Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Tech mogul Elon Musk and singer Grimes have something in common: they blend art history with artificial intelligence to make the nerdiest, most niche jokes. 

The new couple arrived at the Met Gala together — Musk in a white priest-looking tux and Grimes dressed as a goth robot. 

According to Page Six, nerdy, niche jokes are the reason the two are a couple. Apparently, Musk wanted to tweet a joke about AI, but Grimes had already made it. 

Roko’s Basilisk is a thought experiment that questions the risks of AI, hypothesizing a reality where potential robot overlords take over and punish humans who didn’t help bring it into existenceRococo is a style from the end of the French baroque period, characterized by ornate decorations, dense ornaments, and theatrical asymmetry.  Read more…

More about Elon Musk, Met Gala, Grimes, Culture, and Web Culture

Melania Trump stepped into her role as First Lady on Monday and launched BE BEST, an initiative to “help our children manage the many issues they are facing today.” 

BE BEST seeks to reinforce healthy behavior on social media in kids, reminding them to “choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion.”

If you look past the irony — the New York Times has a running list of all the people, places, and things the president has insulted over Twitter — BE BEST seems like an overall positive initiative. 

More about Obama Administration, Cyber Bullying, Trump Administration, Culture, and Web Culture

The 49-year-old woman struck and killed by a self-driving Uber vehicle in Arizona earlier this year was detected by the autonomous vehicle’s sensors, but the car didn’t avoid her due to an improper software setting, according to a Monday report from the Information. 

Elaine Herzberg was hit on a March night while walking a bicycle across a main thoroughfare. The Uber vehicle with an operator in the front seat was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash. “Two people briefed about the matter” told the Information that the software in the car detected the woman, but there was a problem with how the software decides how to react to objects. Read more…

More about Uber, Autonomous Vehicles, Self Driving Cars, Tech, and Transportation

The new News Feed is here, but you’d be forgiven for not having noticed. 

To hear Mark Zuckerberg tell it, the last several months have brought significant changes to the way Facebook ranks content on its News Feed. The CEO announced in January that his company would soon start prioritizing “high quality” and local news in users’ feeds, with the hope that so-called fake news on the platform could be, if not eliminated, then reduced. 

And yet, despite what was categorized by the company as sweeping updates, the state of the News Feed remains just as rotten as always: Fake news still thrives, and that old Facebook favorite Fox News is king once again.  Read more…

More about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Fox News, Social Media, and Fake News

Let’s hope the developers behind Pokémon Go have learned their lesson.

Niantic is hosting another Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago – one year after the first Pokémon Go Fest made headlines for being an absolute disaster – the company announced Monday. The 2018 Pokémon Go Fest, happening July 14 and 15, is part of a longer Pokémon Go summer tour of events around the world that will hopefully go swimmingly.

More about Pokemon, Pokemon Go, Niantic, Pokemon Go Fest, and Entertainment

Google’s biggest event of the year is here. 

Google I/O, the company’s annual developer conference, is set to kick off Tuesday morning at the  Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Things start with a keynote from CEO Sundar Pichai, followed by talks from other executives. While the event is always full of announcements, all signs point to an especially busy year for Google.

From the upcoming Android P update to new Google Assistant features and virtual reality and artificial intelligence, here’s a look at everything we’re expecting to hear about at Google I/O. Read more…

More about Tech, Google, Android, Google Io, and Big Tech Companies

OK, so it’s no surprise extreme cold can cause havoc with electronics.

Take something as simple as power: Batteries freeze in sub-zero temperatures, causing the voltage to drop, which makes the camera think the battery is flat.

In a new video, Antarctic photographer Anthony Powell explains how he gets around issues like this by modifying the battery. It can be a dicey situation for the electronics inside the camera when it gets below -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit), depending on the brand.

Oh, and there’s the troubling matter of power cables simply snapping when they freeze. Fun stuff. Read more…

More about Tech, Antarctica, New Zealand, Camera, and Tech

Taylor Swift’s latest tour of mega-stadiums across the globe kicks off Tuesday in Phoenix, so she used her last warm-up as an opportunity to bring some fun and warmth to local foster kids. 

According to Entertainment Weekly, Swift invited over 2,000 guests, foster kids and their foster parents, to attend Saturday’s final tour dress rehearsal at the University of Phoenix Stadium. She even treated them all to loads of free pizza. 

Oh, and they got to watch Swift run through her upcoming show.

While cameras weren’t allowed during the performance portion of the evening, there was still time for photos and even a photo opp with Swift. Some of the parents then shared those photos online. Read more…

More about Taylor Swift, Reputation, Entertainment, Music, and Celebrities

There’s a great deal you can do to prepare for an interview but once the recorder is on and you’re directly in front of the celebrity, there’s a chance all the planning you might have done and all the notes you may have taken goes out the window. 

Folks shared their stories of those rare but very real moments on Twitter after writer and editor Larry Fitzmaurice asked for them. 

“Writers: what’s the worst interview you’ve ever conducted?” Fitzmaurice asked on Twitter before sharing his own. “Mine was Mazzy Star—David Roback accused me of trying to psychoanalyze him so I hung up.”

More about Celebrities, Writers, Interviews, Culture, and Web Culture

Warning: This story contains major spoilers for the ending of Avengers: Infinity War.

Okay, so you’ve seen Avengers: Infinity War, possibly multiple times if the box office numbers are any indication. You’re still trying to suss out what’s what — not just because of that harrowing ending, but also everything else that occurs throughout the film.

Well, it seems at least one actor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has tweeted out what could be seen as a pretty big spoiler. It seems to remove any doubt about the fate of the character for those that have seen the film and were left to wonder if this person would be around for Avengers 4 (and beyond) next year. Read more…

More about Spoilers, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers Infinity War, Entertainment, and Movies Tv Shows