Travelers entering the United States via Chicago’s O’Hare airport have a new option for customs declaration available to them: their phones. Recently, Customs and Border Protection released an app called Mobile Passport Control. Passengers can use the app to submit customs forms and passport information before their flight arrives at the airport, and then, upon arrival, will be permitted to go through an express customs line.

To use the Mobile Passport Control app, travelers create a profile with their passport information. When they reach the United States, they are instructed to take a selfie and answer questions regarding customs declarations. Travelers will use the app to submit the form and receive a receipt with a QR code or bar code. They can then take their phone (with receipt on screen) and passport through the express lane to customs officer for verification.

Three other United States airports offer the Mobile Passport Control service: Seattle, Atlanta, and Miami. The service is expected to continue to expand this spring. Aside from Mobile Passport Control, O’Hare offers four other ways to go through customs: self-serve kiosks, traditional customs lanes, 1-Stop for passengers with just carry-on luggage, and the Global Entry trusted traveler program. Because an estimated 50% of mobile phone owners rely on their phones as their primary internet source, the Mobile Passport Control app is expected to be very effective at reducing airport wait times.

Kiosks and automated passport control were installed in the airport in 2013, and have dramatically reduced the instances of missed connections and lowered wait times for travelers. Wait times were actually cut in half in the first full year of kiosk use, dropping from 30 minutes to 15.

Passengers who wish to use the Mobile Passport Control app are not subject to pre-approval, and can download the app from Google Play or the App Store depending on the manufacturer of their phone. The app’s form does not require WiFi or a cellular connection to be filled out, though it will need a connection to successfully be submitted. The on-screen receipt is good for four hours.

A mobile app development firm specializing in business apps has recently moved to an office near Chicago.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Lextech, formerly in Lisle, has now moved into a 24,000 square-foot office in another Chicago suburb, Downers Grove. Their office, which is roughly 20 miles away from downtown Chicago, will serve has the company’s headquarters and is capable of accommodating 140 people, although the company currently has only 50 employees.

“We needed space for our current team and to expand,” said Alex Bratton, CEO. He said that over the last few years, Lextech has grown by an annual rate of 40%.

The company focuses on making mobile apps for businesses. They developed six apps, for example, for a car dealership client of theirs. The dealership employees use the apps on their smartphones and iPads to aid in the tasks that go with buying a car, including searching lots, running a credit check, and drawing up a contract. The dealership says that the apps have allowed them to cut their selling time from three hours to 45 minutes.

The office has more in common with Cupertino and Mountain View than Chicago in that its design invokes the latest trends of technology company offices. The office features bright colors, glass walls, open spaces, wide hallways, “thinking rooms,” game rooms, and a media wall, according to Bratton.

“Our new space brings a Silicon Valley feel to Downers Grove,” he said. “The space is a physical representation of our culture and core values, and speaks to our focus on collaboration and teamwork. Our passion and energy come through clearly in the color choices and lighting that flow throughout the space.”

“We have a little bit of Silicon Valley but not all the silliness,” he continued, although his employees are able to drive in scooters and electric go-carts around the office.

Lextech’s focus on mobile apps reflects a greater trend in the web design and development fields to make apps and websites more accessible to mobile users. Accessing the Internet on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is rising throughout the world. One study, in fact, found that nearly 13% of total world Internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

In North Lawndale, Illinois, two very different sets of students are learning similar lessons. Both disadvantaged public-school students and students at North Lawndale College Prep have immersed themselves in the wonderful world of knitting. Each group works under the supervision of a teacher and sells their knitted wares.

At North Lawndale College Prep, students’ items are purchased by their teacher, Dorothea Tobin, with her own money. She then sells the items online for the same price as she purchased them, often to other faculty members. The students have found that knitting gives them something to do to relieve the stress of high school, while encouraging them to participate in their community and make friends.

Elsewhere in North Lawndale, Better Boys Foundation CEO Mary Visconti founded KnitLAB, a fiber arts workshop for teens. Funded by the Chicago Community Trusts Arts Infusion Initiative and After School Matters, teens are paid stipends for the items they create within the 10-week program. Each student keeps one item, and the rest are sold to pay for yarn and other supplies. Each session has approximately 15 students, and they are given the option to re-enroll at the end.

Much of the yarn used in both programs is donated, often made of wool or silk, common materials for scarves, Oriental rugs, hats, and other products. Students in each group feel pride in their creations, and enjoy being able to express their personal style in new and exciting ways. Additionally, yarn crafts have been shown to release dopamine.

Although it may still have a reputation as an activity for older folks, knitting is gaining popularity with younger people, as well — a 2014 study conducted by the Craft Research Council found that 18% of knitters and crochets are in the 18 – 35 age bracket. With endorsements from celebrities such as Amanda Seyfried, Dakota Fanning, Kate Middleton and even heartthrob Ryan Gosling, and programs such as the ones being pioneered in North Lawndale, knitting could soon become very hot with the Gen Y crowd.

Sports gear brand Under Armour has opened its flashiest store to date on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, one of the city’s most exclusive shopping areas.

The store, which the company is calling its Chicago Brand House, is located at 600 N. Michigan Ave. and carries a variety of men’s, women’s and youth’s apparel and footwear, as well as some sports equipment.

“Opening a Brand House on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile allows us to establish Under Armour’s presence in one of the most vibrant and iconic shopping destinations around the globe,” Susie McCabe, senior vice president of global retail, said in a news release ahead of the March 6 opening. “The Under Armour Chicago Brand House will be our largest retail location in the world, highlighting our commitment to innovation while providing consumers with an elevated experience when shopping for apparel and footwear, as well as digital devices and wearables.”

This is the first store that will contain a “wearables bar,” highlighting products in the Under Armour Connected Fitness line.

The store is focused as much on customer experience as on products, however. The entrance features a grand rotunda with numerous digital displays, and a Jumbotron made up of 13 million LEDs has an impressive impact. Some areas are designed both for looks and for function, such as the turf installed in the shoe department so that athletes can feel how their shoes might perform under real playing conditions.

The store also features a number of community-specific products, such as T-shirts bearing the names of nearby neighborhoods and apparel featuring Northwestern University and University of Notre Dame branding.

Under Armour is a relatively young company, having been in business only 19 years. It has risen largely due to its strategy of getting young shoppers involved with the brand, either as athletes or as fans, and then retaining them as they grow into adulthood. Studies have shown that 61% of consumers say they prefer to buy from a brand offering custom products and content, something at which Under Armour excels.

This is the fourth Brand House for the company. The other three are located in Baltimore, MD, the company’s hometown; Tyson’s Corner in McLean, VA; and the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.

Just a few years after launching its social media services for businesses struggling to adapt to the digital age, Chicago-based tech company Geofeedia has announced that it has raised a total $6.8 million in funding since 2011.

Geofeedia released an announcement on March 5th that it had acquired an additional $3 million, four months after announcing that it had raised $3.5 million in Series A funding, and is already actively discussing ways that the company can use these funds to expand and give back to the Chicago community.

Currently, the company has offices in both Chicago and Indianapolis, which employ 36 and 15 workers respectively, according to the Chicago Tribune. Geofeedia has already announced that it plans to hire at least 50 new employees with its most recent funds, splitting the new positions between tech analysts and sales jobs in both offices.

According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Geofeedia easily passed its initial investing goals and decided to launch another round of funding during 2014.

“We surpassed our sales goals and our investors wanted to know if we could grow faster if they added more capital,” CEO Phil Harris explained. “We plan to hire key talent here in Chicago to invest in marketing programs and to expand into new vertical segments.”

Currently, Geofeedia has an estimated 10,000 clients, including big-name corporations like McDonald’s, Dell, the AP, BBC, and CNN. After seeing an 857% increase in customer bookings within the past year, ChicagoInno states that the company anticipates its clientele to quadruple over the coming year.

So what exactly is Geofeedia providing to these businesses that’s causing such dramatic success?

Geofeedia has quickly become a B2B industry leader by providing a “platform [which] helps agencies and organizations collect location-based social media intelligence,” the Tribune states. Although an estimated 84% of B2B marketing businesses already focus on social media content creation and distribution, Geofeedia has taken a different approach to this strategy.

Its “social media intelligence” is primarily focused on providing data about regional social media content — rather than creating or distributing the content — which helps businesses see which news stories and topics are trending in certain regions. Geofeedia provides its clients with an easy-to-use platform which collects pieces of content from a wide variety of social media sites and provides real-time analyses of the trends.

Rather than replacing the marketing teams at major companies, Geofeedia capitalizes on accessibility and convenience of raw data so that companies can create their own content — and this type of complex service is something that very few B2B marketing companies have been able to provide.

Although Geofeedia hasn’t provided any specific details on how it will use the newest funds to develop a stronger service, Harris did mention to the Tribune that the company is interested in expanding the tools available to clients on the platform.

Conversion therapy, a widely used practice that attempts to “cure” a person identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or gender dysphoric, has been called a heinous and dangerous thing to do to the well being of youth and young adults.

Fortunately, one state is doing something about it.

Reparative therapy, as conversion therapy is sometimes called, is a product of the deadly social stigma placed over the LGBT community, the very same stigma that causes higher rates of depression and suicide amongst its members.

A 2009 survey of over 7,000 LGBT middle and high school students between ages 13 and 21 found that, because of their sexuality, eight in 10 had been verbally harassed at school, four in 10 had been physically harassed at school, one in five had been physically assaulted, and six in 10 felt unsafe at school.

As a result of homosexual victimization, LGBT students were far more likely than heterosexual students to report feelings of depression, the number one predictor of suicide. Major depressive disorders actually account for between 20-35% of all suicide deaths each year. However, more than 80% of depressed individuals don’t seek out professional help, so nothing is done to help them until the unbearable weight simply becomes too much.

Conversion therapy is just another form of psychological violence against the LBGT community.

The good news is that House Bill 217 and Senate Bill 111 — if passed by Illinois’s general assembly and signed by Governor Bruce Rauner — would become the Conversion Therapy Prohibition Act, which would make it illegal for persons under 18 to pursue conversion therapy in the Prairie State.

“It is tragic that LGBT youth suffer at the hands of so-called experts whose therapies have been refuted by every legitimate medical and mental health organization,” Chicago Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who actually introduced HB 217, told ChicagoPhoenix.com earlier this year. “That is why my bill would label the therapy as ‘unprofessional conduct’ and subject the perpetrator to disciplinary action.”

The bad news is that its sponsors need to get more public support. Luckily, a coalition of LGBT advocates have come together to launch an online petition.

“Illinois should be at the forefront of banning this failed and discredited non-therapy that attempts to change the unchangeable, our innate sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, a major sponsor of the petition initiative.

Although there are opponents to the Conversion Therapy Prohibition Act, such as the Illinois Family Institute, several authoritative organizations have deemed the practice of conversion therapy to be not only ineffective, but harmful. The list of undesirable reactions to taking this https://www.glenerinpharmacy.com/buy-xanax-alprazolam-online-1-mg/ powerful drug, namely Xanax, includes the following side effects: the appearance of signs of unmotivated aggression on the part of the patient and irritability even in the most calm situations, jaundice of the skin and sclera of a person, as well as sudden fainting states against the background of relative health and normal well-being. Those opposed to the practice include the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric and Psychological Associations.

As Cassidy told Northern Public Radio, “This really is a bipartisan idea that’s based on protecting kids from bad science.”