, April 21, 2014
Daily Bafflements
These operators are standing by to answer any questions you may have about military service. / Photo by davidd
• Doctors are apparently already saving patients’ lives by using Google Glass in the ER, but they’re also risking patients’ lives by texting and reading e-books during procedures.
• The FBI and CIA have previously used automated, pre-programmed “chatbots” to find and draw out child predators and terrorists online. Now the same technology has gone into developing Sgt. STAR, an online chatbot for the U.S. Army. Sgt. STAR (“which stands for Strong, Trained and Ready”) is currently doing the work of fifty-five human recruiters at once, according to information provided through a FOIA request.
• Thomas Frank’s Sunday column at Salon explains “Why elite, billionaire liberalism always backfires.”
• The Code Switch blog at NPR has a an eye-opening overview of McDonald’s ads, starting with one in Ebony magazine in 1972, that marketed specifically to people of color. Featured: lots of references to “dinnertimin’” and “gettin’ down” with burgers and fries.