„Werden nicht zurückrudern“ - Polens Regierung hält an Justizreform fest

Die polnische Regierung will auch nach dem Veto von Staatspräsident Andrzej Duda am geplanten Umbau des Justizsystems festhalten. „Wir können dem Druck der Straße und aus dem Ausland nicht nachgeben“, sagt Ministerpräsidentin Beata Szydlo.
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Kroos-Berater übt scharfe Kritik an der Wahl von Lahm

Zum Ende seiner Karriere ist Philipp Lahm zum „Fußballer des Jahres“ gewählt worden. Dafür gibt es nun scharfe Kritik von Toni Kroos‘ Spielerberater. Die Entscheidung für Lahm sei eine emotional getroffen worden - und nicht fachlich.
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Wirklich kreativ ist in Deutschland nur eine Region

Einige Gegenden in der Bundesrepublik sind Ideenschmieden von globalem Rang. Doch dafür ist das Gefälle zu anderen noch größer. Schon das drittplatzierte Bundesland hinkt weit hinterher.
by Daniel Eckert via Endless Supplies .De - News

Kahn sagt ab – aber neuer Sportdirektor kommt

In den nächsten sechs Wochen wollen die Bayern einen neuen Sportdirektor als Sammer-Nachfolger präsentieren. Präsident Hoeneß kündigt eine rasche Lösung an. Klub-Idol Lahm steht nicht zur Verfügung.
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Mysteriöser Mord im Boxmilieu – Wer erschoss Tunahan K.?

Der 22-jährige Boxer Tunahan K. wird tot an einer Autobahnraststätte gefunden. Kurz vor seinem Verschwinden schießt ein Unbekannter auf seinen Trainer. Die Polizei steht vor einem Rätsel.
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Warum Italien bei steigenden Zinsen große Probleme bekommen würde

Von der Niedrigzinspolitik der EZB profitiert besonders Italien. In den vergangenen Jahren habe das Land Zinsausgaben von zusammen etwa 10,5 Prozent des letztjährigen BIP eingespart. Doch Ökonomen machen sich große Sorgen.
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„Es wird eines der schlimmsten Wochenenden in diesem Sommer“

Wenn am Freitag auch in Süddeutschland die Ferien beginnen, wird der Ansturm auf die Autobahnen enorm sein. Der ADAC erwartet eines der schlimmsten Stau-Wochenenden des Sommers und rät: Das Auto stehen lassen.
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Warum Essen aus dem Labor die Zukunft ist

Käse ohne Milch, Fleisch ohne Tier: Lebensmittelchemie ist wieder hoffähig geworden. Die Produkte, die heute schon auf dem Markt sind, sind erst der Anfang, der Trend zum Kunstessen wird sich kaum aufhalten lassen.
by Harald Czycholl via Endless Supplies .De - News

So verdirbt Ihnen das Zickzack-Wetter nicht die Laune

Erst Spanien-Hitze, dann Gewitter, nun Frühherbst: Neben den Wetter-Apps und der Kleiderwahl versagen auch die Nerven. War der Sommer je launischer? Immerhin gibt es einen Ausweg.
by Clara Ott via Endless Supplies .De - News

Tote bei Schüssen in israelischer Botschaft in Jordanien

Ob der Vorfall im Zusammenhang mit dem jüngsten Gewaltausbruch zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern steht, war zunächst unklar.
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„Operation Gomorrah“ gegen Hamburg

Vom 24. Juli bis zum 3. August 1943 wird Hamburg im Rahmen der „Operation Gomorrha“ von britischen und amerikanischen Bombern angegriffen.
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Das sind die Raserhochburgen in Deutschland

Norddeutsche Autofahrer sammeln eifriger Punkte in Flensburg als süddeutsche, Männer sehr viel häufiger als Frauen. Ist der Führerschein erst mal weg, haben jedoch alle die gleichen Probleme.
by Karsten Seibel via Endless Supplies .De - News

Aus dem dunklen Stall schießt der Bauer auf den Tierarzt

Ein Bauer ist im Visier des Veterinäramts, weil er seine Tiere nicht korrekt gehalten haben soll. Als die Tiere abgeholt werden sollen, verliert er die Nerven. Nun wird sein Fall in Stade verhandelt.
by Helmut Reuter via Endless Supplies .De - News

„Herbstlich“ im Südwesten, Starkregen-Prognose für Berlin

Mit dem Sommerwetter ist es erst einmal vorbei: In den kommenden Tagen sorgen Regen- und Gewitterwolken für herbstliche Stimmung. Ein Azorenhoch könnte den Sommer jedoch schon bald wiederbringen
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Hoeneß kritisiert eigene Werbetour in Asien

Der FC Bayern München ist auf Marketing-Tour in Asien unterwegs. Präsident Uli Hoeneß kritisiert die großen Reise-Strapazen und kündigt für zukünftige Trips Veränderungen an.
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Air Berlin verliert Frank Elstners Koffer – und alle leiden mit

Moderator Frank Elstner hat auf einem Flug nach Berlin seinen Koffer verloren. So weit, so gewöhnlich. Als er über Twitter um Hilfe bittet, reagiert nicht nur die angesprochene Air Berlin.
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Charlize Therons unglückliche Kindheit

Charlize Theron war 15 Jahre alt, als ihr Vater Charles Theron ihre Mutter Gerda mit einem Gewehr angriff und drohte, sie beide umzubringen. Der Vater war schwerer Alkoholiker und gewalttätig.
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Seagate featured in Computex Taipei 2017

Major partners including Asustor, Clevo, Cooler Master, MSI, QNAP, Synology and Thermaltake, showcased IronWolf, BarraCuda and FireCuda in their solutions. Learn more: http://www.seagate.com/
by SeagateTechnology via Endless Supplies .De - Brands

Galaxy S8 Active ditches the curved display? | Engadget Today

*Sorry for the reupload, all. Had to fix a graphical mistake. Thanks.* But according to leaks, has a larger battery and more rugged design. http://ift.tt/2tv5xSI Samsung has been putting out Active versions of its S line since the S4 and this weekend, some images and specs of the upcoming Galaxy S8 Active leaked on Reddit. The leaker supposedly got ahold of the phone from a pal who works for Samsung. Internally, the phone is pretty similar to the standard S8 and has a Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The phone also has a 12-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. However, the S8 Active has a 4,000mAh battery, larger than the 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries of the S8 and S8 Plus, respectively. Subscribe to Engadget on YouTube: http://engt.co/subscribe Get More Engadget: • Like us on Facebook: http://ift.tt/1k1iCZT • Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/engadget • Follow us on Instagram: http://ift.tt/1k1iCZV • Add us on Snapchat: http://ift.tt/1UqS18a • Read more: http://www.engadget.com Engadget is the definitive guide to this connected life.
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Understanding Faces, Brands, and Context with Visual Intelligence

From our Inception program, hear from the two co-founders of Deep Vision, Agustin Caverzasi and Leandro Lichtensztein, on their visual intelligence API solution that classifies faces, brand logos, and context for the e-commerce industry. Learn more about Inception: http://nvda.ws/2uO9w07
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Four Things To Know About One Of The Largest Emergency Room Staffing Companies & Surprise Medical Bills

Opening your mailbox to a surprise bill of any kind isn’t typically a welcome experience. But when that bill is for thousands of dollars in medical care you once paid significantly less for, it’s even worse. Yet, that’s a scenario happening to more consumers as hospitals continue to contract out emergency room staffing, and one company appears to be driving the majority of costs. 

The New York Times, citing recent research from Yale University, reports that hospitals turning to emergency room staffing company EmCare have are seeing a significant increase in patients’ medical bills.

Often these patients were seeking medical care at an in-network hospital where their insurance was accepted. But instead of having their costs covered, the doctors who saw them were out-of-network, resulting in surprise medical bills.

Related: Why Emergency Rooms Are A Hotbed For Surprise Medical Bills

To make matters worse, the Times reports that much of the care these patients received was considered an expensive level, driving up costs.

While the Times report and the Yale study provide a wealth of information not only on EmCare, but surprise medical billing, here are four things we learned.

1. A Significant Increase

Shortly after a Spokane, WA, hospital switched to EmCare last year in order to fill vacancies on its emergency room staff, the facility began receiving calls from patients about their medical bills.

While the hospital’s most expensive level of care once cost patients $467, under EmCare the price increased dramatically to $1,649, the Times reports.

Overall, the hospital found that after EmCare brought in doctors and took over staffing and billing, the percentage of patients receiving the highest-level billing code — which is the most expensive — rose from 6% to 28%. The facility says it has since taken back control of billing.

“The billing scenario, that was the real fiasco and caught us off guard,” Tom Wilbur, the chief executive of Newport Hospital, tells the Times. “Hindsight being 20/20, we never would have done that.”

2. Not An Isolated Incident

Research released by Yale University Monday suggests that the experience of the Washington state hospital is much like that of other facilities using EmCare.

The study, which examined out-of-network doctor’s bills for one large, unnamed insurance company, found that out-of-network rates for customers of the insurer jumped to nearly 100% after EmCare came on board at their hospitals.

Of the 16 hospitals that EmCare began working in between 2011 and 2015, the researchers found that eight saw out-of-network billing rise quickly.

Likewise, when the researchers looked at a larger sample of 194 hospitals using EmCare the average out-of-network billing rate was 62%.

The researchers’ analysis found that while the average out-of-network billing for a hospital increased from just above 0% prior to EmCare’s entrance, after the number of such bills increased to nearly 80%. At the same time, however, the study found that admissions and highest-level billing codes saw minimal increases.

3. A Small Number Of Contributors

The significant increase in out-of-network billing costs suggest that unlike other emergency room staffing companies, EmCare did not sign contracts with the insurance company dictating prices. If this is the case, doctors are free to bill customers what they want.

While the issue of out-of-network billing is nothing new, the Yale report found that most of these surprise bills were connected to just a few hospitals, not evenly dispersed around the U.S., the Times reports.

Additionally, the report found that most hospitals of the hospitals contributing to out-of-network bills were staffed by EmCare.

For its part, EmCare tells the Times that the Yale study is “fundamentally flawed and dated,” adding that when the company begins work for a hospital, it allows the facility to treat skier patients, which contributes to increases in costs and billing.

The company also notes that it is working to reach agreements with insurers for most of its doctors, a move that could decrease some out-of-network costs.

4. Costs Vs. Patients

The Times reports that EmCare isn’t the only staffing company tied to a rise in out-of-network billing.

When competitor TeamHealth took over the emergency room departments at hospitals, researchers found an increase in out-of-network billing, albeit smaller than the increases tied to EmCare.

Not all of the out-of-network billing blame can be passed on to EmCare and companies like it, the Times reports, as analysts note that many hospitals are benefiting from such arrangements.

The Yale study found that facilities most commonly benefiting from using EmCare and the increase in billing were for-profit organizations.

Additionally, many hospitals contend that by contracting with companies like EmCare they are able to avoid the headaches of billing and scheduling, and can concentrate on other matters.

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Foxconn Considering A $7 Billion Flat Panel Factory In The United States

Foxconn may not be a household name, but the odds are pretty good that you’re reading this post on a device that the company made or assembled under contract for companies like Acer, Dell, and Apple. The Taiwanese company does most of its manufacturing in mainland China, but is considering building a $7 billion factory somewhere in the United States.

The Finalists

Specifically, Foxconn has narrowed its search to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Wisconsin. The Wall Street Journal reports that Wisconsin is the winner, with the company planning an event to announce it as soon as the coming week.

The plant would make very large LCD panels, which are costly to ship over from Asia. (Foxconn acquired the display maker Sharp last year.) The question for the company, though, is what kind of tax and other incentives each state could put together to lure the plant there. Manufacturing the panels in the U.S. needs to be cheaper than making them in Asia and shipping them over.

A Foxconn plant would bring at least 5,000 jobs, and the seven states each have their own programs of corporate tax incentives for large-scale job creators. Foxconn would also need cheap land and power.

The pitfalls of single-employer towns

The Janesville, WI, Gazette mused that while thousands of jobs coming to town would be pretty great, it also has its own pitfalls, like housing shortages and a region coming to depend on a single employer in a volatile industry. Janesville was formerly home to a General Motors plant, and has since diversified its economy.

First and second runners-up

The Associated Press reports that Foxconn will announce the site for the LCD panel plant as well as two smaller facilities in two other states, the purpose of which hasn’t yet been made public.

Most of the negotiations have been secret, but we do know that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, whose district is in Wisconsin, has said that he met with company representatives. The AP also notes that President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility during a trip to Wisconsin, telling the crowd that “we were negotiating with a major, major incredible manufacturer of phones and computers and televisions and I think they’re going to give [Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker] a very happy surprise very soon.”

That would be some good news for the governor and for the state, indeed. A factory that hired a minimum of 5,000 people would offset last year’s job losses in manufacturing in that state. For 2016, Wisconsin was down 3,776 manufacturing jobs, despite tax incentives, even as the state added 11,590 private-sector jobs overall.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

United Airlines Says It “Misunderstood” TSA About Non-Existent Ban On Comic Books

Now that the Transportation Security Administration has called shenanigans on United Airlines’ claim that folks leaving last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con could not stow their comics in their checked bags, the airline is admitting that it was wrong about this bizarre request being any sort of federal requirement.

In a statement emailed to Consumerist, a rep for United claims that this was all a misunderstanding of TSA policy.

“While TSA is recommending that customers keep their comic books in their carry-on bags, there are no restrictions on packing them in checked luggage,” reads the statement. “We misunderstood TSA’s instructions and regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers.”

The United statement appears to be referencing this 2016 TSA blog post, where the the agency does advise Comic-Con goers to “Pack items such as stacks of brochures and assorted comic books in your carry-on bag,” because stacks of comics or similar items can trigger alerts in the bag-scanning process, requiring security personnel to check the contents.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Okay, NOW What The Heck Is Going On With Senate Obamacare Replacement Bill?

Healthcare is the shambling zombie bill that simply will not stay dead. First the Senate was going to have a vote on a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act; then it wasn’t. Then the Senate was considering a new proposal; then it wasn’t. Now, there is a vote on a bill tentatively planned for tomorrow, July 25 — but if it seems like nobody actually knows what’s in it, or who supports it, or what’s going on, well, that’s because basically nobody does.

So here’s what we do know.

What’s happened so far?

The House passed its repeal-and-replace plan, the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA), in a narrow 217-213 vote in early May. After that, the Senate’s turn began.

In recent weeks, however, the Senate’s action on healthcare has been madcap at best. The process from the start was largely conducted in secret, leaving everyone else to piece it together from leaks and educated guesses. Eventually, a draft version of the Senate’s plan, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), became public. Here’s a timeline of what’s happened since then:

June 22: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) releases draft text of the BCRA.

June 23: After getting a look at the text, hospital, doctor, and public health groups nationwide oppose the bill, saying it makes “unsustainable” cuts to coverage.

June 26: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) comes up with a preliminary score for the BCRA, finding that the bill would likely cause 22 million more Americans to become uninsured than currently are.

June 27: Unable to come to consensus before the July 4 recess, the Senate postpones the vote on the BCRA until July.

July 13: The Senate introduces a new, second draft of the bill, including language that will functionally restore pre-existing condition exclusions to millions of Americans as well as cut Medicaid.

July 14: The health insurance industry itself pens a letter to the Senate saying that its proposal is bad news, calling it “inadequate” and saying that millions will lose coverage.

July 15: Sen. John McCain (AZ) announces that he will be absent from the Senate for at least one week due to a health issue; in response McConnell delays a procedural vote planned for July 18.

July 18: Having determined that the BCRA can’t pass as-is, McConnell instead suggests the Senate should vote on a straight repeal-only measure. Out of the gate, “repeal-only” already has three detractors, seemingly rendering it doomed.

July 19: The CBO finds that a straight-up ACA repeal would cause an additional 32 million Americans to lose access to health insurance.

July 20: President Trump hosts the Republican members of the Senate for lunch and encourages them to vote in favor of a repeal bill, despite its unpopularity and the indefinite absense of Arizona Sen. John McCain, recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. McConnell indicates that he plans for a vote on July 25.

July 21: The Senate Parliamentarian (the person in charge of making sure the Senate follows all the Senate rules) determines that many of the provisions of the BCRA fall outside the scope of what is allowed by a budget resolution.

What are they voting to do?

The vote, tentatively scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, July 25, isn’t actually a vote on the bill itself. Even if it manages to muster 51 votes, it won’t immediately become something that heads up to the White House for a presidential signature.

Instead, the vote is called a Motion to Proceed (MTP). That means basically what it sounds like: If the motion carries, then the Senate proceeds with debate on the bill.

The Brookings Institution has a deep-dive explainer on the Senate’s procedures with a budget resolution, for those who are interested.

The important highlights are that the Senate will need a simple majority — 51 votes — to proceed, and that McConnell can move forward with a “full text substitute” rather than an actual full bill.

If the Senate does vote to proceed, that opens up a 20-hour window of debate, during which point a massive number of amendments can be suggested and rapidly voted on. This period is called the “vote-a-rama,” and if that’s what we end up with, it will indeed seem like a chaotic marathon of suggestions, possibly stretching through the night.

But that “full text substitute” is super important, because…

Nobody actually knows what text the Senate is voting on.

Nobody is entirely sure. At least, nobody who is sure is speaking publicly about it.

Senators to GOP Leadership: "What health care plan are we voting on tomorrow?"

Leadership: ¯_(ツ)_/¯

— Senator Tim Kaine (@timkaine) July 24, 2017

Because McConnell can introduce a full text substitute, there are many possibilities for what he might ask his fellow Senators to vote on. It could be:

• The AHCA that the House passed
• The first version of the BCRA
• The second version of the BCRA
• A version of the ACA repeal bill that the Senate passed in 2015
• Or something else we haven’t seen yet

As of today, Senate Republicans still don’t know which text they will be asked to consider on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal and others report.

Where do they stand?

In order to proceed, McConnell needs 50 Republican Senators to vote in favor, plus a tie-breaking 51st vote from Vice President Mike Pence. There are 52 Republicans in the Senate, so if more than two are absent, or vote no, the motion cannot proceed.

Politico reports that Republican lawmakers are pre-emptively treating the July 25 vote as doomed, assuming that both Collins and Murkowski are still against it. But who’s against it, and who swings around to being in favor, depends entirely on what proposal the Senate actually ends up voting on.

The cluster of Republican Senators who spoke out against either the BCRA or the repeal-only plan included both hardline conservatives as well as their more moderate counterparts. Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Rand Paul (KY) were firmly against the BCRA, for different reasons, and were eventually joined by Sens. Mike Lee (UT) and Jerry Moran (KS).

When McConnell then suggested voting on a straight repeal, he drew opposition once again from Collins, this time joined by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (WV) and Lisa Murkowski (AK).

Due to his recent diagnosis and health care issues, Sen. McCain is not expected to return to D.C. this week. That means if the Senate votes on July 25, McConnell can only afford one Senator peeling off, not two.

Collins appears to be still a firm “no” for whatever the Senate does actually vote on in the end, meaning that if McConnell is to succeed, she can be the only one not to vote in favor.

Paul, meanwhile, has since said that if the Senate votes to move forward with a repeal bill, he will be a yes on the motion to proceed.

Sens. Capito, Heller, Lee, Moran, Murkowski, and Portman are still entirely up in the air as well. Whether or not they will support the measure depends on what measure ends up in front of them, and what amendments McConnell promises can follow in the vote-a-rama.

President Trump is himself with Capito in West Virginia today, both to encourage her to vote in favor of a motion to proceed, and also to give a speech on health care encouraging all Republican Senators to vote in favor of the measure, whatever it actually is.

In his remarks, Trump led by saying that “for the past 17 years,” the ACA, which was passed in 2010 and most provisions of which took effect in 2014, “has wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent, hardworking Americans.”

Trump then chided the Senate Republicans, saying, they “have not done their job in ending the Obamacare nightmare,” and exhorted them to “repeal and replace” the ACA.

What happens next?

In a broad sense, there are three possible outcomes this week.

1. The Senate votes on the measure; it garners 50 or fewer votes and fails to proceed.
2. The Senate votes on the measure; it gains 51 or more votes and proceeds.
3. The Senate once again postpones or decides not to vote on the measure.

If the motion to proceed succeeds, Senators will discuss and negotiate on a whole pile of amendments to try and cobble together a bill. Formally, the Senate then gets its 20 hours of debate, which becomes an all-night vote-a-rama until, as CNN estimates, 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning at which point they are done.

If the motion to proceed fails, however, Senators can either work together to craft a new proposal and try again, or decide that this process is too much of a mess and come back to it later, never, or in an entirely different way (like by introducing a bill that isn’t a budget reconciliation measure).

As to the details, Vox has a handy flowchart outlining the possibilities from here.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Don’t Use Social Media Behind The Wheel: 9 People Per Day Are Killed In Crashes Involving Distracted Drivers

Distracted driving comes in many forms, from talking on the phone, to messing with a navigation system, or posing for selfies on the latest social media app. Over the weekend, the latter distraction, combined with another dangerous driving hazard — drunk driving — to claim the life of a teen in California. 

NBC News reports that a 14-year-old California girl was killed Friday evening when her sister, who was allegedly impaired and using social media, crashed a vehicle the teens were passengers in. Another teen was injured in the crash.

The 18-year-old, who was arrested on suspicion of DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, allegedly live-streamed the crash’s aftermath on Instagram.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the 2003 Buick veered onto the right should of a road, when the driver overcorrected, causing the car to swerve across lanes before crashing into a fence and overturning into a field.

Authorities tell NBC News that they are aware of a video posted to social media that was allegedly recorded during and after the crash.

CHP says it is investigating the video and working to determine if recording the footage contributed to the crash.

The video, which BuzzFeed News reports was on Instagram for nearly 19 hours before being deleted, purportedly shows the 18-year-old driver singing to music and flipping off the camera before the footage goes blurry and screams can be heard. The video then shows the driver talking to the camera near what is allegedly her sister’s lifeless body.

“My sister is f—— dying. Look, I f—— love my sister to death. I don’t give a f—. Man, we about to die. This is the last thing I wanted to happen to us, but it just did. Jacqueline, please wake up,” the driver can be heard saying on the video. “I don’t f‑‑‑‑‑‑ care though,” Sanchez continued. “I’m a hold it down. I love you, rest in peace, sweetie. If you don’t survive, baby, I am so f‑‑‑‑‑‑ sorry. I did not mean to kill you, sweetie. Sweetie, I am f‑‑‑‑‑‑ sorry. Sweetie, please, wake up!”

More Distractions

Each day, nine people are killed in vehicles crashes that involve a distracted driver, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With consumers’ reliance on smartphones and chaining technology, the types of distractions are increasing. For instance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now records the number of instances in which drivers are distracted by manipulating handheld devices.

Drivers are counted as visibly manipulating handheld devices if they appear to be using some kind of device to text message, surf the web, check emails, manually dial a number, play games, or use the phone in front of their faces.

“Texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds,” according to NHTSA. “At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.”

While NHTSA’s most recent statistics [PDF] don’t show a significant increase in the number of drivers partaking in this kind of distraction, the decrease from 2.2% to 2.1% between 2015 and 2016 was not considered statistically significant.

Still, young drivers have been observed manipulating electronic devices at higher rates than older drivers since 2007.

At the same time, NHTSA found that the percentage of passenger vehicle drivers talking on handheld cell phones decreased from 3.8% to 3.3%.

“You cannot drive safely unless the task of driving has your full attention,” the agency says on its distracted driving resource page. “Any non-driving activity you engage in is a potential distraction and increases your risk of crashing.”

Reducing Distractions

While NHTSA and the CDC do not break out the number of drivers using social media while behind the wheel, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety contended in 2015 that such distractions are on the rise.

For instance, in Sept. 2015, there were 22,067 Instagram posts under #drivingselfie. A look at the hashtag today shows more than 30,000 posts.

A survey from AT&T also points to an increase in distractive driving related to social media and selfies. According to a 2015 AT&T report, one in five respondents — or 17% — admitted to taking selfies or other photos while driving.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety note that 39 states have taken steps to decrease distracted driving, by enacting laws that ban text messaging for all drivers.

“In order to get people to pay attention while operating a vehicle and to adopt safer behaviors, education must be combined with strong laws and appropriate enforcement,” the group says. “This is the tried and true method to change behavior in order to improve safety.”

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Galaxy S8 Active ditches the curved display? | Engadget Today

But according to leaks, has a larger battery and more rugged design. http://ift.tt/2tv5xSI Samsung has been putting out Active versions of its S line since the S4 and this weekend, some images and specs of the upcoming Galaxy S8 Active leaked on Reddit. The leaker supposedly got ahold of the phone from a pal who works for Samsung. Internally, the phone is pretty similar to the standard S8 and has a Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The phone also has a 12-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. However, the S8 Active has a 4,000mAh battery, larger than the 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries of the S8 and S8 Plus, respectively. Subscribe to Engadget on YouTube: http://engt.co/subscribe Get More Engadget: • Like us on Facebook: http://ift.tt/1k1iCZT • Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/engadget • Follow us on Instagram: http://ift.tt/1k1iCZV • Add us on Snapchat: http://ift.tt/1UqS18a • Read more: http://www.engadget.com Engadget is the definitive guide to this connected life.
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Cisco Stealthwatch in 3 Minutes

Obtain a high-level overview on the various ways that Stealthwatch can help you achieve pervasive visibility across the network. Learn more: http://cs.co/90078cekb.
by Cisco via Endless Supplies .De - Brands

Doug Locks His Computer With His Phone

Gadget reviewer Doug Aamoth's evil twin brother Dave is back, this time trying to log into Doug's computer in a drunken stupor. To avoid future near-breaches, Doug turns on Windows 10's new Dynamic Lock feature to lock his computer whenever he walks away from it.
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11 States Accuse Trump Administration Of Illegally Delaying Safety Regulations For Chemical Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency recently decided to put a nearly two-year delay on new rules intended to reduce the number and damage resulting from accidents at U.S. chemical plants that can result in deadly explosions, fires, and the release of poisonous gas. But the attorneys general for 11 states say the Trump administration has overstepped its authority with this decision.

In January, the EPA finalized the new rule that “seek to improve chemical process safety, assist local emergency authorities in planning for and responding to accidents, and improve public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated sources.”

According to the EPA, there have been more than 1,517 accidents at the nation’s chemical plants over the last decade, leaving 58 dead and more than 17,000 injured. Nearly one-third (473) of those incidents resulted in damage that extended beyond the site of the facility. As a result, around 500,000 people were forced to either evacuate buildings or shelter in place, while more than $2 billion in damage was done to property.

Proponents of the regulation point to incidents like the March 23, 2005 explosions at the BP refinery in Texas City, TX, where 15 workers were killed and 180 injured, according to the Chemical Safety Board:

Or the Aug. 6, 2012 pipe rupture at a Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA, where 19 workers were engulfed in a cloud of vaporized, high-temperature gas oil and 15,000 local residents ended up seeking incident-related medical treatment in the weeks that followed:

The new rule was supposed to become official in March 2017, but only days after President Trump’s inauguration, lawmakers were being pushed to undo this regulation.

On Jan. 25, a coalition of more than 20 industrial trade groups — including the American Petroleum Institute, the Corn Refiners Association, the American Chemistry Council, the Institute of Makers of Explosives, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Fertilizer Institute — made their case to House and Senate leadership to use the Congressional Review Act (which allows lawmakers to try to roll back new federal regulations they disagree with) to undo the new rule.

That didn’t happen, but EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — who previously filed multiple lawsuits against the agency he now runs, and who has long-running ties to the oil industry — did grant an initial 90-day delay on the rule’s starting date, even though the regulation has a built-in one-year grace period before affected companies are required to comply with the emergency response procedures, and a four-year period for complying with the new accident prevention and public disclosure requirements.

Then, on June 14, Pruitt announced a 20-month delay in implementing the rule, meaning the official start date won’t be until Feb. 2019, with compliance not required until a year later — nearly seven years after the rulemaking process began.

In the meantime, the EPA says it will “conduct a reconsideration proceeding and… consider other issues that may benefit from additional comment.” In other words, the agency is using this delay to rewrite and rescind the rule in accordance with guidance from industry.

In a lawsuit [PDF] filed today with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the attorneys general for 11 states — New York, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Washington, New Mexico, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont — allege that Pruitt overstepped his authority by delaying the rule without good reason.

“Protecting our workers, first-responders, and communities from chemical accidents should be something on which we all agree,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office is leading the challenge. “Yet the Trump EPA continues to put special interests before the health and safety of the people they serve.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

How a Hacker Fired a Locked Smart Gun | WIRED

The Armatix iP1 pistol and its RFID watch, are sold as one of the most secure firearm systems available. But a hacker, who goes by 'Plore', has found flaws in the Armatix that entirely defeat its security measures. Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►► http://wrd.cm/15fP7B7 CONNECT WITH WIRED Web: http://wired.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/WIRED Facebook: http://ift.tt/1dBz3Oa Pinterest: http://ift.tt/1JeJD7O Google+: http://ift.tt/1Ch4gR7 Instagram: http://ift.tt/1lUgynY Tumblr: http://WIRED.tumblr.com Want even more? Subscribe to The Scene: http://bit.ly/subthescene ABOUT WIRED WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. Through thought-provoking stories and videos, WIRED explores the future of business, innovation, and culture. How a Hacker Fired a Locked Smart Gun | WIRED
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Top 2 Ways to Make Your Surveillance Storage More Efficient with Dahua and Seagate

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Fewer Restaurants Serving Up Sugary Drinks On Kids’ Menus, But Most Still Do

American kids are eating out at fast-food and full-service restaurants more than ever, and that makes it even more important what restaurants are serving to them. A new study of restaurant offerings by the Center for Science in the Public Interest shows that while they’re not as common as they were in the past, meals that include soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages are still common.

Sugar is a major source of added calories and sugars to Americans’ diets, and all of that sugar in turn is linked to overweight, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and dental disease. We collectively have a bad habit, and wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t pass that habit on to the next generation? A good place to start would be kids’ meals in restaurants, where soda, sugar-sweetened juices, and flavored milks are often served.

Bundled together

Which beverages are considered part of a kids’ meal is important, because most restaurants sell these meals as a bundle that includes the beverage. CSPI evaluated the the top 50 restaurants nationally, 38 of which had beverages labeled as being for kids. 32 of those restaurants bundle beverages together with meals on the children’s menu.

The good news, per CSPI [PDF], is that restaurants are pairing fewer sugary beverages with kids’ meals than they used to.

Healthy beverages include low-fat milk, water, seltzer, and 100% juice. (Pediatricians recommend keeping even 100% juice consumption low, though.)

Restaurants that don’t include sugary beverages on children’s menus include McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, Subway, and Panera Bread.

The group also notes that low-fat milk, defined as 1% or skim milk, has become a more popular offering on children’s menus.

To keep improving, the group suggests that restaurants:

Make the default beverage for children’s meals a healthy one. That could be bottled water, fruit juice, seltzer, or low-fat milk. People generally just stick with the default option, so make sure that the default isn’t soda.

Adhere to the National Restaurant Federation’s Kids LiveWell guidelines for all children’s menu items. The program sets calorie limits and recommends more vegetables and fruit and less added sugar for children, perhaps hoping that kids will pick up good eating habits along the way.

Only advertise to kids if their meals are all healthy ones. CSPI recommends that restaurants whose children’s menu meals aren’t all up to the Kids LiveWell standards not take part in marketing moves like in-school promotions, television and online advertising, and even in-store promotions.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

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„Einzelne ‚Verstöße‘ rechtfertigen keine ‚Razzien‘“

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Hoeneß - „Neuer Sportdirektor in sechs Wochen“

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Erdogan zieht Terrorliste mit deutschen Firmen zurück

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