Roman blinds how to make easy

Lê Nguyễn Ngọc Thạch and Nguyễn Thanh Trung from Kon Tum Province in their school’s lab. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Điệp Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The blind and visually challenged will soon be able to buy a reading machine invented by a HCM City student. The device is the brainchild of Nguyễn Thanh Trung, a second-year student at HCM City University of Information Technology. His reading machine was awarded the bronze medal at the International Exhibition for Young Inventors in India from October 16-22, an annual event for youths to exhibit their creativity in invention and innovation. The machine also won first prize at the 13th nationwide Children’s Innovation Competition in 2017 when he studied at Nguyễn Tất Thành High School in Kon Tum Province . Trung said many visually impaired people in Việt Nam want to read books, newspapers and other kinds of documents. However, there are few supporting tools available to them. Braille books and reading machines remain unpopular … [Read more...] about Vietnamese student’s reading machine to bring joy to the blind

I’ve played around a bit with Alexa, and even considered buying an Echo Dot or two before the launch of HomePod , but in the end decided to wait it out. However, while Hunter Douglas is still promising HomeKit support for our Luxaflex Duette blinds , and was expecting to get there by now, certification has been delayed until later in the year. In the meantime, it’s gone ahead with the launch of the new bridge which brings voice control to the blinds – but so far only for Alexa and Google Home … Rather than wait for HomeKit, we decided to get an Amazon Echo Dot as an interim solution – which also provided an opportunity to pit Siri against Alexa in a real-life smart speaker test. Note that I say ‘Siri versus Alexa,’ not HomePod versus Echo Dot. As speakers, the two devices aren’t even in the same league. HomePod is a $349 device which gets into what I think of as semi-HiFi territory. It doesn’t compete with traditional HiFi brands, but is definitely into Sonos territory … [Read more...] about Smart Home Diary: An update to our blinds revealing that Alexa is no smarter than Siri

Once you start down the HomeKit route, the convenience of having everything controlled from a single app is pretty addictive. So these days I view HomeKit compatibility as a pretty non-negotiable item with any smart home tech. But there are limits. And paying £16,500 ($22,000) for a Lutron system was definitely well beyond them! However, the thing about having a lot of windows – especially floor to ceiling ones – is that good-quality blinds are expensive no matter what. And in the winter garden (glazed balcony) in particular, which is where we spend a huge amount of our time, we wanted really nice ones. So when we found that we could have great blinds with iPhone control and promised HomeKit support for a little under half that price, we gulped and went for it … I should explain that we didn’t decide on spending that kind of money casually. It was a somewhat gradual process. My partner loves Luxaflex Duette blinds – which I’ll talk more about in a moment. These aren’t … [Read more...] about Smart Home Diary: Ending up with iPhone-controlled blinds after all … [Video]

National Assembly considers making sex changes legal (13-05-2005) HA NOI — National Assembly debates on whether to make sex changes legal are giving hope to many Vietnamese transsexuals whose new identities remain officially unrecognised. Article 36 of the draft Civil Code revision states that anyone born with a gender disorder or incorrect anatomical sex is entitled to have his or her gender reassigned through medical treatment. An authorised medical committee must evaluate the reassignment, and the process must be carried out in accordance with the law. Even though this sensitive issue for Vietnamese is being debated for the first time by lawmakers, many Vietnamese have already undergone sex-change operations in Viet Nam and Thailand over the past few years. Nguyen Thai Tai, a popular make-up professional in HCM City, spent more than US$30,000 two years ago on a sex-change operation and cosmetic surgery to transform from a man into a woman. Tai, who talks … [Read more...] about National Assembly considers making sex changes legal

Review The new AirPods Max are turning heads with a high price tag and excellent audio quality. But is what you get worth the $549? AirPods Max design AirPods Max come in five different colors, sky blue, green, pink, silver, and space gray. Each color is two-toned, featuring a lighter color on the anodized earcups and a darker one for the headband. AirPods Max have one of the most bespoke designs ever created for a set of headphones. The top portion of the headphones is made of stainless steel before being coated with a premium soft-touch material akin to silicone. The canopy is made from a proprietary mesh that is designed to wrest just atop your head. AirPods Max Each arm of the AirPods Max extend to accommodate user's heads of different sizes. Anodized aluminum makes up the cups themselves, which is lighter than the steel and allows for the svelte anodization Apple is known for. Each of the cushions on the earcups are a similar mesh … [Read more...] about Review: AirPods Max don’t make it easy to justify the price

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân at a regular monthly meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee, which began yesterday. — Photo nhandan.com.vn Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI – The National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) disagreed with a congressional vote which would mean juveniles are fully subject to criminal charges for rape, deliberately injuring people or kidnapping. During a regular monthly meeting that began yesterday, the NASC debated amendments to the Penal Code 2015 which last year was suspended from going into effect days before implementation due to 90 “technical errors”. Article 12 of the Penal Code 2015, passed by the 13th NA, regulated that any person from 14 to 16, while still legally a child , would be held responsible for criminal charges for some crimes, including rape, deliberately injuring people or kidnapping. The Supreme People’s Procuracy Chief Justice Lê Minh Trí said that the Government wanted to narrow down the … [Read more...] about Gov’t to go easy on some child criminals

The next time you visit an Apple Store, expect to see a lot more Memoji. After today, Apple’s retail teams will greet you wearing custom new badges printed with their likeness — in Memoji form. If you’d like a virtual badge in the same style, there’s now a way to make your very own tag. Employee badges on lanyards were a signature part of the Apple Store aesthetic from the day the first locations opened in 2001. The iconic badges disappeared in late 2014 while Apple Retail was under the direction of Angela Ahrendts but are now back with a twist. The new Memoji badges are designed to help store employees express themselves in a world wearing masks. They’re sure to be conversation starters and add a pop of color and fun to the store experience. For long-time Apple enthusiasts, they’re a throwback to old times. Earlier badges promoted Apple’s in-store services and announcements, like Personal Pickup or The Beatles arriving on iTunes. Memoji badges first appeared at the grand … [Read more...] about Apple Store badges are back with Memoji, here’s how to make your own

Five reasons that make The Grand Manhattan a magnet for investors Property insiders said the most anticipated news in the HCMC real estate market in May would come in the next few days when the new tower in the luxury residential project in District 1, The Grand Manhattan developed by Novaland Group, is launched. Why is The Grand Manhattan so attractive in a hectic market? Location is cited as the first reason. The other four factors are modern amenities, green areas, beautiful views and developer’s prestige. “Diamond” location in the city The Grand Manhattan is a complex of three 39-storey apartment buildings. It is being built on an area of 14,000 sq.m. at the intersection of Co Giang and Co Bac streets in District 1. The ground and the first floor of the three buildings will be used as a shopping mall area while a hotel managed by a foreign company will occupy the second to sixth floors. The rest of the space will be taken by condos. The site of The Grand Manhattan … [Read more...] about Five reasons that make The Grand Manhattan a magnet for investors

The Automobile Association Vietnam is running the #3500LIVES campaign in Hà Nội to reduce the number of deaths among people aged 15 to 29 caused by traffic accidents. — Photo Courtesy of AIP Foundation Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The Automobile Association Vietnam is carrying out a campaign in Hà Nội called #3500LIVES featuring training and public awareness initiatives focused on key “golden rules” for road safety to reduce deaths of people aged 15 to 29 in traffic accidents. During the month-long campaign ending on July 31, it has focused on training and communication about using a child safety seat, buckling up, not texting and driving, and wearing a helmet. It provided training in safe motorcycle driving for 200 students at Thủy Lợi University in Hà Nội, spoke about the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving and the importance of helmet use. Two hundred people were also told about the safest way to travel with children in a car and the need to wear a seatbelt. … [Read more...] about Campaign seeks to make roads safer for young people

Dr. Phạm Minh Trường checks the eyes of children at Huế Eye Hospital. — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI – An eye doctor from central Huế City was honoured last month as an Eye Health Hero for his dedication in restoring the sight of hundreds of visually impaired children. Dr. Phạm Minh Trường, director of the Huế Eye Hospital, was the first Vietnamese doctor and among 15 eye doctors all over the world to be honoured with the title by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). The Eye Health Heroes initiative recognises and celebrates frontline staff whose work in the field and engagement with the community makes a real difference in restoring sight. A graduate of Huế Medical University in 1987, Dr. Trường started his career at the eye care clinic in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, which is now the Huế Eye Hospital. During the past 30 years, Dr. Trường has made a contribution to the hospital’s development as well as to building up eye care clinics for … [Read more...] about The Huế doctor helping children see the world