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For audiophiles, Alpine is no stranger to the audio scene, being renowned in the car audio and speaker market. Its foray into the mobile Bluetooth devices market is represented solely by the Alpine DCS-BT1 Bluetooth handsfree speaker unit. Before we head on to the review proper, let’s look at some studies on mobile use while driving.

As we all know, using a mobile phone while driving, regardless of whether for calling or texting, is common and downright dangerous. We take our safety so much for granted daily. We think we can stop in time. We think we can react in emergencies. We think that we’re good at multitasking (fellow men: read). Well, read on, if you will.

A University of Utah study done a couple of years ago measured response time, following distance, and driving speed of a controlled group of 120 subjects, involved in cell phone conversations.

What we know from this study is that a person driving while using a mobile phone takes more time to react, applies less adequate brake force hence takes a longer distance to stop the vehicle and carries more speed overall. The shocking thing is that this is consistently worse than a person drunk driving. Does this convince you to stop using your mobile while driving? It should.

Buttons? What Buttons?
At first glance, the DCS-BT1 comes across as well-built and highly portable. Made of high-grade plastics with a gloss finish, it looks impressive and premium, right out of the box. The box contains the DCS-BT1 unit, microUSB cable, car charger (cigarette lighter) and tiny manual. You will notice that there are no physical buttons, a product design reminiscent of Apple’s mouse (“The mouse is the button!”). Simplicity is certainly the order of the day. Smooth lines and buttonless design aside, some may find it confusing as to where the controls actually are, as did I. I found myself clicking on the logo at the center of the rotary knob which isn’t where the controls are. Instead, the ‘button’ so to speak is at the top front of the unit. Alpine calls this the Activity button. Perhaps in future iterations of the DCS-BT1, Alpine can instead have the Activity on the rotary knob instead, as far as usability goes, seems more natural.

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The One Click Wonder
Powering up the device is as easy as holding down the Activity button for a couple of seconds. You will be greeted with a sassy female voice to acknowledge you clicked her buttons well. Ok, I lied about her acknowledging you but yes, she does speak! “Powering up”, she says. Hold it down a little longer and it will search for your phone to pair. Pairing is a cinch, and the HTC Desire HD paired with the DCS-BT1 within a couple of seconds. All you need to do is clip the device on your sun visor in-car and off you go. The integrated clip fits pretty snugly.

What’s cool is that the device will hold your pairing for up to 30 minutes after your phone is not within range. Once it detects your phone in proximity it will re-sync.

A Sound Device
As one would expect from Alpine, the audio quality is good, at least for call-related features. Call quality is clear and consistent, thanks to its omnidirectional microphone and speaker. The female voice prompts you on incoming calls – “Call from 123-4567.” What would be great if it could say out the contact name, since we never remember numbers these days! The device can also be used to stream music from your phone, which I also tested. Although I would question the practicality of that, the sound quality is at least louder and better than that of your phone. Just click on the Activity button to play or pause music. To adjust volume, turn the knob clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Supercharged and Multilingual
It only takes one full charge via the supplied cable and you’ll be able to enjoy up to 14 hours of talktime and up to 400 hours standby. This is very impressive! The female voice prompts you on low battery charge and reminds you to charge the device. Also, the device supports 9 languages including UK English, US English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.

“Powering Down”
In summary, the DCS-BT1 is a well-designed, useful device. For those who are constantly on the road, this device should come into handy. At close to RM500, it may seem pricey to some, compared to the many handsfree kits out there, though. Key things I like about the device include its good simple design and controls, good sound quality and battery life. Most importantly, it keeps drivers focused and safe, which is as priceless as it gets.

Originally published here.

PARENTS!

If you love your kids, choose not to drink alcohol By Eva Fry

CHOOSE NOT TO DRINK ALCOHOL FOR THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF YOUR KIDS!

AN INTELLIGENT CHOICE! A WISE DECISION!

Why would a parent, who may enjoy drinking alcohol, choose not to drink?

They know tragic consequences may be in their children’s future, if they drink alcohol and their children follow their example.

Good parents refuse to encourage, enable or model alcohol that could potentially kill their child. They know a double standard does not work! Telling your child not to drink alcohol, when you are drinking, doesn’t work! Responsible parents are aware that drunk driving, alcoholism, future drug use, are a small part of what can happen after a child takes it’s first drink. Parents who really love their children are willing to give up something they may enjoy themselves for the health and safety of their children.

I believe mothers have the greatest responsibility to their children in this area, because they set the tone of the home! For responsible parents, it is not a big sacrifice to make the choice not to drink alcohol.

A study was done on the brains of young people and the finding was that young brains do not fully develop until they are age twenty-five. Young people need the adults in their life to be good examples. They need parents to direct them and help them make good decisions. The sad fact is that many parents are bad examples and by the time a young person figures life out, they are following the same path as their parents.

If you are questioning this idea of parents abstaining, think of this! How would you feel if your child died in an alcoholic stupor because they just wanted to be like you? If you don’t want them to drink alcohol, you must not drink yourself!!!!!!!

There is a movement gaining great popularity today, similar to the anti smoking campaign, which had great success. This movement is called “Reducing Underage Drinking”. It is the result of Congress requesting the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine to review the evidence on various programs aimed at underage drinking and to recommend a strategy to reduce and prevent it.

The conclusion of the study is simply: Alcohol use by young people is dangerous, not only because of the risks associated with acute impairment, but also because of the threat to their long-term development and well-being.

I recently attended a national conference for this movement and was impressed with all the enthusiasm and excitement generated in teaching our young people not to drink alcohol, until they are twenty-one years old. Organizations from all over the United States gathered to share what they know and their successes. Great strides are being made and young people are really being educated in the dangers of drinking alcohol.

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I am very thankful for all that is being done and commend all involved for their dedication and desire to save our young people.

Unfortunately, my only complaint is the lack of an abstinence message in their campaign. They are not making it loud and clear, to young people, that they have the choice not to drink alcohol at all, whatever their age. They are not being taught, “Abstinence is the better choice!” They are only teaching young people not to drink alcohol until they are twenty-one years old. They must believe something magical happens when they attain the age of twenty-one. If they only choose to drink then, there will be no consequences.

Why do I believe abstinence a better choice?

Once again from the study: 1/3 of youth traffic fatalities involve alcohol. Underage alcohol use is also associated with violence, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors. All of these problems are magnified by early onset of teen drinking: the younger the drinker, the worse the problem. Moreover, frequent heavy drinking by young adolescents can lead to mild brain damage. A young person who begins drinking as a young teen is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than some one who waits until adulthood to use alcohol. Almost 14 million Americans abuse alcohol or have developed alcoholism.

My argument for encouraging parents to choose not to drink alcohol is personal, but is backed up by the study. It says that the patterns and consequences of youthful drinking are closely related to the overall extent and patterns of drinking in the society, and they are affected by the same factors that affect the patterns of adult consumption. From this standpoint, it is possible that the most effective way to reduce the extent and adverse consequences of youthful drinking would be to reduce the extent and consequences of adult drinking. It is clear, however that Congress intended for the committee to focus on youth drinking, rather than developing a strategy targeting adult drinking. This is what the committee has done.

The study can be read at www.national-academies.org (Reducing Underage Drinking)

The study recognizes that the best way to help our young people to choose not to drink alcohol is to teach adults not to drink alcohol! It worked with tobacco and I believe it can work with alcohol too! Unfortunately that is not yet their focus.

Why do I think parents should choose not to drink alcohol?

1. Modeling or example is the best teacher.

2. A double standard doesn’t work.

3. Telling a child they should not drink until they are twenty-one is a temporary and potentially devastating solution which teaches them that drinking alcohol is ok. What happens, when they become twenty-one, and they choose to drink and end up destroying their life anyway? The first drink can be the beginning of alcoholism. Fifty percent of those who have alcoholics in their family can become alcoholic. It can also lead to a DUI, at any age, as well as all of the other violent crimes committed while people are drunk.

4. Why teaching our kids to only drink in moderation is a bad choice! Because moderation teaches, “It’s ok to drink alcohol.” There is no safety in teaching moderation. The only safety is in teaching abstinence. Besides, if you are trying to save your kids from the damage alcohol can do and you drink in moderation you are supporting the alcohol industry by giving them money for their products. Aren’t you enabling the alcohol industry to continue their mission to make money, so they can continue to destroy our kids, and families?

There is also another common argument. It is thought; if children are taught to drink at home they will be more responsible. This may be true in some cases but in European countries where this is done, the study reports that these countries are no better off than the United States in terms of the harmful consequences of youth’s drinking. Besides underage drinking is a crime and if you encourage your child to drink alcohol you are breaking the law!

Many churches have taught moderation and are now paying a price. They have alcohol problems in their congregations. Some of them have an anti drinking campaign, themselves.

5. As parents, we need to teach our children to naturally and fully use the abilities, gifts and talents they have been blessed with and encourage them to reach their life’s purpose and potential. How can they do that if they use a temporary substance to handle their life or avoid growth? If they think they need a drink of alcohol to have fun, handle a problem or escape from a situation, they will never discover their own capabilities. They will never develop the skills needed to enjoy life to the fullest. Kids need to see adults who do fully live their lives without the crutch of alcohol. They need to understand that life is fulfilling, enjoyable and successful without alcohol.

We love our children and we want to provide for them a healthy life style, which they can enjoy, their whole life. We want to do everything we can, as parents; to be sure they have the opportunity to fully live their lives. We want to keep them safe and in good health. ****Good parents set good examples for their kids****

Originally published here.

Among all the personal injury cases, road accidents that involve motorcycles or cars are the most frightening. It can affect the passengers, drivers and the passers by as well.

People involved in car accident can suffer different types of injuries – minor to serious. Severe car accidents may result in fatalities even.

With the increased amount of road traffic, chances of automobile accident are also higher nowadays. Life after car accident is sometimes more painful than the incident itself. Job loss, unemployment, reduced income, disability, injuries and top of all the feeling of being sufferer due to some one else’s negligence make life miserable.

You will be shocked to know that in America one person die in car accident in every 13 minutes! Then just think how scary the figure will be if you calculate road accident casualty of a year!

Not all the victims are aware of their legal rights and they fail to claim what they deserve. Even if we subtract the number of people who cannot make it to court, hundreds of thousands car accident compensation claim cases are filed in the court of the states every year. Hundreds of automobile accidents take place in Florida and consult Florida car accident attorney to get their claim filed.

Car accident lawyers help victims and their families get compensated for all their damages and injuries. But compensation is the solution once the accident has happened already; the question is how the instances of car accidents can be reduced if not stopped completely?

Let’s review the most common reasons of car crashes. Once we know the reason, we can take proper measures to avoid it.

Driver’s inefficiency:

Drivers often forget their responsibilities and get tempted to break road rules and traffic laws desperately. Crossing speed limits, tailgating, disobeying traffic signals are the common causes of car accident. Such acts during rainy or stormy nights can lead to disasters.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or any other toxins:

Drunk driving could be dangerous. People lose control over themselves when they are drunk or under influence of toxins. There is an allowance although; a certain quantity of alcohol is considered ok for drivers, any amount higher than that should not be taken when you are going to drive.

Lack of concentration:

While driving full concentration should be given towards it, no active participation in any other activities is desired. Drivers often forget their duties and engage themselves in active discussion with co-passengers, talking over cell phones or listening to music while driving.

The above mentioned factors can be controlled. Several laws have been introduced at state level too to control such activities. However, mass awareness is required to prevent road accidents due to driver’s negligence.

Below are some points where, not the driver but another party is responsible for the accidents. Whoever is responsible for the accident, Florida residents should always contact Florida personal injury lawyers for further legal help. Let’s proceed with rest of the reasons:

Defective vehicle or sudden break downs:

Cars and motorcycles are nothing but machines and machines can be defective or can crash any time. However, drivers and motorcycle riders should give their vehicles a check periodically to see if all the parts are working properly or not. Also, not a single mechanical problem should be left unattended.

Defective roads:

Local administrative body is responsible to ensure the roads and highways are safe for driving. If they fail to perform their duty, legal action can be taken against them.

Bad weather:

Heavy rain, stormy weather, snowfall, sustained wind and other natural calamities often lead to road accidents. Drivers, motorists and pedestrians should be extra careful on road during bad weather.

Originally published here.