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topmixtrends · 5 years

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I REMEMBER THE FRISSON of excitement that rippled through this nation two summers ago as we anticipated the Great American Eclipse. It was ours and ours alone, starting in Oregon and ending in South Carolina. For a few brief minutes we could forget about the hate exploding in Charlottesville and Donald Trump’s “blame-on-both-sides” travesty. The heavens were about to upstage the new president, turn off the lights, and cast our world into a profound, welcome stillness.

But as the skies darkened, traffic jams clogged the roads. Millions tweeted, blogged, broadcast, live-streamed. From a cruise ship, Bonnie Tyler belted out her signature song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” to the swaying, bespectacled crowd. Not since 1776 had America been awarded an eclipse all its own, and for one sweet day we were one nation under God, indivisible, heads tilted in awe and anticipation.

It is hard to imagine a celestial symbol better suited to a dramatic tale than a blackened sun. Shakespeare and Milton used it, and so have American writers from Mark Twain to Stephen King. Now add to that list Rachel Barenbaum, who places an eclipse squarely at the center of her ambitious, sweeping debut, A Bend in the Stars. Set in Russia at the beginning of World War I, her novel takes us on a harrowing ride in pursuit of the solar eclipse of 1914.

The significance of these celestial events radiates far beyond science. As the Earl of Gloucester warns in King Lear, “These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good for us.” For some, an eclipse is a sign of the devil; for others, it foreshadows the end of the world. And for one of this novel’s protagonists, Vanya Abramov — a passionate young scientist whose hazardous journey we follow over 450 pages — it holds his future. Through it he hopes to disprove Einstein’s early theories about relativity and to secure a life in the United States, where his family can live safely.

Vanya is convinced that Einstein’s original theory is doubly flawed: it failed to take into account the effects of gravity, and it was based on the assumption that objects move at constant speeds. Early on he tells his skeptical sister, Miri: “Gravity bends space and light. The eclipse will prove it. And that proof, it will change everything.”

Even though he is barely out of his teens, there is something of the mad professor in Vanya — his disheveled appearance, his obsession with equations, his distracted air. His sister points out that his scheme sounds delusional, and the reader is likely to agree. He has no way of getting to the eclipse; he doesn’t have the necessary calculations to disprove Einstein; if he actually witnesses the eclipse, he needs photographs of light bending in order to make his case. And for that last, crucial step, he has to rely on an American scientist who has never heard of him.

As if all this uncertainty weren’t deterrent enough, Vanya also faces a powerful enemy at home, a creepy character named Kir. He is the chair of Vanya’s department at the university, a brooding presence with enormous hands. Kir hovers around Vanya waiting to snatch his latest calculations. Already he has stolen a batch of Vanya’s notes and published them under his own name, to great acclaim. When Vanya protested, Kir whispered, “Remember you’re a Jew.” Antisemitism hangs over this novel as an oppressive, ever-present shadow, embodied in any number of characters eager to destroy the idealistic and daring siblings. Through graphic descriptions, Barenbaum brings into sharp focus the threats and assaults Jews endured under the tsarist regime.

At the beginning of A Bend in the Stars, Miri and Vanya are living with their grandmother, a wise, tough woman who serves as the local matchmaker to the Jewish community of Kovno (present-day Kaunas). She escaped the pogroms of Odessa and now sees signs of the same violent hatred infiltrating this town. She says to her grandchildren: “Death will come, again. They’ll blame us Jews. For war. For starvation. Cold. Haven’t I taught you? Hasn’t the past been loud enough?”

The tsar’s army is rounding up Jewish men to use as fodder in the war. Vanya signs up before they can conscript him. That way, he reasons, he can request a post near where the American scientist is expected to witness the eclipse. Miri thinks her brother has made a deadly mistake, that on the battlefield he’d be lost in his equations and wouldn’t survive. Neither, she thinks, would her handsome fiancé, Yuri, who is a surgeon and Miri’s mentor at the local Jewish hospital. She sees in him a softness that she adores, and she is stunned to learn that he, too, has signed up for the army, and that he vows to accompany her brother on his quixotic quest.

Meanwhile, Miri is reluctant to leave Kovno herself, despite her grandmother’s warnings. Recently she has been promoted from doctor to surgeon — a rare accomplishment for a woman in Russia, and unheard of in this town. Just as this most deeply held wish is realized, her family urges her to leave, and she resists. But within days of Vanya and Yuri’s departure, Miri’s life takes a dramatic turn and she has no choice but to flee and go searching for her brother and fiancé. Accompanying her is Sasha Petrov, a dashing defector from the army whom she rescues and hides in her grandmother’s cellar.

Some elements of this setup seem unnecessarily convoluted, and at times the reader’s patience is strained as Barenbaum reiterates the novel’s premise. But as Miri boards her first train with Sasha and we begin the siblings’ harrowing parallel journeys, Barenbaum tightens the pressure and pace. We are with Miri and Vanya every step of the way, racing across Russia, leaping from train to train, and hurrying through short, tense chapters. Like a constantly ticking clock, the chapters written from Vanya’s point of view begin with a reminder of how many days, how many minutes, how many hours remain until the all-important eclipse. In the chapters written from Miri’s perspective, tension comes from the grueling trials she and Sasha endure to reach her brother and fiancé, and a growing attraction that is unspoken but hard to ignore.

In many ways, A Bend in the Stars reads like a folktale: the young heroes face an arduous journey and a difficult quest; they are brilliant and good-looking and pure of spirit. The villains, of course, are odious and ugly — one is described as having a nose and cheeks “littered with broken blood vessels and pores that looked like gaping holes.” But this is not purely a good-versus-evil adventure. A third of the way through, a wily sailor named Dima appears, and with him, the story gains texture. Dima is rough but endearing, a schemer out to make as much money as he can. If that means double-crossing the “pathetic soldiers,” well, that’s just the cost of doing business. When it seems Dima has betrayed Yuri and Vanya, Yuri takes him for a Jew-hater and asks, “Why does it still have to come down to that — to being Jewish?”

Barenbaum names the five main sections of the novel after months in the Jewish calendar, which itself is based on astronomical phenomena. In so doing, she threads into the novel’s fabric two central themes — what it means to be a Jew in Russia in the early 1900s, and the power of celestial forces. “Life doesn’t travel in a straight line,” we are told early on, and Barenbaum herself bends time and space by bracketing the novel with chapters set in modern-day America, which provide a startling and rewarding denouement.

Some of the novel’s best writing is in descriptions of place, whether it be a horrific hospital scene, a train station coated in coal ash, a city’s bejeweled spires, or a river that “smelled of waste and moved so slowly sticks oozed past like slugs.” Barenbaum embeds the reader in a three-dimensional world of slums, cities, and war-ravaged countryside, far from the gauzy shtetl tableaux one remembers from Fiddler on the Roof. She is equally deft at capturing dramatic events. A tussle in an alley, a long-anticipated kiss, a woman giving birth — in simple phrases, Barenbaum builds toward these moments, lingers on them, and wrings out every particle of suspense. The eclipse itself she handles with straightforward effectiveness:

The last shadows fell over the fruit trees in the orchard. Light came through the leaves in the quarter-moon shape of the eclipse.

A black veil slid over to the house and covered the dacha.

The animals that had been so loud just seconds earlier, stilled.

Day turned to night.

Occasionally, the writing is overly intense, as when a character describes an eclipse as a passionate act, “the kind that makes a woman want to jump into the bath with a man after a sweaty day.” Conversely, at times the writing goes limp. In one instance night is simply described as being “as dark as dark can be.” As the story reaches its conclusion, Barenbaum rushes through events and I found myself wishing she’d slow down and allow the story to breathe. The narrative of Dima the sailor, in particular, gets short shrift and is wrapped up in a summary. But these are minor complaints. The novel offers an epic adventure that spins through rich terrain; several engrossing love stories, including one between remarkable siblings; and a scientific intrigue that pits dark ambition against a passionate love of science.

From my deck in Massachusetts on that August afternoon in 2017, I watched the day turn mildly sullen. Crescent-shaped shadows spilled from the colander that I held in my hands. Even though mine was the slimmest of partial eclipses, I felt its power, and my smallness. Likewise, with the eclipse of 1914 as both backdrop and main event, A Bend in the Stars reveals our collective impotence against the whims of the universe. And yet, the characters Barenbaum brings to life demonstrate resilience in the face of prejudice, steadfastness in the face of defeat, and the ability to love even when the world has cracked with hate.

Jean Hey’s essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Plain Dealer, The Chicago Tribune, and Solstice Magazine. She is currently at work on a novel set in South Africa.

The post Celestial Events: On Rachel Barenbaum’s “A Bend in the Stars” appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

from Los Angeles Review of Books http://bit.ly/2YtGcHO

#Los Angeles Review of Books #topmixtrends

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infotainmentplus-blog · 6 years

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Google’s endless app overlap: What’s going on? This article started as a short piece titled “Google’s Tasks App is Pointless.” As I wrote, it turned out I had much more to say on what is becoming a growing issue with Google’s approach to product development. The company has adopted a pattern of fragmenting its services, making them more confusing to use and often considerably less functional. Some would say Google has been doing this for years, but things only seem to be getting worse, not better. Tasks is just another symptom of Google’s long-time product development approach which is littered with failed apps, fractured redundancy, and wasted branding and promotional efforts. Failing the Tasks at hand In Google’s new Gmail revamp, one of its most highly touted additions is Tasks. While this function was available before the visual revamp, it was only for G Suite customers and buried in settings most folks would never turn on. Furthermore, it was not joined by a companion Android app — an all-important step in making the product fully mainstream — until the Gmail refresh. I was excited to try Tasks because in addition to contributing to DGiT, I run a business with offices in three locations on two continents. We use G Suite for everything, so being able to integrate Google’s own task manager right into Gmail to organize things sounded like the next logical step in our workflow. Sadly, what Google has provided is nearly pointless — especially for a productivity-oriented target demographic. When I think of task managers, I immediately think of fully integrated and production-oriented apps like Asana and Trello, or even something like Facebook’s Workplace. These apps let you assign multiple people or teams to a task and switch assigned people at will. In terms of productivity, these are pretty basic functions. Google’s new product, however, is really only designed for one person: me. Or, you. But not both of us at the same time. I can’t create a new task and assign it to my business partner. I can’t create groups with other users in our company, nor can I keep tabs on what they are doing. As a task manager, Google has put out a product that fails at doing what I — and likely most people working on a team — need. For all its failings, at least Tasks is well integrated into both Gmail and Calendar, but only for you. Tasks could be a nice addition for personal users, as it is a cleaner way to make a quick note than Keep. Similarly, it’s well integrated into both Gmail and Calendar, and that synergy is really a highlight of the new Gmail presentation. Even so, I keep asking myself why I can’t assign something to my wife, or share a task between the two of us. Shared events still rely on Calendar, while shopping lists are still in Keep. Furthermore, I can’t assign a time that something needs to be done — I either have to set a Calendar appointment or pull up Google Assistant to make a reminder. Integration has some major limitations, even outside of the demands of the workplace. Tasks seems like an App that may be great at one small thing for some folks, but that doesn't really need to exist. Redundancy, but with what goal? Tasks may be great at one small thing for some folks, but it doesn’t really need to exist. It only complicates and fragments Google’s world that much more. In this regard, Tasks reminds me a lot of Google’s current crop of messaging apps, including Hangouts, Hangouts Chat, Messages, and Allo. All of these apps have different functions for different people — none provide a single, cohesive solution for everyone. Tasks seems like yet another app Google has debuted essentially as a placeholder for some future development. Or, looked at another way, it is yet another beta product from Google’s throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach to product development. Tasks seems designed solely to test out the integration of Gmail, Calendar, and a “Future Unnamed Keep-Tasks Hybrid” app (or something). No real thought seems to have gone into how productivity or enterprise users would actually want to effectively employ it. Indeed, for Google to really compete with apps like Asana or Trello, it will need to merge Hangouts Meet, Tasks, Keep, and Calendar in a way that integrates them all in one window. That is a lot to ask, but Tasks doesn’t really get us any closer to that goal. Google Play Branding, branding, everywhere Every time Google launches a product or service like this, it creates an uphill marketing battle. Instead of releasing a great product with (nearly) full functionality, Google releases what seems like a beta product it then has to convince people is useful or relaunch the service every time it changes its mind about what the product is or how customers should use it. This is as much a branding issue as much as a product design issue. It is something Google has displayed all the way to the very top of its structure when it changed the conglomerate’s parent company name to Alphabet. We’ve seen some smart changes in the move from Android Pay to Google Pay, which utilizes the much bigger brand awareness of Google. We’ve also seen questionable moves, like moving Hangouts from a web-and-mobile chat app for everyone — with wide-ranging functionality rivaling Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp — to an enterprise-focused communication app. Hangouts had some major issues, but it was a recognized brand name Google could have streamlined instead of creating three new apps (Messages for RCS/SMS texting, Allo for mobile and web chatting, and Duo for video calls). Just like Tasks seems to be a publicly-released development module for “future-Keep,” Allo has basically been relegated to being the development app for Messages. RCS features are rolled out and tested in Allo, and, as carriers update their systems to allow for SMS and RCS integration, Google updates Messages with Chat to take advantage of those systems. Still, neither Allo or Messages can fully compete with Apple’s iMessage and Facebook’s Messenger. Google Play Music’s shift to YouTube Music mirrors the same issues I have with Tasks. Google Play Music is much like Keep: it has great functionality, including playing my uploaded music, playing my on-device music (yes, I carry a huge library of FLAC files with me at all times), and compiling radio stations with new music based on songs, albums, and artists that I like. YouTube Music loses the first two functions, and really is just a great radio station app. Heck, there isn’t even a great way of adding new artists to your favorites. There doesn't need to be two apps: just add the new functionality of YouTube Music to Google Play Music and add the functionality of Tasks to Keep. I think the rebranding to YouTube Music makes a lot of sense. It takes advantage of the name recognition of YouTube and rolls off the tongue better than Google Play Music ever will. However, there doesn’t need to be two apps. Rename the old app, add the new functionality of YouTube Music, and move on. In the same way, add the functionality of Tasks to Keep and allow the already-known app to thrive. Google could even just rename Keep to Tasks and add the new functionality. Then we’d rejoice about added usefulness and great new names, instead of writing articles like this, lamenting how convoluted and confusing the whole thing is. Coming full circle A fun thing about being a Google user is feeling like you’re a part of the company’s growth. Apple decides what you will like and you can shove off if you don’t agree. Google lets people enroll in beta testing for its products to allow for feedback. Is Chrome not new enough for you? Try Chrome Beta! Is Chrome Beta not new enough for you?! Try Canary! I run beta versions of Google Maps, the Google app, and Gboard on my Android phone, which also runs the beta version of Android P. I like feeling that I am part of the direction of the company, even if my feedback comments aren’t actually ever read by anyone (or anything). Still, it’s bewildering to see so much time and energy wasted on fragmentation, redundancy, and failed branding. It makes figuring out which app I should be using for chat, email, music, or tasking just as bewildering. Google may be great at organizing the world’s information, but it still kinda sucks at organizing its own apps. , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2tr2nBr

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leonardsali · 6 years

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Mother’s Day: Expectations vs. Realities

Melissa

Most mothers have some expectations about our Mother’s Day plans and celebrations. Many of us envision sleeping in, being served breakfast in bed by the kids and handed flowers by our doting husband or partner. Everyone is all smiles and ready for a perfect day..….until a dose of reality hits as soon as we walk out of the bedroom door and the day really begins!

Our Dreams

Each year, my husband and a few of his friends try to plan a guy’s weekend. When he tells me that they finally found a weekend where everyone was free, I had to send him right back to the calendar. The weekend appeared open to all four men because the weekend they had in mind was Mother’s Day weekend. That would certainly not be a dream Mother’s Day for me!

I polled some fellow mothers about what their “dream” Mother’s Day would bring. Here’s what a few had to say:

With a 3 year old and 3 month old at home, all I want is a full night of sleep, for the kids to nap and go to bed with ease, and some extra help taking care of the “can you help me…” and “I wants…” – just for the day, hah!

Wake up in a swanky hotel that I slept in alone, ordering room service that I eat while it’s still hot with no one touching me, and then spending the day alternating between the hot tub with a good book and Netflix.

Breakfast in bed, spending the day at the beach with kiddo and husband where I get to sit with my eyes closed in the sun and don’t have to toddler-wrangle or put sunscreen on anyone other than myself.

The dream would be brunch at an over-the-top brunch place, mimosa are a must! Then I would spend the whole afternoon at the spa getting a massage, mud soak, and manicure/pedicure.

Personally, my deepest desire year after year is to simply crawl out of bed, drink a large cup of hot coffee and tackle the LA Times Sunday crossword puzzle, which is my guilty pleasure. Usually the outcome is plopping that cup down on the crossword puzzle so I can head off to play referee between the kids..…only to come back to a cold cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle with a big coffee ring mark!

Our Realities

I want to believe that if our husbands/significant others and children had all the power in the world, they would try to offer us our dream day. Reality is….that isn’t reality. This is reality:

One year our fridge broke on Mother’s Day. All the plans I had to relax were gone as I quickly shopped for a new fridge. This stressed my husband out, which in hand stressed me out and I think I yelled at him that he was ruining my day.

Our elementary school has a “Mother’s Day Boutique” each year for the students to purchase small gifts. There were two years where my children both attended the school before my son graduated. Two years in a row, I received the same “I LOVE MOM” pens from both kids! I realized that I took it for granted because during my son’s first year of middle school, I jokingly asked him what he was going to buy me and he said…”Nothing – middle school doesn’t have a Mother’s Day Boutique.”

I’m thrilled to have my own mother and mother-in-law to celebrate with. It’s truly a blessing, but often the day is split in two – half with my mom and half with my mother-in-law. Selfishly, I want to raise my hand to say “I’m a mom too!” By the time I get home that night I’m exhausted and feel a little bit neglected!

One year, we spent hours upon hours at the zoo on what had to be the hottest Mother’s Day in record. I’m telling you – the giraffe at the zoo received more attention than I did. And I don’t even think she was a mom.

My husband works in retail management, so he works on Mother’s Day to give the women/mothers he works with the day off. So it’s just me and my toddler hanging out for the day. Last year we went out for breakfast and went to the mall for a bit of shopping. I grabbed some of my favorite Lebanese food on the way home, put my son down for his nap and enjoyed my 2-hour nap break with some yummy food and Netflix! I am pretty sure this is 100% what we will be doing again this year… falafels included!

Afternoon tea and golf with the kid and husband sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately, they argue when they play golf and don’t know how to sit still for a decent cup of tea.

Anyone who has children in spring sports knows that the schedules are hectic and the weather is unpredictable. Games often get rained out – which results in make-up games at the crack of dawn on Mother’s Day.

Let’s face it. Mother’s Day is on a Sunday. The weekends are our time to do errands. Raise your hand if you’ve done laundry and food shopping on Mother’s Day.

Honestly, I don’t even care that much. But for the love of all things, make them stop asking me, “What do you want to do for Mother’s Day?” “What do you want for Mother’s Day?” I’m not that hard to please, people. Do I have to plan this too?

I think I leave enough hints around and mention things that would be fun to do. But, already thinking I should make the reservations for the “what I want to do” before it is all booked up!

My 3 year old is generally a good sleeper, but somehow she knows when it’s a special occasion or a big day the next day and surprises us with a middle of the night wake-up!

An attempt at me sleeping in, but me being woken up by my husband shouting, “Be quiet! Don’t wake up Mommy!” followed by “brunch” somewhere kid-friendly (AKA fast food). Later I might get to close my eyes for a second while some cartoon is on in the background only to wake up to a messy house. The day will probably end with me stepping on a Lego. But with hugs and kisses reminding me it’s all worth it.

My husband gave our then 10 year old some money to buy a Mother’s Day present. He sent him into the drugstore and said to purchase something nice, but useful. He proudly emerges with a box of hair dye. When my husband questioned him, our 10 year old’s response was…”You said to buy something useful. Mom uses this.” Needless to say, that “gift” was not presented to me.

About 15 years ago my family gifted me with a gadget as seen on TV called the Perfect Pancake. I spent MY special day cooking for them. The best part was, when I used the handle to flip the pan, the device split into pieces, with screws and batter flying all over the place. Some gift

Last year was my first Mother’s Day and it monsooned the entire day. We got at least 100 inches of rain in 12 hours and it was in the 40’s out. I had dreamed up a beautiful day spent in the park with my husband and almost 1 year old where we’d have a picnic and play all day. Instead, we had a picnic in our basement near the litter box and the running washing machine and my son ate almost all of the best cheese that my husband had picked out. We still had a fun day, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

For my first Mother’s Day I received a bag of coffee beans because my husband said I looked like I could use the caffeine (we didn’t even have a grinder, but we did have a baby who never slept). Known for his “jokes” I waited all day for my real gift to surface…I’m still waiting. I have, however, received 22 years worth of priceless handmade cards and gifts from my kids. It doesn’t let their dad off the hook for that obvious lapse in judgment, but it does make every Mother’s Day complete.

As many a mom can attest to, Mother’s Day itself does not always turn out as magical as we would have hoped. If you happen to experience an event similar to some of the “realities” above know that you are not alone. Hopefully you can smile and laugh about it one day too. Even if it is tough to believe at the time, it is all out of love. Your family just wants to be with YOU to celebrate all that YOU mean to them. At the end of the day, I know that I wouldn’t trade any of it. I don’t think any of us would. Happy Mother’s Day to all! I hope your day is a special as you are!

My name is Melissa – I’m a native New Yorker and the mother of two school-aged children. My son is in middle school and my daughter is in elementary school and they are both Bright Horizons alumni. I love working for an organization that has meant so much to our family. As an Enrollment Counselor, I assist families with the enrollment process for our centers in NYC. What a way to pay it forward! Having been through the incredible Bright Horizons experience as parent, from infants all the way through Kindergarten Prep, I’m so happy to be able to share some of my views and experiences with The Family Room community.

What to Read Next:

Read more posts about Mother’s Day from The Family Room bloggers including mom Lisa’s tribute to motherhood: the adventure of a lifetime.

Read more posts from Melissa including The Return to Work Challenge: Helpful Hints for New Parents.

The post Mother’s Day: Expectations vs. Realities appeared first on The Family Room.

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bobsweeppethairroboticuniverse · 6 years

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Black Friday 2017 – Featured Deals

All of our teams are getting ready to break records this year. With discounts up to 99% on a vast range of products, free same-day shipping*, and hassle-free returns, this Black Friday 2017 promises to be the best we’ve ever done.

Take a first look at some of our favorite deals coming at the end of the week below, and make sure you don’t miss them! Add a reminder to your calendar, or RSVP to our Facebook event to get exclusive tips and notifications for the best deals.

Professor Einstein WiFi Enabled Talking Robot

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Professor Einstein WiFi Enabled Talking Robot

Now $159.99 – Was $199 (20% off)

DFRobotShop Rover V2 – Arduino Compatible Tracked Robot

The DFRobotShop Rover V2 – Arduino Compatible Tracked Robot (Basic Kit) is a versatile mobile robot tank based on the popular Arduino Uno R3 USB Microcontroller microcontroller. The Rover uses the popular Tamiya twin-motor gearbox and the Tamiya track and wheel set. The DFRobotShop Rover PCB incorporates a standard Arduino Uno (surface mount ATMega328), L293B motor driver (connected to pins 5 to 8), voltage regulator and prototyping area while contributing to the mechanical structure of the robot. The onboard voltage regulator allows the entire board to be powered using as little as 3.7V to ~9V*.

DFRobotShop Rover V2 – Arduino Compatible Tracked Robot

Now $58.99 – Was $89.99 (34% off)

E-Blox Circuit Builder 115 Set

Great addition to any STEM program. Learn all about electricity, current, and voltage. Play song and sounds while lights flash and a fan spins. Compatible with other building brick sets

E-Blox Circuit Builder 115 Set

Now $22.49 – Was $29.99 (25% off)

Grillbot Automatic Grill Cleaning Robot (Black)

The Grillbot Automatic Grill Cleaning Robot (Black) is a fully automated, safe and easy to use Grillbot. It is the world’s first automatic grill cleaning robotic device. Its push-button makes it easy to operate. It does all the heavy scrubbing to rid your grill of grease and grime while you get on with your life. It not only cleans your grill but allows the grill to retain its ongoing flavor. Grillbot takes the work out of it with disposable brushes and three motor power to blast away grime and grease. When finished, Grillbot alerts you with an alarm. With the Grillbot you can save yourself time and energy. It does the tough job of scrubbing and cleaning the grill so you can go ahead and do other things like watching the game or joining the family to play games. Simply put the Grillbot on your grill, press a button and you are done. Grillbot scours grease and caked-on grime leaving your grill like new. Grill cleaning has never been easier.

Grillbot Automatic Grill Cleaning Robot (Black)

Now $89.95 – Was $89.95 (14% off)

Beagle, Monkey and Cat Robotic Toy Bundle

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Beagle, Monkey and Cat Robotic Toy Bundle

Now $17.98 – Was $29.97 (40% off)

LittleBits Droid Inventor Kit

With the LittleBits Droid Inventor Kit, kids can create their own custom Droid™ and bring it to life! Using littleBits electronic blocks and the free Droid Inventor app, they’ll teach their R2 Unit new tricks and take it on 16+ missions. Then kids can level-up their inventor expertise and reconfigure their Droid to give it new skills, or design any Droid they can dream up. The kit comes with everything kids need to create and customize their R2 Unit straight out of the box. Initial assembly is easy with step-by-step instructions to create their Droid and control it in Drive Mode, Self-Nav, Force™ Mode, and more. After mastering their Droid Inventor skills, kids continue on to challenges that spark creativity and get them inventing brand-new Droids.

LittleBits Droid Inventor Kit

Now $80 – Was $99.99 (20% off)

Litter-Robot III Open Air Automatic Self-Cleaning Litter Box w/ 1-Year Extended Warranty (Canada only)

The Litter-Robot III Open Air Automatic Self-Cleaning Litter Box w/ 1-Year Extended Warranty makes cat ownership easier every day. It is the first major revision to the highly successful Litter-Robot platform. The larger, more ergonomic entry and litter chamber along with the new self-adjusting cat sensor accommodates all cats, large and small. It sifts clumps and waste out of the litter seven minutes after a cat uses it and drops the waste into a receptacle drawer for easy disposal.

Litter-Robot III Open Air Automatic Self-Cleaning Litter Box w/ 1-Year Extended Warranty

Now $449.99 – Extended Warranty offered for free

Clocky Robot Alarm Clock – Black

This Clocky Robot Alarm Clock runs away and hides when you don’t wake up. Clocky gives you one chance to get up. But if you snooze, Clocky will jump off of your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide. Clocky is kind of like a misbehaving pet, only he will get up at the right time. It is also available in Clocky Robot Alarm Clock – Aqua, Almond, Raspberry, and Coco.

Clocky Robot Alarm Clock – Black

Now $26.98 – Was $34.99 (23% off)

LIDAR-Lite 3 Laser Rangefinder

The LIDAR-Lite 3 Laser Rangefinder by Garmin is an essential, powerful, scalable and economical laser-based measurement solution supporting a wide variety of applications (ex. drones, general robotics, industrial sensing and more). Measures distance, velocity and signal strength of cooperative and non-cooperative targets at distances from zero to more than 40 meters. Offering the highest performance available in a single beam ranging sensor in its class.

LIDAR-Lite 3 Laser Rangefinder

Now $110.99 – Was $149.59 (25.805% off)

Quirkbot Robot Kit

The Quirkbot Robot Kit is a little character you can program and construct into different shapes and forms. Connect Strawbees, motors, LEDs, and sensors to make your own creatures! It’s a fun and easy way to the inspiring world of physical programming, electronics and mechanics for kids, grown-ups and educators.

Quirkbot Robot Kit

Now $94.99 – Was $119 (20.18% off)

RPLIDAR A2 360° Laser Scanner

The RPLIDAR A2 360° Laser Scanner is the next generation of 360 degrees 2D lidars. The RPLIDAR A2 adopts low-cost laser triangulation measurement system developed by SLAMTEC, and therefore has excellent performance in all kinds of indoor environments and outdoor environments without direct sunlight exposure.

RPLIDAR A2 360° Laser Scanner

Now $379 – Was $449 (16% off)

Squishy Circuits Lite Kit

The Squishy Circuits Lite Kit uses conductive and insulating play dough to teach the basics of electrical circuits in a fun, hands-on way. There’s no need for breadboards or soldering – just add batteries and our pre-made doughs (or make your own dough with the provided recipes). Let your creations come to life as you light them up with LEDs, make noises with buzzers, and spin with the motor.This is the most basic kit and includes everything that you need to make your first Squishy Circuits light up quickly and easily.

Squishy Circuits Lite Kit

Now $8.5 – Was $10 (15% off)

*conditions apply – please see our website for minimum order value for free shipping, and requirements for same-day shipping