Media
Should Spotify Make Its Own Smart Speaker?
Smart speakers have become one of the hottest markets in consumer tech. Amazon Echos and Google Homes were among the most popular gifts this past holiday season, and that sales bump solidified Amazon as the leader in the space. Apple has since struggled to catch up, with its recently launched HomePod, but other hardware makers have rushed to get in on the hype, integrating Alexa and Google Assistant into their own headphones, wearables, and speakers. Each of the three big smart-speaker platforms includes its own integrated music player--Amazon Prime Music, Google Play Music, and Apple Music. But for 159 million music lovers, another app is their player of choice: Spotify.
A 'Narcos' video game is on the way for PC and consoles
Kuju studio chief Brynley Gibson only said that his team is "looking forward to creating a game that matches the fantastic storyline and gritty action of the Netflix series." Tim Stephen, Head of Legal and Business Affairs at Gaumont, also said that it trusts the developers to create a game that will thrill the series' fans and allow "them to engage with the storylines and characters they have come to know over the past three seasons." Season three's focus shifted to Escobar's rivals, the Cali Cartel, so you at least have an idea of which characters will be in the game. We'll definitely know more about it before it drops: Curve and Kuju plan to release the game in 2019 for the PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC. If that release date's too vague and far away, don't worry: Narcos season 4, which will focus on Mexico's Guadalajara cartel, might arrive on Netflix by the end of the year.
Matthew Morrison's new film outrages PETA after crew member reports animal abuse on set
Actor Matthew Morrison arrives at the 42nd American Music Awards in Los Angeles, on Nov. 23, 2014. Matthew Morrison's new film, "Crazy Alien," has been accused of animal abuse on set. During the filming of the Chinese science fiction film, a set member sent PETA a video of a German shepherd allegedly being mistreated while shooting a stunt. The video and an account of the alleged incident by the crew member was made public by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Thursday. "On November 28th, 2017, I witnessed firsthand one of the worst animal cruelty acts I have ever seen," the staffer-turned-whistleblower told PETA, per a log the group released.
Tomb Raider Sells a Message of Female Empowerment. So What Happened to One of the Game's Most Important Female Characters?
Ever since her debut in the original 1996 videogame Tomb Raider, Lara Croft has been the subject of feminist debate, mainly due to her disproportionate chest size and skimpy shorts. But in 2013, Square Enix's videogame reboot sought to take a less objectifying approach to the character, dressing her in a more practical tank top and pants. Her face is covered with scratches, her hair messily tossed into a ponytail. The new Tomb Raider film, which reboots the movie franchise after the two Angelina Jolie-starring installments in the early 2000s, takes most of those empowering changes to heart. As Slate's Inkoo Kang notes in her review, the focus is on what her body can do, rather than how it looks.
Three examples of machine learning in the newsroom โ Global Editors Network โ Medium
In 1959, Arthur Samuel, a pioneer in machine learning, defined it as the'field of study that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed'. Machine learning can translate to using algorithms to parse through data, recognise patterns, and then make predictions and assessments based on what the algorithms have learnt. Machine learning can be used for fact checking and it can make archiving less of a tedious task for journalists. It can let voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant know you're pissed off based on the tone of your voice on a Monday morning and then play a song to cheer you up. It can also be used to explore scenes in Wes Anderson films and help uncover hidden spy planes. In short, machine learning systems could very well become essential journalism tools in the coming years.
Who Is Alex Lovell? Man Survives Samurai Sword Attack By Angry Girlfriend
A Washington state man, who survived a samurai sword attack last week by his now ex-girlfriend while he was asleep, revealed his rigorous video game training regime left him with a lack of sex drive, and this resulted in his former partner thinking he was cheating on her. "It killed my sex drive. I was training too hard, it exhausted me. I felt bad because she needed the affection. I just couldn't keep up," 29-year-old Alex Lovell told Buzzfeed News of his video game training regimen, which led to the attack by his ex-girlfriend March 3. "She thought I was having sex with other people," Lovell added.
How to become a professional shopper
Technology is changing the way we work and the jobs we do. Will artificial intelligence and robots relieve us of humdrum tasks, making our working lives easier, or will they take our jobs away altogether? As part of a new series called the Future of Work, we look at the growing popularity of "daigou" - Chinese expats who buy consumer goods for people back home in China. Sandra Lee describes herself as part of a "global phenomenon". A 37-year-old Chinese expat who lives in Central Coast, Australia, she makes money by selling Australian goods to people back in China.
Are 'cryonic technicians' the key to immortality?
Technology is changing the way we work and the jobs we do. Will artificial intelligence and robots relieve us of humdrum tasks, making our working lives easier, or will they take our jobs away altogether? As part of a new series called the Future of Work, we look at the cryonics technician - who tries to help their clients cheat death. Are you open minded about the future? Do you have a medical background and can you complete tasks under time pressure? Are you comfortable working in the presence of a dead body?
Adapt or die: How to cope when the bots take your job
Reports that robots, automation and artificial intelligence are going to put millions of us out of work may sound troubling, but should we believe them? That largely depends on whether we're technology optimists or pessimists. In our Future of Work series we look at how jobs might change in the future. The Snewing family lived in 62 Falkner Street, Liverpool, for more than four decades. They were saddlers working in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
AI Taking over the Creative world
It seems as though every other story today related to the digital and technology world is centred around the ever developing, all powerful concept of Artificial Intelligence. AI technology continues to inspire, amaze and leave us feeling a little trepid, as it is beginning to look like these impressive technological advances in Artificial Intelligence are slowly beginning to make the human race obsolete. AI's latest triumph, the ability to write sentences and pitching stories. Reuters, an online news magazine is looking to advance its embrace of using Artificial Intelligence to further the development of a new tool capable of writing sentences and suggesting story ideas. Now, before we all jump to scenes of Skynet, I should stress that this doesn't mark the end of journalism and journalists alike, at least not yet, because this technology, named Lynx Insight, is going to be working with, and assisting journalists, rather than take over their job.