Author: Alerts CC

Credit cards are fairly common in the American wallet: about seven in 10 consumers have at least one of them. Usually, they’re nothing to get too excited about — but a new card offering from JP Morgan Chase has a certain niche of customers clamoring to get their hands on one.

Last month, JP Morgan revealed its Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, a high-end card with a wealth of travel rewards that seeks to stand among the ranks of competitors’ offerings, like the American Express Black Card or the Citi Prestige.

Hundreds of applications for the Sapphire Reserve poured in to Chase’s website before the launch was even official, and the credit card company soon ran out of its run of metal-alloy card material, having to issue temporary plastic ones instead.

“I have never seen such interest in a credit card, and I’ve been doing this for 15 years,” travel blogger Gary Leff told the Associated Press.

Leff is exactly the kind of demographic the new card appeals to: travel buffs. Its sign-up rewards include 100,000 travel points, and triple points are offered for spending on travel and dining anywhere in the world.

“It’s an incredible deal,” said another travel blogger, Ben Schlappig, to the New York Times. “The card is almost too good to be true. I think a lot of people are scared that some of the perks will be cut.”

Significantly, a majority of the Sapphire Reserve cardholders are Millennials, a demographic that has been statistically resistant to making purchases on credit.

The perks do not come without a price tag, though. The annual fee for the new Chase card is $450. Yet, its cult status already appears to have bolstered consumer interest and confidence.

“It significantly exceeded our expectations,” said Amy Bonitatibus, a spokesperson for Chase. She added that the company has no plans to change any of its loyalty or points programs for the card.

Workplaces seem to be steadily unsafe in Connecticut. Within one year’s time, the number of workplace injuries in the state of Connecticut have risen by eight percent. It would seem that the Land of Steady Habits is nothing if not consistent. According to a recent report by UConn Health, this marks the seventh straight year that the rate of work-related illnesses and injuries remained above the national average.

In a report based on workers’ compensation records, doctors’ statements, and surveys conducted by the Connecticut Labor Department and Bureau of Labor Statistics, Connecticut’s rate of occupational illnesses was 18.7 illnesses for every 10,000 workers — seven percent higher than the national average. In fact, ever since the statistics for the national workforce illness average was made available, Connecticut’s rate has hovered above it.

Some of the highest rates of illnesses and injuries are found in the manufacturing and transportation/utilities sectors, which found 53 and 44 cases per 10,000 workers, respectively. Typically, these jobs are among some of the most dangerous, but they also may reflect better reporting practices. Even so, workers in these industries need to take extra precautions to ensure their safety while on the job.

Although the financial implications of these workplace illnesses and injuries were not included in the report, studies have shown that reducing accidents by even 10% can result in an annual savings of nearly $60,000. Since the rate of incidents in the Connecticut report includes preventable illnesses, there are definitive steps companies can take to ensure safety, including office improvements and the use of safer chemicals. Although not every accident or illness can be prevented, the use of proper safety equipment and following workplace safety guidelines can often eliminate the risk of job site accidents.

Two United Airlines pilots were arrested this weekend after attempting to board their transatlantic flight intoxicated. Police arrived at the Glasgow Airport as the pair tried to pass through a staff check-in before their 9 a.m. flight to Newark, New Jersey.

“Concerns were raised and the police were called,” said an unnamed source. “There was a fair police presence as it’s a sensitive and highly secure part of the airport. Staff are subject to intensive and thorough security procedures in just the same way as passengers. No chances are taken nowadays.”

The plane was grounded for most of the day, finally taking off at 6:30 p.m.

A police spokesperson reported, “We can confirm two men, aged 35 and 45, have been arrested and are presently detained in police custody in connection with alleged offences under the Railway and Transport Safety Act (2003) Section 93.”

Section 93 refers to the prohibited act of “carrying out pilot function or activity while exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol.”

This incident followed a similar occurrence from six weeks ago in which two pilots suspected of being over the alcohol limit were arrested at the same airport just moments before their plane was due to take off. Police boarded the cockpit of the AirTransat plane and removed the men around 1 p.m. on July 16.

The scheduled flight to Toronto, Canada was grounded for the rest of the day and passengers were put up in hotels overnight. Inconvenienced passengers have also been promised up to 500 British pounds (about 653 U.S. dollars) in compensation.

These recent incidents are just the latest in a series of pilot scandals plaguing the airline industry. Last year, a pilot was jailed for flying an executive jet after a three-day binge. Ian Jennings was detained at Norwich airport after landing the chartered plane transporting millionaire Andre Serruys and a woman and three teenage girls. His blood alcohol level was found to be three times the legal limit and he was locked up for nine months.

Last April, a Jet Blue pilot was charged with flying while intoxicated with 151 passengers on board a flight from Orlando to New York.

Last August, four of the five crew members on an AirBaltic flight failed alcohol tests while transporting 109 passengers. The co-pilot was seven times over the alcohol limit.

Every day, more than 8 million people travel via airplane, which is why the drink-fly limit is so stringent. In the United Kingdom, the blood alcohol limit for commercial pilots is 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood – less than half the driving limit in Scotland.

“The dangers for air crew are the same, if not worse, as those presented by [drunk driving],” said aviation expert Martin Greenfield. “It’s all about safety – this must be paramount at all times. I personally would have no sympathy with any pilot who would take a chance with their alcohol level. Pilots and ground staff who fall foul through their own misjudgment face heavy sanctions both in terms of the law and their career.”

Malaria is one of the most historically devastating diseases this world has ever seen. Recent advancements and developments in the medical field have helped to bring the deadly parasitic condition close to eradication, but a new finding has researchers concerned.

According to Wellcome.ac.uk, resistance to two drugs widely used to treat and prevent malaria have been found to be developing in people near Thailand-Myanmar. Specifically, genetic mutations in the kelch gene are believed to causing the malaria parasite to become resistant to the drugs mefloquine and artusenate.

“This study demonstrates for the first time that artemisinin resistance leads to failure of the artemisinin partner drug, in this case, mefloquine. This means that the first-line artemisinin combination therapy introduced here in 1994 has finally fallen to resistance,” said Professor François Nosten, Director of Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU).

According to a recent study published in the journal Nature and co-authored by researchers at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, efforts to fight malaria across the continent of Africa have cut the rate of infections in half since 2000. These positive efforts could be at-risk if this strain of resistance spreads to the African sub-continent or it naturally develops on its own there as well.

These findings are part of a ten-year study of 1,005 patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria on the Thai-Myanmar border. So far, this is the only reported location where this particular resistance has developed, but the possibility of years of work towards global eradication has some of the world’s leading authorities more than a little concerned.

“The evidence is clear: Artemisinin resistance leads to partner drug resistance and thereby the failure of artemisinin combination treatments,” said Oxford Professor Nicholas White, Chairman of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) and chair of the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN). “The spread of artemisinin resistant Plasmodium falciparum is perhaps the greatest threat to our current hopes of eliminating malaria from the world.”

The late Muhammad Ali, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 74, was known principally for his athletic prowess in the boxing ring and his passion as an outspoken social and civil rights activist. Many didn’t know, however, that Ali was also a visual artist.

Five pieces drawn and signed by Ali are up for auction as part of a larger estate sale from New York’s RoGallery. They date from 1979 and deal with a wide range of subjects, from his religious faith in Mosque II to his career in Sting Like a Bee and his political activism in Let My People Go — the last of which was originally commissioned by the World Federation of United Nations Associations.

The sale had been planned since before Ali’s death. The works come from the personal collection of Baird Jones, a routine figure in New York’s art and nightclub scene. Jones also ran with everyone from Andy Warhol’s Factory and Studio 54 before passing away in 2008.

The auction will take place online, where more than 71% of collectors have made art purchases, and will also feature unique pieces from other well-known celebrities and public figures who aren’t famous for visual art, including musician Phil Collins, author Henry Miller, and serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

RoGallery owner Robert Rogal described the Muhammad Ali prints as the man’s “personality, his life, in visual form.”

“I knew the Muhammad Ali was a hit from the day I got it,” Rogal told Artnet. Originally priced at $200, these limited edition and signed prints have gone for as much as $2,900 at auction — “and that was before he passed away,” Rogal added. Other items in the auction have starting bids ranging from $50 to $2,000.

The unique style of Muhammad Ali’s drawings is emblematic of Ali himself, Rogal said. “He was not trained in poetry; he was not trained in drawing… he had a natural talent.”

Angela Russo was missing at the time of her 25th birthday last month. Tragically, there was, and will be, no celebration — Russo’s body was found in a shallow grave at the end of May. According to KPNX-TV 12 News, Russo’s mother is now warning others about the potential danger in online dating.

“She said ‘I’ll be home tomorrow after work, I promise and I love you’ those were the last words she said to me,” Russo’s mother Diana Schalow said.

Russo is believed to have then gone on a date with Lashawn Johnson, the man police officials now believe ultimately murdered her after they found her cell phone at his apartment. Russo’s mother said her daughter was always the type to look for the good in people and believes that may have led to her trusting the online dating scene more than perhaps she should have.

“I would always tell her make good choices, good choices, ‘I will mom and I love you,’” Schalow said.

Russo isn’t alone, though. Approximately 59% of all internet users agree with the statement, “Online dating is a good way to meet people.” In today’s day of mobile technology and social media, there’s certainly a lot of truth to that notion. Still, Schalow is now on a mission to try and raise awareness over the risks that online dating can have to help prevent other families from suffering a similar tragedy.

In addition to finding Russo’s cell phone at Johnson’s apartment, investigators said the man’s live-in girlfriend directed them to the spot of the shallow grave where Russo’s body was found. Biological evidence at the apartment also suggested an attack occurred in the kitchen, which authorities ultimately believe led to her kidnapping and death.

While Johnson did not admit to guilt, he was quoted as saying that his “life was over” and that he “f***** up and made a mistake” during interrogation. Johnson is currently being held on $1 million bond for charges including second-degree murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and abandoning and concealing a body.

At the SID Display Week 2016 trade show in San Francisco last week, Samsung stole the spotlight with its latest advancement in display technology: a flexible screen that can be rolled into a 10 mm radius tube.

Samsung has been experimenting with flexible screen technology for several years now, and some of their efforts have been introduced to the general public, such as the “Edge” products with their curved displays. However, the company pushed the concept beyond its conceivable limits with the creation of “rollable” technology.

At Display Week 2016, Samsung showed off the new 5.7 inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a pixel density of 386 pixels per inch. The entire product weighs only five grams.

The tech is not perfect or even complete at this time. The screen does not yet have a touch layer or a battery, which will ultimately add to the size and weight of the final commercially available product. It is also unclear how many “rolls” the panel can handle before it cracks or breaks.

These display panels are not yet commercially available, however, and Samsung may have a long way to go before it can mass produce “rollable” displays.

SID’s Display Week is the premier event for the electronic display industry. It is where the newest breakthrough technologies are introduced as exhibitors and attendees representing the greatest display-engineering talent from all over the world gather to share ideas. While about 50% of the largest U.S. trade shows take place in Las Vegas, Chicago, and Orlando, the San Francisco Bay Area is the ideal location for such an event as SID’s Display Week as it remains the world’s hub for the tech industry as a whole.

Apple is now teaming up with high-fashion brand Coach for a new product that will be available this June.

Apple Insider reports that Coach sales associates have been informed that new bands for the leather Apple Watch will be arriving in June, after Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC).

At any given moment, the average person is wearing four fine leather goods. That number could increase once Apple’s leather products start selling.

The bands will be available in black, red, white, and brown and each is expected to be priced at $150.

The Apple Watch went on sale last year and since then Apple has released new styles of bands. Just last month, Apple launched new nylon bands at the unveiling of the iPhone SE and iPad Pro.

According to Tech Times, the straps for the watch will be part of Coach’s Spring and Summer 2016 collection and will go with the newest design of Coach handbags.

Along with the new fashion developments, Apple is planning on releasing few products in the near future as well.

The Apple Watch 2 is expected to be released shortly and some are projecting the release to be at this years WWDC, along with the new Coach bands.

The Parent Herald reports that a rumor of a March 21 release date for the Apple Watch 2 caused much frustration among Apple enthusiasts, and believes that a June release date could be unlikely.

Although a September release date could be in the works, Barry Lam, Quanta president and Apple Watch supplier hinted at an earlier release. “Quanta and Apple are currently developing the second-generation of the Apple Watch, expected late next year in the second quarter,” Lam said.

The WWDC will run from June 13 through June 17 in San Francisco, California. Apple released a statement saying that developers will learn about the future of its four main operating systems at the conference: iOS, OS X, tvOX and watchOS.