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Spotify’s Year in Review Reveals Interesting, Musical Trends

27Dec

By Daily InboxNo Comments

Lifestyle

Spotify’s Year in Review Reveals Interesting, Musical Trends

Spotify has taken a page right out of Facebook's playbook. The music streaming service has set up a new site -- spotify-yearinmusic.com -- that not only lets users check out what was big in music in 2014 according to Spotify user activity, but also lets individual users see what artists, songs, and genres they listened to the most.Generally speaking, music fans shouldn't be all that surprised by Spotify's findings. In 2014, Spotify's some 50 million active users streamed more than seven billion hours of music -- nearly 800,000 years' worth. The top male artist was Ed Sheeran, who also had the most listened-to album of the year on Spotify. The top female artist was Katy Perry, and the top group was Coldplay. "Happy" by Pharell Williams was the most listened to song of 2014. Things get mo...

Are ‘Illusion Coatings’ the Future of Camouflage?

27Dec

By Daily InboxNo Comments

World

Are ‘Illusion Coatings’ the Future of Camouflage?

While it may not seem like it, the fashion world and technology have a lot in common. Just when we get used to the idea of a trend being latest and greatest, it’s quickly replaced by something else. In the wise words of Heidi Klum, supermodel and host of the hit fashion design series “Project Runway,” “One minute you’re in, and the next you’re out!” Though camouflage has long been a staple in the fashion world, it seems that a technological breakthrough is taking it to the next level in terms of functionality. According to researchers, as cool as invisibility cloaks are, they’re so last season and out of style thanks “illusion coatings,” which conceal objects by making them appear as something else. Illusion coatings could be used to help troops or spies protect antennas and sensors from...

IKEA Goes Retro by Reviving Furniture Designs from the 1950s

27Dec

By Daily InboxNo Comments

Fashion

IKEA Goes Retro by Reviving Furniture Designs from the 1950s

The retro furniture look is expected to be big in 2015, and longstanding furniture titan IKEA is responding by reviving pieces of furniture from the 1950s-1970s.The 26 different sofas, seats, lamps, dishes and rugs are part of IKEA's Årgång collection, which will only be available from select IKEA stores for a limited amount of time. The collection features bright colors, inventive designs and retro flair. Retro furniture has been on trend since stylish shows like Mad Men took over TV, but Ikea didn't have to create new designs based on older design techniques. The 70-year-old company just had to reach back through its catalogs and select a few gems to sell again, giving it a distinct advantage over newer companies trying to recapture the magic of the past. Each furniture piece in the ne...

New York State’s Legal Medical Marijuana Regulations Drafted, With Administering to Start By January 2016

27Dec

By Daily InboxNo Comments

Local

New York State’s Legal Medical Marijuana Regulations Drafted, With Administering to Start By January 2016

On Thursday, Dec. 18, New York State lawmakers drafted up the rules and regulations for its new medicinal marijuana program, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law in July. According to the Buffalo News, the regulations will dictate everything from how to grow marijuana, to the system for dispensing it to patients, to the price patients will have to pay to obtain medical marijuana cards. In order to recommend their patients for medical marijuana use, doctors throughout New York State will have to complete a four-hour training course and then be approved to register as a medical marijuana prescriber. New York State says it will issue licenses to as many as five vendors to grow marijuana, with each of them being able to open and operate four dispensaries, the Buffalo News reports. State ...

Solar Energy System Built by Australian Researchers Beats World Record for Efficiency

24Dec

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Business

Solar Energy System Built by Australian Researchers Beats World Record for Efficiency

A team of researchers in Australia has broken the efficiency record for a commercially available photovoltaic system, creating one that converts more than 40% of collected sunlight into power. “A new world record is making the future of solar energy look pretty bright,” Elizabeth Palermo wrote for Fox News Dec. 16. The team was led by Martin Green, a professor at the University of New South Wales. In order to reach 40% efficiency, the team combined commercial solar cells with optical filters. This allowed them to capture wavelengths of light that average photovoltaic cells can’t. The approach is known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV, and is associated with advanced applications in the solar industry. CPV systems are also typically very expensive to produce. But the team’s use of c...

New E-waste Law in New York State Makes Throwing Electronics Out With Regular Trash Illegal

24Dec

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Local

New E-waste Law in New York State Makes Throwing Electronics Out With Regular Trash Illegal

Aside from sticking to their New Year's resolutions in 2015, New Yorkers will also have to get used to a new law that bans discarding e-waste with regular trash on the curb. The Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act takes effect on January 1 and will make it illegal to throw away electronic devices with normal garbage and recycling. Those who do will face a $100 fine per violation. Nearly every type of electronic device is banned under the new law, including TVs, computers, computer monitors, keyboards, cellphones, MP3 players and video games, according to the New York publication Capital. Electronics that end up in the trash pose a major threat to both the environment and people's health, filling up landfills across the country and releasing toxic chemicals into the soil. Most e...

Consumer Reports Calculates in Which Cities Snow Blowers Pay for Themselves

23Dec

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Lifestyle

Consumer Reports Calculates in Which Cities Snow Blowers Pay for Themselves

With the winter plowing season getting underway, Consumer Reports decided this month to answer a question that numerous homeowners must have asked over the years: “With professional plowing services charging an average of $40 per storm …Wouldn’t a snow blower pay for itself?” For a report published Dec. 10, the magazine selected 12 representative cities across the nation and calculated how many years it would take for a snow blower to do just that. People living in Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Denver (or cities with similar snowfalls) can expect investing in a snow blower to pay off within a single year. In New York City, Philadelphia and Boston, it will take three years on average to recover the investment. Washington, D.C. came in at four years and Nashville at five. Seattleites ...

E-Cig Liquid Nicotine Poisons One-Year-Old

21Dec

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Local

E-Cig Liquid Nicotine Poisons One-Year-Old

E-cigarettes, or e-cigs, have skyrocketed in popularity. According to Statistic Brain, there are about 2.5 million e-cig smokers now. In 2008, the industry made $20 million in sales. In 2014, it's projected to make $1.7 billion. Despite the intense surge in popularity these smoking alternatives are experiencing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delayed passing any form of regulation. That may be set to change, however, in part because of a recent tragedy. On December 9, a one-year-old from Fort Plain in upstate New York died after ingesting liquid nicotine, which is sold separately from e-cigarettes. After he was found unresponsive, the boy was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He's believed to be the first child to die from e-cig related products. E-cigarette ...

Why in a Tech World, the “Personal” Still Prevails

21Dec

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Business

Why in a Tech World, the “Personal” Still Prevails

More and more aspects of business are being conducted online, but according to Forbes contributor Jerry Weissman, the "personal" part of interpersonal communications is still essential -- especially in initial public offering (IPO) roadshows. Simply put, an IPO roadshow is a presentation given by a representative of a company to potential investors about an investment opportunity. Many companies in the United States start planning a roadshow in January -- about 37% of them -- and they usually take place in the months of February, March, May, June, September, November, and December. These roadshows are instrumental for generating interest in a company and getting seed investments; according to Weissman, the average public offering is about $150 million. Since investors are limited to buyi...

At Dutch Retirement Homes, People of All Ages Moving In

18Dec

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World

At Dutch Retirement Homes, People of All Ages Moving In

In the United States, we assume that retirement homes and communities are inhabited exclusively by senior citizens. That's not the case in the Netherlands, where nursing homes are increasingly offering something called "intergenerational" living -- housing young people and seniors near each other for a truly unique environment. According to CTV News, the Dutch government's budget cuts for retirement living subsidies has left many retirement homes with more rooms than they can fill, leaving them to turn to younger generations. In many cases, this intergenerational living scheme is beneficial to both parties. At one nursing home in Deventer, six university students partake in a unique project that gives them a free place to live. In exchange, they must each spend 30 hours weekly with any ...