When the warehouse robot speaks your language
Until recently, putting a warehouse robot to work meant programming it through special software. Amazon’s newest machine simply needs to be told what to…
Author: The Smart Reader Staff
Briefs and quick reads selected and edited by The Smart Reader's editorial team.
Why more robots can mean more injuries
Adding robots to a warehouse sounds like a clear win for safety. The surprise, according to reviews of federal injury data, is that the buildings packed…
Build A Deck At Ground Level
Adding a deck is probably the least expensive living area you can add to your home and it can be an attractive addition to your landscaping. Building a deck is a fairly simple do-it-yourself job and you can find deck building plans at most home center stores.
How a king became 42,000 bullets
For six years, a gilded equestrian statue of King George III had stood in Bowling Green at the southern tip of Manhattan. By the evening of July 9, 1776,…
The signer who paid the price
When the 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, they pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” For Richard Stockton of New Jersey,…
The $4 frame that held a treasure
In the summer of 1989, a financial analyst from Philadelphia stopped at a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. According to the Los Angeles Times, he…
Jefferson’s odd July 4 shopping trip
July 4, 1776, was a busy day in Philadelphia. The Continental Congress had just voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, a document Thomas…
State of the Assistants The second great voice-assistant war
Siri turned 15 this year. Alexa is 12. Google Assistant is 10. For a decade, they sold us a vision: an always-on digital helper that would run your home….
Will Siri ever get smart? Apple makes a billion-dollar bet
When Siri finally gets a brain, that brain will mostly be Google’s. For two years, Apple has been promising that Siri would get a brain. The announcement…
Alexa+: From kitchen clock to AI assistant, sort of
Amazon was the company that put a voice assistant in 200 million American homes. It was also the company that watched ChatGPT eat its lunch. In February…