Amazon’s Alexa just celebrated its fourth birthday the other day. Alexa has evolved from being essentially a hands-free gimmick to become one of the most advanced virtual assistants on the market. Just look at the figures. In 2016, Alexa could only respond to around 4,000 commands. By 2017, that number had increased to 35,000. Alexa … Read more
When you have a child, it’s important to give them a place to play. A kids door swing can be a great investment. It allows you to give your child an indoor playground without having to spend a lot of time setting things up. The benefits of a door swing may surprise you. Add to … Read more
There comes a dreaded moment in every person’s life when a major household appliance begins to putter-out and the crawl toward the point of no return is imminent. Knowing the lifespan (even vaguely) of appliances you’re likely using daily—like a stove, microwave, or washer—will not only put your mind and wallet at ease, but also … Read more
Indonesia is recruiting tribespeople to help fight outbreaks of haze with a government deal designed to tap into traditional ways of containing forest fires. The region suffers every dry season from a haze caused by smoldering fires, often set deliberately to clear land for pulp and paper and palm oil plantations on Sumatra and Borneo … Read more
As Sears starts to load up its shelves for the holiday season with all that new debtor-in-process-financed inventory, there’s one category that may be severely underrepresented on its selling floor: major appliances. According to published reports Whirlpool has sent a letter (wouldn’t you like to have been cc-ed on that one?) to Sears demanding that … Read more
Whirlpool has demanded that Sears send back products the appliance-maker shipped in the weeks before the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection. Whirlpool, which stopped selling its branded products at Sears last year but makes appliances under Sears’ Kenmore brand, asked the department store chain to return all merchandise it received in the 45 days before … Read more
At first glance, the term “traditional economy” would appear to mean the market-focused U.S. economy Americans have experienced for hundreds of years. Yet a deeper look reveals a significantly different meaning of a traditional economy, one that relies more on culture, customs and local history than dollars, cents, profits and losses. While certain elements are … Read more
Actors Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sarah Hyland — who play Mitchell Pritchett and Haley Dunphy, respectively, on the ABC sitcom — let slip some details about the show on Friday. A “bigger thing than the death” is approaching, Hyland, 27, told the Hollywood Reporter, referencing Shelley Long’s character DeDe Pritchett being killed off in Wednesday’s episode. … Read more
I have been an early-stage tech guy my whole career since graduating from Columbia Business School during height of the dotcom boom. At heart, I am little bit of a contrarian and very much a value investor. For that reason, I was looking for a shortcut when starting my last company—I think I found one, … Read more
Whirlpool wants its stuff back. All of it. On Thursday, the Michigan-based appliance giant fired off a letter to Sears, demanding that the retailer return all refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers and other appliances that Whirlpool shipped to it in the 45 days leading up to Sears’s Oct. 15 bankruptcy filing. Whirlpool argued that Sears was … Read more