The best of Public Access Vol. 8: RIP Hitchbot, Hi Soylent
There's a reason your mom told you not to hitchhike -- it can be dangerous, even for friendly, harmless robot creations. This week, the internet mourned the loss of Hitchbot the hitchhiking robot, and started playing the finger-pointing game at some pranksters in Philly (who may or may not have prematurely ended Hitchbot's mission to get to San Francisco -- but apparently did fake the much-viewed video of the bot's demise). Photos of the busted bot quickly circulated, and while its creators have confirmed their experiments with AI and human interaction are not over, it does appear to at least be the end of the line for Hitchbot version one. Since the bot is officially RIP, why not write it a eulogy befitting its adventurous nature and expounding on its achievements?
Speaking of achievements, people are still talking about Windows 10 features and improvements, which are broken down in Christopher Cabra's piece. Meanwhile, repeated hacking victim Miné Salkin details best security practices to keep your system safe, and Simon Konev uses the QualityTime app to find out which apps are smartphone essentials. Have some good security tips or know of some killer apps? You can share them in your own Public Access post by clicking on the apply link below.
P.S. The home page is still coming soon! In the meantime you can check out the latest from Public Access right here. Not a member? Apply, and keep the weird coming!
Recommended reading
"Another useful feature to Windows 10 is virtual desktops, handy if your primary desktop gets too cluttered and you want to do a bit of spring cleaning thus allowing you to organise your windows better. Press the TaskView button at the bottom of press Windows key + Tab to get the same action. This will allow you to make a new desktop or drop an open app to another one."
Read the rest of Windows 10 Features You Should Know About by Christopher ONeill Cabra
"Every inactive account you keep open is like an irresistible invitation for hackers to occupy your digital media presence. Haven't used MySpace in a long time? GET RID OF IT. Did you love Twitter before but got sick of it? GET RID OF IT. Get rid of everything before you forget your password, lose the ability to log in, then realize it's been usurped by the dark scum of the web. Who knows who's probably already using your face to catfish an unwitting victim. You should probably Google Image Search your profile picture every once in a while to make sure nobody has done that yet."
Read the rest of Tips for Security from Someone Who's Been Hacked Repeatedly by Miné Salkin
"Armed with a neat app called QualityTime, I was able to track not only how frequently I used the apps but also how much time I spent with each one. Over the course of ten days I kept using my smartphone as I normally would while QualityTime quietly kept track of all my actions. During that period, I spent a little over 7.5 hours fiddling with the top 10 apps I used most frequently. I also unlocked my screen 375 times..."
Read the rest of For your app-roval: drugs of the digital age by Simon Konev
Your dose of inspiration
This week, Soylent announced version 2.0 of its meal-replacement drink, which will come pre-mixed and bottled with each one containing 20 percent of the daily recommended values for vitamins and minerals. While the Soylent Powder 1.5 will run you $70 (for roughly 28 meals), the premixed bottles come in 12-packs and will cost $29. What we're dying to know is: What kind of recipes would you make using Soylent 2.0. A Soylent martini? A Soylent chocolate cinnamon milkshake? Soylent in pancake mix (thus somewhat defeating the purpose of a meal replacement)?
Also, as you've likely heard, the hitchhiking robot experiment has ended -- and poorly at that! Photos of the busted Hitchbot quickly circulated around the internet this week, and while its creators have confirmed their experiments with AI and human interaction are not over, it does appear to at least be the end of the line for Hitchbot version one. Since the bot is officially RIP, why not write it a eulogy befitting its adventurous nature and expounding on its achievements?
