The Daily Valet. - 12/16/19, Monday
✔️ Voice Assistants and Flu Germs
Monday, December 16th Edition
Mornings are always better with pancakes ... even if they’re in a bowl.
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
We Want Smarter Digital Assistants
The technology has come a long way, yet most of us are still just setting alarms and playing music
Voice-activated digital assistants. There's a lot of promise there, but how helpful are they really? I mostly use Siri to check the weather and set reminders. And friends with Alexa pretty much use it exclusively for music.
But there's no doubt that they're growing in popularity. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, one quarter of American households own a smart speaker, with 207.9 million devices expected to be installed globally by the start of 2020.
The growing smart speaker market is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to voice technology. Cars, watches, mirrors, toilets, even meditation and translation apps are all starting to integrate conversational artificial intelligence.
Such high rates of adoption are easy to comprehend once you realize that speaking is actually three times faster than typing or texting. It's just that speaking often feels like one-sided robotic commands instead of actual understanding.
Wilson Rothman writes in the Wall Street Journal about his trouble trying to work a new "smart" microwave from Amazon. "While it can do some impressive things, it exemplifies the problems we encounter when we try to control too much with our voices—does anybody know the temperature at which they microwave oatmeal?"
His frustrations lead to a discussion on what works best for voice commands and how the technology is slowly but surely learning how to be more helpful in our daily lives by picking up on common routines. And in the meantime, there are some helpful apps that can streamline the process.
↦ Make Your Own: Want an open-source alternative to Amazon's Alexa or the Google Assistant? PC Magazine shows you how to create a privacy-focused voice assistant.
Flu Season Is Here Early
And it’s raising fears that this year will be severe
Flu season in the US is off to an early start—which experts point to as a sign that this could be a particularly severe season overall, reports Time.
There have been at least 2.6 million flu illnesses and 23,000 flu-related hospitalizations already this winter, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s possible that the early flu season means either that fewer people got early-season vaccinations this year, or that the vaccine is less effective than normal. But the CDC says it’s too soon to say how well the shot is working, and emphasizes that there’s still plenty of time to get one, since flu season typically lasts several months.
The vaccine doesn’t guarantee complete immunity, but it's the best defense against the virus and will result in much milder symptoms if you do get sick. While it's easier than ever to get a flu shot, more than half of American men still don't. After all, when you're young, healthy and male, the flu isn't a big concern, right? But if you work in an office, take public transportation or find yourself setting your phone on random tables when out, you should definitely consider getting a flu shot.
↦ Wash Your Hands: Making sure that you're washing your hands regularly (and correctly) will ensure you escape cold and flu season unscathed.
Newton’s Storybook Ending
The Connecticut high school wins the state championship on the anniversary of Sandy Hook
Sometimes sports can deliver the dramatic, cathartic endings we humans desperately crave. And that's just what happened when the Newtown Nighthawks won the Connecticut state championship on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, reports the Hartford Courant.
What's more, many of the high schoolers on the team were in Sandy Hook elementary on that tragic day. Saturday's win was a bright moment amid memories and commemorations of the shooting that took the lives of 26 people, including 20 children, exactly seven years earlier.
On the final play of the game, a senior receiver on the Newtown team caught a 36-yard pass and ran into the end zone as time expired.
As news of the win broke, people across the state and the country took to social media to applaud the team. The players were also featured briefly at half-time of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh NFL game Sunday night. Many described the win as an act of fate. And it's hard to argue with that.
Hallmark’s Flip-Flop
The cable channel reverses decision to pull ads featuring same-sex couples
First The Hallmark Channel accepted ads from Zola, an online wedding planning company, showing same-sex couples celebrating marriages.
Then the ads with two women kissing were pulled amid a pressure campaign by the conservative group One Million Moms. According to the New York Times, a spokesman for Hallmark said the “public displays of affection” violated the channel’s policies, but he declined to comment on why a nearly identical ad featuring a bride and groom kissing was not rejected.
Soon, a backlash to the backlash ensued and #BoycottHallmark started trending on social media. But then, late on Sunday, Hallmark reversed its opinion. The company's CEO apologized for "the hurt and disappointment this has caused," and said the channel would be reinstating the commercials.
"I'm thrilled ... We've been talking to them all weekend because they want to do the right thing," said GLAAD's president Sarah Kate Ellis. "I think the quick reversal is the right thing.”
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Would You Skip Starbucks for IHOP?
The pancake house is getting into fast food
IHOP, known for (occasionally sticky) booth seating, table service and, of course, stacks of pancakes, is introducing a new grab-and-go restaurant concept called Flip'd, reports CNN.
The idea is that this will be a place to stop for coffee and an easy breakfast. And they're betting they can offer more appealing options than the usual fare in the glass case at Starbucks.
The menu will feature egg sandwiches, breakfast burritos, along with pancake bowls—which I thought were going to be something like a waffle cone, but seem to be just pancakes in a bowl that you can carry.
Not that I'd be against giving them a try. Of course, Starbucks’ cult following is strong. It currently boasts a whopping 40% share of the US coffee shop market. But offering 100% more pancakes than Starbucks is a good way for Flip'd to lure us all away.
What We’re Buying
Huckberry rarely offers discounts across their entire store (the last one was over a year ago). But with less than 10 days to go until Christmas, you can now get 10% off practically everything until 11:59 pm tonight. And they've still got some great gear in stock, like this handsome thawing board—no wires, batteries or plugs required. It gets your meats from frozen-to-the-bone to ready-to-cook in a matter of minutes. A perfect Christmas gift for anyone who loves cooking or grilling.
↦ Get It $79.95 / $71.96 at Huckberry
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Today’s Deals
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Morning Motto
Embrace that Monday feeling.
↦ Follow: @johandeckmann
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