The ad translates from German to ‘Life too short for the wrong job’.  A job posting site.

A ban on pedestrians looking at mobile phones or texting while crossing the street will take effect in Hawaii’s largest city in late October, as Honolulu becomes the first major US city to pass legislation aimed at reducing injuries and deaths from “distracted walking”.

The ban comes as cities around the world grapple with how to protect phone-obsessed “smartphone zombies” from injuring themselves by stepping into traffic or running into stationary objects.

Starting 25 October, Honolulu pedestrians can be fined between $15 and $99, depending on the number of times police catch them looking at a phone or tablet device as they cross the street, Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters gathered near one of the city’s busiest downtown intersections on Thursday.

“We hold the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the country,” Caldwell said. Honolulu data on distracted-walking incidents was not immediately available.

Caldwell signed the legislation on Thursday after it was passed in a 7-2 vote by the city council this month, city records show.

People making calls for emergency services are exempt from the ban.

More than 11,000 injuries resulted from phone-related distraction while walking in the United States between 2000 and 2011, according to a University of Maryland study published in 2015.

The findings pushed the non-profit National Safety Council to add “distracted walking” to its annual compilation of the biggest risks for unintentional injuries and deaths in the United States, highlighting the severity of the issue.

“Cell phones are not just pervading our roadways but pervading our sidewalks too,” Maureen Vogel, a spokeswoman for the council, said in a phone interview on Friday.

Efforts to save pedestrians from their phones extend beyond America’s shores. London has experimented with padding lamp posts to soften the blow for distracted walkers, according to the Independent newspaper.

In Germany, the city of Augsburg last year embedded traffic signals into the ground near tram tracks to help downward-fixated pedestrians avoid injury, local media reported.

Opponents of the Honolulu law argued it infringes on personal freedom and amounts to government overreach.

“Scrap this intrusive bill, provide more education to citizens about responsible electronics usage, and allow law enforcement to focus on larger issues,” resident Ben Robinson told the city council in written testimony.

The Guardian

A MarkoZen possible invention: eventually constant smartphone addicts are going to suffer elbow and wrist pain due to perpetual bending. I propose a arm brace mated with a selfie stick.

This way addicts can avoid suffering from elbow and wrist arthritis in their later years. They can then concentrate on dealing with their reduced vision and neck issues.

Kyle Krichbaum, a 15-year-old boy from Adrian, Michigan, has been fascinated by vacuum cleaners since before he could talk. His passion stuck with him through adolescence, and he’s now known as the world’s youngest vacuum cleaner collector, with a collection of around 200 vintage devices.

Most teenagers don’t have that strong of a relationship with vacuum cleaners, or any other cleaning gadgets, for that matter, but Kyle Krichbaum doesn’t like anything more than using, fixing and collecting all kinds of vacuum cleaners. His mother, MaryLynn, remembers that when Kyle was only a baby in his little baby seat and she would start vacuuming the house, he would be mesmerized by it and follow her everywhere around the house. “Vacuum Boy” got his first vacuum cleaner at age 1, and when he was 2-years-old he dressed up hot Halloween as a Dirt Devil…

One of his former teachers remembers Kyle Krichbaum was vacuuming around school, during recess, when he was just 6 years old. It’s not that he didn’t like recess as much as the other kids, vacuuming was just his favorite pass-time. He would vacuum one side of a classroom one day, and finish the other side the next, and has even vacuumed the principal’s office.

Now, at just 15 years of age, Kyle is a Member of the Vacuum Cleaner Collectors Club and has one of the largest and most valuable collections in the world. He has all kinds of vintage Hoovers, Electrolux’s, Kenmores and Kirby’s and the most valuable item is a functioning Hoover 0, from 1908, worth over $10,000. The kid stores his vacuums all around the house and uses many of them to actually clean carpets and floors. Kyle Krichbaum’s father says he normally vacuums a couple of times a day, and even four times, during the summer. As much as they like that he keeps the house squeaky clean, his parents say they’re going to have a big vacuum cleaner sale, when he goes off to college.

This is cool. Save space with these innovative ideas.