More Stories I Never Started Reading*

Hard of hearing? Pornhub Now Provides Audio Description for its Adult Films

The porn streaming site's latest initiative aims to give the visually impaired a helping hand by offering professional narration to accompany its most popular videos. https://www.cnet.com/news/pornhub-now-provides-audio-description-for-its-adult-films/

 Can Google Automate Your Break-Up?

Popular Science - http://www.popsci.com/can-google-smart-reply-handle-your-break-up

*Inspired by The New Yorker’s “Stories We Never Finished Reading”

More Google Translate Fun

Sometimes I read Bulgarian easily and sometimes I struggle. When the worst happens, Google Translate is always good for a laugh.

• The original:  Едно от най-разпространените оплаквания на руските туристи с деца на почивка в Черна гора е невъзможността да се хапне без пушачи на съседните маси.
• Google Translate's Version:  One of the most widespread complaints of Russian tourists with children on holiday in Montenegro is the inability to eat non-smokers at the neighboring masses.*

Seems kind of harsh, don't you think? I mean, shouldn't the Russian tourists warn the non-smokers before letting their children eat them? Also, non-smokers have a notoriously bland taste...shouldn't the kids get some hot sauce? And what kind of masses are these? Is this some kind of heretical ritual? Is  Roald Dahl the premier of Montenegro? 

* As you've already guessed, the correct translation is "the inability to eat without smokers at neighboring tables."

Technology's Breakthrough Thursday?

Three apparently amazing developments appeared in the science news on April 6, 2017. In reading these remember the key words “15” and “%.” That’s how much I understand on average of the science I read. Still, these articles seem very clear.

Double The Capacity from Solar Cells

The use of solar energy has been held back because of the low efficiency of solar cells. The best panels return only about a third of the sun’s energy as electricity and most are far below that. The low efficiency means that you need a lot of surface area to get a usable amount of electricity, and that’s not feasible in a lot of cases.