Relief From The Las Vegas Heat With An Air Conditioned Jacket

It's hot outside, and with record breaking heat all over the country, you need something to help cool you down. How about an Air Conditioned Jacket.

This seems like a total Phil Dunphy, "dad product." Something he was working on in the garage every Saturday for the past 10 years, and finally - perfection! You might look like a dork, but I guess looking like a dork is better than dying of heat stroke. And if you wear it in Las Vegas, trust me - you will only blend in!

Clothes with built-in FANS in them are all the rage this summer, and they are getting more and more popular.  Especially in Japan where they've been a thing for quite a while now. Here's a picture you can look at, and now say, "Damn! Why didn't I think of that?!"

A former Sony engineer came up with the idea, and started selling "fan jackets" back in 2004.  The name of his company literally translates as "air-conditioned clothes." And honestly, just because of the name, I'm sold.

If you're having trouble picturing it, just think of those inflatable dinosaur costumes people wear for Halloween.  They puff up just like that and work the same way. But you don't look like you should be going door to door, begging for candy. 

Early versions weren't breathable enough, and the batteries didn't last very long. But now they can go all day.  The power-tool company Mikita started selling their own version for construction workers in 2015.  They also sell cold packs that can be placed inside the lining of jackets to cool the circulating air. They say sales have been way up the last few years.

There are a bunch of knock-offs on Amazon now, and they cost anywhere from $40 to $300. So if you don't care about being made fun of by, most likely, EVERYONE, it might be a way to try to beat the stifling summer heat.

All this and a lot more in M&C's "A Few Things You Need To Know"!

https://963kklz.com/uploads/2023/07/FEW-THINGS-WEBSITE-7-26-23.mp3

Predicting the future - what do you think life will be like a century from now, in the year 2123?  Will we finally have those flying cars?  Will we be ruled by robots?.

Remember the song by Zager and Evans, 'In The Year 2525'? It was rather cryptic, but we do have to wonder what the future holds, as they did in the past.

Someone went through old newspaper articles from 1923 to see what predictions were being made for the year that was a century away - 2023.

In 1923 experts took a stab at making predictions about what life would be like in 100 years.  Paul Fairie, a researcher at the University of Calgary, compiled 100-year-old newspaper clippings with such predictions and added them to a now-viral Twitter thread.

Some of them HAD to come true, right? Like "constant airline traffic" (unless you're flying Southwest), America's population topping 300 million people, and  --- being able to talk to someone in real-time through your wristwatch - hello Apple!

They also said that newspapers would not exist in 50 years, and that war would be wireless.

Many of these predictions were spot on, but some of the others really were not that far-fetched.

Some very smart people back in 1923. See for yourself!

-Carla Rea

The headline for that one was: "No More Hard Work by 2023!" They said electricity would make it possible.  (By the way, in 1923, less than half of U.S. homes had power). I DO think we should continue to strive for that four hour work week!

They thought beauty pageants would become obsolete, because it would be almost impossible to choose a winner because everyone would be beautiful! They thought the same would go for babies.

And here we are! People whiten their teeth all the time. Women do their make-up to look like a black eye, or like they have been crying. They wear Grillz on their teeth. So black teeth? So I'm sure blackened teeth are the next big thing! Men curling their hair - can you say 80's perm???

So, powering your car by blasting radio waves. Again, now - not that odd, and it can absolutely be done.

The average life expectancy in the U.S. in 1923 was just 57 years old, and now it's around 76.  The oldest living person is set to turn 119 next month. So, average? No. But we sure are far beyond where we were a century ago.

They were actually far too conservative with this one. It's half that time - around a nine-hour flight. But they were definitely thinking in the right direction!

Unfortunately, not yet. But we're making pretty good progress, and hopefully in the next century cancer will go the way of polio, and it will just be another disease of the past.

The thought was that basically we'd have ways to make food using, "chemical formulas" and wouldn't need to cook.  Not that far off. Read the ingredients in your food - there are a lot of "chemical formulas" that make it. We do however, have DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc. They could have had this if they just gave the beef tongue it to the Model T driver!

That one said we'd even be able to speak telepathically with babies. Although some say they can, and charge people a lot of money to try to prove it!

What? I mean how did these not catch on??? Are they like beer koozies, but to keep your internal organs warm.  Wait - isn't that a coat?