Author Archives: loiswhitmanhess

Would You Sit Down?  

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UN Women, a very powerful women’s group, came up with the idea of putting a molded penis on a seat on a train in Mexico City as a way to remind passengers of the sexual violence women suffer everyday in that city. Passenger reactions were taped. 

More than 800,000 people viewed the YouTube video since it was posted March 20th. You can watch it here. The United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women in July 2010.

Mexico City was targeted because it ranks as the second most dangerous city for women. I hated hearing that because Mexico City is on top of my travel bucket list.

The campaign asked passengers  “if they would sit on a seat with a mounded penis?” A posted message said, “It is uncomfortable to sit here, but that is nothing compared to the sexual violence that women suffer on their daily journeys.”

The campaign has had significant impact. For example, some trains now have separate carriages for women. The city government is also offering more protection for women. This is a start. 

I hope YouTube keeps us informed about major safety improvements for the women of Mexico City.  For further information, go to Mashable. 

Dealing With Breast Cancer.

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Click here to watch LA40. 

Talk show host, Katerina Cozias, really outdid herself this week. The topic, “Cancer at 40 – it sucks.”

This show covers a lot of scary cancer topics that most people don’t want to discuss, but really need to know more about.  My hope is that every   women watches the show, then passes it on to someone else. This show could save lives. 

Thank you 

Lois 
Katrina adds…….
“Cancer at 40? – It fricken sucks!” 

But, there is a lot of great life that can be lead post-diagnosis. Had some good conversations on this week’s episode of the talk-show LA40 with these amazing breast cancer survivors, TV writer/producer Lissa Levin and doctor of clinical psychology Indushree Rajan, Ph.D. And of course, with our favorite medical expert, dial-in guest James Simmons of @askthenp. 

Kniterate: The Digital Knitting Machine

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Memo to everyone who knits. You may be losing your job. 

I just saw a new invention on Kickstarter that is a compact, consumer version of an industrial knitting machine. People who love to knit will be able to turn digital designs into knitted garments.

Called Kniterate, the invention can make scarves, beanies, ties, dresses, sweaters, etc. in just a few hours. 

Dress designed by Jinhee Park. Knitting time 5 hours on the Kniterate.

Step 1: Create your design from scratch or using a template  

Step 2: Let Kniterate knit it for you, ready to be worn or assembled 

Step 3: Wear your own unique knits, gift or sell them to others  

Step 4: Share them online with the Kniterate community

Kniterate will not he available till next year. If you want to donate to their Kickstarter campaign, click here.

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April 1 Marks 40 Years For Lois And Eliot   

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This Saturday, Eliot and I will be living together 40 years.  This November, we will be married 38 years. We always celebrate both anniversaries. Considering we are together 24/7, one could say we should be celebrating over 100 years. 

Whatever the number is, we decided to do something outrageous to mark the occasion. We both agreed to get “Warholed.”

Gallerist Gail Williams, of the Williams McCall Gallery, arranged for master printers, Debbie Carfagno and Michael Enns, to produce Warhol-like silkscreen portraits of us. The artists worked for Warhol in the late 1970’s until his death in 1987. 

The whole experience was wonderful. We were stylized and photographed. Then Debbie and Michael did their Warhol interpretation. We couldn’t be more pleased. The portraits represent the best of memories. 

Thank you Gail, Dawn, Debbie and Michael. 

Lois and Eliot 

Town Hall 

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Facebook has a new feature that just may entice you to become a member of the social media platform.

Facebook has started a Town Hall section which allows you to have easy access to your local, state and federal government representatives. With just a click of a button, you will be able to call or email them. No more hassles trying to find and communicate with local politicians. 

These days, reaching out to your local reps is of ultra importance.  Many of you want your voices heard. This is a super, easy way to do it.

Facebook also encourages you to follow your local reps. If you do, their posts will automatically appear in your news feeds. You will be able to comment on their posts and share the information with your family and friends.

Additionally, Town Hall will also send you Election Reminders for local elections. Facebook wants to be your one-stop political resource. 

Take advantage of it. You are living in the digital age. 

Guilty As Charged 

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When I was in my ’20s, I would get furious if someone referred to me as a girl. I would open my big mouth to correct them. “I am woman, hear me roar.” 

In the last number of years. I find myself referring to other females as “girls.” I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. It just slips out. I know where it’s coming from. I want to be a girl. I want to be young again with my whole career ahead of me. 

Instead, I’m an elderly woman pretending to be young. While I’m working, I feel young. It works very well until I pass a mirror. Then I scream in horror. Who is that senior woman looking back at me? 

My friend, Kent Karosen, Managing Director/Partner of Cantor Fitzgerald, and author “Why Can’t Grandma Remember My Name?” hates when I call the women in his office, “girls.” The ladies are in their late 20’s, so to me they are “girls.” He is always correcting me. It’s embarrassing, especially since I have been a career woman all my life.

I also recently read that actress Mayim Bialik really dislikes when people calling women “girls”. She also did a YouTube video about it.  The Big Bang Theory star wants people to think about the language they use when describing women. She is really passionate about it. Her video generated over 44,000 views.  She makes some great points. I hope you watch it.

Whizzing By 

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Stan and me

I love discovering new inventions and introducing them to others. That is my specialty. I turned that passion into a profession. That joy never gets old.  

My new discovery may seem like one for those under 50, but may be us older folks can have some fun too with a portable, foldable, electric scooter. These are the kind of e-bikes that can be used for a 20-mile joy ride. Or we can use an e-bike when we go shopping to avoid parking problems and parking fees. 

I first learned about the Whizzy Ride e-scooters from Wojciech Stan Stanowski, one of the entrepreneurs who brought the Whizzy scooters to the United States, first stop Miami. We met each other at a Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce meeting last week. When Stan heard I was a publicist in the consumer electronics industry, he invited me to his showroom at 820 Collins Avenue to see the lineup of Whizzy bikes. 

The scooters are foldable and can easily be transported in a car or on a boat. Other features include no gas expense and bluetooth speakers to connect your phone and listen to your favorite music during a ride.

You can buy or rent. $1,385 purchase price. Let me know if you want a test ride. I will make all of the arrangements. 

 

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A View From The Balcony 

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Allen Hirsch, the inventor of HandL phone cases, our client, spent the day with us yesterday, taking in the view. First and foremost, Allen is a well known, international artist, who has painted a dozen Time magazine covers. I have talked about him several times in my DigiDame posts. 

His art studio is in his SoHo loft in New York City. He carries his art supplies with him everywhere. We watched him do his thing on canvas for two plus hours. After he was done, he created the digital landscape below on his iPad in 15 minutes. We watched both of his creations with great admiration. The speed of the iPad painting reminded us of the wonders of technology.  

We can’t imagine what’s next. 

The materials

The Artist

Prepping the canvas

Analyzing the work

Changing The Mood

Zeroing In On The Details

A Long Shot

A Sneak Peek

The Masterpiece

A Digital Painting With A Different View

Sperm Counts

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Three different men sent me stories today about a big advancement in semen analyzation. They  thought I should share with my DigiDame readers. It’s a serious topic that doesn’t get talked about enough.  Thank you to all of them. 

A group of Boston scientists developed an app and camera attachment that analyzes sperm quality using a smartphone. Their findings were presented in a study published Wednesday in the Journal Scientific Translational Medicine. 

It’s amazing just how many functions our smartphones can perform. This new one shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. Several tech publications wrote about this development today. Mashable was one of them. Read their comprehensive story here.

The new smartphone-based semen analyzer takes the usual high expense and embarrassment out of sperm testing. The semen analyzer focuses on concentration and how well the cells can move around. This is very important to get the full picture of fertility. The smartphone accessory and microchip cost $4.45 to build.  In the past, this process cost tens of thousands of dollars on a traditional computer. 

The inventors said the sperm analyzer has a 98 percent accuracy. “More than 45 million couples worldwide experience infertility and more than 40 percent of those cases involve male infertility.”

The product should be available next year.

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