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Pics or It Didn’t Happen: The Rise of the Photo-Obsessed American

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Michael Dinich | Wealth of Geeks undefined

The average American whips out their phone to take a photo six times each day.

A survey of 2,000 U.S. adults revealed that camera rolls are flooded with group photos with friends (66%) and family (69%), as well as photos of friends (63%) and family (58%) without them in it.

Selfies (58%), pet pics (52%), and scenery (43%) also topped the list of frequent photos.

Events to Remember

Respondents are likely to take photos at events such as graduations (45%), weddings (44%), on vacation (40%), and at sporting events (37%) — with the average person taking nearly 23 pics per event.

Following the event, respondents will look back on those photos a little more than once per month, or 13 times per year. Continue reading

Exhibits and collectors editions mark 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

This cover image released by Rizzoli shows “Shakespeare’s First Folio: 400th Anniversary Facsimile Edition: Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, Published According to the Originall Copies.” (Rizzoli via AP)

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, rare originals are being displayed and publishers are offering collectors editions of Shakespeare’s plays, including one that sells for $1,500.

Scholars believe that between 200-300 copies still survive from the late 1623 release of “Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies.” Presided over by two friends and former colleagues of Shakespeare, who had died in 1616, the Folio ensured that lasting texts existed for “Macbeth,” “Twelfth Night” and other cornerstones of Western literature. In Shakespeare’s lifetime, many of his works were unpublished or available only in cheap paperback editions. Continue reading

Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown reels in subscribers as it raises prices for its premium plan

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – A Netflix sign is photographed outside its office building in Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Netflix reports earnings on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix on Wednesday disclosed summertime subscriber gains that surpassed industry analysts’ projections, signaling the video streaming service’s crackdown on password sharing is converting former freeloaders into paying customers.

In an effort to bring in even more revenue, Netflix also announced it’s raising the price for its most expensive streaming service by $2 to $23 per month in the U.S. — a 10% increase — and its lowest-priced, ad-free streaming plan to $12 — another $2 bump. The $15.50 per month price for Netflix’s most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials.

It also raised its prices for subscribers in the U.K. and France. Continue reading

More Than 50% Of Students Use Artificial Intelligence: What Parents and Educators Can Do

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By Arnie Nicola | Wealth of Geeks undefined

An RM Technology survey reveals that 66% of teachers believe they received assignments including parts or entirely generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Two-thirds of students actually admitted to using ChatGPT for essays and other homework.

The new school year is well underway, and opportunities and challenges face educators with the increasing prominence of AI in education.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) CEO Richard Culatta says, “With the explosion of generative AI tools, there has been an overwhelming demand for support from educators who recognize the urgency of quickly assessing the opportunities and challenges that AI brings to school.”

Reevaluating Education

With the start of the new school year, school leaders and educators are rethinking how they assign work and homework in an AI-augmented environment. During the summer term, a group of leaders from some of the UK’s most prestigious schools voiced their apprehension regarding the, “very real and present dangers,” posed by AI, adding that, “schools are struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of change in AI and are searching for reliable guidance on the best way forward.” Continue reading

An app shows how ancient Greek sites looked thousands of years ago. It’s a glimpse of future tech

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

A man holds up a tablet showing a digitally overlayed virtual reconstruction of the ancient Parthenon temple, at the Acropolis Hill in Athens, Greece on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Greece has become a late but enthusiastic convert to new technology as a way of displaying its famous archaeological monuments and deepening visitors’ knowledge of ancient history. The latest virtual tour on offer is provided by a mobile app that uses Augmented Reality to produce digital overlays that show visitors at the Acropolis how the site and its sculptures looked 2,500 ago. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and THEODORA TONGAS Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Tourists at the Acropolis this holiday season can witness the resolution of one of the world’s most heated debates on cultural heritage.

All they need is a smartphone.

Visitors can now pinch and zoom their way around the ancient Greek site, with a digital overlay showing how it once looked. That includes a collection of marble sculptures removed from the Parthenon more than 200 years ago that are now on display at the British Museum in London. Greece has demanded they be returned.

For now, an app supported by Greece’s Culture Ministry allows visitors to point their phones at the Parthenon temple, and the sculptures housed in London appear back on the monument as archaeologists believe they looked 2,500 years ago.

Other, less widely known features also appear: Many of the sculptures on the Acropolis were painted in striking colors. A statue of goddess Athena in the main chamber of the Parthenon also stood over a shallow pool of water. Continue reading

From Coke floats to Cronuts, going viral can have a lasting effect on a small business

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

Dominique Ansel ices Cronuts before the opening of his namesake bakery in New York, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. In 2013, before most people knew the term “going viral,” the French pastry chef created the Cronut, a cross between a croissant and a doughnut, at his newly opened New York bakery. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Lexington Candy Shop in New York City has served burgers, fries and shakes to hungry patrons for decades. Last remodeled in 1948, the diner is the definition of old-fashioned.

But that hasn’t stopped it from getting a wave of new fans.

In August 2022, this old school business met the new world when Nicolas Heller, a TikToker and Instagrammer with 1.2 million followers known as New York Nico, popped in for a traditional Coke float – Coke syrup, soda water and ice cream. Naturally, he took a video. It went viral, garnering 4.8 million likes.

“The next day (after the video was posted), the lines started forming at 8 in the morning,” John Philis, the diner’s third-generation co-owner, recalls with amazement. “And it was like, huh!” Continue reading

The Best Places to Live in 2023. Does Your City Make the Cut?

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Franklin Schneider | Wealth of Geeks undefined

In a polarized society, it’s no surprise Americans are divided on the best places to live in the United States. Many top destinations have just as many detractors as fans.

A new study by real estate company Home Bay, in partnership with Allied Van Lines, asked 1,000 respondents where they do and do not want to live, as well as places they consider over and underrated. As expected, the results revealed many split opinions.

San Francisco, for example, was the sixth-most desirable place to live but the seventh most undesirable place to live. New York City was considered the fourth most desirable city, the fifth most undesirable city, and the most overrated city.

However, there were some clear winners and losers. Continue reading

How are ancient Roman and Mayan buildings still standing? Scientists are unlocking their secrets

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

The Hieroglyphic Stairway ascends at the Acropolis of Copan, an ancient Maya site in western Honduras, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The 20 meter-high staircase is carved with more than 2000 glyphs. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

By MADDIE BURAKOFF AP Science Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — In the quest to build better for the future, some are looking for answers in the long-ago past.

Ancient builders across the world created structures that are still standing today, thousands of years later — from Roman engineers who poured thick concrete sea barriers, to Maya masons who crafted plaster sculptures to their gods, to Chinese builders who raised walls against invaders.

Yet scores of more recent structures are already staring down their expiration dates: The concrete that makes up much of our modern world has a lifespan of around 50 to 100 years.

A growing number of scientists have been studying materials from long-ago eras — chipping off chunks of buildings, poring over historical texts, mixing up copycat recipes — hoping to uncover how they’ve held up for millennia.

This reverse engineering has turned up a surprising list of ingredients that were mixed into old buildings — materials such as tree bark, volcanic ash, rice, beer and even urine. These unexpected add-ins could be key some pretty impressive properties, like the ability to get stronger over time and “heal” cracks when they form.

Figuring out how to copy those features could have real impacts today: While our modern concrete has the strength to hold up massive skyscrapers and heavy infrastructure, it can’t compete with the endurance of these ancient materials. Continue reading

In landmark court case, 6 young activists take on 32 European nations over climate action

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

Siblings Sofia Oliveira, 18, and Andre Oliveira, 15, pose for a picture at the beach in Costa da Caparica, south of Lisbon, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. They are two of the six young people from Portugal arguing on Wednesday, Sept. 27, that governments across Europe aren’t doing enough to protect people from the harms of climate change at the European Court of Human Rights. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Six young people from Portugal will argue that governments across Europe aren’t doing enough to protect people from the harms of climate change at the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday in the latest and largest instance of activists taking governments to court to force climate action.

The lawyers representing the young adults and children will argue that the 32 European governments they’re suing have failed to adequately address global warming and therefore violated some of their fundamental rights.

“This is truly a David and Goliath case,” said Gearóid Ó Cuinn, the director of the non-profit organization Global Legal Action Network that’s been crowdfunding to support the group.

“It is unprecedented in its scale and its consequences,” he said. “It also makes legal history. Never before have so many countries had to defend themselves in front of a court, anywhere in the world.” Continue reading

US breaking pros want to preserve Black roots, original style of hip-hop dance form at Olympics

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

Dancers perform during a break in the Breaking for Gold Big Apple breakdancing regional competition Saturday, April 22, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The hip-hop dance form makes its official debut at the Paris Games in 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

By AARON MORRISON AP Race and Ethnicity News Editor

As ambassadors of the country where breakdancing originated 50 years ago, members of Team USA have something to prove — and potentially to lose — when the hip-hop dance form makes its official debut at the Paris Games in 2024.

That’s because for U.S. breakers like Carmarry Hall, Victor Montalvo and Jeffrey Mike Louis, it’s more than just nailing the right moves; it’s about preserving breaking’s soul.

“When I started breaking, it wasn’t about competition; it was about culture, it was about Black dance,” said Hall, an African American Team USA member. “The Olympic platform is not going to appreciate the understanding. It’s structured in a certain way, and in that structure, you lose a little bit of the heart.”

But it is precisely that structure that international competitors to the U.S. have zoned in on while battling for a shot at Olympic gold in head-to-head contests over the past year. And at the moment, Team USA’s squad of b-boys and b-girls, the term for male and female breakers, is trailing in rankings tabulated by the World DanceSport Federation, the International Olympic Committee-approved body that administers breaking battles. Continue reading