This past week, Google unveiled Dreambeams. This kind of "personal intelligence" harkens back to ideas and concepts like Apple's Knowledge Navigator and Palm's Pre. The idea behind Dreambeans is that it uses the information from a user's Google apps, such as Gmail, Calendar, Photos, YouTube, and their Search history, to curate stories that have more personal meaning to the user. Google used the term "inspire and delight" the user - which reminds me a lot of my MBA student days.  The goal is not to scroll forever ( a ding against social media, which Google has sort of lost the battle on); it’s a finite collection of stories designed to spark new ideas and allow the user to focus on what matters to them.

The example that they give on the blog reminds me a bit of what the Pre's promotional materials seemed to want to accomplish: 

For example, I got a Gmail confirmation that my puppy’s treats were delivered and Dreambeans surfaced training tips for using them. It also referenced the Google Calendar reminder I have of my friend coming to town and provided recommendations of dog-friendly restaurants near me. Each story includes a unique illustration, reflecting the people and places you frequent the most.

These stories are also not static. When a story piques your interest, you can tap to dive deeper, and Dreambeans gathers information from across the web to help you take action. That could be pointing you to the nearest dog parks or suggesting puppy training classes (do I need those? who knows...the AI thinks I might be needing them lol). You can also save your favorite stories to your library and go back anytime.

Ngl, if this thing came out 20 years ago, I would have been all over it. While Google already has a lot of information about me (my blogs, my search history, my email, calendar, fit/heath app, photos, drive files, and probably all the old social network stuff), I still get the ick when I think of combining it all into an LLMs to gather insights about it. Partly because I think those insights are probably not on the mark, and I fundamentally don't trust big tech these days...

Anyone else playing with this?

According to TrueAchievements, I completed Halo 4 in 2014, so it took a while to get back into the franchise. Where I last left the story, Cortana had sacrificed herself to save Master Chief, Master Chief was floating in space, saved by Infinity, and returned to Earth.  I didn't get the Legendary ending (I seriously don't understand why they lock an important piece of storytelling behind the most difficult game setting...aaaanywhoooo). While Halo 5 does pick up the story, it's not a direct continuation.  The events of Halo 5 are a few months after the ending of Halo 4 and Master Chief has found Cortana again, and I guess she's up to no good?  So the story follows both Master Chief paths (to get that POV), and Fireteam Osiris who's after Master Chief...

Story Synopsis (from wikipedia)

Fireteam Osiris is deployed to the planet Kamchatka to retrieve Halsey amidst a battle between Jul 'Mdama's Covenant and Forerunner Prometheans. The team kills 'Mdama and retrieves Halsey, who claims to have information on a series of devastating attacks on several human worlds. Elsewhere, Master Chief leads Blue Team on a mission to secure a derelict research station; the arrival of a Covenant fleet prompts Blue Team to scuttle the station instead. Master Chief receives a cryptic message from Cortana, directing him to Meridian, a human colony world. Master Chief is ordered to return to Infinity, but he and Blue Team disobey orders and set out after Cortana.

Captain Lasky declares Blue Team absent without leave; Halsey believes that Cortana's survival through the use of Forerunner technology makes her unpredictable and untrustworthy. Fireteam Osiris is sent to Meridian to bring back Blue Team. On the planet, they find the colonists under attack by Promethean forces. Following Blue Team's trail, they encounter the Warden Eternal, a Promethean serving as Cortana's enforcer. After temporarily defeating the Warden, Osiris catches up to Blue Team, ordering them to stand down. Chief bests Locke in hand-to-hand combat and Blue Team boards a Guardian, a colossal Forerunner construct built as planetary enforcers. Osiris barely escapes the colony's collapse as the Guardian emerges from underground and teleports away to the Forerunner planet Genesis, where John and Cortana reunite. Cortana says that her terminal condition was cured by the same Forerunner technology that had saved her.

Osiris is deployed to the Sangheili homeworld of Sanghelios, where they plan to use the Guardian buried there to follow Blue Team. Sanghelios is embroiled in a civil war between the Arbiter's forces and the remains of 'Mdama's army; Osiris helps Arbiter assault the Covenant's last stronghold and board the Guardian before it disappears.

On Genesis, Osiris encounters the planet's caretaker, the AI 031 Exuberant Witness, who allies with them to stop Cortana. Osiris catches up to Blue Team, who reveal that Cortana is planning on using the Guardians to achieve galactic peace through forcible disarmament. Master Chief, aware of the devastation that Cortana's plan will cause, attempts to convince Cortana to stand down. She refuses and confines Blue Team in a Forerunner prison to prevent them from interfering with her plan. Osiris manages to transfer control of Genesis back to Exuberant, who frees Blue Team before Cortana leaves the planet. AIs across the galaxy begin swearing allegiance to Cortana and her plans. Cortana locates Infinity and prepares to disable it, but Lasky has the ship retreat until they can develop a way to combat Cortana. With Blue Team recovered, Osiris returns to Sanghelios to reunite the Spartans with the injured Commander Palmer, Arbiter, and Halsey.

In a post-credits scene, unlocked via completing the campaign on the Legendary difficulty, a Forerunner Halo installation powers up while Cortana hums.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this was a fun game.  It was interesting to see both sides of the story (Master Chief and Fireteam Osiris), and how they converged.  That said, I do wonder how we got from Halo 4 to Halo 5 storywise.  I guess there's some associated media (books, comics, mini episodes?) that explain this, but I don't really like it when storytelling between main media properties of the franchise are so disjointed.  I guess it makes it easier for new players to come in and get an intro, but...not to my liking.  Overall, this game was a 8/10 for me.  Solid game play, would play again (my first run through was on normal since I haven't played in a while), and a good story.  Also, no flood, which was always my most hated part of the franchise.

Gaming Synopsis

Achievements: 23/73

Gamescroe: 230/1250

Percentage Complete: 31%

Time Played: 11.5 Hours

Well, closing off this year's April Fool's roundup, this one is apparently from Apple.  Android has cute vinyl collectible figures?  Why not Apple?  The funny thing is that I had just listed to the recent Vergecast podcast and they were talking about Apple's early days and Steve Jobs' idea of "Mr. Macintosh" - so my brain went directly to "Oh...this is basically Mr. Macintosh" 😹

Direct link to youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQkb31_R19Q

I never really got the "I lost my socks" trope that seems common in North America. I've had socks with holes in them, but never found only one of a pair. Still...tech that locates your socks using some kind of mesh network...funny...sort of.

I guess this is the last food-themed post for April Fool's that stood out.  IKEA seemed to go above and beyond this year, with the Chupa-Chups collab to bring Swedish meatballs to a lollipop factor, and a Bed Bath & Beyond collab (from what I can tell) to bring the iconic Swedish meatball to your  bubble bath.  I think I laughed more at the bubble bath than the lollipop, but both brought a bit of joy to the day ;-)

Continuing with the April Fool's Food theme, two other brands that got into it were Omaha Steaks and Califia.  Omaha Steaks created a Pocket Steak product, which is mildly amusing, although not that ingenious (isn't this just jerky?).  Califia went with a funnier (IMO) "spicy vodka" coffee creamer...for when you need your coffee to have that extra bit of kick ;-)

OK, this was an April Fools's from Hue, the smartlight folks.  You may get a good chuckle from this but this may, in fact, be one of those sleeper ideas.  Why just have moodlighting that changes and pulses with your TV?  Why not have a small dancefloor of LED lights that make the house feel like a disco? ;-)

Australians sure do love their Vegemite.  To be fair, I also like Vegemite ;-), Marmite is fine, but Vegemite is what I prefer.  Anyway - for April Fools' a variety of different Vegemite-themed collaborations were "unveiled," including Vegemite ice cream, tortilla chips, and...Vegemite by the bucketfull.