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Month: February 2019

  • 2019 Infiniti Q50 Review: Is it Worth the Price?

    2019 Infiniti Q50 Review: Is it Worth the Price?

    In 2019, you don’t tend to think “compact” when you hear the word “luxury”. In this day and age, luxury seems to be synonymous with big SUVs, or, at the smallest, maybe a sporty crossover.

    Infiniti’s 2019 Q50 has a lot of interesting things going on. Is it worth the price tag, though? Let’s look into it.

    2019 Infinity Q50

    What’s New

    The 2019 model of the Q50 has a few new tricks up its sleeve. For one, forward collision warning and emergency braking have both been made standard. This is in addition to some general quality-of-life improvements, though the 2019 Q50 is largely similar to last year’s model.

    Notably, this time around there is no hybrid model of the Q50. Instead, the gas-only version is the only configuration on the market.

    What’s Good

    There’s a lot to love in the Q50. The ride is comfortable and quiet, and the cab is luxurious. The seats are quite cozy, and taking the Q50 around the block is wonderful. For those driving around town often, this is a wonderful vehicle.

    The handling is quite tight and zippy, allowing for quick turns and lots of responsive motion. This goes hand-in-hand with the fast response from the V6 engines. While the V6 isn’t standard on the Q50, we recommend the upgrade: it really makes the ride wonderful.

    What’s Bad

    It’s not all good news, though. There are plenty of other luxury cars that sport more muscle and oomph than the Q50. It’s not quite as strong as you might expect for its price point and size. To add to that, the fuel economy doesn’t make up for this relative lack of power: it’s got a below-average MPG. The lack of a hybrid option stings more due to this.

    The infotainment interface is interesting, with its dual-screen design. However, it can be distracting and difficult to learn. Those who haven’t used infotainments systems like this before might be lost by this complex set up.

    Bottom Line

    The 2019 Infiniti Q50 starts at #35,550 and options can bring it up to $53,250, making it a firmly luxury car. For that price, you could opt for a Tesla Model 3 or even a BMW with fewer options. As such, it becomes a bit harder to recommend this vehicle for those looking for performance or gas mileage.

    That said, this is still a great luxury vehicle for the ride. If you don’t mind the slightly low MPG and the price tag, you can have a great ride with the Infiniti Q50.

  • Natural Arthritis Pain Relief

    Natural Arthritis Pain Relief

    Natural pain relief is a great alternative to potentially harmful painkillers or NSAIDs. While you should always take medicine as directed by your doctor, there are non-medicinal ways to combat aches and pains.

    This goes double for arthritis pain, which can be a big deal for older people. Here are some of our top picks for arthritis pain relief.

    Natural Arthritis Pain Relief

    Fitness

    It might sound weird, but staying active is a huge part of curbing arthritis pains. If you’re in good shape and getting regular exercise, it’s much less likely that you’ll have serious aches and pains. Not to mention, it’s just good for you to exercise often and get good nutrition!

    Regular exercise means that your joints stay flexible. It also means that you’ll weigh less, meaning there is less strain on your joints in daily activities. Now, running and weight lifting aren’t the best picks for exercise if you’re already experiencing arthritis pain. However, swimming, yoga and tai chi are all low-impact exercises that are great for you.

    Meditation

    Meditating to relax and focus your mind elsewhere can be a huge help with chronic pain. While many people are quick to write meditation off as pseudo-scientific or ineffective, it’s been proven to help those who put effort into learning the practice.

    Remember: meditation isn’t inherently religious or even philosophical. It’s a way of putting mind over matter and refocusing your energy. It’s helpful for getting your mind off of chronic pain and on to more ephemeral and pain-relieving thoughts, like eternity, mindfulness and wellness.

    Nutrition

    Getting the right things in your diet is another important way to address arthritis pain. Omega-3 fatty acids are a huge help in this regard. Certain fish oils and other supplements are one way to make sure you’re getting enough omega-3, which helps keep your joints loose and limber.

    Another fatty acid recommended for those with joint pain is gamma-linolenic acid. Ask your doctor if evening primrose, borage, hemp, or black currants or supplements made from them would be safe in your diet, as these carry gamma-linolenic acid.

    If your symptoms are quite severe and impacting your daily life, don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor. However, addressing them in a natural and holistic way can be a great way to avoid doctor’s fees and having to take traditional medicine. Everyone is different, however, so make sure you do what is right for your unique situation.

  • Do You Have Eosinophilic Asthma? The Signs

    Do You Have Eosinophilic Asthma? The Signs

    Eosinophilic asthma, as opposed to allergic asthma, has some distinct differences. People suffering from eosinophilic asthma typically experience shortness of breath and wheezing due to an elevation of blood eosinophils.

    Allergic asthma, by contrast, tends to occur when someone is exposed to animal dander or another allergen. Could you be suffering from eosinophilic asthma? Here are the common signs and symptoms.

    Eosinophilic Asthma

    History

    Eosinophilic asthma has been known about for about 100 years. As long ago as the 1950s, it was known that severe chronic asthma shows an elevation of eosinophils. Recently, there’s been even more focus on reducing eosinophils in order to help treat this type of asthma.

    Details

    Eosinophilic asthma is often rather severe and is more commonly seen developing in adults. Inflammatory cells infiltrate airways, blocking the passage of air, leading to shortness of breath and wheezing. A lot of people with eosinophilic asthma have no history of allergies, though allergies are another common cause of asthma.

    Those of have eosinophilic asthma have increased eosinophils in their blood and tissues, meaning that their entire respiratory system is being affected. Chronic sinus disease is common among those suffering from this type of asthma.

    Those with higher levels of eosinophils in their blood have been shown to have a higher risk of future asthma attacks. These can range in severity a good bit from patient to patient. If you think you may have asthma, speak to your doctor about it.

    Causes

    It’s unknown, at present, what causes eosinophilic asthma. Typically, patients don’t have allergies, and modern medical science is unsure of how this type of asthma starts. However, there are treatments that involve combating the high number of eosinophils.

    Symptoms

    Those suffering from eosinophilic asthma tend to have symptoms like coughing, wheezing, tightness of the chest and difficulty breathing. Airflow obstructions are also common. Notably, those suffering from this type of asthma typically don’t have allergies and their asthma attacks are unrelated to outside factors.

    Chronic nasal polyps and inflamed nasal membranes are also common symptoms. If you’re suffering from symptoms like this, speak to your doctor. They may be able to diagnose the issue and could prescribe you medicine to combat this type of asthma.

  • Google Assistant Coming to Even More Devices

    Google Assistant Coming to Even More Devices

    Voice assistants are all the rage right now. Between Amazon’s stellar Alexa, Apple’s hit-and-miss Siri and Google’s excellent Assistant, there are a ton of options for home speakers with built-in assistants.

    Google is set to make an even bigger splash as their assistant technology comes to even more devices this year.

    Google Assistant Rolling Out on More Devices

    CES 2019

    This year’s Consumer Electronic Show, or CES, announced a number of new pieces of tech that will use Google’s Assistant software. JBL’s Link Bar, the Dolby Atmos soundbar and even Samsung TVs are slated to use the tech this coming year. This follows Google’s existing model of not marrying their software to their own tech, as seen with their Android phone operating system.

    CES 2019 marked a ton of new tech that Google Assistant would call home. This puts it apart from Apple, who only allow their Siri virtual assistant to live on Apple-branded products like the HomePod. Amazon, however, is no stranger to renting out their Alexa software.

    Earlier Models

    “Earlier models” of speakers are also slated to get updates to allow Google Assistant to live on them. Play:1, Play:5 and Playbar, for instance, will all be updated to allow for use with Google Assistant. It’s worth noting that these speakers don’t have native mics built in, so those wishing to use them as home hubs will need a go-between. A smartphone or another Google smart speaker are the two most likely candidates, though any microphone would do.

    So What?

    While millions of homes are now equipped with smart speakers, many people remain unconvinced of their usefulness. As such, this news might sound like no big deal. However, given the incredible usefulness and flexibility of smart speakers and virtual assistants, this is huge news.

    Smart speakers, first and foremost, are great for coordinating your media. If you want to listen to music or hear the weather, it’s easy to just call out to your smart speaker. Traffic reports, stock market changes and news are all available through these speakers as well, helping you streamline your morning routine.

    Smart speakers also can act as home hubs if you opt for smart appliances and lights. Controlling your home’s entire electronic ecosystem with your voice is a uniquely awesome experience. Asking to have the oven pre-heat while you also command the lights to enter “romantic dinner” mode is a sublime experience, to be sure.

  • Best Gifts for the Audiophile in Your Life

    Best Gifts for the Audiophile in Your Life

    Music lovers are an awesome bunch. You can always count on them to come in with a great band recommendation, and they’re super easy to shop for. What should you get for an audiophile? That’s easy: something cool to listen to their favorite tunes on!

    Here’s our gift guide for the audiophile in your life, so you can make sure they get to rock out in style.

    Best Gifts for Audiophiles

    Sony WH-1000XM3

    These Sony headphones are top-tier when it comes to audio quality and design. Their build is impeccable, as you would expect from Sony, with solid construction that feels sturdy even when thrown in a bag. The earcups are large and softly padded, making these a comfortable wear even on extended plane rides or through sprawling albums.

    The battery is conducive to such long-plays, too, coming in at a solid 30 hours. That means you can get in a few good listening sessions before you have to plug the headphones back in to charge up. The sound quality is great and can be described as “roomy” and “spacious,” giving a lot of natural, uncompressed sound to the listener. Even the most discerning audiophiles will love these Sony headphones.

    Roberts Revival iStream 3

    Old-school cool design meets modern sound quality with this retro-chic speaker. The classic Roberts design suggests the normal use for this speaker: it can tune in to normal FM/AM radio signals for those times when you just want to listen to the local stations. It’s got a lot more than just that going on, though.

    The sound quality is warm and could be described as “old-school,” but this Roberts doesn’t sacrifice modern sound fidelity for nostalgia. Bluetooth functionality, combined with wi-fi support and even the option to use rechargeable batteries on-the-go all make this a functional throwback speaker.

    Sony PS-HX500

    While the debate over analog-versus-digital audio rages on (it doesn’t make a difference, really) many audiophiles can’t deny the wonderful tactile sensation of throwing a record on the player. Having a physical medium for your music is just… nice. It’s hard to describe what’s so cool about physical media, but humans really like it. And that’s okay!

    This stellar Sony record-player has more than just old-school audio playback going on, too. You can make ultra-high-quality rips of your record collection with the PS-HX500, allowing you to convert your vinyl to a digital library. This lets you take even your most obscure recordings with you, even if where you’re going doesn’t have a record player.

  • Best Ways to Deal with Dry Eyes

    Best Ways to Deal with Dry Eyes

    Dry eyes are a huge pain, especially during allergy season. It’s hard to work when you’re constantly worried about your eyes being dry and itchy. What are some of the best ways to fight dry eyes?

    Today we’re looking at some easy and convenient solutions to your dry eye problem to help you keep on track.

    Best Ways to Deal with Dry Eyes

    Over-the-Counter Drops

    Simple, over-the-counter eyedrops can be a great solution for mild dry eye. If you’re experiencing seasonal allergies, mild dry eye or general eye strain, OTC drops can be a huge help. Keeping a bottle at your desk at work, on your nightstand and/or in your car can help you get instant relief for dry, itchy eyes.

    These OTC drops are usually simple saline and can help with mild cases. Usually, they’re quite inexpensive and they’re a great first step for combatting typical dry eye. However, if you find these alone aren’t helping, there are a few other things you can try.

    Eyewear

    Some find that a bit of new eyewear can help a lot with eye strain. Wearing lenses that are the right fit for your eyes are a huge help. If you need reading glasses, or glasses for seeing far away, don’t hesitate to speak to your eye doctor about your concerns.

    Additionally, if you use a computer for work and find yourself experiencing eye strain, consider getting a pair of blue-light eliminating glasses. These yellow-green tinted glasses cut the blue light out of any light coming to your retinas, helping to reduce eye strain. Such lenses are available over-the-counter and don’t require a prescription, as they’re quite safe to use.

    Prescription Drops

    If you have severe dry eye that isn’t helped by simple over-the-counter drops and isn’t related to eye strain, speak to your eye doctor. It’s possible you’ve got a chronic condition that is causing your dry eye to stay around in spite of normal solutions. In such cases, your eye doctor can diagnose your issue.

    If your eye doctor diagnoses you with a serious eye issue related to your dry eye, then they’ll likely prescribe you medicated eye drops. These should only be used at your doctor’s direction and will likely have instructions on when and how to take them.

    Medicated eyedrops can help with even severe dry-eye by adding medicine to the surface of your eye. These should be used a last-resort if traditional methods don’t work, however, as they’re a good bit more expensive than OTC drops!

  • Empty Nest Syndrome: How to Fight It

    Empty Nest Syndrome: How to Fight It

    This is the moment: the kids have finally all moved out. How do you feel? Probably some combination of proud, wistful and nostalgic. It’s hard to wrap your head around.

    This chapter of your life has come to a close, and now you’ve got the house to yourself again. How do you fight off the empty nest blues?

    Here are a few of our tips.

    Empty Nest Syndrome

    Hobbies

    Consider picking up some new hobbies to help you focus on something else. Painting, playing an instrument, learning a new language, gardening and learning a new sport are all popular choices. Health and fitness pursuits are also great at this stage in someone’s life.

    Not only will these hobbies provide a good outlet for your complex feelings about this stage of life, but they’ll likely help you meet new people or find new common ground with old friends.

    Vacation

    If being in your home without the kids is bumming you out, consider taking a vacation. Get on a cruise ship and travel to the Caribbean for a week. Head up to Aspen and enjoy some skiing. Heck, just head to the beach or the mountains for a weekend. It’s hard to get used to the new status quo, so why not take a break from the usual for a while?

    Downsize

    Maybe you’re finding your current place is a bit big now that all the kids have moved out. Maybe you don’t need all this room, and you’re sick of seeing the empty bedrooms where the kids used to sleep. Consider moving into a new, smaller home. Not only will you have a smaller mortgage, you’ll also get a fresh start on a new chapter in your life.

    If you’ve found it hard to move on from your kids moving out, maybe it’s time for you to move out too. You can even opt to move somewhere more central, like downtown or closer to the city center, to get into more social activities.

    Reflection

    Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. When all is said and done, some things in life are hard to wrestle with. The blues you’re feeling now that the kids have moved out could be simple angst that time keeps passing. Aging and, eventually, dying are just natural parts of being human. If these are the underlying issues to your empty nest syndrome, we’ve got advice.

    The best way to deal with these emotions is by sitting with them and reflecting on them, honestly. Aging isn’t glamorous or fun. It is, however, what makes you human.

    Consider meditating on your life’s path, and think about your children and their role in shaping who you are now. Accepting life, even in the moments where it hurts, is key to living happily.

  • Soul Electronics Blade Earbuds Review: Great for Fitness Fans

    Soul Electronics Blade Earbuds Review: Great for Fitness Fans

    True wireless earbuds are great for fitness-focused people. Whether you’re into swimming, running, cycling or hiking, having earbuds that don’t require wires is a huge help. If they’re also weather-resistant and high-quality, that’s just a win-win.

    Today we’re looking at the Soul Electronics Blade earbuds to see how they stack up against the competition.

    Soul Electronics Blade Earbuds Review

    Design

    These new earbuds are stylish and made of a comfortable, flexible rubber. They’re weather-resistant, with a solid iPX7, meaning you could even swim with these or run in the rain with them. The Soul Electronics earbuds are actually a new version of the previous Blade In-Ears from last year. Those, likewise, were aimed at fitness-focused people with their numerous smart features.

    The design is hook-like to make sure the earbuds stay on your ear during a run or other activity. A comfortable, sport-friendly fit is a must for these kinds of earbuds, and that’s on display here, too. The battery life is impressive, at six hours, making these a great pick based on their design alone.

    Fitness Features

    The Soul Electronics Blade Earbuds sport a number of bleeding-edge technological features for fitness-minded folks. Firstly, there’s a built-in heart rate monitor, so you need not worry about having a separate fitness tracker. That’s a huge help for fitness fans on a budget who don’t have the money for a ton of different gadgets.

    Another interesting feature on display with these new earbuds is a voice coach powered by an AI that can give feedback on your run. This feedback is given in real-time by the AI, and takes a lot of factors into account. Speed, distance, step length and width, even the angle of your head are all tracked by the earbuds and taken into account by the AI system.

    App

    There is also, of course, the Soul Electronics Soul Fit app available. This app tracks your runs and various metrics, such as heart rate and steps. The app allows you to even share your run with your friends, helping keep up with your other fitness-minded friends. The training log is great for seeing your progress over time.

    Bottom Line

    Long battery life, stellar design and fascinating fitness features all come together to set the Soul Electronics earbuds apart from the competition. For those looking to pick up a pair of these earbuds later this year, the price is the only sore spot. These are coming in at a relatively high $250, making them a bit on the high side for wireless earbuds.

  • When to Take a Break from Social Media

    When to Take a Break from Social Media

    Social media is a part of everyone’s everyday lives now. There’s nothing quite as modern as flipping back and forth between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, trying to keep up with all of your various newsfeeds.

    Sometimes, however, social media takes too big a bite out of your free time or starts eating away at your mental health. It helps to know when to take a break from social media.

    When to Take a Break from Social Media

    Free Time

    This might sound a little heavy, but you’re probably wasting a ton of time on social media. Your free time is limited: why piddle it all away on some dumb phone app? Surely your hobbies are more interesting than looking at pictures of people you went to school with years ago.

    Take back your free time by stepping away from social media. There are way more fun things out there than scrolling infinitely through yet another news feed. Painting, dancing, singing, watching movies, reading, going for walks in the park, playing board games with friends, the list goes on and on. Just step away from the phone.

    Mental Health

    There’s a clinically-proven link between spending a lot of time on social media and depression. Low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness, and even pervasive nihilism are all connected to over-consumption of social media. This is all because of the way social media hijacks your brain’s rewards systems.

    Your brain gets a hit of feel-good chemicals when your content is liked or shared. This is a very addictive process, and it can be very difficult to decouple it from social media use. The best thing to do when you’re spending too much time on a social media app is to just delete it outright and spend more time with your friends in the real world.

    Arguments

    We’d be lying if we said we’ve never been in social media arguments. Thanks to the current divisive political climate and the spread of constant misinformation, arguments are bound to happen on social media. We’ve even had relationships with family soured over regrettable Facebook exchanges. This is really, really unhealthy.

    If you’re finding yourself getting into arguments online and getting really stressed out by your own social media account, cut social media out of your life. Just uninstall the apps from your phone and live your life without sweating the social media. It’s more fun to just live in the moment, anyway.

  • Best Places to Find Deals on Baby Formula

    Best Places to Find Deals on Baby Formula

    Baby formula can be really expensive. It’s hard to find good deals on this product, as it’s universally needed and you can’t exactly skimp on it. If you have a baby, you need formula.

    For those who are struggling with the high costs of baby formula, you’re likely looking for the best places to find deals on it.

    Here are some of the best places to look for deals on baby formula.

    Best Places to Find Deals on Baby Formula

    Dedicated Sites

    Many people prefer to use dedicated websites for buying their baby formula. These sites, like BabySavers, tend to focus on finding discounted rates for baby formula so new parents can save more money. Buying online through these kinds of retailers can be a huge help for people with infants, too.

    For one thing, shopping online offers you the comfort of comparing prices from home. You can quickly judge what the best deal is without having to go all over the place looking at different in-store prices. For another thing, you’re able to have the formula delivered right to your home, allowing you to forego traffic.

    Amazon

    As with most products, Amazon can be a life-saver for buying in bulk online. Using plug-ins like Honey, which helps to find coupon codes, you can likely save big on bulk baby formula. As with buying from dedicated sites, you get all the benefits of buying online, which can be huge for new parents.

    Amazon also often offers free shipping for existing Amazon Prime users. Many new parents love Amazon Prime for getting supplies like diapers and other new-parent staples. If you haven’t looked into them yet, consider looking at Amazon to see if they could help you with all the things you need for your new baby.

    Membership Stores

    Big warehouse membership stores like Sam’s Club and Costco often have great deals on bulk items. Baby formula is no exception. If you happen to already have a membership to one of these stores, check in and see if the in-store price for formula is better than the online price.

    While you don’t get the benefit of shopping from home and avoiding traffic when you shop in-store, there are some upsides. You don’t have to wait for shipping with in-store purchases, so you can get your formula right away if you’ve run out. You also get to stock up on other supplies while you’re out, allowing you to roll your grocery shopping into your formula run.