Gadgets & Tech – Spoken Edition

Scientists don’t work in a vacuum. Their work should always come along with a rigorous review process to ensure their methods and results aren’t wild, misinterpreted, or outright made up. But what if you’ve found a way to fake your own review? That’s the problem facing a cancer journal called Tumor Biology that used to be published by the large science publisher Springer.

Have you heard? AT&T is going to “pave the way for the next generation of faster speeds” with something called 5G Evolution. No, it’s not actually a new 5G network, the much hyped successor to 4G that’s supposed to change the way we connect to the internet. It’s just a re-branded 4G offering, and AT&T’s sad attempt at seeming innovative. If you already feel confused, don’t worry. AT&T probably isn’t offering 5G Evolution for your phone or in your area.

We’ve been talking a lot lately about the perks and perils of Microsoft Office, especially the program you begrudgingly used to write your college papers: Word. In what appears to be an unrelated move, Apple just made a whole host of productivity apps free. Get excited for Pages! (Borat voice: “Not!”) But seriously, this is not bad news.

Holy fucking shit. Mark Zuckerberg himself, the creator of Facebook and the fifth richest man in the world, just descended down to Earth to walk among us plebeians at the Facebook Developer Conference in San Jose. I was one of the mere mortals lucky enough to witness the power and strength of His Holiness as he gilded around the halls of the San Jose Convention Center, and let me tell you, it was amazing.

Have you gotten a call from the number 1-800-323-8603? Does it say on Caller ID that it’s from the Department of Homeland Security? It’s definitely a scam. Hang up and don’t give them any information. That number is the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) hotline. The number exists for employees of DHS to file complaints. But that number never makes outgoing calls.

The Brits are having an election on June 8th, as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to shore up support before things really get messy with Brexit. But an unlikely person has just floated the idea of running for British Parliament. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange just asked his followers on Twitter if he should run for election. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2010, in what he claims is detainment without charge.

The Cleveland Police Department is searching for a man named Steve “Stevie Steve” Stephens in connection with the murder of an elderly man that was broadcast live on Stephens’ Facebook page. In earlier posts, he claimed to be perpetrating an “Easter day slaughter.” Stephens’ Facebook page has since been deleted. Video of the incident is still going around but we will not post it.

The United States stands on the brink of war with North Korea. As Vice President Pence said yesterday, the “era of strategic patience is over.” But it’s becoming increasingly clear that President Trump might not know the name of North Korea’s leader. Seriously. President Trump isn’t fond of details, at least outside of his golf courses. He’s always seen himself as more of a big picture guy.

Have you seen this adorable photo of a baby giraffe getting a kiss from its mother? The picture has gone viral in the past few days. Steve Van Zandt, the famous Sopranos actor and musician, tweeted it yesterday with the caption, “And just when you’re ready to give up hope...” Well, the mother giraffe in the picture is dead. Feel free to give up hope now.

Citing military sources, CNN reports the United States just dropped a 30-foot-long bomb with a blast yield equivalent to 11 tons of TNT on suspected ISIS targets in Afghanistan. Nicknamed MOAB (short for “Mother of All Bombs”), the weapon is the largest non-nuclear bomb in America’s arsenal. This is the first time a MOAB has been used in combat. Details of the attack remain sparse.