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Let's Talk Tips for Thursday, August 1st 2019 - Volume 11
An Author Donna Jodhan Publication

About | Let's Talk Tips is your monthly resource for the most current and reliable informational tips available in the areas of Technology, Nutrition, Media, Business, and Advocacy. Find out more at: http://bit.ly/ADJLTT

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Greetings,

This month in Let's Talk Tips:


➜ Technology


1.) DARPA's Squad X Project Pairs Marines and Robots to Eliminate the Fog of War

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has been working on a project that partners dismounted soldiers with autonomous robots and drones called Squad X. It's designed to provide soldiers in the field with more information about their surroundings. An included video helps to demonstrate. The project uses a variety of tools to gather and transmit information to Marines and soldiers: autonomous robots that can drive around their locations; aerial drones that can survey their immediate surroundings; and off-the-shelf Android tablets to take in all of that information and present it to soldiers on the ground. An artificial intelligence system processes the information from the sensors, and presents the relevant data to the participants.
🌐 https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/18/18677437/darpa-squad-x-project-marines-drones-robots-ai-fog-of-war-caci-lockheed-martin-video-watch

2.) Boston Dynamics' Robots Are Preparing To Leave The Lab - Is The World Ready?

Not many robotics companies can boast legions of fans online, but not many robotics companies make robots quite like Boston Dynamics. After decades of kicking machines in parking lots, the company is set to launch its first ever commercial bot later this year: the quadrupedal Spot. It's a crucial test for a company that's spent decades pursuing long-sighted R&D. And more importantly, the success - or failure - of Spot will tell us a lot about our own robot future. Are we ready for machines to walk among us?
🌐 https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/20697540/boston-dynamics-robots-commercial-real-world-business-spot-on-sale

3.) For Better or For Worse A Flamethrower Drone is Now A Thing You Can Buy. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

You can now easily build a flying flamethrower yourself. Included is a video of the Throwflame TF-19 Wasp, a functional flamethrower attachment for commercial-grade heavy lift drones that can hit targets up to 25 feet away, with a one-gallon fuel tank that can produce a stream of fire for 100 seconds, according to the company.
🌐 https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20697157/the-flamethrower-drone-will-soon-be-a-thing-you-can-buy

4.) When an Online Teaching Job Becomes a Window into Child Abuse

More than half a million Chinese kids take virtual English classes on VIPKid. What can the platform do to keep them safe in their own homes? Many US teachers still feel they are better off staying out of it. As Mindy, a VIPKid instructor from Michigan, puts it, "We can go to many places in the world, and children are not treated the same way. They don't have a time-out chair they sit in. There are much harsher things people do to discipline their children."
🌐 https://www.wired.com/story/when-online-teaching-job-becomes-window-child-abuse/

5.) These Hackers Made an App That Kills to Prove a Point

Medtronic and the FDA left an insulin pump with a potentially deadly vulnerability on the market - until researchers who found the flaw showed how bad it could be.
🌐 https://www.wired.com/story/medtronic-insulin-pump-hack-app/


➜ Nutrition


1.) Tips for Fighting Fourth of July Weight Gain

Did you know that the average American consumes more than 3,000 calories at a summer cookout? And with Independence Day falling on a Thursday this year, there is an extra-long weekend full of opportunities to overindulge on the fattening barbecue favorites responsible for frustrating weight gain.
🌐 https://www.inquirer.com/health/wellness/tips-to-avoid-fourth-of-july-weight-gain-20190701.html

2.) James Martin Weight Loss: Celebrity Chef Cut This One Thing From His Diet To Shed 6st

James Martin is an English chef who has worked in a number of Michelin star restaurants during his career. He regularly appears on screens showing off his cooking skills and took part in the reality dance show, Strictly Come Dancing. As well as this, the chef has been working hard off the screens too and has gone through an impressive weight loss transformation. He opened up about the diet and fitness plan which helped him slim down.
🌐 https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/diets/1148110/james-martin-weight-loss-best-diet-plan-exercise-cut-fat-saturday-kitchen

3.) Bethenny Frankel Is Keeping Her Followers Posted On Twitter With Her Summer Challenge

Bethenny Frankel, reality star on Real Housewives of New York and founder of the mega brand Skinnygirl, recently issued a challenge to her Twitter followers encouraging an uptick in exercise and healthier nutrition. Using the hashtags #IMIN and #summerreboot, Frankel asked fans to join her in the wellness journey.
🌐 https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/bethenny-frankel-is-keeping-her-followers-posted-on-twitter-with-her-summer-challenge.html/

4.) Weight Loss Diet: This Plan Can Help You Lose 10lb In One Week - What Can You Eat?

Weight loss is on the minds of many and there are different ways to achieve this. To lose weight quickly, eating certain foods can help slimmers shift up to 10lb in just one week. What can you eat?
🌐 https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/diets/1149171/weight-loss-diet-plan-low-carb-high-lose-10-lb-one-week-fast-boost-metabolism

5.) Four Tips To Cope With PMS

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects a high number of women, with many experiencing mood swings in the days before menstruation. According to Healthline, PMS is a collection of physical and emotional symptoms that start a week or so before a woman's period. Other than mood swings, symptoms of PMS might include sadness, irritability and anxiety. Though they may not be life threatening, the symptoms can still make day-to-day life more challenging. Here are four tips on how to cope with PMS, as compiled by Yahoo.
🌐 https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/07/06/four-tips-to-cope-with-pms.html


➜ Media


1.) Facebook Warns Pages It Is Downgrading Posts That Use Exaggerated Health Claims To Promote Products

Facebook announced in early July 2019 that it has made ranking updates to its News Feed algorithm, aiming to reduce posts that contain exaggerated or sensational health claims, as well as posts that promote or attempt to sell products or services based on health-related claims.
🌐 https://marketingland.com/facebook-warns-pages-it-is-downgrading-posts-that-use-exaggerated-health-claims-to-promote-products-263322

2.) What is Social Proof? And How Do You Use it In Your Marketing Strategy?

Put simply it means relying on the wisdom of others when making a decision. Relying on social proof is universal behavior. 92% of 18- to 34-year-olds get input from friends and family before making a purchase. And as a marketer, it's one of your most important tools. Social proof takes many forms, and there are tons of ways to incorporate it into your marketing strategies. Below, we'll walk through some of the most valuable forms of social proof marketing and how they can work for you.
🌐 https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-proof/

3.) Facebook Announces Libra Crypto-Currency. All You Need To Know

Facebook has finally revealed the details of its cryptocurrency, Libra, which will let you buy things or send money to people with nearly zero fees. You'll pseudonymously buy or cash out your Libra online or at local exchange points like grocery stores, and spend it using interoperable third-party wallet apps or Facebook's own Calibra wallet that will be built into WhatsApp, Messenger and its own app. Facebook released its white paper in late June 2019 explaining Libra and its testnet for working out the kinks of its blockchain system before a public launch in the first half of 2020.
🌐 https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/?renderMode=ie11

4.) Introducing a New Twitter.com

On July 15, 2019 Twitter rolled out a new Twitter.com - a refreshed and updated website that is faster, easier to navigate and more personalized. The site has an updated look and feel that is more consistent with the Twitter you see on other devices, making it easier to access some of your favorite features, and with more options to make it your own.
🌐 https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2019/introducing-a-new-Twitter-dot-com.html

5.) 25 of the Best Facebook Page Apps to Give Your Business a Boost

As the adage goes, there's an app for just about everything these days, and that's true when it comes to Facebook pages apps, too. There are apps that can help Facebook page managers do everything from work more efficiently, to create more engaging content and sell more products. We've assembled the best of them here.
🌐 https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-page-apps/


➜ Business


1.) Michael Alfred del Vecchio Provides Suggestions on How Small Businesses Can Invest their Earnings

Expert financial advisor Michael Alfred Del Vecchio provides guidance for businesses on how to invest in order to gain additional profits.
🌐 https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/489644486/michael-alfred-del-vecchio-provides-suggestions-on-how-small-businesses-can-invest-their-earnings

2.) From Shrimp To Fake Eyelashes, Social Media Sales Soar In Facebook-Friendly Thailand

Propelled by upgrades to mobile banking apps, sales via social media in Thailand more than doubled to 334.2bil baht (RM45.27bil) in 2017, according to the latest report from the country's Electronic Transaction Development Agency.
🌐 https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2019/07/01/from-shrimp-to-fake-eyelashes-social-media-sales-soar-in-facebookfriendly-thailand/

3.) A Soaring Tower Designed For Seniors To Rise In Center City

A soaring tower designed with aging baby boomers in mind is coming to a prime Center City intersection. A building permit filed by developer Brickstone Realty last week detailed a 300-unit residential structure, including 60 assisted-living beds, and an 84-car underground garage. The 24-story project will rise on S. 12th Street at Sansom, replacing a two-story Park America garage that will be demolished. The building, to be ultimately owned and operated by Benchmark Senior Living, will also include 80 bike parking spots and retail space on the ground floor.
🌐 https://www.phillytrib.com/news/local_news/a-soaring-tower-designed-for-seniors-to-rise-in-center/article_34c1d37c-d111-543e-af7c-9c97b53f0eb4.html

4.) Millennials Set For Longer Retirements Than Baby Boomers Despite Rising Pension Ages

Young workers can look forward to longer retirements than their parents' generation because life expectancies have risen much more sharply than planned pension ages. People born in 1996 can expect to spend more than a third of their adult lives as pensioners, according to an OECD study of 37 countries.
🌐 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/07/03/millennials-set-longer-retirements-baby-boomers-despite-rising/

5.) 25 Senior Service Business Ideas

The baby boomer generation controls the majority of the disposable income in the U.S. And as that generation ages, there's an increasing need around the country for businesses that provide important senior services.
🌐 https://smallbiztrends.com/2019/07/senior-service-business.html


➜ Advocacy


1.) Canadian Transportation Agency Announces Plans To Enhance Accessibility Of Canada's National Transportation System

Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act , which received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019, will provide the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) with new tools to help advance the accessibility of the national transportation system. Once in force, this legislation will provide the CTA with the following.
🌐 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canadian-transportation-agency-announces-plans-enhance-accessibility-canadas-195100468.html

2.) LEGO Introduces Braille Bricks to Help Visually Impaired Kids (Video)

The LEGO Foundation and LEGO Group will pilot a grassroots innovation that can help blind and visually impaired children learn through play using LEGO bricks. LEGO Braille Bricks will be molded with the same number of studs used for individual letters and numbers in the Braille alphabet, while remaining fully compatible with the LEGO System in Play.
🌐 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbGr6janwg

3.) Lyft Fights To Avoid Americans With Disabilities Act In Federal Court

Lyft argues it should not be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act and is fighting a federal class action lawsuit filed in Westchester County on the grounds that "it is not in the transportation business."
🌐 https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2019/05/02/lyft-fights-to-avoid-americans-with-disabilities-act-in-federal-court-1002249

4.) Voting Device To Help Blind People is Unlawful, High Court Rules

Enabling a blind voter to mark ballot papers without being able to know which candidate she is voting for is a parody of the electoral process. The government's current arrangements for helping blind voters do not allow people to vote independently and are unlawful, the High Court has ruled.
🌐 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/blind-people-voting-uk-unlawful-independently-high-court-ruling-a8898041.html

5.) Study Shows High Ranking Websites Are Neglecting Accessibility

Searchmetrics' analysis of Google Lighthouse Ranking Factors reveals the standard of technical optimization of the top-ranking websites on Google. The report shows that there are clear correlations between factors like faster load times or use of modern web technologies and better ranking positions in the Google search results. Besides presenting the most relevant findings, drawing on the results of over 15 million Google Lighthouse audits, the study also provides a preview of more targeted Lighthouse reports that can be used to guide the technical optimization of websites in specific industries.
🌐 https://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-base/google-lighthouse-ranking-factors/


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The Let's Talk Tips Newsletter is an Author Donna Jodhan Publication. Author Donna Jodhan is a blind author, advocate, sight loss coach, blogger, podcast commentator, and accessibility specialist. The Let's Talk Tips Newsletter is your monthly resource for the most current and reliable informational tips available in the areas of Technology, Nutrition, Media, Business, and Advocacy. The Let's Talk Tips Newsletter is sent out by email and Facebook on the 1st Monday of every month at 6:00 AM EST.

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Each month we aggregate all of the very best tips we can find in the areas of Technology, Nutrition, Media, Business, and Advocacy. If you are a writer, author, blogger or podcaster of informational tips in any of these areas, and you would like for your content to be considered for publication within this newsletter, you may send any information for future issues to our editor, Donna Jodhan, at: LetsTalkTips@DonnaJodhan.com ✉.