We’ve all been there: You’re in a quiet classroom or office, innocently click a link to open a new tab of news on your laptop, and boom! The audio from a tangentially-related auto-playing video is suddenly blaring from your speakers. Sure, you lunge to turn it off as soon as you can, but the damage is done, and everyone is glaring at you. But there’s hope: Developers know how much auto-play stinks, and so two major browsers will start muting all that junk for you. [More]
improvements
Amazon Improves Developers’ Ability To Use Alexa In Their Own Devices
By 3.23.16
While most of us only hear about Amazon’s personal assistant Alexa when it comes to the Echo speaker — and its new smaller versions — app developers have been able to tap into the tech via the Alexa Voice Services tool for their own devices, like alarm clocks or speaker systems. However, the capabilities available through the service weren’t as robust as those found in the Echo — until now. [More]
Safety Board’s List Of “Most Wanted” Improvements Targets Distracted, Tired Drivers
By 1.13.16
When you hear the words “most wanted,” the first thing to come to mind is probably a list of (alleged) criminals being sought by the authorities. But when the National Transportation Safety Board releases a “most wanted” list it takes on an entirely different meaning: a list of the top 10 transportation safety improvements on the roster for the new year. [More]
Ways In Which Nintendo Needs To Improve The 3DS
By 4.2.11
Nintendo’s 3DS, which provides glasses-free 3D images, came out last weekend, and fan reaction has been a mixture of elation and grumbling. Just about every review knocked the handheld’s battery life, which can max out at just over three hours of constant, full-feature use. [More]
Netflix Rolls Out Some Captions For Streaming Video
By 4.20.10
Netflix streaming is great. If you’re like me and most of your Netflix queue consists of TV series and independent movies, it’s the best deal in entertainment. One of its major flaws, though, is that video streams lack captions or closed-captioning. Netflix is starting to fix this problem…but only for a limited number of videos and only for users who stream on their Mac or Windows PCs. [More]
Slate's 10 Ways To Fix Airline Seating
By 3.2.10
Yesterday we covered Slate’s look at what’s wrong with airline seating–it’s not just overweight people who feel cramped on flights these days. Slate asked its readers to come up with some practical solutions to the problem, and today they printed the top ten suggestions. [More]
Now Report Spammers On Twitter With A Single Click
By 10.13.09
It used to be that when you were followed by a spammer on Twitter, you had to go report them by sending a direct message to Twitter’s official spam account. Now they’ve updated their reporting system, so all it takes is a single click. Have fun turning in the bots!
Starbucks Retraining Employees At 7,100 Stores Next Week
By 2.20.08
Next Tuesday, Starbucks will close 7,100 corporate-owned stores early to implement a company-wide retraining session on how to make drinks. “The barista re-education is a ‘renewed focus on espresso standards,’ say Starbucks honchos.” We thought that’s why they bought the robot espresso machines—so they didn’t have to have trained coffee pullers anymore.
Save On Utilities By Spending More On Your Home
By 6.30.07
Saving by spending is not as counterintuitive as it sounds when it comes to home improvements. Though energy-saving improvements can cost more upfront, savings are eventually realized as lower utility bills. Kiplinger put together a nifty list to help determine how long it takes to recoup the extra amount spent on energy-efficient improvements:
