Category Archives: senior lifestyle

Bios For All Ages

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Two years ago, my niece Mara told me that her then five year old was reading biographies. I was immediately fascinated. I love biographies, but it usually takes me weeks, or months, to finish a book. I learned that my grand nephew, Ari, was reading a book in one night, or a few days. I was amazed.

Mara is a librarian so I knew this was something I wanted to know more about. She gave me the information, but I tucked it away someplace and then forgot about it. Two days ago, I was at Books & Books, in Coral Gables, and noticed a section of the children’s area devoted to biographies. I realized I was staring at the biography books Mara told me about.

I know I’m not five years, old but I couldn’t help myself. I bought five books. While they are written very simply, they are filled with facts that I didn’t know about. These books are a quick read for you, and perfect to share with young ones. There are hundreds of them. I plan to read the five I bought, and keep ordering more from Amazon, or make more trips to Books & Books.

I am fascinated by biographies. They teach us so much about life. After I finish each one, I plan to send my copy to any parent or grandparent who expresses an interest in sharing it with a child.

Memo to Mara. Thank you for the heads up. These are terrific. I am so happy you shared this with me.

Oh, What A Night

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We just came back from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fl. We went to see Frankie Valli in concert. At 83, he was amazing. While he definitely looks older and moves a little slower, the voice and spirit was as young as it was in 1962.

He may not hit the high notes as well as he did before, but compared to most of the male singers today, he did very well. It’s astonishing how much energy he exuded for almost two hours on stage. I was a little nervous that he would pass out, but that was my neuroses, not his. He showed no signs of exhaustion, and knew how to pace himself.

It would have been fun to ask Frankie about getting older. How does he maintain his energy and strength. Other men his age are sitting in front of a TV set not moving. He can’t sit still. What gives? The answer is probably pretty simple. If you like what you are doing, you can go on forever.

Happy Valentine’s Day

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This photo was taken of Eliot and me October, 2013 in Cuba. It seems so appropriate for today. We were visiting the home of Jose Rodriguez Fuster, a Cuban artist who produces ceramics, paintings, drawings, engravings, and graphic designs.

I fell in love with his work. Please watch the videos because it will show you what he did to rebuild the fishing town of Jaimanitas, just outside of Havana. He turned the entire town into a huge public art exhibition. He is considered as great as Gaudi.

I would go back to Cuba over and over just to be in the company of Fuster’s work.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Love,

Lois

The Smallest Flashlight

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My cousin Jeff collects flashlights. We all thought he was eccentric until there was a hurricane in Miami, mudslides and fires in California, and a heavy duty snowstorm in New York.

When the lights went out, and the flashlights that he gave us guided us though the dark, we too fell in love with these handy little gadgets. That’s why I loved learning about the Slughaus Bullet 02. It’s suppose to be the world’s smallest LED flashlight.

It measures just over an inch long, less than half an inch wide, and weighing just .211 ounces. You can take it with you anywhere. You can attach the miniature flashlight to anything you own. It’s super powerful and retails for $9.99.

I just may buy two or three at that price.

Bitcoin Explained

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At least once a week, someone asks me to explain Bitcoin. I have been holding on to two documents that answer 90 per cent of the questions I have been getting. My friend Alex emailed these explanations to me in December. They are perfect.

Thank you Alex. You are very generous to share this information with us.

Click here to find out about the technology.

Click here to find out about investing.

I hope this helps. I have also enclosed the Wikipedia explanation.

You Can’t Escape

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Your entire privacy is about to go out the window, and there is very little you can do about it.

I know several technologists who are working on tracking devices that will be placed in the clothes you will be buying in the future.

What scares me the most is that you may never know exactly which garments are tracing your steps.

L.L. Bean is one is the companies who wants to put sensors inside your clothes and footwear so they can learn just how you use their clothes. From the minute you purchase one of their items, their sensors are tracking your every move. A song comes to mind. “They will know if you have been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!”

L.L.Bean claims that they will ask you if you want to opt-in when they start selling clothes with sensors. If you don’t want to, the item that caught your eye may not be available without a sensor. Your choices can become very limited. I personally don’t believe any manufacturer will be totally truthful. They may want to be honest, but mistakes will happen.

L.L. Bean has been telling the trade media that all the information collected will be kept confidential. That doesn’t make me any more comfortable.

What if I buy something and don’t wear it for months. Does that mean I get a bad score. and scolded when I go to buy my next item?

What if I buy a larger size? Will I get reprimanded for gaining weight? There is a lot to consider here. I feel like I am being spied on and there is no escape.

You Really Should Join Twitter

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There are so many tidbits posted on Twitter each day. You really should join just to peruse. In one easy swipe, you learn things that would take you all day to read in various publications. It’s like reading headlines. Here is a sample from today.

Waterpik Also Introduced A New Whitening Water Flosser Yesterday

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I didn’t want to tell you about two new water flossers at once. I thought they both deserved special attention. The second unit actually whitens your teeth while you are water flossing.

 

Here are excerpts from the press release we issued.

The Waterpik Whitening Water Flosser is ideal for those who don’t want to use harsh bleaching chemicals or undergo expensive treatments. Clinically proven to remove an additional 25% of teeth stains vs. brushing alone, the Waterpik Whitening Water Flosser is as gentle as regular toothpaste.

Combining patented Water Flosser and Whitening Infuser technologies, the Waterpik® Whitening Water Flosser mixes a gentle whitening agent with water to remove stubborn stains between the teeth and in hard-to-reach places that other products miss.

The whitening process is uncomplicated. Users insert a whitening tablet into the special Water Flosser handle, aim the pressurized water flow at teeth, then Water Floss as usual.

Using the Water Flosser for one minute per day helps restore natural whiteness to teeth in four weeks and maintains a whiter smile with ongoing use.

Delivering all the clinically proven benefits of Water Flossing, the Whitening Water Flosser removes up to 99.9% of plaque from treated areas, improves gum health, helps prevent future tooth decay, and has been proven safe for teeth and gums.

The Waterpik® Whitening Water Flosser is also accepted by the American Dental Association.

According to Dr. Chris Strandburg, DDS  “The Whitening Water Flosser is a threefer because it whitens your teeth, it freshens your breath and it makes your gums healthy.”

The new Waterpik® Whitening Water Flosser offers a variety of features, including the patented whitening infuser, 10 pressure settings, 90 seconds of water capacity, a removable and dishwasher-safe reservoir, in-handle water flow control, and a new swivel-handle hose for improved access to hard-to-reach tooth surfaces.

The Water Flosser includes four interchangeable tips for standard use, as well as for those with special dental needs, such as implants and dental braces. Each Waterpik® Whitening Water Flosser comes with 30 whitening tablets (a one-month supply).

Priced between $79.99 – $99.99 (depending on model), the Whitening Water Flosser comes with a three-year warranty.

Now you know what I know. I bet you want one. Let me know.

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Good News For Deaf Theater Goers

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Photo: Getty Images

My big confession. I miss many words being said on stage during a Broadway, or off-Broadway, theatrical production. Either the words sound muffled, or I can’t hear them at all. I also have trouble with accents. I can miss an entire conversation. I hate it.

I was thrilled to learn that a Tel Aviv-based tech company, called GalaPro, has created an app that will display a live closed-captioning system on my smartphone. Now, I can easily follow the script. No more second guessing what is being said.

All I have to do is download the free app and log onto the specific theater’s wi-fi network. GalaPro will do the rest. The app will automatically sync with the show, and then display the lines and the lyrics.The words will appear in red on a black background so that the glow on my smartphone screen will not bother neighbors.

GalaPro has signed many theaters in New York City and around the United States. This is going to change everything. I hope all theaters take advantage of this technology. Many people with hearing problems will definitely come back to live productions. That’s a good thing.

Read more in NY Post.

Facebook Can Be A War Zone

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Mark Zuckerberg, the 33-year old tech billionaire, who created Facebook 13 years ago, never could have predicted that a New York real estate developer and TV personality, would have such a dramatic impact on his business. I am a frequent user on Facebook. I can attest that the social media platform can be a war zone when people start discussing Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.

It gets so rough at times that people leave Facebook for weeks or months. They just don’t want to see folks, who they considered good friends for many years, make certain remarks with which they vehemently disagree. Facebook can be a totally exasperating experience. You log in to wish someone a happy birthday, and you end up in a heated debate with another person over a Trump remark or policy.

Meanwhile Wall Street is blaming the fact that users are spending less time on Facebook because they are “consuming information rather than interacting with their friends and family members online.” Zuckerberg now promises that Facebook users will see more posts from family and friends and fewer from businesses and publishers. “Facebook is prioritizing news articles that it determines are trustworthy, informative and local, with the help of users.”

Trying to defend the amount of time users spend on Facebook, Zuckerberg also said, “So let me be clear: Helping people connect is more important than maximizing time they spend on Facebook.” It was reported that the company reduced time spent on its social media platform by roughly 50 million hours every day, or 5 percent, in the final quarter of 2017.

Facebook has 2.13 billion monthly active users worldwide, an increase of 14 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. However, the tech firm saw its daily active users in the United States and Canada drop from 185 million to 184 million from the third to fourth quarter.

I researched a lot of stories to see if Zuckerberg ever admitted that the current administration could be having a negative impact on his creation. The closest I got was this Zuckerberg statement: “2017 was also a hard year. The world feels anxious and divided and that’s played out on Facebook.”

I guess that’s a start.