A member of US Vice President Mike Pence's staff has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, briefly delaying his Friday flight to Iowa and prompting some fellow passengers on Air Force Two to disembark, according to a White House official.

Russia has registered more than 10 000 new coronavirus cases for the sixth day in a row, after emerging as a new hotspot of the pandemic.

The US vice president's spokesperson became the second White House staffer this week to test positive for the coronavirus.

Looking for ways to snack smarter? Follow these tips and easy, delicious, snack-satisfying recipes to help you (and your kids) through those mid-day cravings.

Continue reading "12 Recipes and Tips for Healthier Snacking" »

Let the kids do the cooking! Kids of all ages can choose something to make for breakfast, dinner or dessert. Serve Mom this Mother’s Day while she puts her feet up!

Continue reading "16 Recipes Kids Can Make for Mother’s Day" »

Got potatoes? Going to cook them? Here’s what you need to know for prepping them.

Continue reading "How to Clean and Prep Potatoes for Cooking" »

Looks like mass lawsuits aren't just for Germans anymore: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is estimating that some 75,000 people have been sued for allegedly sharing pornographic movies in the US. This revelation comes as part of a new amicus brief (PDF) the civil liberties group just filed on behalf of 500 file sharers, asking an Illinois judge to squash a lawsuit against people accues of sharing videos from First Time Videos LLC, better known under the porn brand FTVGirls. A footnote of the amicus brief states:

"As of January 14, 2011, by an informal count, well (over) 75,000 people have been sued in similar (in some cases nearly identical) complaints arising from the alleged infringement of pornographic movies. This includes 4507 individuals sued in the Northern District of Illinois alone, in nine separate lawsuits. In addition, mass copyright complaints based on non-pornographic movies have also been brought against over 13,500 people in the District of Columbia."

I just wrote a story about lawsuits like these on NewTeeVee, explaining how German rights holders have filed more than half a million of such lawsuits in 2010. It looks like U.S. rights holders are well on their way to repeat these numbers, unless courts step in - which is of course exactly what the EFF wants. The group blogged on Monday:

"Friday's brief is the latest of EFF's efforts to stop copyright trolls -- content owners and lawyers who team up to extract settlements from thousands of defendants at a time. Tactics include improperly lumping defendants together in one case and filing it in a court far away from most of the accused people's homes and Internet connections. When adult film companies file these predatory lawsuits, there is the added pressure of embarrassment associated with pornography. All of these factors can convince those ensnared in the suits to quickly pay what's demanded of them instead of arguing the merits of their case in court."

It's worth noting that not everyone in the porn biz ready to sue the file sharing masses. Pink Visual's Allison Vivas told me recently that she has no intention to sue individuals, and Private CEO Berth Milton even said that piracy is promotion. Watch the entire interview with him embedded below:

Over at TechCrunch I’ve penned an op/ed piece on why I’m in love with the Kindle. Or more specifically, why the dedicated e-Reader still has a role to play in the context of Apple’s iPad and competing multifunctional tablet computers, such as the plethora of Android-powered devices that are about to hit the market. I’m [...]

Nokia World, London - Having jumped off of a burning platform and into Redmond’s arms – a story that I (partially) broke on TechCrunch back in February this year – Nokia this morning finally took the wraps off its much anticipated entry into the Windows Phone world with two new devices: The flagship Lumia 800 [...]

With many of us in isolation, we’re spending more time streaming our webcams.  We’re actually finding that we can be highly functional via web meetings in places like Zoom.  The only problem is: the webcam quality is terrible for streaming.  Thankfully, Canon announced this week that you can now turn nearly any Canon interchangeable lens […]

The post Best Webcam Set Up for Streaming or Zoom Meetings appeared first on Brendan van Son Photography.

velocityconf: @tsantero @garethr No, there's just a lot that goes into producing #velocityconf. Plus the chairs are getting ready for Santa Clara + NY! :)

velocityconf: Free webcast from our friends at @citrix 5/29 http://t.co/IOeY4U0wUP Learn to consolidate 40 load balancers and ADCs into single platform

velocityconf: LAST DAY for #velocityconf EU call for speakers http://t.co/qShofQCDPl Share your best #WPO, #Ops, and #DevOps stories.

velocityconf: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/Z0EetiQshZ

velocityconf: Who's up for a 5 minute lightning talk. Last day to get your #Ignite proposal in for #velocityconf CA. http://t.co/pzL0WJtQH5

velocityconf: Call for speakers and registration is open for @webperfdays in Silicon Valley http://t.co/cJKBmynkjI June 22, Google HQ (cc @sfwebperf)

velocityconf: What Is the Risk That Amazon Will Go Down (Again)? http://t.co/DgnfQynjcM Thank you @bergstrom_johan for the awesome #velocityconf post.

velocityconf: RT @OReillyAnimals Advice, please! Elephant Listening Project asks for ideas/solutions/help with 3 practical problems http://t.co/Y90YP3maoz

While at least 19 000 inmates inside South Africa's prisons will be eligible for special parole to curb the spread of Covid-19, those sentenced for a range of serious crimes will not make the cut.

A man found guilty of cable theft has been sentenced to a decade in prison.

You can listen to this version of the 'world's most joyous song' here.

Police have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of the murder of an 89-year-old woman in an old age home in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape.

An alleged robber, who was wounded while his two suspected accomplices were killed in a shootout with police, has been arrested.

I am requesting that you publish this letter as a response to the article so that my side of the story can be heard in order to provide a balanced view.

With the working class resorting to online vouchers for groceries and the poor eating less bread than before, is it not impractical for the president to expect ordinary citizens to tighten their belts when MPs, Ministers and government officials' well-fed bellies belie the trouble the economy is in?

So it is difficult to imagine who would want to stop the SARB if it would help reduce load shedding and contain further job losses.A similar argument arises in providing social houses to replace our dangerous rusty corrugated iron suburbs.

It is at times like these that we as a country rely on the relevant stakeholders to take care of our people and put into action the promises made in the preamble of our Constitution, particularly where it is stated that through our freely elected representatives, the quality of life of all citizens is to be improved.

We recently hosted an engaging live discussion with industry experts from G2Crowd, Instapage and Subscription Insider, covering trends and growth tips for online businesses. Check out what these leaders had to say about what they learned last year in the software industry, where people are missing opportunities and what’s coming next.

Nowadays many shoppers don’t even remember how they learned about an eCommerce brand in the first place. If you ask them, the most popular answer is “I found it somewhere on the Internet”. Commercial information is all over the place, so nobody cares about the “channel” they use to find it anymore.

As a digital company, your business is not bound by conventional borders and has the freedom and opportunity to reach customers anywhere in the world. And just as you look outward for new markets, customers are also looking beyond their physical borders for their goods and services. As a study by KPMG shows, online buyers […]

Today’s buyers are getting more demanding and selling online is getting more and more complex. Both B2B and B2C customers expect a seamless purchase experience and easy access to all the information, products and services they want, on any device and in any country.

Growth is top of mind for most companies, but it can be tricky to get started with developing a growth framework. For one thing, most companies aren’t organized around growth, so thinking about growth requires a lot of collaboration between teams. Additionally, companies often don’t have easy access to all of the data they need to understand growth.

What is a (digital) form? In a broader sense of the meaning, a form, is an interface that collects through interactions, the required information, in a logical, meaningful way, and then passes it to at least one third party entity. Sounds complicated, right?

Nowadays many shoppers don’t even remember how they learned about an eCommerce brand in the first place. If you ask them, the most popular answer is “I found it somewhere on the Internet”. Commercial information is all over the place, so nobody cares about the “channel” they use to find it anymore.

From smartphone-operated elevators to contactless coffee machines, businesses are trying to eliminate major touchpoints to help deter coronavirus spread in the workplace.

Rather than waiting for offices to reopen, REALTOR® associations are conducting timely, safe, and efficient ethics hearings through Zoom.

From the virtual 2020 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings, April 27-May 15

San Diego, California

A Year In Europe

Baja California

Rerun - Cruising - Barefoot or Formal

The Amateur Traveler talks to Richard Miller of the SparkleTack podcast (about San Francisco history) about San Francisco. Richard guides us in a driving/walking tour from west to east. We start at lands end and end up near fisherman's wharf while talking about the sites and history of many of the places in between. This is a great companion episode with the 2 part soundseeing walking tour of San Francisco.

The Amateur Traveler compares two very different cruise options, a Royal Caribbean cruise with formal nights and midnight buffets and the Windjammer Barefoot Cruise. Which cruising option is right for you?

The Amateur Traveler talks to Carole Terwilliger Meyers the author of Weekend Adventures in San Francisco and Northern California. Carole comes on the show to talk about California’s traditional wine country of Napa and Sonoma Valleys. This episode focuses primarily on the Napa Valley and the many wineries that can be found there. We explore recreated castles, wine tasting , tours as well as other none wine related sites like mud baths, petrified forests, and the CIA (The Culinary Institute). We talk about restaurants and hotels, picnics and the wine train. Whether you are a connoisseur, a foodie or just a tourist, the Napa Valley has much to offer.

The Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Schwartzman (author, educator and podcaster) about his hometown of Los Angeles. Over a two part series of episodes Eric will give us sample itineraries for 4 days in the Los Angeles area. Be forewarned that no theme parks will be involved in Eric's tour but instead an insider's look at LA. So pack up your swim suit, a sport coat and nice shoes and get in your car to explore LA. Along the way Eric points out the cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and movie locations that he thinks you should know about.

Day 1: Eric starts us at the beach at Santa Monica. We visit the Santa Monica Pier, the rides and the aquarium and then head to Venice with its pier, canals, and famous muscle beach.

Day 2: We follow Eric to Beverly Hills and Westwood. We look over the valley from the Getty Center above the valley. We visit Century City which is now the home for high rises but one was where John Wayne shot westerns. We go shopping on world famous Rodeo Drive.

The Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Schwartzman (author, educator and podcaster) about his hometown of Los Angeles. In this second part of a two part series of episodes Eric will give us the last two days of his sample itineraries for 4 days in the Los Angeles area. In this insider’s look at LA Eric points out the cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and movie locations that he thinks you should know about.

Day 3: Hollywood – Sunset Strip, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Roosevelt, L.A.’s best chili dog, Academy Awards theater, Sunset Grill, Hollywood Cemetary and more.

Day 4: Downtown – Chinatown for dim sum, Olvera St. for Mole, Union Station for breathtaking Mission Architecture, Santee Alley and Los Angeles St. for discount children’s formal wear, Disney Hall for magnificent modern architecture and Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church.

The Amateur Traveler talks to Bethany of the Nevada Tourism Bureau about Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is a high elevation alpine lake on the border of California and Nevada. It is surrounded by 18 ski areas so it is a popular winter destination. In the winter it is also a great place for back country hiking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. In the Summer, Tahoe is a popular area for hiking, fishing and outdoor activities. But, there is another side to Tahoe which is the casinos, restaurants, and entertainment of Nevada's South Tahoe.

The Amateur Traveler talks to Carrie from cruisebuzz.net about a popular vacation spot just off the coast of California, Catalina Island. 

Hear about travel to Fort Worth, Texas as the Amateur Traveler  talks again to Jason Hull about Fort Worth Texas the "City of Cowboys and Culture". Sometimes over shadowed by it's neighbor Dallas Jason shows us why Fort Worth is worth a visit.

Hear about travel to Lassen National Park in northern California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dick Jordan about this spectacular if less visited destination. Lassen is in northeastern California. It is just as easy to get to from San Francisco as Yosemite National Park but with fewer tourists and one more volcano. The park centers around the dormant volcano Mt. Lassen and features other geothermal active areas.

Hear about travel to Santa Barbara, California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Heather Simon from wellplannedtravel.net about the "American Riviera".