AI is coming for the Assistants. Following Amazon's shift toward increasing AI's influence on Alexa,

Game developer and Fullflower Studio founder Anne Shoemaker comes from a family of web developers, so she had some idea of what coding is well before most kids do. But when she was around 8 or 9 years old, her parents introduced her to a program called Scratch, a free tool aimed at helping children learn about programming. From there, she was hooked. A couple of years later, already set with a solid foundation, she started creating on Roblox, a platform that unites gamers and developers while also providing an environment where people can create their own games. “My favorite game on Roblox broke, and I was really sad. I wanted me and my friends to still be able to play it,” she said during last week’s Refinery29 Twitch stream. “I created a game that was similar. Then it got, like, 100 players and I was like, ‘You gotta keep going, that’s really cool.’”

PREORDERS ARE LIVE: As of Aug. 1, the new Xbox Wireless Controller – Stormcloud Vapor

By Katherine Masters NEW YORK Retailers such as Macy's and Columbia Sportswear are expanding their use of "breathable"

First it was almond cookies—now it’s Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Fully Cooked Falafel.

There's a viral video of actor Angus Cloud that almost went unnoticed.

The photos online of Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza last September reeled in New York resident Frank Siragusa. But the $5.49 fast food treat he wound up with has now prompted him to launch a class-action suit against the taco chain.

When you think of designer fragrances, a few things may come to mind: Haughty, old-school, and reserved for only the most special of special occasions. Now, some of those things are still true, but none of them can be said about Chanel’s Chance range — a modern, vibrant floral scent, not to mention, personal favorite of mine. (Let’s just say, out of the 30+ fragrances I own, it’s among the ones I reach for most often.)

It looks like Lenovo is preparing its own competitor to Valve's Steam Deck. The company

A TikTok creator’s video sparked debate over whether or not chicken should be washed before it’s cooked. Zoe Barrie (@zoebarrie) posted a video, which has now reached over 3.4m views, on 17 July to reveal her step-by-step process for cooking “spatchcocked roast chicken.” Though the footage was one minute and 23 seconds long, skeptical followers were only concerned with the first 30 seconds: the prep work. Barrie was seen unpackaging a full raw chicken, taking out the guts, and cutting it open. She moved the meat to a wired tray and sprinkled it with salt crystals. Barrie proceeded to place the bird in her fridge before blotting it with a paper towel and searing it in a pan. Immediately, critics flooded the woman’s comment section to question her methods. “Wait, no wash?” one TikTok user asked, while another added: “Um, did you wash it first, though?” “Don’t you rinse before cooking?” one person questioned. Among the suspicious users, kind followers came to Barrie’s defense when they didn’t believe that washing chicken wasn’t necessary. “Washing chicken is as stupid as washing your bread,” one individual wrote. “These washing meat comments are sending me. Y’all are so silly,” another woman remarked. Despite the overwhelming number of individuals who argued raw poultry needs to be rinsed, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) advises against it. The FSIS warned that washing chicken leads to the spread and cross-contamination of bacteria and “poultry juices” onto other food and surfaces. Water also won’t “destroy” bacteria like Salmonella or Campylobacter, and “only cooking will destroy any bacteria that might be present on fresh chicken.” @zoebarrie spatchcocked roast chicken ftw ? (crispy chicken ib cooking school and samin nosrat & lemon chimichurri ib me) #roastchicken #salt ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic - Kenji Ueda Cross-contamination increases the risk of food poisoning, according to the FSIS. “This can occur if raw poultry or its juices come in contact with cooked food or foods that will be eaten raw, such as salad,” the report read. Per the 2019 Food Safety Consumer Research Project analysis, individuals who washed their chicken in the sink were more likely to contaminate their produce due to the bacteria left on the surface. The Minnesota Department of Health noted that, even if you wash chicken in a “slow stream of water,” risky germs are still able to splash on to fresh food or other dishes. Although most reports advise against soaking or rinsing poultry, some people still prefer to do so. In this case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put together a list of recommendations for how to safely clean the raw food. First, chefs shoud “run the water gently over the chicken to reduce splashing”. Then, immediately clean the sink and area around the sink with hot soapy water and sanitise it thoroughly. After handling raw poultry, people should also wash their hands for 20 seconds. Barrie went on to let the chicken brown in a pan and bake in the oven. Finally, she garnished the meat with a chimichurri-like spread. The Independent has reached out to Barrie for a comment. Read More Child wiping their hands on wedding dress sparks debate in viral TikTok People are surprisingly divided over burrata as debate oozes online Woman claims restaurant ‘hack’ for toddlers solves family dinners out

It’s a tale as old as time: The moment the sun is high in the sky, we want our hair to look suitably sun-kissed. It could be something minimal like the trending “Scandi hairline” trick (a bleaching technique that brightens the baby hairs around the face) or something like “glow lights” (varying tones of blonde that add a natural luminescence to the hair). Wherever you land, the association between warmer weather and lighter blonde remains steadfast.

Workers lowered a hammer and sickle from a towering sculpture overlooking Kyiv on Tuesday in a campaign to remove Soviet icons that ramped up...