Stuff YOU Should Know
Digital License Plates? A company called Reviver Auto may have finally found a solution for everyone who is tired of waiting in long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to get their annual license plate registration renewed. The answer? The Rplate: a digital license plate. Here’s how the Rplates work: they display large […]
YOU DECIDE: Should Video Games Be Used to Teach History?
It’s no surprise that teenagers like video games. But can they actually use gaming to learn? One gaming company, Ubisoft, has long used historical backdrops for its Assassin’s Creed series. Now, however, they’ve taken the link between gaming and history a step further. Assassin’s Creed: Origins is set in Ptolemaic Egypt. When played in “Discovery […]
The Right to Robocall?
This week, over on the Election Central Web site, the main story examines the problems causes by your cell phone and new telemarketing techniques. Your phone didn’t ring. But you have a voicemail from a telemarketer. How did that happen? And is this “ringless voicemail” even legal? Turns out, the answer is more complicated than […]
Accountability and Predictive Modeling
Have you started thinking yet about your plans for after you finish high school? For many students, a university is the next step. However, fewer than half of the nation’s students graduate college in four years, and only sixty percent manage to complete that education in six years. At the same time, the average debt accumulated […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Trump’s Travel Ban Blocked Two weeks ago, Election Central brought you information about President Trump’s January 27 executive order banning immigrants and travel from seven predominantly Muslim nations (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). Since then, the “travel ban” has been put on hold indefinitely after a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Cease Fire in Aleppo? Over the past week, American news reports have been full of images of wounded children in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Last Thursday, a tentative cease-fire was reached in the area, which has continued to hold as of late Monday evening. Until this month, Aleppo was the last rebel stronghold in […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Paralyzed Man Regains Sense of Touch Nathan Copeland, who is 30 years old and has been paralyzed for the last 12 years, has just become the first person to feel the sense of touch in a prosthetic limb. For many years, the technology has existed to allow people to control robotic arms using just their […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Self-Driving Chairs? Tired of waiting in long lines at restaurants, concerts, and amusement parks? Thanks to a Japanese car company, you may not have to some time in the future. Nissan has recently developed the ProPilot, a battery-operated chair that automatically follows another chair in front of it along a set path, maintaining a fixed […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Airbnb Adjusting to Criticisms Airbnb is, for some people, a popular way to rent living accommodations while travelling. Instead of booking a regular hotel room, Airbnb users access their smart phone app or log into the computer Web site to search for rooms open to rent in participants homes. The company advertises that using this service allows people to […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Smart Shoes? You might already have a chip in your shoes that tracks your distance, pace or duration. What if your shoes could do more . . . say, help tell you where to go? The European airline company EasyJet is working on such a product; it is called, “Sneakairs.” The device is built with open source hardware […]