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The Most-Deceptive Edition Monday, December 24, 2018

Which Smart Speaker Lies The Most About Santa Claus?, by Rachel Withers, Slate

All the smart speakers are fairly committed to maintaining the Santa myth, but Google Assistant, by virtue of its North Pole/Saint Nicholas slip-up, is the most truthful smart speaker.

Siri, on the other, is by far the most deceptive. Apple’s digital assistant is highly invested in keeping up the charade, from claiming it can see his house from the cloud to acting as if questioning Santa’s existence is a shameful crime. But Siri was also both the most prepared for Christmas questions and the fastest to respond.

Apple Watch Brought Attention To Tech Needs Of The Elderly, But We Can Do Better, by Assaf Sella, The Next Web

My prediction for 2019 is that the truly effective personal technology devices will need to get beyond just fall detection and focus on senior wellness. These systems need to address pre-emption just as much as they need to handle accident response. If you can detect small changes in behavior or an alteration in a senior’s daily routine — like a decline in meal preparation time, or an increase in sleep during day time — it might actually be warning sign of a deterioration in physical or mental condition, or the onset of a disease.

Effective wellness monitoring allows for the use of technological solutions that can employ predictive insights. Using AI, these systems can understand the context of the senior’s activity and track and learn daily routines such as eating, sleeping, and hygiene. That empowers family and gerontological support staff to make better informed decisions that can stave off the risks of aging.

A Busy Year For Meditation Apps, by Sophia Kunthara, San Francisco Chronicle

Meditation apps are on the rise, as more users turn to their phones to find their zen.

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Merry Christmas!

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