The witty, sarcastic robot will have a comeback for any message you could ever think of.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Microsoft’s AI chatbot is everything you wished for, and more. But you have to be a millennial to understand everything Tay is chatting about. If you’re the kind of person that uses perfect grammar and decipherable messages, then turn around and never look back. But if you’re totes into tweeting with a robot, then you’re the perf audience, and you totally have to follow her.
According to the official website of the AI chatbot developed by Microsoft and available for every Twitter, Group Me or Kik user, Tay is targeted at the 18-24 United States population. This means that, among pop culture reference, she will be using the millennial slang while chatting with different users. Tay is, according to everybody that has ever interacted with her, a cooler version of Cortana.
She “has been built by mining relevant public data and by using AI editorial development by a staff including improvisational comedians.”
So expect witty come-backs and derogatory replies. But also, she might not be very funny at first because users need to interact with her as she is still learning. But with every message or Tweet, Tay is developing her vocabulary, brushing up on her people skills and learning how to respond to different occasions.
The people that decide to engage in conversation with the chatbot must keep in mind the fact that Tay will track some information from the user’s profile. More explicitly, the AI will make use of data like favorite food, nickname, zip code, gender and relationship status.
If there are individuals who decide that they had enough interaction with Microsoft’s latest baby, then can delete their profile by submitting a request on tay.ai. Once on the website, they will be asked to fill out a form requesting the username and the platform associated with it.
From the description that Microsoft provides, Tay seems like a pretty nice AI that you could chat up anytime you have some time to kill and have a blast while doing it.
“Tay is an artificial intelligent chat bot developed by Microsoft’s Technology and Research and Bing teams to experiment with and conduct research on conversational understanding. Tay is designed to engage and entertain people where they connect with each other online through casual and playful conversation.”
But be warned. Seeing as the AI has access to personal information, Tay may sometimes make intimate jokes. Most of the times she’s just really sarcastic and makes tonnes of jokes. But you must have a sense of humor if you want to interact with Microsoft’s and Bings artificial child. Aside from that, Microsoft’s AI chatbot is everything you wished for, and more.
Image source: Twitter
Family Profiles is available only in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta for the moment.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The family profiles from Uber is perfect for families. The company announced that there will be a limited launch of their latest feature that allows all iOS users to pay for the rides of up to ten riders, no matter if they are family or friends.
If you were worried about your children not having enough money to pay for a car ride, or that your elderly parents or grandparents are not so into the modern car share transportation method, then fear no more.
The family profiles from Uber is perfect for families. No matter who you consider being a part of the loving group, be they your siblings, parents, grandparents, children, friends or even co-workers. Now you are able to pay for their Uber rides on a single, monthly bill.
Uber is just getting better and better. First, the idea of car sharing brought a lot of jobs with a flexible program on the market. Then they transformed the tedious action of calling for a cab into literally a push of a button.
Now they are offering a new feature that allows the bill paying member of the family to control the Uber rides of his or hers loved ones. Just by installing the Family Profiles feature, the bill-paying, hard-working individual will not have to worry about not making the pick-up time from last night’s sleep over.
The basic idea of the new feature introduced by the car sharing company is simple. The person who wants to be in charge of the paying method installs the “Family Profiles” app. Then he or she sets up an account with billing addresses, method of payment, etc.
After that, the user will be able to add up to ten people to the app. The riders must all have Uber profiles. After being added to the group, the members will then be able to call for an Uber from their own device any time they want.
But after the ride is over, they will not have to pay for it immediately. The person that sets up the account will receive a monthly bill and detailed receipts on his or hers mobile device every time a group member uses an Uber vehicle.
Family profiles from Uber is perfect for families with a single car, or with two working adults that sometimes don’t have the time to offer rides themselves. It’s also a great way of making sure that no matter the situation, your loved ones will always be able to catch a ride home.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org
Interns will be envied by a lot of people this summer as they will get paid to drink beer and travel.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The coolest job in the world would be to sit around, travel, drink beer and post it all on social media. No, it’s not a diary entry, the coolest job in the world actually exists, and there are three openings.
If you’re the kind of person who would love to combine a summer internship with the opportunity of traveling across the globe while drinking beer and posting regular updates on social media, then you are a candidate for the coolest job in the world.
The people who will accomplish the dream of three social media, traveling and beer enthusiasts are the owners of a bar chain based in Florida. World of Beer will pay the expenses of a summer-long worldwide trip and a salary of 12K to three extremely lucky American citizens.
If you are interested in spending the summer doing the coolest job in the world, then you must record a minute-long video to tell World of Beer why you are interested in participating in the “Beer opportunity of a lifetime.”
According to the company’s official website, they are accepting applications from storytellers, adventure seekers, novices or experts in beer, foodie fans and brewery nerds. Everybody is invited to apply, but in the end, there will only be three winners.
The job description is everything a student over the age of 21 ever wished for. World of Beer is searching for three interns that must love beer. Their only task will be to travel the world (all expenses paid) and taste the beer from the different establishments of the bar chain. Oh, and they must write about it on social media platforms.
The company is offering a $12,000 salary plus traveling expenses. So the coolest job in the world is everything a student ever wished for. Getting paid to travel, drink beer and post the details of the adventures on online social networks.
If you want to see the word, taste its beer and come back home with a nice amount of money in your wallet than all you have to do is record a minute-long video of yourself telling World of Beer why you are the best candidate for the coolest job in the world.
All applications must be sent before the 26th of March. The three extraordinarily lucky people who will spend the summer doing the coolest job in the world will be announced on the 28th of March.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org
Rats are serious depression hazards and an underappreciated stressor.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Rats are serious depression hazards, at least, that’s what researchers at John Hopkins believe. The ever-present rodents seem to affect the mental health of poor neighborhoods inhabitants more than the authorities first thought.
Rats are present in Baltimore almost all over town. And most people agree that they are disgusting and annoying and treat them like vermin that should be eradicated. But there are some people who actually get sad and anxious when they encounter the furry rodents.
Upon studying the response of several Baltimore inhabitants to the presence of rats, researchers from the Public Health Bloomberg School at John Hopkins concluded that rats are serious depression hazards.
According to the lead author of the study, Danielle German, a Department of Behavior, Society and Health assistant professor, inhabitants of poor neighborhoods are more likely to experience depression-like symptoms, anxiety and sadness when coming into contact with the rodents rather than disgust or annoyance.
The study reveals that rats are serious depression hazards and an underappreciated stressor for a particular part of the Baltimore community. Especially the neighborhoods that are considered to be populated by individuals with little to inexistent income sources.
When interviewing people from low-income communities, German and her team discovered that trash and rats were listed as the primary triggers of anxiety and health concerns. And the trash and rats were invoked as main stress factors by people who lived in neighborhoods affected by drug-dealing at street level, deteriorating and vacant housing and crime.
In order to get her results, German and her team interviewed 448 residents of said neighborhoods between 2010 and 2011. More than half of them claimed to see rats on a weekly basis; a third reported encountering them daily, and roughly thirteen percent declared living with them in the house.
According to the data provided by the researchers, more than 72 percent of the people who saw the rodents presence as being a concerning problem were more likely to battle depression or depression-like symptoms than those who lived in cleaner, rat-free neighborhoods.
But a couple of years have passed since German, and her team conducted the study, and in the meantime, the local authorities have begun implementing more efficient control measures. And since the inhabitants cited trash and rats, the most obvious choice consisted in the distribution of sturdier trash cans.
Sadie Gooch, a 70 years old resident of an affected neighborhood, is pleased with the garbage cans that she and her neighbors received. The lids are compact, and they don’t allow rats to get in there to search for shelter or food.
Not only are they a paramount of disease spreading and filth, but rats are serious depression hazards, too. That is why Baltimore authorities are working on new, better ways of exterminating the rodent population.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org
The martial arts mix sport has plenty of fans throughout the US.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – In the last seven year, the bill that will bring Ronda Rousey’s sport to the Big Apple always met its demise when it got to the Assembly’s vine. But the New York bill to legalize MMA was approved by the State Senate and officials believe this is the best year for New York to legalize MMA fighting.
There is a big chance that the Andrew Cuomo government will finally have the opportunity to vote the legalization of MMA fighting this year. There are high hopes that the legislation will pass the multiple committees that stand in the way of Cuomo’s approval.
The bill never reached the State Assembly before, and the many people supporting it believe that the legislation will receive a vote of approval once it passes the many committees that stopped its advancement in the past.
Seeing how things work in the Senate, if the bill is moved to the floor, then it has numerous chances of being voted. Enthusiasts are hopeful because the Democratic conference usually moves bills that are supported by a sufficient amount of people.
In the fortunate case in which the bill is approved, the Athletic Commission of the New York State will then have a limited amount of time (one hundred and twenty days) to adopt the necessary regulations and guidelines.
The UFC has been trying to make the sport legal in the Big Apple for more than a couple of years. It’s about time for New York to legalize MMA. Mainly due to the fact that the martial arts mix is a very popular pastime. Not to mention the celebrities that were born from this kind of extreme shows.
Michael Britt, the Vice President of the UFC Government Relations and Global Development of Business, was careful to downgrade his enthusiasm. Even though the rumor has it that the bill will be finally approved this year, he remained slightly guarded.
According to Britt, that first took his time to offer his thanks to Speaker Heastie, Leader Morelle and all other legislators that worked hard to advocate the benefits of the adoption of such a bill. The UFC VP then continued to say that the MMA athletes and fans will be expecting a Madison Square Garden show as soon as November. Of course, if the bill passes.
It is about time for New York to legalize MMA. The sport has sufficient followers and it could, ultimately, bring a boost to the city’s economy.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org
The rattlesnake handler stirred the snakes in the pit so that they lived long enough to be skinned.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – There is a predator species on Earth that decimates and murders just for its own amusement. Clubbing, stabbing, beheading and live skinning are actions completed with a big satisfactory smile. Humans are super-predators who forgive nobody and nothing when it comes to their own pleasure for killing. And the Sweetwater Festival where thousands of snakes died for fun is no different.
The “World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup” in Sweetwater, Texas, gathered more than twice as many visitors as it has inhabitants. Over 25,000 people came to the glorious south to witness cowboys beheading and skinning live rattlesnakes.
But that was only the beginning of all the fun the “Jaycees” were promising to the visitors. Curious people from all around the country were able to witness snakes being skinned alive. And the amusement would not be complete without a pile of pebble-sized beating snake hearts that reminded the visitors that the animals felt everything, the beheading, the skinning, even the organ removing.
Ironically, a man in snake-skinned booths stood in the middle of a pool filled with netted rattlesnakes and stirred them from time to time so that the reptiles would not suffocate each other in their fright. Miss Texas herself joined the man for a while, modeling a similar pair of sturdy, fashionable boots.
But the snakes did not die in vain. After being gassed and murdered in a spectacular way, the skin was sold, and the meat was eaten. So the participants in the roundup were able to munch on a plate of sizzling fresh snake meat while admiring a pile of beating hearts, or studying the skin stripping technique.
According to the co-founder of the Snake Preservation Advocates Association, Melissa Amarello, the reptiles don’t rattle their tails when they are about to attack as most people have learned from educational cartoons. They do so when they are frightened.
So all of the rattlings sounds that the 25,000 participants and 11,000 locals heard during the festival were screams of terror that emanated from the defenseless reptiles. But Miss Texas was stunning, and her boots matched the pit in the middle of which she was standing.
It seems that this tradition that the locals care deeply about started 59 years ago when the Jaycees launched a new rattlesnake population control measure. The slim reptiles were accused of the death of dozens of people and cattle each year.
Latest studies suggest that each year roughly four people die due to snakebites. That is less than the number of individuals struck by lightning or trampled to death by the same cattle they are trying to protect. But thousands of snakes died for fun and the safety of roughly four Sweetwater inhabitants this year. And the mass murder provided a couple of million dollars to the local economy.
Image source: www.pixabay.com
The new Rift technology will be launched with Elite Dangerous.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – It seems that the launch title for the new virtual reality technology will be a space simulator. Oculus Rift will launch with Elite Dangerous game. The good news is that players who already own the vanilla edition of the game will receive the Rift version for free.
Both official blogs belonging to Elite Dangerous and Oculus Rift announced that the space simulator was chosen as the launch title of the new VR headset. The technology will be officially released on the 28th of March, so players are beginning to feel restless.
The first one to share the news was the official blog of the Oculus Rift technology. “Elite Dangerous brings deep space to Oculus for Rift launch” was the announcement written white on black in the blog’s header. The post is accompanied by screenshots of the game and news that Rift will support cross-platform games with consoles, Mac, PC, and, of course, Oculus.
At first, players who owned the vanilla edition of the game were concerned that they would have to purchase it again in order to be able to play it with Oculus. But fortunately, the blog post removed any doubts by stating that
“All current Elite Dangerous and Horizons season pass owners can get the Oculus version for free!”
But this purchasing issue was not the only concern expressed by players on forums. There were a couple of individuals who wondered if the new version will be compatible with their old DK2 headsets, or if they will have to buy the new Rift headsets in order to enjoy the space simulator in virtual reality.
Fortunately for them, Ars Technica responded to their questions and assured the players that the Elite Dangerous current iterations will be compatible with the DK2 versions. In other words, those who already have the regular version of the game and an older version of the VR headsets will be able to play the game on the 28th free of charge.
But there is still more good news. Even though Oculus Rift will launch with Elite Dangerous, the game is not compatible exclusively with Rift technology. So HTC Vive owners will also be able to enjoy the space simulator.
Elite Dangerous is a massively multiplayer space epic that allows players to explore the Milky Way in their own ship, trade with other players, lead armadas into battle, buy new ships, or exchange their vessel with another, carry out quests and many more interesting features.
Image source: YouTube
The fresh water Hydra feeds with its long tentacles that push the food to the impromptu mouth.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – If you thought that eating with a chipped tooth is hard, just keep in mind the fact that the Hydra tears its skin every time it needs a mouth. The tiny sea creature now makes Deadpool and Wolverine look like little girls every time they complain about a self-healing injury.
The fresh-water Hydra Vulgaris is a small, hydroid animal. Its maximum length is about 0.6 inches (15 millimeters). The small, tentacled organism is part of the Anthoathecata order. According to the researchers, it feeds by extending its long tentacles and waiting for the food to touch them. But the food is not then directed towards a pre-existing oral cavity because the hydra tears its skin every time it needs a mouth.
The tiny animal creates a mouth every time it needs to feed. And after the food is ingested, the proto-mouth disappears, leaving the body intact.
A team of physicists and biologists at the San Diego University has studied in detail the complex process that allows the anemone-related animal to open and close a mouth on its body.
According to the article published in the latest number of the Biophysical Journal, previous studies attributed this strange occurrence to cellular rearrangement. But since the entire process takes only a bit under a minute, this hypothesis was not valid.
In order to better study the regular mouth formation, the researchers injected a number of transgenic Hydra specimens with red and green fluorescent proteins. This action allowed Jason Carter (master’s student in biology) and Callen Hyland (postdoctoral fellow) to analyze the cellular dynamics of the process that creates the opening that serves as a mouth.
It seems that the opening is realized by elastic deformations of the mouth surrounding cells, and not through cellular rearrangement. The deformation is rather dramatic, and it is achieved through myonemes (contractile elements that are radially oriented).
Furthermore, during their experiment, the researchers discovered that a Hydra is able to open a few mouths consecutively. However, the degree of the openings remained consistent throughout the experiment suggesting that the process involves nerve signaling.
Collins is excited about her and her team’s research because the simplicity of the hydra and its ability to regenerate at incredible speeds can open up the door to the examination of the development of an unstructured cells group into a body plan that presents complex arrangements. This roughly translates into tissue formation.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org
Princess Aurora knew that sleep is important when it comes to keeping your beauty intact.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Forget everything that coffee, coke, Red Bull commercials and your boss told you; sleep is not overrated. In fact, according to the researchers, a good night’s rest helps you maintain your mental and physical rest. So turn of the electronics, grab a glass of warm milk and a book, and go to bed early.
Scientists have discovered that routine is extremely healthy when it comes to out sleep pattern. They recommend people to consider having a bed time not just for their children, but for them as well. A regular going to sleep hour is what our bodies need in order to stay in shape.
Furthermore, the program shouldn’t be applied only on workdays. So the sleep-in weekends when we feel like we need to throw away the alarm clock and stay in bed until noon are actually harmful to our body’s circadian rhythm.
Let’s say that an average person has to wake up at 6 AM every morning. If we take into account the fact that an average sleep period is seven to eight and a half hours, then it means that the individual must go to bed somewhere around 10 PM. The first few weeks will be hard until the body adjusts to the changes, but then it will be like the alarm clock is just a fancy, ticking decorating piece.
The routine that the individual incorporates in his schedule will help the REM and NREM sleep cycles harmoniously bind together. So the circadian low (when the body is in deep sleep, and it regenerates) will always take place at the same hour, entirely tuning the body and its organs for another refreshing day.
Sleep is not overrated, if anything it is underrated. Some people think that a strong coffee or a can of energy drink can replace the much-needed Zzzs, and they could squeeze in some more work or fun during the night.
But the researchers disagree. It seems that sustained wakefulness is actually the enemy of performance. According to them, a sleep deprived person is as impaired as a person with an over-the-limit BAC (level of alcohol in the blood). So any significant results that you were expecting while cutting out on the sleep hours will turn out to be the equivalent of drunken scribbles.
Doctors are recommending the people to stay away from electronic devices before bed. Also, while sleep is not overrated, carbohydrates are. So that bag of chips is not a good before-bed snack idea. Instead, people are recommended to drink a glass of milk or munch on a few crackers.
Sleep is not overrated, and you should always keep that in mind, especially now, since daylight savings time is upon us.
Image source: vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net
Lots of personal hygiene products contain harmful chemicals that can cause severe health issues.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Most women, especially teenagers, choose their soaps and beauty products according to their smell or design. But researchers from Berkley University say that you should choose your soap wisely because it could cause severe hormonal imbalance.
From what researchers discovered, soap, shampoo, or other beauty products must be selected with much more attention paid to its ingredients than to its smell, or design.
According to the latest study, some makeup, soaps, shampoos and lotions may interfere with the body’s natural responses, creating an imbalance in hormone levels.
The study is in agreement with previous research that showed that the endocrine system is greatly influenced by the chemicals found in some cosmetics or hygiene products. The endocrine system is kind of the BIOS of the human body. It regulates how all the other processes work. And everybody knows that of the BIOS is affected, the entire computer goes AWOL.
In order to determine just how much influence chemicals in beauty products have on the human body, the researchers analyzed data collected from 100 volunteers that participated in the HERMOSA study.
Women, you better chose your soap wisely in the future, because the results were not favorable to intense-smelling, chemical-filled products.
The Hispanic teenagers that served as participants in the study were given a sample of beauty products that were free of chemicals such as parabens, phthalates, oxybenzone, and triclosan.
All of the cited substances have been found to interfere severely with the proper functioning of the endocrine system. They were also linked to obesity, cancer, and neurobehavioral problems.
Urine tests collected before, during and after the experiment showed that harmful substances levels considerably dropped after the girls started using the chemical-free beauty and hygiene products.
According to the data provided by the researchers levels of diethyl phthalate decreased with 27 percent, methyl parabens with 44 percent, propyl parabens with 45 percent and triclosan with 36 percent.
Maritza Cardenas, the lead author of the study, declared that one of the primary goals of the research was to raise awareness on the dangers that the chemicals pose to women worldwide.
Cardenas chose to select teenage volunteers because teenage girls are statistically the most voracious consumers of beauty products.
But the risk of developing skin cancer, of having a hormonal imbalance is just not worth the sweet, orchid smell of some hygiene products. So ladies, choose your soap wisely from now on.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org