The Best and Worst Things to Buy in March

Frozen food

    Grocery store ads aren't the only places to find deals on freezer-section treats. To take advantage of the deepest discounts, combine coupons (优惠券) from sponsoring brands, such as Dole, Green Giant and Tyson Foods, with grocery store sales. Plus, look for printable savings on Coupons.com and EasyHomeMeals.com. Brands participating in National Frozen Food Month will offer more than 180,000 coupons that make frozen food among the best things to buy in March.

Boxed chocolates

    If you desire to give a gift to a friend in March, consider chocolate. Two minor holidays in March provide the perfect excuse: National Chocolate Caramel Day on March 19 and National Chocolate-Covered Raisin Day on March 24. You can discover chocolate deals online as well as in stores. Head to sites like RetailMeNot.com to find discount coupons for boxed chocolate savings of 10 percent or more.

New cars

    With the latest car models filling dealers' lots, you'll have a hard time finding discounted models from the year before. Car dealerships are less motivated to offer steep discounts from March through May. Instead, plan to buy your car during the fall or winter. You should also research the auto you want at TrueCar before heading for the dealership. The site offers information on what people in your area paid for vehicles equipped with the options you want.

Spring clothing

    When warm weather makes you want to head outdoors, resist the urge to do so wearing the latest fashions. You won't find March deals on swimsuits, Easter dresses or other spring items. To find discounts on clothes of this spring, hold off until Memorial Day weekend. You can also look for online and in- store savings at Amazon, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and other retailers.

    “Clothes Swapping”has become an increasingly popular activity for women in the United States. The women can give away unwanted clothing at a clothes swap event and get something different in return.

    Recently about 300 women went to a clothes swap at a high school in Springfield, Virginia. It was the largest crowd ever for the area's popular clothing-swapping group.

    Daphne Steinberg was having a good day.“For anyone who knows Ann Taylor LOFT, Ann Taylor is a really nice women's designer and I will totally wear this to work. So I love that, I love that I can equip myself for work, have a good time in doing it, not totally bankrupt myself.”

Sandy Van Dusen likes the idea that clothes are finding new homes instead of being thrown away. “Because it helps to keep the Earth green. There's no point in my opinion in continuing to buy new clothes when we can reuse what's already here. Give it a new home— let somebody else love what you used to love and no longer love.”

    Kim Pratt organized the clothing-swapping event in Springfield. She also organized a money-raising activity for the high school's debate team. It is one of several ways that her group gives to charitable causes. Another is by donating all of the“un-swapped” clothing to shelters for victims of domestic violence.

    “I started doing this four years ago, and we've been doing it for four years, getting bigger and bigger each time we have a swap.”

    She used the social media website meetup.com to help publicize the events. The website has helped her group grow from 30 members to 1,300. Mrs.Pratt says most of the members respect the clothing swap rules. But she say competition for desirable fashion can be strong.

    “We have to tell people sometimes not to hover over the new people coming in with their clothing. As they put it out, some people tend to grab the stuff right out of their hands and it becomes like a free-for-all. We try to avoid that as much as possible.”

    Tyler Skiuzacek's father，Patrick，could not sleep through the night．It was 2007，and Patrick had just returned from a year in Iraq，where he served in the U．S．Army．Patrick Skluzacek was energetic and happy when he left for Iraq，Tyler says．But when he returned，he was unhappy and drinking alcohol too much．It turned out Patrick was suffering from sleep panic attacks．Patrick would wake up every night．His heart would beat too fast．He would sweat．The nighttime panic attacks prevented Patrick from feeling good the next day，because he was so tired．

    Almost 10 years later，Tyler was in a position to help his father．He thought he could make a computer program that might help his father．So he entered a competition in Washington，D．C，trying to solve the problem Tyler's father and other U．S．war veterans(老兵)，were having．People called them “night terrors.”The students had 36 hours to come up with a program．They called it myBivy．That name comes from bivouac，a military term for a safe place to sleep．

    The application uses a smart watch and a smart phone together．The watch tracks the wearer's heartbeat．It sends the data to the program on the smart phone．Research shows that a person's heart rate will increase right before a night terror．So if the wearer's heartbeat started to rise，my B ivy would respond．The smart watch would vibrate(振动)and gently wake up the sleeping person．That was enough to prevent a night terror from happening．

    Patrick wore the watch for two weeks to get used to it．Then，Tyler turned on the application．On the first night，the vibrations from the watch prevented 10 nightmares．Patrick said he had not slept that well in many years．Tyler and his team won the contest in Washington，D．C．The prize was $1，500．Then the group tried to raise more money from investors，and they were surprised when they took in over$25，000．By the spring of 2016，Tyler and his team were testing the app with volunteers，and hoped to make it availab1e to the public soon．

    Houses have been getting progressively "smarter" for decades, but the next generation of smart homes may offer what two Case Western Reserve University scientists are calling an "Internet of Ears."

    Today's smart home features appliances, entertainment systems, security cameras and lighting, heating and cooling systems that are connected to each other and the Internet. They can be accessed and controlled remotely by computer or smartphone apps.

    But a group of electrical engineering and computer science professors in the Case School of Engineering have been experimenting with a new suite of sensors (传感器). This system would read not only the vibrations (震动), sounds and even other movements associated with people and animals in a building, but also any slight changes in the existing electrical field.

    While there still maybe a decade or so away, the home of the future could be a building that adjusts to your activity with only a few small, hidden sensors in the walls and floor with-out the need for monitoring cameras.

    "We are trying to make a building that is able t0 61isten' to the humans inside," said Ming-Chun Huang, an assistant professor in electrical engineering and computer science. "We are using principles similar to those of the human ear, where vibrations are picked up and our algorithms (计算程序) recognize them to determine your specific movements. That's why we call it the 61nternet of Ears'. "

    “There is actually a constant 60 Hz electrical field all around us, and because people are somewhat conductive, they short out the field just a little," Huang said. "So, by measuring the disturbance in that field, we are able to determine their presence, or even their breathing, even when there are no vibrations associated with sound.”

    Huang said they have used as few as four small sensors in the walls and floor of a room.

    As for privacy concerns, the system would not be able to identify individuals, although it could recognize people's different ways of walking.

    While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world's first kids to be "taught" by a digital teacher. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will is just an avatar that appears on the student's desktop, or smartphone screen, when ordered to come.

    The autonomous animation platform has been modeled after the human brain and nervous system, allowing it to show human-like behavior. The digital teacher is assigned to teach Vector's "Be sustainable with energy" — a free program for Auckland elementary schools.

    Just like the humans it replaced, Will is able to instantly react to the students' responses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up non-verbal cues. For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This two-way interaction not only helps attract the students' attention, but also allows the program's developers to monitor their engagement, and make changes if needed.

    Nikhil Ravishankar believes that Will-like avatars could be a novel way to catch the attention of the next generation. He says, “I have a lot of hope in this technology as a means to deliver cost-effective, rich, educational experience in the future.”

    The program, in place since August 2018, has been a great success thus far. Ravishankar says, " What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different, and Will really captured their attention." However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon.

Kitchen Products That Will Make Your Life Easier

Food Chopper (切碎机) with Storage Container

Using a food chopper to save time and effort when preparing dinners is always a smart idea. But using a food chopper that doubles as a storage container is more convenient. This one is made of BPA-free plastics and comes with three interchangeable blades (刀片) so you can chop your vegetables in various sizes.

Available on Amazon. $ 18. 99

Mixing Bowl Set with No-skid (防滑的) Bottoms and Pour Spouts

This clever set of mixing bowls solves a few problems we didn't realize we had. For one thing, it has no-skid bottoms, so you can more easily have control over the bowl while using a hand mixer or other tools. And for another, the specially designed part makes it easy to pour liquid from the bowl into a pan or baking dish with hardly any effort. Plus, they're pretty cute.

Available on Amazon. $ 21. 97

Rubbermaid Fresh Works Produce Saver

Do you feel like you're constantly throwing away fresh vegetables you just bought? Rubbermaid's Fresh Works containers come in a variety of sizes, and are made to help food and vegetables remain fresh for as long as possible-saving your time and money in the long run.

Available on Amazon, $ 6. 99

Heat-Resistant Gloves

These aren't your grandma's potholders. These heat-resistant gloves are made with high-quality silicone, making them effective against high temperatures and non-slip. They're also multi-purpose, since you can use them inside when removing plates from the oven or outside while barbecuing.

Available on Amazon, $ 14. 99