Month: June 2022

For two years, college football programs have been tripping over themselves to try and earn the commitment from 2023’s top quarterback recruit Arch Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli who is expected to be the next great from that family.

The quarterback from Isidore Newman in New Orleans is the consensus No. 1 player in the country and has had just about every big program vying for his commitment, with coaches going to great lengths to try and woo him. Ultimately, it seemed to be coming down to a battle between Nick Saban at Alabama and Steve Sarkisian at Texas, with the star taking visits to both programs this offseason.

On Thursday, Manning made his decision official (at least for now), as he’ll turn down Saban for the chance to bring Texas back (again).

It’s obviously a huge get for Texas, which will now place even more pressure on the Longhorns and Sarkisian to get the program back to being a national power once Manning arrives. The star QB will surely reap the benefits of college football’s new NIL structure, as maybe the most well-known recruit in recent memory who happens to share bloodlines with two of the most marketable stars football’s had in the last two decades.

Buried in the daily barrage of bad news and worrying developments in the American experiment these days was a report that one Google employee is worried an artificial intelligence created by the company has become sentient. In a completely unrelated story, Amazon apparently wants its smart devices to sound like a beloved but diseased person in an effort to… make you feel better?

Life in 2022 is hard enough, but on Wednesday Amazon showed off a new feature where its AI voice-activated technology can be trained to mimic an actual human’s voice thanks to a bit of machine learning. At Amazon’s MARS conference, Amazon’s head Alexa AI scientist detailed some features the team has worked on to give more human touches to the robotic voice ordinarily attributed to the device. In an effort to add “human-like empathy,” a video showed a child asking Alexa to read a story at bedtime in the voice of his grandmother. Who is, in this example, dead.

“As you saw in this experience, instead of Alexa’s voice reading the book, it’s the kid’s grandma’s voice,” Rohit Prasad said in the keynote. The scientist noted that “in these times of the ongoing pandemic, when so many of us have lost someone we love” the team wanted to include the feature to bring some of those dead back to life.

“While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last,” Prasad said.

According to The Verge, Amazon didn’t give an indication the feature would ever become widespread, but in theory it would need just a single minute of audio to learn how to mimic a dead person’s voice and make it its own. And while most technology is created with the best of intentions, there is something undeniably creepy about reanimating the voices of the dead. Reading a bedtime story is one thing, but this tech opens up a literal casket full of creepy hauntings, horrible pranks and disturbing opportunities if you pair a certain voice with a certain text.

Amazon would know the market better than I, but most people probably don’t need a dead relative informing them their grocery delivery just showed up on the front porch. You do have to admit, though, this is far more effective at bringing back the voices of the dead than that mummy whose windpipe was 3D printed back into working order.

We’ve come a long way, baby.

[via The Verge]

On Monday, the NBA Draft betting markets saw some major movement regarding Paolo Banchero going No. 1 overall. The former Duke standout moved from 16-1 to under 2-1 in a 24 hour period, as serious steam from big bets pushed his odds to go first on Thursday night.

By Wednesday evening, things had stabilized to have Jabari Smith, once again, as the heavy favorite (-350 at some books) to go first, but when people woke up on Thursday morning, Banchero was suddenly favored at -200, with Smith at +140 at Caesars as of 8:37 a.m. ET. Four minutes later, Adrian Wojnarowski sent this tweet pouring cold water on all that Paolo movement, insisting that Smith-Holmgren-Banchero was going to be the order of the first three picks 12 hours from then.

At that point, books pulled the odds off the board completely — with some refusing to put them back up. When others did return, Smith was as high as -10000 and Banchero back down to +900, but bettors were undeterred, once again hammering Banchero odds.

Now, Smith is -420 and Banchero is +280 at FanDuel (at 12:15 p.m. ET) and the odds have somewhat stabilized again, but it’s clear that some big bettors are holding out some belief that Banchero is going to go No. 1, which doesn’t necessarily mean to Orlando. There are some who think — and this isn’t coming from any major NBA newsbreakers but just some in the betting community — there could be a swap like the Tatum-Fultz deal between Boston and Philadelphia that sees Houston jump to No. 1 to ensure they get their guy in Paolo, with Orlando falling back with the belief that if it’s Chet or Jabari, OKC will take Holmgren and the Magic could possibly add another future pick (or another pick later in the first.

Again, there’s not a lot of smoke there, but considering just about every report indicates the Magic prefer Smith, it’s about the only explanation for the level of steam coming in on Banchero, despite the top NBA newsbreakers regularly saying things like this.

We’ll find out who is right when the Draft begins at 8 p.m. ET, but right now it’s bettors vs. Woj.

Bridgerton might be more famous for its sex scenes than it rightfully deserves to be, especially when it comes to the Duke-less version maintaining momentum in equally effective ways. We’ve already heard from star Jonathan Bailey when he explained that the intimate-type props included a deflated netball. Now, his leading lady, Simone Ashley, has explained more about how the cast prepped for the mood. It’ll remind you a lot of how Ben Affleck’s cucked Deep Water character apparently observed sensual snails to live (and get his rocks off) vicariously.

So now, I’m crossing my fingers for a crossover. Put Affleck in Bridgerton! With a Dunkin’ Cup and everything. This seems like it might work, given that Simone Ashley told The Los Angeles Times‘ The Envelope Podcast (via IndieWire) that observing snail mating was in integral part of her lead-up to Kate-and-Anthony scenes:

“We explored the movement of different animals to kind of portray different paces or different sexualities or how sensual something could be. For example, we look to how snails mate, and when snails mate, they actually produce a plasma that intertwines.”

So if it was a really sensual, slow kind of scene, we’d be like, ‘Oh, it’s like the snail.’ And it’s super like the plasma, like falling like honey. So we would make it about that or how dogs mate or chimpanzees mate — it’s very like fast-paced and a different kind of style.”

Somehow, this makes plenty of sense. And I’m willing to make plenty of logical leaps to get that Deep Water crossover, too. Hell, I already began to lobby for Season 3 to add Jason Momoa because he should (as our own Brian Grubb pointed out) be in everything. And then put the snails onscreen, too. DC stars Affleck and Momoa meet again, with their favorite beverages, Dunkin’ and Guinness. Don’t crush my dreams.

(Via IndieWire)

Donald Trump has never been very good at admitting failure—or admitting anything really—but he’s pretty dexterous when it comes to throwing people under the bus (his own children included). As the world watches and listens to the January 6th hearings, more and more shocking details are emerging about the ways in which the former president attempted to rewrite democracy as we know it. Rather than admit any wrongdoing or attempt to quietly tiptoe away from the public spotlight, Trump is instead blaming House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for the circus that Trump and his “dipsh*t” cronies created.

As CNN reports, Trump—who seems to be watching every second of these hearings—has been lashing out at McCarthy to anyone and everyone who will listen. According to one GOP source, his main complaint is that he doesn’t “understand why Kevin didn’t put anyone on the committee.” McCarthy, of course, did have the chance to offer up a list of Republicans to sit on the committee. But when two of his picks, Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, were rejected by Nancy Pelosi, McCarthy pitched a fit and declared that “​​Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts.” Pelosi called his bluff. (And Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, claimed McCarthy was purposely trying to prevent the American public from understanding what happened on January 6.)

Now, SFGATE reports that a pissed-off Trump—who likely overestimates the power of his endorsement (Ron DeSantis doesn’t even want it)—is apparently saying he’ll refuse to endorse McCarthy for Speaker of the House should Republicans regain control.

In an interview with Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, Trump trashed McCarthy’s decision to boycott the committee, saying that it “would have been very smart” to put Republicans on the committee, even if it wasn’t Jordan or Banks. “We should’ve picked other people,” Trump said. “We have a lot of good people in the Republican party.”

(Via CNN)

Sylvan Esso doesn’t rest — they are busy being nominated for Grammys, running their own record label, and releasing infectious songs. In May, the married electronic duo returned with their first material of the year, the glitchy “Sunburn” which they said was “eating candy til you’re sick, riding your bike too fast down a hill.”

They’re back today with “Your Reality,” an intimate, sputtering track with a string arrangement from Gabriel Kahane and drums by TJ Maiani that make it fuller and more powerful. As the song pushes forward, it becomes increasingly hallucinogenic, like a whirlpool of sounds getting bigger and stronger and gaining momentum. Amelia Meath’s vocals are crystal clear and animated. Nick Sanborn says the additional instruments helped them see “how weird we can take it,” he said. “How bare and strange something can be.”

Their last album was the critically acclaimed 2020 Free Love. “We actually got to the place that you always say about yourself: I just want to make something that I think is good. I feel like we actually got there this time,” said Sanborn about the making of the record. “The WITH tour was the final nail in the coffin.”

Listen to “Your Reality” below.

Angel Olsen released her massive album Big Time this year, but she can’t stop doing covers. The indie singers has covered Harry Styles, Bob Dylan, Karen Dalton, and last year she put out a whole EP of ’80s covers. Now she’s back with a cover of Lucinda Williams’s “Greenville.”

This is not out of the blue, considering how much of Big Time was devoted to a country twang. Olsen says that part of what inspired that was her appreciation for Williams’s music. Read what she said about it below.

“Before I wrote Big Time I found a new obsession and love for Lucinda’s body of work. There is no one like her out there. It’s clear to me that her songs come from a very real place, and that’s the only kind of writing I like.

“I recorded my version of ‘Greenville’ in Los Angeles earlier this month with Kyle Thomas of King Tuff. We’ve known each other for a while, but never recorded music together. Kyle made this so fun to record and we had a great time goofing around. Meg Duffy also sang with me on this track. Meg showed me this song for the first time years ago and was the first one to introduce me to Lucinda’s music. It was very meaningful to have them on the track with me.”

Listen to the cover below.

On Wednesday, June 22, it was reported that rising New York rapper Lil Tjay had to get surgery after being shot in an attempted robbery in Edgewater, New Jersey. Tjay was shot along with a second, as-yet-unidentified victim who was hit multiple times. The “Calling My Phone” rapper was coming off a string of collaborations including “24 Hrs” with Kaash Paige and “Bag Season” with French Montana, and was looking forwward to a “good summer” according to a post on his Twitter previewing new music. So far, three arrests have been made, while Tjay remains hospitalized but in stable condition.

Another New York rapper, whose career has been on an opposite trajectory of late, chimed in with an unsurprising reaction to the news. Tekashi 69, the troll-ish Brooklyn rapper who went from dominating the city’s brash street scene to being branded a snitch after testifying against some of his gangbanging cronies, responded in the comments of an Instagram post about the shooting with a pair of crying emojis — one laughing, one sobbing. While reprehensible, his response isn’t exactly a shock; 6ix9ine has always been known for mocking other rappers’ misfortunes, including taunting King Von’s friends after the Chicago rapper’s death and trolling Young Thug after his recent racketeering arrest — the same charges Tekashi himself narrowly dodged by testifying.

Considering Tekashi very recently begged for consideration regarding his impending bankruptcy, you’d think he would for once show a little empathy and humility. But that isn’t what got him the spotlight and it doesn’t seem he’s ever going to shake off that strategy — even if the only thing it’s earning him is socks to the noggin.

Pet hotels have come a long way from the gloomy dog kennels that were once the norm. But apparently there’s still no substitute for the comfort of home. In a delightful and downright impressive story from Inside Edition, Jeremy and Sarah Henson had their five-day Las Vegas vacation disrupted last February when they got an alert that their Ring doorbell had been pressed. Who was at their door? It was none other than their dog Dexter who they had recently boarded at a local pet hotel.

The Lenexa, Kansas couple must have been completely shocked that the dog escaped the pet hotel, made his way home and knew how to ring the doorbell. “We were both like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Dexter!’” Jeremy told Inside Edition. “Obviously, he didn’t understand the fact that we were gone, he just thought that we were home. And he takes his job protecting us very seriously.”

The couple wasn’t sure what to do because they were 1,350 miles from home. Jeremy tried to calm the dog down by speaking to him through the Ring speaker from his phone while they waited for the pet hotel staff to get there.

“Hi, Buddy. Good boy. Stay there. Sit. Dexter, sit. Dexter, sit. Sit. Oh, I know, buddy. I’m sorry. What a smart boy, though. Good boy,” Jeremy can be heard saying through the Ring speaker as Dexter whimpers and bangs on the door.

Dexter listened to his owner and stayed by the door until staff from the pet hotel were able to safely retrieve him. The dog didn’t seem to be afraid of the pet hotel staff when they arrived with what appeared to be a leash.

The incredible thing about the story is how Dexter escaped the pet hotel and made his way home. He had to scale a 6-foot fence and then find his house two miles away in a journey that took around 90 minutes. “That intelligence can get him into trouble sometimes,” Jeremy added.

Sarah Henson told Fox 4 Kansas City that Jeremy had taken the dog on a lot of long walks so that’s probably how he knew the way home. But she wondered why the pet hotel hadn’t told them he was missing.

“It didn’t surprise me that he was on our front steps. I was just concerned that they didn’t know, so I called them,” she told Fox 4.

Dexter’s journey seems incredible, but it’s not inconceivable because dogs have an incredible sense of smell. According to VCA Hospitals, dogs have more than 100 million sensory receptor sites in their nasal cavity compared to humans, who have just 6 million.

Plus, dogs devote a lot more brainpower to interpreting smells. The area of the canine brain that’s dedicated to interpreting smells is 40 times larger than a human’s.

Bonnie Beaver, the executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and a professor at Texas A&M University, says it’s not unheard of for a dog to find their way home from as far as 11 miles.

“An eleven-mile distance is actually not terribly long for a dog,” Beaver told Time magazine. “If the dog had walked both from and back to his home he’d be following his own scent trail.”

Dexter’s story is an incredible example of what can happen when a dog’s loyalty and incredible sense of smell work in tandem. Let’s just hope that poor Dexter wasn’t too distressed for the rest of his stay at the pet hotel while his family was in Las Vegas.

It is usually very hard to get basketball fans to universally agree on anything. One thing that gets pretty close to being a unanimous belief, though, is that Steph Curry is the greatest shooter to ever play the game. Curry’s laundry list of accomplishments related to shooting a basketball do not need to be listed here, so instead, let’s get mad at how games at amusement parks are a rip off.

There are a whole lot of games at amusement parks that are basically designed to make sure skill alone cannot be used to win prizes. Sure, sometimes being good at something helps, but as this video by YouTuber Mark Rober shows us, games at amusement parks, carnivals, boardwalks, etc. are designed to make you think you can win something to rope you into spending money.

This brings us to Curry’s ability to shoot a basketball. The Curry family went to Great America, an amusement park in Santa Clara, to celebrate some cool things that happened recently. While there, Curry decided to try one of those games where you shoot basketballs off of a rack in an attempt to win a jersey or something. Here is how it went — pay special attention to the rims, which are bouncier than a pogo stick and look just a little smaller than you might expect.

Now, listen, maybe Steph had one or two things to drink and is a bit off his game, but it is very unlikely that he is shooting 12 basketballs off of racks and making five of them, three of which were money balls and thereby boosting his final score. Curry seems to agree with this, per an IG comment section.

Let this be a lesson to anyone and everyone: If you go to an amusement park, spend your money on rides and overpriced food instead of games.