC).

According to NewsWeek, “An undercover investigation in the United Kingdom revealed that warehouse employees resort to urinating in bottles and trash cans around the warehouse so that they won’t miss their strict time targets.”

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Daniel Eledut

Insane.

For obvious reason, Amazon has been on a mission to squash these so-called rumors, so they turned to their “FC Ambassadors” for help. These employees are on a team that posts on Twitter and social media about how much they enjoy working with Amazon.

While the retail juggernaut insists these people are real and speaking their true minds, Twitter followers smelled something fishy. Many were curious about the strangely stilted language being used. This FC Ambassador mission started over a year ago, and since then there has been some serious backlash.

One Twitter user wrote:

Here are some Amazon FC Ambassadors doing their thing…or not…who knows?

Are these people even real?

An Amazon spokesperson said,

“FC ambassadors are employees who work in our FCs and share facts based on their personal experience. It’s important that we do a good job educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers, and the FC ambassador program is a big part of that along with the FC tours we provide.

Thousands of guests across the world have come to see for themselves what it’s like to work inside one of our FCs. If you haven’t visited, we recommend it.”

But Twitter folks aren’t having it.

You get the point. As a way to combat this further, Amazon has been offering FC tours for anyone who would like to check it out. You can follow #AmazonFCTour for more on that. In the meantime, we can all sit back and watch this unfold.

The post Amazon Employees Are Suspiciously Tweeting About Their Amazing Work Conditions appeared first on UberFacts.

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Scientists Are Starting to Understand the Real Dangers of Vaping

It’s hard, even in places that have banned cigarettes, to make it through a meal or a movie without a fruity-smelling cloud emanating from somewhere in the room. Have you noticed that?

And it’s very hard to convince anyone who loves vaping (or is addicted) that they should be more cautious with a technology that’s too new to have been thoroughly studied by health professionals in the field.

Smoking during the teen years is especially harmful to a still-growing brain – studies have previously shown that if a person can hold off smoking until they’re in their 20s, the chances of getting addicted reduce drastically. And while fewer teens than ever are trying traditional cigarettes, a disturbingly high – and growing – number of kids are vaping.

“Nicotine mimics the chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other and causes the brain to reconfigure itself. The nicotine molecule is shaped a lot like acetylcholine, which the nervous system uses to communicate, so it fakes out and overstimulates the nervous system. This rewiring of the brain is bad for adults, but it’s especially bad for young people because until around age 26, the brain is still developing. When you start messing up normal communication between nerves as the system is still being built, the adaptations are a lot more permanent.”

21% of high schoolers report using e-cigarettes. In 2011, that number was only 1.5%.

4.9% of middle schoolers are vaping, up from just .6% in 2011.

So, the problem is not only growing at an alarming rate, but levels of kids who are addicted to nicotine are reaching levels that should concern everyone, says Dr. Stanton Glantz.

“Our understanding of e-cigarettes is still accumulating, but at this point, we are pretty confident that e-cigarettes are at least two-thirds to three-fourths as bad as cigarettes. And remember, cigarettes are pretty horrible. Vaping is like, instead of jumping out the 40th story of a building, you’re jumping out of the 30th story.”

We’re starting to see evidence of this showing up in the news from around the country, too.

This summer, 8 Wisconsin teens were hospitalized with serious lung damage – some of whom found themselves on ventilators in the ICU – due to their vaping habits. A few weeks later, 4 Minnesota kids spent weeks in the hospital battling vaping-related lung troubles, after which the state’s public health department issued an official warning against the use of e-cigs.

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Then, an 18-year-old Florida student’s lung collapsed after regular JUUL use, and the FDA reports that they’ve received 127 reports of seizures and other neurological symptoms also related to vaping over the past 10 years. And there has now officially been a death caused by lung illness linked to vaping.

None of these types of issues were seen with traditional cigarettes – so what’s different about vaporized nicotine?

Cigarettes contain 69 known carcinogens, but the juice needed to get a nicotine buzz from an e-cig isn’t harmless – it also contains an assortment of chemicals that go straight into your lungs (and then into the air) that scientists are starting to realize can be as harmful (if not more).

The fact that kids are getting “nic sick” – experiencing nausea, headaches, lightheadedness, and vomiting, none of which was a side effect of traditional cigarettes – seems to point to the fact that the nicotine in e-cigs is ultra concentrated.

Stantz explains how and why these findings are possible – and super concerning.

“Free-base nicotine, which you get in a cigarette and an older-generation e-cigarette, is very alkaline and hard to inhale, so it triggers a gag reflex, which limits the amount of nicotine per puff. Juul transitioned to nicotine salt and added some acid to the e-liquid to make it less alkaline, as well as adding flavors. When you put all that together, it is much easier to inhale, so Juul devices deliver a much higher dose per puff.”

Setting aside the increased nicotine content there are more reasons that, even though they contain fewer known carcinogens than regular cigs, the e-cig vapor is just as dangerous.

“It consists of ultrafine particles that are about 100 times smaller than a human hair. These particles include acrolein and formaldehyde, as well as diacetyl, cinnamaldehyde, and other flavorants that are fine to eat but not to inhale as fine particles.”

In fact, Harvard researchers have discovered that diacetyl and its chemical cousin 2,3-pentanedione – found in 90 percent of e-cigarettes tested – do damage to the cilia lining the lungs and airways, which increases the risks of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“E-cigarettes also include heavy metals like lead and silica. Their wicks often have silica, and when they wear out, you can get little particles of silica in the lungs, which is very harmful. Additionally, e-cigarettes disable normal functioning of macrophages, cells within the lungs that gobble up bacteria and other infectious agents we breathe in. When you disable them, you are more prone to infections.”

Like smoking old-school cigarettes, vaping also puts people at risk for cardiovascular issues, like heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

So, even though Glantz estimated that e-cigs are around 75% as harmful as smoking regular cigs, even he doesn’t think that number will stay the same as more research surfaces.

“With the data we should have about 3 or 4 years from now, I think we’ll find that e-cigarettes are equally as bad or worse in terms of overall health risks.”

Just say no, y’all, and if your kids are vaping or think it’s cool, please step in. It’s not harmless, and as with everything this big, bad world throws at your teen, it’s your job to help them mitigate as many risks as possible.

And vaping is a big one.

The post Scientists Are Starting to Understand the Real Dangers of Vaping appeared first on UberFacts.

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You Need to Chase This Alarm Clock down to Turn It off

For some folks, getting out of bed in the morning is easy. They love the energy of a new day, the promise of a fresh cup of coffee, and they feel invigorated by the idea of twelve or more hours to get stuff done.

For others, prying their lids open far enough to find the snooze button feels like pure torture.

If you fall into the latter group – but still have to get up in order to keep a job, take care of kids, or just be a person – then you might consider this alarm clock that evades your attempts to snooze it until you literally chase it down.

Meet Clocky, the nightstand pet of your nightmares.

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This alarm clock performs a number of antics designed to get you up and moving before you manage to hit snooze, from his extra-loud alarm to rolling away from where you’ve left him (including down stairs) – and believe me, the volume and variety of the noises it makes would wake even the soundest of sleepers.

Clocky’s snooze button comes disabled, but you can adjust your settings to allow one or more snoozes before he gets up and runs away, as well as choosing how long your snoozes will last.

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For just $40, you can get out of bed the most annoying way possible!

But you will get out of bed.

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The US Military still uses…

The US Military still uses 8 inch floppy disks on outdated IBM computers to run the nuclear missile systems. It’s because they are incredibly hard to hack. The computers are essentially air-gapped and the old IBM computers are reliable. They could run for another 40 years with spare parts.

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In 1936 August Dvorak invented…

In 1936 August Dvorak invented a ‘perfect keyboard’ which is way more efficient than regular keyboards as it requires less finger motion and reduces errors compared to the standard QWERTY keyboard arrangement.

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This Is How to Stop Alexa from Recording Your Private Conversations

Our eventual robot overlords have now been officially invited inside a good number of American homes. Kind of creepy, right?

I mean, if these things are like vampires, we’ve definitely made the wrong move.

If you are one of the households with a listening robot (or more than one – guilty), you might be wondering if there’s a way to maintain your privacy now that they’re in your house (and linked to your Amazon account).

Answer? Maybe.

If you’re worried about Alexa listening in and using your information (or accidentally sending it to someone else, which has happened to a few unfortunate souls), you can tweak some of your Echo or Echo Dot settings to make it less likely.

First, you want to make sure you don’t give Alexa access to your contacts when you set up your device. If you’ve already enabled that feature, you’ll need to call customer service (877-375-9365) to have them remove it. It does mean that you won’t be able to use Alexa to make calls or send texts, but it also ensures that nothing she (it) overhears could be sent to people you know.

You can also change the “wake word” from Alexa. You only have a few other choices (computer, Amazon, or Echo), but if one of those is less likely to be confused with another word you use commonly in your household, they might be way to go. Ideally, if you use a word she’s less likely to hear (or be tricked into hearing), she won’t “wake up” and start listening on accident.

You can easily change this setting by simply talking to your device or using the Alexa app on your phone or iPad.

If you know you’re having a sensitive conversation that you definitely wouldn’t want anyone – the big box store included – overhearing, the best bet is to manually turn off the microphone by simply pushing the button on your device.

Lastly? Make doubly sure the volume is up high enough that you can hear her asking if it’s okay to send an email or text because you probably don’t want her to mistake silence for a yes.

That’s just not how consent works, Alexa.

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Women in Africa Are Recycling Plastic into Bricks for a Schoolhouse

Tthe world produces over 300 million tons of plastic every year, much of which quickly goes into the trash where it takes centuries to decompose. In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, women are putting plastic garbage to good use by turning it into bricks to build schools, New York Times reports.

Many women in Abidjan make a living by gathering plastic waste from city streets and selling it to recycling centers. Those same women are now working with a Colombian company to convert the waste into bricks to build schools.

The project will result in hundreds of classrooms to serve about 26,400 students — plus, it’s an opportunity for the women to make a better living.

Many schools in the area are built out of traditional mud-bricks and wood. These buildings require a lot of upkeep, as they easily erode in the sun and rain.

The buildings made out of recycled plastic, on the other hand, will last practically forever. In this context, plastic’s slow decomposition is a benefit.

Also, the country’s classrooms are severely overcrowded, with up to 90 students in each class. Additional classrooms are desperately needed.

Since Abidjan produces about 300 tons of plastic waste a day, there’s plenty of plastic to use. Each classroom takes about five tons of plastic waste.

The company converting the waste, Conceptos Plásticos, initially produced the bricks at a factory in Colombia, but they are now building a factory in Abidjan, which will make the classrooms much cheaper to produce.

Several classrooms are already up and running, and the project plans to deliver 528 total, each of which will fit 50 students.

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Velcro Wants People to Stop Using the Term “Velcro” so They Dropped a Music Video

Velcro was invented in the early 1940s, but after losing its patent in the 1970s, the market was flooded with other “hook and loop” fasteners that, while not Velcro brand, were quickly labeled as such by the public.

Basically, anything that sticks together without adhesive is Velcro, right? Maybe, but once a term becomes “genericized” in that manner, the original company loses its trademark. Legal resource UpCounsel refers to this process as Genericide, because the original company – Velcro, in this instance – would lose not only their trademark, but their ability to stop other companies from using trademarked branding on non-Velcro products. And, thus, they’ll probably lose a whole lot of sales.

In a last-ditch and hilariously original attempt to hold onto their trademark, Velcro has released a music video pretty much begging the public to help them out by saying “hook and loop” instead of their company name.

While the word f*ck isn’t bleeped in the video, the other brand names are, and the people at Velcro are quick to say that they’re not only doing this for themselves, but for every former brand name that fell victim to being so ubiquitous and popular that it eventually spelled their financial death.

“I know that bleeped stuff is more fun to say, but if you keep saying it, our trademark goes away.”

The video is entertaining, catchy, and quite smart – so please, enjoy.

And you know, maybe we could give them a break? Because if nothing else, this whole thing is sort of depressing in its desperation, is it not?

Is it too late? Are people ever going to abandon the word “velcro” for “hook and loop?”

If the people at Velcro have anything to say about it…still probably no, but at least they can say they didn’t go down without a (musical) fight.

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10 Facts That Are Good for Quiet Reflection

With this fact set, you’re getting quality and quantity.

Enjoy! And learn!

1. Harmful

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2. Get a load of those names

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Source

3. Are you living it?

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Source

4. Prudish

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5. Thank God!

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6. Dream away

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7. I think I sound like Barry White

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8. That is cool!

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9. Clone wars

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10. Ahhhhh, that’s better

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I can safely say I didn’t know any of those facts. How about you?!?!

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This Non-Profit Recycles the Soap from Hotels You Leave Behind When You Check out

Every time you check out of a hotel, you leave behind a mostly-unused bar of soap. It may even be untouched, if you’re the type of person who has strong soap preferences. So what happens to it?

The answer is pretty disappointing: hotels generally just throw the soap away for sanitary reasons. And all that soap adds up; about one million bars of soap are thrown out every day in the U.S., between travelers and hotels.

One traveler was unhappy to discover this wasteful practice, so he decided to do something about it. Shawn Seipler, a former tech employee who used to travel five months out of the year, thought that he could make better use of all those slivers of soap, so he started Clean The World. The Orlando-based company collects unwanted hotel soap, sanitizes it, melts it down, and redistributes it around the world.

Just last year, Clean The World made over 7 million bars of recycled soap, which were then donated to people in need. Thousands of children die from diseases that are preventable with basic hygiene — or, as Clean The World puts it, “Soap saves lives.” The organization also recycles shampoo, conditioner and body wash for homeless shelters around the world.

Clean The World partners with hotels for the modest price of 50 cents per room per month. There are operating centers in Orlando, Las Vegas, Montreal, India and Hong Kong.

“There’s a whole world of hotels out there we can get to start donating,” Shawn told Thrillist. “Right now we’ve got 20 percent of all hotels in the US. That’s a lot of room to grow, and a lot of soap to make.”

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