The Daily Dose

By the time you read this, I hope you’ve at least received your far-delayed tax return due to the US government shut down. But no matter who blinked first to end the shutdown (or possibly start it again), chances are another self-inflicted crisis will likely happen between now and 2020 because Washington politicians don’t remember how to work together. This is no way to run a “superpower.” Americans are pissed off nationwide, and despite the president’s insistence that America is respected again, confidence in American leadership has plummeted worldwide. Even so, the US will likely survive its embarrassing inability to conduct the business of government…

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“Shut up, Siri!” “Screw off, Alexa!” We’ve all heard people berating their voice assistants, often in colorful terms. You’ve probably done it yourself, and so what? It’s not like our voice assistant has feelings — “she” is just a collection of code and a disembodied, robotic voice. Or so the conventional thinking goes. I’m here to tell you that thinking is wrong, and if you don’t want the Terminators hunting your grandchildren down in a dystopian future, start being nicer to Alexa today. Tech titans’ take Okay, I’m half-joking about the Terminators. But the point I’m making about the way…

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A growing number of universities in the US are abandoning the use of standardized tests as a key factor in the admissions process. Last month, Creighton University announced that it won’t require hopeful applicants to submit ACT or SAT test results beginning in 2020, joining the likes of Arizona State University, DePaul University, Drake University, University of Arizona, and University of Chicago, among others. Why are these respected institutions ditching these test scores, which have been a core tenet of assessing college readiness for nearly 60 years? The answer is simple: they aren’t an accurate way to assess students’ knowledge…

This story continues at The Next Web