As of late last month, vaping in the UK is now regulated in a manner similar to tobacco. This despite growing evidence indicating e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes. For those on the selling side of the aisle, these changes amount to logistical and legal headaches going forward, not to mention potential harm to sales. For those on the buyer’s side, the new regulations add up to inconvenience but little more.

E-cigarette buyers and sellers caught off-guard by news of these changes need not fret – here is what you need to know:

Size Matters
The new vape restrictions most noticeable are those involving size limits. E-juice bottles over 10mL in size can no longer be legally sold without proper registration (see below). Whereas e-cigarette users were formerly able to buy 30ml e-juice bottles and even 100mL ones as well, such quantities are no longer available in the UK. This creates a particularly difficult challenge for mail order e-juice suppliers, such as Zamplebox, who specialize in 15ml bottles, just over the legal size. If UK demand for their services continues, such companies may consider altering operations to sell the smaller bottles. However, time will tell if this is a viable solution.

In addition to bottle size, the maximum quantity of nicotine per e-juice bottle has also been clamped down by the new laws. While it’s not uncommon to see e-juice advertised online with a nicotine content over 20mg/ml, these ultra-infused juices are no longer available for legal sale within the UK. 20mg/ml is now the maximum nicotine content allowed for any individual bottle of e-juice. While manufacturers, suppliers, and sellers will no doubt need to account for this restriction, the vast majority of e-juice sold online and in stores is well below the 20mg/ml limit. The strain of this change may fall mostly on the buyer side, as the minority used to higher doses of nicotine per hit will need to adjust their habit accordingly.

Lastly, vape devices themselves are under new scrutiny, particularly their e-juice holding tanks, which are capped at 2ml for a single unit. This, of course, adds up to many vaping enthusiasts in the UK at risk of having their e-cigarette confiscated if refusing to buy a new model, as well as the need to refill the tanks more often.

Resistant, Restrictions, and Registration
One of the major selling points of vape, in addition to being healthier than tobacco, is the ability to infuse e-juice with an almost endless variety of flavours and ingredients. However, any e-juice sold in the UK is now subject to restrictions on these additives. Mainly, artificial colour, caffeine, and taurine are no longer to be ingredients in any vape juice sold in the UK. Fortunately for many, this leaves alone the fruity and sweets-based flavours enjoyed by the majority of vape users. However – and this is pure speculation – one has to wonder if these more innocent additives will be considered too tempting to children and be outlawed as well?

Speaking of children, the next big change to vape in the UK is the requirement for all e-juice bottles and devices to be tamper-resistant in an effort to keep those underage from either accidentally or intentionally consuming e-liquid or vape. This will no doubt be another major hurdle faced by established vape product suppliers in the coming months, as existing products will likely require modification in order to be sold throughout the UK.

Finally, several of the aforementioned restrictions can be lifted – if one has the proper medical registration. In short, any e-juice containing caffeine and/or ultra-high nicotine content or sold in quantities larger than 10ml bottles will need to be defined as medication by a physician on record. Easier said than done in most cases, but it’s possible doctors will identify e-juice as a medication considering it serves as a healthier alternative to traditional tobacco products.

New regulations on e-cigarettes and e-juice stand to affect nearly 3 million vapers living in the UK as of 2017. In addition, these laws certainly throw a wrench into the works for the many vape product makers, suppliers, and sellers out there. However, like life itself, habits and business tend to find a way to keep going forward.

Smart homes are clearly the way of the future. Every day new smart home technology is being created to make our lives easier, simpler and safer. If you’ve already covered the smart home basics, it’s time to turn your attention to advanced smart home systems.

One of the best investments you can make is a smart home security system. It might cost more upfront, but these systems provide superior protection for your entire home, including all the expensive smart home gadgets that are inside.

Why Smart Home Security is a Better Investment Than Traditional Systems
To fully understand the real world differences between smart home security and traditional security we got the opinion of the pros at Black Hat Security. They offer home security in Phoenix that’s based on the latest technology. To get an idea of why smart home security is superior, all you have to do is consider how the equipment works.

Security Equipment That Does More
All of the doors and windows in your home have locks that offer bare minimum protection. Security is purely based on the mechanical performance of the locks. If they give way, or worse are left unlocked, that’s where the protection ends. For people with a security system, an alarm may go off to alert the people inside.

Smart home security offers another layer of protection because it doesn’t rely on mechanical performance alone. The equipment is Wi-Fi connected so that it can be monitored and controlled remotely with your phone, tablet or computer. Smart home security equipment can also send automatic alerts if a window is jarred or a door is opened.

As soon as you receive the alert you can tap into your smart home security cameras to see what’s going on or who’s entered the house. In the event it’s a burglar or someone who isn’t authorized to be on the property, you can capture the footage and use it to nab the offender.

So you see, a smart lock isn’t just a lock. It has computer components that allow the lock to communicate in addition to keeping the door closed. A smart security camera doesn’t just record footage. It captures the footage in real time and feeds it to a source that can be viewed online.

Smart Security Means Fewer Limitations, More Flexibility
The technology behind smart home security equipment also gives homeowners more flexibility. Most smart home devices are based on wireless technology. They don’t have to be plugged in or physically connected to anything in order to operate.

The experts at Black Hat Security say this is important for two reasons. First off, it decreases the risk of equipment being tampered with since there are no cords that can be cut. Second, wireless technology gives you the freedom to put equipment wherever you like. You don’t have to configure your security system around outlets.

Smart Home Security Essentials to Get Your Started
There’s another advantage to smart home security systems. If you don’t have the budget to go all out with a smart security system you can start with the basics and add to the system over time. Below is a list of the essential equipment that offers the most usability and bang for your buck.

Smart Door Lock
On average, 40% of burglars gain unlawful entry through an open door or window. With a smart lock that’s less of a concern because if you forgot to secure the door you can do it remotely. Even if a burglar is able to pry the door open you’ll be alerted instantly no matter where you are.

Smart Motion Sensors
One of the best investments you can make is smart motion sensors. They are small devices that can be fixed to windows and doors to detect even the slightest movement. Burglars can’t sneak in and kids can’t sneak out. It’s best to put a motion sensor on every door and window on the bottom floor.

Smart Security Camera
It’s a good idea to have at least one smart security camera in your home. Position the camera so it can detect activity in the main living space, the primary entrance into the home or wherever you have expensive items that will be targeted by burglars.

If you know of the very popular and somewhat new, The Focusvape Vaporizer, then the Tourist vaporizer by Focusvape will seem a little familiar at first blush. This versatile little monster can handle both herbs and concentrates but it does so with more finesse than other herbs and concentrate multi-mode personal vaporizers. It seem a bit new in the market but various reputable smoke shops are already stocking Focusvape Tourist in Canada. So let’s jump right in and take a deeper look at how the Focusvape Tourist compares to something like the mighty Dr. Dabber Boost, a perennial favourite that seems to never let vape lovers down.

Concentrates
The FocusVape Tourist delivers a satisfying experience, whether you are using dry herbs or concentrates due to two different attachments for each method. For concentrates, simply attach the wax attachment to the base and fill the filter with water and mount it onto the wax attachment. Switch to “wax” mode, and once the unit reaches the desired temperature, then it’s time to add the concentrate wax into the titanium nail and inhale those therapeutic cannabinoids
The Dr. Dabber Boost is concentrates-only, and it does that one thing very well. So, if you’re new to cannabis and are not tied to one product over the other, then the Tourist will take you on your learning journey in the land of medical marijuana or recreational cannabis. Get it? That’s why this new vape is called the Tourist!

Temperature Controls
Both the herb and the wax attachments for the Tourist make temperature control extremely easy. The herb attachment can be set anywhere between 90C–240 Celcius giving users a wide range to work with when enjoying their botanicals. The wax attachment can be adjusted between 260–450 Celcius giving users a wide range to work with for concentrates as well. The Tourist satisfies most vape users and their individual vapor preferences.

The Dr. Dabber Boost heats to an optimal temperature with a simple button press, and that’s why vape enthusiasts consider it the easiest dabbing solution on the market. Click the power button three times when using the titanium nail or ceramic nail. Alternatively, click it five times to unlock a higher heat setting and more great vapor. More on that in the next section.

Vapor Quality
The Tourist delivers beautifully tasty smoke from herbs at around 180–190 Celcius and around 260–300 Celcius for waxes. Even herbs produce thick clouds if you set the unit to about 240 Celcius; for concentrates, try 375 Celcius for best results. The only caveat is that the Tourist almost always requires the water filter for the best quality vapor because it cools the clouds down before they reach your lungs for a much smoother experience. The upside is that sensitive smokers can now try higher temperatures without the discomfort of taking in hot vapors.

Flavor from the Dr. Dabber Boost is also really impressive; you won’t believe all the subtle flavors that you can taste off of your favourite waxes when you dip them into the hot titanium or ceramic nail.

Manufacturing Quality
Have you tried a Focusvape product yet? Then you’ll appreciate how they have stepped up their game with the Tourist. The device is well thought out with high-quality glass pieces and flawless (well-intended) craftsmanship. There are two separate attachments to handle each material separately. Most units that offer 2-in-1 herb and wax capability usually do so by just adding a wax canister to insert into the dry herb chamber even though the two materials require different heating methods and temperatures (usually far too hot for dry herbs). With the Tourist, wax enthusiasts don’t have to suffer because their chosen product is being heated by a herb-centric oven. Bonus!

The wax attachment of the Dr. Dabber Boostis designed to work like an e-rig, similar to the Dr. Dabber Boost. There is a ceramic rod underneath the nail that heats up to very high temperatures to cause the vaporization process. The Dr. Dabber manufacturer considers both titanium and ceramic for this piece; they are the best heating materials to use for concentrates, even if ceramic does pose a potential breakage problem—just don’t drop it.

Portability

Despite its travel-inspired name, the Focusvape Tourist is surprisingly not so portable because of all the pieces and attachments. The separate attachments make it super easy to swap from herbs to concentrates, but it does add to the bulkiness of the unit altogether. Use it at home or for a night on the town but don’t think about taking it on hiking or camping adventures. Then again, you can always leave the water filter behind, and that makes it slightly more manageable on the road.

The Dr. Dabber is a go-anywhere unit that has a relatively low-profile honey-comb shaped case and doesn’t require a torch, which cuts down on some parts. Just turn on with the power button—three times for lower temps and five times for high temps and the battery does the hard work. Expect between 30 to 40 uses on a single battery charge. You can buy Focusvape Tourist in Canada from numerous newly emerging vape and smoke shops in Canada.

The Tesla Model 3 is the most hotly anticipated vehicle of a generation, and news has just been announced that the design has been finalized and production will begin by the end of 2017. The Tesla Model 3 is the third generation of this game-changing automobile and, with a mass-market price point, it’s set to permanently alter the automobile market. Plus, there are number of local governments providing incentives for purchasing electric cars. As government incentives and great infrastructure investments improve driving conditions for electric cars, you can bet that they are going quickly going to become ubiquitous.

Accessible at mass market prices, the Tesla Model 3 is poised to change the future of driving, and not just because it’s an electric car. Now, all Tesla models are being manufactured with self-driving hardware, making Tesla Autopilot a reality in all of its vehicles, including the Model 3. Tesla Autopilot brings autonomous driving to city streets – a reviewer from MIT Technology Review even took one for a test drive through Los Angeles. As legislation for self-driving cars is tested in cities like Pittsburgh, autonomous vehicles, which are already a reality, come closer to becoming a fixture of city streets. The reviewer explains that in its current incarnation, Tesla Autopilot requires an abundance of data, including line lanes, a constant speed, a map of the city, and readings on the cars around the vehicle. Once it has these things, it handles highway driving better than a human driver, smoothly accelerating and slowing as traffic demands. It’s no wonder that tech experts believe the self-driving car can solve highway traffic. With the hardware installed, all Tesla models that are partially autonomous now only require a software upgrade to become fully autonomous, pending legislation.

If you can’t wait for the launch of the Model 3, or you’re looking for a luxury electric car with the power to drive farther on a single charge and go faster, the Model S is available now, and you can even save by finding used models or great dealer discounts. Owners and dealers alike are offering great discounts when you buy a used Tesla, making it easier than ever to get into a luxury electric sedan.

Why should you be thinking about moving over to an electric vehicle? Besides government incentives, as electric cars become more popular and as infrastructure such as charging stations become more widely available across North American cities, electric cars are simply going to become the new mainstream technology. Widespread adoption will take some years, but just as DVDs replaced VHS, electric cars are going to take over the road. In the immediate future, though, you can look forward to ditching the gas pump and saving money, not to mention the high performance and horsepower of one of the world’s highest-ranking luxury cars. There’s a reason the Model S has become one of the top-selling luxury cars on the market: innovation and power.

The Tesla Model S has an official range of 337 miles on a single charge, and with charging stations across North America, you can drive coast to coast in your electric vehicle. Upgrades on this luxury vehicle also include adaptive LED headlights, a second charger to improve your rate of charge, ambient interior LED lighting, leather interior, and an improved sound system. Take your time when you’re shopping used and discover features like autopilot and Ludicrous Mode, the performance improvement that gave the Tesla Model S the worldwide acceleration record.

The most incredible thing about Tesla, from Ludicrous Mode to Autopilot, is that they are powered by software updates. Once the vehicles have the basic hardware, it’s software updates that take their performance to unprecedented new heights. Tesla is proof that Silicon Valley has become the biggest challenger to Detroit automakers since smaller, more fuel-efficient Japanese cars took off in the 1970s.

e-Commerce is big business that’s only going to grow larger. Despite the astronomical growth, experts at the National Retail Federation (NRF) are still projecting that e-Commerce will grow 8-12% in 2017
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This is great news for online retailers as well as web hosting companies that power e-Commerce sites. The best web hosting services give you security and reliability that is essential for running an e-Commerce site. Why does the quality of your web hosting company matter? Your web hosting can make or break your e-Commerce business in a number of ways.

Enhanced Security . . . or Weak Links Which can Lead to Problems
Security has to be the number one priority for e-Commerce site owners that are collecting customer payment information. Your web hosting service can either make security better with added layers of protection or make it worse by creating weak links.
Since most hackers repurpose old viruses and bugs for cyber attacks, your web hosting company should be making an effort to patch all existing vulnerabilities. They must also use the most advanced tools for admin panels, database management, and password storage.

Shopping Cart and Payment System Options . . . or Lack Thereof
Web hosting companies play a role in how your customers pay for items by supplying shopping cart software and features. Most of today’s top web hosting services come integrated with popular shopping cart tools like Open Cart and PrestaShop.

The best shopping carts allow for customization and ease of use. Both of these are extremely important for user experience. At this point in the sales cycle you don’t want a small hang up to cost you a conversion. Likewise, e-Commerce sites need to have a web hosting company that supports various payment options so it’s easier to make a sale.

Uptime and Downtime
Web hosting is what powers your e-Commerce site. That means the performance of your web hosting provider is going to determine how accessible your website is and its reliability. The Internet is a 24/7 marketplace. E-Commerce businesses that want to maximize sales and improve brand presence need to be continuously up and running.

Every second of downtime is business that’s lost. Uptime and downtime all depends on your web hosting company and their data centers. There are currently four tiers for web hosting data centers:
Tier 1 – 28.8 annual hours of downtime / 99.67% uptime
Tier 2 – 22 annual hours of downtime / 99.75% uptime
Tier 3 – 1.6 annual hours of downtime / 99.98% uptime
Tier 4 – .08 annual hours of downtime / 99.99% uptime

When you’re searching for a web hosting service strongly consider companies with Tier 4 data centers that guarantee 99.99% uptime.

Slow Page Load Times and General Speed
Selling products faster online is difficult to do if your web pages are slow to load. This is a huge issue for e-Commerce sites for two reasons:

Users are annoyed by slow websites – Today’s online consumers are on the move – literally and figuratively. Long gone are the days when users would put up with pages that take more than a few seconds to load. If there’s any type of delay they’ll quickly hit the back button and take their business elsewhere.

Page load time affects SEO rankings – Because page load time impacts user experience, Google and other search engines factor it into their SEO rankings. If your pages or website is slow to load it will be difficult to get top ranking.

According to Kissmetrics studies, a delay of just two seconds is enough to lose 40% of visiting customers. The two factors that affect speed the most are the web host’s RAM and bandwidth. Paying extra for a dedicated server can help eliminate load speed problems. You can also switch to a web hosting company that’s located closer to your customers.

Web hosting companies that leverage content delivery networks can also offer faster page loading time. A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of servers around the globe that are connected together. Using a content delivery network can significantly improve the speed of an e-Commerce site. If your web hosting company doesn’t offer a CDN option, look for a provider that does.

If you’re like me and you listen to music most of the time, you will know how important owning a high-quality, comfortable pair of earphones really is for the purpose. When earphones are in your ear several hours a day, comfort and quality affect the whole music-listening experience even more than you might expect.

There are plenty of earphones to choose from, so finding a good pair should be easy regardless of your budget and specific needs. These tips we are about to discuss in this article will help you choose the best pair of earphones in no time.

Sound Character and Features
One of the first things you have to look into when searching and comparing earphones is the sound character. Earphones are usually designed to have a specific character instead of a wider spectrum. The relatively small size means there is no room for multiple drivers (or a big one), so manufacturers tend to focus on achieving a certain sound character. This is a good thing because then you can choose a pair of earphones that suits you perfectly.

Bass-forward earphones are rich in bass, but they tend to have slightly more muffled mid- and high-range. In-ear monitors, on the other hand, are designed to be flat and rich in details, albeit with a lower bass punch and weaker low frequency. Additional features like noise canceling help define these characters too. Some earphones like the Jaybird X-series and Soundsport or QuietComfort line from Bose come with a companion app through which you can fine-tune the equalizer to the last detail. Don’t expect the same wide range offered by bigger headphones, but you should be able to squeeze more from the pair of earphones of your choice.

Comfort
As mentioned before, comfort is a big factor when choosing earphones. Earphones that are badly designed can be very uncomfortable to wear, especially over an extended period of time. Different shapes, wing designs, and earphone tips will affect how comfortable the earphones are when worn. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure if a pair of earphones is comfortable is by trying it directly.

Another trick I use with all of my earphones is equipping them with Comply earbud tips. The premium tips from Comply are designed to be very comfortable indeed. They use special memory foam to achieve a whole new level of comfort and they are available for almost every popular set of earphones.

Wired vs. Wireless
Choosing between wired and wireless earphones is basically choosing between sound quality and convenience. While Bluetooth earphones are very good lately, you still need to go wired if you’re serious about enjoying the best music quality. Even technologies such as Bluetooth 4.1 and APT-X are still one or two steps behind their wired siblings.

That said, wireless earphones are easier to use for sure. You can pair wired earphones with multiple devices, use them with virtually any music player you have, and even convert them into wired earphones in some cases. The only downside is that Bluetooth earphones tend to be more expensive than wired earphones in the same category.