The Daily Valet. - 10/30/19, Wednesday

✔️ Are the Kids Gonna Be Alright?

October 30, 2019

Wednesday, October 30th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I’ll be searching online ... maybe for tickets to Botswana or maybe a Porsche.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Young People Are Binging on Video

Kids’ appetite for online video has doubled in 4 years

The number of young Americans watching online videos every day has more than doubled, according to survey findings released Tuesday. YouTube was their overwhelming first choice, even among the tweens who were surveyed—75% of whom say they use the site despite age restrictions, reports the Associated Press.

While video viewing spiked, overall screen time hasn’t changed much in those four years, the survey found. But the new data on video-watching indicates just how quickly this generation is shifting from traditional television to streaming services viewed on mobile devices and laptops.

The average teen spends seven hours, 22 minutes on their devices each day. And that doesn't include time using them for homework, reading books or listening to music.

YouTube said that, in the coming months, it will share the ways the company is rethinking its approach to kids and families. But some are skeptical about how much YouTube will really alter a service that easily leads its users, young and old alike, down a “rabbit hole” of video content.

This seems like a good time to talk about the story we're running on Valet. today about disconnecting in order to maximize your focus. We're all for online media (naturally), but stillness, experts now agree, is the secret weapon for those that are charging ahead. And this fall, three well-researched resources are helping guide your path.

↦ Push Pause: Check out one of these three books to step away from your devices (just for a little bit) and get some clarity and focus.

LAX’s New Rideshare System Causes Chaos

Day 1 of the curbside pickup ban didn’t go so well

Up until yesterday, when you landed at Los Angeles International airport, you'd typically make your way out into the warm California air and find your Lyft or Uber pulling up within minutes. But the airport's ban of curbside pickups for ride share vehicles just went into effect. And while it may've cleared up the famously clogged LAX horseshoe around the terminal, from a customer perspective, it was closer to chaos.

"Even on a low-traffic day, the new pickup system had some growing pains," writes the Los Angeles Times' Laura Nelson, who was on the scene. "At points in the early afternoon, the wait time for Uber and Lyft rides swelled, with more than 100 people waiting in each line for their drivers in the pickup lot."

The scene did look pretty bleak. And the last thing you want after dragging yourself off a long flight is to wait around for your ride. And this was precisely what Uber's security team warned would happen when they wrote the city agency that runs LAX earlier in the month. Of course, this is only day one and the system will likely smooth out over time. But still, a transition of this magnitude shouldn’t be causing this much friction right from the start, either.

↦ FYI: Over 14 million Uber trips are completed each day.

Brits Head to the Polls to Vote on Brexit, Again.

A roll of the dice that will either cancel or deliver Brexit after years of wrangling in Parliament

By a margin of 438 votes to 20, Britain's House of Commons approved legislation paving the way for the first December election since 1923. The bill is still to be approved by the Lords, but could become law by the end of the week.

According the New York Times, this is essentially the starting gun for one of the most momentous and unpredictable campaigns in post-World War II Britain, a six-week race that could alter the UK's place in the world. The public will decide to either back Prime Minister Boris Johnson's swift exit from the European Union, or the Labour Party’s vision of the future, based on holding a second referendum on whether to leave at all.

The EU agreed this week to delay the Brexit deadline for three months from Thursday—the third time the deadline has been pushed back. And for weary British voters, December's vote will be the third general election in five years. But then again, the race is only six weeks long.

Taking It Back, Way Back ... to the Beginning

Origin of modern humans traced to Botswana

Scientists have pinpointed the homeland of all humans alive today to a region in southern Africa that is now Botswana, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature. Homo sapiens emerged about 200,000 years ago in the area south of the Zambezi basin and settled near a huge lake system, that's since since turned into sprawling salt flats.

Researchers believe our ancestors lived there for about 70,000 years until the local climate changed and they were forced to leave. Shifts in rainfall across the region led to three waves of migration 130,000 and 110,000 years ago, driven by corridors of green fertile land opening up.

This was all made possible by combining genetics with geology and climate computer model simulations with hundreds of samples of mitochondrial DNA (the scrap of DNA that passes down the maternal line from mother to child) from living Africans.

↦ Unspoiled: Botswana remains one of the few places you can still see lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and giraffes in the wild.

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The addictive qualities of ultra processed foods

Switching up your underwear

The “Spectacular Failures” podcast

You Can Now Buy a Porsche Online

That’s one heck of an impulse purchase

It just got a whole lot easier to buy your next Porsche. Well, the price didn't get any easier, but at least you won't have to deal with an annoying salesman. That’s because the car maker has now made it possible to buy one of its coveted sports cars online.

Buyers are able to pick exactly what Taycan, Cayenne or 911 you want from a participating dealership’s inventory and complete the necessary paperwork and payment process in one simple session. There's even an opportunity to haggle when it comes to the price.

I was hoping this would come with free next-day shipping, but apparently, you will still need to show up in person to pick up the car. But I guess that most new Porsche owners won’t mind handling that themselves.

↦ Porsche Passport: The company also has a subscription program. For $2,000 a month, you'll have access to an unlimited stream of cars, along with a personal concierge and handy app to help you switch between them with ease.

What We’re Buying

Want striking 4K clarity and premium Ultra HD picture quality on a big (and we mean big) screen without having to drop well over a grand? You're in luck. You can pick up this well-reviewed 75-inch model from Sceptre (a small, but growing American electronics brand). It pairs the stunning picture clarity with four HDMI ports, allowing you to connect multiple devices at once, so you can stream, browse and listen to all of your favorite multimedia. While a handy USB port further expands functionality, allowing you to listen to music or view digital pictures quickly and conveniently.

↦ Get It $1,799.99 / $749.99 at Walmart

Special Promotion

A good man never arrives empty-handed. But a true gentleman shows up with a nice bottle or two. And why not make it a bit more stylish and comfortable by toting said bottles in a handsome leather carrier? Moral Code’s Sommelier Carrier is made from premium leather and lined with padded microfiber to keep your booze safe and secure. And today, you can get it for 30% off.

↦ Get It $128 / $89.60 today w/code WINE30 at Moral Code