The Public Access Weekly: Don't stop believing
It's been a wild card kind of week, full of Google announcements and Yahoo breaches and AI assistants, and I'm excited to get home and watch the Giants-Cubs game tonight, so let's get this party stared with some Public Access stats for September:
310 posts went live on Public Access in September. That's one hundred more than last month, and a new record for the fifth month running! That is honestly phenomenal.
115 total Public Access members wrote and published stories, including 66 new members. Welcome new members!
The Public Access member with the most posts published in September is Ryan Kh with an impressive total of 31 articles published. Second place is a three-way tie between Jimmy Rohampton, Shelly Green and Lisa Rachel who each published 14 articles.
The top 10 most read Public Access posts for August (not counting the Public Access Weekly posts) were:
Netflix Subscriber Satisfaction Rises Despite Price Increase by Chris Brantner
Netflix saves kids from over 150 hours of commercials a year by Rob Toledo
Nokia says it can deliver internet 2,000 times faster than Verizon Fios by Chris Brantner
Is 'Allo' Google's Answer to the Facebook Messenger? by Ashok Srivasatava
The Geek's Guide to Getting The Max Out Your Airfare by Dianna Labrien
Ticwatch 2 vs Apple Watch by Jerry Li
The Scary Link Between Technology and Identity Theft by Ryan Kh
How to Choose Your First DSLR Camera by Dianna Labrien
Since 2012, The Netflix Library Has Been Cut in Half by Rob Toledo
Is VR Still Too Expensive For Gamers? by Dianna Labrien
Congratulations to all those folks who saw their stories hit it big! And a heads up -- if you're a Public Access member keep an eye on your inbox next week. We've got some changes and updates on the way so you should be receiving an email from us with all the details.
Looking for something to read? Check out:
There's more trouble in store for Samsung -- a replacement Galaxy Note 7 reportedly began smoking. While in the owners pocket. After it had been shut off. Oh yeah, and this all went down on an airplane. File this one under: Bad to worse.
If you asked the average person if they're excited about AI, you might get some shrugged shoulders in response. However, if you asked the same person if they'd like a digital personal assistant, I bet they'd be pretty damn interested. Mona writes about how the onstage demos of Google Home -- and other voice activated systems like Siri and Cortanat -- are ushering in the age of artificial intelligence.
Bad news for fans of the 3.5mm headphone jack: The USB Implementers Forum released its Audio Device Class 3.0 specs which will provide hardware makers with the standard they need to run audio through USB-C ports on smartphones and other devices. The motivation is reportedly to work towards slimmer smartphones with better water resistance, however given the conversation happening in the comments it'll be an uphill battle.
Looking for something to write about? Mull over:
A few Public Access members have written recently about the technology they use to help them get a good nights sleep, and the updated Apple Watch may include apps to track sleeping patterns. Do you use technology to help you sleep? What do you use, and how well does it work for you?
Rumors about who will buy Twitter have been swirling around the company for the last few weeks, but the company reportedly wants to finish up the sales process by the end of this month. Who will buy Twitter? Anyone? And a better question -- who should buy Twitter, and why?
Last week we noticed a few companies using our comments system to respond to customer concerns about their products -- both successfully and well... not that successfully. How do you communicate with companies when you have an issue with their product or service? Twitter? Email? A good old-fashioned phone call (the horror)? In this era of social media and instant connections, what is the best way to file complaints with a company?
