From a Curbed.com article:
Thomas James recently joined the recently launched Brilliant Builders program, a group of roughly two dozen large developers and homebuilders across the country installing smart home control systems from the San Mateo, California-based startup.
At a time when voice-control systems such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Home may dominate smart home discourse, the Brilliant control panel, a sort of universal remote for smart home devices that’s about as large as a typical light switch and can work with most existing products and networks, seeks to upend the market by arriving, pre-installed, with new homes. Diehl sees the controller as a perfect way to communicate a home’s high-tech features to potential buyers.
Read more by clicking following link: https://www.curbed.com/2019/7/22/20701080/alexa-new-smart-home-homebuilder-brilliant



Hikes in Malibu Creek State Park have Hollywood connections, as the park includes areas that were used to shoot M*A*S*H and South Pacific. Though the area was hit by the Woolsey fire, there are still some (scorched) rusted Army Jeeps and other signs of filming here, making for a nice photo op.
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including President Trump’s attack on four congresswomen of color, the Republican response to Trump’s controversial rhetoric, whether race politics is smart election strategy and the battle over health care policy among 2020 Democrats.
Scientists are beginning to understand why Alzheimer’s disease affects more women than men and why the disease seems to progress more quickly in women’s brains.
Different Strokes | If the idea of wearing a tank top seems profoundly depressing, skip the sports club in favor of an upper-body workout that’ll replace the reflection in the gym mirror with a view of Maine’s wild and rocky coast. And thankfully, there’s little exertion in getting there. Drive up Friday night; stay at Portland’s Regency Hotel (two hours from Boston); then catch the nearby ferry at 9:15 a.m. to Peaks Island, where the affable staff of Maine Island Kayak Company will escort you to a kayaker’s paradise. After an introductory paddling course, a primer on the vagaries of ocean weather, and some disclaimers, you’re ready to slide into a single-person sea kayak and head for open water.

Rent the Backyard 
While it may be unassuming, B.T.’s is hardly undiscovered. The lines get long, so time your trip to hit the smokehouse when it opens at 11 a.m. or during the late-afternoon lull. Order your meat to go, grab a beer at the convenience store next door, and park yourself on the hood of your car, the curb, or anywhere you can find a spot. It isn’t glamorous, but it is astonishingly good.

“Knee replacement is increasing in frequency, and it has an associated substantial cost implication to any health-care provider. It is also essential that patients receive the most efficacious operation for this condition. Before our study, and despite several cohort-based reports, knowledge of whether one operation type is superior, remained uncertain. Our 5-year study has indicated that both TKR and PKR are beneficial interventions but, based on our combined clinical and cost-effectiveness data and providing the operation is performed by those with adequate experience, we recommend that PKR should be offered as the treatment of choice for late-stage isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee.