If you would like to add the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to your applications you might be interested in a new project on GitHub called CopilotKit, specifically designed to aid you with your quest. CopilotKit is an open-source AI framework and this latest release brings a host of new features designed to enhance both […]
The Waterdrop X16 reverse osmosis system combines convenience and style, transforming home water filtration into a seamless and attractive addition to any kitchen. Unlike bulky purifiers often hidden away, the sleek X16 fits perfectly under the sink, enhancing your kitchen’s look with its modern design.
Designer: Waterdrop Filter
Click Here to Buy Now: $1299$1999 (Use coupon code “X16” to get exclusive $700 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!
This reverse osmosis system enhances the look of your kitchen with its minimalistic and futuristic design. It can be placed or installed under the sink, occupying minimal space while delivering maximum performance. This system provides a comprehensive upgrade to how drinking water is filtered and dispensed in your home. Its sleek and modern design makes it a valuable addition to any kitchen, complementing any decor with its clean lines and sophisticated appearance. The Waterdrop X16’s tankless design allows it to provide purified water on demand, making it space-efficient and time-saving. Traditional water purifiers often rely on bulky tanks that take up significant space and require time to refill. The X16 eliminates the need for such tanks, enhancing your kitchen’s look and making the system easier to use.
The X16’s intelligent design extends to its digital faucet, letting you control the water volume precisely. The faucet’s color-coded display provides real-time monitoring of water quality and filter life. Blue indicates a healthy filter; yellow means the filter is nearing replacement, and red alerts you to an immediate filter change. This system ensures the purifier always works at its best, preventing potential water quality issues. The automatic water cut-off feature adds safety and convenience, making maintenance straightforward and hassle-free. The minimalist and futuristic look of the faucet complements any kitchen decor, making it a worthwhile addition to any home.
Enjoy refreshing mineral water at home
The X16 has a peak capacity of 1,600 gallons, providing instant hydration. Due to its tankless design, it can fill a 6-ounce cup in just 2 seconds, which is great for busy households. Whether you’re filling a glass, kettle, or cooking pot, this fast flow simplifies daily routines and makes them more convenient. A key feature of the Waterdrop X16 is its Healthy Mineral Boost technology. Using PCC mineralization, the system activates specific mineral crystals, mimicking the natural formation of spring water and adjusting the pH to a friendly 7.5±. This not only enhances the flavor of your drinking water but also makes it healthier, encouraging you to drink more. Increased water consumption is beneficial for overall health, promoting better hydration and well-being.
The advanced reverse osmosis (RO) filtration system in the Waterdrop X16 is developed for top-notch water purification. The system features an 11-stage precision process that effectively reduces total dissolved solids (TDS), PFOA, PFOS, chlorine, fluoride, arsenic, lead, and other contaminants. The reinforced 0.0001-micron RO membrane, crafted from 18 intricate layers, ensures thorough filtration. This meticulous multi-stage process tackles a wide range of contaminants that might be present in your tap water, ensuring that the water you drink is clean and safe. Additionally, the X16 is certified by NSF/ANSI for standards 58 and 372, ensuring high quality and safety in reducing TDS and using lead-free materials.
To further ensure water safety, the X16 integrates a UV sterilizer that eliminates bacteria and viruses, providing an extra layer of peace of mind. This feature is particularly beneficial for those with compromised immune systems or concerns about microbial contamination in their water supply. The combination of advanced filtration and UV sterilization ensures that the water you consume is of the highest quality, free from harmful microorganisms.
Sustainability is a major focus of the Waterdrop X16. The system has a groundbreaking 3:1 ratio of pure to wastewater, significantly reducing water waste compared to traditional systems. This efficiency saves up to 1,200% on water resources, making it an eco-friendly choice for environmentally conscious consumers. Additionally, the system includes an energy-saving mode that operates silently and saves 40% on power consumption. Packaged in compostable PLA and PBAT materials and certified carbon neutral, the X16 is developed with environmental sustainability in mind, making it a responsible choice for eco-conscious consumers. This dedication to eco-friendly practices ensures that you’re not only getting clean water but also contributing to a healthier planet.
The Waterdrop X16 combines advanced technology with thoughtful design to offer convenience, efficiency, and high performance. It provides purified water on demand, intelligent features, and sustainability considerations, making it an excellent choice for high-quality water purification. Investing in this system means investing in your health, convenience, and the environment. The complete kit, including the purifier and the smart faucet, is usually priced at $1,299 ($700 off with Coupon Code X16) ! This forward-thinking solution offers cutting-edge technology and thoughtful design, ensuring you always have access to clean, great-tasting water right in your kitchen.
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Even though I am a “certified” coffee addict (if certified means drinking it more than twice a day), I am not one of those that buys expensive equipment and whose kitchen looks better than most coffee shops. But for the true blue connoisseurs, there are brands that evoke a certain joy and Feima is one of those. However, not everyone can afford such a legendary machine since it’s really meant for establishments or rich coffee “professionals.”
Designer: Faema
Good news though for fans of the Faema E61 espresso machine as they are releasing a consumer-level and single-phase version that can adorn your coffee nook at home. The Faema E61 Cult is a version of the legendary machine but still can be described with the words “heritage, historic, and trendsetter”. While it’s meant for homes, it still is a professional machine so it needs to be installed by a specialized technician since it has to be connected to your water supply.
Having the Faema E61 Cult on your kitchen counter makes it look like you’re a serious coffee brewer since it carries the same expensive and premium vibe of the original. It has the chrome aesthetic down pat with wooden elements added to its levers and knobs. There is also a warming rack on top that has a transparent brown finish for its cup guard. The iconic panel is still there which has made the Faema brand “unmistakable since 1961”.
If you know your way around complicated but premium espresso machines, then this is probably something aspirational but useful for you. Now if you’re like me that just uses coffee makers or capsule machines, then this will be purely an aesthetic showpiece, albeit an expensive one.
Plenty of new automotive technologies and concepts are naturally being made for the benefit of drivers and passengers, but they are supposed to also indirectly help pedestrians as well, at least in theory. With AI at the driver’s wheel, the promise of safer roads is being made, though we seem to still be far from achieving that ideal future. In the meantime, pedestrians crossing urban roads and highways are still at risk, especially the elderly, people with disabilities, and basically anyone who might not be able to cross fast enough before the light turns green again. Current solutions like footbridges are obviously not designed for these people as well, so this concept mobility device tries to take the fight to cars’ own turf by giving pedestrians their very own self-driving vehicle.
Designer: Jiseon Ju, Gawon Min
Roads are, of course, made for vehicles, and sidewalks and footbridges are for pedestrians. That said, there will always be places where these paths meet, appropriately called crosswalks, and people outside of vehicles are always at a disadvantage and at risk. Traffic lights seem to never give pedestrians enough time to cross safely, or make the presumption that everyone can walk at top speed, presuming they can walk at all. These systems are obviously not very accessible and alienate a large portion of the population, and it’s in dire need of a better and smarter solution.
Crosswalk Mobility is a concept for a cubicle on wheels that ferry people from one side of the street to another. It’s basically designed for people with mobility impairments, from the elderly to the injured. Given its enclosed design, it can also be used by parents with toddlers who are prone to suddenly running off while crossing streets. Of course, you can’t have a permanent driver for such a pod, so it naturally uses self-driving technologies to move.
What makes the concept even more interesting is that it works in conjunction with what should be a smart traffic system. In a nutshell, it communicates with traffic lights so that it can extend the red light duration until it safely reaches the other side. Ideally, traffic lights should allocate enough time for people to safely cross, but this system leaves nothing to chance.
The mobility device itself is designed to be powered using solar energy, ensuring its continued operations 24/7. Instead of regular wheels, it proposes using ball-type wheels that can turn more smoothly as needed. The boxy shape has spacious room even for people in wheelchairs and their companions, and the floor-to-ceiling glass panels increase visibility not only for drivers but also for the people inside. It’s definitely an interesting idea that will significantly increase pedestrian safety, but it unfortunately won’t work unless the traffic system on those roads is also upgraded to work with these self-driving boxes.
Apple and the unionized employees at its Towson, Maryland retail store have reached a tentative agreement that could secure them better pay, job protections, scheduling improvements to support a work-life balance and a more transparent disciplinary process. The Towson location in 2022 became the first Apple Store in the country to unionize, and back in May, it voted to authorize a strike against the company after “unsatisfactory” negotiation outcomes.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) said it’s been negotiating with Apple since January 2023. Under the tentative three-year agreement they’ve now reached, workers would be given average raises of 10 percent over the life of the contract, and starting pay rates for most positions would go up. The agreement would also establish a severance clause. The union represents about 85 employees, who will get to vote on the agreement on August 6.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-has-reached-a-union-contract-with-us-retail-employees-for-the-first-time-212422613.html?src=rss
Apple and the unionized employees at its Towson, Maryland retail store have reached a tentative agreement that could secure them better pay, job protections, scheduling improvements to support a work-life balance and a more transparent disciplinary process. The Towson location in 2022 became the first Apple Store in the country to unionize, and back in May, it voted to authorize a strike against the company after “unsatisfactory” negotiation outcomes.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) said it’s been negotiating with Apple since January 2023. Under the tentative three-year agreement they’ve now reached, workers would be given average raises of 10 percent over the life of the contract, and starting pay rates for most positions would go up. The agreement would also establish a severance clause. The union represents about 85 employees, who will get to vote on the agreement on August 6.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-has-reached-a-union-contract-with-us-retail-employees-for-the-first-time-212422613.html?src=rss
As we start to feel all sorts of effects from climate change, we’ve become more conscious about our relationship with nature in all aspects of our lives. Well, that is, if you actually care about this planet’s future of course. Sustainable ecotourism has become a buzzword as we’re seeing all sorts of structures being built that want to have a harmonious relationship with its surroundings.
Designer: Kengo Kuma for Red Sea Global
However, we have to admit that a lot of these sustainable projects fall under the category of luxury tourism since it takes a considerable amount of money to design and construct things like these. The Ummahat AlShaykh Island project in the middle of the Red Sea is one such undertaking. The 22 islands are located in the west coast of Saudi Arabia and has several luxury tourist villas and othe structures that are designed to be eco-friendly and sustainable.
The “Land Villas” have curved roofs that are inspired by the contours of the dunes in the area and have a helical structure with a great view of the surrounding waters. To make sure that it minimizes disturbance in the environment, prefabrication is the key. They also used spruce timber and clay plaster with the roofs using natural cedar wood shingles to make it resilient against salt water and other extreme weather conditions.
The islands also have specialty restaurants located one over water and another on land, a spa, housekeeping villas, a guest jetty, and a community building for those that prefer to socialize rather than just stay in the privacy of their villas. I don’t even want to think about how much an overnight stay would cost but this is a great idea for those who can afford it and would want to have a more eco-friendly kind of vacation.
The Department of Justice on Friday night asked a federal court to reject TikTok’s bid to have the law that could ban it overturned, citing national security concerns that include its alleged use of internal search tools to collect information on users’ views around sensitive topics. It comes in response to a petition filed in May by TikTok in an attempt to challenge the law that now requires its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or it will be banned in the US. President Biden signed the bill into law in April.
In one of the documents filed with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the DOJ says a search tool within Lark, the web-suite system the company’s employees use to communicate, “allowed ByteDance and TikTok employees in the United States and China to collect bulk user information based on the user’s content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in the filings that TikTok could be used to subject US users to content manipulation, and that their sensitive information could end up stored on servers in China.
TikTok has repeatedly denied the accusations about it being a threat to national security and has called the efforts to ban it “unconstitutional.” In its latest statement responding to the DOJ filing, posted on X, TikTok said, “Nothing in this brief changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doj-says-tiktok-collected-users-views-on-issues-like-abortion-gun-control-and-religion-201617503.html?src=rss
The Department of Justice on Friday night asked a federal court to reject TikTok’s bid to have the law that could ban it overturned, citing national security concerns that include its alleged use of internal search tools to collect information on users’ views around sensitive topics. It comes in response to a petition filed in May by TikTok in an attempt to challenge the law that now requires its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or it will be banned in the US. President Biden signed the bill into law in April.
In one of the documents filed with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the DOJ says a search tool within Lark, the web-suite system the company’s employees use to communicate, “allowed ByteDance and TikTok employees in the United States and China to collect bulk user information based on the user’s content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in the filings that TikTok could be used to subject US users to content manipulation, and that their sensitive information could end up stored on servers in China.
TikTok has repeatedly denied the accusations about it being a threat to national security and has called the efforts to ban it “unconstitutional.” In its latest statement responding to the DOJ filing, posted on X, TikTok said, “Nothing in this brief changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doj-says-tiktok-collected-users-views-on-issues-like-abortion-gun-control-and-religion-201617503.html?src=rss
Smartwatches are now a staple of the tech market14, but the departure of several high-profile brands and the arrival of smart rings are making some reevaluate the wearable device. Just like with paper notebooks, there is a strong and large culture around analog, mechanical watches that find smartwatches unappealing, except for some features that aren’t totally unique to smartwatches, namely, health sensors. Hybrid smartwatches exist for this reason, trying to have the best of both analog and digital worlds, but they are not exactly that common nor are their designs well-established. There’s still plenty of room for exploration and experimentation, like this rather peculiar concept that cuts out a whole in the middle of a circular screen to make room for an elegant analog watch.
Inspired by the rather divisive notch or cutout on smartphone screens, the Lunar Eclipse hybrid smartwatch concept puts a mechanical watch in the middle of that hole instead of a camera. It might have been easier to have the display as an inset or restricted to a certain part of the watch face, but that presents some challenges as well, particularly when occluding the beauty of the analog timepiece itself. As weird as it may sound, this notch-based design actually has more benefits compared to a smartphone camera cutout.
Because it is technically still a complete screen, with just the middle part rendered practically unusable and invisible, it is theoretically easier to design the user interface of the “digital bezel” around the watch face. You can have icons and text that curve around the border, and you can even have them animated to add more natural-looking visual feedback, like how notification icons can appear like they’re flowing from the center of the watch rather than just appearing out of nowhere.
This gives Lunar Eclipse nearly the same benefits as having a smartwatch but with fewer opportunities for distractions. The bezel around the watch face is still just a small space that can only fit a few words and icons. You definitely won’t be using the watch to read those notifications or, worse, type out a response. You’ll be able to still see some of your health stats, presuming the watch has the sensors to track your steps, heart rate, and other biometrics.
One disadvantage that design has is that its battery life might not be that different from a regular smartwatch. The concept could use an E Ink screen, however, to help reduce that consumption, especially since the display won’t be changing as frequently as on a normal smartwatch. Another consideration is that with the electronics and battery inside, the room for the actual mechanical components would be very cramped, detracting from the inherent beauty of these timepieces that wristwatch fans are after in the first place.