UTL COMMENT:- Poor bugger and it wasn't even him it was his car radio!!! Well having smart everything is a dumb idea. Anything labelled 'SMART' seems to be against humanity....... smart cities, smart phones etc. Yes we know what they are planning and people will go along like the fools I saw in 2020.

?????? Dramatic cat video!!! These videos keep popping up! Sorry - couldn't resist!!!!

Kids, man. I'm not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you're the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there's not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven't sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you're not the default parental unit. One parent captured exactly what it's like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don't you fret, they're modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.Back when we were children, this would've done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese's kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it's as good as a phone call. You may be questioning why this mom left her two young children home alone. She didn't. Their father was home, likely wondering why the children were playing so quietly. But. He. Was. Right. There. And the kids still bypassed him to talk to their mom through the Ring doorbell camera. It was pressing business, after all. "My tablet is dead," the 3-year-old said.The kids ignored Marchese's questions about where their dad was and continued to complain about their tablets. The entire situation is enough to make any default parent chuckle and maybe sob a little. Watch the urgent doorbell call below: @tinyann22 Moms can never get a minute of peace lol #momsoftiktok #momlife #ring #camera #kidsoftiktok And if you're skeptical that dad was within shouting distance, the mom of two uploaded a part two where dad comes into the frame. @tinyann22 Replying to @iustmerlp part 2… daddy was found! Lol #kidsoftiktok #momsoftiktok #parentsoftiktok #fyp #ring #prioritiesfirst This article originally appeared on 3.22.23

Taking your kids to the playground is supposed to be fun.You chase them around, hold them up on the monkey bars, follow them down the slide — it's a hoot!(Or, if you're exhausted and overstimulated like so many parents, you take a little quiet time to scroll your phone on the bench while your child plays happily — there's zero shame in doing so.)But for parents of children with autism or other special needs — especially when those kids are nonverbal — a trip to the park can be filled with stress and anxiety.Being in an outside environment that you can't control and having few ways to clearly communicate with your child is stressful and even dangerous.Now more and more communities are installing special picture boards that make playgrounds and other public spaces more accessible to nonverbal kids.Autism communication boards, more formally known as Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) boards, are a game-changer.These larges signs feature colorful pictures and icons that help children — and people of all ages — with verbal challenges communicate. Smarty SymbolsTypically, you'll find them at playgrounds and public parks, where the boards might have pictures corresponding to things a child might want to do like Climb, or Slide. Smarty SymbolsThere may be pictures for Friend or for Share, or for things kids might want like Food, Water, or to go to the Bathroom.Kids are able to point at the little logos to communicate efficiently and clearly with their caretakers or even with other kids. For children with budding language skills, the boards often include a full alphabet so kids can spell out words by pointing or touching.What's amazing is that these boards not only make playgrounds and parks safer and more inclusive for autism families, they actually open up a gateway for nonverbal kids to play with other children.Parents may be well-versed in some of the nonverbal communication methods their kids use, but other children at the park might not be. These boards make it easier for a child with autism to find a friend to go down the slide with them or go on the climbing wall together.As an added bonus, public PECS boards invoke a lot of curiosity which helps kids and even adults learn more about folks who may have different ways of communicating.And the boards aren't just for nonverbal children with autism! They're a great and fun tool for younger children who are just learning how to read and speak, empowering them to communicate and interact more fully with the world around them.At home, children with autism often have smaller versions of these boards — or they have special tablets loaded with tools to help them communicate. But out in the chaos of the real-world and without these tools, communications breakdowns are a major risk.With 1 in every 36 children having autism (a number that's been on the rise) according to the CDC, these boards are a crucial public health investment for towns across the country.PECS boards in public spaces is an idea that's really catching on. There are dozens of news stories from the last year or two of counties or town in the U.S. and UK, in particular, installing these boards.Union County in New Jersey added boards to several of its most popular parks.Teddy Bear Park in Lake Placid got a custom board earlier this year. And Oyster Bay in Long Island, NY added communication boards to nearly a dozen of its parks and beaches! You can even find highly customized boards in places like school libraries, school nurse offices, or sports fields — all with special pictures and communications tools that are suited to that particular environment.Smarty Symbols, one of the main manufacturers and advocates for the use of these boards, has shipped hundreds of boards since 2022.The prevalence of PECS or autism communication boards in public spaces is a truly amazing sign of progressOur understanding of nonverbal autism and our willingness to make public space more inclusive has come a long way.Therapy designed to encourage or even "force" nonverbal children with autism to speak is highly controversial, and there's a lot of debate over its ethics and effectiveness.But what's clear is that tools like picture boards and communication boards do not delay or hinder anyone's ability to learn to read or speak. They're an extra tool that keeps kids safe and happy — which is exactly what every kid should feel when they're at the playground with their family.

Nothing can ever fully prepare you for being an adult. Once you leave childhood behind, the responsibilities, let-downs and setbacks come at you fast. It’s tiring and expensive, and there's no easy-to-follow roadmap for happiness and success.A Reddit user named u/Frequent-Pilot5243 asked the online forum, “What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?” and there were a lot of profound answers that get to the heart of the disappointing side of being an adult.One theme that ran through many responses is the feeling of being set adrift. When you’re a kid, the world is laid out as a series of accomplishments. You learn to walk, you figure out how to use the bathroom, you start school, you finish school, maybe you go to college, and so on.However, once we’re out of the school system and out from under our parents’ roofs, there is a vast, complicated world out there and it takes a long time to learn how it works. The tough thing is that if you don’t get a good head start, you can spend the rest of your life playing catch-up.Then, you hit middle age and realize that life is short and time is only moving faster.Adulthood also blindsides a lot of people because we realize that many adults are simply children who grew older. The adult world is a lot more like high school than a teenager could ever imagine.The Reddit thread may seem a bit depressing at first, but there are a lot of great lessons that younger people can take to heart. The posts will also make older people feel a lot better because they can totally relate.Being an adult is hard, exhausting and expensive. But we’re all in this together and by sharing the lessons we’ve learned we can help lighten each other's load just a bit.Here are 21 of the most powerful responses to the question: “What is an adult problem nobody prepared you for?”1. Lack of purpose"Lack of purpose. All your young life you are given purpose of passing exams and learning, then all of a sudden you are thrown into the world and told to find your own meaning," — Captain_Snow.2. No bed time"You can stay up as late as you want. But you shouldn't," — geek-fit3. Friendships"Where did all my friends go?" — I_Love_Small_Breasts Most of them are at the same place as you are ... Probably wondering the same thing," — Blackdraon0034. Bodily changes"I'm closer to fifty than forty, would have been nice to be better prepared for some of the ways your body starts to change at this point that don't normally get talked about. For instance your teeth will start to shift from general aging of your gums," — dayburner.5. People don't change"Didnt know that other adults have the emotional intelligence of teenagers and its almost impossible to deal with logically," — Super-Progress-63866. Money"$5K is a lot to owe, but not a lot to have," — Upper-Job51307. Our parents age, too"Handling the decline and death of your parents," - Agave6668. Free time"Not having a lot of free-time or time by myself," — detective_kiara9. No goals"Not having a pre-defined goal once I was out of college. Growing up my goals were set for me: get through elementary school! then middle school! Then high school, and get into college and get a degree, then get a job, and then...? Vague "advance in your career, buy a house, find a spouse, have a kid or multiple, then retire." At 22 I had no idea how to break that down more granularly," — FreehandBirdlime10. Constant upkeep"Life is all about maintenance. Your body, your house, your relationships, everything requires constant never ending maintenance," — IHateEditedBGMusic11. Exhaustion"Being able to do so many things because I'm an adult but too tired to do any of them," — London8212. Loneliness"Being an adult feels extremely lonely," — Bluebloop013. Dinner"Having to make dinner every. Fucking. Day," — EndlesslyUnfinished14. Time changes"The more life you’ve lived, the faster time seems to go," — FadedQuill15. You're responsibile, even if you didn't mean it"You are held to account for bad behaviour for which you are negligent even if you had no intention to cause harm. As a lawyer, I see this all the time. People don't think they're responsible for mistakes. You are," — grishamlaw16. Work is like high school"The intricacies of workplace politics," — Steve_Lobsen writes. ""When you're in school, you think that you won't have to deal with gossiping and bullying once you leave school. Unfortunately, that is not true," — lady_laughs_too_much17. Nowhere to turn"How easy it is to feel stuck in a bad situation (job, relationship, etc) just because the cost and effort of getting out can seem daunting. And sometimes you just have to accept a figurative bowl full of shit because you can't afford to blow up your life," — movieguy9545318. The happiness question"Figuring out what makes you happy. Everyone keeps trying to get you to do things you're good at, or that makes you money, but never to pursue what you enjoy," — eternalwanderer519. Constant cleaning"The kitchen is always dirty. You’ll clean it at least three times every day," — cewnc20. Life costs money"One adult problem nobody prepared me for is how expensive everything is. I always thought that as an adult I would be able to afford the things I wanted, but it turns out that's not always the case! I've had to learn how to budget and save up for the things I want, and it's been a difficult process," — Dull_Dog_812621. Keeping above water"All of it together. I was relatively warned about how high rent is, car bills and repairs, how buying healthy food is expensive as hell but important for your health, how to exercise and save what you can, my parents did their best to fill in my knowledge about taxes and healthcare and insurance that my schooling missed, about driving and cleaning a household, about setting boundaries at work but working hard and getting ahead if you can, about charity and what it means to take care of a pet and others, about being a good partner if you were lucky enough to have one, about how dark and messed up the world is when you just read the news and what all that means to me and my community… I was reasonably warned about all of it."No one could have ever prepared me for how hard doing all of it at the same time and keeping your head above that water would actually be," — ThatNoNameWriterThis article originally appeared on 01.28.22

In 1997, ecologists Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs approached an orange juice company in Costa Rica with an off-the-wall idea. In exchange for donating a portion of unspoiled, forested land to the Área de Conservación Guanacaste — a nature preserve in the country's northwest — the park would allow the company to dump its discarded orange peels and pulp, free of charge, in a heavily grazed, largely deforested area nearby. One year later, one thousand trucks poured into the national park, offloading over 12,000 metric tons of sticky, mealy, orange compost onto the worn-out plot.The site was left untouched and largely unexamined for over a decade. A sign was placed to ensure future researchers could locate and study it.16 years later, Janzen dispatched graduate student Timothy Treuer to look for the site where the food waste was dumped.Treuer initially set out to locate the large placard that marked the plot — and failed."It's a huge sign, bright yellow lettering. We should have been able to see it," Treuer says. After wandering around for half an hour with no luck, he consulted Janzen, who gave him more detailed instructions on how to find the plot.When he returned a week later and confirmed he was in the right place, Treuer was floored. Compared to the adjacent barren former pastureland, the site of the food waste deposit was "like night and day.""It was just hard to believe that the only difference between the two areas was a bunch of orange peels. They look like completely different ecosystems," he explains.The area was so thick with vegetation he still could not find the sign.Treuer and a team of researchers from Princeton University studied the site over the course of the following three years.The results, published in the journal "Restoration Ecology," highlight just how completely the discarded fruit parts assisted the area's turnaround.The ecologists measured various qualities of the site against an area of former pastureland immediately across the access road used to dump the orange peels two decades prior. Compared to the adjacent plot, which was dominated by a single species of tree, the site of the orange peel deposit featured two dozen species of vegetation, most thriving.In addition to greater biodiversity, richer soil, and a better-developed canopy, researchers discovered a tayra (a dog-sized weasel) and a giant fig tree three feet in diameter, on the plot."You could have had 20 people climbing in that tree at once and it would have supported the weight no problem," says Jon Choi, co-author of the paper, who conducted much of the soil analysis. "That thing was massive."Recent evidence suggests that secondary tropical forests — those that grow after the original inhabitants are torn down — are essential to helping slow climate change.In a 2016 study published in Nature, researchers found that such forests absorb and store atmospheric carbon at roughly 11 times the rate of old-growth forests.Treuer believes better management of discarded produce — like orange peels — could be key to helping these forests regrow.In many parts of the world, rates of deforestation are increasing dramatically, sapping local soil of much-needed nutrients and, with them, the ability of ecosystems to restore themselves.Meanwhile, much of the world is awash in nutrient-rich food waste. In the United States, up to half of all produce in the United States is discarded. Most currently ends up in landfills."We don't want companies to go out there will-nilly just dumping their waste all over the place, but if it's scientifically driven and restorationists are involved in addition to companies, this is something I think has really high potential," Treuer says.The next step, he believes, is to examine whether other ecosystems — dry forests, cloud forests, tropical savannas — react the same way to similar deposits.Two years after his initial survey, Treuer returned to once again try to locate the sign marking the site.Since his first scouting mission in 2013, Treuer had visited the plot more than 15 times. Choi had visited more than 50. Neither had spotted the original sign.In 2015, when Treuer, with the help of the paper's senior author, David Wilcove, and Princeton Professor Rob Pringle, finally found it under a thicket of vines, the scope of the area's transformation became truly clear."It's a big honking sign," Choi emphasizes.19 years of waiting with crossed fingers had buried it, thanks to two scientists, a flash of inspiration, and the rind of an unassuming fruit.This article originally appeared on 08.23.17

Dogs can smell fear, but can they sniff out the truth? Your dog might actually be smarter than you're giving it credit for. It turns out, dogs are pretty good at picking up on human behavior. Science says so. A team led by Akiko Takaoka of Kyoto University in Japan conducted a study which found out that dogs actually know if you're to be believed or not.The study involved tricking dogs in the name of science. Humans have known for a long time that if you point at an object, a dog will run to it. Researchers utilized this information in their study. During the experiment, they pointed at a container that was filled with hidden food. Sure enough, the dog ran towards the container. Then, they pointed at a container that was empty. The dogs ran towards it, but found that it had no food.The third time the researchers pointed at a container with food, the dogs refused to go to the container. They knew the person pointing wasn't reliable based off their previous experience. 34 dogs were used in the experiment, and every single dog wouldn't go towards the container the third time. This experiment either proves that dogs can spot a liar or that dogs have major trust issues.In other words, if you lie to your dog, your dog forms the opinion that your word isn't good and will behave accordingly. "Dogs have more sophisticated social intelligence than we thought. This social intelligence evolved selectively in their long life history with humans," said Takaoka, who was also surprised that dogs were quick when they "devalued the reliability of a human.”John Bradshaw of the University of Bristol in the UK, who wasn't involved in this study, says that the results indicate that dogs prefer predictability. When gestures are inconsistent, dogs tend to become nervous and stressed.The researchers have plans to repeat the experiment swapping out the dogs with wolves because wolves are closely related to dogs. The point of this isn't to get bitten by wolves, but rather, to see the "profound effects of domestication" on dogs.This article originally appeared on 06.06.19.

Brangelina. Kimye. "Combined names" are a key step in becoming a celebrity "it" couple. But regular people all over the U.S. are doing the same thing. And making it legal.I recently read about the phenomenon of married couples legally taking a smushed-together — or otherwise completely invented — version of their last names. Smith and Johnson become the Smithsons, for example. It's sometimes called name blending or name-meshing.I started asking around: Had anyone else heard of this?Turns out, a ton of people had. Almost everyone I asked knew a couple who had done it officially, done it unofficially, or at least thought about it.It might sound kind of odd, but there are a lot of great reasons modern couples choose to do something like this — everything from gender equality (FTW!) to giving the kids a fresh family identity to make their own. Here are seven forward-thinking, creative, and diverse couples who chose to use a combined name, and why they did it.1. Carla Cole + Brian Martin = the LatimersThese two turned to an unlikely tool when they decided to combine names: an anagram generator."We wanted a family name to share with the kids," Carla says. She says they almost had guests at their wedding vote on their top five favorite names. Instead, they wound up choosing on their own."We dropped our middle birth names, moved our maiden names to our middle names, and added the new last name," she says. And lived happily ever after. Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash 2. Blair Eckenrode + Megan Christensen = the EckensensWhen Eckenrode and Christensen got married, they had some understandably complicated feelings about the institution.Questioning the long upheld standards of marriage gave the couple a lot of freedom to define their own union how they saw fit. The first thing to go? The historic coverture laws that originated today's commonplace tradition of a woman relinquishing a part of her identity, her name, and assuming her husband's."We are a family, and we share every part of our lives with each other, and we also desired to share a name," Blair says. "So we got creative and here we are — a nontraditionally created name for a 'nontraditional' marriage."3. Sally and Ryan Stauffer = the ElainskasWhen these two first got married, they did what Sally calls "the normal thing," and went with her husband's last name of Stauffer. A few years later, Ryan had a confession to make — he wished they'd gone another route."In the end we decided to combine Gaelic to represent his ancestry and Polish to represent mine," Sally says. They chose words that loosely translated to "people of art," plus a few tweaks to make it easy to spell and pronounce, and suddenly they were the Elainskas. Their families have had mixed reactions, Sally says, but there's only one thing that really matters: "I couldn't be happier with the decision and with my perfect partner!" Photo by Maico Pereira on Unsplash 4. Sonia Abrams + Stephen Moss = the Abramoss kidsWhen these two tied the knot, they both agreed it'd be best to keep their own last names. The kids? That was a different story."We both felt a little weird about not having a little bit of [both] our names in our kid," Sonia says. That's when they got the idea to combine, and Abramoss just felt like a winning combination."My dad did not like it at all, but I think he got over it," she says. "It feels neat to have our kid's' names be a combo of ours, since our kids are a perfect combo of the two of us."5. Sara Kunitake + Jonah Horowitz = the Horotakes"Sara has a very strong attachment to her family name. She’s the last Kunitake grandchild, and she hesitated to give the name up," Jonah says. "Also, she has invested a lot in building her brand professionally as Sara Kunitake and didn’t want to have to rebuild as Sara Horowitz."So they merged to become the Horotakes. "We really like the sound of it and it merges our Japanese and Jewish heritage."6. Jesse Rauch + Lissa McManus = the McRauchsFeminism has been an important thread throughout Jesse and Lissa's relationship."As our relationship deepened, I felt it was important to be completely equal in our relationship," Jesse says. "We both wear engagement rings. I didn't get on one knee — so we looked each other in the eye."Jesse says most people are really supportive, or even jealous they didn't think of it, but his parents keep asking, 'Are you really doing that?""They may need more time," he says.7. Ash Russell + Crystal Fields = the RocketshipsThat's right. Meet Mrs. and Mrs. Rocketship.Ash says the couple talked a lot about "how neither of us were really attached to our family names and how it would be nice to share a name once we were married."Her alternative? Pick something random, but meaningful. It got the couple talking about their shared love of outer space."We joked about Lightyear, after Buzz, and then one of us — probably me because I am nothing if not overjoyed at being obnoxious — said, 'We should just pick something random ... like, rocketship.' And it just stuck."From there, the paperwork was a breeze, and the Rocketships became the coolest family in the solar system.This article originally appeared on 8.11.17

It's no secret that everyone parents their children differently. Heck, even within the same house children are parented differently based on their individual personalities and social–emotional needs. So most parents understand that every family operates differently than their own but that doesn't stop some people from expecting their rules to be followed by other people outside of their family.One mom found herself feeling a bit confused and likely frustrated after a recent flight with her preschooler. She and her 3-year-old were on a two hour flight enjoying some in flight entertainment in the form of an iPad. This seemed to be a problem for another family on board the same flight who also happened to have a preschool aged little boy with them. The other family's child noticed the little girl's iPad and decided that he too needed to have his iPad. The only problem was, the boy's family decided he could not use his device while traveling which left him crying for the girl's tablet. Instead of the parents of the little boy giving him his tablet, they requested that the other mom take the tablet away from her child and put it away. The mom of the little girl refused to take the tablet from her child to accommodate the other family causing the little boy to cry most of the flight according to the frazzled mom on Reddit. Of course screen time is a hot button for parents with some parents demanding to be screen free until a certain age and others appreciating the time screens provide parents to get things done around the house. woman carrying baby while sitting on gray seat Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash Experts weigh in on screen timeAccording to the Mayo Clinic, screen time for children younger than 18 months old should be avoided unless video chatting with relatives or friends. Otherwise, there should be no screens until after that age when high quality shows and such can be introduced with supervision up to 24 months. But for preschool aged children the recommendation is to leave screen time to one hour or less of high quality programs with parental supervision. Two psychologists who are also moms discussed screen time when traveling on the podcast "Securely Attached." They both agreed that each kid is different but one mom, Dr. Emily says, "I think you really have to adapt to what the needs are. If you have a really long flight, your kids are zoning out." Before adding, "I’m okay with them watching movies. I’m less with them doing a video game for hours and hours and hours that again, I might just be old and I think that’s more analog." girl sitting on chair Photo by Patricia Prudente on Unsplash While the two children whose parents were in this mile high standoff over screen time both fall into the one hour or less category, these children are not from the same family. Every parent has different rules around screen time for their children and some see traveling as a place to bend their own household rules a little to make sure their children are as occupied as possible in an effort to not inconvenience other passengers. People chime in to support mom's choiceSince the mom who originally asked if she was wrong for refusing to take away her child's iPad was starting to second guess her choice after noting the other family giving her dirty looks, Reddit users emphatically supported her decision. High Five Sesame Street GIF by Moonbug Giphy "If they don't want their kid to use a tablet on their vacation, they need to be prepared for meltdowns like this while he develops the ability to understand that other people will have different rules and experiences than he will. I feel for them, I know how hard it is to travel with a cranky toddler, but that's simply not a reasonable request to make of a stranger," someone shares with the mom."I think the big benefit to iPads on flights is that you can download near unlimited activities and don’t have to bring anything else that takes up space! I own a Kindle and while I do prefer reading physical books, when I travel I don’t have to worry about reading my books too quickly because I can just download another! Like bringing a puzzle and a book and a game and markers and paper vs bringing one device that has all of those things can absolutely be beneficial for a flight/trip especially if you have young children and also need to pack snacks and diapers and sippy cups and all the extra stuff adults don’t need," another adds. Happy Dance GIF by Xbox Giphy "It's different before kids can read, I think. At 3 they can't just sit and read or do a puzzle, you have to actively do it with them and their attention span is short. Which might be fine for a 2 hour flight but isn't going to work for 5 or 7 or 12. Breaking it up with a few episodes of Bluey on your phone isn't going to hurt anyone and is considerate to your fellow passengers who don't want to deal with a toddler bouncing off the walls with boredom," one person writes. boy sitting on chair beside table using tablet computer Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Overwhelmingly parents and non-parents alike agree that this mom did nothing wrong by refusing to take away her daughter's iPad. Others suggesting that the parents who chose not to use screens should have been more prepared with activities, "Exactly. It's fine to not want your toddler to use a tablet but you have to give them other activities. When we traveled as small children, we had lots of books, coloring books, little games, snacks, etc. planes are boring for all of us, especially children."There you have it, planes are boring for everyone, so being prepared with boredom busters if you're avoiding screens can be beneficial for all involved.