dockless bikes: on-demand, shared bicycles accessed via an app and then unlocked with a code, allowing rides for an hourly fee. The locked bicycle is left anywhere in a public place. *** TROVELOG *** The Metropolitan Area Planning Council on Friday announced a new regional bike-share system, separate from the Hubway rental network, that will bring thousands [...]
kinkeeping: the activities a person uses to foster and maintain connections with and among many family members: visiting, emails, phone calls, sending gifts and cards, planning reunions, and mediating family disputes. *** TROVELOG *** But researchers exploring family affiliations point out that a so-called “matrilineal advantage” does exist. That is, daughters generally have closer ties to their own [...]
liar libel: a defamation lawsuit by a plaintiff who claims the defendant's statement that the plaintiff lied about a material matter is an assertion of fact, not opinion. *** TROVELOG *** Before the #MeToo movement, libel lawsuits from people accused of lying were in decline. Indeed, a 2016 law review article chronicled what it called “the slow, quiet and [...]
information escrow: a confidential allegation (e.g., re sexual harassment/ assault) transmitted to a secure, online site where it is time-stamped and held for possible future reporting to appropriate authorities. *** TROVELOG *** Callisto [is] an online nonprofit startup that seeks to leverage the power of tech to fight sexual harassment and assault. Using Callisto, a victim can [...]
smart kitchen: a home kitchen equipped to access data from its internet-connected “smart” appliances and gadgets to cook food, download recipes, manage inventory, and order groceries. *** TROVELOG *** Household brands like Whirlpool, Samsung and Bosch are racing against tech behemoths like Google and Amazon to dominate the kitchen with internet-connected appliances and cooking gadgets that include [...]
going dark: the consequences of law enforcement’s inability to use traditional wiretaps and search warrants to access encrypted online communications in investigations of criminal and terrorism suspects. *** TROVELOG *** Federal law enforcement officials are renewing a push for a legal mandate that tech companies build tools into smartphones and other devices that would allow access to [...]
rage room (aka: “anger room”): a facility that charges customers fees to smash objects: household items, office machines, electronics, furniture, human effigies or any of the customer's personal items. *** TROVELOG *** Donna Alexander, proprietor of the Anger Room in Dallas, can barely keep her business stocked with printers for customers to crush. “Rage rooms,” as they’re [...]
lunch shaming: engaging in stigmatizing practices against children who have not paid for school meals whether that is by refusing to serve them hot meals, requiring them to do chores or wear some identifying stamp or wrist band. *** TROVELOG *** What is “lunch shaming?” It happens when a child can’t pay a school lunch bill. In Alabama, [...]
snowfall - Ranking of biggest cities by their record snowfalls. Philadelphia ranks first with 30.7 inches in1996. See graphic at: NYT 06Feb11 - Biggest Cities' Snowfall Records
Everywhere you turn these days, it seems that the indie rock world is exploring African sounds. Labels like Dead Oceans, Secretly Canadian and True Panther have also begun releasing new recordings by African musicians, those acts have begun playing American gigs, and African music regularly gets attention on the indie-minded Web sites of Pitchfork, Mojo [...]
