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The 2022 Beijing Winter Games will likely be remembered for being yet another "COVID Olympics."To get more news about 2022 winter olympics, you can visit shine news official website.
Similar to the Summer Games only six months ago, athletes, staff and journalists were required to stay in a closed "bubble," cut off from the local population over fears of spreading the disease. Athletes performed before an audience on television with few fans in attendance.Still, there was much more to the Winter Games than the cloud of the ongoing pandemic.
NPR's team in Beijing put together moments and storylines that stuck out — including those that showed immense inner strength, athleticism and grace.It wasn't a gold-medal winning moment by U.S. Alpine star Mikaela Shiffrin that put her on the top of the list. Rather, it's the way the Olympian failed — and responded to her unusual struggles on the slopes.
Shiffrin is a bona fide star — despite what internet trolls have been saying about the 26-year-old. She has won more World Cup slalom races than anyone in history, woman or man. She came into these Games already having won three Olympic medals, including two gold.
Asked about the pressure of coming into the Games as one of those few athletes expected to win medals, Shiffrin said she felt pressure but no more than she had experienced before."That's the whole shebang in sport: You can have preparation, confidence ... and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't," she said. "And I literally have no idea why we keep coming back and doing it."
In the mountains northwest of Beijing, she didn't finish three of her five individual races after either falling or skiing out of the course after a matter of seconds.She managed to face those difficulties thoughtfully, honestly and with a sense of humor.
"I don't know if anybody's failed that hard with so many opportunities — maybe in the history of the Olympics. But I will take it," she said joking.One of the Games' lasting images may be her after her second race: Sitting by the safety netting off to the side, with her head down.
She leaves China with no hardware, but Shiffrin can take solace in her handling of failure. And how, if people were paying attention, she taught them something about failing with grace and honesty.These Games were billed as U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen's chance for redemption after a disastrous performance during the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
In the face of immense pressure heading into Beijing, Chen managed to deliver. His stunning short program performance netted him a season-high, world record score of 113.97. It set the bar high for his final run on the ice later that week.
He was the last skater of the day among a slew of talented skaters — each better than the last. It seemed each man executed routines that were energetic and just pure fun. Some performances even had even the audience clapping their hands to the beat of the music.
Top Challenges and Solutions for Furniture Manufacturers
Furniture manufacturers in California and abroad need to be aware of emerging trends that are shaping a new furniture industry landscape in order to take advantage of these changes. Fundamental shifts in U.S. consumers’ buying preferences due to changing lifestyles can pose new challenges for furniture manufacturers, but can also open doors to new opportunities for those willing to adapt. By understanding these changing industry trends, furniture manufacturers can capitalize on behavioral changes to pose their business for success. To get more news about wholesale furniture, you can visit beour.com official website.
The global furniture manufacturing industry has revenue of nearly $400 billion annually as per the World Furniture Confederation. In particular, US furniture manufacturing involves over 20,000 firms, with annual profits reaching around $60 billion. Top furniture manufacturing companies in America include La-Z-Boy, Sealy and Herman Miller, Heritage Home, Steelcase, and HNI.
The furniture manufacturing industry involves a wide array of furniture for personal, household, and public use in hospitals, theaters, cafeterias, schools, and other facilities. Furniture is typically made on a stock or custom basis and may be sold assembled or unassembled.Currently, over 44 million people, or 35.9% of U.S. households, rent their homes. Rising home prices, apprehension in the wake of the housing bubble bursting, rising student debts, and the delay of millennials in getting married and starting their own families, are some of the reasons owning a home is not a priority for some Americans. Additionally, the US rent-to-own industry - worth about $8.5 billion annually - is increasingly growing among consumers.
The bulk of the furniture market is composed of millennials, generation X, baby boomers, and seniors. With lower disposable income and higher levels of debt, millennials tend to delay the decision to start a household — which poses a potential problem for targeting that demographic because furniture and bedding account for just 4.5% of millennials’ total spending, compared to 7.3% for Gen X and 10% for baby boomers.
The Gen X group, which tends to be more affluent and represents 30% of the market, has different tastes or needs when it comes to furniture and buying preferences. The baby boomers and seniors are the settled consumers who represented 29% and 4% of the market, respectively.
Heightened unemployment and decreasing consumer spending as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have curbed discretionary purchases, such as new furniture, and have negatively affected demand. In addition, income constraints are expected to amplify price-based competition between domestic operators and foreign import substitutes, contributing to industry consolidation. The revenue decline in 2020 resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and its ensuing economic fallout certainly contributed to heightened revenue volatility.
The good news is that the expected revenue is on the rebound in 2021 due to increased consumer spending with returned employment and boosted demand for industry operators. Furniture and home furnishings consumption growth through the first five months of 2021 increased 31% from the same period the previous year and was well above pre-pandemic growth rates of 5%.Online retailing will continue to be a preferred buying channel for millennials - nearly half (47%) buy furniture online compared to 40% of Gen X and 37% of baby boomers. By utilizing the internet and social media, millennials tend to be skilled comparison shoppers and will spend a couple of weeks researching products before making a purchase. This means furniture manufacturers will need to tailor their products to these online platforms and include details - and options - for their younger prospective customers. Regardless, incorporating more specifics and choices online benefits all demographics.
How to Secure Your Smart Home: A Step-by-Step Guide
How many rooms in your home contain a smart device? From Peloton bikes to showerheads with Bluetooth speakers, smart home technology is rapidly making its way into every room in every household. In fact, the number of smart households (those that contain smart home technology) in the U.S. is expected to grow to 77.05 million by 2025. But with new technology comes new challenges. To get more news about safe lock, you can visit securamsys.com official website.
Many product designers rush to get their smart devices to market, treating security as an afterthought and consequentially creating an easy access point for criminals to exploit. Once a hacker taps in to a user’s home network, they could potentially gain access to all the devices connected to the network. And many consumers, amazed by the appliances’ efficiency, are unaware of the risks of interconnectivity. So, how can families prevent criminals from taking peeks into their home?
Let’s take a tour through an average smart home and uncover the security implications of the various devices in each room.
Believe it or not, the security risks of a smart home often apply before you even step foot inside the house. Approximately 21 million U.S. homes have professionally monitored security systems. However, these systems are not immune to hacks. One popular security camera system experienced a series of intrusions where hackers were able to communicate with residents, making inappropriate comments, taunting children, and even demanding a ransom payment for the hacker to leave the system. Some users of another security camera system experienced similar intrusions, with hackers playing vulgar music and cranking the homeowners’ heat up to 90 degrees.
Security cameras are just the beginning. Users control mowers, smart sprinklers, and other outdoor devices remotely with smartphone apps. Although they are meant to make consumers’ lives more convenient, outdoor devices with embedded computers could be at the greatest risk of attack, according to professor of computer science and cybersecurity expert, Dr. Zahid Anwar.
Outdoor devices like garage door openers, wireless doorbells, and smart sprinklers are more vulnerable because they may be easily accessible to someone driving down the street with a computer or other Wi-Fi transmitter. Outdoor smart devices can be used as entry points, allowing hackers to access the entire smart home network. To prevent a stranger from spying on your network, it’s important to check how these products store your data. If the device’s system stores your personal information and is connected to the main home network, there is a possibility that a breach of one device on the network could reveal your data to a hacker.
Once you step foot into a smart home, you’ll likely find a variety of devices adopted by residents for added convenience, including smart TVs, Wi-Fi routers, smart speakers, thermostats, lightbulbs, and personal home assistants — the list goes on! But the fact that these devices are connected to the internet opens the door for cybercriminals to make themselves at home. For example, the FBI issued warnings about the risks of smart TVs, noting that hackers could potentially gain access to an unsecured television and take control by changing channels, adjusting volume levels, and even showing inappropriate content to children.
Additionally, a recent study outlined multiple privacy concerns with a popular virtual assistant, ranging from misleading privacy policies to allowing third parties to change the code of their programs after receiving approval from the device’s parent company. Anupam Das, assistant professor of computer science at North Carolina State University, stated that third party software developers created many of the applications consumers interact with while using the virtual assistant. However, Das and their fellow researchers identified several flaws in the current vetting process that could allow those third parties to gain access to users’ personal information. The virtual assistant’s parent company does not verify the developer responsible for publishing the third-party program, so a cybercriminal could easily register under the name of a trusted developer and create a program that spreads malicious code. For these reasons, it is critical that consumers stay informed on potentially vulnerable entry points left open by device manufacturers so they can take action to better protect their smart home technology and their personal privacy.
Become Exclusive Smart Lock Providers for Savant’s premium Smart Home Systems
ASSA ABLOY brands Yale Home and August Home, Inc. today announced their popular smart lock lines are now the exclusive door lock provider, available to all Savant Integrators, for Savant’s premium smart home automation system. The integration allows homeowners to add Yale's line of Connected by August Assure Locks and Levers and/or August’s Smart Lock Pro and August Smart Lock to their bespoke smart homes, and control them alongside other smart devices within the Savant Pro App. To get more news about smart home accessories, you can visit securamsys.com official website.
“Yale and August’s locks have brought trusted security, peace-of-mind and convenience to millions of people worldwide, from apartments and condos to homes of all sizes,” said Jason Williams, President of ASSA ABLOY’s U.S. Smart Residential. “Now, we’re thrilled to become the first and only smart lock provider for Savant’s premium smart home platform, and bring proven smart access capabilities to some of the most luxurious properties in the world.”
“Savant is pleased to have Yale and August join our Recommended Partner program, enabling integrators to purchase these preferred solutions directly from Savant and feel the utmost confidence in profiles that have been tested by both Savant and Yale/August engineers,” explained George Katsiris, VP Product Evangelist. “Savant homeowners want seamless and intuitive access to their homes all from within the Savant Pro App, and by working together with Yale and August, our integration partners can now deliver this unified experience.”
Savant currently manages smart home devices across home audio, theater, lighting, climate, energy automation, and shades categories, with the Yale and August partnership enhancing their entry services category with direct dock lock integration. The system can be controlled through the Savant Pro App, Savant Pro Remote, in-wall touch panels, keypads, or by voice with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri with HomeKit compatibility.
14 Travel-approved Jewelry Cases for Your Next Trip
We all love traveling, but we'd be hard-pressed to find someone who truly enjoys packing and unpacking. And one of the most tedious things to do when you're getting ready for dinner after a long flight is to have to untangle the necklace you want to wear from a giant, gold-and-silver ball. But a chic accessory case will keep all of your gems securely organized and stored in your luggage.To get more news about jewelry designer near me, you can visit jewelryhunt.net official website.
Jewelry cases are similar to cosmetic pouches except they often feature separate bars for rings and earrings. Most are lined with a fabric like suede or velour, which saves the accessories from scratches and keeps them clean and shiny.If you're more of a weekend traveler, opt for a small roll that will be enough for carrying a few of your sparkling valuables. For those heading abroad for longer, we'd recommend looking into a travel-friendly padded jewelry box. We found one that also conveniently has a mirror inside and plenty of storage space.
And gentlemen, we haven't forgotten about you. Scroll all the way to the end for cases and rolls to fit your watches and a few pairs of cufflinks.This adorable jewelry case is less than 4 inches long, but shoppers say it holds way more than you would think. The zip-around travel accessory has designated storage spots for necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings and still has some extra space for you to store smaller trinkets. It even has a built-in mirror for added convenience.
This faux-leather box includes six necklace hooks, a storage bag, earring hooks, ring storage hook, and a section of compartments that is fully adjustable to fit your precious baubles. Shoppers love how lightweight and compact it is and that it comes in four stylish colors.
Perfect for a quick weekend getaway, this small jewelry case can fit in your purse or backpack. It rolls up and closes with a snap button and has three equal-sized compartments.
Bagsmart's electronics organizer is super popular on Amazon, and the brand's jewelry case is just as smart. There's also a smaller version if you aren't often bringing as much jewelry with you when you travel.
This chic square case will keep all of your earrings, bracelets, and necklaces safe and organized while traveling. We love that you can monogram it with your initials.
This colorful jewelry case has a flat panel for earrings, padded ring strap, and inner slip pockets to hold necklaces and other smaller pieces of jewelry. The geometric design adds flair to an otherwise minimalist jewelry case, and you can personalize the travel bag with your monogram for an additional fee.
This vegan leather travel case from celeb-approved jewelry brand Missoma comes in six stylish colors and can be monogrammed for free. There are spots for bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, and it's lined with a soft cotton material that will keep your jewelry in good condition.
When I started making jewelry, creating a business was not my initial goal,” shared Stranak, who teaches kindergarten in Kansas City, Kansas. “For me, I wanted these earrings that I couldn’t afford, so I made them!”To get more news about jewelry designer brands, you can visit jewelryhunt.net official website.
As Stranak continued designing and creating earrings for herself, more and more people showed an interest in her products, she recalled. After six months of learning how to make earrings out of clay and brass, Stranak founded her jewelry brand Who Is She? in March 2020.
The phrase “Who Is She?” is inspired by Stranak’s best friend, she shared.
“I do his drag makeup for shows all the time — once makeup is done and we get ready, the earrings are the final touch,” she said. “With a snap, I always say, ‘Oh my gosh, who is she?’ So when people put on my earrings, I want them to feel that same way.”
Each Who Is She? piece is carefully crafted by hand, Stranak said, adding that she can pull ideas from just about anywhere.“My personal style is all over the place,” Stranak said. “I love metaphysical-themed pieces — also anything inspired by nature or space.”
Stranak’s jewelry can be found on the Who Is She? Instagram page, as well as during pop-up events and in local businesses throughout the Kansas City area. Individuals can also DM Stranak for inquiries on custom pieces, she noted.
“I really enjoy popping up and working with small business owners. I live right off Independence Square, so that is a place where I’ve been in multiple shops. I love all those business owners,” she shared, noting her partnership with Eclairs De La Lune on the Square.Who Is She? has pop-up events lined up for the rest of October including: Ghouls (Girls) Night Out Oct. 21; Hocus Pocus Night Oct. 24 at The Mac Shack; and Wellness Warehouse Oct. 30.
With Stranak’s jewelry business centered around sustainability, Who Is She? only crafts a limited supply of each design. Any extra clay is turned into clay bracelets, Stranak noted.
“I don’t waste anything,” she said. “I’m really passionate about my bracelets because I take this big collection of extra clay and make it into something fun. I believe I am the only claymaker in the community who makes bracelets.”When Stranak isn’t making jewelry, she’s sharing her creativity with her students at Hazel Grove Elementary. Stranak’s path to teaching was also unconventional, she shared.
“When I started [my undergrad], I was leaning toward being a chiropractor or doing something creative,” she recalled. “… I was doing an apprenticeship with a hair salon, and my really good friend at the time came into work and told me she was going to go to school to become a teacher. So I said, ‘OK. Me too.’ So, I stopped what I was doing in undergrad and got my Master’s and Bachelor’s in teaching. I’m lucky that as soon as I was in the classroom, I loved it.”
Growing up, Stranak attended an integrated arts school in Los Angeles before moving to Kansas City for high school. With a diverse background in education, Stranak uses her skills to create a one-of-a-kind learning experience for her kindergarten students, she said.
“I’m really big into multiple intelligence theory, having fun and building connections with the kids,” Stranak shared. “I think I am good at what I do because I have a different perspective.”
Calls for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on human rights grounds are “doomed to failure,” a Chinese government spokesperson said Wednesday, as lawmakers and political advisers began converging on China's capital for the biggest annual gathering of the political calendar.To get more news about beijing 2022 winter games, you can visit shine news official website.
The spokesperson, Guo Weimin, also denounced speculation that Beijing was seeking diplomatic gains by providing COVID-19 vaccines and other global assistance to help fight the pandemic, saying China was only seeking to meet its international obligations in providing a public service.
Guo is spokesperson for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the official advisory body to China’s ceremonial parliament, the National People’s Congress.
Both bodies open their annual meetings this week amid tight security and social distancing measures to guard against increasingly narrow odds of passing on the coronavirus. Local transmission of COVID-19 has been practically wiped out in China, where the first cases were detected in the central city of Wuhan late in 2019.Beijing is the only city ever to have been given the right to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, further burnishing the ruling Communist Party's credentials for driving economic growth and organizational expertise.
However, a small but vocal core of international lawyers, politicians and activists have brought pressure on Olympic sponsors, sports federations, governments and athletes to shun what they are branding as the “Genocide Games” because of reported human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetans and other minorities in China.
Those calls have largely been met with silence, although Canada’s House of Commons voted 266-0 in a nonbinding referendum that China is committing genocide against more than 1 million Uyghurs and called for the IOC to move the Olympics from Beijing. The Dutch parliament passed a similar motion, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he believes genocide is being committed against the Uyghurs.
“Some individual foreign politicians politicized sports with an attempt to disturb and sabotage the preparations and holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics and called for a boycott," Guo told reporters at a news conference.These acts are in violation of the Olympic spirit. We believe that the moves will not win support from the international community and are doomed to failure," he said.
The ruling Communist Party has relentlessly cracked down on political opponents and perceived social threats since the 2008 Beijing Summer Games that were supposed to improve human rights in China. Beijing won the 2022 Winter Olympics after several European bidders withdrew over costs and public opposition, leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the only other bidder.
Guo also dismissed speculation that China has deliberately sought to boost its global reputation by providing COVID-19 vaccines and other assistance, in part, say critics, to make up for its mishandling of the initial outbreak that is believed to have spread from Wuhan to the rest of the world.
China has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to 69 countries and two international organizations and sold vaccines to another 28, according to Guo. That could mean that a large part of the global population will end up inoculated not with Western vaccines but with China’s traditionally made shots that have been found to be less effective.
Health experts in China say their country is lagging in its coronavirus vaccination rollout because it has the disease largely under control, but plans to inoculate 40% of its population by June.
Beijing kicked off the Winter Games four days ago, promising it would be "streamlined, safe and splendid".To get more news about 2022 winter olympics, you can visit shine news official website.
Some have lauded China's efforts to ensure a relatively virus-free Games.But some participants say they are living and training in dismal conditions, prompting them to lobby organisers for improvements.
The Swedish delegation called for cross-country skiing events to be held earlier in the day to protect athletes from freezing temperatures - after Swedish athlete Frida Karlsson was seen shaking and close to collapse at the end of her women's 7.5km+7.5km skiathlon on Saturday.
Under the International Ski Federation rules, competitions are not allowed to take place when temperatures dive below -20C (-4F).Temperatures measured -13C when Karlsson competed on Saturday, but Swedish team boss Anders Bystroem told reporters that temperatures were closer to -31C with wind chill taken into consideration.
"We have the cold limits, but I do not know if they also measure the wind effect," Mr Bystroem told Reuters news agency on Sunday.A handful of Covid-19 cases - including athletes and team officials - have been reported at the Games, with frustration bubbling over the confusion surrounding Covid isolation rules.
China has gone to great lengths to keep the virus out - barring foreign spectators and prohibiting tickets from being sold to the general public. Media, athletes and observers are being kept in distinct "bubble areas", with the rules saying anyone entering these bubbles must be fully vaccinated or spend 21 days in quarantine.China's rules stipulate those who have symptoms will be taken to a designated hospital and those who are asymptomatic will stay in an isolation facility.
Those infected will be kept in isolation until they test negative twice 24 hours apart. After that, they will be released to re-join the bubble.Earlier last week, Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans posted a tearful account on Instagram, alleging that she had been bounced from one isolation facility to another.
"We are not even sure I will ever be allowed to return to the [Olympic] village," she said in a video. "I'm not sure I can handle 14 more days and the Olympic competition while being in this isolation."The IOC later said in a statement that she would be given a room in the Olympic Village and that it stood "ready to support [her]".
Polish speedskater Natalia Maliszewska also claimed she was unexpectedly released from quarantine the night before a qualifying race, only to be sent back into isolation hours before competing, following a positive Covid test.
"I don't believe in anything any more. In no tests. No games. It's a big joke for me," she wrote on Twitter in Polish, according to one translation.Separately, Russian biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova expressed her frustration with the food provided in isolation, posting on Instagram of what she said was "breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days already".
Her profile is set to private, but the image of the meal - plain pasta, potatoes, charred meat on a bone, and no vegetables - was captured by some on social media.
A little bit more about the bowl kitchen sink, a fun option for people who want a unique kitchen! Traditional thought says that the bowl sink is best left for rooms like the bathroom or a powder room. This is largely because the sink is not known for being large or accommodating to kitchen activities.
It is only recently that homeowners have started using the bowl sink in kitchens. The bowl sink can help showcase your unusual and special sense of style to the people who visit your home.
To be fair, just about any sink can be called a bowl kitchen sink. This is because many people think of a sink's basin as the "kitchen sink bowl." To avoid further confusion it is important to understand that, for the purposes of this article, the bowl sink refers to the type of sink that is shaped like a "real bowl" and looks like it could be used for cooking or displaying things if it was not attached to your plumbing system. What is extra fun is that, if you can locate one, there are designers and kitchen builders who have figured out how to fashion actual bowls into bowl sinks!
Important Side Note: Sometimes the bowl kitchen sink is referred to as the "vessel" kitchen sink. This is an important term to remember if you think you might be working with an interior designer. In the world of interior design, a "bowl" sink is usually the "regular" sink that you are hoping to avoid!
Before you begin working with contractors and builders to install your sink you should be warned that, unlike traditional basin-based sinks, the bowl sink sits above your counter top. At the most, the bottom portion of the bowl is fitted into the countertop. Most of the kitchen sink bowl, however, sits on top of your counters. This means that you will have to modify your current kitchen counter to accommodate this sink. If you don't do this, your bowl kitchen sink might be too awkward to use!
One of the best things about choosing a bowl kitchen sink for your home is the wide variety of sink materials that there are to choose from! Many people opt for the traditional stainless steel that is used for other types of sinks. Stainless steel is resistant to dings and scratches and it is easy to keep clean. If the look of a metal sinks is not your style you might opt for a sink bowl that is made out of ceramic or heavy plastic. Some people strike a balance and choose a bowl sink that is made from metal but painted with an enamel-based paint to look like it is made of ceramic or china.
The idea of using a bowl kitchen sinks is relatively new and some designers and builders might need to be persuaded to explore this option for you. You might be told that bowl sinks are best left to the bathroom of your home. If you are looking for a beautiful and unique sink, stand your ground and start exploring your kitchen sink bowl options!
This facility is equipped to build dies from 6″ up to 85″ in length, all to tolerances of ±0.001″, and with our advanced knowledge of metallurgy, we can select the optimal die material. This includes various tool grade steels and pre hardened metals. This allows us to optimize costs by using die material that is matched to the run size and geometrical requirements.Another added advantage of operating such a complete tooling facility is the die features that we can create. Some of these include inserted cutting details, features that speed up and simplify in press removal, guiding details, and much more.Get more news about precision tooling,you can vist our website!
There are two factors that will guarantee quality tooling: good machinists and quality equipment. Our tool makers are some of the best in the business; they have more practical experience than any shop in the region. We also utilize some of the most advanced machining systems available in the industry–from highly accurate laser and water jet cutters to multi-axis CNC machining equipment, including auto threading wire EDM (electro discharge machining) systems.
Because we have been in this industry since 1981, we have a vast tool storage facility. If you’re looking for long term blanket orders, your dies will be well maintained and ready to go quickly into production. In some cases, we can even use older dies for new work due to geometrical sameness. Old or new, because we maintain every die, when it comes out of the tool room, it is at original spec.
When selecting a stamping provider that offers tool making, it is essential to project cost that they also offer all of the associated front end design and engineering services. At American Industrial, our design and engineering department is able to provide a number of critical value added services, from product development to complete design. We can accept engineering drawing in all of the most popular formats; if you don’t see yours listed here, we will find a way to work with it. A big part of our success as a manufacturer is providing superior customer service; this means we will go the extra mile to make sure we can accommodate your needs.