Category Archives: Blog

When was the last time you didn’t skip an ad before a YouTube video? And when was the last time you watched a video all the way to the end? What would it take to keep you engaged?

In an era when endless streams of digital content are competing for our attention, an individual’s time is a valuable currency. 

Borrowing from my musical career, AJR’s goal is to make songs, create shows, post social media content that is more pleasurable than that of the next artist. Or more binge-worthy than Netflix, more satisfying than the McRib (or the Beyond McRib), or cuter than Baby Yoda. We continue to challenge ourselves to create something that will hold people’s attention; the audience’s time is the real value, and money is a byproduct. Read more…

More about United Nations, Activism, Undp, Social Good, and Activism

The first season of HBO’s Watchmen is also the final season of Watchmen.

Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof told USA Today that he has no interest in doing a second season of the show that took inspiration from the famous graphic novel.

Normally this wouldn’t deter a network from continuing on with a successful show, and Lindelof even gave HBO his blessing to make more Watchmen, but nope. HBO programming chief Casey Bloys told USA Today that they’d only be interested in making more Watchmen if Lindelof wanted to do it.

“It’s really in Damon’s thinking about what he wants to do,” she told USA Today. “If there’s an idea that excited him about another season, another installment, maybe like a Fargo, True Detective (anthology) take on it, or if he wants to do something different altogether. We’re very proud of Watchmen, but what I’m most interested in what Damon wants to do.” Read more…

More about Television, Hbo, Watchmen, Entertainment, and Movies Tv Shows

Elon Musk has a new high-profile Twitter hater, and for some bizarre reason, it just so happens to be the official account of the Pennsylvania State Treasury. 

The certified Extremely Online CEO has had his share of Twitter beefs over the years. From calling someone a “pedo guy” to possibly ripping off farting unicorn artwork, Musk has typically been the instigator in online matters past. Not anymore.

The verified @PATreasury account started dropping Musk-flavored insults last August, but the campaign of dunks truly began in earnest on Monday. 

“‘What if we took something like a subway, but made it unfathomably expensive and only for cars, and also make sure that it will never work?’—Elon Musk,,a genius,” wrote the Treasury.  Read more…

More about Twitter, Elon Musk, Tech, and Elon Musk

Boomers hate being called boomers, even though that is what they are. But is saying “OK, boomer” tantamount to discrimination? 

The U.S. Supreme Court was forced to tackle this question on Wednesday, when Chief Justice John Roberts Jrraised the meme during oral arguments in an age discrimination case. The phrase has become popular among younger generations, and is typically used to dismiss tiresome, belligerent, or confidently uninformed baby boomers.

The question before the Supreme Court was whether a federal employee had to prove she would have been given career advancements if it hadn’t been for her age, or whether she could win her suit if age was merely one factor amongst multiple reasons she was denied. Her lawyer Roman Martinez was pushing for the latter, as it’s a much easier bar to clear.  Read more…

More about Memes, Supreme Court, Discrimination, Boomers, and Ok Boomer

Is constant smartphone surveillance still terrifying if it’s for science?

Three Stanford University professors announced in Nature Wednesday that they had undertaken an intensive new study of the way humans interact with our devices. They call it the Human Screenome Project, a name that nods to the famous Human Genome Project, a 13-year-long international scientific undertaking that successfully mapped human DNA.

Their proposal for a Human Screenome Project endeavors to make a similarly granular measure of smartphone use (rather than human genetics). And like human DNA, researchers say the data they’ll collect — rapid, constant screenshots of real-time smartphone activity, called “screenomes” — would be primed for big data analysis and more in-depth research on the societal impact of smartphones. The idea is that, collectively, our screenomes could shed light on what our smartphone usage looks in a more meaningful way than current measures. Read more…

More about Screen Time, Tech, Smartphones, and Health

All things end, but when it comes to Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s extra hard to let go. 

Robert Downey Jr. visited Today on Wednesday to talk about his upcoming turn in Dolittle, and host Hoda Kotb had to ask — is he sad about Iron Man’s end?

“Now that I’m middle-aged, to be honest, you start looking at the back nine and you go, ‘Oh, this is part of the journey as you…that things end.’ You know, everyone is going somewhere,” Downey replied.

That may be true as of Avengers: Endgame (and the sadder parts of Spider-Man: Far From Home), but Kotb pointed out that things — movie franchises in particular — rarely end these days. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Movies, Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr., and Avengers Endgame

NASA has some unsettling news. 

In 140 years of modern record-keeping, 2019 was the second hottest year on record, which means that 19 of the last 20 years are now the warmest in recorded history.

In a video just over one-minute long, NASA gives a succinct rundown of climate trends since 1880. In 2019, Earth, relentlessly warming, was more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 1 degree Celsius) warmer than it was in the late 1800s. As the space agency pointed out, this warming resulted in 2019’s unprecedented fires and the ramped-up melting of Greenland’s vast ice sheet.

“We crossed over into more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit warming territory in 2015 and we are unlikely to go back,” Gavin Schmidt, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in a statement. “This shows that what’s happening is persistent, not a fluke due to some weather phenomenon: We know that the long-term trends are being driven by the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Read more…

More about Nasa, Science, Global Warming, Climate Change, and Science

January is a time when many people make resolutions – and then break themAlmost 60% of Americans will resolve to exercise more, but fewer than 10% will stick with their resolution. A key to keeping resolutions is ensuring they are measurable, and a simple way to track activity is through a wearable smartwatch or fitness tracker. Indeed, almost one in five adults has used a fitness tracker.

Wearable fitness trackers can also help improve medical care by providing insights into physical activity, heart rate, location and sleep patterns. My research team uses wearable fitness tracker data with smart home sensors to help older adults live safely and independently. We also study wearable fitness tracker data along with electronic medical records and genomic data to investigate the causes of gestational diabetes. Many other researchers utilize wearable fitness trackers to better understand how lifestyles can impact health. Read more…

More about Wearables, Fitness Tracker, Tech, and Consumer Tech

Created by KeYi Tech, the ClicBot is a robot designed to have fun while learning about STEM subjects. Read more…

More about Tech, Mashable Video, Stem, Future Blink, and Clicbot

The announcement comes well after Chrome’s competitors have made similar updates. Read more…

More about Tech, Google, Mashable Video, Chrome, and Cookies