Brent Luck

October 28, 2024

Recently, Elon Musk revealed his new Tesla robot on Oct. 10 at the Tesla convention in Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA. Optimus (the official name of the robot) was described as being a necessity in every household with it being described by Elon as “your own personal R2D2 [or] C-3PO.” (Yahoo! tech). Elon also mentioned that the price of these robots are planned to cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000, which seems cheap for what he promises.

At this event, Tesla’s Cyber Cab  was also revealed, which would be an automated taxi cab that would provide travel for a cost. Optimus uses many different sensors and uses advanced AI to perform any task given to it. As the event went on, guests were able to interact with Optimus which most people were surprised to see how well it worked and interacted with people around it. 

Another main attraction that was at the event that included Optimus was when the robot served thousands of people at a bar that was set at the event. It was later found out that the robots at the event were slightly assisted as "A human is remote assisting" ("I learned that when it was walking that it was AI then")). Which is slightly disappointing but still a great advancement considering the whole project started off as a joke in 2021.

Most people still love the idea of these robots, but director Alex Proyas, the director of I Robot, does not. Claiming that the robots look similar to the ones in his movie. Shortly after the film product designer for I Robot Patrick Tatopoulos posted on Instagram, "Maybe it is just me, or should I feel honored that Elon found some inspiration in my I Robot designs?" (BBC) and later added, "Either way, it’s fun to watch." (BBC).

Most are unsure how these robots will affect us in the near future with many different outcomes. While most of these outcomes are positive, there is still room for error in these experimental robots. Either way, it's an astonishing technical advancement and will change how the world works as we know it.

Citations: 

BBC. “Elon Musk accused of copying designs by I, Robot director.” BBC, 14 October 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ced04q39w33o. Accessed 23 October 2024.

The week. “Musk debuts "Optimus" humanoid robot at Tesla cybercab event.” The Week, 15 October 2024, https://theweek.com/tech/tesla-elon-musk-robot-optimus. Accessed 23 October 2024.

Yahoo! tech. “Elon Musk Unveils Tesla Optimus Robot That Can 'Be Your Friend' | Video.” Yahoo, 11 October 2024, https://www.yahoo.com/tech/elon-musk-unveils-tesla-optimus-134621078.html. Accessed 22 October 2024.

Sorin Brower

October 21, 2024

As many people know and have realized, AI has recently become a bigger topic among discussion as it has developed a lot over the recent years. Of course, there's a lot of talk about AI taking jobs and such, which may be a possibility, however there will have to be people overwatching the AI doing the work. Mostly, AI has been replacing artists. There has been talk of AI making games in the future, and there has even been some AI Art Competitions. 

There has also been a rise in questions about who exactly owns the art the AI creates, as the AI pulls from many different sources and artists to make it, sometimes even making it look like a specific artist's work. There have even been people selling AI artwork. AI is incredibly accessible nowadays, to the point it is in most apps now. There's an AI friend on Snapchat, you can make AI pictures on Instagram, and there are even sole apps to interact with AI. There has been talk among artists of how to stop AI pulling from their art works, and one of ideas that seems to have worked with recent AI image generators is to put noise in your art. Static noise makes AI unable to fully depict art, making it unable to read and pull from it.

AI image generators have been used for good as well. It may help artists with getting an idea for poses and general themes, and it's fun for non-artists to create something they normally wouldn’t be able to make. With many people claiming to hand make AI artwork, and with how it's hard to tell AI from the real thing, along with how accessible generating AI art is, it's definitely something to think about and consider how this will affect us in the long term.

Brent Luck

October 21, 2024

Read below to find out more about the drama everyone is talking about.

Everyday, new videos and content on social media are being created, some good some bad, but nevertheless are still popular. This statement stands for the popular Youtuber/boxer Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji or better known as KSI. He is recently getting hate for his new song “Thick Of It” and other drama with other Youtubers.

Most people online are just saying the song is just overall bad with no real substance and is generic. Popular Youtuber Jon Denton described the track as "inoffensive" but "passable," (The Express Tribune). While most people don't think it is absolute trash, they think rather that it is just a little less than expected from a famous influencer like KSI.

The backlash wouldn't have been so bad for KSI if the drama if a month before he had not collaborated with Logan Paul and Mr. Beast. 

Together the three announced “a pre-packaged meal, “Lunchly,” to compete with Lunchables, owned by Kraft Heinz.” (Forbes).This of course made lots of people mad including several other Youtubers. One of the most well known Youtubers Daniel Robert Middleton or Dantdm responded to the announcement on twitter talking about how this isn't even for the fans anymore it's just for the money.

Shortly after the tweet was seen by millions KSI made a response video “where he went through comments. And, though he made a number of attempts at “turning the mirror” on DanTDM, as KSI put it” (Dexerto). KSI also has gone far as to say that it's a trend to hate him which seems to be his way to doge the hate. This leaves the question of what is the future of KSI, could he really recover after poor collab choices and bad music?

Citations:

Dexerto. “KSI’s fans turn against him after he fires back at DanTDM’s Lunchly criticism.” Dexerto, 22 September 2024, https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/ksis-fans-turn-against-him-after-he-fires-back-at-dantdms-lunchly-criticism-2907213/. Accessed 15 October 2024.

the express tribune. “KSI says it's trendy to hate him, urges fans to move on from backlash over new song 'Thick of It.'” The Express Tribune, 8 October 2024, https://tribune.com.pk/story/2501479/ksi-says-its-trendy-to-hate-him-urges-fans-to-move-on-from-backlash-over-new-song-thick-of-it#google_vignette. Accessed 15 October 2024.

Forbes. “MrBeast, KSI And Logan Paul Vs. DanTDM—The Lunchly Drama, Explained.” Forbes, 19 September 2024, https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2024/09/19/mrbeast-ksi-and-logan-paul-vs-dantdm-the-youtube-drama-explained/. Accessed 15 October 2024.

Brent Luck

October 11, 2024

Read this article to find out more about AI and how it's affecting the world!

AI has been around since the 90s, with one of the first being Theseus in the 1950s by Claude Shannon. This was a remote control mouse that was able to remember its surroundings and could escape a labyrinth (our world in data). Since then, AI has taken off, being still fairly new and not even knowing its full potential. Thus, here are 3 of the top ways AI is impacting life.

One of the most known ways that AI is impacting society is through images. There is usually specific AI trained by different companies, one of the most popular being DALL-E, which “utilizes trained artificial neural networks to create images from scratch” (“AI Image Generation, Explained.”). This type of AI shows creativity and how it can have different styles depending on how the AI perceives it.

A less known way that AI is helping the world is actually through healthcare. This changes everything as AI is being tested to recommend tests, answer questions from patients, predict diseases, and even prescribe medications (Mass General Brigham). This unfortunately is still in its testing phase and isn't available for the public, but when it is, it will bring a massive change. 

Another popular way AI is being implemented is into cars like Tesla for self-driving cars. AI for automated cars allows for better safety by letting the driver know if you are departing a lane or just simple things like telling you if there is an obstruction (Rematec).The main focus is self-driving cars with AI, but as of today we barely have self-driving cars, but hopefully these cars become more refined as time goes on.

AI definitely has changed over the years with new products to help people in many different ways. There is the fear that AI could take over, which might happen, but it seems it would actually be for the better. And things are only going to improve as time goes on. This is only the beginning.

Citations:

https://www.rematec.com/news/process-and-technology/ai-in-the-automotive-field

https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/articles/how-is-ai-used-in-health-care

https://ourworldindata.org/brief-history-of-ai 

https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/ai-image-generation/

Brent Luck

October 4, 2024

People of all ages have been going crazy about this dance from a new movie. Read more below!

As we all know, dances have always been trendy on social media, but more recently, one dance has been blowing up in popularity. The movie in question that this dance originates from is the new installment in the Deadpool Marvel franchise, “Deadpool And Wolverine.” The dance itself was made as a funny gag at the beginning of the movie just to excite the fans for what the rest of the movie had to offer. 

The dance itself used the song by NSYNC titled “Bye Bye Bye.” The producers of “Deadpool and Wolverine” were very surprised by how well the opening sequence became. Even the main actor for the movie playing Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds, praised his choreographer, Nick Pauley, for doing such an incredible job with the dance. Even saying, "There's the moments where there's a bit of a pop and lock" (Entertainment Weekly). “Deadpool and Wolverine” made its way to the top of the box office with a whopping 205,000,000the box office.

Nick Pauly Truly; if you don’t know his name, you need to know his life changed because of this dance and Reynolds believing in him. This leaves Marvel fans only wanting more of this type of content. Something fun, something groovy to dance along with. It's almost crazy to think that the opening could have been completely different with it; just a simple change as a different song choice.

Ryan Reynolds was actually wanting to use the song “The Gambler” by Kenny Loggins instead of a pop song. Reynolds was apparently trying to get the song in one of the 3 movies, according to director Shane Reid. But alas, according to Shane, “somehow, it's such a great track; it just never fits.” (Inverse) This allowed the boy band NSYNC to be put into consideration, which made it such a hit. Even some video games have honored this trend of dance by adding it into the game.

The most popular example of this is Fortnite adding an emote that has the exact same movements and music as the opening of “Deadpool and Wolverine.” Trends like this show movie directors what kind of things their friends are into. To Marvel fans, this brings the question, What's next for the upcoming movies? And how they're going to make an impact.

Citations: 

“Ryan Reynolds Praises His “Deadpool & Wolverine” “Bye Bye Bye” Dance Double.” EW.com, 2024, ew.com/ryan-reynolds-praises-dancer-behind-deadpool-bye-bye-bye-opening-credits-8685705. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

“'Deadpool & Wolverine’s Viral Opening Scene Was Almost Completely Different.” Inverse, 9 Aug. 2024, www.inverse.com/entertainment/deadpool-and-wolverine-shane-reid-editor-interview. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

Mollee Foland

September 20, 2024

At this point, I’m sure you have seen something about Wrangler on your “for you page” on TikTok. Wrangler has been a semi-popular brand since 1947, but it has gotten really popular over the past year. I’m sure you’ve seen the purses and have heard about their clothing, but recently the purses have gotten really popular and girls have gone wild for them. They have gone so viral that smaller businesses are using them as “ mystery bags” to get more purchases. These purses come in multiple sizes and have a variety of colors. These bags can also have different designs. 

Lana Stefanov

September 20, 2024

What is Shein? Shein is a fashion and lifestyle website that has over 74.4 million users. Shein has all sorts of products from shirts to furniture. Shein has become such a trend because of its cheap and affordable quality. Although, there are some cons to Shein. I asked Shein users what they would rate shein on a scale from 1-10 and this is what they said. Kailee Bruno said, “I rate it a 9/10 because it has very slow shipping. Ms. Russell said, “I rate it a 10/10 because it's affordable and cute.” McKenzie Morris said, “I rate it a 8/10 because sometimes their material is bad quality. Lastly, I asked Mrs. Combs. She said, “I rate it a 7/10 but I love their stuff. I actually just bought hair extensions from them and they were great!” Shein has its pros and cons. If you want to find nice things on SHEIN, all you have to do is look and search and you will have a cart full by the end.

Lana Stefanov

September 13, 2024

Beetlejuice is a 1988 Horror/comedy film that is about a young couple, Barbara and Adam Maitland, who are killed in a car accident and find themselves stuck as ghosts in their own home. They soon realize that the only way to get rid of the new family that has moved in is to hire a "bio-exorcist" named Beetlejuice to help them. After 36 years, Beetlejuice has made its comeback in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”  “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is about the three generations of the Deetz family returning home to Winter River after an unexpected family tragedy. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life soon gets turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter discovers a mysterious portal to the afterlife. When someone says Beetlejuice's name three times, the mischievous demon gleefully returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.The second movie has been trending way before it came out. Crumbl Cookie had its limited time Beetlejuice cookie, makeup and TikTok trends have become popular with the new “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” sounds. Beetlejuice has taken over everyone's social media and has become the #1 of the fall!

Mollee Foland

September 13, 2024

Have you seen the heatless curls going around? A bunch of people have been doing this; they are all over the place. Heatless curls are less damaging to the hair, so skip the curling iron so you are not putting heat on your hair. Not placing heat on your hair has multiple benefits such as softer, smoother, and shinier hair. To do the heatless curls, you have to have wet hair and then you twist your wet hair around the curling part. You sleep in it, and then in the morning, you take it out and you are good to go. This also helps save time in the morning because you don’t have to do anything with your hair, so all you have to worry about is doing your makeup and getting dressed. People say this is a life-changer because it is simple and easy. It is also good for parents with little kids because it takes less to get yourself ready in the morning so you can pay more attention to the little ones. 

Lana Stefanov

September 6, 2024

There are so many new trends up and coming in the fall. There is one trend that always comes back in the fall and that is pumpkin spice-flavored everything. Once September hits, even as early as August, pumpkin spice hits the shelves of every store. Restaurants and fast-food corporations have started selling their limited-time seasonal flavors such as pumpkin spice. Pumpkin spice has taken over fall as it has so many variations such as coffee, which is Starbucks' number one seller during fall, as they only offer it during the fall and not year-round. Other pumpkin spice products include candles, candies, and hygiene products such as lotions, perfume, and body washes. The biggest pumpkin spice sellers include Starbucks' limited-time Pumpkin spice iced coffee and Bath and Body Works pumpkin spiced candles and body washes. Pumpkin spice is not the only seasonal scent or flavor that hits the shelves during the fall. Cinnamon, apple pie, pecan pie, and apple cider are all flavors people enjoy and crave during the fall. I believe fall has some of the best scents. They are scents and flavors that work year-round but are extra special when they are only available for a limited time. 

Mollee Foland

September 6, 2024

In the age of social media, there are always new trends online. There have been multiple new food trends going around lately on TikTok. These trends include cucumber and grated frozen fruit. Cucumber salad has been everywhere on my for you page on TikTok. It has just recently gone viral with the saying, “Sometimes you need to eat an entire cucumber.” This went very viral. A guy named Logan kept posting new recipes on TikTok. Everyone has gone crazy over this cucumber salad and have even made their own recipes. The second food that has gone viral is grated frozen fruit. It was really viral during the summer since it was so hot and everyone wanted something cold and refreshing. This didn’t last as long as other food trends but it was really popular.