Amazon is taking another swing at streaming music, but this time with Alexa as its not-so-secret weapon. Will the hardware that’s insinuating itself into our home lives (and turning our tots into tyrants) make the difference? Alexa’s already done a good job making Siri seem dumb. No one ever sits you down to teach you how …
Friday 5 — 9.23.2016
As we perform more of our work collaboratively online — suddenly, nothing seems as antiquated as a corporate “shared drive” — there’s a lot of value in knowing the range of features available. These 18 Google docs tips, like the ability to search images by color, can help you keep up with recent improvements. Is a …
Friday 5 — 7.22.2016
Keeping up this weekly newsletter relies heavily on a single Chrome extension, Pocket. Throughout the week, I use the productivity tool to capture the interesting articles that fly by and read through them all on Thursday evening. Product Hunt promises that these seven Chrome extensions will similarly change your internet life. AI is coming to marketing through capabilities as diverse as website design, …
Friday 5 — 4.8.2016
Live video is becoming more popular from breaking news coverage to ordinary, slice-of-life broadcasts. Try this new Facebook Live map to see real-time videos now playing worldwide. Reddit has launched its first official apps for iOS and Android. Popular subreddit communities like /r/science already drive a fair amount of traffic to news and edu sites; reliable native mobile apps …
Friday 5 — 4.1.2016
If the headlines you scroll through in your Facebook or Twitter feed seem remarkably similar, there’s a good reason for that. This Buzzsumo post on how to write viral headlines identifies the common elements that lead to successful reach. Low-res live video captured via mobile was all the rage last year with Meerkat and then Periscope, and recently Facebook Live videos seem …
Friday 5 — 3.18.2016
Instagram tells us that we see only 30% of our feeds, and that their imminent algorithmic intervention will make that 30% the best it can be. Rendering posts out of temporal order clearly passes muster with Pope Francis, who is making his Instagram debut tomorrow, March 19th. You may have heard that a Google AI program, AlphaGo, …
Friday 5 — 2.26.2016
Snapchat now allows users to design and submit their own geofilters — overlays that appear on snaps sent within a defined area and timeframe. Techcrunch explains how to make your own., If you’re now perpetually wandering around with earbuds in, you’re likely spending some of that time listening to Spotify. But you may not know some of Spotify’s lesser-known, cool features, …
Friday 5 — 2.19.2016
Can’t find the right words for your tweet? GIF search is rolling out to Twitter users for both tweets and direct messages. Giphy’s new $55M funding round seems to confirm that GIFs are taking over the world. In mid-April, Facebook will open up Instant Articles, a format that loads articles within the app more quickly than traditional links, to all …
Friday 5 — 2.5.2016
It’s been almost ten years since Watson beat Ken Jennings at Jeopardy, and in that decade artificial intelligence has continued to advance. This week for the first time a Google DeepMind program defeated a professional human player in Go. Interesting take on how this advance reflects an “artificial imagination” capability, and what this breakthrough implies for business. Facebook is …