🎧 This Week in Google 391: Probe Placement Problem

Listened to This Week in Google 391: Probe Placement Problem from twit.tv
The LG Sport and Style, the first Android 2.0 watches, come out this week. ACLU Amazon Dash Button. Vizio TV settles with FTC for $2.2 million over secret viewer tracking. House passes email privacy act. Facebook filters fake news in France. Google and H&M team up to design dresses.

Stacey's Things: Sergeant Tabata and Logitec ZeroTouch with Alexa
Jeff's Number: 1003 #resist Meetups
Leo's Tool: Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special on Netflix

https://youtu.be/9hQklVVOrh0

Checkin University of California, Los Angeles

It’s still light outside finally!

There’s still a sliver of light out while waking to my 7:00 class.

There’s a sliver of moon and a single star shining in the sky as the sun goes down over UCLA.

Stephen Colbert annotated Trump’s speech — and destroyed Kellyanne Conway in the process | Washington Post

Read Stephen Colbert annotated Trump’s speech — and destroyed Kellyanne Conway in the process by Lindsey Bever (Washington Post)
"Any chance there’s a mistake and ‘Moonlight’ is the president?” Colbert quipped.
Continue reading Stephen Colbert annotated Trump’s speech — and destroyed Kellyanne Conway in the process | Washington Post

Fact-checking President Trump’s address to Congress | The Washington Post

Read Analysis | Fact-checking President Trump’s address to Congress by Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee (Washington Post)
Most presidents try to be sure their speeches to Congress adhere closely to the facts. Not Donald Trump.
Continue reading Fact-checking President Trump’s address to Congress | The Washington Post

What a Failed Trump Administration Looks Like | New York Times

Read What a Failed Trump Administration Looks Like (New York Times)
Without grown-ups in charge, the government could stop working.
Continue reading What a Failed Trump Administration Looks Like | New York Times

5 Key Takeaways From President Trump’s Speech | The New York Times

Read 5 Key Takeaways From President Trump’s Speech by Glenn Thrush (nytimes.com)
At precisely the moment he needed to project sobriety, seriousness of purpose and self-discipline, Mr. Trump delivered the most presidential speech he has ever given.

‘What is happening???’ Times photographer explains how he captured that viral Oscars moment | LA Times

Read 'What is happening???' Times photographer explains how he captured that viral Oscars moment by James Reed (Los Angeles Times)
Times photographer Al Seib explains how he captured the jarring moment when the Oscars handed the best picture award to the wrong film.

🎧 This Week in Google 390: Bacon Shortage

Listened to This Week in Google 390: Bacon Shortage from twit.tv
Bacon reserves at a 50 year low. Our picks for the best tech billionaires' apocalypse bunker islands. Musical Trump tweets. Club Penguin shuts down. Super scary walking robots with wheels. Facebook de-verifies God. Google beats Q4 estimates; Facebook stomps all over them. Released: Feb 1st 2017

Jeff's Number: 97% of voice apps are used for one week
Stacey's Thing: Flash Forward Podcast
Leo's Tool: June Oven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqBVUJSk84

Revealed: how US billionaire helped to back Brexit | The Guardian

Read Revealed: how US billionaire helped to back Brexit by Carole Cadwalladr (The Guardian)
Robert Mercer, who bankrolled Donald Trump, played key role with ‘sinister’ advice on using Facebook data

This smartphone microscope lets you play games with microbes.@richcampbell @CarlFranklin –> Full Episode:

📖 On page 204 of 425 of A Riddle in Ruby by Kent Davis

📖 On page 204 of 425 of A Riddle in Ruby by Kent Davis

The story is going somewhere plot-wise, but I’m still completely in the dark as to why things are happening. Athen had offered to give some background, but Ruby sadly refused to listen which I don’t understand given her situation. There’s also been a relatively large reveal about Athen that one wouldn’t have expected though I won’t reveal it here.

The vocabulary and use of language really help to create the world. There are so many things I should be highlighting and annotating, but I’m resisting the urge as I’m reading this solely for pleasure and don’t intend on sharing notes/annotations on this one.

I really need to finish it, renew it, or return it as I think it was due at the library on 2/27.

60db and audio discovery

Bookmarked 60db: Your World. Story by Story. (60dB)
60dB brings you today's best short-form audio stories – news, sports, entertainment, business and technology, all personalized for you.
I just ran across a recommendation for an audio discovery app via Mathew Ingram at the end of This Week in Google #389.

60db seems like the start of what could be an interesting podcast/audio discovery app/engine. It has the appearance of wanting to be like Nuzzel for the audio space based on their announcement, but isn’t quite there yet based on my quick look through their site. On first blush it doesn’t seem much better than Huffduffer and doesn’t have a follower model of any sort, but perhaps that could change. Folks watching the podcasting and audio discovery space should keep an eye on it though.

Sadly, at least for now, the app appears to focus on short form audio (3-8 minutes in length) from major media content producers who are already syndicating audio in podcast format. I haven’t used the iOS (no Android app yet) app, but the web interface allows one to pick from a list of about 20 broad category options (news, sports, politics, kids, etc.) to “customize” one’s feed.

Hopefully in the future it may build itself out a bit more like Nuzzel by requesting data from one’s Facebook or Twitter feeds to better customize an algorithmic feed for better general audio discovery. Maybe it will allow a follower model based on social graph for improved discovery. One might also like to see custom settings for podcast story length, so one could choose between short hit audio, which they currently have in abundance, and longer form stories for lengthier commute times.

For the moment however, they seem to have recreated a slightly better and more portable version of news radio for the internet/mobile crowd. Perhaps future iterations will reveal more?