6. Interesting Reads
“Whether you’re an unsung mathematical genius with a penchant for writing complex equations all over everything or a damn vandal, you’ll find the WriteyDesk quite useful. This test is essentially a big whiteboard that upon which you can write, draw, or sketch and it’s erasable. It comes in white or “birch” and $300 on Kickstarter and $400 when it hits retail. “But guy writing about a desk you can write on,” you say. “What happens if you smudge the ink?” I don’t know but you’d best be careful. I can imagine a lifetime of stained shirt sleeves and wrists with this thing if you’re not properly trained in the horizontal dry erase sketching arts.”
“A St. Louis jury has awarded a Virginia woman a record-setting $110.5 million in the latest lawsuit alleging that using Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused cancer. The jury ruling Thursday night for 62-year-old Louis Slemp, of Wise, Virginia, comes after three previous St. Louis juries awarded a total of $197 million to plaintiffs who made similar claims. Those cases, including the previous highest award of $72 million, are all under appeal.”
(NBC News)
“U.S. payroll gains rebounded in April by more than forecast and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 4.4 percent, signaling that the labor market remains healthy and should support continued increases in consumer spending. The 211,000 increase followed a 79,000 advance in March that was lower than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 190,000 gain. While the unemployment rate is now the lowest since May 2007, wages were a soft spot in the report, climbing 2.5 percent from a year earlier.”
“Apple is no longer China’s favourite phone manufacturer. The Silicon Valley giant has dropped out of the top three best-selling phones in China, according to new reports compiled by market researchers International Data Corporation (IDC) and Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Thankfully, it remains in the top five. Analysts have seen Apple pushed out by Chinese brands Huawei, Oppo and Vivo since last year. The brands account for one in every two phones purchased in China. Globally, Apple and Samsung snagged the top two positions in IDC’s report on the global phone market share last week, with Huawei, Oppo and Vivo hot on their heels.”
(CNET)
“If the idea of a more secure Windows browser appeals to you — and why wouldn’t it — then you might want to have a peek at the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build. That’s because it includes the Windows Defender Application Guard for Microsoft Edge, which was announced last September but is finally available for testing today. This Application Guard essentially encases your browser in a virtual machine, so that if your browser ever gets attacked by malware, it won’t affect the rest of your PC. To enable this, you need to use the “Turn Windows features on or off” dialog, and then mark the checkbox for “Windows Defender Application Guard.” Now when you open Microsoft Edge and click on the menu, you’ll see the option for a “New Application Guard window.” Click it, and a new special isolated browser window will appear.”
(Engadget)
“Tech is king, especially when it comes to these tech jobs that pay over $200K a year. Tech jobs are some of the most lucrative career paths you could follow. Technology is constantly changing and there’s always a need for more brainpower and innovation in any company. If you think about it, almost every company has some type of online or app presence, which means software developers are at the backend of this. I learned front-end software development a while ago and it was challenging but very rewarding. Knowing all about how websites and apps are created and function helped me gain a better understanding of the work I do on a day-to-day basis.”
“In America, landlines aren’t the norm anymore. A recently released survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PDF) estimates that during the second half of 2016 50.8 percent of U.S. households were wireless only. That’s up from 48.3 percent during the same time period in 2015—a rise of 2.5 percentage points. The story behind the story: It might seem odd to hear that the CDC is tracking phone usage, but there’s actually a good reason for it. Every year, the CDC conducts a face-to-face survey with 40,000 households called the National Health Interview Survey. Since 2003, the NHIS has monitored what kind of phone connectivity respondents had: landline or mobile. This data gives the CDC useful information that correlates to the health status of people without landlines.”
(PC World)
“Start your engines for the easiest old classic cars to work on for beginners. My grandpa was really into cars and even got my dad into race car driving for a little while. My dad drove quarter midgets, which is basically just a small version of a race car. Because of this, cars were a big part of both of their lives. My dad still fixes cars and even bought a car to repair and make brand new. He was primarily in charge of changing the oil in my car when I lived at home and changing tires because I wasn’t going to do it and it was cheaper than taking it into a shop. Car knowledge or knowing someone with adequate knowledge is pretty important if you’re a car owner.”
