Information Changes Everything

Not your Mamdani’s dating site, plus the latest information science updates

Learn more about the stories you heard today: * Hinge users complain it ‘isn’t the same’ app Zohran Mamdani met his wife on [https://mashable.com/article/hinge-complaints-zohran-mamdani-rama-duwaji] * Yann LeCun, a Pioneering A.I. Scientist, Leaves Meta [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/technology/yann-lecun-ai-scientist-meta.html?unlocked_article_code=1.408.wxn2.4IrM49z0ZfxD&smid=url-share] * Will AI mean better adverts or ‘creepy slop’? [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg4y4z169go?] * This New Hotel Reservation Scam Is Fooling People Who Use Sites Like Booking.com [https://lifehacker.com/money/hotel-reservation-scam] * Could ‘the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman’ be an AI avatar? [https://www.npr.org/2025/09/30/nx-s1-5558119/tily-norwood-ai-hollywood] * AI Commissioner | Comedy Sketch | Particle6 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sVO_j4czYs] * Americans’ Social Media Use: 2025 [https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025] * The Mission to Preserve Traditional Table Olive Recipes [https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/world/the-mission-to-preserve-traditional-table-olive-recipes/142430] * Adopt an Olive Tree [https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2018/07/adopt-an-olive-tree/] * Voices Celebrating 1 Trillion Web Pages: Jean Armour Polly, Net-Mom [https://blog.archive.org/2025/11/17/voices-celebrating-1-trillion-web-pages-jean-armour-polly-net-mom/] * Jean Armour Polly [https://www.internethalloffame.org/inductee/jean-armour-polly/] * Doodle for Google 2025–26 contest opens for submissions [https://blog.google/inside-google/doodles/doodle-for-google-2025-26/] * Meet 3 UMSI entrepreneurs gearing up to pursue full-time ventures [https://si.umich.edu/about-umsi/news/meet-3-umsi-entrepreneurs-gearing-pursue-full-time-ventures] Sign up for UMSI’s Research Roundup newsletter [https://www.si.umich.edu/research/research-roundup] Learn more about the University of Michigan School of Information [http://si.umich.edu/] Have feedback or ideas? Drop us a note at umsipodcast@umich.edu Follow us on X [https://x.com/umsi], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/umschoolofinformation], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/uomsi/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/schoolofinformation], and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-michigan---school-of-information/] This podcast has a companion newsletter, and you can get the monthly email version for free! Subscribe at umsi.info/digest [http://umsi.info/digest].

Six signs of phone addiction, plus the latest information science updates

Learn more about the stories you heard today: * Nomophobia: the irrational fear of being without a mobile phone [https://www.iberdrola.com/social-commitment/nomophobia] * The New AirPods Can Translate Languages in Your Ears. This Is Profound. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/technology/personaltech/new-airpods-language-translation-feature.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk8.HyMk.enxBazHiu2Nx&smid=url-share] * No car? No problem. Internet Roadtrip offers unique online travel experience [https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2025/09/17/internet-roadtrip-neal-fun-virtual-travel-discord/85785356007/] * Human-AI coaching models boost weight loss [https://news.umich.edu/human-ai-coaching-models-boost-weight-loss/] * Your Samsung smart fridge may have ads on it now, because of course it does [https://mashable.com/article/samsung-smart-fridge-advertisements] * Roblox meets 'Bake Off' with new competitive baking game [https://mashable.com/article/roblox-bake-off] * Microsoft just added AI agents to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint - how to use them [https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-just-added-ai-agents-to-word-excel-and-powerpoint-how-to-use-them/] * Can anyone become an influencer? Three people with zero followers find out [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7pe3l3d6no?] * New California law aims to hold driverless car companies accountable for traffic violations [https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/new-california-law-aims-driverless-car-companies-traffic-violations/] * Researchers detail 6 ways chatbots seek to prolong ‘emotionally sensitive events’ [https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/09/i-exist-solely-for-you-remember/] * UMSI launches mentorship program matching students with successful alumni [https://si.umich.edu/about-umsi/news/umsi-launches-mentorship-program-matching-students-successful-alumni] Learn more about the University of Michigan School of Information [http://si.umich.edu/] Have feedback or ideas? Drop us a note at umsipodcast@umich.edu Follow us on X [https://x.com/umsi], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/umschoolofinformation], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/uomsi/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/schoolofinformation], and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-michigan---school-of-information/] This podcast has a companion newsletter, and you can get the monthly email version for free! Subscribe at umsi.info/digest [http://umsi.info/digest].

AI Darwin Award needs nominees, plus the latest information science updates

Learn more about the stories you heard today: * Media Forensics Hub launches updated “Spot the Troll” quiz [https://news.clemson.edu/media-forensics-hub-launches-updated-spot-the-troll-quiz] * Slop added to Cambridge Dictionary, as AI redefines language [https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/cambridge-dictionary-tracks-new-ai-words] * WindowSwap [https://www.window-swap.com/] * Radio Garden [https://tech.yahoo.com/general/articles/radio-garden-174027447.html] * Judge rules Google can keep Chrome, but must share some search engine data with rivals [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-chrome-search-engine-data/] * Japanese Cities Use Social Media to Teach Tourists Manners [https://unseen-japan.com/japan-tourism-manners-social-media/] * Know Before You Go – Visit Kanazawa [https://visitkanazawa.jp/en/know-before-you-go/detail_278.html] * Replika [https://replika.com/] * I went on a date with my AI dream guy. Then I cried over shrimp [https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/nx-s1-5426671/dating-ai-chatbot-replika] * Dating an AI: How Much Is It Really Happening? [https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/ai-dating-quiz-08d29f57?st=YRGHgK&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink] * Multi-language audio – YouTube Blog [https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/multi-language-audio/] * These weather apps actually care about your privacy [https://lifehacker.com/these-weather-apps-actually-care-about-your-privacy-1850342974] * AI Darwin Awards [https://aidarwinawards.org/index.html] * Tired of cookie consent pop-ups? You soon may see less of them [https://mashable.com/article/cookie-consent-pop-ups-eu-looking-to-change-law] * UMSI convenes scholars and industry leaders to shape human-centered AI [https://si.umich.edu/about-umsi/news/umsi-convenes-scholars-and-industry-leaders-shape-human-centered-ai] Learn more about the University of Michigan School of Information [http://si.umich.edu/] Have feedback or ideas? Drop us a note at umsipodcast@umich.edu Follow us on X [https://x.com/umsi], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/umschoolofinformation], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/uomsi/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/schoolofinformation], and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-michigan---school-of-information/] This podcast has a companion newsletter, and you can get the monthly email version for free! Subscribe at umsi.info/digest [http://umsi.info/digest].

World’s first robot Olympics, plus the latest information science updates

Learn more about the stories you heard today: * World’s first robot Olympics held in China (Quartz) [https://qz.com/humanoid-robot-olympics-2025-china-tesla-amazon] * AOL to discontinue dial-up internet service (CNN) [https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/11/tech/aol-dial-up-internet-discontinue] * Versailles statues can now talk to visitors with AI (New York Times) [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/arts/design/versailles-ai-app.html] * Instagram’s new map feature raises privacy concerns (CBS News) [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/instagram-map-disable/] * Boston Public Library digitizes archives with OpenAI (NPR) [https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5471614-e1/boston-public-library-aims-to-increase-access-to-a-vast-historic-archive-using-ai] * ‘Tradwife,’ ‘delulu,’ and ‘skibidi’ among new Cambridge Dictionary words (Sky News) [https://news.sky.com/story/tradwife-delulu-and-skibidi-among-new-words-added-to-cambridge-dictionary-13412150] * 10 surprising things your smartphone camera can do (MakeUseOf) [https://www.makeuseof.com/things-smartphone-camera-can-do-other-than-photography/] * Texas A&M researchers map U.S. power outage hot spots (Texas A&M) [https://stories.tamu.edu/news/2025/08/14/texas-am-researchers-map-americas-power-outage-hot-spots-using-ai/] * Interactive power outage map (Netlify app) [https://psvi.netlify.app/] * Focus Friend app overtakes ChatGPT on App Store (Lifehacker) [https://lifehacker.com/tech/youtuber-hank-green-focus-app-just-overtook-chatgpt-on-app-store] * Pomodoro Technique (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique] * How to minimize distractions in Chrome (HowToGeek) [https://www.howtogeek.com/how-to-minimize-distractions-in-google-chrome-without-an-extension/] * School of Information launches two new AI courses open to all U-M undergraduates [https://www.si.umich.edu/about-umsi/news/school-information-launches-two-new-ai-courses-open-all-u-m-undergraduates#:~:text=Two%20courses%20launching%20at%20the,minor%20in%20human%2Dcentered%20AI.] Learn more about UMSI’s fully online master’s degree in applied data science: umsi.info/mads [http://umsi.info/mads]  Learn more about the University of Michigan School of Information [http://si.umich.edu/] Have feedback or ideas? Drop us a note at umsipodcast@umich.edu Follow us on X [https://x.com/umsi], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/umschoolofinformation], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/uomsi/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/schoolofinformation], and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-michigan---school-of-information/] This podcast has a companion newsletter, and you can get the monthly email version for free! Subscribe at umsi.info/digest [http://umsi.info/digest].

“Click to Cancel” canceled, plus the latest information science updates

Learn more about the stories you heard today: * “Click to Cancel” rule to make canceling subscriptions easier blocked by court [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/click-to-cancel-rule-to-make-canceling-subscriptions-easier-blocked-by-court] * Noom wants to be 'the Duolingo of health' [https://qz.com/noom-health-geoff-cook-ceo-glp-1-ozempic-1851783364?] * Robo-Bunnies Are the Newest Weapon in the Fight Against Invasive Burmese Pythons in Florida [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/robo-bunnies-are-the-newest-weapon-in-the-fight-against-invasive-burmese-pythons-in-florida-180987018/] * The 7 Best Puzzle Games You Can Play in Your Browser [https://www.howtogeek.com/best-puzzle-games-you-can-play-in-your-browser/] * ‘The postcard craze’ of historic Michigan: More than 60K postcards digitized at U-M Clements Library [https://news.umich.edu/the-postcard-craze-of-historic-michigan-more-than-60k-postcards-digitized-at-u-m-clements-library/] * Say hello to the new emoji coming in Unicode 17.0 [https://blog.unicode.org/2025/07/say-hello-to-new-emoji-coming-in.html] * New emojis are coming to iOS 26 soon [https://mashable.com/article/new-emojis-are-coming-to-ios-26-soon?] * This ancient Hungarian abbey is fighting an infestation of book-eating beetles [https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/nx-s1-5467062/hungary-library-books-beetles?] * Hugging Face introduces open-source desktop robot for $299 [https://www.techspot.com/news/108629-hugging-face-introduces-open-source-desktop-robot-299.html] * Imginn Lets You Browse Instagram Pages Without an Account [https://lifehacker.com/tech/imginn-browse-instagram-pages-without-an-account] * Imginn [https://imginn.com/] * We Made This Film With AI. It's Wild and Slightly Terrifying [https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-technology/we-made-this-film-with-ai-its-wild-and-slightly-terrifying/D17B233B-1E06-400D-9095-B5247306DD38?] * AI thinks like us? UMSI researchers unveil new model to predict human behavior [https://si.umich.edu/about-umsi/news/ai-thinks-us-umsi-researchers-unveil-new-model-predict-human-behavior] Learn more about the University of Michigan School of Information [http://si.umich.edu/] Have feedback or ideas? Drop us a note at umsipodcast@umich.edu Follow us on X [https://x.com/umsi], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/umschoolofinformation], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/uomsi/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/schoolofinformation], and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-michigan---school-of-information/] This podcast has a companion newsletter, and you can get the monthly email version for free! Subscribe at umsi.info/digest [http://umsi.info/digest].