Categories
Technology

Lawyer To Pay Activision For Not Playing Call Of Duty

Lawyer To Pay Activision For Not Playing Call Of Duty

This marine is tting in a chair, staring off-screen at someone in the middle of a conversation.

Uh, say what now?
picture: Infinity Ward

A lawsuit against Activision Blizzard was dismissed last month because, according to a judge in the Southern California District Court where the complaint was brought, the plaintiffs didn’t play enough Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare to make an informed case against the maligned publisher. For eleven in Activision Blizzard’s many contentious legal battlesthings ended smoothly.

According to to report by a litigation associate at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (who tipped Kotaku off), Activision Blizzard was sued in November 2021 by Brooks Entertainment, Inc., a California-based company specializing in film and TV production and other forms of entertainment. However, Kotaku couldn’t find an official website for the company. Brooks Entertainment and its CEO, Shon Brookswho describes himself as an inventor, claim they hold the trademarks for the financial mobile games Save One Bank and Stock Pickers. It should be noted that Kotaku couldn’t verify the existence of these games, either. Regardlessall three of these entities, alongside Activision Blizzard and 2016’s Infinite Warfarewere at the center of the lawsuit.

In October 2021, Brooks Entertainment alleged Activision ripped off intellectual property from both Save One Bank and stock pickeras well as the identity of its owner, in Infinite Warfare. To be more specific, the complaint asserted the “main character” for the 2016 first-person shooter, Sean Brooks, was based on the company’s CEO and that all three games had “scripted battle scenes that take place in a high fashion couture shopping center mall.” There were other similarities, too, but these claims were the crux of the complaint.

But if you’ve played just an hour or so of Infinite Warfare, you’d know this is all wrong. For one, the main character isn’t Corporal Sean Brooks at all but rather his squadmate CommanderNick Reyes, a space marine who becomes the captain of the game’s primary militia. Moreover, while there is a scripted battle scene in a shopping mall, it takes place in far future Geneva, one of many in-game locations, and Sean Brooks ain’t in it. You play as Reyes the entire time.

In January 2022, Activision’s counsel wrote to Brooks Entertainment’s counsel that the complaint “contain[ed] serious factual misrepresentations and errors, and that the claims set forth therein are both factually and legally frivolous.” If the company didn’t withdraw the lawsuit, Activision would file Rule 11 sanctions, penalties requiring the plaintiff to pay a fine for submitting dubious or improper arguments without substantial—or, for that matter, accurate—evidentiary support. And that’s exactly what happened in March 2022, when Activision filed its motions for sanctions against Brooks Entertainment, saying the plaintiffs failed to play Infinite Warfare and provided inaccurate filings.

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The Southern California District Court accepted Activision’s motions on July 12, dismissed Brook Entertainment’s lawsuit with prejudice (meaning the claim cannot be refiled in that court), and ordered the plaintiff’s counsel to compensate the troubled publisher for the money and time it wasted. In its conclusion, the court said the plaintiff failed to conduct a thorough and reasonable inquiry into the relevant facts about the game before filing the suit.

“Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a first-person shooter game, not first- and third-person as alleged, and Sean Brooks does not conduct a scripted battle scene in a high fashion couture shopping mall,” the court said in its ruling in favor of Activision. “Plaintiff’s counsel could have easily verified these facts prior to filing the factually baseless Complaint, just as the Court easily verified them within the first hour and a half of playing the game.”

Kotaku reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment.

Richard Hoeg, a lawyer who specializes in digital and video game law, told Kotaku that unprotectable concepts like the names of people used in fictional entertainment are pretty difficult to copyright and claim infringement upon.

“It’s hard to say why the suit was brought up,” Hoeg said. “Certainly if a suit gets kicked out *with sanctions* it wasn’t a very good one in the first place. It might be simply hubris or it may have been counsel encouraging a suit against a well-resourced party. The suit itself says [Brooks Entertainment] pitched a game to Activision between 2010 [and] 2015. That all said, the infringement lawsuit is awful, alleging infringement on such unprotectable concepts as: ‘Shon Brooks navigates through both exotic and action-packed locations and Sean Brooks navigates through both exotic and action-packed locations.’”

Hoeg went on to say it’s hard getting “actual sanctions imposed on you” because that would be a level of bad lawsuit filing well above just a simple dismissal.

“The court basically finds the whole argument crazy,” Hoeg concluded. “Brooks Entertainment even included Rockstar Games for no reason (which didn’t help their cause with the judge). So, the sanctions here are Brooks Entertainment [has] to pay for Activision’s legal fees and costs.”

While things may have ended well for Activision this time, the disparaged publisher is still causing legal headaches. The company was just blasted by Devil devs for union-busting. Again. Ugh.

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Categories
US

Schumer defends dropping carried interest tax change to win over Sinema

Schumer defends dropping carried interest tax change to win over Sinema

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) says he had no choice but to remove a provision closing the so-called carried interest tax loophole for money managers from his climate and tax reform bill because Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) threatened to block the legislation otherwise.

Dropping the carried interest tax provision from the Inflation Reduction Act cost $14 billion in projected revenue, but Schumer made up for it by adding an excise tax on stock buybacks that will generate $74 billion in revenue.

Schumer told reporters that he pushed hard to close the carried interest tax loophole, which allows asset managers to pay a lower effective income tax rate than many middle-income Americans, but Sinema told him she wouldn’t vote to begin debate unless he dropped the provision.

“I strongly believe in the carried interest loophole, I have voted for it, I have pushed for it, I have pushed for it to be in this bill,” he said. “Sen. Sinema said she would not vote for the bill, not even move to proceed unless we took it out so we had no choice.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Sinema told donors at a campaign fundraiser Wednesday night that it would be bad policy to hit the private equity industry with an increase in interest carried in taxes at a time when the industry will be needed to finance infrastructure projects and semiconductor manufacturing .

Other Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), however, points out that ending the carried interest loophole would affect asset managers who advise on investments, not the investors who put their own money up finance a project or business. Under the loophole, money managers pay a 20 percent capital gains rate and a 3.8 percent net investment income tax on the income they earn from advising on a profitable investment.

Schumer also noted that he reshaped the 15 percent corporate minimum tax to address Sinema’s concern that it would hit manufacturing companies.

The Democratic leader said he agreed to take out “two pieces” of the corporate minimum tax provision, lowering the amount of revenue it will raise from $313 billion to $258 billion over the next decade.

But he said that revenue loss will be made up for as well by applying the 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks.

“What we added is something that excites me and I think excites all Democrats and particularly progressives. We’re adding in an excise tax on stock buybacks that will bring in $74 billion,” Schumer said.

“I hate stock buybacks. I think they’re one of the most self-serving things that corporate America does,” he said. “They don’t do a thing to make their company better and they artificially raise the stock price just by just reducing the number of shares. They’re despicable,” he added.

Asked when the effective date for the excise tax would be, Schumer said he would provide more information at a later time.

Sinema touted the removal of the carried interest provision in a statement Thursday evening.

Schumer said Democrats will try to pass the bill “as quickly as we can” but pointed out there are various tactics Republicans can use to slow the bill.

But he predicted the bill would have the support of all 50 Democrats to pass sometime in the next few days.

“I’m pleased we have reached an agreement on the Inflation Reduction Act that I believe will receive the support of the entire Senate Democratic conference,” he said.

Categories
Technology

Experimental Earbuds Can Detect Ear Infections With a Chirp

Experimental Earbuds Can Detect Ear Infections With a Chirp

A picture of the galaxy buds pro worn in ear

photo: Gizmodo

Do you remember how your parents tried to convince you to eat your vegetables as a kid by promising they were good for your health? That’s the same tactic a lot of wearable makers are using today, by adding health-tracking features to devices like smartwatches. Now, researchers have developed a way for earbuds to track your ear health, too.

Every time Apple holds an event, it spends a few minutes touting the health benefits of wearing an Apple Watch, which has heart rate tracking features that can potentially identify heart problems before they become a serious complication. Yot’s also rumored that the long overdue update to Apple’s AirPods Pro wireless earbuds will potentially include body temperature measuringallowing the devices to detect a fever: an early symptom of countless other conditions.

It turns out the inherent capabilities of earbuds—namely blasting sound into your ears—also allows them to potentially detect conditions that can afflict the inner ear and the ear canal, as researchers from the University of Buffalo have found with an experimental device they’ve called EarHealth.

A diagram of the EarHealth system

What’s most interesting about EarHealth is that it relies on earbuds that more or less feature off-the-shelf hardware, although with an upgraded microphone inside designed to pick up sounds in the ear, not around the wearer. Based on shared images of the prototype, the EarHealth doesn’t even appear to rely on wireless earbuds, although an official release on the research on the University of Buffalo website does specifically mention the use of Bluetooth earbuds—which is good, because none of us want to go back to wires.

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whereas the Apple Watch uses optical detection tricks to monitor heart health, the EarHealth uses sound instead. The earbuds emit a quick chirp which reverberates through the ear canal, producing unique sounds and echoes which are captured by the microphone. The captured sounds are then processed by a custom app on a connected smartphone that relies on a deep learning algorithm to generate a profile of the user’s inner ear geometry.

The first chirp is done while the user is healthy to generate a baseline profile of their inner ear, while later chirps, which can be regularly scheduled, generate profiles that are compared against the original to spot differences. estos can be used to diagnose one of three different conditions: earwax blockage, ruptured ear drums, and otitis media, which is a common infection or inflammation of the middle ear caused by colds or sore throats.

In tests done with 92 users that included 27 healthy subjects, 22 with ruptured eardrums, 25 with a confirmed case of otitis media, and 18 with earwax causing a blockage, the EarHealth had a diagnosis accuracy of 82.6%, but that can potentially be improved as the researchers refine both the hardware and the sample base of users. The benefit to using AI-powered algorithms is that they will continue to improve and become more accurate at making diagnoses over time as more sample data is made available.

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Categories
Sports

Michelle Jenneke hurdles result, schedule, shoe storm after world championships

Michelle Jenneke and Tobi Amusan’s famous kicks. Photo: Getty.

Michelle Jenneke is ready to move on from the shoe furore that has swirled in recent weeks, but the court of public opinion doesn’t seem ready to move on just yet.

Jenneke ran a career-saving personal best time at the World Championships in Oregon last month in an event that has had the athletics world raising its eyebrows.

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan broke the world record in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Oregon meet and the fact she did it wearing new shoes was not missed.

Jenneke ran her personal best of 12.66 wearing traditional track spikes while Amusan produced her lightning times wearing Adidas Adizero Avanti shoes — designed for runners who compete in 5-10 km races.

Jenneke’s time wasn’t even enough for her to sneak into the final as Amusan obliterated her personal best time by almost 0.3 seconds to set the new world record at 12.12. She also produced at 12.06 in the final, but it was scratched from the record books because it was a wind-assisted time.

Michelle Jenneke after setting her PB. Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics.Source: Getty Images

The times were so quick in Oregon that sprinting icon Michael Johnson thought the timing system was broken.

“I don’t believe the 100th times are correct,” he wrote on Twitter.

“All athletes looked shocked.”

From an Australian perspective, we can be safe in the knowledge that Jenneke’s comeback was all down to her performance.

Amusan hit out at the speculation that surrounded her record and said she switched shoes because of an ongoing heel condition,

“My abilities are not centered around spikes,” she said.

“I had patella fasciitis at the beginning of the season so that set me back for a while. I spoke to Adidas and requested if I could get spikes with a softer sole. They recommended a lot of stuff and I feel comfortable in these, so I was using them basically the entire time.”

Tobi Amusan and her fancy feet. Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan celebrates setting a world record. Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP.Source: AFP

Adidas originally promoted the product as shoes that “provide a snappy, propulsive ride with high traction and reduce fatigue, so you finish 5km and 10km races with a kick”.

Jenneke said before her program starts on Friday evening (AEST) that the shoe technology debate has been blown out of context.

She is much more focused on her own performance—and that sweet personal best she set in Oregon which made her the second-quickest women’s 100m hurdler Australia has ever produced, behind only Sally Pearson.

“It was unbelievable. I still can’t believe I ran that fast,” she said.

“I keep going back looking at footage of the race and just going, ‘Oh my gosh, did I actually do that?’”

When speaking to reporters she went on to say: “I ran quite a PB in that race and ran in the same shoes that I have been running in for the last five years.

“I know I can’t attribute my PB to the shoes because it’s the same shoe, the same model of shoe. I have tried some of the newer spikes that they have coming out, the technology is amazing, and I’m sure people are faster but at the same time if you go back 10, 20 years, look at the shoes people were wearing, they were entirely different to what we were wearing five years ago. The technology is forever evolving.

The jiggle returns. Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP.Source: AFP
Michelle Jenneke at the 2018 Games. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images

“I don’t think we are seeing anything that is causing that much of a change that it needs to be questioned.

“World Athletics is constantly reviewing this, they do have a compliance list for the shoes, and they have to be checked. I don’t think there is a huge story personally and in terms of me there is definitely not.”

Her return to form makes her an outside medal threat in Birmingham.

She is also promising to produce her trademark pre-race jiggle routine.

The 29-year-old went viral with the pre-race shake at the 2012 World Junior Championships and it ultimately led to her being one of the highest-profile stars of the 2016 Rio Olympics, even though some thought the notoriety didn’t match her performances on the track.

Jenneke was once a household name who attracted global attention — and major endorsement deals from some of the world’s biggest companies. She was sponsored by Coca-Cola at the Rio Games and her face was plastered across billboards in the Brazilian city.

But she copped fierce criticism for a disappointing showing at those Games, finishing a kilometer in her 100m hurdles heat.

Australian track and field coach at the time, Craig Hilliard, accused Jenneke of arriving in Rio out of shape and questioned whether distractions away from the track contributed to her lackluster showing. Athletics Australia then cut her funding from her.

She rebounded for a strong performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.

Four injury-riddled years later and Jenneke will be hoping to make Australia fall in love with her all over again in Birmingham.

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Categories
US

Sinema among top private equity cash recipients as she removed billionaire tax loophole from Manchin bill

Sinema among top private equity cash recipients as she removed billionaire tax loophole from Manchin bill

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., has raked in significant amounts of campaign cash from the private equity sector, which she notched a victory after she lobbied to remove a billionaire tax loophole from the Inflation Reduction Act as part of her agreement to back the legislation .

The Arizona Democrat announced Thursday that she would “move forward” in supporting the Inflation Reduction Act, the reconciliation package Senate Democrats unveiled last week. As part of the agreement, she successfully removed the carried interest tax provision, which targeted a loophole used by wealthy Americans.

“We have agreed to remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy in the Senate’s budget reconciliation legislation,” Sinema said late Thursday. “Subject to the Parliamentarian’s review, I’ll move forward.”

Sinema’s move is a win for the private equity sector, which pours large amounts of cash into her campaign’s coffers.

SINEMA AGREES TO ‘MOVE FORWARD’ WITH SOCIAL SPENDING AND TAX BILL AFTER DEMS MAKE CHANGES

Individuals and political action committees from the private equity and investment sector have provided her campaign with $282,650 in donations this election cycle, making her the Senate’s sixth-largest recipient from the industry, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who spearheaded the bill, is by far the top darling of the sector. The New York Democrat’s campaign has raked in nearly $1.2 million from individuals and PACs in the industry this cycle. His campaign also tops contributions from those who work for hedge funds by more than $400,000, Center for Responsive Politics data shows.

“I strongly believe in the carried interest loophole. I have voted for it. I pushed for it at first for it to be in this bill,” Schumer told reporters Friday. “Senator Sinema said she would not vote for the bill, not even move to proceed unless we took it out. So we had no choice.”

Sinema’s campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry on her private equity donations.

MANCHIN CLAIMS DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL SPENDING AND TAX BILL IS FILLED WITH GOP PRIORITIES

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,D-Ariz., announced she would support the Inflation Reduction Act after the so-called carried interest loophole provision was removed.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,D-Ariz., announced she would support the Inflation Reduction Act after the so-called carried interest loophole provision was removed.
(Reuters/Elizabeth Franz)

The carried interest provision included in the original reconciliation package would have removed a loophole that allows private equity and hedge fund managers to pay fewer taxes. Wealthy fund managers are able to report income as capital gains, not regular income, dropping their tax rate from 37.9% to 23.8% and potentially saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars, under the little-known tax break.

The loophole would have raised $14 billion in federal tax revenue, according to initial estimates. As part of the negotiations with Sinema, Democrats will tack on a 1% tax on stock buybacks to help pay for the $433 billion legislation.

On Friday, the Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby group, applauded Sinema’s effort to remove the carried interest loophole provision.

MANCHIN-SCHUMER SPENDING BILL TARGETS TAX LOOPHOLE FAVORED BY INVESTORS

“Taxing capital expenditures — investments in new buildings, factories, equipment, etc. — is one of the most economically destructive ways you can raise taxes,” Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley said. “It punishes innovation, leaves a country poorer and less capable of growing.”

“While we look forward to reviewing the new proposed bill, Senator Sinema deserves credit for recognizing this and fighting for changes,” he added.

Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., unveiled the Inflation Reduction Act last week after months of contentious negotiations.

Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., unveiled the Inflation Reduction Act last week after months of contentious negotiations.
(F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Private equity and business groups had argued the provision would have hurt US small businesses most.

“Over 74% of private equity investment went to small businesses last year,” Drew Maloney, the president of private equity interest group the American Investment Council, said in a statement after the bill was unveiled. “As small business owners face rising costs and our economy faces serious headwinds, Washington should not move forward with a new tax on the private capital that is helping local employers survive and grow.”

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Karen Kerrigan, the president of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, said the provision would ultimately be absorbed by “ordinary Americans and our nation’s small businesses.”

“Increasing taxes on carried interest means many entrepreneurial firms and small businesses across sectors will not have access to the capital they need to compete, scale, innovate and navigate challenging economic conditions,” Kerrigan told FOX Business last week. “This will only hurt local economies and workers and more broadly undermine US competitiveness.”

Joe Schoffstall is a Fox News reporter

Categories
Technology

MSI confirms Ryzen 7000 CPUs and X670 motherboards are set to launch on September 15th

MSI confirms Ryzen 7000 CPUs and X670 motherboards are set to launch on September 15th

MSI X670 motherboards to launch mid-September

Yesterday MSI revealed the design of its new X670 motherboards, today the company confirms when they launch.

MSI confirms X670/Ryzen 7000 launch date, Source: MSI

MSI has now confirmed that exactly when the Ryzen 7000 and X670 motherboards launch and that’s September 15th. This is actually the first confirmation on the Ryzen 7000 release date, because both the CPUs and motherboards are rumored to launch on the same day. According to MSI, that’s what is going to happen.

MSI confirms X670/Ryzen 7000 launch date , Source: MSI on Weibo

MSI X670 primary lineup features three X670E and one X670 motherboards. This includes MEG X670E GODLIKE (the flagship), the X670 ACE and MPG X670E Carbon Wi-Fi. The only non-Extreme variant is the PRO X670-P Wi-Fi board. Thus far MSI has not shown any B650 motherboard, but one might guess we get a glimpse either before or during August 29th announcement of Ryzen 7000 series.

MSI X670 series, Source: MSI

AMD Ryzen 7000 specifications have been leaked this week, allegedly the same day AMD provided those specs to board partners. Clearly no time was spared this time. The lineup of Zen4 CPUs is to include four SKUs, up to 16-cores, 5.7 GHz and 170W TDP for the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X CPU. All four SKUs are to launch on September 15th.

RUMORED AMD Ryzen 7000 Specifications
VideoCardz.com Cores / Threads Base/Boost Clock TDP Cache (L2+L3) Launch Price
(USD)
AMD Ryzen 7000 Zen4 “Raphael”
Ryzen 9 7950X TBC
Ryzen 9 7900X TBC
Ryzen 7 7700X TBC
Ryzen 5 7600X TBC
AMD Ryzen 5000 Zen3 “Vermeer”
Ryzen 9 5950X
Ryzen 9 5900X
Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Ryzen 7 5800X
Ryzen 5 5600X

Source: MSI



Categories
Sports

Eleonar Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers start head-to-head high jump clash

Eleonar Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers start head-to-head high jump clash

“It is actually a funny thing with high jump, if you jump too high over the bar you will actually hit it off with your feet so I was like none of that, not showing off, just do your job, be humble, be strong and get back out there for the end,” Olyslagers said.

The final will be in an unusual morning time slot in Birmingham on Saturday starting at 10.17am locally (7.17pm in Melbourne).

“It’s very strange for major in a final, but I’m not mad about it. We had a morning end at the world indoors and I train in the mornings every day. I’m a morning person, so I can wake up and be prepped and ready to go whatever time it is,” Patterson said.

In the 1500m Stewart McSweyn was a late withdrawal with a flu, but Australia’s Ollie Hoare was superb in winning his heat and making the final in what will be one of the strongest fields in any event or race at the Commonwealth Games.

Hoare beat reigning world champion and the Olympic silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot from Kenya in his heat, running the quickest time of the day in 3:37:57.

“Honestly I didn’t know what to expect, that field is extremely tough,” Hoare said.

The 1500m in Birmingham will have the three men who ran second, third and fourth at the Olympics, and Jake Wightman who just won the world championship gold in the US.

And of that quality field Hoare qualified quicker than any of them in what was a hard heat with runners knowing only the first five in each heat and then the next two quickest runners would advance.

loading

Meanwhile, dual world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber is still testing positive to COVID and has felt unwell but has insisted she will be on the start line to back up her recent world championship with a Commonwealth gold.

The Commonwealth Games Authority and Australian team have cleared Barber to be able to compete in Sunday’s event despite the positive tests.

“I haven’t quite been symptom free but definitely not as sick as a lot of people you hear about I definitely feel pretty normal now but I was not quite right,” Barber said late this week from the team village where she is being kept away from other athletes.

“In the last couple of days I have been feeling better. I am still testing positive.”

“I have not been bed ridden but I have not been quite right. I have been able to train and everyone has done everything they can to help but I have had to manage it, coming from Eugene and being jet-lagged and getting COVID I just had to be careful. I’ve just been trying to listen to my body.

“I will be on the start line.”

Get all the latest news from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games here. We’ll be live blogging the action from 4pm-10am daily.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

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US

Pentagon denies DC request for National Guard migrant help

Pentagon denies DC request for National Guard migrant help

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon rejected a request from the District of Columbia seeking National Guard assistance in what the largest has called a “growing humanitarian crisis” prompted by thousands of migrants being bused to the city from two southern states.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined to provide Guard personnel and the use of the DC Armory to assist with the reception of migrants into the city, according to US defense officials. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday that the district may send an amended, “more specific” request, adding that she believes this is the first time a DC request for the National Guard has been denied.

One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet made public, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s food and shelter program has provided funding for the problem, and has indicated those funds are sufficient at this point.

Bowser, the largest Democratic district’s, formally asked the White House last month for an open-ended deployment of 150 National Guard members per day as well as a “suitable federal location” for a mass housing and processing center, mentioning the DC Armory as a logical candidate.

During the spring, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, announced plans to send busloads of migrants to Washington, DC, in response to President Joe Biden’s decision to lift a pandemic-era emergency health order that restricted migrant entry numbers. On Friday, Abbott said the first group of migrants from his state had now been bused to New York as well.

As of mid-July, about 5,200 migrants had been bused from Texas to DC since April. As of Aug. 3, more than 1,300 had been sent from Arizona since May. The governors call the practice a voluntary free ride – paid for by state taxpayers — that gets migrants closer to family or support networks.

But Bowser last month dismissed that characterization, saying that the asylum-seekers are being “tricked,” as many don’t get close enough to their final destinations and some are ditched at Union Station near the US Capitol and the White House. Often they arrive with no resources and no clue what to do next.

On Friday, Bowser told reporters that the Pentagon appears to be concerned “about the open-ended nature of our request.” and that a more specific one would help.

“We want to continue to work with the Department of Defense so that they understand our operational needs and to assure that political considerations are not a part of their decision,” Bowser said, adding that she believes the “crisis” will only worsen. “We need the National Guard. If we were a state, I would have already done it.”

A coalition of local charitable groups has been working to feed and shelter the migrants, aided by a $1 million grant from FEMA. But organizers have been warned that both their resources and personnel were nearing exhaustion.

“This reliance on NGOs is not working and is unsustainable — they are overwhelmed and underfunded,” Bowser said in her letter. She has repeatedly stated that the influence is stressing her government’s ability to care for its own homeless residents and now requires a federal response.

Bowser sharply criticized Abbott and Ducey, accusing them of “cruel political gamesmanship” and saying the pair had “decided to use desperate people to score political points.”

Explaining his decision to add New York City as a destination, Abbott said that Biden’s “refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies” forced Texas to “take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe.”

He said the migrants are being dropped off at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

“In addition to Washington, DC, New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” Abbott said.

In response, Fabien Levy, spokesman for Adams, tweeted that Abbott’s “continued use of human beings as political pawns is disgusting. NYC will continue to welcome asylum seekers w/ open arms, as we have always done, but we still need support from DC.”

As mayor of DC, Bowsesr does not have the authority to personally order a National Guard deployment, an issue that has become emotionally charged in recent years as a symbol of the district’s entrenched status as less than a state.

Her limited authority played a role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. When it became clear that Capitol Police were overmatched by the crowds, Bowser couldn’t immediately deploy the district guard. Instead, crucial time was lost while the request was considered inside the Pentagon, and protesters rampaged through the building.

_____

Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil in Washington, DC, Karen Matthews in New York City and Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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Categories
Technology

WellCare Today Samsung Galaxy 4 LTE Smartwatch With HealthAssist – Review 2022

WellCare Today Samsung Galaxy 4 LTE Smartwatch With HealthAssist - Review 2022

The WellCare Today Samsung Galaxy 4 LTE Smartwatch With HealthAssist (starting at $199, plus a monthly subscription) is more than a stylish smartwatch. In addition to connecting you with an emergency response agent when you fail or otherwise need help, it takes ECG readings, monitors your blood oxygen level and heart rate, and tracks your daily activities. It also offers numerous caregiver features including medicine and appointment reminders, messaging, and hands-free two-way calling. A Remote Patient Monitoring feature even sends your real-time health data directly to your doctor. All these features, in conjunction with the watch’s Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS location tracking, make it our new Editors’ Choice winner for mobile medical alert systems.

A Stylish and Durable Design

The Editors’ Choice-winning Samsung Galaxy Watch4 is the basis of the system, but the real star here is WellCare Today’s HealthAssist software (more on this later). You still get all of the Wear OS and Samsung app functionality as you do with the regular Watch4, but the HealthAssist software transforms it into a capable medical alert system.

The watch is available in several styles and sizes. WellCare Today offers 40mm ($199) and 44mm ($229) standard models in black, silver, or rose gold, as well as 42mm ($299) and 46mm ($329) variations of the Classic model (with a rotating bezel) in black or silver .

WellCare Today sent us the black version of the standard 44mm watch. Our test model measures approximately 1.7 inches by 0.4 inches (WD), weighs about 1.1 ounces, and comes with a smooth lightweight rubber wrist strap. Despite its stylish looks, this watch is pretty rugged: It meets the MIL-STD-810G standard for durability and sports an IP68 weather resistance rating. It also adheres to the 5ATM waterproof spec, which means it can last for up to 10 minutes at depths of up to 164 feet. The 1.4-inch AMOLED display has a 480-by-480-pixel resolution and features a protective Corning Gorilla Glass cover.

The WellCare smart watch on the stress meter

A 1.18GHz Exynos W920 Dual Core processor powers the watch, which comes with 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It has Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, and Wi-Fi radios, along with built-in fall detection, location tracking, and hands-free two-way talk (AT&T provides cellular service for the latter) features. The bottom of the watch houses a multifunction health sensor that can take an ECG; record your blood oxygen levels and your body composition (body fat, skeletal muscle, body water, body mass index); perform a stress test; and measure your heart rate. The watch also has a step counter and provides Sleep Insight readings based on your activity and blood oxygen levels while you are asleep. Temperature and blood pressure readings are on the horizon pending FDA approval.

The watch uses a rechargeable 361mAh battery that can last up to 40 hours between charges, but as with the Medical Guardian MGMove Smartwatch (starting at $199.95), you should charge the watch every day with the included magnetic charger to be safe.

The right side of the watch has two buttons: Press and hold both simultaneously to power up the watch. When you press and hold the top button you can just say, “Call for help,” to initiate a call to 911 or an emergency response center depending on your preference (this is preprogrammed before shipping). Pressing this button twice automatically dials the number. The bottom button wakes up the watch and doubles as a back button for navigating the menus.

WellCare Today Subscription Features and Watch Interface

The two available subscription levels are comparable with those for the Medical Guardian MGMove Smartwatch ($39.95 per month) and the LifeStation Sidekick Smart ($43.95 per month), but neither of these other watches offers fall detection.

A HealthAssist Gold subscription costs $34.95 per month and includes one-press calls to a caregiver, one-press calls to 911 or an emergency call center, medication reminders, Managing Medication Adherence (the watch alerts a caregiver if you don’t take your meds ), blood oxygen monitoring, blood pressure monitoring (again, pending FDA approval), fall detection, and ECG tracking. For $44.95 per month, a Platinum subscription gives everything above as well as Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM). With RPM, the watch sends data such as ECG, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and stress readings to a participating physician or caregiver so they can monitor your health in real time. This allows doctors and caregivers to intervene quickly when the data suggests an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or any other medical issue. Along with the subscription fee, you must pay a one-time $30 cellular activation fee and a $25 shipping fee.

A screenshot of the WellCare website

Despite its robust feature set, the watch is very easy to use. When you turn it on or press a button, you see a classic watch dial with hour, minute, and second hands. Tap the amber circle on the left to automatically place a call to your caregiver, or tap the green circle on the right to initiate a test call to make sure everything is working correctly. When the watch detects a fail, it automatically places a call to 911 or the emergency call center if you remain motionless. At this point, agents can pinpoint your location and dispatch help if you do not respond. If there is no emergency, press the red X to cancel the call.

Swipe the watch face to the left to see your blood oxygen, ECG, heart rate, body composition, and stress measurements. Keep swiping left to access the step counter and Sleep Insights screens, as well as to reach a FAQ screen; connect with HealthAssist customer service; and view health data including reminder notifications and daily activity. The Special Functions screen lets you refresh data (send data to the servers); check battery life; view Wi-Fi and cellular signal strength; and send diagnostic information to HealthAssist.

Back at the dial face, swipe down to access Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth settings; set the display brightness; enable sound and vibration modes for calls and notifications; set ringtones; and change the font size. Swipe up from the bottom of the dial to access Samsung apps that let you view call history, configure settings, access a compass, check the weather, set timers, use the calculator, and lots more. You can technically connect the watch to your Samsung phone, but we don’t recommend it, because doing so deletes the HealthAssist app and all of its data.

The WellCare smart watch displaying a medicine reminder.

Users and caregivers can use the HealthAssist Web Companion app to enter medical information; create medicine and appointment reminders; track your location; monitor emergency call events; and more. The software is available only on the web (there’s no mobile companion app), but it’s very easy to use and offers a wealth of information.

When you first log in, you see a dashboard with several large green buttons: Medication, Reminder Messages, Instrument Messages, Personal Health Record, Message Inbox, and Device Location. Tap the Medication button to enter medication names, dosages, and schedules. Here, you can also view medication histories, select pharmacies, add reminders, and see if the scheduled medication dosage is complete. Use the Reminder Message button to add one-time or recurring reminders for things like doctor appointments. Instrument Messages tell you when to take an ECG test or check your blood oxygen level. The Personal Health Record button lets you enter information such as your primary care physician, insurance carrier, and important medical history. The Message Inbox lets you see previous reminders (with time stamps). Finally, the Device Location button opens a map that shows your real-time location.

Simple Setup, Responsive Performance

Preparing the HealthAssist watch for first use is easy. Simply plug in the charger and place the watch on the magnetic charging disc for around 30 minutes to ensure it is fully charged. At this point, you or a caregiver can log in to the HealthAssist web portal and enter medication reminders, doctor and insurance information, and emergency contact information. It’s also a good idea to press the green circle on the watch face to test the watch before you venture out.

A screenshot of the WellCare website

The watch worked well in our tests. An average response time (the time it takes for the watch to connect us to a live agent after we press the button) of 26 seconds was identical to that of the Medical Guardian MGMove watch. For comparison, the LifeStation Sidekick Smart and Kanega Watch respectively took 28 and 46 seconds on average.

As with every medical alert device we’ve tested, the emergency response agents were helpful and polite. Two-way audio was also clean and adequately loud. I compared the step counter readings with that of a Fitbit Inspire 2 and they were nearly identical. Device Location tracking was accurate, too.

Comprehensive Wrist-Based Health Monitoring

The WellCare Today Samsung Galaxy 4 LTE Smartwatch With HealthAssist is an excellent alternative to a mobile medical alert device that you attach to your belt or wear around your neck. Granted, you have to shell out $199 for the watch and up to another $45 per month for a subscription, but that’s pretty much in line with what you pay for other medical alert watches. In its favor, the WellCare Today watch includes fall detection, offers web-based location tracking, and reports real-time health data to physicians and caregivers. All this earns the WellCare Today Samsung Galaxy 4 LTE Smartwatch With HealthAssist our Editors’ Choice award for medical alert devices.

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US

Gov. Greg Abbott vows more migrant buses coming to NYC

Gov. Greg Abbott vows more migrant buses coming to NYC

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office vowed Friday to send even more busloads of border-crossers to the Big Apple — as the Lone Star State continues to grapple with the ongoing migrant crisis.

The Republican governor said the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan would be a drop-off spot going forward after the first busload from the border arrived in the city Friday morning.

“Over 50 migrants were bused to New York City this morning from the southern border in Texas,” Abbott’s office said in a statement.

“This is now a drop-off location for our ongoing seeking strategy.”

Abbott has already dispatched dozens of buses — filled with more than 6,100 migrants — to Washington DC since April.

He vowed to continue to charter buses to both New York and the nation’s capital as his state struggles to deal with the unprecedented number of migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talks with Fox News' Jesse Waters on border issues.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talks with Fox News’ Jesse Waters on border issues.
foxnews
Migrants plead for hospitality after arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Migrants plead for hospitality after arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
foxnews

“Because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the State of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe,” Abbott said in announcing the arrival of the bus at Port Authority Gate 14.

“In addition to Washington, DC, New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city.

“I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to send more migrant buses to the Big Apple.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to send more migrant buses to the Big Apple.
foxnews

Adams, who has already warned that NYC’s homeless shelters are being overrun by migrants, turned down Abbott’s invitation to visit the border earlier this week to see the “dire situation” firsthand.

Abbott told Fox News’ Jesse Watters Thursday night that he wished Adams and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser would reconsider his offer.

“They do need to realize the magnitude of the chaos created by Biden’s open-border policies,” Abbott said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hopes Mayor Eric Adams will accommodate the migrants.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hopes Mayor Eric Adams will accommodate the migrants.
foxnews
Governor GREG ABBOTT speaks at the CPAC Texas 2022 conference.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously invited Mayor Eric Adams to visit the US-Mexico border.
Chris Rusanowsky/ZUMA Press Wire

“They’re up in arms about a few thousand people coming into their communities over the past few months? Listen, in any one sector in the state of Texas, we have more than 5,000 people coming across [the border] in that sector every single day.”

“We’re full in the state of Texas,” Abbott added. “Our communities are overrun, and I started busing people to Washington DC, when local officials could not handle the number of people that had come across our border.”

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