Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Google Duplex likes noodles. And, apparently, not telling servers that it’s an artificial intelligence.

Or anyway that’s what we learned when we spoke with the staff of the restaurant that is almost certainly the one the AI recently called for a dinner reservation. 

For the uninitiated, Google dropped jaws earlier this month at its annual I/O developer conference with a demonstration of Duplex, an artificial intelligence that can apparently — in some situations — make entire phone calls on your behalf. While the example provided to the gathered crowd involved a haircut appointment, the company posted another recording to its blog that dealt with a dinner reservation.  Read more…

More about Google, Artificial Intelligence, Google Duplex, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Baseball caps, not-flamethrowers, and now peanut brittle.

Yep, Boring Candy is the latest idea from the bizarre mind of Elon Musk, CEO of tunnel and construction company, The Boring Company (not to mention electric car company, Tesla). 

A few weeks ago Musk joked about “starting a candy company” and on Thursday he followed through on his “I am super super serious” claims. 

Or did he? The post is only captioned with “lol” so don’t start saving for Boring Candy quite yet. Read more…

More about Elon Musk, Candy, Boring Company, Tech, and Elon Musk

Tis the season for yearbook photos and senior quotes. While witty one-liners have dominated yearbooks for long, a new era of senior quote jokes is rising, one that requires a little bit of effort for the reader: Instead of explicitly listing the quote, the timestamp of when the quote is said on a television show is printed.

Lucky Simsuango, a 2018 graduate, printed this particular message for her teachers.

“To all the teachers that never taught me a thing,” reads the quote. “Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 5, 35:08.” Read more…

More about Funny, Yearbook, Senior Photo, Yearbook Quote, and Culture

Going camping doesn’t mean having to deal with a dead phone. Use this device to turn fire into power! Get your own BioLite CampStove for $99.95 here. Read more…

More about Mashable Video, Fire, Camping, Chargers, and Charger

Unless you’re lucky enough to be flying in first or business class, plane travel can be a stressful experience.

To combat this, Australian airline Qantas has introduced a series of meditation videos in its in-flight entertainment systems so you can zone out mid-flight.

You can choose from five different scenes around the country including Sydney Harbour, the Mornington Peninsula, Rottnest Island and Ormiston Gorge in the Northern Territory. The sessions are roughly 10 minutes long, and are set to be introduced onto planes by June.  Read more…

More about Australia, Transportation, Airlines, Meditation, and Qantas

There’s a glimmer of hope for net neutrality yet.

That’s the takeaway from today’s victory in the Senate, where 52 Senators, including three Republicans, voted in support of a resolution that would reverse last year’s FCC ruling to end net neutrality.

Though only one step toward bringing back President Obama’s 2015 net neutrality regulations, the Senate win was still an important milestone for net neutrality advocates.

“Make no mistake this is pretty massive, think about how many times the Senate has voted along party lines,” says Ernesto Falcon, chief legislative counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to “defending civil liberties in the digital world.” (The Senate is currently majority Republican, but not by much, and Republican lawmakers are generally voting against net neutrality.) Read more…

More about Tech, Net Neutrality, Tech, and Activism

Remember the optical illusion known simply as the dress? Sure you do. Black and blue or white and gold? This was the question that divided the internet back in the more innocent time of February 2015. The fault lines ran through marriages and  friendships: We simply could not believe that someone so close to us could see things so differently when the truth, as we saw it, seemed so obvious. 

Then came the candidacy and presidency of one Donald J. Trump, and we discovered what divided perceptions really looked like online. And now, the Trump effect seems to have settled a bit. At this point, you’ve probably blocked and unfriended everyone whose mind could not be changed, or you’ve become numb to the constant lies and corruption, or maybe we’re just in the calm before the Mueller and midterm storms.  Read more…

More about The Dress, Yanny, Laurel, Culture, and Identities

Local news reporters are pros at dealing with the unexpected while on duty. And, as displayed in this clip, sometimes they’re too good.

KMTV journalist Cameron Tucker was reporting on an illegal cannabis grow in a quiet neighborhood in Kent, UK, when a brilliant teen decided to brilliant troll the live news report.

Watch the back of the shot. A young man emerges from an alley holding a large green plant. He spots the camera, acts surprised, and runs off down the road. Tucker didn’t even flinch.

Of course, the plant does not appear to be cannabis. The kid was clearly pulling a prank on Tucker — masterfully, if we do say. Read more…

More about Marijuana, Prank, Teen, Culture, and Web Culture

The internet is divided over this auditory illusion. We went around the office to find out what our colleagues thought… and things got a bit heated.  Read more…

More about Facebook, Twitter, Science, Memes, and Viral

Google has announced that it’s adding a new feature to Google Wifi that will allow you to measure how well each device on your network is performing. 

In the next few weeks, you’ll be able to use the Google Wifi app to check the connection of any device that’s plugged into your network, be it your Amazon Echo, smart TV, or other IoT device. 

Google’s Wifi network already allows you to measure the speed and quality of your internet connection. The new feature, however, will essentially allow you to run a speed test on each individual smart device on your network.  Read more…

More about Google, Internet Of Things, Router, Google Wifi, and Tech