Home & Leisure News and Discussions

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funkervogt
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Post by funkervogt »

wjfox wrote: Fri Nov 05, 2021 2:43 pm Just a game? Study shows no evidence that violent video games lead to real-life violence

5 Nov 2021

Mass media and general public often link violent video games to real-life violence, although there is limited evidence to support the link.

Debate on the topic generally intensifies after mass public shootings, with some commentators linking these violent acts to the perpetrators’ interests in violent video games.

However, others have pointed out that different factors, such as mental health issues and/or easy access to guns, are more likely explanations.

In the light of these conflicting claims, President Obama called in 2013 for more government funding for research on video games and violence.

But before governments introduce any policies restricting access to violent video games, it is important to establish whether violent video games do indeed make players behave violently in the real world.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/933708
Findings like these have been consistent for decades now.
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Yuli Ban
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Post by Yuli Ban »

Robotic Kitchen Automation Levels
I’m sure you are somewhat familiar with the self-driving cars levels of automation, perhaps following Tesla’s claims of offering “full self-driving” capabilities, later downgraded to level 2 (out of 5) of autonomy. These automation standards, published in 2014 by automotive standardization body SAE International as “Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to On-Road Motor Vehicle Automated Driving Systems”, are useful to quickly address what we mean by self-driving capabilities. But cars are not the only thing that is getting automated, kitchens are being automated too!

As there is no current standardisation on what “automated kitchen” or “robotic kitchen” means, I will take a shot at drafting how kitchen automation levels could be defined. Having clear levels will help aligning expectations and seeing behind the hype. I will draw from my experience at Nyrvan and take strong inspiration from the self-driving automation levels, as they adapt well to be repurposed for kitchens. The main conceptual difference is that while self-driving automation levels have safety implications, kitchen automation levels are mainly impactful on the level of savings and flexibility that a kitchen owner can expect.

Don’t worry, it’s not going to be a 200-pages standard, indeed for now it’s going to be just a single table! I will mainly focus on commercial kitchens, but the same levels can apply to home kitchens. Without further ado, here you have it:
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And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Yuli Ban
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A professor in Japan has created a prototype TV screen that generates flavors when you lick it.

The bizarre invention, dubbed “Taste the TV” (TTTV), allows you to taste whatever you’re watching through a disposable hygienic film that covers a TV screen, Reuters reports.

In other words, a special array of ten flavor canisters could allow your taste buds — not just your eyeballs — to follow along while you catch up on an episode of “Iron Chef.”

“The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home,” inventor Homei Miyashita, professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, told Reuters.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
weatheriscool
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Researchers develop first fully 3D-printed, flexible OLED display
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-01-ful ... -oled.html
by University of Minnesota
In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities used a customized printer to fully 3D print a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. The discovery could result in low-cost OLED displays in the future that could be widely produced using 3D printers by anyone at home, instead of by technicians in expensive microfabrication facilities.

The research is published in Science Advances.

The OLED display technology is based on the conversion of electricity into light using an organic material layer. OLEDs function as high quality digital displays, which can be made flexible and used in both large-scale devices such as television screens and monitors as well as handheld electronics such as smartphones. OLED displays have gained popularity because they are lightweight, power-efficient, thin and flexible, and offer a wide viewing angle and high contrast ratio.

"OLED displays are usually produced in big, expensive, ultra-clean fabrication facilities," said Michael McAlpine, a University of Minnesota Kuhrmeyer Family Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the senior author of the study. "We wanted to see if we could basically condense all of that down and print an OLED display on our table-top 3D printer, which was custom built and costs about the same as a Tesla Model S."

The group had previously tried 3D printing OLED displays, but they struggled with the uniformity of the light-emitting layers. Other groups partially printed displays but also relied on spin-coating or thermal evaporation to deposit certain components and create functional devices.
weatheriscool
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Epson introduces world's smallest and lightest 20,000-lumen projectors
By Paul Ridden
February 08, 2022
https://newatlas.com/home-entertainment ... rojectors/

Epson has introduced a bunch of Pro-focused interchangeable lens laser projectors destined to light up large venues such as concert halls, museums and stadiums, including the world's smallest and lightest 20,000-lumen projectors.

"As the 20,000-lumen market segment continues to grow, Epson’s new EB-PU2220B and EB-PU2120W will become the benchmark for quality and flexibility in live event installations," said Epson America's Gavin Downey. "With a significant reduction in size and weight over their predecessors, the new projectors simplify setup without compromising performance."

The company reports that these two new additions to the six-strong Pro Series additions shape up as some 64 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter than their predecessors at 23 x 19.3 x 8.5 in (586 x 492 x 218 mm) and 53.8 lb (24.4 kg), making them an attractive proposition for venue managers who are short on hardware space.

The new 3LCD projectors boast a hermetically sealed optical engine to keep image-spoiling dust at bay, and throw a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution image up to 1,000 diagonal inches at 16:10 aspect. Pixel-shifting 4K enhancement technology is cooked in, device-specific contrast is given as 2,000:1 (although dynamic contrast is reported to be over 2,500,000:1) and they're capable of 20,000 lumens of color and white brightness.
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wjfox
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Quality Street – shrinkflation trend

25th December 2022

If the current trend in packaging size continues, a box of Quality Street could weigh less than 200 grams (7 oz) by 2050.

Quality Street has been around since 1936, when Harold Mackintosh began manufacturing the product in Yorkshire, northern England. The company incorporated ground-breaking technology for the time, such as the first twist-wrapping machine to make chocolate affordable to working families.

Since then, the sweets have become famous around the world. Nestlé acquired the brand in 1988, and the tins moved from their historical round design to an octagonal shape. A further rebranding then followed, focused on the iconic colourful sweets and their individual shapes, along with a familiar purple background. Today, Quality Street is one of the world's most recognised and popular chocolate assortments, exported to 70 countries.

In recent years, however, the sweets and their packaging have been affected by a phenomenon known as shrinkflation. According to Wikipedia, this is defined as "the process of items shrinking in size or quantity, while their prices remain the same or increase. The word is a portmanteau of the words shrink and inflation. [...] Shrinkflation allows companies to increase their operating margin and profitability by reducing costs whilst maintaining sales volume, and is often used as an alternative to raising prices in line with inflation."

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... -trend.htm


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Time_Traveller
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Post by Time_Traveller »

wjfox wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 10:35 am Quality Street – shrinkflation trend

25th December 2022

If the current trend in packaging size continues, a box of Quality Street could weigh less than 200 grams (7 oz) by 2050.

Quality Street has been around since 1936, when Harold Mackintosh began manufacturing the product in Yorkshire, northern England. The company incorporated ground-breaking technology for the time, such as the first twist-wrapping machine to make chocolate affordable to working families.

Since then, the sweets have become famous around the world. Nestlé acquired the brand in 1988, and the tins moved from their historical round design to an octagonal shape. A further rebranding then followed, focused on the iconic colourful sweets and their individual shapes, along with a familiar purple background. Today, Quality Street is one of the world's most recognised and popular chocolate assortments, exported to 70 countries.

In recent years, however, the sweets and their packaging have been affected by a phenomenon known as shrinkflation. According to Wikipedia, this is defined as "the process of items shrinking in size or quantity, while their prices remain the same or increase. The word is a portmanteau of the words shrink and inflation. [...] Shrinkflation allows companies to increase their operating margin and profitability by reducing costs whilst maintaining sales volume, and is often used as an alternative to raising prices in line with inflation."

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... -trend.htm

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Less chocolate, same amount of money.
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
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wjfox
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Smart appliances could stop working after two years, says Which?

3 days ago

Smart appliances could stop working properly after just two years because manufacturers are failing to provide tech updates, according to Which?.

Research by the consumer champion found products like expensive dishwashers, TVs, and washing machines - which might be expected to last more than a decade - are "being abandoned" by brands.

A lack of software support from firms means devices do not get updated.

The older they get, the risk of online hacking also increases, Which? says.

It found that "hardly any brands even came close to matching their expected lifespan" with their smart update policies, while others failed to respond when they were asked to clarify the length of support.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64249388
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wjfox
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Farewell radiators? Testing out electric infrared wallpaper

1 day ago

Look carefully and you will notice there is something slightly different about Kris Bilski's house in Hull.

It has no radiators.

Yet even on a -2C winter's day, it's nice and warm inside.

This is because Kris is an early adopter of electric infrared wallpaper.

Thin, metallic sheets are hidden behind the plaster of his walls, which are connected to the mains electricity of his house.

These sheets emit heat by infrared waves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64402524


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weatheriscool
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LG throws 4K movie magic on wall or ceiling with latest CineBeam projector
By Paul Ridden
https://newatlas.com/home-entertainment ... projector/
May 23, 2023
Ahead of last year's CES expo, Samsung launched a "one-of-a-kind projector" called the Freestyle that ditched the familiar boxy housing for a stylish cylinder. Now LG has joined the party with a new CineBeam that goes 4K instead of 1080p.

The LG CineBeam PU700R's "intuitive and interior-friendly design" doesn't exactly mirror the Freestyle, wearing an elliptic face rather than a circle, but it's pretty close.

The DLP projector can throw 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160) visuals at up to 120 diagonal inches, and its RGB LED light source puts out up to 1,000 ANSI lumens, with LG cooking in optimized brightness levels for daylight-friendly viewing without needing to close the blinds. Contrast is reported to be 150,000:1, and there's support for HDR10 and HLG content, too.

The comparatively chunky cradle it's mounted to allow for easy adjustment over 90 degrees for placement flexibility, with 4/9/15-point keystone correction and Auto Screen Adjustment – which aligns, focuses and tweaks the image for optimum viewing – helping things along.
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