July 2020 - cruciforme

Blog Archive

Best Coffee Makers for College

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Whether college means in-person or online classes this year, great coffee can help students get up and running. Make it easy to get a fix with a quality coffee maker. At Consumer Reports, we test both full-sized and single-serve coffee makers. Each type has its advantages.

“Full-sized coffee makers brew a stronger cup and offer more features,” says Ginny Lui, CR’s test engineer for coffee makers. “Single-serve machines are a great option if you want to brew a cup quickly.”

In our tests, full-sized coffee makers typically take about 10 minutes to brew a full pot, and some are even faster. But if you need your cup of joe as quickly as possible, try a self-serve drip machine or a single-serve model that uses disposable pods.

For drip coffee makers, we conduct a brew-performance test to measure the brew

Travel

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July 31, 2020

Looking to travel outside the US? These places are open to Americans

It can be difficult to imagine traveling during a global pandemic that has racked up more than 17 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, worldwide and has caused many countries and states to close their borders to international travel. But as of July 30, the Transportation Security Administration reported that 718,310 people took flights, a drastic increase from the March 30 travel number of 154,695.

Where once the United States passport granted citizens the ability to travel almost anywhere, now only some countries and territories are allowing Americans across their borders. The U.S. largely falls into a “hot spot” category and is barred for its inability to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Just yesterday, the European Union extended its travel ban on Americans. According to the Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s most powerful passports, the U.S., which used to fall in the

Vacation

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July 31, 2020

Why Specialty Films Need the Oscars in 2021

When Searchlight pushed “The French Dispatch” to 2021, after losing a Cannes berth and pulling it from fall festival consideration, many wondered if the film would ever open. For Searchlight the delay comes down to simple math: The year 2020 can’t accommodate an awards movie for adult audiences without severely compromising the robust theatrical rollout Disney’s newly acquired Fox specialty division is set up to deliver.

Remember: a studio division like Searchlight runs on a different set of metrics than its studio parent. The specialty companies aren’t tied by the same licensing and merchandising wide-release demands that hog-tie the majors. A $200-million movie like “Tenet” needs functioning theater chains with thousands of screens in order to open around the world and make back its negative and marketing costs.

More from IndieWire

Not so a Wes Anderson movie, which isn’t intended for initial online consumption, nor is its appeal limited to

Hotel

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July 31, 2020

Colleges could reopen if they test students every 2 days; Fauci ‘cautiously optimistic’ for vaccine this year

In its biggest coronavirus vaccine deal yet, the U.S. said Friday it will pay French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and Great Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline up to $2.1 billion to test and produce 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.

The deal is part of Operation Warp Speed, a White House-led initiative aimed at getting a vaccine to stop SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

On Capitol Hill, Dr. Anthony Fauci testified Friday before a special House panel. He told the committee that he’s “cautiously optimistic” that by late fall or early winter a vaccine now being tested would be deemed safe and effective.

Also in Washington, the extra $600 in federal unemployment aid that helped many Americans stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic is expiring as plans for additional stimulus stalled in a deadlocked Senate.

Here are some significant developments:

📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 152,000 deaths

Vacation

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July 31, 2020

Online travel agents claim they can send holidaymakers to Spain against Foreign Office advice

People enjoy Magaluf beach in Mallorca. Britons are surprised at the abrupt announcement to impose a two-week quarantine on people travelling to the UK from Spain: Reuters

Go on holiday against Foreign Office advice or lose some of your cash: that is the response of a leading online travel agent to the sudden government warning against travel to Spain.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Britain’s mainstream travel industry shared a common convention: package holidaymakers should not be taken to a country against Foreign Office advice.

Standard travel insurance policies have a clause saying they do not apply if the holidaymaker goes to a country against official advice.

Once an FCO warning is issued, traditionally the only room for discussion is: should British holidaymakers be fly home immediately?

But since the unexpected warning on 25 July 2020 against travel to mainland Spain, followed two days later by the Spanish islands, with mandatory

Travel

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July 31, 2020

Marquise Goodwin Opts Out of 2020 NFL Season amid COVID-19 Pandemic After Wife’s Miscarriages

Marquise Goodwin is opting out of the 2020-2021 NFL season to spend time with his family.

The Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver announced his decision in a candid video posted to his YouTube channel on Tuesday, explaining that both his difficult road to parenthood with wife Morgan and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have had a profound impact on how he is handling his career at the moment.

“Three years ago, I made a decision that affected my whole life,” Goodwin, 29, began his statement, going on to explain of the tragic incident in which Morgan delivered their son at 19 weeks gestation, “I chose to leave my wife at the hospital after prematurely birthing our first baby due to an incompetent cervix, which resulted in a fatality, to play in a football game. I felt like I had to prove to my coaches and new team that I was dedicated to

Hotel

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July 31, 2020

Infection growth slows in California, but deaths surge

California overall is not experiencing the same alarming surge in COVID-19 infections as it did in late June and early July, but record-breaking death tolls reported this week underscore the continued seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic.

California set a new record Wednesday when it reported its highest COVID-19 death toll in a single day with 197 dead. On Thursday, the state reported another 194 deaths, the second highest single-day coronavirus death toll thus far.

Deaths have dramatically increased from the flat-line levels in May and June: As of Thursday, an average of 112 people died from the virus in California every day over the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, about 84 people died every day on average over a two-week period.

Some of those deaths, however, may have occurred several days or weeks ago because of the verification process used by local health officials.

In the last week, California

Recreation

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July 31, 2020

Fauci ‘cautiously optimistic’ of safe vaccine by early winter; Hong Kong delays elections; Vietnam records first death

Dr. Anthony Fauci returned to Capitol Hill on Friday to testify before a special House panel. His testimony comes at a time when early progress on combating COVID-19 seems to have been lost and uncertainty clouds the nation’s path forward.

He told the committee that he’s “cautiously optimistic” that by late fall or early winter a vaccine now being tested would be deemed safe and effective.

A new survey shows fewer Americans want to resume daily activities like going to restaurants or sending children to school as cases spike. But as the school year approaches, state officials are releasing guidelines for schools to reopen. Increasingly, teachers are worried about their students’ mental health.

Here are some significant developments:

Vacation

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July 31, 2020

Coronavirus child care pinch in U.S. poses threat to economic gains of working women

By Jonnelle Marte and Rachel Dissell

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Most days, Zora Pannell works from her dining room table, sitting in front of her computer, turning off the video on Zoom calls to nurse her one-year-old daughter, Savannah.

Pannell has balanced working from home and caring for her daughter and son Timothy, aged 2, since March when she started a new job as a manager for a language services company the same week that Ohio issued a “stay at home” order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Working from home is an exhausting daily juggle but she’s more worried about being told it’s time to return to the office. Her husband cannot watch the children during the day because he has a job at a local steel mill and the couple have been unable to find a daycare center they deemed safe and affordable close to their Shaker Heights

Recreation

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July 31, 2020

The Weird Quirks of Covid-Era Shopping

(Bloomberg Opinion) — The pandemic has given rise to some big changes in consumer behavior. We’re all familiar with the obvious ones by now, including more meals at home, fewer trips on airplanes and a dearth of reasons to buy high heels or suits. But after a batch of big-name consumer companies reported earnings in recent days, it’s become clear those changes were just the beginning.

The Covid-19 situation has created a spider web of indirect, secondary shifts in shopping habits and consumer appetites that are just as consequential for brands and retailers as the bigger, broader trends. How companies respond will serve as a key test of their adaptability and creativity. Here are just a few examples:

A Skincare Star Fades: In recent years, the upscale SK-II beauty brand has been a bright spot in Procter & Gamble Co.’s portfolio. The skincare line, which counts $299 “facial treatment essence”

Travel

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July 31, 2020