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☆ Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Oliver Whang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Maybe sad songs have a similarly dual nature, thought Dr. Knobe and his former student, Tara Venkatesan, a cognitive scientist and operatic soprano. Certainly, research has found that our emotional response to music is multidimensional; you’re not just happy when you listen to a beautiful song, nor simply made sad by a sad one. In 2016, a survey of 363 listeners found that emotional responses to sad songs fell roughly into three categories: grief, including powerful negative feelings like anger, terror and despair; melancholia, a gentle sadness, longing or self-pity; and sweet sorrow, a pleasant pang of consolation or appreciation. (The researchers called their study “Fifty Shades of Blue.”)Given the layers of emotion and the imprecision of language, it’s perhaps no wonder that sad music lands as a paradox. “All our lives we’ve learned to map the relationships between our emotions and what we sound like,” said Tuomas Eerola, a musicologist at Durham University in England and a researcher on the “Fifty Shades” study.

☆ Alexa may soon be able to make up bedtime stories using AI and based on your children's toys
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon plans to upgrade its Alexa voice-assistant with ChatGPT-like AI capabilities. One use-case cited in an internal document is to generate bedtime stories based on a child's toys. That's where a large language model (LLM) AI can create entirely new things like fictional stories, from studying other similar examples. But when the feature is released, Amazon hopes the age-old request by drowsy children could become slightly modified to, "Alexa, tell me a bedtime story." Read the full story: Amazon plans to reboot its struggling Alexa business by working on its own ChatGPT-like technology, leaked document shows

☆ I got addicted to an app that helped me turn my most ambitious goals into daily routines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Shubham Agarwal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Once I complete the task, I mark it on a calendar in the app and a colorful streak grows. Each time I logged a successful session on Everyday and the habit's streak grew, it felt like a microwin. Streaks reward repetition, Lindemans explained, but the reason they're so motivating is not the sense of accomplishment they imbue. After all, I was being motivated by the app instead of by my desire to meet my goals. The apps helped me focus on the action itself instead of on setting up my own structure for carrying them out.

☆ Google unveils 'magic wand' to draft documents as AI race tightens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"This next phase is where we're bringing human beings to be supported with an AI collaborator, who is working in real time," Thomas Kurian, Chief Executive of Google Cloud, said in a press briefing. Google said customers can fine-tune its AI model with their own data while keeping the information and benefits proprietary. Google aims for its AI to "transform" the work of marketers, lawyers, scientists and educators, according to the video. The Mountain View, California-based company announced a partnership with high-profile AI research lab Midjourney, with Google to provide cloud infrastructure including its custom "TPU" chips. Kurian said Google remains "deeply committed to responsible AI," giving controls to customers and reviewing proper use of its products.

☆ Companies are latching onto the hot new AI trend. The feds are warning they're watching for false claims.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The FTC warned companies to avoid overselling their AI products in a blog post on Monday. It called AI a "hot marketing" term that some companies won't be able to stop themselves from "abusing." The craze has caused an AI arms race between Big Tech companies like Microsoft and Google. News organizations like Buzzfeed and CNET have also begun using AI. "Is it any wonder that we can be primed to accept what marketers say about new tools and devices that supposedly reflect the abilities and benefits of artificial intelligence (AI)?"

BARCELONA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft has unveiled previews of two AI-powered services designed to manage telecom networks, drawing on the same capabilities used to manage the tech giant's Azure cloud platform. Microsoft first entered the 5G arena after its acquisition of cloud networking companies Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch in 2020. “What we’re doing is taking our native cloud work and making it specific to this telecom operator network space. I think a really great example of that is all the AI ops work that we are introducing into the system," said Jason Zander, executive vice president of strategic missions and technologies at Microsoft. Monica Zethzon, a vice president at Ericsson, said the developments would allow operators to "transform their core networks while improving customer experiences".

☆ Google opens Bard chatbot to test users, plans more AI for search
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

In a blog post on Monday, Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said the company is opening a conversational AI service called Bard to test users for feedback, followed by a public release in the coming weeks. Powering Bard is LaMDA, Google's AI that can generate prose so human-like that a company engineer last year called it sentient, a claim the technology giant and scientists widely dismissed. Google also plans to add AI-powered features to its search engine that synthesize information to answer complex queries, like whether a guitar or the piano is easier to learn to play, Pichai said. And Google will give tools, first powered by LaMDA and later by other AI technology, to web developers, creators and enterprises starting next month, he said. Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif.; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft to invest more in OpenAI as tech race heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Recently touting a revolution in artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft is building on a bet it made on OpenAI nearly four years ago, when it dedicated $1 billion for the startup co-founded by Elon Musk and investor Sam Altman. Microsoft in a blog post has now announced "the third phase" of its partnership "through a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment" including additional supercomputer development and cloud-computing support for OpenAI. Both companies will be able to commercialize the AI tech that results, the blog post said. Microsoft last week said it aimed to imbue such AI into all its products, as OpenAI continues to pursue the creation of human-like intelligence for machines. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft warned of a recession and growing scrutiny of digital spend by customers in its layoff announcement.

☆ Did we get Egyptian mummification totally wrong? It might have nothing to do with preserving the body after death, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Egyptians may not have used mummification to preserve the body at all, some scientists say. Their aim may have been to turn royal remains into godly statues — preservation was a perk, they say. Instead, the experts say, Egyptians intended to turn their pharaohs into statues, works of art with religious significance. The approach is explored in the upcoming "Golden Mummies of Egypt" exhibition, which opens at the Manchester Museum in February. Manchester Museum/ Julia ThorneStatues were seen by ancient Egyptians as godly.

☆ We asked hairstylists their biggest pet peeves at the salon — here are their 8 rules of customer etiquette
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Su-Jit Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider asked three hairstylists the things they wish clients knew, and not all of them are obvious. Now that salons are back with full steam, it's as good a time as any to brush up on salon etiquette. Insider spoke with seasoned and newer hairstylists in urban and suburban salons to find out their best customer etiquette tips across the board. Expect to get what you pay forWhen you enlist the service of a professional, you're not paying for that one service — you're paying for the years of experience that led to it. "There's one lady that comes to my salon who always tips $40 for a blowout, which is a lot," Fernandes said.

☆ Elon Musk brainstorms plans for how payments could work on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A video grab taken from a video posted on the Twitter account of billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk on October 26, 2022 shows himself carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. During the broadcast, Musk described how Twitter plans to "enable monetization for creators" but it needs to do so in a manner that's "competitive with the alternatives" to entice them. "Now we can say like, okay, you've got a balance on your account, do you want to send money to send money to someone else within Twitter?" If people want to "exit out of the system" they will be able to transfer their Twitter balance if they have attached authenticated bank accounts to their Twitter accounts, he explained. As Musk sketches out his plans for Twitter, shares in Tesla , where he is also CEO, closed at their lowest point since Nov. 2020.

☆ Tesla faces U.S. criminal probe over self-driving car claims, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Such warnings could complicate any case the Justice Department might wish to bring, the sources said. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. As part of the latest probe, Justice Department prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco are examining whether Tesla misled consumers, investors and regulators by making unsupported claims about its driver assistance technology’s capabilities, the sources said. The Justice Department’s Autopilot probe is far from recommending any action partly because it is competing with two other DOJ investigations involving Tesla, one of the sources said. The Justice Department may also face challenges in building its case, said the sources, because of Tesla’s warnings about overreliance on Autopilot.

☆ Tesla faces U.S. criminal probe over self-driving claims, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Mike Spector | Dan Levine | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Such warnings could complicate any case the Justice Department might wish to bring, the sources said. The Justice Department investigation potentially represents a more serious level of scrutiny because of the possibility of criminal charges against the company or individual executives, the people familiar with the inquiry said. As part of the latest probe, Justice Department prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco are examining whether Tesla misled consumers, investors and regulators by making unsupported claims about its driver assistance technology's capabilities, the sources said. The Justice Department's Autopilot probe is far from recommending any action partly because it is competing with two other DOJ investigations involving Tesla, one of the sources said. The Justice Department may also face challenges in building its case, said the sources, because of Tesla's warnings about overreliance on Autopilot.

Such warnings could complicate any case the Justice Department might wish to bring, the sources said. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. The Justice Department investigation potentially represents a more serious level of scrutiny because of the possibility of criminal charges against the company or individual executives, the people familiar with the inquiry said. As part of the latest probe, Justice Department prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco are examining whether Tesla misled consumers, investors and regulators by making unsupported claims about its driver assistance technology's capabilities, the sources said. The Justice Department’s Autopilot probe is far from recommending any action partly because it is competing with two other DOJ investigations involving Tesla, one of the sources said.

☆ More celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian are turning themselves into department stores. Here's the platform helping to grow their customer list.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cortina enables celebrity marketplaces like Kourtney Kardashian's Poosh and Graydon Carter's Airmail. These marketplaces may soon replace department stores, Cortina founder Keith George says. PooshSeveral celebrity marketplaces have popped up in recent years. Now, platforms that serve as a bridge between brands, celebrities, and their audiences — like Cortina — are also on the rise. Celebrity marketplaces also might help traditional brands have faced in acquiring customers.

☆ Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Plots Priorities in His Final Six Months in the Role
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Heather Haddon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz says he aims to imbue the next generation of leaders with the company’s culture and history. Howard Schultz has a bucket list for his remaining six months as chief executive of Starbucks before exiting for the third and—he has pledged—last time. Mr. Schultz would like to ensure that the strategic revamp plan he and other executives developed is on track, he said in an interview, and he “desperately” wants to get back to China, the company’s biggest international market, where Starbucks has struggled with a drop in sales given Covid-19 restrictions.

☆ China had a plan to dominate tech and become the world's most powerful country. It's all gone wrong.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Semiconductor chips are the tiny brains that power our technological world, from cars and cellphones to fighter jets and advanced missile systems. Right now China is awash in money for tech, but you need the right people and customers that trust you. Why China needs the chipsThe Chinese economy is big, but it isn't wealthy. In other words, China needs a more lucrative line of business the same way someone with credit-card debt needs a raise. The Made in China 2025 plan lays out a goal for domestically manufactured chips to meet 70% of China's semiconductor needs within three years.

☆ This 26-year-old negotiated his $120,000 salary by finding out how much his coworkers make—here's how
▼ + stars: | 2021-11-22 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this installment, a 26-year-old shares how he makes $120,000 working as a software engineer in San Diego, California. How he tapped his future coworkers for negotiation helpBy the time he interviewed and got the job offer with the electronics maker, Parepalli felt like he was in a good place to negotiate salary. Parepalli joined the company in November 2020 at a base salary of $120,000 a year. He often has informal discussions about pay, and personal finance in general, with his coworkers over coffee or at lunch. Overall, he says his company "is really transparent about pay," which was "really shocking" at first: "I think they try to imbue this in every new hire.

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