Since 1989, people and businesses in the United States have relied on the FICO credit score as an indication of trustworthiness for any given person. Reported by each of three major credit bureaus, a person’s score can be calculated based on their payment history, their current debt burden, the length of their credit history, the…
Two years ago, I came into work on December 1 to find a bag on my desk labelled “Karen’s Christmas Intervention”. It contained many Christmas themed gifts and challenges – such as watching a Christmas DVD and going to a carol service. These were all designed to help me find something to like about Christmas.…
It’s the end of the year, so you know what that means: awards lists. In our case, it’s time to crown the best phones of 2018, which is a surprisingly tough activity given how many great phones there were this year. Besides, we recognize that everyone is different, with varying preferences on devices. So instead…
Explaining consciousness is one of the hardest problems in science and philosophy. Recent neuroscientific discoveries suggest that a solution could be within reach – but grasping it will mean rethinking some familiar ideas. Consciousness, I argue in a new paper, may be caused by the way the brain generates loops of energetic feedback, similar to…
My first NPC kill in the Red Dead Online beta was an impulse. I rode past the NPC on my horse, whom I’d named Vanessa, and this guy felt the need to insult her. So I grabbed my revolver and put two rounds in his head, then got off to frisk his body. The net yield of first…
Being an adult is hard and having responsibilities is harder. I mean, who hasn’t begrudgingly gone out for a single, but ended up spending the majority of the night out, sleeping in a bathtub, and forgetting they had to throw an office party the next day? Not I, friend, not I. So, you’re in this…
Flights at London’s Gatwick Airport are suspended after drones were seen flying over the runway, the BBC reports. The two drones were spotted hovering near the runway late on Wednesday night, causing flight cancellations and diversions. According to the BBC, some airlines rerouted their aircraft to Amsterdam and Paris, as well as other domestic UK…
People often say that they never forget a face, but for some people, this claim might actually be true. So-called super recognizers are said to possess exceptional face recognition abilities, often remembering the faces of those they have only briefly encountered or haven’t seen for many years. Their unique skills have even caught the attention…
Last night, we got word of yet another Facebook privacy scandal. What is that, Number 427 for the year? In this case, a report from The New York Times revealed the social media company gave an extreme amount of access to certain partner companies, over and above what users might have expected. According to the NYT report, Facebook…
Over the past few years, feminism has become a new wave of “trendiness.” Instead of being associated with with man-hating, bra-burning radicals it’s slowly entering the mainstream, appealing to a broader audience and making it a convenient marketing tool. Prominent celebrities like Emma Watson and Beyonce are publicly aligning themselves with the movement, so, more…
