Month: May 2022

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This smart technology helps save water

As the clean water crisis grows, new technologies are emerging that help us to conserve and maintain a sustainable usage of water in our daily lives. One such innovation is the Smart Showerhead from Hai. Powered by a small turbine inside the showerhead, the Hai Smart Showerhead is a brilliant piece of connected technology that helps us conserve water and better understand our water usage. It’s also a great self-care tool that provides perfect pressure and a spa-like experience, truly the best of both worlds.

Image via Gethai.com

A spa-like experience

The Hai Smart Showerhead comes with many spa-like features that can help improve your self-care routine. First, the Hai Smart Showerhead is engineered to offer a greater range of coverage than the average showerhead. This also makes showering easier, since you won’t have to adjust the showerhead or move around as much.

Second, the Hai Smart Showerhead effortlessly changes between different settings which can be programmed using the companion app on your smartphone. The settings range from a fine mist to a steady stream. You can find the perfect pressure by playing around with the sliding adjuster on the app.

Third, if you’re tired of waiting for your shower water to get warm, then the Hai Smart Showerhead is definitely for you. An LED alert will notify you when the shower water is warm enough for you to enter. No more freezing cold starts to your morning, perfect for anyone who’s always freezing.

Image via Gethai.com

How the smart showerhead works

Inside the Hai Smart Showerhead is a small turbine which spins from the flow of the shower water. The turbine generates electricity which powers a light on the showerhead. It also powers Bluetooth connectivity so you can monitor your shower usage using an app on your smartphone. There’s also a feature that can alert you after 20 gallons of water have been used, helping you conserve water by letting you know that it’s time to stop your shower. With the Hai Smart Showerhead you can take the time you need in the shower without feeling guilty that you’re wasting water.

The Hai Smart Showerhead also comes in two different flow rates: water sense and regular. The water sense flow rate is certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program as a water saving product. It’s intended to conserve water and has a flow rate of 1.8 gallons per minute. The showerhead for the water sense model is designed to improve low water pressure and has 29 individual spray nozzles. In comparison, the regular showerhead has a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute and 35 individual spray nozzles.

Image via Gethai.com

Sustainable packaging

All of the packaging for the Hai Smart Showerhead is 100% sustainable. The product and shipping boxes are one and the same so there isn’t any unnecessary box-within-a-box packaging. That saves a lot of unnecessary cardboard from ending up in the landfill.

Image via Gethai.com

Easy showerhead installation

The Hai Smart Showerhead is an easy DIY install that will fit onto any existing shower arm. Simply unscrew your current showerhead and replace it with the Hai Smart Showerhead. It’s that easy.

What are you waiting for? To improve your self-care routine and monitor your water usage, check out the Hai Smart Showerhead today!

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A millennial got dumped and hundreds cheered her up by sharing how they found love after 30

A lot of emotions rise to the surface after being dumped. It can leave a person feeling sad, lonely, confused, rejected and left with a sense that you’ll never find anyone again. People tend to think, “If that person couldn’t stick it out with me, then who will?”

However, most of the time, it’s irrational worry. There are more than a few billion people on the planet to choose from, you just gotta put yourself out there. But that’s a hard thing to hear when your feelings are still raw.

A recent study reported by The New York Times found that today, the old “plenty of fish in the sea” cliche is growing truer by the day. We are nearing a point where there will be more unmarried adults in the U.S. than those who have tied the knot.

In 2019, the share of American adults who were neither married nor living with a significant other had risen to 38%. So good news for you single folks, the dating pool just keeps getting deeper.

Two years ago, Kelsey Huse, a software engineer from Austin, Texas, broke up with her boyfriend and at the age of 30, felt like she was never going to meet anyone again. “My bf broke up with me this week and I just wanna hear happy stories of ppl who found their partner in their 30s thanks,” she tweeted.

Huse received an avalanche of responses from people who shared pictures and stories about how they met their special people in their 30s and later, giving her plenty of hope for the future. Her tweet went mega-viral earning nearly 7,000 retweets and 150,000 likes.

Here are some of the best responses.

Kelsey couldn’t believe the incredible responses she received and they really did lift her spirits.

Huse may not have known it at the time, but breaking up at 30 may have been a blessing in disguise. Studies show that people who get married later in life have better mental health than those who get hitched at a younger age.

According to family ecology researcher Matt Johnson, those who married at the same age as or later than their peers reported higher levels of happiness and self-esteem—and less depression—than those who married early.

“People who marry early tend not to get as much education, have kids earlier than is optimal, and as a result get locked into careers they hadn’t aspired to. In mid-life they’re a little more depressed—or have a lower sense of self-worth—not because they violated some societal norm, but because they started down the path to family life early,” Johnson said.

Huse’s story shows that there is no time frame for love and that it’s possible to find the perfect person well after the age of 30. It also shows that even though Twitter gets a deserved bad rap for being a pretty hostile environment, every once in a while people come together to do something beautiful.

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Draymond Green Joked He’s ‘Been Ejected For Less’ After Jae Crowder’s Flagrant For Kicking Luka In The Nuts

jae crowder kick
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One of the biggest stories from Sunday’s start of the second round in the NBA Playoffs was Draymond Green’s ejection from the first half of what became a 117-116 Warriors win for a Flagrant 2 foul on Brandon Clarke.

Green wasn’t pleased with that decision, unsurprisingly, and felt it was only a Flagrant 2 because of his reputation — something he said on his podcast and in his appearance on Inside the NBA on Monday night — despite the explanation from officials that it was a two-part foul, hitting Clarke in the face and then dragging him down by his jersey, that led to the ejection.

In any case, Green was active and engaged watching Monday’s games, so when Jae Crowder kicked his leg out and hit Luka Doncic in the nuts, triggering a review, Draymond was a very interested viewer.

The referees deemed it to be a Flagrant 1, which Green got a laugh out of.

I can only imagine Green, who has gotten himself in trouble with flailing legs before did this while watching at home before firing off some tweets.

leo point
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

In any case, Green’s assertion that he’s been ejected for less probably isn’t true, but is pretty funny. It was certainly a flagrant foul on Crowder but Green is still mad about his ejection on Sunday, which the league refused to reduce after the fact, leaving him with two flagrant foul points against him this postseason.

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A Defiant Doc Rivers Said The Sixers Will Keep Starting DeAndre Jordan ‘Whether You Like It Or Not’

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The Philadelphia 76ers are down 0-1 to the Miami Heat after a 106-92 loss in the opener on Monday night. That result wasn’t particularly surprising with Joel Embiid sidelined with an orbital fracture after he was still in Game 6 against the Raptors after that seemed to have long been decided, but the manner in which they lost Game 1 was particularly frustrating for Sixers fans.

Doc Rivers made the decision to start DeAndre Jordan, who did not play in the Raptors series, in place of Embiid, and as has often been the case this season, Jordan’s minutes did not go particularly well. The Heat opened the game on an 18-6 run in the first four-plus minutes with Jordan on the floor, and by the end of the game he had posted a -22 in just 17 minutes of action. While single-game plus/minus isn’t always indicative of performance, the Sixers were pretty dreadful on both ends of the floor when he was out there, compared to showing signs of life in his absence, particularly when they went small to take the lead before halftime.

For fans hopeful that maybe the team would go to a different look in Game 2, Rivers shut the door on that in his postgame press conference, defiantly saying he’ll start Jordan again no matter how frustrated fans are with that choice — and that the players wanted that to be the case.

The Sixers are in a pretty terrible spot here, because there’s not a particularly good option with Embiid out. The lack of a quality backup big has been an issue all year, and their efforts to address that midseason in acquiring Jordan and Paul Millsap were failures by the front office. Paul Reed gives them more than Jordan on both ends, but he also picked up five fouls in 13 minutes, which has long been an issue for him this season.

It’s undoubtedly a tough position to find yourself as a coach, but being this defiant after the loss and not even being willing to say something like “we’ll look at the tape and see what we can do better” certainly won’t endear Rivers to an ever-growing segment of Sixers fans that are upset with his handling of the roster and rotations. Going small worked wonders to end the first half, and while it’s certainly not a guarantee that would be successful as the main plan of attack for the Sixers, the unwillingness to try and instead to choose the option that has been pretty bad all year doesn’t look great. Noting that the other starters wanted to stay big makes clear that the team was hoping to be able to run some of the same things and not have to make too many drastic changes to what they do with Embiid out, but part of the job of a coach is to make those tough lineup decisions even if they might not be as popular with the players if it gives them the best chance to win.

Philadelphia has plenty of areas needing adjustments and improvements before Game 2, most notably their three-point shooting, but we can rule out a starting lineup change to try and address those.

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People Are Remembering Susan Collins’ Support Of Brett Kavanaugh After News That Roe V. Wade May Be Overturned

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On Monday night, Politico reported a leaked draft of a majority opinion from the Supreme Court that strongly suggested the right-leaning bench was about to overturn Roe v. Wade. The 1973 decision, which protected a woman’s right to have a safe and legal abortion nationwide, has long been a target of the far right, including its moviemakers. (Though its obliteration is highly unpopular with American voters.) The leaked argument was written by Samuel Alito, and it straight-up says the decision “must be overruled.”

While the Supreme Court has yet to make the decision official (and likely won’t till June), news that they almost certainly will caused instant distress across social media. (Though it made Marjorie Taylor Greene so happy she cried.) There was concern for women living in Republican-dominated states, whose rights are now in jeopardy. There was speculation that Republicans would come after other rights next, such as contraception, same-sex marriage, and more. There was fear that America could be heading to Handmaid’s Tale territory.

And there was anger at the moderate lawmakers who allowed such a thing to happen.

One of them is Susan Collins, the moderate Republican senator from Maine, who has often reached across the aisle, breaking with the majority of her party (though not always). One instance where she took their side was on the confirmation of current Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanagh in 2018. Calling Roe v. Wade “settled law,” she said the controversial future justice would never vote to strike down Roe v. Wade. And yet there’s his name, one of five justices who the leak revealed are planning to do just that.

After the Politico news broke, clips of Collins going on news shows, saying Kavanaugh wouldn’t, were shared.

People were furious with the very wrong senator.

But others tried to direct their anger into gallows humor.

The Supreme Court leak is near unprecedented, and the fate of Roe v. Wade may take a different direction. Until then, the American people have time to make their voices known. Who knows? Perhaps Democratic lawmakers, who have control of the White House and both bodies of Congress, might even do something.

(Via Politico)

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The Heat Thumped The Joel Embiid-less Sixers In A Breezy Game 1 Victory

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After a five-game win over the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, the Miami Heat enjoyed a lengthy break before opening a second round series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday evening. In between Miami’s close-out win over Atlanta and Game 1 on Monday, the 76ers lost Joel Embiid for at least part of the series, leaving the Heat in a more commanding position on paper, and Miami responded with a strong performance in the opener on the way to a 106-92 victory at home.

The Heat set the tone in a hurry, scoring 18 points on the first nine possessions of the game. That gave Miami an 18-6 lead, with the home team making eight of its first eleven shots with no turnovers.

Though Philadelphia stumbled out of the gate behind a lineup with DeAndre Jordan at center, the Sixers did find their footing late in the first quarter. James Harden and a bench-heavy unit found success with a zone defense, and the visitors scored 11 consecutive points to climb back into the game.

Miami pushed its lead back to as many as 13 points early in the second quarter, but Philadelphia chipped away. The Sixers received five quick points from James Harden and that slashed the lead in half to 46-41.

Miami scored only two points in nearly five minutes to end the first half, opening the door for Philadelphia. In fact, the Sixers took their first lead of the entire game with 28 seconds left in the second quarter and kept a one-point margin by halftime.

Neither team shot well in the first half, combining for 7-of-33 from three-point range, but Miami was able to locate its offense before Philadelphia could in the second half. Bam Adebayo solidified Miami’s attack in the third quarter, keying a 10-0 run that gave the Heat a lead they would never relinquish.

The Heat didn’t run away and hide immediately, leading by eight points at the end of the third quarter, but Miami put things away in the fourth quarter. With haste, the Heat built a 13-point lead after a three-pointer by Tyler Herro.

Philadelphia never again climbed within single-digits in the game, as Miami began the closing period with an 18-5 overall run that included 11 consecutive points. When the dust settled, the Heat led by 98-77 with less than six minutes to go and that, for all intents and purposes, ended the suspense.

Though the Heat did not shoot particularly well at 44 percent from the field and 9-of-25 from three-point range, Miami was able to sustain efficient offense using the glass and a win in the turnover battle. The Heat secured 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 18 second-chance points, and Miami was able to take care of the ball with only 13 turnovers. Individually, Herro was electric with 25 points and seven assists, with Adebayo adding 24 points and 12 rebounds.

On the Philadelphia side, there was no antidote for poor three-point shooting. Sans Embiid, the 76ers were able to create 34 three-point attempts, but Philadelphia connected on only six triples. From there, they lost on the margins, and Harden finished with only 16 points on 15 shooting possessions. Tobias Harris was a bright spot with 27 points and six rebounds, but Philadelphia scored less than a point per possession during the competitive portion of the game, and they must be better on offense.

Game 2 is set for Wednesday at FTX Arena, with the Sixers aiming to secure the road split that every underdog seeks in a best-of-seven series. However, Philadelphia will again operate without Embiid, and the performance of both teams in Game 1 doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence for the challengers to pull an upset just 48 hours later.

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South African boys’ school marimba band is nothing but pure, joyful energy

Music has been described as a universal language for how it unites people across borders and cultures. When musicians perform together, it’s like magic, and when you see a fantastic musical performance, it’s mesmerizing.

And when you add an element of fun? Pure, sheer delight.

The boys who play marimba at Hilton College (which actually isn’t a college, but a boys’ boarding school) offer a perfect example of magical musical amusement. A video of the school’s marimba band performing at the 2019 International Marimba & Steelpan Festival in South Africa has gone viral, and when you watch it, you’ll see why.

The video shows a dozen or so teen boys all lined up behind their marimbas, mallets in hand, ready to go. A woman’s voice gives them the go-ahead, and the music starts. Then the dancing. Then the dramatic pauses. Then the all-out joyful, performance in which these young men appear to be having a blast.

The crowd witnessing their performance live may be small, but that doesn’t stop the band from giving the performance of their lives. The video has been viewed more than 5 million times this week on the Music Crowns Facebook page. Watch:

People in the comments shared where they were watching from and their thoughts on the performance, with an international outpouring of praise and support:

“I am watching from California but I am from Guatemala and my grandfather used to play the marimba. He would have enjoyed it! Wonderful job! I would love to visit South Africa.”

“I’m watching from France, near Paris!! Such a wonderful performance, love it so much.”

“Watching from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷 wowwwww you’re all amazing.”

“Wow!!!! incredible!!! 😍😍😍😍I’m from the Philippines. What an excellent performance. I really really love watching them and hearing the music they produce. What a lovely sight and sound.”

“Amaaaaaaaazing … watching from SudanI hope our kids having the opportunity to enjoy their feelings in music like this ..one day.”

“Watching from Bilbao (Basque Country). Really wonderful performance!!!”

“Watching from US Virgin Islands. Absolutely fabulous. I enjoyed watching these incredible talented young musicians.”

Comments keep coming in from around the world, which isn’t surprising. This is one of those videos you can watch over and over and enjoy every time. Thanks, Hilton College, for nurturing such joyful expression in these students so we can all experience the musical magic they’ve created.

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57-year-old former model Paulina Porizkova had the perfect response to ageist comment online

Aging is a weird thing. From one perspective, it’s something we should be grateful for. Few people would wish for the kind of short, uneventful life that would remove aging from the equation completely. The longer we live, the more we grow and learn and experience life, and “aging” is simply the mathematical sum of those experiences. All good, right?

On the other hand, our society does everything in its power to hide the fact that aging happens. Especially when it comes to women. According to Statista, the global anti-aging beauty market is estimated to be worth $58.8 billion. People will try all manner of creams, serums, masks, acids, lights, technologies and surgeries to try to prevent wrinkles, lines, sagginess, spots and other signs that our bodies are changing with time.

Most of us live our daily lives somewhere in the middle of these two realities, wanting to embrace our aging selves but also hoping to stave off some of the more obvious signs that we’re getting older. It’s natural to resist it in some ways, since the older we get, the closer we get to the end of our lives, which we certainly don’t want to hasten—especially if we actually love living.

It can be helpful to see people who are embracing their age, which is why it can be inspiring to see someone like former supermodel Paulina Porizkova confidently sharing photos of her 57-year-old self.

In posts social media, Porizkova shared a photo of herself in a bikini and a screenshot of a comment made by a person who felt the need to comment on her aging body. And phew, was it something. The commenter wrote:

“You must be in so much pain to keep posting bikini pictures at your age. I’ve always thought that getting old and ugly is hardest on the pretty people. The fall from grace is so much farther when you were beautiful. Ugly people were always ugly so getting old and ugly isn’t a change. In summary, I feel your pain. I pray you can come to terms with your mortality. We all get old and ugly…you just had to fall from a greater height than the rest of us. Tears Times Infinity!”

So many things to unpack here.

Porizkova shared her thoughts on the comment on Instagram.

“Here’s a good follower comment- echoing a few others,” Porizkova wrote. “A woman of 57 is ‘too old’ to pose in a bikini – no matter what she looks like. Because ‘Old’ is ‘Ugly.’ I get comments like these every time I post a photo of my body. This is the ageist shaming that sets my teeth on edge. Older men are distinguished, older women are ugly.”

“People who believe prettiness equals beauty do not understand beauty,” she continued. “Pretty is easy on the eyes, partly because it’s a little bland, inoffensive. It’s easy to take in and easy to forget. Not so beauty. Beauty can be sharp. It can wound you and leave a scar. To perceive beauty you have to be able to SEE.”

“This is why I believe we get more beautiful with age,” she added. “We have earned our beauty, we understand what it is, and we can see it so much better. There is no such thing as ugly and old. Only shortsighted and ignorant.”

On Twitter, Porizkova was a bit more sarcastic, writing, “Thank you for feeling my pain, rickaroo777. As you can see, I’m suffering indeed.”

That tongue-in-cheek response prompted others to share their aging selves in photos, sharing how their “old and ugly” phase of life is going. The thread turned into a veritable celebration of middle-to-late age, with posts about how much more comfortable people feel in their bodies as they get older and the freedom that comes along with not caring what other people think.

You suffer beautifully

There are two big ironies with the original trolling comment. Most obviously, Porizkova obviously looks freaking amazing in a bikini, so the whole “ugly” and “fall from grace” line of thought is object and off base. The second is that if you look through Porizkova’s Instagram feed, she doesn’t pose in bikinis very often at all. It’s not like she’s plastering her bikini selfies all over social media trying to make herself feel better about herself, as the commenter implies. She just…sometimes wears a bikini. Whoop dee doo.

People don’t have to wear bikinis if they don’t want to. But to tell strangers what they can wear crosses a line. All bodies are bikini bodies, and if the person in the body wants their body to be in a bikini, more power to them.

The “suffering” and “pain” in the posts were so funny to see.

The thread brought inspiration to those who may fall prey to the idea that people shouldn’t wear certain things after a certain age or that only people with certain body sizes or shapes should wear certain things.

The hashtag #oldandugly started trending as people responded to Porizkova’s call for a celebration of aging beautifully.

“Todays thread has been my absolute favorite of all time,” Porizkova wrote on Twitter. “Thank you all you ‘old and ugly’ women (and a few men) showing the world how much we ‘suffer’ at in our old age. You’re all breathtaking!”

May we all age beautifully and gracefully in whatever way those words are meaningful to us, and show those who think that aging means “suffering” and “pain” due to being “old and ugly” that they have no idea what they’re talking about.

(And here’s an extra shout-out to Porizkova for using her beauty and her age to make an important point—not only about celebrating getting older, but also about how propaganda works. Brava.)

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Google now allows you to remove your personal information from its search results

In the internet era, the idea of personal privacy is all but a myth. With a few keystrokes just about anyone can get your home address, phone number, email, age and the names of your family members. The fact that this information is readily available puts us all in the dangerous position of being the victim of fraud, stalking and violence.

What makes the situation even worse is that our information was put online without any of our consent.

The good news is that Google just made a big change that gives us all a little more control over our personal information. On April 27, the company announced it will allow anyone to request removals of their personal information from its Search feature.

“Open access to information is a key goal of Search, but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private. That’s why we’re updating our policies to help people take more control of their online presence in Search,” Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, announced on the company’s blog.

“[T]he internet is always evolving—with information popping up in unexpected places and being used in new ways—so our policies and protections need to evolve, too,” Chang continued.

The new policy also allows people to request the removal of personal information in Search that could be used for financial fraud such as log-in credentials or account numbers.

Although Google’s new policy is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t cure the problem altogether. “It’s important to remember that removing content from Google Search won’t remove it from the internet, which is why you may wish to contact the hosting site directly, if you’re comfortable doing so,” Chang said.

Do you have any personal information that pops up in Google Search that you’d like to have removed? Visit the topic’s support page, scroll down and click the “Start removal request” link. As you follow the prompts you will be able to specify the personal information that shows up in Search and will be asked to share a list of relevant search terms, such as your full name, maiden name and nickname. You’ll also be able to share supplemental details before submitting the request.

After your request is submitted, you should receive an email from Google confirming the request was received. It’s unclear how long the removal process will take.

Google’s new policy changes come during a surge in online fraud. The Federal Trade Commission reported that consumers lost $5.8 billion to scammers in 2021, a jump of 70% from the previous year.

A big portion of fraud is committed through online scams as well as identity theft and telephone solicitations.

In an attempt to give the FTC more power to fight back against fraud, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Commerce Committee, will introduce legislation this week to make it easier for the Committee to sue deceptive companies and scammers.

“If the FTC remains disarmed of this critical authority, millions of consumers and small businesses who’ve been scammed, swindled, or locked out of competitive marketplaces will never be made whole,” Cantwell said in a statement.

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No, Jared Leto Wasn’t Responsible For The Met Gala 2022’s Weirdest Get-Up, Though Plenty Thought He Was (It’s Actually Fashionista Fredrik Robertsson)

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Jared Let’s a bit of a weird one. There’s his notorious on-set antics, including the revelation that on Morbius he got so into his character, who suffers from chronic pain, that he took ages just to go to the bathroom. He’s even one-upped everyone at the Met Gala in 2019 by showing up with a replica of his own head. But alas, and despite what the annual fashion event’s own social media account claimed, he was not behind what was surely the night’s most bizarre outfit.

https://twitter.com/21metgala/status/1521269683651063808

That would be Fredrick Robertsson, a Swedish fashionista and LGBTQIA+ activist who caught Vogue’s eye in some over-the-top get-up a few years back at another such event. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual show in New York City, Robertsson showed up as…an alien? Or an acid trip version of a porcupine? Some sort of unlivable avant-garde building? Whatever it was, Robertsson was clad in some kind of silver bodysuit with big spikes…or something.

The Gala’s social media account misidentified Robertsson as the most accurately Italian-accented cast member in House of Gucci. For what it’s worth, in heavy make-up, Robertsson does sort of, kind of look like the Oscar-winning actor. But it wasn’t, as many pointed out.

The screw-up prompted a fair amount of jokes.

And there were plenty of guffaws from people who really did think it was Jared Leto.

The upside to this mix-up? Fredrik Robertsson, not a household name, got even more attention than he would have had people simply noticed his eye-catching attire. And now the masses may learn his name.