Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

You probably know that bright lights and the blue glow of electronics at night can hinder your sleep. Well, it turns out that red light may also affect your sleep, but in a potentially helpful way.

In this article, well examine how red light at night may affect your sleep cycle and what you can do to improve your sleep pattern.

The type of red light that affects your sleep is light that emits red light wavelengths not simply light bulbs that are tinted red.

While red-tinted light bulbs can be quite soothing and put you in a good mood, they dont actually produce red light wavelengths. Because of this, they likely wont have the same effect on your sleep.

The theory is that red light wavelengths stimulate the production of melatonin. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps you sleep. Your brain releases more melatonin as darkness falls and tends to release less when youre exposed to light.

In a small 2012 study, researchers evaluated the effect of red light therapy on 20 female athletes. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 30 minutes of red light therapy every night for 14 days.

When compared to a placebo group that didnt have light therapy, participants had improved sleep quality, melatonin levels, and endurance performance.

Research published in 2019 detailed a 3-week study of 19 people in an office environment. The researchers found that using a combination of red and ambient white light in the afternoon improved circadian rhythm and increased alertness in the period after lunch, when many people have a dip in their energy level.

A very small 2017 study found that color is closely related to the ability to fall asleep. The researchers also noted that personal preference may affect which color is likely to help you fall asleep.

While the research is promising, more large-scale studies are needed to more fully understand how red light affects sleep.

Sleep inertia is that groggy feeling that lingers after you wake up. It can affect your short-term memory, alertness, and overall performance.

One small 2019 study on sleep inertia showed that saturated red light delivered through closed eyelids, at levels that dont suppress melatonin, may help ease sleep inertia upon waking.

The glare from bright white light at night can leave you squinting and straining to see clearly. Red light is non-glaring, so it can help you see better at night.

Thats why youll find red lights in airplane cockpits and submarines, and why astronomers and stargazers like to carry red flashlights.

Some types of light are more likely to disturb your circadian rhythm than others. But keep in mind that any type of light can disturb your sleep if its bright enough or shining into your face.

Blue light is a good thing during the day. Once you wake up, it can help you feel more alert. But at night, blue light can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Thats because blue light wavelengths can stop your brain from producing melatonin, the hormone that helps you feel sleepy.

Blue light waves are emitted from the sun, as well as from:

If youre having sleep problems, try eliminating blue light and bright light as it gets closer to your bedtime.

Turn off the TV and put away phones, tablets, and laptops at least 30 minutes before you head to bed. Also, try to slowly dim your household lighting in the evening once the sun sets.

Light plays a key role in your circadian rhythm and how well you sleep.

Your circadian rhythm is your internal 24-hour clock. It helps you feel sleepy at night when its dark and it also makes you feel alert during daylight hours.

Light exposure provides your brain with information that guides your circadian rhythm. In a natural light pattern, your circadian rhythm follows sunrise and sunset. But our world is filled with artificial sources of light that can throw us off this natural cycle.

Several studies suggest that light exposure at the wrong time can disrupt circadian rhythm and potentially impact your health.

When your circadian rhythm is off, you can end up in a vicious cycle. You cant sleep well at night, and you feel tired and in need of a nap during the day.

But there are a few ways you can use light to help get your rhythm back.

In addition to lighting, youll want to take other sleep hygiene measures, like avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and vigorous exercise before bedtime.

If you have a sleep disorder that you cant resolve, see your doctor to find out if theres an underlying condition that should be treated.

Light therapy is an option for some people with sleep disorders, but its best to discuss this with your doctor first. Its important to choose the right type of light box and to use it at the correct time of day.

Generally speaking, red light at night doesnt seem to interfere with sleep like blue light does. In fact, it may actually improve your sleep. While more research is needed, the current evidence seems to indicate that red light at night doesnt disturb sleep.

If you want to try red light for better sleep, choose products that emit red light wavelengths instead of bulbs that are simply tinted red. Also, try to expose yourself to sunshine and brighter lights in the daytime, dimmer lights in the evening, and darkness when its time to sleep.

Sleep problems can have an impact on both your physical and mental health. If your sleep issues continue, speak with your doctor to find out what your next steps should be.

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Red Lights at Night: How Does It Affect Your Sleep and Vision? - Healthline

At this point, Nanoleaf is pretty well known if not by name, at least from the geometric shapes in the background of countless YouTube videos and Twitch streams. We've all seen them, curiously Googled them up, and been shocked at the price tag. But these aren't some cheap Assistant-compatible smart bulb; they're wall-mounted art pieces with smart home functionality. So, are they worth it? If you can stomach the cost and the bad app, we think so.

Nanoleaf makes several versions of its popular lighting panels, including the new Shapes series. The Nanoleaf Shapes come in a handful of different configurations: hexagon, triangle, and mini triangle. They fit together and can be mixed and matched, and if configured correctly, they can smoothly tessellate for larger patterns. We only checked out the hexagons, but the others likely perform similarly.

Although the rounded-off corners just barely prevent fully edge-to-edge lighting, they're still very big and bright. They also don't flicker to the naked eye, even at lower dimming settings, like some earlier Nanoleaf lights did. Even trying to get them to flicker shaking my head, blowing raspberries I can't see it. Whatever PWM is present operates at a high enough frequency to be unnoticeable.

The uneven illumination makes a sort of swirl pattern I think it looks cheap.

That said, there are two issues I have with the performance of the lights themselves. For one, the illumination is uneven, with an almost radial pattern spiraling from the corners. It makes them look dirty from a distance, and I'm not a fan. Second (and much more minor), the steps between color transitions aren't always completely smooth. Moving between certain shades, especially between darker colors and blues, often stutters slightly in a way that can be just barely distracting out of the corner of your eye.

In addition to the panels themselves, you have a handful of accessories. There are "linkers" that connect panels to their neighbors, a control panel that plugs into a linker connection, and a rather beefy power adapter. Attached to the back of each panel is a mounting plate with pre-applied adhesive tape. Contents vary, but you can expect some combination of panels and linkers in the "kit" boxes, together with a control panel and power adapter. Expansion packs, however, will only contain panels and linkers.

Installing the lights is mechanically simple, but I'd recommend you prepare extensively for it. Read Nanoleaf's instructions in full and make sure you understand the steps involved.Sure, the lights are just stuck on the wall with adhesive pads, but if you put the first few up and they're out of alignment, it's curtains for the whole arrangement. I went all-out with a laser level (which might be overkill), but I'd still urge you to find some way to align things, whether that's a pencil line, or a level, or even just a careful eye with a measuring tape. As they say, measure twice, cut (in this case: stick) once.

Attach the linkers for neighboring shapes before you stick it to the wall.

The recommended workflow is to come up with your design first, whether that's in the app's designer, on paper, or even just in your head. The built-in Layout Assistant can help with that and even map it into your room via AR, though it is a little buggy. Once you've got it worked out, decide which module in the pattern you'll "start" assembly from, connecting it to both the remote panel and the power adapter. I think it's a good idea to work up or over from either one side or the bottom.

Also, all your so-called "linkers" for adjacent panels should be in place before you stick it to the wall as in, always plan one panel ahead with your linkers as it's kind of hard to put them on after it's up. Once you've got all that worked out, stick that first panel onto your wall. The adhesive is attached to a freely-rotating mounting plate on the back, which means you can fine-tune your alignment with that first panel, but once a second one is connected, you're locked in.

Set up and waiting to pair sorry, I took these setup photos from my phone and it caught the PWM.

Once all your panels are up, it's time to pair your lights to the app, and this is where things can start to get really frustrating. Anecdotally, I had run through the pairing procedure twice to get mine to work, and I also had to hard-reset my lights and completely wipe app data to prevent the Nanoleaf app from repeatedly crashing after that first failed setup attempt. Pairing issues are common with smart home gadgets, but this is by a large margin worse than I expected, and probably something Nanoleaf should look into, together with general app and connectivity issues.

The pairing process (when it works) isn't too hard, though some of the options aren't in the most intuitive spot, and Nanoleaf's instructions at its site still refer to an old version of the app. (This kind of seems to be a trend, software isn't the company's forte.) You'll need to go into the More tab, tap Devices, and tap the plus sign floating action button at the bottom right. Select your product, and the app will walk you through the process.

I recommend you pair with the QR code method, conveniently printed on your power adapter, or Manual Input, which pulls an 8-digit code from your included manual, power adapter, or controller. NFC was unreliable for me.

Once it's all set up, the last thing you'll want to do is connect your lights to your Google account, which means firing up the Home app and adding them as an external Works with Google service. Although the service claims some ridiculous number of connected devices, I think they're mostly the "scenes," or lighting modes, that you've saved as favorites. This part should be simple, though, and your named light setup will appear in the Home app for you to place in whichever room you like.

The state (i.e., on/off) of your Nanoleaf lights will frequently be incorrect in the Home app, and Assistant-based controls are very limited. Nanoleaf claims you can set scenes with the Assistant, but the related commands never once worked for me, whether they were saved/favorited or not. A search tells me this is a common issue, and it could randomly start working at some point.

Excluding that, even basic Assistant-based lighting controls fail to work something like one in five times. That's not toosurprising, because the controls will also fail to work from even inside the Nanoleaf app itself sometimes. Randomly it will claim it can't connect to my lights, which are roughly six feet from my router and always appear as a connected device in its management page.

The Nanoleaf app is frustrating to use, whether it's simple things like basic navigation (a single back from any tab root tab directory closes the app with no warning), to more complex things like configuring settings. Some actions are unintuitively hidden behind a long-press, like devices settings on the Dashboard; others don't give sufficient visual feedback to indicate if your input was accepted, like with tapping scenes in Discover. The UI is "pretty" in the sense that it has nice fonts and layouts, but the UX is abysmal, and the interactive experience is just the tip of that iceberg.

My custom schedules and circadian lighting didn't seem to work. I tried to configure different brightness levels for different times of day, but the settings just never applied, and the general interface when it comes to these kinds of more advanced features is also pretty frustrating to work with, compounding any troubleshooting you might try. I've also found that playing with the settings too much at once tends to break things.

On the other hand, making custom scenes is pretty easy, and the editor is quite powerful. But making good ones is difficult, and at that point the app isn't to blame. There are a lot of settings and options, and making something that actually looks good is difficult. Forcing a limited color palette can be both a blessing and a curse, as is trying to work out how you want to animate it. All my creations were either bland or garish. (More app bugbears: When using the Color Picker, the app doesn't properly update your view when you swap between colors on your palette, and when a palette for a scene is modified, you have reapply it to your layout, it isn't automatic as you might expect.)

More app wonk: Colors in the Picker don't update correctly.

I was also frustrated by some of the "motion" settings (or animations) and how they interact in a given scene. Some of them, like the Wheel, didn't look as expected on my physical layout, with the hole in the middle seemingly confusing it and showing a border in the pattern's animation between two adjacent hexagons that shouldn't have been there. It's hard to describe (and difficult to capture), but it seems it wasn't fully aware of my layout's shape when spatially mapping that particular animation, though others worked fine.

Unless you're willing to spend a whole lot of time tweaking a custom pattern to make things just right, you're better off loading up one of the many very good presets, or at least basing your own design on a preset. There appear to be hundreds of presets shared, and many are quite good.

Left: The app counts 10 tiles, I count 9. Right: I crashed using the layout editor's AR feature quite a few times.

In more app-related angst, when playing with the layout editor prior to installation, the Nanoleaf app would consistently show one less panel than the number in the layout assistant set 10 panels and you'd see 9, for example. The AR feature was also a little hard to get working in my house and was prone to crashing while adjusting its position. The full-screen view the app uses during the setup process also places the "next" button at the very top of the screen, where a tap also triggers the status bar in a full-screen view not the best design.

In short, the Nanoleaf app is powerful but sloppily assembled. It's attractive but inconsistent and a stark contrast to the very high price of the lights themselves. I think Nanoleaf may need to cool down on releasing new shapes to take some time to work on the app's UX a little, make the controls and connectivity a little more reliable, and improve smart assistant integrations.

Maybe. The lights are good, and the app has a lot of advanced features, but it can also be frustrating. Controls for the lights also aren't always reliable, even beyond the usual spotty smart home experience. However, the Nanoleaf offers unique functionality in a well-engineered and attractive package with some great features. Even with my many complaints, I have to point out: I still enjoy the lights. I'd use them even in the face of the issues I've run into, but I'm also the sort of person that can troubleshoot when things go wrong. If you need everything to work the first time and work consistently, or if the app's many issues would be serious concerns, then you might want to think twice. But I've made peace with the fact that these looks come with a cost beyond simple money.

There are a lot of fun features, like setting your lights to a scene that syncs with the mic for music-appropriate ambiance. There's also an interactive mode for things like touch-based light games, and while they get old fast (a common opinion, given their low rating on the popularity list), it's still sort of fun, and something kids might enjoy if you aren't worried about them ripping your lights off the wall or dirtying them up. Either way, these are way more than just a normal smart light, with tons more features than RGB. But the biggest issue is how much better these features could be if they worked with the Assistant better. Although Nanoleaf claims you can set scenes with your voice, that didn't work at all for me. All I could do was on/off, full colors, brightness controls, and white temperatures. For any other light, that would be enough, but these aren't just any lights.

The price for the Nanoleaf shape kits is objectively a little steep. The cheapest kit comes with just 5 mini triangles, and that's insufficient. The kits you'd do best to start with, which come with either 7 hexagons or larger triangles, are both $200, which is on the expensive side, and I think you'd still need to pick up a few more expansion sets to make a nice setup. Just my ten-panel pattern would cost $260 to recreate, and it's still on the minimal side.

Ultimately, value is your call. I don't think anyone can claim with a straight face that the Nanoleaf shapes are a bargain, but they kind of don't need to be. This isn't just a smart light, it's home decor, bordering on an art piece. If you're worrying about the cost compared to your average RGB smart light, you're shopping in the wrong department.

Nanoleaf shapes are available in multiple kits at the retailers listed below:

Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons

Nanoleaf Shapes Triangles

Nanoleaf shapes Mini Triangles

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Nanoleaf shapes review: Hexagons are the bestagons, but the app needs work - Android Police

Dating From Home

Its nearly Valentines Day. You told yourself you wouldnt be spending the holiday alone this year, and yet COVID has messed up another one of your plans. Long story short, youre scrambling for a date and sick of endlessly swiping through Tinder. Lucky for you, as long as youre a single between ages 24 and 46, the new dating service Dating From Home has got you covered. On Feb. 14, join other D.C. daters in a series of 3-minute video speed dates hosted by DFH. While events are normally moderated by founder Sam Karshenboym and his adorable pup Ollie, this time the group has partnered with District Trivia and Trivial Rush to incorporate trivia between meetings (though dont worry, the dog will still be there). And if you happen to find that special someone75 percent of daters match at their first event, apparently, so the odds are in your favorDFH will set you up after the event for a second date.So dust off your best attire, brush up on your trivia skills, and get ready for a Valentines Day event well-suited for COVID times.The event begins at 8 p.m. on Feb. 14. Registration is available at datingfromhome.us. $18. Hannah Docter-Loeb

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City Lights: Dating From Home is Speed Dating, Minus the Germs - WCP - Washington City Paper

Home solar and battery storage systems have been credited with keeping the lights on during a period of record minimum demand in South Australia in October last year, in an Australian Energy Market Operator report on virtual power plants released this week.

In a statement accompanying its latest VPP Knowledge Sharing Report, AEMO says consumer solar and batteries came to the rescue of the South Australian grid on October 11, adding roughly 5MW to operational demand at a time when it had hit dangerous record lows.

Our third knowledge sharing report showed that VPPs assisted in elevating the South Australian operational demand by approximately 5MW during the record minimum demand period on 11 October 2020, which reduced the severity of the event, said the AEMOs chief member services officer, Violette Mouchaileh.

The rapid decline of minimum operational (grid) demand, driven by the increasing contributions of distributed solar generation to meet consumer demand in the daytime, was highlighted as one of the key challenges to all areas of the National Electricity Market in AEMOs 2020 Electricity Statement of Opportunities.

By 2025, the ESOO said, all regions were expected to experience minimum operational demand in the daytime; a trend, AEMO warned, that was creating near-term operational and planning challenges for sustaining a reliable and secure grid, first and foremost in South Australia.

The ESOO also noted, however, that innovative solutions to this problem could include providers/aggregators of distributed energy resources VPPs offering services such as increased PV controllability, load flexibility, storage, and load shifting.

The South Australia example bears out this theory.

Beyond this key achievement, the February 2021 AEMO report documents the performance of aggregated and intelligently coordinated consumer-owned distributed energy resources (DERs) currently mostly residential solar and battery storage on the National Electricity Market.

AEMO, with funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, currently has a total of seven VPP participants taking part in its VPP Demonstrations program, with more than 5,000 consumers located in multiple states with varying DER technologies.

AEMO noted in its report that while the VPP industry was becoming more sophisticated as reflected in dynamic switching controllers, response to minimum demand and diversified consumer offerings it was still very much a work in progress, particularly from the grid services side of the equation.

Weve seen that VPPs prioritise fleet availability for Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets over other value streams, such as energy arbitrage. This makes accurately forecasting behaviour as VPPs scale more complex, Mouchaileh said.

Therefore, ongoing collaboration with industry and development of operational visibility, forecast-ability and dispatchability of VPPs will be critical to ensuring efficient integration into the power system, she said.

On the consumer side of the equation, the report said early insights had shown that participants in the demonstrations VPPS were motivated by a variety of factors, including further reducing their energy bills; accessing government subsidies/discounts on hardware; and having a backup energy supply.

Others were motivated by being a part of the latest technology and pioneering in energy solutions, the report said, as well as by being able to maximise the use of their self-generation assets, or by contributing to the greater good by helping to avoid outages.

Positive expectations mostly translate into high levels of satisfaction; keeping consumers informed about financial, environmental and societal benefits is encouraged to maintain high levels of satisfaction, Mouchaileh said.

A comprehensive Consumer Insights Report will be published by AEMO in July.

See the article here:
How home solar and battery storage kept the lights on in South Australia - RenewEconomy

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When a severe storm caused golf ball-sized hail to batter the city of Canberra, Australia, and surrounding townships, the impact was catastrophic and widespread. This time last year, the hailstorm caused more than $500 million (AUD) in property damage that included shattered car windows, holes in roofs and destruction of critical infrastructure.

The Australian Capital Territorys smart lighting control modules on streetlights, however, continued to operate as if nothing had happened.

When we went to replace several hundred streetlight fixtures damaged by the hail, we were amazed to find the brains of each streetlight, or the smart lighting modules, were still working, said Michael Rosetta, business unit manager at Omexom Australia, the company in charge of the overall Energy Performance Contract for the Australian Capital Territory. We couldnt believe these devices continued to operate after taking such a pelting in the storm.

The Australian Capital Territory first encountered the modules when they contracted Omexom, a VINCI Energies brand, to implement smart city infrastructure as part of Australias largest smart lighting project. Both organisations (Asset Owner and Principal respectively) needed a reliable lighting control solution to seamlessly integrate with the territorys communication network. The search led them to modules made by Smart Efficient Lighting Control (SELC), a Xylem brand.

Omexom has deployed approximately 24,000 SELC lighting control modules, also called nodes, across the area.

The nodes are extremely easy to work with despite being a highly complex electronic component with a lot of intelligence built-in, said Rosetta. Theyre incredibly robust and have provided nearly 100 percent reliability, which is almost unheard of.

SELCs network lighting controls can be programmed to turn on whenever a storm rolls in, flash in the event of a public safety issue and dim or shutoff to conserve energy. When the smart lights are used with a communication network, crews can be alerted right away if service is interrupted for any reason.

The data we receive from the nodes is invaluable for targeted, effective maintenance of the lights, said Rosetta. We can also use the dimming functionality to localize lighting based on environmental conditions.

Throughout the process, Rosetta said he was impressed with SELCs high level of service.

SELC has been everything we could have wanted in a supply partner on this project, said Rosetta. Theyve been responsive, informative and have gone above and beyond whenever weve needed it. We want to work with people who deliver exactly what they say theyre going to deliverthats SELC.

Learn more about SELCs smart lighting solutions.

About SELC

Since its founding in 1982, Smart Efficient Lighting Control (SELC) has helped redefine the meaning of street lighting. From smart dimmable electronic ballasts and the first hardened long-life photocells to launching the worlds most accurate solar time switch, SELC has continually broken new ground in the provision of world-class street lighting control products.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to solving critical water and infrastructure challenges with innovation. Our more than 16,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $4.88 billion in 2020. We are creating a more sustainable world by enabling our customers to optimize water and resource management, and helping communities in more than 150 countries become water-secure. Join us at http://www.xylem.com.

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Australian Capital Territory Achieves Resilient Street Lighting with Omexom and SELC, a Xylem Brand - Business Wire

The man who attempted to remove a solar light fixture from a Dededo home in broad daylight has been arrested.

His efforts were caught in a surveillance video that went viral on social media.

Police identified Raul Jose Quinata, 24, who could be seen in the video trying to remove screws that fastened the fixture to a wall. He couldn't manage to loosen the fixture and ended up breaking it before walking away.

The case was assumed by GPD'S Criminal Investigation Division for a follow-up investigation, according to Guam Police Department spokesman Sgt. Paul Tapao.

Quinata was arrested for the following offenses:

Criminal Trespass

Criminal Mischief and

Attempted Theft of Property

Quinata was subsequently booked and released.The case was sent to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution.

Original post:
Man who tried to remove solar light fixture from Dededo home arrested - The Guam Daily Post

Test setup

Here atBelow the Line, weve been covering the COVID-19 pandemic and how its affected production for the past year. More importantly, weve been focusing our attention on howshows are discovering new ways to keepthe camera rolling while also keeping everyone safe.

With that in mind, heres another example of necessity being the mother of invention as production house Monkey Deux, led byAlan Griswold,had to figure out a way to make a second season ofOur Star Wars Stories, a digital series forLucasfilm andStarWars.com,without some of the luxuries it had for the first eight episodes, including a full production team. The general principle ofOur Star Wars Stories is that hostJordan Hembrough talks with real-lifeStar Warsfans about the inspiring tales that connected them to the sci-fi franchise, including a full production crew.

Below, you can learn how Griswold and his team put together a DIY kit for the interview subjects to light and film themselves for the series.

Priorities for a new workflow

Griswolds goal shifted to developing a new remote workflow and putting together 5 production kits, each in a single case weighing 32 pounds. One would go to Hembrough in New Jersey, who is also a producer and lines up many of the subjects for the stories. The other 4 would go out to the various interviewees who would each have to set up their own gear, soup to nuts: position the camera, lighting, and telecommunicate with Griswold and the rest of the team. Fortunately, Griswold had plenty of remote shooting resourcefulness to make up for the lack of in-person crew.

Lighting was a good place to start. A self-professed gearhead, Griswold has been using BB&S Area 48 LED softlight for years and experienced the color accuracy of the Remote Phosphor design. I had worked with the lights before and knew that since there would be lots of other variables knowing that I could trust the color of their output was a good start for me, Griswold explains, The key is the most important thing. If you know that the key is an exact color you can build the rest around that. You dont want your person to go green or pink.

This time size mattered. Toby Sali at BB&Sencouraged him to try out their remote phosphor Pipeline Reporters and Griswolds problem was solved. He chose 2 each of the 1 Reporters per kit, on desktop stands. With an inline dimmer, they would keep it neat and simple to adjust while looking cooler than most practicals that find their way into frame. Best of all, Griswold knew there would be no spikes, or green glowhe could count on the 97 TLC for color rendering. He also added Pipeline Free versions without stands to go to the hosts home studio.

His criterion was that someone who didnt know much about cameras or lighting could set it up. It was a juggle between whats best, compared to whats simple, he adds. He came up with a simple yet dynamic 2-camera position setup, one wide and one close. He would get on a Zoom and explain how to set it up complete with cables and lighting, test it, and eventually how to pack up into the case and ship back to him.

What was in the Kit?

Packed kit

The participants would receive a snugly packed kit that had been fully sanitized at the Monkey Deux office. The first item they would pull out was a MacBook Pro laptop, preprogrammed with TeamViewer. That would get them online with step-by-step instructions led by Griswold. Next was the Canon EOS R camera that would always be set at face detect autofocus to avoid complications. Ditto with the Sigma 24mm prime lens. Before going remote, I usually use cine prime lenses, but primes were even more important on this project, says Griswold, It cuts out the variables and the setups were at their desktops, so a prime made sense.

The second camera was an iPhone on a travel tripod that worked out fine for the over-the-shoulder shot of the interviewees. Griswold did the settings from his office. They recorded to Atomos Ninja due to its capacity to record in a 10-bit color space.

Regarding the lighting, Griswold says, With their simplicity, size and color reliability the Reporter lights really helped me reduce the number of variables. What you see remotely is not super accurate. You need to trust and you need dimmers. With the Reporter it was easy to say: take the light on the right up and dim the left down. They are fun lights and look cool. When you are dealing with people who dont do it for a living, the cool factor counts, and Im officially over ring lights.

Set up and GoSet up took between 1 and 2 hours each. Griswold says he helped set up in my office with the subjects watching and setting up remotely. John Harper, Lucasfilm producer overseeing production, would also weigh from his desk in northern California to tweak the lighting or the shot composition. I have a whole new respect for people who do tech support, adds Griswold.

The following day they would do final adjustments and the actual interview. It was a busy time with a lot to monitor with the two remote cameras being operated simultaneously. During the interviews the Lucasfilm editor, Frank Knight, as well as producers Matt Martin, Dan Brooks, and Executive Producer Mickey Capoferri joined the Zoom and weighed in. Everyone was an integral part of the process.

Thankfully the participants were so excited about telling their stories that they enthusiastically participated. My job was to make them look good and feel they are in good hands. One of the most rewarding parts was when we finished the setup and folks could see themselves well lit. The fact that they did it gave them a sense of accomplishment. They were grateful to have been selected to be a part of the series. I think we all had a good feeling of satisfaction, concludes Griswold.

You can watch Our Star Wars Stories at StarWars.com.

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Our Star Wars Stories has to Find New Way to Keep Cameras Rolling - Below the Line

Looking outside at another cloudy sky, on another dreary winter day in the Midwest?

Experts say it makes sense that a lack of sunshine leaves us grumpy and tired.

The antidepressant properties of sunlight have been known since antiquity, says Leslie Swanson, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Michigan Medicine and an expert in behavioral sleep medicine at the Michigan Medicine Sleep Disorders Centers. Morning bright light is an effective antidepressant for both seasonal affective disorder and non-seasonal depression.

Swanson says bright light increases mood-positive neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, in the parts of the brain that regulate mood. And you can reap those benefits using a light therapy box in your own home, if a sunny morning walk or commute to work isnt feasible.

And you may find yourself sleeping better, too. Swanson says morning bright light can resynchronize your internal clock and realign your circadian rhythms with your sleep-wake patterns, which improves sleep and increases alertness.

While anyone can find a boost from light therapy, Swanson notes it can be most powerful for people struggling with seasonal affective disorder or depression, along with those wanting to sleep better.

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People who live further from the equator say, for example, in the Mitten State can be more vulnerable to seasonal affective disorder during dramatic seasonal reductions in light exposure, Swanson says.

She adds that people with eye conditions, people who use a medication that increases light sensitivity, people who have a medical condition like lupus that can impact light sensitivity, or those who have a history of bipolar disorder shouldnt try light therapy on their own talk to your physician first.

Swanson has her patients start by sitting in front of a light therapy box for half an hour each day, as soon as possible after waking up.

Make sure whatever device you choose filters out ultraviolet light, which can damage eyes and skin, she says.

See the rest here:
Seeing the Light of an Improved Mood - Michigan Medicine

Today Epic revealed the latest crossover for its battle royale hit, which brings the retrofuturistic world of Tron into the game.

There are ten different Tron-themed skins available in the in-game store right now, and each has a removable helmet. You can also get a Light Cycle glider and an Identity Disc pickaxe. Its not yet clear whether youll be able to throw it.

Welcome to the Grid.

Gear up as Grid Warriors and fight for the users! Tron Outfits are in the Shop now.

More info: https://t.co/brB6ItQaeH pic.twitter.com/XwXFIbh0Il

This season of Fortnite has been particularly busy when it comes to licensed crossovers. The season debuted with the inclusion of The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda, who have since been joined by Kratos, Master Chief, the Predator, and G.I. Joes Snake Eyes. Theres also been a new skin based on Spanish streamer TheGrefg, and a line of soccer skins based on real-world teams. This followed a season that was entirely Marvel-themed.

Truly, no brand is safe.

See the article here:
Tron invades Fortnite with Light Cycles and new skins - The Verge

We hope your favorite color is blue because youll be seeing a lot of it from nearly every room in this bayfront home.

Perched on .62 acres, this weeks dream home is located in the private neighborhood of Cedar Beach in Southold. It contains four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a layout intended for privacy, comfort, and serenity.

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The home spans two wings, each with bedrooms and entertaining spaces. The center of the home features an updated kitchen, formal dining, a living room with a fireplace, and a sunroom, all with magnificent waterviews, said listing agent Jeanmarie Bay of Town & Country Real Estate.

The second floor of the west wing includes a guest ensuite with chic finishings in the bath that includes a bay view jacuzzi, as well as two additional bedrooms and a full updated guest bath. On the east side of the house, a private master wing begins with a separate entrance, a living room with a fireplace, and a wet bar. The second floor of the east wing includes a master ensuite with a private waterview terrace and an updated full bath, Bay added.

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The home, which faces south and overlooks the Peconic Bay, also features a spacious deck, a new bulkhead, and private association beach rights.

Youll easily feel on vacation in this home. With the bay right outside your back door, there is no easier way to get out onto the water or lounge seaside with a cocktail and a book in hand. Youll be relaxing in no time at all.

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It is listed at $2,385,000.

See the complete listing here.

See the rest here:
North Fork Dream Home: Southold waterfront home with soothing views and tons of natural light - Northforker