Coffee with Casner

WHAT IS IT?

If you plop these thin wafers, made up of several layers of a stretchy material called 'liquid crystal elastomers,' onto a hot plate, they will begin to warp. Then, suddenly and explosively, they leap into the air.

WHY IMPORTANT

Opportunities for using polymer materials in new ways for applications like soft robotics where we often need access to these high-speed, high-force actuation mechanisms. The new research takes advantage of the unusual behavior of a class of materials called liquid crystal elastomers. These materials are solid and stretchy polymer versions of the liquid crystals found in laptops or TV displays.

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What is it?

You can keep your AirPods in your ears and share your listening experience with someone else via their own set of AirPods and not share your AirPods

WHY IMPORTANT

Have you ever wanted to share a song or playlist with someone sitting next to you? It’s that perfect timing you want them to experience. The same goes for podcasts or movies/TV shows you watch and listen to on your iPhone. You could pass them an AirPod, but that raises all sorts of hygienic concerns.

If your friend has their AirPods, you can share audio from your iPhone. Here’s how:

• While wearing your connected AirPods, tap the AirPlay icon on the Lock Screen, in the Control Center or on the Now Playing screen for the app you’re using.
• Tap Share Audio.
• Bring your iPhone close to the other iPhone or iPad.
• Tap Share Audio on your iPhone again.
• Have the other person tap Join on their device.

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WHAT IS IT?
Three new, powerful AI introductions?

WHY IMPORTANT

They have created fear within companies such as Google, YouTube, and others.

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• ChatGPT: The advanced chatbot is raising fears of students cheating on their homework. But its potential as an educational tool outweighs its risks, our technology columnist writes.
• DALL-E 2: The system lets you create digital images simply by describing what you want to see. But for some, image generators are worrisome.

GPT-3: With mind-boggling fluency, the natural-language system can write, argue and code. The implications for the future could be profound

WHAT IS IT?

AI challenges Google Search and other established online services.

WHY IMPORTANT
The bot, released by the small San Francisco company OpenAI two months ago, amazed users by simply explaining complex concepts and generating ideas from scratch. More critical to Google.

Google is rumored to introduce Image Generation Studio, which creates and edits images; Shopping Try-on, a YouTube green screen feature to create backgrounds; and a tool that could summarize videos by generating a new one.

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WHAT IS IT

Based on Gartner's research, nine workplace predictions highlight the work aspects that leaders must prioritize over the next 12 months.

WHY IMPORTANT

In 2023, amid a looming economic downturn, organizations will continue to face significant challenges — and how they respond could determine whether they are an employer of choice. Several authors from Gartner’s HR practice predict nine trends that organizations will have to confront this year.

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There are no secrets kept from an iPhone

WHAT IS IT?

See the secret map tracking everywhere you go on your iPhone

WHY IMPORTANT

An invasion of privacy could lead to real problems. If the phone is tracking your whereabouts, who else may know about them?

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WHAT IS IT?

While a vulnerability is a potential risk to an organization, it does not threaten an organization in and of itself. A vulnerability only becomes a problem when it is exploited.

WHY IMPORTANT

Identifying vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them is a much more cost-effective approach to vulnerability management. The sooner vulnerabilities are identified and remediated in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), the lower the cost to the organization.

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WHAT IS IT

Microsoft researchers have presented an impressive new text-to-speech AI model, called Vall-E, which can listen to a voice for just a few seconds, then mimic that voice – including the emotional tone and acoustics – to say whatever you like.

WHY IMPORTANT

While at some point, you'll be able to have Morgan Freeman narrate your shopping list as you ride a trolley down the supermarket aisle, or, if an actor dies halfway through a movie, they can finish their performance through deepfake video and audio using systems like this. But a more significant issue is the potential for scam artists is also sky-high. If a scammer can get you on the phone for three seconds, they can steal your voice and call your grandma with it. Or bypass any voice-recognition security devices. This is precisely the kind of thing Terminator robots will need to make phone calls.

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