Gulf leaders will meet in Riyadh for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit on Sunday amid questions about whether Qatar will attend as a diplomatic crisis continues to grip the region.
The 39th GCC summit comes amid an ongoing blockade on Qatar imposed on June 2017, by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
The quartet have accused Doha of supporting “terrorism” and Doha has denied the charges and said the boycott aims to impinge on its sovereignty.
Experts say it remains unclear how the upcoming summit will affect the ongoing dispute, as the “largely-symbolic” body has for years abandoned its functional role of building closer ties between member states.
“Since the first [GCC] crisis popped up in 2014, the council demonstrated its inability to mediate nor to have a significant role in easing tensions between … member states,” Luciano Zaccara, a Gulf politics researcher at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera.
Qatar to withdraw from OPEC in January 2019
A GCC ‘tradition’
The GCC, a political and economic alliance of countries in the Arabian Peninsula, was established in 1981 to foster socioeconomic, security, and cultural cooperation.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE gather every year to discuss cooperation and regional affairs.
But the “tradition” has now become a tool for Saudi Arabia to maintain its role as a regional power, according to Mahjoob Zweiri, Director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University.
“Without the council, Saudi Arabia has no power in the region,” Zweiri told Al Jazeera.
“It puts Saudi Arabia in the leadership position both economically, and more so politically. That’s why they insist on maintaining the GCC council,” Zweiri said.
Given last December’s summit in Kuwait City was cut short, many questioned whether this year’s would take place altogether. At the time, the UAE announced it had formed an economic and military partnership with Saudi Arabia separate from the GCC.
But this year’s meeting also comes amid pressure from the West, Zweiri noted. The United States – a GCC ally – and Europe say the council is vital for keeping the region secure from Saudi’s archrival, Iran.
Last year’s summit was attended by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, but Doha has yet to confirm whether it is sending representation, despite Riyadh’s invitation this year.
The address was the first official letter extended from the Saudi king to Sheikh Tamim since the beginning of the GCC rift, but Zweiri described the move as a mere formality, rather than an indication of the kingdom’s willingness to resolve the crisis.
“It is a tradition that the host country has to invite all of the council’s members – it’s merely a formality,” he said.
‘Ball in Qatar’s court’
While the agenda of this year’s summit has not been made public, experts predict that the Gulf crisis will not be a top priority.
They agree that the summit and Riyadh’s invitation to Qatar will subtly portray to the world that “the ball is now in Qatar’s court” – but it will not actively address the dispute.
This is why Qatar, which has no interest in presenting itself as being distant from the council, will likely send a “lower delegation”, Zweiri said.
According to Zaccara, if the invitation is rejected, the blockading countries may accuse Qatar of lacking the will to “sit down and talk”, which is why a delegation of some level will likely attend.
“This will demonstrate that the Qatar government was never reluctant to engage in a direct dialogue,” he said.
Similarly, Jocelyn Sage Mitchell, assistant professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, believes that Qatar’s participation in the summit would allow the country to “maintain the high road” in the current diplomatic crisis.
Why is Qatar leaving OPEC?
It would also give Doha an opportunity to refute allegations that it is insufficiently supportive of its fellow Gulf monarchies, Mitchell said.
Earlier this month, Sheikh Tamim said he regretted the continuation of conflict with other Arab states, but said that the “crisis will pass“.
Apart from formalities, the GCC council maintains value as a “forum for economic coordination”, despite the body’s lack of political power, according to Mitchell.
“Both Saudi Arabia and Qatar gain something from continuing to participate in this organisation,” she told Al Jazeera, referencing the GCC-wide value added tax (VAT) project that was intended to assist Gulf states with budget deficits and as a way to increase non-oil revenues.
“Saudi Arabia would like to see Qatar commit to implementing the VAT in 2019 as this would provide some political cover for Saudi Arabia’s financial need for this tax,” Mitchell explained.
Summit as Saudi ‘platform’
This year’s summit also comes amid the diplomatic crisis over Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi‘s assassination, which has put Riyadh in the dock.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States, was killed inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in early October.
Under mounting pressure over the Khashoggi killing, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) last month praised Qatar’s economy in a rare conciliatory remark.
As Saudi Arabia’s defacto leader, MBS in particular, has come under scrutiny over the country’s involvement in the war in Yemen, which has caused thousands of civilian deaths, as well as its intensifying crackdownon public dissent in Saudi Arabia.
Turkish spy chief briefs US senators on Khashoggi murder
According to Zweiri, Riyadh may use this year’s summit as a platform to present itself as a victim of international pressure.
“There will be a repetition of events, with no substance, with nothing new,” Zweiri said of the upcoming summit and its possible agenda. “But it [Saudi Arabia] may try to present itself as a victim … of everything, including the Khashoggi murder”.
What next?
With the GCC unable to resolve the crisis, analysts say the organisation itself has proven to be futile, both politically and to an extent, economically.
Experts Al Jazeera spoke to agree that Saudi is not interested in starting a process to achieve a negotiated solution for the current spat, but insist it is in both Riyadh and Qatar’s best interest to remain in the council for now.
Since the crisis began, Qatar has secured new strategic alliances, most notably with Turkey.
Sheikh Tamim said on Tuesday that the nation had grown its exports by 18 percent and slashed spending by 20 percent over the past year.
Addressing Qatar’s Shura Council, he added his country would continue to develop its oil and gas industries as it is keen to preserve its status as the top liquefied natural gas exporter in the world.
This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.
There’s a long and glorious history of very good sports dogs, both fictional and real-ish. That exclusive club got an adorable new addition on Wednesday, thanks to the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.
Meet Flambo, the Canadiens’ new foster puppy, an adorable floof of sweet majesty, the kind of dog fit for one the most storied franchises in all of professional sports.
We picked up our foster puppy from @fondationMira today! The @CHCFondation will serve as a foster family to this little guy for the next year and we’ll be sharing updates of his progress. Thank you to everyone who submitted name suggestions. Meet Flambo: he’s a very good boy. pic.twitter.com/C5vwO82CBY
The team even gave insight into how they chose his name. Whether Flambo can lead the Canadiens any higher up the division standings remains to be seen, but it’s still early in the season.
Why Flambo?
Its mere presence lights up the trail and leads its bearer;
A symbolic reminder of the club’s glorious history, it inspires the team to achieve the highest honors; pic.twitter.com/i4G3ZBL0ua
Just look at that face! It simultaneously says, “BLEP” but also whispers, “I know your troubles and just remember that time heals all wounds, but the scars are reminders of time gone by.”
Flambo is more than an adorable face; he’ll be something of a mascot for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, one of the Canadiens’ charitable outreach organizations.
We don’t know exactly what Flambo will be doing (the Foundation did not respond to our requests for comment), but chances are it’ll be something to do with lifting the spirits of children in need. We can’t think of anyone better suited for that than this fuzzy face.
Finally, we know Flambo is VERY HANDSOME. But is he, indeed, a VERY GOOD BOY?
Douglas Engelbart’s famous 1968 “Mother of All Demos” was recreated by Mikel Rouse in March 2015, who performed in a musical rendition of the Demo at Stanford University.
Imagine someone demonstrating a jet plane 15 years before Kitty Hawk. Imagine someone demonstrating a smartphone 15 years before the first cellular networks were even launched. Imagine someone demonstrating a controlled nuclear chain reaction 15 years before Einstein formulated e=mc2.
On a crisp, overcast, and breezy Monday afternoon in San Francisco on December 9, 1968, before an SRO audience of more than 2,000 slack-jawed computer engineers, a soft-spoken engineer named Douglas Engelbart held the first public demonstration of word processing, point-and-clicking, dragging-and-dropping, hypermedia and hyperlinking, cross-file editing, idea/outline processing, collaborative groupware, text messaging, onscreen real-time video teleconferencing, and a weird little device dubbed a “mouse” — the essentials of a graphical user interface (GUI) 15 years before the first personal computers went on sale.
But the presentation was more than seemingly disparate demonstrations of experimental computer operations. What Engelbart and his team had created from scratch was a holistic system designed to extend human communications capabilities, tools to augment human intellect — hence the presentation’s official prosaic academic title, “A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect.” Engelbart’s presentation would later be more appropriately dubbed “The Mother of All Demos.”
What made Engelbart’s rather dry (in retrospect) presentation so jaw-dropping and vastly influential was that in 1968, computers were industrial and room-sized, could be operated by just one user at a time, were used primarily for number-crunching à la Hidden Figures, generally didn’t include CRT displays, and were rarely seen in the real world. The unified and collaborative concepts and functions Engelbart calmly demonstrated seemed as futuristic as Star Trek (at the time in the midst of its first run on NBC), except he and his team had brought them to real life. Computer scientist Alan Kay, who defied a case of the flu to fly in from L.A. to attend, said the Demo was “like Moses parting the Red Sea.”
The Demo wasn’t just a momentary flash of brilliance. It is the Magna Carta, the Rosetta Stone, the Declaration of Independence of personal computing.
The Demo wasn’t just a momentary flash of brilliance. It is the Magna Carta, the Rosetta Stone, the Declaration of Independence of personal computing. It has inspired, ignited, and influenced the development of every piece of personal-computing software and hardware since. The overarching philosophical functionality of everything we do on a PC, tablet, or smartphone dates back to Engelbart and the Demo.
This Sunday, the Demo’s 50th anniversary, Engelbart’s daughter Christina will lead a day-long TheDEMO@50, the Engelbart Symposium at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, “exploring the past, present, and future of Engelbart’s profound legacy.” Presenters will include web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, internet pioneer Vint Cerf, along with other computer and internet luminaries, as well as original members of Engelbart’s team. Next Wednesday, December 12, at 6 p.m., there’ll be a Solving Today’s Great Problems? Lessons from Engelbart’s Demo @50 conference, also at the CHM. Both events will be live-streamed. There are also commemorative scheduled in England and Japan.
Aside from the pure audacity of the concepts presented at The Demo, Engelbart’s entire conceptual development approach is unique in the history of innovation. Most engineers start with a technical challenge to solve, with functionality and consequences secondary, sometimes accidental, considerations. But Engelbart started from the opposite direction. He studied how we think, how we work, and how we collaborate, then envisioned and created the hardware, software and programming systems necessary to enhance the collective IQ.
Many enormous achievements spring from the innocuous. For Engelbart, the spark for his life’s work was a magazine article he read on an isolated island in the South Pacific 23 years earlier.
‘As We May Think’
Engelbart was the middle child of three, born in Portland, Oregon, on January 30, 1925. After the death of his father in the mid-1930s, the family moved to the small neighboring town of Johnson Creek. He graduated from Portland’s Franklin High School in 1942 and attended Oregon State University (then known as Oregon State College) in Corvallis for a year when he was drafted. He joined the Navy and became a radar technician.
Douglas C. Engelbart in 1968.
Image: APIC/Getty Images
In September 1945, Engelbart found himself sitting in a Red Cross library – actually, a hut built on stilts – on the Philippine island of Leyte. “It was quiet and cool and airy inside, with lots of polished bamboo and books,” Engelbart later recalled. Engelbart was entranced by an article in Atlantic Monthly by Vannevar Bush, the founder of what would become Raytheon, then science advisor to the President, the man who talked Franklin Roosevelt into initiating the Manhattan Project. The article was titled “As We May Think,” and it explored how machines had and would aid human intellect. In the article, Bush described an automated collective memory machine dubbed memex, “a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility… an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.” Bush’s combined human/technological concepts would haunt and then inspire Engelbart.
After the war, Engelbart returned to Oregon State and earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1948. His first job out of college was at the Ames Research Center, run by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA, in Mountain View, when what would become Silicon Valley was still filled with orchards.
In 1951, Engelbart got engaged, which ignited thoughts about his life’s direction and career goals. “He had an epiphany,” his daughter details. “He started measuring how many minutes he had left in his career, and figured he had five million minutes he would have to invest. He decided in that moment to maximize the effect of his career toward the betterment of mankind, and how tools could support that goal.”
Engelbart’s radar-screen-watching experience merged with Bush’s ideas of how tools could aid human intellect, and he envisioned people sitting in front of display workstations “flying around” in a computerized information space.
To pursue his vision, Engelbart quit his job at NACA and returned to school, earning his master’s in 1953 and a Ph.D. in 1955, both in electrical engineering with a specialty in computers from the University of California at Berkeley. He stayed on at Berkeley as an acting assistant professor, but his ideas pushed him to a more suitable position at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI, now SRI International) in 1957.
A prototype of Engelbart’s first computer mouse.
Image: APIC/Getty Images
“He spent two years studying a new field, ‘augmenting the human intellect’ — language, tools, methodology, organizational transformation, organizational strategy,” Christina explains. “He studied each thread to develop a common framework, regardless of the vertical discipline.”
Engelbart’s studies resulted in a seminal October 1962 paper, “Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework,” that described “a new and systematic approach to improving the intellectual effectiveness of the individual human being. A detailed conceptual framework explores the nature of the system composed of the individual and the tools concepts and methods that match his basic capabilities to his problems.”
Prominent among these tools was the computer.
At SRI, Engelbart established an Augmentation Research Center (ARC) lab, and built a team of young engineers that he guided, but didn’t command. “If someone had an idea and his idea wasn’t the best and he understood the difference, he’d jump on the other idea and apologize for not grasping it sooner,” his daughter says. “He didn’t have ego involvement — it was never ‘my way to the highway.’ He’d stick with the discussion until he could understand the disconnect. He was committed to find a win-win solution.” Employing this low-key collaborative style, Engelbart and his team began to develop computers, software, and programming to transform his visions into physical digital reality.
One of these technologies was hypermedia, the linking of one piece of digitized data to another, developed independently but simultaneously in 1964 with East Coast-based Ted Nelson, who actually coined the terms “hypertext” and “hypermedia.”
But hypermedia was just one part of a larger integrated system. The foundation of Engelbart’s system was the NLS (oN-Line System). Developed in 1963-64, the NLS was one of the first computers to offer what was called “two-dimensional editing,” direct editing of text, with human-first console and desk ergonomics developed by Jack Kelley of Herman Miller Research (yes, the chair people). Then, in late 1967, Engelbart acquired the first time-sharing computer, the Scientific Data System SDS940 mainframe that enabled his entire team to work on the systems they were building from separate workstations.
To help navigate the NLS, Engelbart started to experiment with “screen selection” devices — pointers to navigate information presented on the NLS display — including a light pen, a foot pedal, a knee apparatus, even a helmet-mounted device. Engelbart finally came up with a pointing device that would physically traverse a desktop on two small wheels, one turning horizontally, one vertically, each transmitting rotation coordinates to determine the location of a floating onscreen pointer he called a “bug.” In 1963, ARC lead engineer Bill English built one of these rolling pointers from Engelbart’s sketches. Encased in a carved-out wooden block with perpendicular wheels mounted in its underbelly, it had only one red-tipped button – that was all there was room for. Someone lost to history started calling it “the mouse.” Engelbart and his crew experimented with additional buttons, working all the way up to five, before settling on three by early 1968.
The Demo
Engelbart prepares for the Demo at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium).
Image: The HEnry Ford Museum
By March 1968, word about Engelbart’s work was becoming a topic of conversation around Stanford and the nascent and still small West Coast computer industry. “He was a real connector type of person,” his daughter says. “He was always meeting and calling up to meet people. People visiting the Institute would be brought by to see what was happening in the lab, and he had already been giving demos to explain what they were doing. He figured it was better to show what they were doing rather than write about it.”
The biannual Fall Joint Computer Conference posters for Engelbart’s presentation went up, and a buzz began. Engelbart’s reputation prompted show organizers to find a larger space for his presentation, settling on the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, now named for concert promoter Bill Graham, next door to Brooks Hall where the conference was being held.
There was just one problem: the ARC lab at SRI was 30 miles away from San Francisco in Menlo Park. While his NLS console and workstation were sort of portable, the rest of the lab’s gear was not, especially the SDS940 mainframe.
Herman Miller designers collaborated with Engelbart to create custom office furniture in time for the demo, including this custom swivel keyboard console with space for mouse and keyset, mounted on a Eames-style captain’s chair.
Image: ARC Bootstrapper
In Adam Fisher’s new book “Valley of Genius,” English explained the unique long-distance communications he helped set up for the Demo:
What we did was lease two video circuits from the phone company. They set up a microwave link: two transmitters on the top of the building at SRI, receiver/transmitters up on Skyline Boulevard [in Woodside] on a truck, and two receivers at the Civic Center. That was our video link. Going back we had two dedicated 1,200-baud lines: high-speed lines at the time. Homemade modems.
Engelbart had little clue as to the import of what he was about to present — as far as he was concerned, he was far from finished — and so made no provision to preserve it. But at the last minute, someone said, “We have these cameras,” which were then rigged to film the Demo for a thankful posterity. There are two minor cuts during the video; this is where the film cannisters were changed.
Looming above the stage was a 22 x 18-foot screen that would magnify what Engelbart was doing on his terminal. Engelbart was casually seated on the stage below the screen to the right of the audience. He was clad in the requisite white shirt and tie with a black boom mic dangling over the right side of his face and the thick NLS keyboard/mouse console draped across the arms of his chair. After some introductory remarks on the unique nature of the presentation, apologizing for his seated posture, and his hopes that all would proceed smoothly, Engelbart summarized his thesis.
“If in your office, you as an intellectual worker were supplied with a computer display backed up by a computer that was alive for you all day and was instantaneously responsible…” Engelbart nervously paused then corrected himself — “…responsive to every action you had, how much value could you derive from that?”
That sounds like a silly question now, but in 1968, the idea of a computer on every desk was absurd, something out of The Jetsons. Then things got weird.
Engelbart began by displaying a pedantic list of groceries and errand locations, using the mouse to move the “bug” cursor to click on words to reveal hyperlinked layers below. By pointing-and-clicking, he smoothly rearranged, reordered, recategorized, and restructured lists and sub-lists – demonstrating what Engelbart called “information structures,” sort of a combination of word processing and free-form spreadsheet editing and sorting.
To attendees, it looked as if whatever digital magic Engelbart was performing was accomplished right on stage. But every keystroke and mouse movement Engelbart made on the NLS console keyboard and mouse in San Francisco was instantly transmitted back to the lab’s SDS940 mainframe back in Menlo Park. Video cameras captured Engelbart’s manipulations on the system’s CRT, and everything was then again instantly beamed back to and projected on the Civic Auditorium screen — all with virtually no lag.
XKCD Cartoon honoring Doug Engelbart and his 1968 Demo
Image: XKCD
During the second half of the Demo, Engelbart established a videoconferencing connection with software engineer Jeff Rulifson back at the ARC Labs in Menlo Park. Engelbart and Rulifson provided a tour of the lab, showing and describing how the video conferencing was accomplished, and engaged in a video conversation while simultaneous editing documents. The pair engaged in a brief “bug fight” when both tried to edit the same document. The pair also demonstrated an early version of email, which was more like what we think of as text messaging.
Everything worked perfectly, with only a minor, quickly corrected audio glitch late in the demo — a stunning achievement in itself in this pre-internet age, and a marvel considering the technology available at the time.
During the presentation, you could hear a pin drop, except when Engelbart made some wry observation. To those who thought the whole thing a hoax — and there were many skeptics — Engelbart invited anyone interested to come visit the lab. After thanking his 17-man team and apologizing to his wife and daughter for his monomaniacal dedication to his work, the crowd erupted into a lengthy standing ovation.
Legacy of the Demo
While an epochal event in computer and technological history, the Demo was just the beginning for both Engelbart and the acolytes he had inspired.
Engelbart’s NLS was the first host attached to the decentralized interconnected computer network being developed by the Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which was a co-sponsor of the Demo and with whom Engelbart had worked closely. On October 29, 1969, Engelbart’s lab was at the receiving end of the first message transmitted over ARPANET, which would eventually lead to the inception of the internet. SRI commercialized the NLS, which was used by hundreds of organizations.
Over the next few years, a half dozen or so of Engelbart’s SRI team members including English and Rulifson were recruited by the newly established Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). These ARC alumni, along with other engineers who attended or were inspired by the Demo and Engelbart, developed the Alto, the first personal computer equipped with a GUI and a mouse. In December 1979, Alto was seen by Steve Jobs and other Apple engineers, who adapted its GUI, WYSIWYG, and mouse ideas for the LISA and then the Macintosh. The Mac, of course, then inspired Bill Gates to develop Windows OS. Every OS since is imbued with Engelbart’s human augmentation concepts.
Douglas Engelbart in 2002.
Image: Tom Munnecke/Getty Images
And unlike other innovators who experience one or two “Eureka!” moments before moving on to another project or challenge, the idea of how computerized tools aid how we think and collaborate became Engelbart’s lifelong pursuit. In 1989, Engelbart and his daughter formed the non-profit Bootstrap Institute, which was renamed the Doug Engelbart Institute in 2008, and is now run by his daughter.
Engelbart was awarded 20 patents and was the recipient of myriad awards and honors including the PC Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award (1987), the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award (1993), the Lemelson-MIT Prize (1997), induction into the Computer Hall of Fame and the U.S. National Medal of Technology, presented by President Bill Clinton (2000), the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition (2005), and induction into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame in 2012.
Engelbart may have died on July 2, 2013, but his work lives on in every point and click we make.
Easy to use • Made of durable plastic • Bamboo lid tightly secures treats • Launching treats is fun!
Can’t pan or move the camera • Expensive for a dog accessory
Although $249 is a lot to spend on a dog toy, we think it’s fun and useful enough to justify. Everyone enjoys launching treats from this device.
We’ve all been there before: You’re about to leave for work, and the family dog follows you to the door, watching through the window as you enter your car and leave. But what if you could keep a watchful eye on your dog the entire day — even from your office?
The Furbo Dog Camera enables just that. The device is roughly the size of a small flower vase, and lets you livestream audio and video directly from your home to anywhere in the world with an internet connection (and, of course, the right password).
It’s not cheap at $249.99, but it does come with the added bonus of letting you launch dog treats to your pup remotely. So, in short, you can keep tabs on your pooch and also reward them for good behavior from anywhere in the world. Pretty neat, right?
But is it enough to justify its hefty price tag? My family and I spent the last two weeks testing the Furbo Dog Camera thoroughly to see whether it was worth it. Here’s what we found:
Meet Georgia
The pup herself.
Image: jake krol/mashable
Everyone, meet Georgia, my family’s toy poodle that lives in New Jersey. She’s a very good dog, and she’s been getting a firsthand account of how the Furbo works along with all of her owners: me, my mom, my dad, and my brother.
We’ve been using the Furbo Dog Camera to check on Georgia throughout the day for about two weeks, and when any of us are feeling inspired, we shoot treats to her from the machine.
I’ll admit: I typically send her the most treats because, first of all, it’s really fun, and secondly, she’s a very good dog (as I mentioned) and deserves the absolute best. I’ve been sending her about four treats per day, and I’m pretty sure she has no idea it’s me behind the launcher, but she certainly seems to enjoy the snacks.
Thanks to a simple design, you won’t have trouble finding a spot for the Furbo.
Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE
The Furbo Dog Camera blends into almost any room. It’s about 9-inches tall and has a modern, sleek, hourglass shape — with a wide base at the bottom and a tiny pinch in the middle.
You’ll notice there’s a large bamboo lid at the top of the device, and that’s to cover up the small reservoir where the treats are stored. The plastic material that covers most of the machine is extremely durable — even if you have a skittish dog that attacks foreign objects.
When we first introduced the Furbo to our dog Georgia, she quickly began pawing at the machine and scratching it. We were immediately surprised by the durability of the machine when it fell, and by how well the bamboo cap stayed attached.
Still, we know there are lots of crafty dogs out there, so if you own a very persistent puppy who loves treats and can sniff them out easily — you might want to consider how they would react to what is essentially a robotic cookie jar. If you’re confident that your dog wouldn’t gnaw on the lid for hours, you’re probably safe.
Furbo recommends round circular treats. Anything smaller and it might send out more than one.
Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE
The Furbo Dog Camera couldn’t be much easier to setup. It’s practically plug-and-play. Once you plug in the device, you’ll need to use the companion app to get it connected to your WiFi.
The setup process takes about 15 minutes total. I had to restart the app a couple of times to get it connecting properly, but shortly thereafter it was working just fine. It’s comparable to any other smart home device that uses an app to function. The app will walk you through every step of the process.
Once the device is connected to the internet, the last thing you need to do is load the treat reservoir with tiny dog treats. Furbo recommends using round circular ones, and warns owners that other shapes can sometimes send out more than one. My family used Charlee Bear dog treats from Trader Joes, which worked really well. Furbo recommends using Nutro Mini Bites among others.
After the treats are loaded into the machine, and it’s connected to the internet — that’s it! You’ll see live streaming video on the app’s home screen, and you can begin launching treats at your puppy.
Refill times will vary depending on how frequently you shoot treats.
Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE
Some dogs may love the Furbo right away, but Georgia was not one of those dogs. She’s a little skittish at times, and was very skeptical of the Furbo when it first arrived.
I spent about an hour sitting with Georgia and getting her familiar with the device. This included launching treats from it, and getting her used to some of the small (but audible) noises it makes.
The device plays a sound every time it launches a treat, and one of the cooler things is that you can customize the sound. So, if you have a phrase that you always say to your dog, you can make the Furbo say that. Pretty cool!
Testing this product was ultimately a lot of fun, and something I really enjoyed messing around with. Most of that is because of the iOS and Android apps are so well-built. They’re extremely intuitive, and easy to use. My parents even commented on how fun it was to check on Georgia during the work day.
The companion app is super basic, and that works to the benefit of the user. When you first launch it, you’ll be asked to add details about your dog like name, birthday, breed, and gender and upload a photo. You’re not required to add any of this information, but it makes the app slightly to look at every time you launch it.
From that point on, every time you open the app, you’ll see a live video feed into your home. The viewing screen is incredibly clear and minimalistic. A camera and video button on the left-hand side allow you too easily snap a shot or quick video that saves to your phone.
There is also a microphone button on the right side of the display that lets you talk to your dog in real-time with the speaker embedded on the device. Of course, being able to launch treats is the best part of using the app, and you do that by simply moving your finger across the screen with an upwards swipe.
For more dedicated users, there is Furbo Dog Nanny or a premium subscription service the company is piloting. The service detects things like when your dog is barking, when people enter the room, or when there’s other unusual activity happening in front of the camera.
You won’t be disappointed with the Furbo Dog Camera.
Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE
Listen, I know $249 is a lot on paper, but the Furbo Dog Camera is totally worth it. Throughout my two-week testing period, I’ve been able to check in on our family dog Georgia while I’m out on the town or at work. Same goes for my mom, dad, and brother. The app can handle multiple logins at once, and it’s extremely easy to use. It helps that it only has a couple of core functions.
I’ll admit, it took some time for our dog Georgia to get used to the treat launcher, and the light mechanical noises it makes as it prepares to launch a treat. And she was also a little rattled when we used the intercom feature to talk to her from the device. But over time, she’s become accustomed to the device — and seems to understand when the treat mechanism has been activated.
So even with the short learning curve taken into consideration, the Furbo Dog Camera is a great addition to any pet-owner’s home.
For some people, the holidays really are “the most wonderful time of the year,” but for others they’re anything but. Stressors can include anxiety about travel or pressure to drink.
Thankfully, it’s become more acceptable to talk about these challenges during the holidays and throughout the year. Activists, celebrities, and everyday people are increasingly sharing their struggles, which has reduced the stigma surrounding mental health.
Whether you’re nervous about flying or staying sober at a holiday event, there are concrete ways to manage those emotions. Here are some techniques for dealing with stress and anxiety that stems from common holiday season scenarios:
If you’re worried about traveling…
Taking public transportation during the holidays usually entails long lines, jam-packed spaces, and short tempers. The chaos can induce a lot of panic, or even panic attacks.
Jeff Baker, a therapist, educator, and mental health activist, says a technique called grounding can help reestablish your sense of reality. Coloring during a train ride, for example, shifts the focus to what’s in front of you.
“That can help you remain present in places that are really busy and chaotic, like airports and train stations, where you can easily become overstimulated and therefore panicky,” he says.
If coloring doesn’t sound soothing, use your own body to relax. Baker recommends using the emotional freedom technique, which involves tapping the meridian points on your body, such as the front of your eyebrow and under your nose. (While EFT performed in a clinical setting shows promise in a reducing anxiety, the technique is still viewed as an alternative approach to reducing stress.)
Another technique to consider is called progressive muscle relaxation. It can help relieve tension in your body, which in turn relaxes your mind. Tense and then relax muscle groups with each breath, starting from one end of the body, moving upward or downward. You can find audio recordings for this technique online, and learn more about how effective it is by visiting the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
If you’re staying sober…
Not everyone can drink in social settings, whether it’s because they prefer not to drink, are in recovery, or because they’re on medication. They may be pregnant but don’t want to announce that yet.
“For folks who are striving to maintain sobriety, it’s important to remember that the holidays are just like any other day,” says Baker. “We, as a society, have given holidays special meaning and designated certain traditions on these days, but they come and go just like every other day. Your preference not to drink or your recovery routine shouldn’t change.”
Prepare an explanation so that you’re not caught off guard, such as “I’m on medication, I’m a designated driver, or I don’t drink anymore.”
“I think one of the biggest sources of anxiety for those not drinking or for those in recovery is the explanation that they have to give and possibly being dismissed. So anticipating possible peer pressure and preparing is key,” says Baker.
Make an escape plan before the event in case you want to leave earlier than expected. Say and do what’s necessary in order to feel comfortable, even if that means answering a pretend phone call outside. No matter what people say or think, sobriety is the number one priority.
Baker says fake explanations aren’t necessarily lies because they’re not meant to cause harm or manipulate people. They’re meant to keep yourself safe.
If you’re hosting a work event, remind employees it’s not OK to pry or peer pressure people who aren’t drinking. Whether it’s a professional or private party, offer non-alcoholic alternative drinks, as well as activities that don’t focus on drinking.
When you’re home for the holidays, it may be a good idea to attend a recovery group meeting, start reading a book on recovery, or declare an abstinence plan, says Baker.
If you’re dreading the dinner table…
Holiday traditions center around food, which can bring up anxious feelings for some people, whether they’ve experienced an eating disorder, try to maintain a diet, or have high expectations for what or how much they’ll eat. Julie Groveman, a clinical psychologist in New York City, says if someone is feeling anxious about food, they can practice a mindful exercise. That means using the senses by slowing down to chew, feeling the texture of the food, and smelling any aromas.
“You want to be mindful of your experience so it grounds you into the moment.”
In general, using your senses is an effective way to relieve stress because they bring you out of your mind and into the present moment.
“The whole idea is that [anxiety] is really sometimes like a false alarm system that’s overly sensitive to make you feel like the situation isn’t safe…,” says Groveman. “You want to be mindful of your experience so it grounds you into the moment.”
You might also dread the dinner table for family reasons. The holidays often bring up intense political conversations and other topics that stir conflict. At the very least, most people have one family member they can’t stand. Baker suggests setting a boundary by predetermining how long a family visit will last and, if possible, steering the conversation in a way that’s positive.
If you’re feeling alone…
Not everyone can spend the holidays with family, and that can bring up feelings of loneliness or sadness. That’s understandable, but try not to wallow.
“Just because it’s been a certain way in the past, or just because it looks a certain way on social media or in the movies, doesn’t mean it needs to be that way for you,” says Groveman.
If you’re away from family and friends, it can help to embrace that alone time and enjoy your own company. Try cooking a new recipe or volunteering. Groveman says helping others is a great way to get out of your mind and into the present moment.
Groveman also recommends a technique called intention setting that helps refocus the mind. Write down what you want to get out of an experience, including what you want to feel, whether that’s comfort, relaxation, or connection. Jot down whatever words come to mind and use them as a guide to create an experience that’s meaningful for you.
A “gratitude” list helps as well. Groveman says focusing on what you have versus what you’re lacking can put your mind into perspective. She notes that nothing is too small to add to the list.
If you’re anxious about an upcoming event…
Groveman recommends self-soothing behaviors that incorporate your senses, like meditating, taking a bath, listening to music, or putting lavender essential oil on your wrists.
“I like to look at anxiety as an energy, and a lot of times, it’s just kind of stuck in your body,” says Groveman. “Something like exercise, even just taking a brisk walk, helps to move it through.”
Groveman suggests carrying a small item that makes you feel calm or safe, like a crystal or a picture of a pet. The act of holding an object can help ground you in the moment as anxiety arises.
Mental illness doesn’t take a break during the holidays. People’s diagnosis doesn’t go away just because it’s supposed to be a happy time of the year. No one should feel guilty for struggling during the holidays. They need love and support, not shame and negativity.
You can also rehearse a mantra that you’ll tell yourself when you start to feel anxious, but it should be something you truly believe. Examples include “This feeling will pass” and “I’ve survived this feeling before.” Groveman says repeating some type of coping statement helps manage anxiety.
“A lot of times with anxiety, it’s so much fear about having the anxiety, and it’s almost like a vicious cycle,” says Groveman.
The important thing to remember is that with the right coping skills, you can handle these experiences.
If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, text the Crisis Text Lineat 741-741 or call theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat 1-800-273-8255. If you’re based in the UK or the ROI, call theSamaritanson 116 123. For international resources, thislistis a good place to start.
Welcome toSmall Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2018 and we have the entire internet to contend with.
Modern life in general can often be a logistical nightmare, but adding kids to the mix takes domestic air traffic control to a whole new level. The premise of an app built with precisely this use-case in mind may seem like a godsend for any Gcal-overloaded caregiver, but Cozi, which bills itself as an app that can “simplify” family life, also runs the risk of contributing to the problem it attempts to solve.
If you’re just about getting by with to do lists and gCal, do you really need a family organizer app in your life? Is the learning curve worth the end result? Join us as we take a tour of Cozi, try out its features, and test its functionality.
Whether it’s the right app for you and your family will depend on how many other services you already use and whether you want all your options in one place – and are willing to accept trade-offs for that convenience.
No free lunch
Cozi is a free service, but the cost of this is agreeing to allow Cozi’s parent company Meredith Corporation to use tracking technologies to show you personalized advertising while you’re using the app and website.
If you don’t want to opt into this, you can choose to upgrade to a Cozi “Gold” account. This costs $29.99 per year for the entire family across all devices. Paying up kills the ads and gives you access to “premium” features.
These premium features include a Birthday Tracker tool, a monthly scrolling view in the calendar on mobile, the ability to set multiple (rather than just one) reminders for appointments, the ability to import and manage a Contacts area, notifications of changes to calendar events and an improved “Shopping Mode” in the Lists section. Free features include the calendar, shopping lists, to-do lists, a meal planner and recipes folder, and a journal functionality.
Getting started
We initially set up the free version of Cozi on desktop, preferring a larger screen and “proper” keyboard to do so, but there’s no reason you can’t get started straight from the app. It’s available on the App Store and Google Play.
As you sign up you need to give your family a name and chose a shared password that all Cozi users in your family will use. You can also select a family photo (but sadly no individual photos for each family member).
Once you’ve created your Cozi family, it’s time to start populating the service with your information. We’re taking a look at each free Cozi feature in detail.
To Do Lists
If you’re the type that swears by a good old-fashioned “To Do” list being the crucial key to an organized life, you’re going to love Cozi’s offering.
You can create one shared family to do list, separate lists for the adult users, or lists under headings of your choosing, such as “Household To Do,” or “Work To Do.” The lists you create can either be shared with everyone, or assigned to one user.
On both the website and apps, creating and managing lists is simple. On the website, you access your “To Do” via the left-hand navigation, while on the app it’s via the “Lists” icon at the bottom of the screen.
Simply click to add to the lists, then you can drag and drop to prioritize tasks.
If you really want to drill down into organizing your to-dos even further, you can group tasks into headings. Headings are created by typing a list item in all capital letters.
Furthermore, you can add tasks to your Cozi calendar by typing a date — in MM/DD format — before the task’s name. This will then appear as a task on your calendar on the appropriate day.
Once a task has been completed, you can cross it off the list, then keep your list tidy by hitting the “Remove” option on the website then “Remove crossed off items,” or by hitting the three dot menu at the top right on the app to chose to “”Delete checked” items.
Shopping Lists and Meals
Cozi’s “Shopping” section doesn’t offer any major bells and whistles, but is a good solid list creation tool.
Accessed via the left-hand navigation on web, or via “Lists” at the bottom of the screen on the app, these lists work similarly to those in the To Do section, letting you add items by clicking or tapping.
Your “Groceries” is the most obvious shopping list to create, and Cozi offers nifty auto-suggestion functionality so that possible items are shown in a drop-down list as you begin typing an item making for quick list creation.
The “Meals” section within Cozi has boasts a comprehensive suite of tools for saving your own recipes, food inspiration and ideas. There’s also a meal planning feature that’s linked to your Cozi calendar and shopping lists.
The Meal Planner helps organize family meals and lets other members of the family know what’s on the menu. You simply enter your food choice in the slot for the appropriate day and it will then appear on your shared calendar.
We don’t see all Cozi families using the “breakfast” or “lunch” slots every day, but the “dinner” planning functionality will prove very handy for many a busy parent.
More usefulness comes when in a recipe card (that you can add to the app via URL or entering it manually) – if you tap the calendar icon, you can add the recipe to your meal planner and therefore calendar.
In the “Recipe Box” section, when you create your own recipe cards, there is the ability to add notes to recipes as well as create tag words to help categorize your cards.
Cozi offers a neat browser extension that lets you quickly add recipes you see online to your Cozi Meals section. Available for Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox and Chrome, the “Add to Cozi Meals” tool will save down recipes you like the look of quickly and easily. To find these extensions, go to the “Tips” tab at the top of the page when in the Meals section.
Beyond just planning what to cook, there’s the ability to add a recipe’s ingredients to your “Groceries” (or alternative) shopping list. Simply click “Add to Shopping” when in a recipe card and you’ll get the option to add those ingredients to your lists.
What all this clever functionality means in real-life context, is that parents or caregivers who are splitting the cooking vs. the grocery run have a relatively smooth way to make sure all the items needed for dinner actually make it on to the list.
Journal
Another extra that sets Cozi apart from more basic rival offerings is the “Journal” feature.
This could potentially be used as a digital diary, but Cozi’s intention is that you create an online scrapbook of family moments that can be shared just among your immediate Cozi family, or with wider family and friends.
To access your Cozi journal on desktop, simply look to the left-hand menu. On the app, the Journal can be found under the Family tab at the bottom of your screen.
On the website, you create new Journal entries by clicking “Jot down a moment.” In the app, it’s via the plus icon to “Add story.” You can select photos (sadly, not video) from your computer or phone camera roll and add text. The date will default to the day you add the content, although you can manually change it to an alternative date.
Once you’ve created an entry, you can easily start to share your family moments. On the website, select “Share our journal.” This takes you through the process to share your content with others through a few different methods.
You can email your journal or share it via a custom URL that anyone, not just Cozi users, can view. The URL can be something easy to remember like “https://ift.tt/2El0ygq; However, if privacy is important to you, then Cozi will generate a random string of characters for your family’s URL that’s impossible for anyone you don’t share the link with to guess.
There are also further privacy options to consider. You can hide your children’s names in the photos’ captions. The example Cozi gives is by opting in to this functionality, “Today Henry had a great day at the park,” will show to others as “Today H had a great day at the park.”
The online journal isn’t the prettiest looking service, but it’s the content your family and friends are going to be interested in, and Cozi certainly delivers the functionality that shares it.
It is worth noting though, that you cannot download your Journal data in the event you decide to stop using Cozi, so it’s a good idea to ensure the images, etc, that you share via the Journal functionality are backed up elsewhere.
Deleting your Cozi account will permanently delete your account data – everything from photos to recipes to calendar entries. In some way it’s comforting to know your data will truly be gone, but since Cozi is a service that duplicates and combines many other services you likely already use, it may deter some people from signing up if you you know all your effort is gone if you change your mind.
Calendar
The calendar is the heart of the Cozi service and as such it’s a fully featured and intuitive tool. The first thing you’ll notice is how you can use everyday language to create calendar entries.
On the website, this means typing “7:30 Theatre tomorrow,” for example, will add that event for the following day. Entering an event then typing “every weekday” or “every Wednesday” will create recurring entries.
The default setting is for all family members to attend events, but if you start your entry with names, it will add the event as just the named family members attending, e.g., “Jane/John Ballet 11.00-11.45 Sat.”
Alternatively, if you double click on a day, a pop-up window will appear which you can populate with appointment information. On mobile, you add new entries via the plus sign icon at the top right of the page.
As you create calendar content, you can select who gets reminder notifications, add locations and notes. Different family members get a different colored dot, so you can more easily see who is doing what and when. You can click to view the calendar for all, some, or just one family member.
Another super useful feature is that Cozi can send you, and any other family member with an email address, emails with your family’s calendar events. You can choose to get these agenda-style emails every day, once a week, or both.
Finally, it’s worth noting that the Cozi calendar can be integrated with other calendar services such as Google and Apple Calendar and Outlook. Cozi offers full, detailed instructions of how to share appointments from other calendars to Cozi or share appointments from Cozi to another calendar program in a read-only format.
It’s a simple process, albeit one that has to be done on web. To see your Google Calendar data in your Cozi calendar for example you simply open gCal, hit the “Settings” cog icon, select your calendar under the “Settings for my calendars” header on the left of your screen, then again on the left, click “Integrate calendar” then copy the long URL that appears on the right under “Secret address in iCal format.”
Now, head back to your Cozi calendar online, click “Set up,” then “Internet calendars,” then “Add an internet calendar” then paste the URL in the box.
From now on you’ll see your Google Calendar entries in your Cozi calendar.
Cozi or no?
If you already use an online calendar, a to do list app and have digitized your recipe collection, then getting Cozi to pull it all into one place is a no-brainer. The integration between the to do lists, recipes, shopping lists and calendar is pretty seamless and could make life a lot easier for busy parents.
Another area where Cozi comes into its own is the sharing functionality. If you are co-parenting, having this app and website as a central resource that you can both update and refer to anytime, anywhere is truly useful.
There’s no such thing as a miracle cure for how manically busy, stressful and crazily chaotic modern family life is, but using Cozi should go some way towards being a tonic to help.
The United States and Britain have accused Russia of fabricating a story about chemical weapons use by Syrian rebels.
In separate statements issued on Friday, London and Washington also warned Moscow against undermining a shaky truce in the war-torn country.
Russia’s defence ministry said rebels fired weapons containing chlorine on November 24 on the government-held city of Aleppo, with Syrian state media reporting that around 100 Syrians were hospitalised for breathing difficulties.
The rebels denied the allegations and said that the government was attempting to frame them.
Russia responded to the purported attack with air raids on Idlib, the latest major stronghold of rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad, throwing into question a truce reached in mid-September.
The US said it had “credible information” that the chlorine account was false and that Russian and Syrian forces instead had fired tear gas.
“The United States is deeply concerned that pro-regime officials have maintained control of the attack site in its immediate aftermath, allowing them to potentially fabricate samples and contaminate the site before a proper investigation of it by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” State Department spokesperson Robert Palladino said in a statement.
“We caution Russia and the regime against tampering with the suspected attack site and urge them to secure the safety of impartial, independent inspectors so that those responsible can be held accountable,” he said.
He said that Russia and Syria were “using it as an opportunity to undermine confidence in the ceasefire in Idlib.”
In a similar statement, Britain said it was “highly unlikely” that chlorine or the opposition were involved in the incident.
“It is likely that this was either a staged incident intended to frame the opposition, or an operation which went wrong and from which Russia and the regime sought to take advantage,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said, also backing an investigation by the OPCW, the international chemical weapons watchdog.
Russia’s embassy in Washington hit back on Facebook.
“The Russian Defense Ministry does not rule out that the US Department of State’s allegations about the recent toxic chemicals attack in Syria’s Aleppo are aimed at distracting the public attention from the crimes of the US aviation in the east of the Middle Eastern country,” it said.
Western powers, the United Nations and human rights groups have repeatedly pointed to chemical attacks by Assad’s forces.
A sarin gas attack in April 2017 in the town of Khan Sheikhoun killed 83 people, according to the UN. US President Donald Trump replied by ordering 59 cruise missiles to strike a Syrian airbase, a reversal from his predecessor Barack Obama’s controversial reluctance to respond militarily.
Russia, the top international backer of Assad, and the Syrian government both denied the incident, saying footage of suffering victims including children was staged.
In the latest incident, a US official said that suspicions were raised as Russia and Syria immediately put out similar official media accounts and quickly carried out air raids.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that witnesses did not report the odor of chlorine that is characteristic of such attacks.
“Technical analysis of videos and images of munition remnants indicate the mortars portrayed in Russian media are not suitable for delivering chlorine,” the official said.
Russia’s allegations over the latest incident come amid elusive efforts to find a political solution to Syria’s civil war, which has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions.
Negotiators from Russia and fellow Assad ally Iran met last week with opposition supporter Turkey in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, making no apparent headway in a UN-backed goal of setting up a constitutional committee by the end of the year.
But Russia and Turkey agreed to keep working to preserve the U-shaped buffer zone around Idlib, which is keeping pro-government forces out of the region.
Jan Egeland, in a press conference last week before he stepped down as the head of the UN Humanitarian Task Force for Syria, warned that the flare-up amounted to “a gigantic powder keg in the middle of three million civilians.”
Cold winds constantly blow across the wide Martian plains of Elysium Planitia, and NASA unexpectedly recorded the sound of these extraterrestrial gusts.
Although NASA sent the InSight lander to Mars to study Mars’ earthquakes and geology, the robot’s scientists discovered that one of InSight’s instruments picked up audio of wind gusting against the machine’s metal exterior, and they released the sounds on Friday.
“It’s what it’s like to be there,” Don Banfield, an InSight scientist, said in an interview.
Beginning at the 1:10 mark in the video below, you can hear the Martian wind.
The specific instrument that picked up the sound of wind blowing against the lander is an air pressure sensor, more formally called the Auxiliary Payload Sensor Subsystem. It’s a weather-monitoring device. It’s not a microphone. But it can act like one.
“It’s much like what a normal microphone does,” said Banfield.
When any noise is made or emanated, perhaps from an amplified Fender Telecaster guitar, this produces pressure changes in the air. These pressure changes are then picked up by a microphone and then turned into an electrical signal.
The pressure sensor, which Banfield described as a low-frequency microphone, is designed to also take in changes in the air pressure, and then transmit these into electrical signals — which eventually get sent millions of miles back to Earth.
Blue outline shows the location of the pressure sensor under a shield.
Image: nasa
Location of the spacecraft’s pressure sensor, under the shield.
Image: nasa
“Wind or someone hitting a drum or a meteorite exploding in the atmosphere — all these make pressure changes in the air,” explained Banfield.
In the case of the wind, the pressure sensor picked up the wind blowing, but there’s a catch. This specialized instrument was never meant to actually record sound, just air pressure in the natural Martian environs. So it recorded the wind at a very low frequency — outside the range of limited human hearing.
However, other animals that evolved to hear low-frequency sounds, like whales, would be able to hear the raw tracks from the pressure sensor. “We can record the stuff that elephants and whales can hear if they could survive on Mars,” said Banfield.
But to make it audible to humans, NASA sped up about 2,000 seconds of recorded wind into 20 seconds, which increased the pitch of the sounds 100-fold. Now, we can hear it.
NASA also released the low-drone sounds derived from InSight’s seismometer, which is intended to measure Martian earthquakes. These can be heard in the above NASA video, starting at around the 50-second mark.
But the seismometer measured vibrations as the wind blew against the robot’s solar panels. The vibrations, sent back to Earth, are more similar to putting your ear next to a train track and listening to the vibrations of a distant train (you’re not actually hearing the train). It’s a much more indirect way of picking up or interpreting sound.
In 2020, NASA will send its latest advanced rover to Mars with two actual microphones, specifically intended to record sound.
The microphones will even record the sound of the rover descending through the Martian atmosphere — and if all goes smoothly — pick up the sound of the robot settling down in the Jezero Crater, an ancient, dried-up lakebed.
It has been described by German media as the “decision of her life”. When Angela Merkel let more than 800,000 refugees into the country in the summer of 2015, few could have predicted the fall-out that would follow.
Over the past three years, her government has been embroiled in bitter political infighting and the surge in support for right-wing policies and the populist party Alternative for Deutschland (AFD) has led commentators to question just how much this decision led to her departure.
On Friday, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the party Merkel led for 18 years, chose Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as her successor. Reportedly backed by Merkel, Kramp-Karrenbauer’s win is said to be a late victory for the outgoing leader.
Stepping down officially in 2021, it’s the start of the long road to the end for Merkel.
A mixed legacy
Berlin-based Anne Lehman is the co-head of the domestic newsdesk at Taz.de newspaper. On the key issue of immigration, she describes a mixed legacy.
“On one side of society she still stands for liberal values and a supporter of an open-door migration policy. On the flip-side, the immigration policy has helped give space to the rise of AFD. They said that everyone who is against Merkel should vote for us because we are strictly against refugees, and they got substantial votes.
“There are many people who think it’s good that somebody is coming in who has a different opinion, and who will maintain a stricter immigration policy.”
Lehman says the reality in Merkel’s Germany is a policy towards migrants and refugees that has shifted to the right. She points to recent developments such as the opening of new migrant centres called ANKAR – an acronym for arrival, decision, return – which have been described as prisons by those forced to live in them.
“Limits have also been placed on the number of refugees who are allowed in, there’s more support for deportations and attempts to make more deals with Turkey and other countries to send back migrants,” she says.
Those working on the issue say these policies are eroding rights.
Michaela Streibelt, a Berlin-based lawyer and human rights activist, says, “What Merkel did wasn’t superhuman but compared to other countries she did pretty well.
“In the end, she represented a balance to the discourse within the conservatives.
“In the last few years, though, she has contributed to a complete erosion of refugee rights, with tougher integration rules, longer stays in shelters and a border control system controlled by repressive governments,” Streibelt says.
Refugee perspectives
Among those who have arrived from Syria, opinions on Merkel are equally mixed. Hayyan Al-Yousouf, a 38-year old agricultural engineer from Syria, arrived in Germany in 2014. He tells Al Jazeera that for many refugees, she will be difficult to replace.
“Her effort and attention to refugees was great,” he says. “There are many refugees who are grateful to Merkel for risking her political future with the open-door policy. It’s a view that I still see people sharing online.”
He says that instead of dismissing what she’s done, it’s better to build on her efforts, for example, reducing tough language requirements so people can enter the jobs market quicker.
Lina Elabdalla, a 28-year-old Syrian writer and architect who has been living in Berlin for two years shared a different perspective.
She tells Al Jazeera, “She may be seen as a saviour by some, but what she did, she did for Germany. This country is an economic powerhouse, and to sustain this position, they need working youth and refugees can fill these positions.
“I’ve had a horrible experience here. I have been put in one of the worst camps, I’m still waiting for my papers two years on, and at one point I was going to be deported to Poland. An asylum officer once said to me I was a Syrian before I was a human being. Whatever Merkel was trying to achieve, it hasn’t worked for me.”
Germany: Leadership race for Angela Merkel’s replacement
Legacy on other issues
Beyond the immigration debate, commentators are more positive about the legacy Merkel, 64, could leave behind.
In an interview with the New York times, Ines Pohl, the editor-in-chief of the public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, cited Merkel’s achievements on the economy and German identity. She said, “Angela Merkel allowed Germans to be proud again.
“She never boasted that Germany got what it wanted after summit meetings (though it mostly did). But as exports and domestic demand boomed, Germany prospered and so did Ms. Merkel’s popularity ratings.”
With heated discussions around immigration and refugees happening across Germany and Europe, and still three years left to go, it’s likely, though, that this will be the issue that defines Merkel’s legacy.
In 2018, the news and state of the world can pretty much be described as a constant state of NOPE. Trump tweeted? Nope. Another deadly shooting? Nope nope nope. The planet is dying? Wow, nope!
It’s difficult not to get bogged down by the deluge of bad or weird news, but there are moments of pop culture that have been so overwhelmingly good that they had us saying NOPE for different reasons.
We’re talking things that were so cute you wanted to pass out. Moments so joyful you wanted to arrest everyone involved. This is a valid emotional response, by the way – like wanting to eat a cute baby or cry with joy. These pop culture moments, in no particular order, made us so happy that we verbally canceled them just to restore balance to the universe. Sorry!
1. That video of the Jane the Virgin cast reading the Season 4 finale
The actual finale made our mid-year NOPE list, but we keep coming back to this video from the table read. When the show returns, we will have been living with this cliffhanger for almost a year. N O P E
2. Noah Centineo
The internet’s newest boyfriend won us over, not only with his performance in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, but with a bashful and humble persona that just won’t quit. His Instagram is both a thirst trap and a love letter. His Twitter is irreverent and sometimes a cry for help. He improvised picking up the popcorn and he’s basically Peter K in real life. NOPE.
3. Nick and Colin in Crazy Rich Asians
This movie was a magical ensemble and the love story of Nick and Rachel, but we couldn’t help rooting for these handsome besties and their island getaway. With Nick’s mother and most of his extended family and community aboard a speeding anti-Rachel train, Colin’s love and loyalty keep our man from losing it – and we know that there’s no one Colin would rather have by his side at the wedding of the century. Nope!
4. American Vandal: The Brownout
American Vandal
Vandal went straight to the point with its Season 2 premiere’s inciting incident: a violent diarrhea breakout at a high school. Between searing visuals of students shitting themselves in the halls and deadly serious retellings of the incident, this is highbrow poop humor, the likes of which our childhood selves — and hell, our adult selves — dream of.
5. This video from Hasan Minhaj:
Minhaj actively and consistently posts videos of himself on social media to promote Patriot Act on Netflix, but this tiny glimpse of him being a dad made us scream. His daughter also featured in clip promoting the year-end episode about content moderation, with Minhaj yelling, “Get off Facebook!” at the infant, who was sitting at a laptop. Help! Nope!!
6. Emma Watson and Tom Felton hangin’ at the beach as buds
They’re still friends after all this time? Always! But also, nope!
7. Antoni Porowski actively thirst trapping a nation
There’s a marked difference between Porowski in Queer Eye Seasons 1 and 2, and that’s that he became the thirst icon of a nation. Then there were the photoshoots, and then there was this. He knows what he’s doing and how to elicit a NOPE!
8. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’ wedding
Honestly, everything about this couple – six months ago they were but a rumor and now they’ve tied the knot in a massive, gorgeous, weekend-long celebration. What started as confusion has now turned to pure joy and indignation that they dare be so cute!
9. The Creed II ending montage
Like its predecessor, this movie was better than it had any right to be – excellent, even! The final minutes went for all the emotional punches. Adonis visits his father’s grave while Rocky reconnects with his estranged son. This montage had everything: An attractive couple, a screen legend, a cute baby, even what we can only interpret as a wink to Gilmore Girls fans that Milo Ventimiglia’s character named his child Logan. Nope!!
10. Skylar Astin on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Astin’s casting alone was enough to elicit gasps from anyone familiar with his singing, on-screen and off — and then we found out who he was playing. We may still be within the statute of limitations for spoiling this one, but his character debut was something else; equally thrilling, terrifying, and pure musical entertainment. We could barely handle it. NOPE!
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