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I’m actually on vacation right now, but the moment news broke that Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding was in talks to play the lead in Paramount’s G.I. Joe solo Snake Eyes movie, I couldn’t not write about it! See, the G.I. Joe comics and action figures were seminal to my being a nerd of […]

It’s still only August, which means we should all enjoy the last few weeks of summer as best as we can before the days get shorter and the weather makes a turn for the worse. But nooooo, some of you refuse to let us do that. August is when stores start stocking up on autumn flavors, lining their shelves with pumpkin spice everything. And this year we do mean everything, because you fall-obsessed piranhas have finally pushed things too far. Get ready for Pumpkin Spice Spam, a very real product that will be available soon.

Spam

That’s right. Spam, the iconic canned pork and ham product that has been defying the odds since 1937, will release a limited edition flavor (which we first heard about at Delish) for this year’s fall season. If this sounds like a a bad joke gone wrong, well, that’s because that’s exactly what it is. In 2017, the company’s Facebook page posted a fake image of a pumpkin spice version of the foodstuff, but this year they are making it a reality on September 23 (only online from Spam.com and Walmart.com). So who’s laughing now? No one. No one is laughing.

Spam

What’s even weirder though is the first reviews for it are pretty good! The Daily Meal was sent a sample to taste test, and they mostly gave it a thumbs up. While they said the “combined scent of heavily processed ham and sweet pumpkin spice was a bit off-putting” as they cooked it, “the general consensus was that the flavor really wasn’t bad” because the salty pork went well with the cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg of the pumpkin spice. They liken it to a breakfast sausage and recommend having it with eggs and waffles.

We’ll get right on that.

Pumpkin Spice Spam exists, and we tried it https://t.co/2q7eecuTwY

— The Daily Meal (@thedailymeal) August 13, 2019

Eh, who are we kidding? We probably will. Pumpkin spice does taste pretty good. It’s just we’d prefer to start thinking about in mid-September, not August. That is unless someone wants to make us a Pumpkin Spice Piña Colada. How do you think that would pair with Spam?

Featured Image: Spam

The post There’s Pumpkin Spice Spam Now! appeared first on Nerdist.

The retail industry is changing fast. Malls are shutting down across the country and brick-and-mortars are continuously closing up shop. At this point, companies can either get mad and blame Amazon or employ new strategies to target a younger demographic of digitally-native consumers and online shoppers. That’s what Nike is doing, and it’s brilliant. Through its new sneaker subscription for kids, the footwear giant is building a direct-to-consumer connection with a new generation of customers, some of whom are not even old enough to tire their own shoes.

On Monday, Nike unveiled the Nike Adventure Club subscription plan, which is aimed at children from two to 10 years old, reports CNN. The plan gives parents three different tier options for their kids. They can sign up for four pairs of sneakers a year for $20 a month, six pairs for $30 a month, or 12 pairs for $50 a month. They will also have the option to choose from a selection of about 100 sneakers.

In addition to saving parents time and dreaded trips to the shoe store, children will get a kick out of the fun, kid-friendly boxes, which are decorated with animation that can be colored-in and filled with games and activities. Nike’s subscription box will also include a sizing chart to help parents measure their children’s feet.

On top of being a convenient and consistent revenue generator, the subscription service gives Nike the opportunity to establish brand loyalty with a (very) young market. According to Forbes, subscription services have grown by more than 100% each year from 2013 to 2018, ballooning into a billion-dollar business and one of the fastest-growing consumer trends. Subscriptions have also changed the way people shop for everything from clothing to meals to razors. But, for Generation Z, who grew up with on-demand TV and next-day delivery, subscription services are the norm. So it makes sense for Nike to target this base by tapping into the subscription market.

“Solving the need for parents with kids aged 2-10 years means that we are going to start building relationships through kids,” the scheme’s manager for Nike, Dave Cobban, said, reports Reuters.

Lastly, the Nike Adventure Club gives the sneaker company the ability to capitalize on the U.S. kids’ $10 billion shoe market. “In providing footwear, we’re always trying to answer, ‘What do kids want?’” Nike Adventure Club’s director of product experience and retention, Dominique Shortell, said in a press release. “But an equally important question is, ‘What kind of experience are we providing for their parents?’ We want to make shopping for footwear as convenient as possible for them.”

If all goes well, don’t be surprised if Nike rolls out a sneaker club for adults.

On a scale from one to Godzilla is coming!!! how scared are you of Amazon’s burgeoning, soon-to-be-ubiquitous object recognition software? Don’t lie about where you fall on the scale: Amazon’s AI now knows when you’re afraid. (Insert a million screaming-face emojis here.)

via GIPHY

In a recent Amazon Web Services (AWS) post, which comes via CNBC, the behemoth corporation announced that its object recognition software, dubbed Rekognition, now has “improved accuracy for emotion detection,” which includes a spate of emotions like calm, confused, disgusted, surprised, angry, sad, and happy. And now added to that list: fear. In the post, Amazon tacked that one individually on the end of the list, noting that it’s a new identifiable emotion.

For those who haven’t heard of the Big Brother-esque Rekognition software, it’s basically a system of neural nets trained on big data (i.e. a ton of photographs and videos) to identify and label objects such as text, activities, “inappropriate behavior,” people, and faces. And if you think Big Brother-esque is a bit of a stretch to describe Rekognition, keep in mind that it’s already being deployed by law enforcement to identify people’s faces. Which isn’t necessarily a bad application in itself, but let your imagination run wild and things could quickly evolve into a Philip K. Dick novel.

While fear was specifically noted by Amazon as a new emotion that Rekognition can identify, it’s actually only one addition to a number of improvements the AI is making. Along with identifying emotions, Amazon says that Rekognition is now also better at spotting gender and age range. Combined with the aforementioned list of other objects that Rekognition can identify, it’s clear that Amazon wants this software to be able detect and label absolutely any type of image you throw at it.

via GIPHY

There’s no explanation of how exactly Rekognition’s neural nets identify all these emotions, but obviously it’s spotting patterns in the way faces are contorted when reflecting different emotional states. Although, as CNBC notes, a lot of experts say that changes in a face don’t necessarily reflect a change in emotion — a pattern Rekognition could probably be able to verify or discard in the near future.

What do you think of Rekognition’s ability to identify emotions such as fear? Do you think facial contortions reflect emotions, or are you one of those people who always looks angry even when you’re happy? Let us know in the comments!

Feature image: Warner Bros

The post Amazon’s Rekognition AI Can Now Identify Fear appeared first on Nerdist.