Wednesday 4/17/24
Celebrate:
Bat Appreciation Day
Blah, Blah, Blah Day
Ellis Isnals Family History Day
International Ford Mustang Day
International Haiku Poetry Day - 3 lines, Syllables 5-7-5 and the best part is it doesn't have to rhyme.
Malbec World Day
National Banana Day
National Bookmobile Day
National Cheeseball Day
National Crawfish Day
National Kickball Day
Nothing Like a Dame Day
School Librarians' Day
World Hemophilia Day
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The Instagram and TikTok wars continue as Chinese tech giant ByteDance prepares to launch new photo app.
Instagram, owned by Meta, created its reels feature in 2020 to compete with TikTok's rise in popularity, and now, TikTok appears to be preparing to launch a photo and text app to compete with Instagram.
The app, called TikTok Notes, will not be broadly available at this time. The testing phase of the app isn't currently being rolled out in the U.S.
Though TikTok users log more time on its app, Instagram is still seeing more downloads. TikTok still trails behind Instagram in accounts created, TikTok with 1.12 billion users and Instagram with 1.47 billion.
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A new survey says that "the most stressful time of the day" is . . . 8:15 in the morning. (Which is why I'm here to help you through it.)
That makes sense. 8:15 a.m. usually involves some combination of: Getting ready in the morning . . . helping OTHERS get ready . . . preparing and eating breakfast . . . commuting . . . helping OTHERS get to work or school . . . and generally operating before the caffeine kicks in.
On top of the usual running around, mornings are also more likely to bring unexpected challenges. The average person estimates that they lose 20 minutes and 28 seconds, on average, to morning chaos that's mostly out of their control.
So, here are FIVE THINGS that can help you make mornings go smoother . . . especially if you have kids.
1. Prepare the night before. Lay out clothes . . . pack school bags . . . prepare lunches . . . and set up a breakfast plan the night before. You may even consider showering in the evening.
2. Establish and Stick to a Routine. The more you're able to turn your mornings into a repeatable mental checklist, the easier it'll be to keep things moving, and avoid forgetting things.
3. Get Up Before the Kids. If possible, wake up at least 30 minutes before the kids . . . so that you have time to get yourself ready in peace.
4. Delegate Responsibilities. Assign age-appropriate tasks to your children. This teaches responsibility AND also lightens your load.
5. Limit Technology in the Morning. It's better to keep mornings free from the distractions of TV and tablets. Everyone should focus on getting ready instead of being sidetracked.
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Doorbell cameras are a thing now, but get ready for the next innovation in them.
Devices that are armed to shoot paintballs at someone coming onto your property.
There's apparently a Kickstarter on the way for a device called "PaintCam Eve," which has the capability to fire PAINTBALLS at a target "with ultra-high precision": An intruder . . . a kid who is toilet-papering your house . . . or a neighbor's pet.
It's a smart device with facial recognition . . . and the paintball-firing can be triggered by YOU as you're watching on the app . . . or it can be AUTOMATED. What can go wrong, right?
And get this: It doesn't JUST shoot paintball pellets, it can also be loaded with cartridges that can unleash TEAR GAS. (???) Yes, seriously.
PaintCam Eve is from a start-up out of Slovenia, and there's no word how much it'll cost, or what the upkeep fees would be to keep it loaded.
Of course, there's another cost: The LAWSUIT you're about to be hit with if PaintCam Eve shoots someone in the eye, or "accidentally" fires at an innocent visitor . . . child . . . or pet.
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H&R Block's software CRASHED yesterday, the last day to file your taxes unless you got an extension. According to the IRS, "tens of millions" of people always wait until the last few days to file.
H&R Block says the glitch only affected customers who use the downloaded version of their software. People who used their website or went to an H&R Block office were still able to file. But THOUSANDS of people had issues.
The site DownDetector.com saw a huge spike in complaints starting Sunday night and extending into yesterday afternoon. That lines up with what H&R Block said happened. They say a "bad gateway error" popped up around 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday and continued into yesterday afternoon.
They advised people to print their return instead, and go straight to the post office to mail it. That just frustrated people more . . . especially young people who've never mailed anything in their life. It also takes longer to get a refund when you don't file electronically.
H&R Block finally announced the issue was resolved around 3:45 p.m. Eastern, and the deadline for most Americans wasn't until 11:59 p.m. But anyone who didn't have time to finish might face extra penalties and late fees from the IRS.
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The majority of Americans are Underslept.
Feel like you could have used an extra hour or two of sleep last night? Welcome to the club.
According to a new Gallup poll, MOST of us aren't getting as much sleep as we'd like. It's the first time that's been the case since they started asking in 2001.
57% of Americans say they'd feel better if they got more shut-eye, and just 42% say they get as much sleep as they need. Women are even more underslept. Only 36% say they're getting enough sleep, compared to 48% of men.
It's all a pretty drastic change from when they asked in 2013. A decade ago, 56% of Americans said they were getting enough sleep, and 43% weren't.
But go further back, and the difference is pretty stark. A poll in 1942 found 59% of Americans were getting at least eight hours of sleep a night, and only 3% were getting five hours or less.
Today, just 26% of us are getting eight hours, and the five-hour number has jumped to 20%.
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There's a guy in Canada named Justin Rybicki, and he's being harassed by ENDLESS pizza deliveries.
It's been happening for the last six months, and he can't get it to stop. At first, they were coming from a place called Pizza 73. The orders are using not only his address, but also his email and his phone number.
They are NOT being charged to his card, but the delivery drivers DO get upset when he says he didn't make the order and sends the pizzas back.
He reported the pizza deliveries to the police from the start, because he was spooked by how the scammer was using his personal information in the orders. He thought maybe he'd been somehow hacked.
The police told him to change his number, so he did. That didn't stop the deliveries. And they don't just go to his home, they also show up at his work.
He called Pizza 73 and told them not to accept ANY orders under his name . . . but then the scammer switched to Domino's.
It sounds like there have been around a dozen orders over the past six months, involving more than a $1,000 worth of pizza. Justin says he hopes it isn't going to waste, and that they're giving it to people in need.
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If you're a cat person, you probably think you know them pretty well . . . and also not at all, because they're an enigma. But here's something you'd think you would know: .How many TOES does the average cat have?
Only 17% of cat owners got it right in a recent poll. The answer is 18 . . . 10 in front, and eight in back. But that said, it's not uncommon for cats to have a few extra digits. The record is 28.
92% of cat owners THINK they know a lot about cats. But here are a few more cat facts you might not be aware of . . .
1. 46% of cat owners don't know cats are lactose intolerant. So cow's milk isn't actually good for them.
2. Only 53% know cats tend to drink more water if it's running water. So, fountains are better than a dish.
3. Only 44% know cats sometimes purr when they're happy OR stressed out.
4. Seven in 10 cat owners feel like they can usually tell what their cat is thinking.
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Today’s Useless Fact of the Day - Sriracha has a rooster on the bottle because the guy who created it was born in 1945, which was the Year of the Rooster.
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