What's trending in culture this week.
A look at what's trending this week.
In a phrase: Tinder for your workout
Where to get it: wellsquad.com
Finding a workout buddy is damn hard. Friends and significant others often don’t work: The kindness of a good companion may just enable your quitting or procrastinating tendencies. Or, alternatively, your S.O. could be a marathon-running, weight-lifting, fitness maniac like mine, who inadvertently makes you feel like a flabby sloth during workout dates. Just like there are a million points on our checklist for a romantic partner, the best workout buddy needs to complete us in a very specific way. Fortunately, in our extraordinary, technology-laden world, we don’t have to pick through strangers at our local gyms; no, we have algorithms. Enter WellSquad, a new website and app that matches you with workout mates based on fitness goals, favorite activities, motivation levels and geographical locations. Your excuses for putting off developing that NOD bod are growing fewer and fewer.
In a phrase: Computers that know when you’re sad.
Where to find it: Hasn’t hit the mainstream market yet, but it’s just a matter of time.
Computers have already gained the capability to play several roles in your life — library, secretary, personal assistant, dietician. Soon, however, it seems that your Macbook may also be able to take the place of your psychiatrist. New software program Affectiva, a start-up that grew out of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, uses algorithms to recognize emotions through facial expressions with 90 percent accuracy.
The possible applications of such a program are endless: Experts say software may be able to detect psychiatric disorders more objectively than well-trained physicians or identify if a driver is stressed or tired to help prevent car accidents. The only concern is that these programs are a little creepy. Some critics claim the technology could be used to collect “emotional” data and use it to exploit consumers: There’s a fine line between cool new tech and Big Brother.
Rice Dance Theatre presented their spring performance April 17-19. The show featured work by guest choreographer Kevin Ferguson.
Wiess College freshman Ariana Morgan performs “Somewhere that’s Green” as Audrey.
Baker College senior Ana Builes received the Roy and Hazel Zeff fellowship, which will also fund a year of world travel.
Builes said she use her fellowship to gain a global perspective on coffee farming by visiting Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
Builes said she plans on going to law school after her fellowship, and then potentially starting her own coffee cooperative. She said she hopes to be able to explore global issues, such as women’s rights and fair trade, within the context of coffee production.
“I want to be able to explore both my interest in coffee and my interest in social justice through my Zeff fellowship,” Builes said. “I expect to be able to see how these two interests intersect.”
Coach Rhoades addresses the media at his introductory press conference at Rice. Rhoades was introduced as Rice’s next head coach on March 26.
KTRU Indoor Show
