Sign up for our newsletter to not miss out on tomorrow's game-changers for your industry. Could Westworld happen for real? I just got the question of whether I think Westworld could happen for real. My answer is "Yes it can, but not in the way you may think." For those of you not yet in trapped in the maze-of-the-moment, Westworld is the hit new TV show, based on the 1973 Yul Brynner sci-fi-Western fusion movie.

The new British sci-fi film "Ex Machina," rolling into U.S. theaters over the next few weeks, is the kind of movie that discerning science fiction fans will want to seek out. Directed by Alex Garland (screenwriter of Sunshine and 28 Days Later), "Ex Machina" is a modern-day riff on the Frankenstein story, with high-tech labs, mad scientists and troublesome artificial intelligence (A.I.). It's got some thrilling twists, but "Ex Machina" is more about ideas than action, and it takes its science seriously. The setup: Computer coder Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is summoned to the remote research lab of his boss Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the reclusive genius founder of a ginormous tech company that doesn't rhyme with Google, but may as well. There, Caleb meets Ava -- a super-advanced A.I. housed in a super-advanced robotic body, played by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander.

As in the global survey, we are concerned with platform business models and the design choices that allow these business models to grow. We find the term platform, which is well-established in economic and management literature, offers a more useful and accurate term than some of the terms that have been used such as "share economy companies," "internet companies" or, even more broadly, "tech companies." Network effects are a key characteristic that distinguish platforms from other business models. As more users engage with a platform, the more attractive the platform becomes to potential new users. When more users attract more users, a dynamic is created that in turn triggers a self-reinforcing cycle of growth.

Actually, the robot in this video is gender neutral, which is how I like it, except on "Westworld," where I'm O.K. with robots being entertaining, homicidal sex machines. Now, you'll find my robot to be entertaining if you, like me, like Ping-Pong--it's a Ping-Pong robot. And, if you think Ping-Pong isn't a sport, just watch this. But, as with any sport, getting good at Ping-Pong requires practice. It's best to do that with a human partner, but, if all of the other three hundred million Ping-Pong participants are otherwise engaged, this episode of The Cartoon Lounge will show you how to get your game on.

In each issue of Communications, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts. Early September saw the 2016 International Computing Education Research (ICER) conference in Melbourne, Australia. The conference was terrific, as is usual for ICER. Two of its papers were meta-papers studying the ICER community itself. They found the community has healthy levels of newcomers and collaboration, and features methodological rigor and strong theoretical foundations.

We are at the very beginning of a fundamental shift in the way that humans communicate with computers. I laid out the beginning of my case for this in my essay The Hidden Homescreen in which I argued that as Internet-powered services are distributed through an increasingly fractured set of channels, the metaphor of apps on a "homescreen" falls apart. The first obvious application was in chatbots, but as new unique interfaces come online, the metaphor becomes even more important. To understand this shift, it's worth examining how platform changes have created entirely new businesses and business models. Two easy examples to look at are the shift to content distribution through social media and the move of Internet connectivity to mobile.

Before you configure a new Chevy Bolt, check out all the highlights and trailers from last night's videogame awards show or wax nostalgic about manual transmissions, first make sure you sign up for a chance to win a smart home surveillance kit, courtesy of Synology -- the entry window closes tonight at 11:59PM ET. Cars with a stick shift are already hard to find, but the advent of EVs could put the final nail in the coffin. Like many of you, Roberto Baldwin will miss the satisfaction and control that driving stick offers, even if a "solid, utilitarian" Bolt can drive to your destination stress-free. DIY media center fans don't have to choose between offshoots of the XBMC family tree. Plex is not only releasing its Media Player software for free, it's releasing an add-on for Kodi (fka XBMC) so that its users can easily access their content from that front end as well.

The Japanese inventor received ¥6 billion ($53 million) from partners, including Panasonic Corp., last month to advance "the Laundroid" -- a robot Sakane is developing to not only wash and dry garments, but also sort, fold and neatly arrange them. The refrigerator-size device could eventually fill the roles of washing machine, dryer and clothes drawer in people's homes. Sakane, whose earlier inventions include an anti-snoring device and golf clubs made of space materials, said the funding will bring closer his dream of liberating humanity from laundry. Among his inspirations for the project is the 1968 Stanley Kubrick sci-fi film classic "2001: A Space Odyssey." Laundroid was designed to resemble the mysterious objects in the film that brought technology to prehistoric humans, and the project was originally code-named "Monolith."

Apple's personal assistant Siri is more of a glorified voice recognition feature of your iPhone than a deep conversation partner. A personal assistant that could truly understand human conversations and written texts might actually represent an artificial intelligence capable of matching or exceeding human intelligence. The Canadian startup Maluuba hopes to help the tech industry achieve such a breakthrough by training AI to become better at understanding languages. The key, according Maluuba's leaders, is building a better way to train AIs. Like humans, AI can only get better at understanding languages by practicing.

Vinci believes in a future where your headphones are the central hub of your connected world. Over the last two years we've been testing and perfecting a smart, wireless headphone that is controlled by your voice and powered by cloud technology, with no connection needed to your mobile phone. Wire-free and phone-free, Vinci is perfect for joggers, travelers and all music lovers. Vinci allows you to voice control your music when manually choosing songs on your phone is inconvenient. No matter what you're doing - walking, running, or commuting - you can tell Vinci exactly what song or artist you want to listen to, say a specific genre or mood, or let Vinci pick a song for you.