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Tetris: The Movie
We can joke around that modern movies using 80s pop culture properties have not usually worked out: Battleship and GI Joe are two examples. If it hadn't been milked to death, Transformers would've broken that trend. Now we get a drama coming soon that looks to actually do what Transformers could not. And that property…
Stamping Out Emissions
Slowly but surely, electric vehicles (EVs) are breaking through into the mainstream. As much as I hate to give credit to Lord Manchild, his company has been a difference-maker in this area. Now we're seeing the government get involved here in the US. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is making strides toward electrifying its…
Disconnected Dishes
We've learned real quick due to COVID and supply chain breakdowns that computer chips are in EVERYTHING. It stops cars from being delivered with all their features and delays products from shipping. One place with too many (as in more than zero) chips is appliances. They may be "smart" and have interesting features, but does…
The Missing Pet is Inside the House
When a pet runs away it can be a traumatic experience. A small neighborhood instantly transforms into a vast landscape of places they could go. Sometimes there are happy endings. For the Manuela family and their lost tortoise, theirs did too. However, it took 30 years. Stephen Messenger at The Dodo has more. Flash forward…
Pinball Wizard Music
Video game music is an art form. Composers finally have their own category at the Grammy awards. But watching the music get composed for pinball in the 80s is where some real magic happens. Composer Suzanne Ciani is the main composer in this documentary video showing how she creates music and digitizes speech for Xenon.…
Permission Slip Stops Data Brokers
The collection of our personal data to then be packaged and sold is nothing new. TVs do it, websites do it, and companies all over the world do it. It's why GDPR and CCPA exist. But what do you do if you live elsewhere? That's where Consumer Reports comes in. A new service + app…
Fake Narration
In this ever-evolving world of AI drawing and chat and who knows what else, we find a new realm for computer-generated text-to-voice to apply its skills: audiobook narration. Leyland Cecco at The Guardian has more about how Apple is playing with fire in this experiment. The popularity of the audiobook market has exploded in recent…
Like and Subscribe for Course Credit
YouTube has really taken over our world for entertainment in quick bites, personalities you get to know, and a wealth of knowledge on fixing and operating stuff. YouTube is everywhere and is an important archive of so much information. Now in a super interesting twist, YouTube has announced Study Hall, a collaboration with ASU to…
Bing Sydney Put In Check
It's been an interesting few weeks for Microsoft. After announcing their partnership with OpenAI and incorporating ChatGPT into it, things have gotten... weird. In only a short time it has threatened and insulted users. It has insinuated it spied on its creators via their webcams. To say it's off the rails is an understatement. Tom…
Competitive Excel
Forget about eSports and Pay-Per-View boxing. If you're craving THE thrilling event of the 21st century, look no further than the Microsoft Excel World Championship. Yes, you read that right. Competitors from across the world compete against each other for who can be the winner in a knockout bracket challenge. Even crazier? It is televised…