YouTube Tests ‘Search by Humming;’ Musk Bummed By Shoddy Cybertrucks; T-Mobile Will Cut 7% of Workforce; Scientists Strengthen Concrete 30%-With Coffee Grounds!

YouTube is testing a new search feature…are you ready for this…powered by humming! According to mashable.com,  the platform announced this week it will be testing a new app feature on Android phones that allows users to search for a song by humming or recording it for more than three seconds. That sure would have been handy when I was a rock and roll DJ, and people would just sing you a few notes, and expect us to figure out the song. Only a few users are seeing the feature so far. If you see it, once you’ve hummed or recorded the song you’re looking for and the track is identified, the app will surface related “official music content, user-generated videos, and/or Shorts.” This should be a popular feature if they release it to everybody. A lot of people like a good hummer…

Elon Musk has griped on his social media platform about lousy build quality for the Cybertruck. Arstechnica.com reports that this was just after Musk quote: “drove the production candidate Cybertruck at Tesla Giga Texas.” Elon said “Due to the nature of Cybertruck, which is made of bright metal with mostly straight edges, any dimensional variation shows up like a sore thumb.” Of course, it was his idea to build the ugly beast out of what everyone in the auto business knows is a difficult material to work with. The brushed stainless steel in the old Deloreans showed everything. Musk wants 10 micron accuracy…which he says is achieved in things ranging from Legos to soda cans. 

T-Mobile is laying off some 7% of its workforce, about 5,000 employees. The provider says it is mostly in corporate roles, as it ‘streamlines its operating model and structure.’ CEO Mike Sievert said the impacted roles are “primarily duplicative to other roles, or may be aligned to systems or processes that are changing, or may not fit with our current company priorities.” Geekwire.com says the CEO also whined about increasing customer acquisition and retention costs. This is just after bragging about their best 2nd parter postpaid phone net adds in 8 years, and lowest churn in the industry for the first time ever. T-Mobile also bought back some $3.5 billion in common stock 2nd quarter, so they really have plenty of cash. Will service get better? Ha…what do you think?

Some scientists at a University in Australia have discovered that coffee grounds can be used as a silica substitute in concrete production…and when done to the right proportions, you get concrete that is 30% stronger than sand alone! Engadget.com reports that it isn’t as simple as just dumping the right amount of coffee grounds into the concrete mix…first they do what they call ‘pyrolyzing’ the grounds…heating them to exactly 662 degrees Fahrenheit. (I know that sounds like a kooky temperature, but it’s 350 Celsius.) It seems like a win-win…a lot less coffee grounds in landfills, less sand used to make concrete, and stronger concrete to boot! 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.