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In 2018, happiness among young adults in America fell to a record low. The share of adults ages 18 to 34 reporting that they were“very happy” in life fell to 25 percent—the lowest level that the General Social Survey, a key barometer of American social life, has ever recorded for that population.

Happiness fell most among young men—with only 22 percent of young men (and 28 percent of young women) reporting that they were “very happy” in 2018.

We wondered whether this trend was rooted in distinct shifts in young adults’ social ties—including what The Atlantic has called “the sex recession,” that is, a marked decline in sexual activity for this group in recent years.

In 2007, Netflix changed the landscape by introducing streaming on PC, allowing customers to instantly watch shows. By 2010, Netflix video streaming became available on additional platforms, including iOS devices. Today, video streaming services Netflix and Hulu have a strong hold among combined iOS and Android Top US Apps.

These convenient apps have set the stage for a preferred entertainment delivery. A whole generation of consumers have grown up with video streaming, rather than (or in addition to) paying for cable television: cord cutters and cord nevers. Major premium cable networks, HBO and Showtime, are now after a piece of the pie Netflix and Hulu have carved out

Both HBO NOW and Showtime are taking different approaches to standalone streaming partnerships. HBO NOW has gotten more traction in part to a heavy promotion from Apple, resulting in positive metrics. Showtime’s success is less clear, being married into Hulu’s already strong performance

Micromanufacturing is the manufacturing of products in small quantities using small manufacturing facilities

In a perfect positive feedback loop that invariably forms around emerging technologies, SMT machines, reflow ovens and other necessary components of electronic board production will become smaller and cheaper, then cheaper still as they get even smaller.

Digikey is like Amazon and Wikipedia rolled into one

“We plan to build this [platform] the way we’ve developed WhatsApp: focus on the most fundamental and private use case—messaging

WeChat Pay and Tenpay (Tencent’s business-oriented payment platform) accounted for 38.8% of the total amount spent via mobile payments in China during Q3 2018

games were the most popular category of miniprograms, used by 42% of WeChat miniprogram users in China

Consumers have more digital media options than ever, and most are finding what they want. But many are becoming frustrated by the complexity and effort piecing together their entertainment experience requires.

While consumers appreciate the freedom to customize their entertainment experiences, they don’t enjoy the friction—the hassles, responsibilities, and even vulnerabilities—that can result from choosing options à la carte.

the average desktop computer now has the raw processing power equivalent to all of the human brains on Earth combined

There is no longer a clear distinction between human and machine intelligence

Full immersion VR is now a mainstream phenomenon

IMAX is going VR, so put on your headsets and hold on

Late last week, IMAX announced that it had “completed the first phase of a $50 million virtual reality fund between IMAX and other strategic investors to help finance the creation of at least 25 interactive VR content experiences over the next three years for use across all VR platforms including in IMAX VR centers.” That means that at some point in the near future, we’ll be able to enjoy higher-quality VR content on really, really giant screens.

Undisclosed ads on Instagram are no longer just limited to posts by celebs

General users may be able to make the distinction when they see a Kardashian, for example, posing with a brand of tea they’ve never heard of. But the problem now facing the FTC and Instagram is that these types of posts are no longer limited to celebs and influencers. In fact, marketers are now targeting regular users, or what they term “microinfluencers” by offering them free products in exchange for social media posts.

The letter highlights two websiteS in particular, operated by Influenster and Bzzagent, that encourage users to share posts in which they’re seen using a free product. In exchange, the so-called “microinfluencer” receives even more freebies from brands including Maybelline, BITE beauty, Kleenex, and International Delight. Anyone with a social media account can join the websites and receive free products.

These T-Shirts Have Customizable Digital Animations When on Camera

The animated t-shirts work by first having the user choose a graphically themed shirt to start the process. Through the 'Drawsta' app, the user can then see which animated designs come with the shirt of their choice and take videos of the animation. The videos can be used on any and all platforms that are compatible with videos -- they can be texted, put on Instagram, tweeted, vlogged and messaged. Each week a new design option appears on the app for the animated shirts -- making them fun and creative. These animated t-shirt apps are a playful way to reinterpret the t-shirt and its uses by combining GIF-like technology with this classically casual clothing.

Its newest toy is called Barco Escape and right now it’s essentially three theater screens in one space — the main screen and then additional screens on the left and right walls. The effect is a 270-degree image that makes viewers feel like they are in the middle of the action.

It’s the kind of premium experience that most people would expect to pay extra for but Schilowitz says part of the point of Escape is to give viewers a more theme-park like experience without charging any more for a ticket.

One of the biggest trends right now is people watching other people play video games.

IMAX is Offering to Build Private Luxury Theaters for Homes

The cinematic experience has been decreasing in popularity thanks to a multitude of at-home streaming services that make movie-watching at home much more convenient. For people who have between $400K and $1 million to spare, IMAX is bringing the cinematic experience to homes. The company is designing home theaters that can seat 18-49 people, have 2D and 3D projectors, an IMAX sound system and large screens that vary in size depending on the room.

Smart billboards will identify car models and target ads to drivers

Some day in the not-too-distant future ads you see on billboards will be there simply because of the make, model, and year of the vehicle you’re driving. Smart data storage company Cloudian and Japanese advertising company Dentsu are launching just such a program in Japan this fall, as reported by CNN Money.

Cloudian and Dentsu tested smart billboard vehicle recognition earlier this year with impressive results. Combining big data and deep learning, the test identified vehicles in traffic correctly 94 percent of the time.

Forget keywords — this new system lets you search with rudimentary sketches

They’ve taught a deep learning neural network — an incredibly powerful tool that mimics the way that the human brain works — to recognize hand-drawn sketches and use them to search for real-life products.

The network was “trained” to match sketches to photos based on a data set consisting of around 30,000 sketch-photo comparisons.

Netherlands first to establish nationwide Internet of Things network

Three initial projects give a sense of the scope and types of application that will make up the Internet of Things. At the port of Rotterdam, depth sounders have already been outfitted with sensors and network connections. An experiment at Utrecht will connect all railway switches so they can be monitored centrally. And at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a major European hub busier than JFK and Miami International combined, tests with baggage handling are already underway. If you think of the number of pieces of luggage moving through the worlds sixth-busiest international airport you begin to get a sense of the scale of applications for IoT. If each piece of luggage has an IoT tag, nothing should be unaccounted for.

Citizens of Kuwait must now register their DNA with the government or face hefty fines

In a bold and controversial move, Kuwait has just passed a new law that makes it mandatory to register your DNA with the government. Starting soon, the 1.3 million citizens and 2.9 million foreign residents of Kuwait will have to enter their individual DNA profiles into a government database.

Since the program is being mandated, the government of Kuwait will spend the equivalent of about $400 million to subsidize the DNA testing and management. Refusal to comply or DNA tampering could result in fines as high as $33,000, and even time in prison.

Now, it is the Millennials’ turn to be the whipping boys, and girls. Their attitudes are in sharp contrast with those of the Boomers who are increasingly running the organizations where they work. While Boomers believe strongly in the value of experience and working your way up, Millennials are seen as feeling entitled and over-pampered by parents only too well aware of how challenging the workplace has become for those who are not sufficiently prepared

Millennials are significantly more likely to ask for a pay rise and a promotion than their counterparts in either of the preceding generations

they are also rather more likely than their elders to complain of long hours.