Current Events in October 2018

Bazzini LLC of Allentown, Pa., is recalling 4,000 pounds of Roasted and Salted Colossal Natural, Super Colossal Natural and Rams Head Natural In Shell Pistachios.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The following products are being recalled:

Bazzini’s Roasted & Salted In-Shell Pistachios Super Colossal Natural 5 Lbs Bag

• UPC #0 75062 30701 5

• Date Code 1J255 Best By 6/12/2019
• Date Code 1J254 Best By 6/11/2019
• Date Code 2J269 Best By 6/26/2019
• Date Code 1J242 Best By 5/30/2019
• Date Code 1J275 Best By 7/2/2019
• Date Code 1J255 Best By 6/12/2019
• Date Code 1J254 Best By 6/11/2019
• Date Code 2J269 Best By 6/26/2019

Bazzini’s Roasted & Salted In-Shell Pistachios Colossal Natural. 5 Pound Bag

• UPC #0 75062 30711 4

• Date Code 2J241 Best By 5/29/2019
• Date Code 1J254 Best By 6/11/2019
• Date Code 2J274 Best By 7/1/2019
• Date Code 2J249 Best By 6/6/2019
• Date Code 1J250 Best By 6/7/2019
• Date Code 1J275 Best By 7/2/2019

Bazzini’s Roasted & Salted In-Shell Pistachios Super Colossal Pistachios 25 Lb Bulk Box

• UPC #0 75062 30700 8

• Date Code 1J268 Best By 6/25/2019
• Date Code 1J249 Best By 6/6/2019

Bazzini’s Roasted & Salted In-Shell Pistachios Rams Head Natural 16 Oz Bag

• UPC #0 75062 00536 2

• Date Code 1J263 Best By 6/20/2019
• Date Code 1J254 Best By 6/11/2019
• Date Code 1J255 Best By 6/12/2019
• Date Code 2J269 Best by 6/26/2019
• Date Code 1J242 Best By 5/30/2019
• Date Code 1J249 Best By 6/6/2019
• Date Code 1J257 Best By 6/14/2019
• Date Code 2J249 Best By 6/6/2019
• Date Code 2J262 Best By 6/19/2019
• Date Code 2J264 Best By 6/21/2019
• Date Code 2J243 Best By 5/31/2019
• Date Code 2J263 Best By 6/20/2019
• Date Code 2J270 Best By 6/27/2019
• Date Code 1J275 Best By 7/2/2019

Bazzini’s Roasted & Salted In-Shell Pistachios Colossal Natural 16 Oz Bag

• UPC #0 75062 00535 5

• Date Code 1J242 Best By 5/30/2019
• Date Code 1J270 Best By 6/27/2019
• Date Code 2J270 Best By 6/27/2019
• Date Code 2J256 Best By 6/13/2019
• Date Code 2J254 Best By 6/11/2019
• Date Code 2J261 Best By 6/18/2019
• Date Code 2J268 Best By 6/25/2019
• Date Code 1J268 Best By 6/25/2019
• Date Code 1J255 Best By 6/12/2019
• Date Code 1J275 Best By 7/2/2019

The recalled products, which come in red, white and blue bags, were distributed through retail sale, direct delivery, and mail order in New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Washington DC and Virginia.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at (800) 477-3234 from 9AM – 5PM or by email at www.recall@bazzini.com

American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 118 model year 2019 Honda Insights, Odysseys and Ridgelines.

The Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) control unit may have a manufacturing error, possibly resulting in the airbags or seatbelt pretensioners not deploying in the event of a crash.

If the airbags or seatbelt pretensioners do not function as intended, there would be an increased risk of injury.

What to do

Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the SRS unit, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin November 5, 2018.

Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are B2R, C2P, and Z2Q.

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling 18,055 model year 2018-2019 Jeep Wranglers.

The front track bar brackets may be improperly welded, which can cause the bracket to separate from the frame, reducing steering capability and increase the risk of a crash.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and repair the track bar bracket welds, as necessary, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin November 17, 2018.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is UA5.

Facebook now says 30 million users -- not the 50 million, as originally reported -- had their login tokens compromised in a breach discovered last month.

The tokens for those 50 million users, plus an additional 40 million, were reset as a precaution.

In a security update, Facebook said its investigation found that unknown hackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that existed between July 2017 and September 2018. The flaw that allowed the attackers to get in involved Facebook's "View As" feature, which allows users to see what their profile looks like to other members.

The interaction of three different software bugs allowed the hackers to steal access tokens, in effect allowing them to access the corresponding accounts. The tokens work like digital keys that keep users logged in to Facebook so they don't have to repeatedly enter their username and passwords.

Spike in activity

In the security update, Facebook reported that the attack was revealed when engineers saw an unusual spike in activity that started on September 14.

"On September 25, we determined this was actually an attack and identified the vulnerability," the company said. "Within two days, we closed the vulnerability, stopped the attack, and secured people’s accounts by resetting the access tokens for people who were potentially exposed."

As a precaution, Facebook turned off “View As” and said it is working with the FBI to determine the parties that might be responsible for the attack.

While fewer Facebook users were affected than first reported, Facebook has revealed the extent of compromised information was greater for some than for others.

Exposed data

Attackers accessed two sets of information on about 15 million users. It included name and contact details such as email and phone number.

For another 14 million users, the attackers accessed additional information that was included in their profiles, such as username, gender, locale/language, relationship status, religion, hometown, self-reported current city, birthdate, device types used to access Facebook, education, work, the last 10 places they checked into or were tagged in.

For 1 million users, Facebook has determined that the attackers did not access any information. Facebook users concerned about this breach can determine whether they were affected by visiting the Facebook help center.

Facebook's update follows criticism from Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC), which enforces privacy regulations for the European Union (EU). At the time, the agency complained that Facebook's initial disclosure of the breach was light on details.

A new report from Stanford University has found that, after weeding out millions of fake comments, 99.7 percent of unique comments filed on the FCC’s website ahead of the agency’s vote against it in December 2017 were in favor of keeping net neutrality protections.

Some of the fake comments left amongst the 22 million public comments filed in total were made through “sophisticated campaigns that filed fake comments using the names of real people -- including journalists, Senators, and dead people,” Ryan Singel, a Media and Strategy Fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, wrote in a blog post Monday.

“With the fog of fraud and spam lifted from the comment corpus, lawmakers and their staff, journalists, interested citizens and policymakers can use these reports to better understand what Americans actually said about the repeal of net neutrality protections and why 800,000 Americans went further than just signing a petition for a redress of grievances by actually putting their concerns in their own words,” Singel said.

Phony comments

The report noted that not all non-unique comments filed via organized campaigns were fake, since many commenters used form letters to voice their support for net neutrality. However, Singel and his colleagues said, “due to the large amount of noise created by fake comments, it remains very difficult to locate the real signals in the non-unique comments.”

For the analysis, the researchers used machine learning models to identify more than 800,000 unique comments filed from April 2017 to October 27. A closer look at these comments showed that these commenters were overwhelmingly against rolling back net neutrality protections.

The report authors found that 99.7 percent of the sampled comments supported keeping the protections of the 2015 Open Internet Order.

In terms of political leanings, the report found that “while there were more comments on average from House districts represented by Democrats, a substantial number of unique comments were filed in Republican districts.” The average number of comments in all districts was 1,489, with an average of 1,202 in Republican-held districts

The report authors also found that unique commenters had a clear understanding of the issue in question, contrary to assertions from lawmakers. Many commenters referenced the issue of whether the FCC classifies broadband providers under Title I or Title II of the Communications Act.

The report follows an admission from the FCC that it lied about a DDoS attack that temporarily took down its comment section in the lead-up to the historic decision, which prevented some consumers from expressing their support of net neutrality regulations.

A judge recently ruled that the FCC must publicly release records related to the fake comments.

The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the price of the drugs they advertise on television. Current rules only require manufacturers to disclose side effects in television ads.

"If we want to have a real market for drugs, why not have companies disclose their prices in the ads, too?" Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar asked in a speech Monday. "Consumers would have much more balanced information, and companies would have a very different set of incentives for setting their prices.”

In anticipation of Azar's speech proposing the new rule, the pharmaceutical industry unveiled a set of voluntary guidelines regarding drug prices. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a major trade group, said member companies would use TV ads to direct consumers to information about drug costs.

Voluntary action not enough

“The Administration and Congress have called on our industry to provide cost information in DTC advertisements, and our members are voluntarily stepping up to the plate,” said Stephen J. Ubl CEO of PhRMA.

That's not good enough, Azar said.

“Our vision for a new, more transparent drug-pricing system does not rely on voluntary action," Azar said in a statement. "The drug industry remains resistant to providing real transparency around their prices, including the sky-high list prices that many patients pay. So while the pharmaceutical industry’s action today is a small step in the right direction, we will go further and continue to implement the President’s blueprint to deliver new transparency and put American patients first. “

What the rule would do

The government's proposed rule would require direct-to-consumer television ads for prescription drugs that are paid for by Medicare or Medicaid to include the list price if it is greater than $35 for a month’s supply. Just about every drug would fall under that category.

HHS says the 10 drugs most commonly advertised on television have list prices ranging from $535 to $11,000 per month or for the usual course of therapy. According to HHS data, 47 percent of U.S. consumers have high-deductible health plans, meaning they often pay the list price of a drug.

While the administration's proposal is being met with resistance by the drug industry, it's being greeted with a dose of skepticism by consumer advocates.

Drug pricing expert Rachael Sachs, an associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, tells NPR that the proposed rule lacks penalties for drug companies that violate it. She also expressed doubts that the rule would be finalized.

On Tuesday, U.S. judge Alison Nathan approved Tesla and CEO Elon Musk’s $40 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), following her request earlier this month for a joint letter explaining why the settlement is “fair and reasonable.”

The government’s fraud charges stemmed from a now-infamous tweet from Musk, in which he said he had secured the funding necessary to take Tesla private even though he had not. The tweet sent the company’s stock as much as 13 percent that day, which prompted the SEC to claim that Musk misled investors.

Experts said Judge Nathan’s request for the settlement to be justified was unusual but not unheard of. Jay Dubow, a partner at Pepper Hamilton and a former branch chief with the SEC's enforcement division, explained in an interview with CNN that executives usually aren’t allowed to remain CEO when they are forced to step down as chairman.

The settlement was widely expected to approved by the judge, who had said previously that it was her regular practice to request letters of that nature. Judge Nathan ultimately signed off on the deal this week after reviewing a detailed joint filing, which asserted that the settlement was indeed in the best interest of investors.

Settlement terms

As part of the settlement, Tesla and Musk will each pay separate $20 million fines. The penalties will be distributed to harmed shareholders through a court-approved process, the SEC said. The deal also calls for a new chairman to take Musk’s place, although he will still be allowed to remain CEO of the company.

Now that the deal has been signed off, Tesla can focus on its business. After a turbulent year, the company hit its Model 3 production targets in the third quarter. The company’s electric sedan also recently received a five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA.

Last week, analyst Maynard Um said in a note to clients that Tesla seems poised to “achieve profitability in the second half of this year.” He expressed confidence in the company, despite Musk’s erratic behavior.

"Musk's actions and behaviour could adversely impact Tesla's multiple," he wrote. However, "Musk will continue to be a key part of Tesla in the foreseeable future."

Over the past year, Lyft has developed a tier of subscription plans in hopes of converting vehicle owners to ride-when-you-want customers.

Lyft’s plans included the “Personal Plan,” a subscription program for riders who frequently use the same route; the Commute plan -- a month-long subscription that requires users to use the same starting and ending points, such as work or home; and the All-Access plan, which lets users lock in a set number of rides for a total cost upfront and allows the subscriber to ride wherever they want to go.

All-Access had limited availability, but the plan is now available everywhere in the U.S. Those subscribing to All-Access get 30 rides (of up to $15 each) per month for $299. Simple as that.

“The All-Access plan is a great option for passengers who are frequently using Lyft -- whether that’s getting to and from work, the gym or running errands,” Katie Dill VP of Design at Lyft told ConsumerAffairs.

“This is the first step toward delivering on our goal of making car ownership optional and we’re constantly looking for more ways to provide passengers with the easiest, most convenient options possible.”

The math makes sense

Lyft’s not the first to offer an automobile subscription plan -- Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, and BMW each have one -- but it’s the first where all of the out-of-pocket costs (maintenance, fuel, insurance, fees, etc.) as well as the depreciation of the car’s value are totally absorbed by the company rather than making the consumer responsible for the typical added expenses.

And those extra costs can ramp up the cost of car ownership more than you might imagine.

ConsumerAffairs did a comparative study using Kelley Blue Book’s cost-to-own calculator and found that, over a 5-year period, it costs a consumer $29,670 (40 cents per mile) to own and maintain a 2018 Kia Soul. Kelley estimates that the out-of-pocket costs for owning that Kia Soul amount to $18,861 alone.

Calculating the 5-year costs of other models using Kelley’s widget, ConsumerAffairs found that a 2017 Subaru Forester would run $41,355 (55 cents per mile) with $23,621 out-of-pocket. More of an SUV person? A 2018 Chevy Suburban is estimated to cost $59,074 (79 cents per mile) over five years, including $29,647 in out-of-pocket expenses.

In Lyft’s estimation, consumers who use the All-Access Plan for all of their personal car needs can save up to 59 percent per month compared to owning a car. However, actual costs vary by city and personal expenses may vary. The cost of car ownership was sourced from AAA’s report “Your Driving Costs.”

If you’re someone who frets over the fine print, Lyft’s plan is consumer-friendly on the caveats. Rides have to be $15 or less, and if a ride goes over $15, the subscriber just pays the difference. Added rides are discounted 5 percent, and rides do not roll over to the following period. Customers can cancel their subscription at any time.

Volkswagen’s subsidiary Audi has been hit with a fine of nearly $930 million over its role in the diesel emissions cheating scandal that first began unfolding three years ago.

In a statement on Tuesday, the automaker said it accepted the fine and does not plan to appeal.

“Audi AG has accepted the fine” imposed by German prosecutors for “deviations from regulatory requirements in certain V6 and V8 diesel aggregates (motors) and diesel vehicles,” the company said in a statement.

Audi said, "the fine will directly affect Volkswagen AG's financial earnings and, as a negative special item, reduce the group earnings for fiscal year 2018 accordingly."

Billions in fines

The diesel emissions scandal first broke in 2015, when VW admitted that it had installed “defeat devices” in 11 million diesel-powered cars worldwide. The software enabled the cars to pass emissions tests even though they emitted up to 40 times the legal amount of pollution the rest of the time.

The fine levied against Audi is just the latest consequence of the scandal. Volkswagen has already shelled out billions of dollars in fines for its participation in the scandal, and in June, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was arrested for his connection with the scandal.

Prosecutors said the latest probe concerned V6 and V8 diesel engines manufactured by Audi and installed in Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche brands, as well as Audi vehicles equipped with EA 189 and EA 288 engines made by Volkswagen.

By agreeing to pay the latest fine, Audi is helping to bring its parent company Volkswagen “one step closer to putting its ongoing diesel emissions scandal behind it,” CNBC said.

Doctors visits can be incredibly stressful and anxiety-provoking for young children, and those nervous feelings have also been found to spread to parents.

In an effort to see the effect doctor’s visits have on both children and parents’ nerves, researchers at Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan evaluated responses from the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. The team also examined several ways parents can go about alleviating their children’s nerves before a visit to the doctor.

“Regular checkups are vital during early childhood, not only because of important preventive services like vaccinations, but because they provide parents an opportunity to discuss health concerns with their pediatrician,” said Sarah Clark, co-director of the Mott Poll. “If a child fears the doctor’s office, health visits can be a challenging experience for the whole family.”

Fear of shots and sickness

The results from the Mott Report included responses from over 700 parents who had children aged two through five years old.

Fifty percent of all children expressed some kind of fear related to doctors’ visits, with the majority of children -- 66 percent of two- to three-year-olds and 89 percent of four- to five-year-olds -- saying they were scared of getting shots. Over 40 percent of two- to three-year-olds had a fear of strangers, while 14 percent of four- to five-year-olds had the same fear. Thirteen percent of the older group were also nervous based on memories of being sick at a younger age.

“Parents say the biggest source of fear is ‘needle phobia,’ which can be especially tricky for younger children who require vaccinations more frequently,” Clark said. “Children’s fear of shots can be exacerbated when they pick up on their parents’ anxiety, and it can often be difficult to calm children down during these services.”

Alleviating nerves

Another section of the poll had parents report on the ways their child’s fear or anxiety compromised the doctor’s visit in any way.

Three percent of parents reported cancelling a visit, and four percent delayed a vaccination because the child was scared. The child’s fear also made nine percent of parents feel uncomfortable about bringing up concerns or asking questions so as not to further upset their child, while 22 percent found difficulty focusing on anything the doctor said because of the intensity of their child’s fear.

Additionally, parents reported on the ways they try to alleviate their child’s nerves, which was broken down into two main methods of preparation: educate or placate.

Over 60 percent of parents chose to educate their child before a visit, which included having a conversation about what the child can expect when they get to the doctor’s office. This helped the children feel prepared and confident in the people they’d see at the doctor’s office, why they were going, and what would happen. Twenty-five percent of parents opted to introduce a toy medical kit, and 23 percent watched a doctor show or read a doctor book to help produce the same levels of calm before the doctor visit.

Those that chose to placate the child either told them they wouldn’t get a shot at the visit (21 percent), or promised a reward following the visit (31 percent). According to the Mott Poll report, promising a child a trip to the candy store or a special toy is beneficial in that it leaves the child with something to look forward to if they can make it through the doctor’s visit.

However, according to Clark, telling the child they won’t get a shot when they will be getting one can “backfire” and “only increase anxiety ahead of future visits.” Clark suggests parents discuss their child’s fear with their pediatrician, as the doctor may have helpful methods of creating a calm atmosphere for the child.

Social media has evolved tremendously over the years, and its capabilities are ever-growing and changing. While still a way for people to keep in touch and connect with their friends, social media has also grown to do much more than that.

A new study, conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Stony Brook University and recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, explores a new algorithm that can predict a depression diagnosis based off of language used in people’s Facebook posts.

“There’s a perception that using social media is not good for one’s mental health, but it may turn out to be an important tool for diagnosing, monitoring, and eventually treating it,” said lead researcher H. Andrew Schwartz. “Here, we’ve shown that it can be used with clinical records, a step toward improving mental health with social media.”

Words matter

The University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center and Stony Brook University’s Human Language Analysis Lab have been working on the World Well-Being Project since 2012. The initiative strives to make breakthroughs in psychological wellness based on language used on social media.

The researchers involved in this study wanted to take the World Well-Being Project to the next level and see if social media could be an effective tool in diagnosing depression. Over 1,000 people joined the study -- 114 of whom had depression diagnoses in their medical records -- and gave the researchers full access to their Facebook statuses and medical records.

To compare the participants with depression to a control group, the researchers used five participants without depression for every one participant with depression for a total of 683 study participants. The researchers then used the participants’ Facebook statuses -- which totaled over 500,000 posts -- to determine the words and phrases that they deemed “depression-associated language markers.”

In putting the algorithm to the test, the researchers found that it was successful in predicting depression up to three months before a formal diagnosis, based entirely off of language used in Facebook posts.

The authors concluded that the users most likely to develop depression were found to use language expressing loneliness, anger, sadness, and self-reflection in their Facebook statuses.

“The hope is that one day, these screening systems can be integrated into systems of care,” said researcher Johannes Eichstaedt. “This tool raises yellow flags; eventually the hope is that you could directly funnel people it identifies into scalable treatment modalities.”

General Motors is recalling 3,028 model year 2016-2018 Chevrolet Express and GMC Sierra vehicles equipped with a single, manual, rear climate control module (CCM).

If the temperature is set to maximum heat or the mode knob is set to maximum floor vent and an electrical short occurs, components within the CCM may overheat.

This could increase the risk of a fire in the vehicle's headliner.

What to do

GM will notify owners, and dealers will remove the electrical insulation from a wiring connector within the CCM to remove the fire risk, free of charge.

The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18299.

Suzuki Motor of America is recalling 1,107 model year 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitaras.

The power steering pump belt tension adjuster pulley has an outer portion that is made of plastic. Repeated heat stress can cause the plastic material to deteriorate, causing pieces of the pulley to break off.

Broken pieces of the pulley can get caught between the pulley and the drive belt, causing the drive belt to come off, resulting in a sudden loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Suzuki will notify owners, and dealers will replace the power steering pump drive belt tension adjuster pulley, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin October 26, 2018.

Owners may contact Suzuki customer service at 1-800-934-0934. Suzuki's number for this recall is 4009.

The Center for Auto Safety is asking Hyundai and Kia to launch a major recall of late model cars and SUVs to address what it says is a fire hazard.

The consumer group says all 2011-2014 Kia Sorento, Kia Optima, Hyundai Sonata, and Hyundai Santa Fe, and 2010-2015 Kia Soul vehicles are vulnerable to the risk of an engine fire. The group points to a total of 220 consumer complaints regarding fires submitted to both the Center and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

“Since our call for an investigation into these Kia and Hyundai non-collision fires, we have seen reports of almost one fire every single day across these five models,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. “The number and severity of these complaints, when people are simply driving their cars on the highway, is frightening. It is long past time for Kia and Hyundai to act."

Company says there is no defect

In a statement to the media, Hyundai said in rare instances -- a rate of less than 1 percent -- some engines have caught fire. But the automaker said an "exhaustive" study showed there is no systemic defect that would cause the fires.

Among the complaints compiled by the Center was one from a consumer in Clarksburg, Mass., who was driving a 2011 Kia Sorento on the Massachusetts turnpike one morning and noticed the rear window was cloudy.

"I washed the rear windshield and kept on driving," the consumer reported. "A few minutes later a man pulled alongside me and signaled that I should pull over. I stopped the car and smoke started to come out from under the hood."

The consumer said by the time she pulled off the highway and called 911 there were flames coming from beneath the hood.

Just a bare metal frame

"By the time the police and fire department arrived at the scene, about 15 to 20 minutes after I called, the entire car was engulfed in flames and the tires had started to explode. When the fire was finally extinguished all that remained of the car was a bare metal frame. The car was totally destroyed."

Levine says the manufacturers have been less than responsive to the scores of fire reports. In light of that, he says a recall is warranted.

This issue might sound familiar to Ford owners. In 2007 the automaker recalled 3.6 million cars, truck, and vans because a switch that deactivates the speed control sometimes overheated and produced fire.

The recall covered 16 brands of cars, sport utility vehicles and trucks from model years 1992 to 2004.

The Center for Auto Safety says most, if not all carmakers sometimes produce vehicles that catch fire under normal driving conditions. However, the Center says the number of fire complaints involving Kia and Hyundai suggests a recall is in order.

While finding an effective nighttime routine can be difficult for many adults, a new study conducted by researchers at Penn State found that having a regular bedtime routine is essential for kids to have the most restful nights’ sleep -- especially if their moms’ have busy schedules.

The study found that while moms who have rigorous work schedules often have rough nights of sleep, it can also affect their kids’ sleep. However, the researchers believe that keeping the same bedtime each night is key to breaking that cycle.

“We’ve seen this link between inflexible work schedules and children’s sleep patterns before, but we didn’t know why it was happening,” said researcher Orfeu Buxton. “Our results suggest that maybe it’s about children not having a regular bedtime routine if their mother is working an inflexible job. We know positive routines especially are very important for positive child growth, so sleep may suffer if it’s not there.”

Studying work flexibility

To test the ways mothers’ work schedules affected their children’s sleep, the researchers evaluated data from over 1,000 mothers and their children.

The mothers were asked to evaluate how flexible they thought their job schedules were, along with how many hours their child sleeps each night, if they had a regular bedtime, and if they had trouble falling asleep at night. The mothers answered the questions when their children were five years old, and again when they were nine.

The biggest takeaway was that children were found to sleep less when their mothers’ work schedules were less flexible. Additionally, children were found to have less trouble falling asleep and were better at maintaining the same bedtime when their mothers’ gained flexibility in their work schedules over the course of the study.

“If parents can be there for their kids on a regular basis, and help them by having a regular bedtime routine, all of that’s very beneficial for their long-term growth and development,” Buxton said.

Lead researcher Soomi Lee, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida, wants to put the onus on workplaces to foster more flexible work environments for parents.

“If workplaces could improve employees’ flexibility and control over when and where they work, that could be helpful,” Lee said. “They could offer diverse flexible work options for employees, especially for working mothers, such as flextime, telecommuting, or job-sharing with another employee.”

Sleep matters

The researchers are looking to continue the study by evaluating how this affects sleep habits as these children become teenagers and young adults. Based on recent studies, sleep is just as important to the wellbeing of both teens and adults.

A study conducted earlier this month by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that high school students who sleep less than six hours per night are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, including substance abuse and drinking and driving.

“Insufficient sleep in youth raises multiple public health concerns, including mental health, substance abuse, and motor vehicle crashes,” said the study’s senior author Elizabeth Klerman, PhD. “We should support efforts to promote healthy sleep habits and decrease barriers to sufficient sleep in this vulnerable population.”

Moreover, negative effects associated with lack of sleep were found to last into adulthood.

Researchers at Michigan State University recently conducted a study that found that sleep deprivation impedes people’s efforts in completing tasks, and their overall memory function throughout the day.

On the other end of the spectrum, researchers at the University of Bristol found the benefits of sleeping -- particularly in shorter periods. The study found that short spurts of sleep can lead to better decision-making and problem-solving while awake.

Several weeks after Seattle officials made it clear that they don’t want dockless electric scooters in the city anytime soon, Lime is taking its lobbying campaign to the streets.   

The company once known for pile-ups of lime green bicycles reportedly set up a “pop-up” stand in a busy city park last weekend and invited passerbys to try its electric scooters.

The technology site GeekWire was apparently tipped off to the event and reported that 100 people showed up and tried scooters throughout the day. Lime representatives distributed handouts instructing people to email their city officials and demand dockless e-scooters.

The dockless bikeshare and scooter industry has a history of aggressive business tactics and refusing to take “no” for answer. In San Francisco, Lime and competitors Spin and Bird reportedly dropped their e-scooters off in April without going through the city’s scooter permitting process, sparking a cease-and-desist letter from the City Attorney.

When it comes to dockless bikes, meanwhile, Seattle last year agreed to let the firms do business in the city provided that they pay an annual $250,000 permitting fee. The new rules sent almost all companies fleeing, as they did in Dallas. Only Lime stayed, though the firm has subsequently raised its rates in response.

Dockless bike companies like Lime are now pushing e-scooters because they say that many commuters are uncomfortable riding bicycles.

But with speeds that can reach somewhere between 15 and 25 mph, depending on the brand, it's unclear where scooter riders are supposed to go. Seattle laws currently ban e-scooters from bike lanes or sidewalks.

A recent report in the Washington Post found that emergency room cases increased in cities after dockless e-scooters were introduced -- perhaps, in part, due to bike-averse people who underestimated the coordination required to navigate a scooter through busy city streets.

Sony advertises that “the ultimate home entertainment center starts with PlayStation (PS4),” but some of its users report that a text-message “exploit” is bricking their PS4 consoles and necessitating a factory reset to get the unit up and working again.

Bricking is a term that means the console is put into a permanent state where it's about as useful as a real brick.

“I know this is going to sound absolutely insane, but if you are a PlayStation 4 gamer, set your messages to private right now!,” cautioned the Dealer-Gaming channel on YouTube. “These aren’t patch notes. This is an actual warning.”

According to The Verge, bugs similar to this have reared their ugly heads on mobile platforms, where a certain message or strange character can cause instability, but one Reddit poster claims that even deleting the message from the mobile app doesn't work.

“It happened to me during Rainbow Six: Siege. A player from the other team used a dummy account to send the message and crashed my entire team. We all have had to factory reset. Only one of our guys wasn't affected and he has his messages private,” posted one user.

Players come together to offer solution

Owen S. Good at Polygon, an entertainment and tech-related news site, reported that he has had friend-only messaging enabled for a while, but he can’t tell if this threat/exploit is legitimate or if going that route was the way to thwart the bricking.

As of press time, Sony has not officially confirmed the issue nor has it offered an update for the PS4 since version 6.00, which was released on September 18, 2018.

Nonetheless, PS4 fans are flocking to each other’s rescue in a “message bricking console megathread” on Reddit by offering steps to prevent the issue and the following step-by-step solution from PS4 user MikeWillsUK -- one that’s been “voted up” by more than 2,000 Reddit users:

1. Delete the message - Use PS Messages app or my.playstation.com to remove the message which messed up your PS4 ("Leave group").

2. Boot in safe mode - With the PS4 turned off, hold the power button for 7 seconds until you hear another beep. The safe mode menu should appear.

3. Rebuild database - Choose the "Rebuild Database" option so that the PS4 can clear the message from its data stores. If all goes well, you should have a working PS4 with all games and saves intact.