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1 week ago | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Have you seen your tween or younger child chortling over YouTube videos depicting an odd-looking cappuccino cup-headed ballerina or a three-legged shark wearing Nike sneakers? Or perhaps you’ve witnessed an entire room of kids break up over the numbers 6 and 7. Or maybe you overheard your teen’s conversation that went something like this:“He was looksmaxxing and pretending that his moves were all bussin while he simped over her.
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1 month ago | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Artificial intelligence is the topic of the day. Everybody is chatting about it and wondering how it will soon be stitched into the tapestry of our lives. But there’s one AI topic thread that you may not be thinking about or talking about over your morning cup of joe: What is AI borrowing from you and using right now? Yes, indeedy. We rarely think about how AI uses the information that we didn’t know we were offering.
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2 months ago | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
What if you could hand over a list of tasks to an AI personal assistant and have it take care of all the details? You know, you could just say: Order the weekly groceries (only forget the bananas this week). And book me a flight for, uh, next Thursday to Seattle; morning preferably. Have them deliver my drycleaning sometime this afternoon. Oh, and check my schedule for a good time to meet with Dave, next week.
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Mar 28, 2025 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Each year the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) presents a showcase of all sorts of new wiz-bang electronics, computer hardware and software innovations. This year it was hosted in Las Vegas at a convention center that encompassed some 2.9 million square feet of displays, showcased over 4,500 presenters and was a short-term second home for some 141,000 attendees with durable walking shoes.
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Feb 25, 2025 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
When you read the reference to an “AICompanion” in this blog’s title, you may have instantly jumped to the idea of some platform or device that you can make into a digitalized bestie. You know, an AI construct that you can wile away the hours chatting with online or making romantic overtures to. Hey, you can even wear pendant-sized AI buds like a necklace these days. You haven’t heard of those?
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Have you heard about those new mind-reading headphones? It’s true. They’re real. They’re called the Master & Dynamic x Neurable MW75 NeuroHeadphones. (Which is quite a mouthful.) And just in case you’re thinking they’re the equivalent of a pair of “Amazing X-Ray Glasses” you’d see in the back of an old comic book, let me stop you. The reviews are in, and these techy gizmos are actually supposed to read your brain waves accurately while delivering high-quality sound. How? Why? Well, let’s see.
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Nov 29, 2024 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Movies and games and such are fun, but there’s nothing like a good book for immersive and thoughtful entertainment. Hopefully, all you lovely Plugged In readers have been checking out our book review section. We try to pick up a cross-section of popular books in a variety of age ranges and genres. But in case you haven’t been stopping in regularly for a booky treat, here’s a tasty slice of solid reads that we reviewed this past year. by Shannon and Dean Hale. (Early readers.
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
OK, when you’re faced with a gazillion new game releases in a year, how can you possibly whittle that stack down to a mere five of the best, top-shelf, really great ones to tell people about? We asked ourselves that very question as we formulated our Plugged In Year-End Picks for the best games of 2024. And our editor’s answer is usually … I don’t know! Be brave. Suck it up!So, after some brave consideration, here is my list of family friendly fare for your perusal.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Well, here we are, closing in on Halloween. And your family’s movie interests may be turning to pics with a bit more character, more, uh, bite as you think about the season’s festivities. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer through the latest Terrifier or Smile flick over at the movie house. In fact, in my humble movie-reviewing opinion, I’d say that those pics aren’t a grin-worthy choice for anybody over the age of 2.
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Oct 11, 2024 | 
pluggedin.com | Bob Hoose
Not all that long ago, comedian George Carlin used to build his routines around observations of our society and its tendency to transform our language in odd twists and turns. He would talk about how some very plain-spoken approaches to things in our world became unusable in polite discussions and how people demanded they be replaced with something softer and less offensive.
