1. Free Wi-Fi in New York

About 7,500 phone booths in New York are going to be transformed into Wi-Fi access points within the following few months. The old infrastructure of the big city is thus going to be upgraded, with the goal of satisfying the needs of the modern citizens.

Each booth will be able to broadcast Internet signal within a range of about 150 feet. Not only that, but they will also have USB charging ports, a godsend for most people, who have big screen smartphones, and thus run out of battery juice quite often.

The built-in booth display will also let the users browse the net, use several online maps services and make free phone calls right from the street. The provided Internet connection is going to be up to 20 times faster in comparison with what is currently available in New York.

Manhattan Union Square is the first place where the old phone booths have started to be upgraded. The project was started in 2015, and it is believed that first free Internet booths are going to be ready in July 2016, after a short test period. It is estimated that at the end of the program, people throughout the entire city will have access to free Internet. According to Mr. George Hardesty, CEO at Data Alliance, the infrastructure will allow the data to travel at speeds that may reach a gigabit per second.

The US houses close to 2.2 million phone booths. Many of them have simply been removed as people have stopped using them. And since most people own cell phones these days, it wasn’t easy to predict their end. The project will expand within the next years, with the goal of providing about 10,000 free Internet booths in NYC alone.

The program, known as LinkNYC, is going to receive funds from advertising campaigns. According to the initial estimations, about 500 million USD will be generated within the first 12 years of operation. This program has created close to 150 full time jobs and about 600 support jobs. The funds needed to remodel the old phone booths are going to be about 200 million USD. All the 10,000 booths will be spread all over the five boroughs of New York.

2. Hand transplants offered in Great Britain

Leeds General Infirmary in Great Britain is the first place in the country to offer hand transplants to its patients. When these surgeries are successful, the replaced limb looks and functions similar to the normal one. Not only that, but the patients also regain strength in their arms and are capable of performing multiple actions using them.

The replaced hand can sense its surroundings, is warm when touched and can even heal itself in case it is injured. People in need of this surgery go through a training procedure; right now, this medical intervention is opened for a few persons each year.

3. Medical app for the refugees

Refugees that need medical care in Europe can use a special app that has been created for their needs. The app is called ClinicFinder and was created by the Doctors of the World charity organization.

The app is already available in Arabic, English, Farsi and French, and can help the refugees get the free medical care that they might need. ClinicFinder makes use of the cell phone’s GPS to locate the closest free clinic that has joined this program. Right now the app provides info about 73 clinics that are located in 16 countries.

Our guest today is Mr. Steve Foose, the inventor of the EZ Step Bathtub to Shower Conversion kit. His company made the first bathtub to shower conversion in America close to 20 years ago.

Everything started when a client approached Mr. Foose at a home and garden show, asking him if he could cut a portion of an existing tub and fit a small door in that space, thus allowing anyone to easily get in and out of the bathtub. This question has led to the creation of the first conversion kit prototype, which was presented at the following show, attracting a lot of interest and triggering many sales.

“My company was the first one in the country to have built a custom shower enclosure for an existing bathtub. Nowadays we convert existing tubs into walk-in showers and wheel chair access showers”.

But Steve Foose didn’t keep all the info for himself; he has taught many people how to convert the bathtubs to walk in bathtubs and walk in showers over the years, and now his invention is being spread across the entire U.S.A.

According to him, a full line of EZ Step do-it-yourself kits will be available soon, allowing the handy men that have the needed skills to do the walk-in bathtub conversion by themselves. The first version of the kit will also include safety mats and grab bars; custom built shower doors can be added to the order, if needed.

But how does Steve Foose’s invention make the people’s lives better? It is a well known fact that the senior citizens have less mobility and balance; this is especially true with people that are at least 65 years old.

About 4 out of 5 people of this age account for the bathroom-related injuries in the U.S.A, and over 35% of the elders require hospital admission after suffering an accident in the bathroom. This explains why the walk-in showers have become so popular; having a low step-in threshold will reduce the accident risks significantly.

This is where the EZ Step Bathtub to Shower Conversion kit comes into play: it can change the tub into a walk-in tub, offering the senior citizens who want to continue enjoying a good bath the best of both worlds: the comfort that arises from taking a real bath and the safety of a low step-in bathtub.

In addition to this, Steve Foose recommends installing grab bars in the bathroom; they are inexpensive and they can boost the bathroom safety levels considerably. “Holding onto the shower door or using the towel bars to support yourself are not the best options; in fact, by doing this, you increase the injury risk dramatically”, said Mr. Foose.

“The improvised tub seats are even worse; they create the illusion of safety and comfort, but most time they are flimsy, plastic-made chairs that can slip on the wet bathroom floor, leading to unwanted consequences”.

According to a study produced by the National Safety Council, at least an American dies each day because of a bathroom-related accident, and the numbers are growing each year. Not only that, but close to 400 Americans sustain injuries in their bathrooms each day. Under these circumstances, Mr. Foose’s invention can definitely bring hope to people that have limited mobility.

1. Authorities have informed the people in Boise, Idaho which have recently fueled their cars at several stations that are located close to the freeway that thieves have installed devices in the pumps in order to read their credit cards’ data and clone it. People are advised to verify their cards in order to see if they have been charged for things they know they did not buy.

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The policemen did not tell which of the gas stations were involved, but they told people to check their cards. The pumps have been put in order and are now safe to be used. This type of problem is a real challenge for many policemen, which have admitted that thieves are always upgrading the methods they use, thus making their techniques more and more difficult to be uncovered. People that observe strange activities taking place close to a gas pump should call 911 and inform the police.

2. The Davis Cup quarterfinals are going to be held in Taco Bell Arena and the tennis lovers will certainly enjoy looking at the matches that will take place between the Serbia and U.S. teams. In Boise, Idaho, several tennis-related events are going to be organized.

At the same time, people who are interested in learning about the Unites States Tennis Association will be invited to attend several meetings. The 2nd of April, for example, was set as the day dedicated to families, as children aged 5 to 13 will be invited to participate in free tennis games.

3. Students from College of Idaho have started a great project that will ease the access to water for people in Haiti. It all began with one student at the college that has returned from a trip to Haiti, from a region where people, especially children, were forced to walk for hours in order to get the water they then drank.

Last November, during a fight for water, the cousin of this student was injured, and shortly after that he died. Today students raise money in order to install 40 tanks of water for the needy population of Haitian villages.

4. The organizers of the Dairy Days parade have declared that the parade will not be held this year due to a road construction. The popular event will be postponed due to work at the Meridian Split Corridor Project. Authorities have tried to find another route for the parade, but they have not managed to find any solution.

The organizers of the parade say that they are going to bring back the parade in 2014, once all the construction will be finished and the route will be again suitable for the event. Every year close to 20,000 people participate in this parade, which is dedicated to the dairy products.

5. One hundred high school students from Idaho will do volunteer work during the spring break. They are dedicated to staying away from the sunny beaches and relaxation in order to improve their community. The name of this ambitious project is “Breakthrough” and use two vacation days for the volunteer work. A building will be renovated, its old walls will be sanded down, new flooring is going to be installed, and a lot of cleaning and landscaping will be done as well.

The building is an abandoned firehouse that the teenagers are completely renovating during spring break. Teens belong to 13 high schools in the region, and they all volunteered for the project.