Category: General Interest

Attention electricity guzzlers! The topic of saving energy is ever-present. Every individual can save electricity and thus money within their own four walls. One simple and efficient step is to pay attention to the power supply of electronic devices. For example, some cables should be unplugged, especially charging cables for smartphones and laptops. On the other hand, some apparatuses are better at remaining permanently connected to the power. Other electrical devices, such as smart TV, are often connected to the WLAN router. These devices are also disconnected from the WLAN…

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In recent weeks, there has been frequent talk that the pandemic has entered a final phase, and the massive waves of flu and RSV have also pushed the coronavirus into the background. But the rise in the number of cases in China, after the regime there abandoned its zero-covid policy, has brought Sars-CoV-2 increasingly back into the headlines. Millions of Chinese are now believed to be infected with the coronavirus. And the more infections there are, the more a virus can circulate freely, and the more likely new mutations are.…

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Nikolaus Authried of ÖAMTC-Rechtsberatung knows from consulting practice that quite a few misconceptions circulate among the population concerning alcohol consumption and roadworthiness. Regarding the assumption “Under 0.5 per mile, I am allowed to drive a car or motorcycle in any case,” he says: “The legally defined alcohol limits are maximum limits – if these are exceeded, one is, in any case, liable to prosecution. Under certain circumstances, however, even a significantly lower alcohol content can mean that you are no longer fit to drive, for example, in the case of…

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Scammers have come up with a new scam to get their money. Recently, letters purporting to be from a court have been sent. Time and again, scammers use various methods to obtain money from their victims. In addition to the popular “son/daughter” trick, other fraud schemes are increasingly being used. In response to current events, the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) warns against fraud attempts using false documents containing visual elements of court decisions. As far as known, the header (logo, business number) and footer (signature formula, electronic signature) of a…

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Fuel prices rise due to CO2 pricing.The additional CO2 pricing, which came into effect in October 2022, will increase further at the beginning of 2023. The original plan was to increase from 30 to 35 euros per ton of CO2. However, due to price increases for fossil fuels, the law allows the planned expansion to be halved to 32.5 euros per metric ton. This means that prices at the pumps will rise by 0.75 cents per litre of diesel and 0.68 cents per litre of gasoline. Tightening of the standard…

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Croatians are annoyed by the rounding up of prices. As of January 1, the euro replaced the previous national currency, the kuna (7.53 kuna is 1 euro, 1 kuna is 0.13 euro). The transitional phase will last in Croatia until January 15. Then the kuna will be history. But the suspicion is that retailers and service providers are now using the changeover to round up rather than down when adjusting prices. However, the government made it clear that it would not tolerate unjustified price increases, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic warned.…

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In the U.S., many new Corona infections are due to the XBB.1.5 variant, which has recently become known. It may be more easily transmissible. Most recently, China’s massive CoV infection wave caused a worldwide sensation. In the enormous wave of infections in China, 248 million people, or 18 percent of the population, became infected with Corona in the first three weeks of December, according to officially unconfirmed internal estimates. Subvariants of the Omicron variant continue to circulate the world, and “we see Omicron doing what viruses do: picking up mutations…

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In the U.S., a significant proportion of new Corona infections are due to the XBB.1.5 variant, which has only recently become known. For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that XBB.1.5 was behind about 40.5 percent of all new infections in the week leading up to the new year. The variant could be more easily transmissible, according to the CDC. “We have been monitoring XBB.1.5 since mid-November, and its incidence has doubled about every week,” Richard Neher, head of the Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria research group…

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If you use your vacation days wisely in the coming months, you can take advantage of the available window days and maximize your vacation entitlement. For example, 43 vacation days left open can give you a total of 95 days off – that’s three whole months! With four vacation days used, you can already allow yourself a total of eight days off from January 1 to 8 Easter Monday falls on April 9 – with four used vacation days at Easter, there are nine free days from the 8th to…

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