FasttrackTechnology

Since its introduction at the end of 2014, the Amazon Echo has done an excellent job of blending simplicity and intelligence—so much so that shouting voice commands across the living room almost seems normal now (or at least Google thinks so). If you've signed up for Amazon Music, you can ask for a genre of music, music to match a certain mood, or a particular artist right away. You can also add Spotify if you prefer. 10 commands to try out of the box These voice commands come built in to Alexa and will work as soon as you switch on your Echo device. 1. Listen to music "Alexa, play relaxing music." "Alexa, play music by R.E.M.." 2. Get the weather forecast "Alexa, what's the weather like?" "Alexa, what will the weather be like tomorrow in Sydney?" Alexa handles all of your weather forecasting needs, whether you want to know if you need an umbrella later or want a long-range forecast for a particular pa...

Phone cases come in all shapes, colors, and materials. With the release of the three new iPhones, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8, the LG V30, and the Google Pixel 2, the most reliable companies are unloading all sorts of new smartphone cases. Below, our rundown of stylish, protective, and all-purpose cases for your new gadgets. If you are an iPhone 7 or Galaxy 7S user, click here for our last phone case guide. Skins To keep the look and feel of your device exactly as is, go for a skin case. Skin cases are flexible, thin, and usually made from rubber or silicone. They're not disaster-proof, but nonetheless an effective first line of defense. Oh, and they don’t cover the front of your phone, so make sure to pick up a screen protector. Spigen Ultra Hybrid iPhone 8 Case; $12. Apple iPhone 8 Plus Silicone Case; $39. Anker iPhone X KARAPAX Soft, Flexible Skin Case; $12. LK Pixel 2 Ultra Rubber Soft Skin Silicone Protective Case; $9. Spigen Liquid Crystal Ga...

Brobson Lutz remembers his first squab with perfect clarity. It was the 1970s at the now-closed French restaurant Lutèce in New York City. “I came from North Alabama where there was a lot of dove and quail hunting and I knew how tasty little birds were,” the fast-talking Southerner recalls. “I’m not even sure if I knew then if it was a baby pigeon or not. But I became enamored with them.” When he returned home, however, the New Orleans-based physician found pigeon meat in short supply. The bird was occasionally served in the Big Easy, but to satiate his need for squab, Lutz had to get creative. For a time, he says, he would call Palmetto Pigeon Plant, the country’s largest squab producer, and try to buy in bulk. “I pretended like I was a restaurant chef on the telephone to buy some from them, because they were only wholesale,” he says. Eventually, Lutz decided to take matters into his own hands—and onto his own property. He bought some land along the Mississippi River, r...

Willow bark has a long and storied history. The Sumerians used it 4,000 years ago to treat pains of all kinds. So did the Egyptians after them, and the Chinese and the Greeks, but it wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that anyone bothered to isolate the active ingredient and begin manufacturing it into the pills we know it as today: aspirin. We didn’t even really understand the mechanism by which aspirin works as an anti-inflammatory until 1971, and yet for thousands of years humans have been treating themselves with it. In some ways, this sounds like a triumph of natural medicine. The humble willow tree contained one of the best pain relief drugs we have, and those silly Westernized doctors just had to pay attention to what naturopaths had been preaching for eons. In reality, though, it exemplifies an old adage: What do you call alternative medicine that works? Medicine. Plenty of our medicines originally came from plants—we still look to them today for poten...

Flu season is still technically not over, but the tail end is the perfect time to look back and ask: how bad was it? Everyone wants the answer to this question when the peak is happening—is it worse than last year? When was the last time it got this bad? How can we be better next year? These are all important questions, but they’re difficult to answer during flu season. All the data you need lags a couple weeks behind, because doctors have to report flu cases and then someone needs to process and analyze all the information. Often, by the time the Centers for Disease Control has figured it out, everyone else has moved on. So—now that you’ve likely already forgotten how freaked out you were about the flu just a few weeks ago— here’s a look back at what made this season so bad and what we can do about it in the future: We heard about it more Normally the flu virus spreads in patches across the country, hitting certain cities and states at different points over the co...