Google Gets a Grammar Check

For those without a Microsoft 365 account, Google Docs does a passable-to-decent job of creating a document. It doesn't have a grammar check feature...yet.

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Google Gets a Grammar Check
For those without a Microsoft 365 account, Google Docs does a passable-to-decent job of creating a document. It comes free with all Gmail accounts as part of G-Suite, so it’s nice to know it’s there when a document program is needed in a pinch. It has a big flaw though. No grammar check feature.

Grammar Misses

There are those times when one is writing a document, that the words are flowing as fast as thoughts. The fingers blur over the keys. And words appear on the screen. Then comes the editing. Reading along, sentence by sentence, discovering thoughts made tangible in a flurry of activity- but what’s this? Is there supposed to be an apostrophe for “its” or not? Small mistakes like this, grammatically, happen all the time. Thanks to grammar check features, they’re quickly solved and reduce the amount of time it takes to edit a document. As a writer, I speak to the helpfulness of these things as I have to write constantly every day for work and for pleasure. Grammar check features, though helpful, are not 100% secure though. Which is why having a second set of eyes is always a good idea. For writers like me, however, this sometimes a luxury. For Google to start implementing this feature into Docs means there will be another option available to match Microsoft Word. There’s no news of Docs becoming a fee-based service. That means another word processing application that can check grammar and spelling will likely attract a lot of attention.

Microsoft Word

Everyone knows Word. It’s often listed under “required skills” on a job application. Should you find yourself working in the publishing industry, you’ll discover Microsoft Word is the program you’ll end up working with the most. Queries coming in a format other than Word are quickly tossed out. Word, as of this writing, has the most sophisticated grammar check feature available to the public. If you’re using the most recent version of Word, you’ll notice the double-blue lines underneath words or phrases that are spelled correctly. If they were misspelled, they’d have that red, squiggly line underneath. No, the double-blue line is for grammar. Left click anywhere on that double-blue line and a pop-up window will appear with suggestions that are grammatically correct. Microsoft has worked on this grammar check feature for years. A big reason for its level of sophistication is because Microsoft launched Word back in the eighties. Ever since then, they’ve been working to improve the program. I may not have been the best student in English (I was worse in math), but after years of writing, I can say with confidence, that my grammar is much better because of my experience. It’s the same with Microsoft Word.

Grammarly

I work primarily in Word. The rough draft of this article was written in Word, in fact. To post my work, however, I go through applications that don’t have Word’s years of experience to check my grammar. As a hedge against possible embarrassment, I’ve signed up for the free version of Grammarly. At first, my pride prevented me from doing this. I had Microsoft Word, after all, why go with a young upstart? That pride, however, went away quickly when I realized there was no grammar check feature installed on the software used for our website. I hastily signed up for the free version of Grammarly. Unlike Word, Grammarly uses an AI to check my work. Grammarly, in their own words, uses a sophisticated artificial intelligence system to analyze each sentence. Now, on every email, social media comment, or online form that I fill out, a spinning green circle waits for me to finish so it can check if I’ve been grammatically correct. Not politically correct, spiritually correct, but grammatically correct. When done, it’ll turn red with a number on it, stating how many offenses to grammar that I’ve committed. I have yet to write something grammatically correct the first time through. I guess I’m still human then. Grammarly is helpful that way. It does not, however, work with Google Docs.

Google Docs

Google Docs does have a spell-check feature. This is basic and easy to install. It’s simply a dictionary app hooked up the word processing program to check my spelling against its database of words. Soon, Google will roll out their grammar check feature. In the beginning, it will only be available to business customers. If your company uses Google heavily, then contact the G-Suite administrator to have it unlocked on your profile…that is, when it rolls out. This grammar check feature doesn’t have the years of experience that Word has. Instead, it’s based on Google Translate. As it’s been described, Google will be using the same technology they use for their Google Translate app. This technology translates multiple languages, using machine translation. What Google has done here is plug in “perfect grammar” into the “translate to” field. Your writing will fill in the “translate from” field. It’s a clever use of the technology. How well it does in catching every grammatical mistake remains to be seen. But, as some great writer said: “Nothing ventured is nothing gained.” Maybe it was Chaucer?

On Writing

To me, Google Docs getting a grammar check feature is big news. To others, it’s a passing piece of news. Those are the types of people who don’t check their Dictionary App every day to learn the “Word of the Day.” Today it’s blinkered, by the way. Having a program check your grammar as you write is a tool that does more for you than you realize. Before something like this existed, a real person had to sit and double check your writing. And they usually had a well-worn copy of a style guide sitting next to them as they did this. Automation has taken this away and AI appears to be taking it over. Though this is good news, don’t mistake AI as the savior of writing. While Artificial Intelligence can do things for you, it can not- try as it might- speak for you. That’s something you do for yourself. And writing is a way to do that. With a grammar check feature, whether it be in Word, Google Docs, or Grammarly, you can hedge against sounding idiotic. But, to sound genuine, that’s something that can only be done by you and no one else. One last note, whether you write online, or write in Word and then copy-paste it into an online platform, make sure your internet is fast and reliable. Check out the best Spectrum internet bundles to see what’s available in your area and how much you can save. Then get to writing!

Get Ready for the Holodeck

Looking Glass Factory may have put themselves into the history of the holodeck. This idea has already been around for awhile...thanks to sci-fi.

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Get Ready for the Holodeck
Looking Glass Factory may have put themselves into the history of the holodeck. The technology startup has introduced hologram displays available for purchase through a Kickstarter campaign. These displays project virtual images through a lenticular lens, from 45 distinct views to give the illusion of three dimensions. You can pick up the display and turn it to see different parts of the image on display. We’re now one step closer to a fully integrated and immersive holographic experience. This idea has been floating around our collective consciousness...thanks to science-fiction.

To Boldly Go…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZwtVz7z0wM Star Trek made popular the concept of the interactive holographic display. Though not really utilized until The Next Generation spin-off, The USS Enterprise-D had an entire level of the vessel committed to this unique entertainment experience.

The Holodeck

Data gave the hard science explanation. And now for plain-English: light is projected to create three-dimensional environments that are fully interactive. Different environments could be loaded in seconds and based entirely on the whim of the person using it. The writers even went as far as to say that holograms could be solid. A solid hologram opened the door for the element of danger as blades and bullets would be lethal. Having solid holograms may have been less about science and more about practicality, as the budget for the show couldn’t produce the necessary effects to truly give the illusion of a holographic environment. With the science explained, the writers for The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, and Enterprise, all used holographic technology liberally in their stories. Again, it had practical uses to explain away why the crew kept showing up in places that looked a lot like southern California. “This is a hologram!” Someone would explain, and the show would continue. The writers also used holograms to hand-wave away deceptions. If the villain, or the good guys, needed to create a convincing forgery to trick someone, they’d lure their mark into the holodeck. This technique is in use so much it now has its own trope. Deep Space 9, is set somewhere other than a Federation vessel, had the holosuites. The same concept, just a different name. Voyager went as far as to create a character, The Doctor, using it. An intriguing idea until the discovery that the charact couldn't leave the ship. To solve this problem, the writers gave The Doctor a piece of future technology that allowed him to walk anywhere. But the writers for Voyager ran the character into the ground as it seemed they didn’t know how to develop flesh and blood characters. That’s enough on that topic…for now.

Practical Uses

While we work in the three-dimensional world, a lot of our planning is done on a two-dimensional surface. This can cause problems for artists, engineers, and designers who create three-dimensional objects. The Looking Glass is a tool they can use to avoid such issues. Up until now, three-dimensional displays were expensive and cumbersome. This has forced three-dimensional designers to wear bulky goggles. Not the worst part of the job, but I can imagine it can get old very fast. With a Looking Glass display, they can see and modify their designs in real time without having to take off and put back on a set of goggles. The Looking Glass requires a computer to run. Check out their site to see what equipment you need to utilize it. Unfortunately, for writers, like me, such a device wouldn’t be very helpful.

Creating New Environments

The Looking Glass also works with various haptic devices. Motion controllers, like Nintendo’s Joy-Con, the Leap Motion controller and others, can connect to The Looking Glass to allow users to interact directly with the designs. This type of virtual reality interaction, seen in the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, as well as the movie, are just a step on the journey towards a fully interactive environment. With Ready Player One, interacting with the Oasis requires the use of goggles, haptic gloves, and omnidirectional treadmills (a much better explanation is in the book). Given the book is set twenty minutes into the future, this isn’t too much of a stretch. I shudder to think of the cost and labor required to install all that equipment in my house. I think I’ll just wait until a fully-immersive environment is rolled out and ready to go. But not The Matrix. While interesting and certainly a possibility, I’m not keen on jamming a needle into my brain to travel to a digital environment.

Through The Looking Glass

With The Looking Glass Factory launching this new product, the holodeck is closer to becoming a reality. How soon that reality comes to fruition is still an unknown. Creating a three-dimensional image on a lenticular lens is one thing. Creating a fully-immersive three-dimensional environment that could possibly kill you– is something entirely different. Despite the gap between today’s technology and Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future, we’re slowly closing that gap. All it takes is for someone to say “I think this would be a cool idea.” After that, someone inevitably says “yeah, let’s make it a reality.” Until Edgar Rice Burrows and Jules Verne wrote about adventures in space, no one had really thought about leaving the boundaries of the earth. Then more and more people started writing about it and theorizing how it would work. Soon John F. Kennedy is standing in front of the nation and calling for a program to send a man to the moon and back before the end of the decade. It’s often the dreamers who dream that lay the groundwork for what’s to come. It’s said Roddenberry’s fascination with science-fiction began when someone handed him a copy of Astounding Stories. Had that not happened, there would be no Star Trek, no holodeck, and no Looking Glass Factory trying to make holographic displays. Find out for yourself by visiting The Looking Glass Factory and Start Trek: Memory Alpha. Before you do, save yourself some headache with the internet bill by finding the best Spectrum internet bundles. You get to cut down on bills and streamline your services. After that, you can boldly go…wherever your imagination takes you.

Walmart to Enter the Streaming Services Ring

Vudu’s getting more help from Walmart in the battle for streaming supremacy. The retail giant is getting ready for battle before it enters the ring.

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Walmart to Enter the Streaming Services Ring
Vudu’s getting more help from Walmart in the battle for streaming supremacy. There’s an unseen arena out there with three big contenders; Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. Smaller contestants are also in the ring, but they’re not making much of an impact. They’re content to stick to their small niches and maintain their authority there. Vudu was one of them. Now Walmart, having bought the company back in 2010, is looking to expand into the streaming arena and become a serious competitor.

The Champion

Though in its early phases, it seems likely Walmart will launch this new streaming service by the end of this year. If that’s true, then Walmart has little-to-no-time to build a streaming service from the ground up. This necessitates using one of the properties they already own- Vudu. Vudu rents and sells digital movies. The online service also launched its own ad-support streaming service, Movies On Us. These two services, while nice, are not in the same league as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. For one, they don’t create original content. Two, they’re just for movies and not shows. For Vudu to compete, Walmart would need to expand the offerings inside of it…which they are. Walmart has met with content producers inside Hollywood to discuss the creation of original content. If this move is successful, Walmart will have something different to offer the viewing public instead of syndicating popular titles. As stated before, they seek to launch this service by the end of the year. Unless Walmart has been secretly building up a streaming service, which is unlikely, then they’d have to use Vudu to do it. Vudu already has the basics in place for streaming. The goal would now become to add the shows and viewing capabilities required for streaming services.

Walmart’s Got Other Allies

Although Walmart has Vudu and can use the online movie streaming service as the platform for a larger scale entertainment service, Walmart would still need help in handling that kind of online traffic. Luckily, they do. On July 17th, as Amazon Prime Day was winding down, Walmart announced a five-year partnership with Microsoft. The technology giant would provide cloud services for Walmart. These cloud services are not just for streaming services. Part of the deal is to help improve Walmart’s online infrastructure and presence to better compete against Amazon. With this deal in place, and if the streaming service does launch by the end of this year, then Walmart can attack Amazon on more fronts. And who knows, maybe Walmart will have their own artificial holiday to take on Amazon’s Prime Day?

A Decisive Move

Walmart entering the streaming entertainment field means yet another streaming service to consider. In this Era of Peak TV, there are so many shows to watch that it’s overwhelming. This is both good and bad. Bad in that time is spent watching episode after episode. Sure, it’s entertaining, but you’re sacrificing time that you could also be outside enjoying nature, playing a sport, or talking to real people. Streaming entertainment isn’t bad when it’s in moderation. The good is that there’s bound to be something available that you’d like to watch. No matter your taste in entertainment, Peak TV has something for you to get hooked on. Good shows have a way of touching that creative side of our brain. They provoke us to try new things, even push our own boundaries. A better catalyst for pushing boundaries is reading a book, but we can get into that later. With Walmart entering the streaming entertainment field, there’s going to be more options. And not just for shows. But when it comes to price. There’s news that Walmart will offer this streaming service at a price lower than Netflix and Amazon. While this seems an obvious competitive move to make on Walmart’s part, there’s a hidden advantage. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, though great and offer a wealth of engaging content, they’re seen as more “west coast and east coast.” These streaming giants seem to tailor their content for people who live on the east and west coasts. These parts of the country aren’t bad. They do, however, have a different set of values than those on the interior. It appears that Walmart is seeking to create content that speaks more to middle America than the other three are. And with a lower price point, it’s sure to get a lot of attention when it’s first launched. Should Walmart go ahead with this move it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

A New Phase for Walmart?

Streaming services have their “personality.” To compete against them, a company must adopt a certain “streaming persona” to compete. This is true in other areas of life, not just entertainment. What will Walmart’s be? Whether they’re “hip and cool” or more “country,” doesn’t matter. Walmart needs to own it and commit to a direction. The true test to see if Walmart will be able to take on Netflix and Amazon is how their content matches up. What kind of content will they create? Are they looking for big players? Or are they going to gamble on unknowns and hope that they can score big? Until that happens, we’ll just have to wait as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and the rest of the gladiators in the Colosseum duke it out with new content and package deals. And while you wait, check your internet bill. If it’s a little high and you’re wanting to make sure in your budget for Walmart’s new streaming service, then have a look at the best Spectrum internet deals. No use fighting that battle.

2 Solutions for Cable-Top Boxes

As more and more devices are integrating and folding into others,there’s one stubborn resister- the cable-top box. Here's two ways to solve that issue.

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2 Solutions for Cable-Top Boxes

As more and more devices are integrating and folding into others, there’s one stubborn resister- the cable-top box. No matter what the new advances in technology these days, cable-top boxes are still around. They sit there, blinking dumbly at you whether the show is loading or not. Some customers complain they’re an eye-sore, others hide them behind furniture. Though this does fix an aesthetic issue, it ends up killing your Wi-Fi. Despite smart-home devices becoming more plentiful, and easier to use, the cable top box hasn’t changed much.

Remember the First Cell Phone?

I remember the days of Saved By The Bell. Remember Zack Morris? Remember that phone? 


The cell phone began as a luxury item, much like cable. And much like the cell phone, cable has evolved. It seemed to be stuck though. Cell phones, on the other hand, have changed. They began to get smaller and smaller, lighter and lighter. But they still had horrible sound quality and would drop calls. That’s when providers learned to improve cell signal quality. Then came texting, games, mapping apps, music, and other bells and whistles. More and more stuff kept getting shoved into this little device until they ceased to be cell phones and instead became smartphones. Touchscreens were at first a hip new thing, now they’re a requirement for inclusion in the smartphone category. If we’re to follow this analogy, cable top boxes are sitting at where cell phones were at the turn of the century. They have a lot of functionality in them, but there’s obvious room for improvement. Not to mention they’re still clunky and come only in one color. Instead of moving forward, cable-top boxes have halted in their evolution.

Darwin’s Not Happy

Cable companies still make a lot of money off the cable-top box, the main reason why there hasn't been much improvement with this technology. They’re a requirement for access and customers rent them monthly. It’s an income stream they’re not willing to get rid of. And who can blame them? As more and more streaming services enter the market, and less and fewer people continue to pay for cable, the cable-top box needs to adapt or die.

Adapt

Jason Brush, the global EVP of experiences & innovation for Possible, argues the cable-top box is not living up to its potential. With the push for TVs to be less of a TV and more of a smart hub for smart homes, cable top boxes could provide this already. Since cable-top boxes are usually the entry point for internet into a home, it makes sense to make these the hub for the smart home. Instead of only allowing cable access, with a DVR, cable top boxes could act as the headquarters for all the smart home devices. Brush suggests making them voice-activated, or to expand the user interface to make it more intuitive. The cable top box would become so much more than just “that thing for the cable.” By changing the gizmo into another smart home device, the cable top box would have more functionality. It’d be part of the home’s network instead of a network on its own.

Or Die

Another suggestion and the one consumers are more likely to approve of, is to have the cable-top box go the way of the dodo. That is, to become extinct. Take the cable option and incorporate it into an app available on your smart TV. This choice takes away a huge income stream for the cable company, so it’s the one they’re going to be the least happy with. The consumer, on the other hand, will be glad to get rid of the ugly thing and make their lives a little simpler. With smart TVs becoming more and more integrated into the smart home, getting rid of the cable top box is a natural part of the process. TVs will absorb the duties of receiving the cable signal and managing the smart home devices. And it’ll only require one remote too! Or heck, even an app from your phone.

The Future of Cable

Once the cable top box goes, and it will go, cable companies will need to rethink how they provide services.

 

Although streaming services are pulling in more customers every day, cable television isn’t done yet. There will always be holdouts who decide they’re going to stick with cable, no matter what. Then there are the cable companies themselves who have spent years and years building their empires. No one walks away from something like that just because they think a new competitor is too strong. Cable companies will find a way to adapt to the changing environment. The real question is; will they come up with a solution sooner rather than later? The good news is cable companies are still around and with streaming services coming after them, they’re eager to cut deals to ensure they increase their subscriber base and keep current customers. Search for the best Spectrum bundles. These bundles put cable, internet, and sometimes phone, into one package. You’ll save money by putting your services into one spot, as well as streamline the connections into your house. The cable top box will remain for the foreseeable future. This isn’t a bad thing at all, except if you don’t like the design and color of it.


Rocky Start Didn’t Keep Amazon Prime Day from Hitting the Target

One of the biggest retail days,Amazon Prime Day…had a rocky start. After that,Amazon struggled to handle the influx of visitors on its special day.

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Rocky Start Didn’t Keep Amazon Prime Day from Hitting the Target
One of the biggest retail days, Amazon Prime Day…had a rocky start. While Amazon isn’t a slouch when it comes to handling customers, the moment Prime Day launched, they started having problems. Glitches started to pop up from the first minute. Soon Amazon had problems handling that many visitors on its biggest retail day of the year.

What Did Amazon Do?

Naturally, Amazon reacted and scrambled to fix the problem. To help deal with the sudden increase of visitors, they switched to a fallback page, the one displaying dogs. This tactic was the help lessen the burden on the exchanges of Amazon’s hubs. They ended up becoming a story of their own. A company-wide emergency conference call was set up to figure out how to deal with the problem. By that time the problems grew faster than the dog pictures story; Sable, the internal computation, and storage service of Amazon was slowed down. When that happened, Prime, video playback, and authentication services were slowed down as well. To combat the problem, all international traffic was cut off to allow the network engineers time to hastily install more servers to deal with the overload. Once that was done, Amazon was back up and running to its normal speed. Though scary, the company plowed through, working to find the heart of the issue and get them fixed as soon as possible. They did, after all, set up the whole day. There was no turning back. The good news is that this was the most profitable Prime Day for Amazon. In the end, they rebounded well.

Amazon Wasn’t the Only Winner

Other companies launched sales of their own to counter Amazon’s momentum. While there were competitive deals, one retailer had the biggest bump in sales. Pitching their deals as a “no membership required sale” Target scored its best single day of sales and traffic. Part of the reason was Target’s recent acquisition of Shipt. Another part was the Minneapolis-based retailers push to improve their online infrastructure. When an online order comes in for delivery, most of the time it’s pulled from the shelf of a brick and mortar Target. Then it’s handed over to Shipt for delivery. Other retailers reported higher than average earnings too. Walmart, though it had Anti-Prime Day Deals, also used the occasion to announce they’d partnered with Microsoft as their exclusive cloud provider. This comes as part of the news that Walmart will be launching their own streaming service soon. The real question here is what kind of content will they be producing? In the meantime, this trend of Anti-Prime Day Deals will likely continue next year. It will continue so long as this artificial holiday is profitable for Amazon.

How to Compete

To truly take advantage of Prime Day, Amazon’s competitors will need to find a way to emulate the online retailer’s momentum without blatantly copying. This may seem silly to suggest, but it’s usually the simplest ideas that prove to be the most effective. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not so much. Keep in mind, however, these companies have multi-million-dollar budgets for marketing and hire marketing firms that charge just as much to hire them. With this type of money being thrown around, surely they’ll be able to find the right talent to help them crack the code for the perfect “Anti-Amazon Prime Day” Campaign. Target has already done so. Finding the right talent will lead to the right ideas. It’s ideas that drive the marketing. The marketing is what makes the difference between a successful sale or not. Sadly, it’s not how good the product is, it’s how well it’s sold. For example; the Pet Rock. It’s a dumb idea to put a rock in a box and call it a pet. The marketing is what set that apart and made it a success.

Next Year’s Amazon Prime Day

With this year such a success, you can bet money that Amazon will work harder to make next year’s even bigger. Of course, they’ll need to do a better job of preparing for such an extreme turn out of visitors. To avoid such a series of glitches, they’ll need more than one fall back plan. Dogs may have been cute, but it’ll only work for so long. Another tactic Amazon can use is to coordinate the launch of a new season of one of their hit shows. Or a new show with a lot of hype. Sure there’ll be traffic for the site, but isn’t that the point? Better to prepare now for it and start building up hype while the buzz of this year’s Prime Day is still fresh in the mind.

Make the Most of Amazon

While there may have been problems with Amazon on Prime Day, make sure your home network and connection are secure. This way it’ll be Amazon’s fault entirely. Search for the best Spectrum cable and internet in your area. Condense all those charges into one, smaller, bill. You’ll save money, the headache, and be able to show quickly online. And you’ll be ready for next year’s Amazon Prime Day and Anti-Prime Day deals and discounts.