Tausi Insider

An electricity pylon with high-voltage power lines in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 7. VALENTYN OGIRENKO/Reuters With Ukraine’s power grid coming under almost daily attack by Russian forces, the country’s main energy company has expressed interest in electrical equipment produced by a Canadian firm. Tower Solutions has factories in Granby, Que., and in Brechin, Ont., producing transmission towers that the company says could be exported to Ukraine and rapidly installed to restore power in the war-ravaged country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said recently Russia had damaged 40 per cent of his country’s energy infrastructure, and on Tuesday, Russian air strikes targeting energy and other facilities caused broad power blackouts. During a press briefing last month, a Tower Solutions representative pitched the company’s emergency replacement pylons to Maxim Timchenko, the president of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company. The representative noted the towers c...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Friday banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose “an unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security. The FCC said on Friday it had adopted final rules banning the sale or importation of equipment deemed to pose a national security risk to the United States, the latest crackdown on the Chinese telecoms equipment makers. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated the proposed measure, which effectively bars the firms from selling new equipment in the United States, to the other three commissioners for final approval in October. Huawei declined to comment and ZTE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The idea was first proposed in mid-2021. The FCC action would also affect Dahua Technology Co, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd and Hytera Communications Corp Ltd, according to the statement from the FCC. https://www.tausiinsider.com/u-s-bans-...

New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods increased more than expected in October amid strong gains in demand for machinery and a range of other goods, which could allay concerns of a sharp slowdown in manufacturing. The Commerce Department said on Monday that factory orders jumped 1.0 per cent after rising 0.3 per cent in September. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast orders advancing 0.7 per cent. Orders shot up 12.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in October. The Federal Reserve’s fastest rate-hiking cycle since the 1980s as it battles inflation is dampening demand for goods, undercutting manufacturing, which is also being squeezed by the rotation of spending back to services. An Institute for Supply Management survey last week showed its measure of the nation’s factory activity contracted in November for the first time in 2-1/2 years. Manufacturing accounts for 11.3 per cent of the U.S. economy. October’s jump in factory orders was driven by a 2.2 per cent rise in bookings fo...

Photo : Solid photos ( Shutterstock ) Smartphones have been the camera of choice for years, not only because of their convenience, but because of their excellent photo and video quality. Most of us like that about them. But if you’re online enough, you might have noticed something odd: More and more young people are choosing older point-and-shoot cameras to take their photos, rather than using their iPhones, or even a DSLR . Gen Z loves point-and-shoot cameras As evidenced by PetaPixel , the latest photography trend among Gen Z is the 2000s-era digital camera (or, as some loving refer to them, “shitty” cameras). The vibe you want is a slightly blurry, over or underexposed image with a classic orange date and timestamp in the corner of the frame. The shittiness is the point. The trend is taking advantage of a now “vintage” look (sorry, fellow millennials), invoking nostalgia for a more disconnected (if not analogue) photographic past some Gen Z’ers may or may not remember them...

Photo : Mike Fig Photo ( Shutterstock ) While dryer sheets are often touted as being versatile odor absorbers, they really only belong in the dryer. It might seem like a simple and cost-effective way to cut down on smells coming from vents in your HVAC, but that’s a bad idea. Some claims have even been made that dryer sheets will extend the life of your air filters, but this is sadly not the case. There are several reasons you shouldn’t be using dryer sheets in any of your HVAC vents. The chemicals in dryer sheets can negatively affect your health According to the National Institute of Health , chemicals used as scent in laundry products can cause asthma attacks and migraines, as well as eye, skin, and throat irritation. Because dryers vent to the outdoors, these scents travel mostly out of the air supply in your home. However, if you’re intentionally circulating them inside, they will be present in higher concentrations. Manufacturers aren’t obligated to reveal the ingredients i...

Photo : SViktoria ( Shutterstock ) Another day, another TikTok hack that seems clean and safe but could actually be a total disaster in practice . While some viral hacks actually   are as miraculous as they seem , a newer one suggesting you make a reusable dryer sheet by soaking a sponge in a fabric softener solution ( and then tossing it in your dryer) is anything but. One British woman has spoken out to her local press , claiming that after soaking sponges in fabric softener and water and putting them in her tumble dryer, the appliance caught on fire overnight. Prior to this horror story hitting the news, appliance experts were already speaking out against this hack, popularized on TikTok, by warning that it could stain clothes, anyway . Still, TikTok is full of videos of people making “reusable dryer sheets” with sponges and fabric softener. If you’re a CleanTok lurker, you’ve probably already seen these clips or will soon. To correct your algorithm, click here for a vide...

Photo : wavebreakmedia ( Shutterstock ) Everyone wants to be healthier and live longer, which can often translate into indulging in trends that promise to make us thinner, healthier, and happier, whether it’s a fad diet or a fad piece of workout equipment. Sometimes this stuff even works—but most of the time these health trends and products wind up having a more or less neutral effect on our health. For example, standing desks. These desks, designed to allow you to work at a desk while standing up, have been on trend for a few years now, inspired by studies that warned of the many health dangers involved with sitting on your ass for hours at a time. And it’s not just the sitting that makes your desk so dangerous—working at a desk can cause other problems, like carpal tunnel syndrome or good old-fashioned back aches . So chances are you’ve Googled “standing desk” at some point in the last few years, and therefore have experienced sticker shock, because there are some seriously e...

The coach of a group of young skiers whose equipment was lost on the way to an elite cross-country skiing event says Air Canada staff on the ground have been helpful, but appear helpless to fix the problem. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press Elite young skiers from a cross-country ski team in Chelsea, Que., are in Prince George, B.C., this week for the World Junior under-23 championship trials, events that can determine who makes Canada’s national team. But Air Canada left their skis stranded in Vancouver, and the four athletes, ages 17 to 19, have been without their equipment since they arrived on Sunday. They fear the airline’s errors could cost them a shot at a place on Team Canada and dampen their Olympic dreams. “These are young kids and they’ve been training years for this,” said Maurice Samm, coach of the Chelsea Nordiq ski club. “It’s not just us. There’s a lot of stuff missing.” About 500 athletes are competing until Saturday or Sunday in the Nordiq Canada Selection Trials and N...

Statistics Canada says wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent month over month in November to $83.8-billion. The agency says the sales were boosted by the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector and the machinery, equipment and supplies group. Sales of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories gained 10.1 per cent at $13.8-billion in November, a record high for the subsector. The machinery, equipment and supplies subsector rose 2.0 per cent to $17.9-billion in November, lifted higher by the construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies industry. Meanwhile, sales in the miscellaneous subsector fell 5.1 per cent to $12.2-billion. Statistics Canada says overall sales in constant dollars rose 0.1 per cent in November. https://www.tausiinsider.com/canadian-wholesale-sales-rose-0-5-month-over-month-in-november-to-83-8-billion/?feed_id=323464&_unique_id=63e1f75410748

Photo : Olga Gordeeva ( Shutterstock ) Ants hate chalk, which is a weird discovery some kids inadvertently make on their own during lazy days in the driveway. We don’t need to get into the science of it (which involves a disruption to their pheromone trail); all you have to know is if you don’t want them entering your space, draw a big, fat chalk line and they won’t cross it, as we’ve said . This temporarily confuses them, but it doesn’t kill them, so you’ll need to find a different way to deal with more serious ant issues. https://www.tausiinsider.com/8-surprising-household-uses-for-chalk/?feed_id=322752&_unique_id=63db3741d6ee8

Photo : SViktoria ( Shutterstock ) Another day, another TikTok hack that seems clean and safe but could actually be a total disaster in practice . While some viral hacks actually   are as miraculous as they seem , a newer one suggesting you make a reusable dryer sheet by soaking a sponge in a fabric softener solution ( and then tossing it in your dryer) is anything but. One British woman has spoken out to her local press , claiming that after soaking sponges in fabric softener and water and putting them in her tumble dryer, the appliance caught on fire overnight. Prior to this horror story hitting the news, appliance experts were already speaking out against this hack, popularized on TikTok, by warning that it could stain clothes, anyway . Still, TikTok is full of videos of people making “reusable dryer sheets” with sponges and fabric softener. If you’re a CleanTok lurker, you’ve probably already seen these clips or will soon. To correct your algorithm, click here for a vide...