Safety
5 ways to fight the winter blues
Ah, February. Does the thought of the year’s second month make you think of pink decorations and chocolate hearts? In reality, it can be endless stretches of somber gray skies, brown slushy snow, and fighting off the flu. Whether you call it the winter blues, cabin fever, or seasonal depression, the February blahs seem inevitable. […]
To frack or not to frack?
Folks in Youngstown, Ohio might take the cake for the most harrowing of New Year’s Eves; the Midwest town brought in 2012 with a December 31 earthquake. This event raised a red flag to local residents, who wondered if there was more behind the natural disaster than pure coincidence. Unusual seismic activity and environmental issues […]
How to Stop Subway Deaths
One of my favorite parts about taking the New York subway every day is the announcements. They come in two forms: one by the conductor, and then there’s the robotic, prerecorded voice that comes through the speakers. “Please stand away from the platform edge.” This phrase invokes my sense of readiness. I stop what I’m […]
Lithium batteries: safe or unstable?
New required lithium battery paper label (via SmartSign.com). We may not know it, but our modern world is entirely dependent upon lithium batteries. We find them in our cellphones, laptops, digital cameras, and even in our watches. Unlike many of our day-to-day Duracell batteries, lithium ion batteries are unique because they are rechargeable, and so offer […]
Color Codes for Buried Lines – APWA
You can tell where buried lines are, and what they are, by understanding the APWA’s color codes (via Southeast Missourian). If you’ve ever tried to install a pool in your backyard, you know that you can sometimes get yourself into deeper water than you ever intended — that is, by hitting a buried utility line […]
Attention shoppers: what you should know about video surveillance
While you’re buying this years gifts and gadgets, another kind of industry is at work all around you. Retail surveillance studies consumers, monitors employees, breaks up crime rings, and allows stores to share your data with one another (Via LoopZilla). It’s December, and the frenzy of the shopping season that started at midnight on Thanksgiving […]
Workplace bullying costs companies billions, wrecks victims’ health
35 percent of employees have been bullied in the workplace (via Glassdoor). Plebe. Newbie. Rookie. Punk. These words are flung around in the corporate world, as told by a former Goldman Sachs executive, Greg Smith. From experiences at the beginning of his time at the firm as an intern in 2000, Smith recounts how several […]