Parade's Rylan Fischer on July 31, 2026 introduced a superb new spoken-word piece "The Fly" by Tom Waits. It serves as the B-side to his stellar collaboration with Massive Attack, "Boots on the Ground".
And this is what he wrote on Tom Waits. "...He is one of the most singular American artists of all time. He is a potent and sardonic songwriter who utilizes sounds and styles from the most unlikely places to create songs and stories that sound nothing like anything you'll ever hear. With instrumentation as down-and-out as the people he depicts in his music, Waits captures all corners of the idiosyncratic, deranged, depressed, and authentic that makes up America", as noted by Parade.
And so, "The Fly" is already available digitally on July 31 and the physical eco-conscious vinyl scheduled for September 04.
A satirical, comically wry ode to the common housefly (Musca domestica), written out of a "begrudging admiration for the brief, unsung life of the insect", that's what it it!
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I’ve become a big fan of the new song. I'm fascinated by how he trains his singular focus on something as uncommonly common as the common housefly. And I find him to be such a fascinating voice to listen to, and his writing has a way of commanding my attention.
The fact that Waits relies entirely on the gravel and rhythmic cadence of his own voice to build the tension, turning simple, stark spoken words into a percussive, theatrical performance, proves he doesn't need a band to create a brooding atmosphere.
Overall, the song is packed with all of Waits’ dark wit and gritty honesty. For sure, the choice to forego any instrumentation works brilliantly as well, putting me right in the room with Waits and making me feel like I’m staring right at the eponymous fly.
I very much appreciate this particular track because I myself have given speeches on the cockroach and the frog!
As with the housefly ditty, the speeches have stood out!
Like the protagonist in his taboo novel, doctor-turned-author Yo Kusakabe (久坂部羊) believes chopping off elderly patients’ useless limbs could help prevent a potential collapse of super-ageing Japan’s overstressed care industry.
Now the former doctor’s extraordinary ideas are on display on the big screen, with the book’s film adaptation attracting huge controversy since its release in Japan in May.
But Haiyoshin (廃用身, Useless Body), which sees a young doctor advocate for “A-care (Amputation Care)”, has also focused attention on the struggling care sector in a country with the world’s second-oldest population.
Kusakabe (right), a former geriatric specialist from Osaka, explained to AFP the thinking behind his shocking proposition, saying removing paralysed limbs would make patients lighter and reduce the burden on caregivers in case the care industry reaches crisis point.
He sees it as a potential game changer, provided patients in the real world give consent. He argues that patients’ immobile arms and legs are impediments to caregiving: They dangle like dumbbells, get stuck in pyjamas and require more bathing.
“If you cut them off, a female carer would have less difficulty lifting a hefty male patient or suffer less back pain”, the 70-year-old said.
Kusakabe’s 2003 novel features unstinting depictions of carer shortages, overburdened family members and abused elderly patients. The topic feels even more relevant in present-day, greyer Japan, where almost one in three people are aged 65 or older.
The government estimate a shortfall of about 570,000 carers by 2040.
“Japan’s caregiving industry isn’t collapsing yet – but with (the number of) elderly people requiring care predicted to keep increasing, it is heading towards breaking point”, Kusakabe said.
In Japan, homicides by overwhelmed, desperate carers are common enough that the term “kaigo satsujin” (caregiving murders) often makes it into the news.
One investigation by public broadcaster NHK in 2016 revealed that such a tragedy took place roughly once every two weeks.
If homicides or incidents of abuse increase, Kusakabe said, “I think it’s possible that chopping off useless limbs would emerge as an option”.
Kusakabe points out his novel was deemed “unfilmable” when it first came out more than two decades ago. Now the story is finally in cinemas, reviewers online have labelled it everything from “shocking” and the year’s “most controversial film”, to “terrifying madness”.
But other critiques were more nuanced. “Some may say (the amputation) is ruthless and unethical, but honestly, I thought it had a point”, one wrote on cinema information website eiga.com.
In “Haiyoshin”, patients are also portrayed as benefitting, at least initially, from A-care.
Kusakabe recalls that some of his patients yearned to be rid of their crippled arms and legs that did nothing but throb, hinder movement and at times convulse unexpectedly.
No longer in pain, amputees in the film are shown relishing their newfound agility, tossing balloons with what remains of their bodies and deftly manoeuvring wheelchairs.
The film poses the question: What truly constitutes end-of-life dignity?
“Is it to try to put your immobile arms through sleeves with great pain, or not to suffer pain at all?“ Kusakabe asks.
“If someone desires amputation and that makes caregiving easier for their family, and the family accepts that, then I don’t think it’s anyone’s business to interfere”.
But such a “rational” pursuit of quality of life does not necessarily guide elderly care in Japan, he adds.
Feeding tubes and intravenous drips for those aged 75 or older are heavily covered by insurance and are often used to keep alive those bedridden.
Families also “simply cannot bear the thought of doing nothing” for their dying parents or spouses, oblivious to the possible suffering such treatment is causing them, Kusakabe says.
That contrasts with Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark, where palliative-care best practice often dictates elderly patients not be fed if they stop eating.
“Japan blindly believes that even those clearly better off being left to die must be kept alive and that’s the absolute right thing to do” even as the toll on caregivers continues to snowball, the doctor says.
“This inability to take a bold, rational approach probably makes something as radical as A-care a poor fit for Japan after all”.
In Haiyoshin, the initial hype about elective amputation winds up brutally deflated by a tragedy that ultimately shatters the main character’s confidence in its efficacy.
“People tend to assume medical procedures are completely safe and they demand only the positive effect”, Kusakabe says.
The novel’s shocking twist is “my way of pushing back against those excessive expectations society has for medicine”.
A full-sized adult humanoid robot, developed by Shenzhen-based EngineAI, first joined special police and SWAT officers for a high-profile real street patrol on April 30, 2026 in the Nanshan district of Shenzhen, China.
The robot's presence on the streets attracted significant public interest. The deployment serves as a real-world showcase for how embodied AI and humanoid robotics may soon be integrated into public safety and high-traffic area operations.
The 1.73-meter-tall, 75-kilogram robot and featuring a magnesium-aluminum alloy frame, previously made public appearances – such as at the "Window of the World" theme park in December 2025 – but the April 30 event marked its deployment on actual public streets alongside armed law enforcement.
Equipped with precision sensors and onboard AI, it is capable of performing autonomous assessments, walking, running, and complex maneuvers like spinning kicks. The CEO of the company put on pads and let it spar with him – and got knocked over on the second try!
If you didn't already know, it is named T-800, the same as that of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-portrayed cyborg from the Terminator franchise. In the latter, it is famous for its metal endoskeleton covered in living human tissue.
And here's the kicker – the Chinese version costs just $25,000 and you can pre-order it on JD-dot-com. Like, right now. From your couch.
If you do, you can find yourself riding around in your own giant, transformable mecha!
That's because Hangzhou, China-based Unitree have officially unveiled the GD01 on May 12, 2026. It was introduced as the world’s first mass-produced, human-piloted mecha, a futuristic rideable machine capable of switching between two-legged and four-legged movement modes.
Yesterday, Celtic won 3-1 against Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park. And which means, they earned another winners' medal and completed a double. Celtic's 43rd Scottish Cup!
And btw, this was their ninth consecutive victory in both league and cup.
Celtic scored twice in the first half. Daizen Maeda lobbed the Pars goalkeeper after 19 minutes, and Arne Engels unleashed a low shot from 25 yards in the 36th minute.
They added another in the second half when Kelechi Iheanacho dribbled through the Dunfermline defence and beat the goalie in the 73rd minute. The Fifers pulled one back six minutes later.
It's mindboggling that the Scottish champions can have such an omnishambles of a season and still come out on top.
A Celtic team that was down and out only to end up winning two trophies because we thankfully brought back the man from 26 years ago to steady the ship. Thank you, Martin O'Neill! 💖💖💖
Celebrities arrived at the 2026 Met Gala with their take on this year's theme – costume art – where organisers asked attendees to experiment with the lavish and whimsical dress code.
Heidi Klum, as expected, came well-prepared, looking like she walked out of a museum's sculpture gallery and onto the carpet.
In fact, she was virtually unrecognizable on the May 04 event, dressed as a marble statue complete with draped robes that hugged her figure and facial prosthetics that mimicked a veil rendered in stone. And the 52-year-old supermodel wore a floral wreath and flat sandals, showing off head-to-toe chalky gray body paint.
It was her first appearance on this particular red carpet in 12 years, having last attended in 2013.
Reds failed to beat Blues who had lost their previous six Premier League games, managing an uninspiring 1-1 draw at Anfield on Saturday.
Rio Ngumoha’s work on the left wing opened the space for Ryan Gravenberch on the edge of the penalty box, with just one touch needed before a beautifully curled shot inside of six minutes.
Chelsea levelled in the 35th minute. Easy-peasy.
And that was it. When the final whistle was blown, the Liverpool faithful let loose a raucous outburst of boos at Arne Slot and his players. It was another poor game from them.
And yesterday too, Heart of Midlothian and Motherwell produced a similar score. They drew 1-1.
Leaders Hearts nudged four points clear of Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race but really, they missed an opportunity to put maximum pressure on the defending champions before today's Old Firm derby.
Burger King are aggressively expanding in Japan, having quadrupled their footprint from 77 locations in 2019 to 352 currently, with a target of 600 by 2028.
These ambitions caught the attention of Goldman Sachs, who purchased the Japanese chain for 78.5 billion yen, and provided them with even more financial backing to grow rapidly.
Burger King are certainly holding up their end of the deal by launching quite possibly the most aggressive expansion campaign not only in Japan, but anywhere. They have publicly announced that they will offer up to 40 million yen cash to any franchise owner of a rival chain, such as McDonald’s or Mos Burger, that has been in business for at least three years and is willing to convert their restaurants to Burger Kings.
In addition, Burger King will cover half of the initial investment to make the switch and say that their average location pulls in about 17 million yen a month. This makes a very clear statement to franchise owners that if their income is south of that, then it’s probably time for a change. The change can take place anytime before December 2028, giving franchisees a little wiggle room to get out of their current contract without having to pay a penalty fee.
If Burger King get a good response, this could be a key step in their projected growth since poaching other restaurants significantly cuts down on construction time, and every restaurant converted amounts to one less competitor out there.
Of course, this kind of tactic in general is not unheard of, but doing it on such a large and open scale is rare to say the least. And I'm 100-percent sure no one has ever made a commercial with a jingle about it in the history of the fast food industry.
If this campaign is successful, Burger King stand to win big, but that is a considerable-sized “if” in Japan. Even in the US, these kinds of conversion deals are usually done behind the scenes, possibly through direct connections made at industry conventions rather than flashy campaigns on social media. It’s probably fair to assume Japan is even more conservative about these matters, if the various corporate apologies for 10-yen price increases or being 20 seconds early are anything to go by.
You might be thinking franchisees are getting all the sweet deals from Burger King, but there are also chances for everyday folks like you and me to cash in as well. They're offering periodic location scouting campaigns where anyone can submit places they think would work well as a Burger King. Any suggestion that results in Burger King leasing a property will win 300,000 yen cash, and just making a suggestion will earn you a coupon for a discount on a Whopper.
▼ They have a commercial for this too, but no jingle:
This campaign is currently not going on, but they do seem to bring it back every few months, so now would be a good time to start scouting your neighborhood to see where a Burger King might look nice.
Meanwhile, if you’re a restaurant franchisee, you’ll have until September 30 to apply.
In northern China, a humanoid robot has done something that would stop most phones and electric cars cold. The Unitree G1 walked more than 130,000 steps on a frozen snowfield in the Altay region of Xinjiang while temperatures dropped to minus 47.4 degrees Celsius, tracing a Winter Olympics emblem on the ice.
That long walk makes the G1 the first humanoid robot reported to complete autonomous walking in such extreme cold. After all, what good is a humanoid helper if it shuts down whenever the weather turns brutal?
During the trial, the G1 followed a pre-planned path across the snow, drawing a Winter Olympics emblem about 186 meters long and 100 meters wide. All the while, it took more than 130,000 steps without direct human control, adjusting its balance on ice and uneven snow.
Altay is often promoted as a birthplace of skiing, and winter temperatures there regularly sink far below what most commercial machines are built to handle. In practical terms, that means testing robots in cold that can make phone screens sluggish and car batteries weak.
To survive the cold, engineers from Unitree Robotics tweaked the robot’s hardware in simple but important ways. They wrapped its torso in a bright orange winter jacket and put plastic sleeves around its legs and feet, extra layers meant to shield motors, joints, and battery packs from ice and wind.
Inside, the robot relied on China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System for centimeter level positioning, while its adaptive path planning software helped it pick each step across the frozen terrain. Sensors including 3D lidar and depth cameras fed constant data about the surroundings to keep the robot upright.
The G1 is not one of the giant, human sized humanoids that grab headlines. It stands about 127 centimeters tall, weighs around 35 kilograms, and uses between 23 and 43 joint motors depending on configuration. That compact frame is powered by a quick-release battery that lasts close to two hours and drives joints with up to 120 newton meters of torque.
Extreme trials like the Altay walk are part show and part stress test, and they point toward robots inspecting icy power lines or helping first responders in winter storms.
The Iran war is not just being fought on the battlefield – it is also playing out online.
Explosive News, a “student-led media team with a background in social activism” have been regularly releasing an engaging style of "educational" content: AI-generated "slopaganda" although I actually consider it a form of animated documentary.
The videos are entertaining and they quickly went viral. These clips, done in the style of LEGO movies, satirize global political figures, such as mocking Donald Trump (mostly) and Benjamin Netanyahu or depicting defeatist military scenes.
They've become inescapable artifacts of an international conflict that was already generating barrages of digital content. It should be pointed out that the political messaging on display in the clips is as blunt and cartoonish as the blocky LEGO characters.
And, they're actually very effective because many Americans think like kids and this type of video appeals to them as it's the only way they can understand!
YouTube terminated the Explosive Media channel on March 27, 2026. The platform cited violations of its spam, deceptive practices, and scams policies as the reason for the ban.
This is all BS; it is about suppressing the Iranian voice to promote the US-Israeli narrative and maintain their status quo.
Even with the ban, iterations of these "LEGO-style" AI videos continue to resurface through a persistent cycle of new accounts and cross-platform sharing.
Besides, they remain active on TikTok, Instagram, X, and Telegram.
Methinks, Iran is now beating the US at its own propaganda game!
Meta are laying off about 700 people at Facebook and their VR division reality Labs, according to a March 25 report from CNBC. The layoffs come as Meta seek to pivot away from their metaverse bet and lean more heavily into AI.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the company unveiled a new stock program for six top executives that could increase compensation for some of them by as much as $921 million each over the next five years. Meta explained the move was a way to retain their senior talent in the AI era and push them toward ambitious growth.
The hundreds of new layoffs come after Meta cut about 1,500 workers in January, mostly from Reality Labs, which make the Quest VR headset and the Horizon Worlds platform. Meta employ about 78,000 people in total.
“Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals”, a Meta spokesperson told Gizmodo in a statement Wednesday. “Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted”.
Facebook were renamed Meta in 2021 because CEO Mark Zuckerberg thought the metaverse was the future. But it turns out that the need to strap a gigantic computer to your face is quite a tall hurdle for mass adoption. Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, while a different product and use case, have sold much better, perhaps because they look like normal glasses on your face.
Reality Labs have burned through roughly $73 billion since Zuck shifted his company’s focus to the metaverse. Last week Meta announced they were shutting down Horizon Worlds only to backtrack just a couple of days later.
Meta are trying to make a larger push into AI, with a March 25 report from the The New York Times suggesting Zuckerberg (left) was even creating a "superintelligence", or a god-like AI that can act as the ultimate personal companion.
And if you must know, Meta suffered two legal defeats in the past two days, the first in New Mexico where the state Attorney General had brought a suit alleging they had misled consumers about the safety of their products and the potential harm to children.
Meta have been ordered to pay roughly $375 million in civil penalties in that case, far less than the $2 billion the state had asked for.
The second loss in court happened Wednesday when Meta and Google both lost a case brought by a woman who said she’d become addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child and had suffered mental health issues as a result. Meta argued that the woman’s mental illnesses predated her exposure to Instagram.
The jury awarded the woman $3 million in that case.
The two cases had been closely watched because there are about 2,000 other cases against Meta pending in federal court around the issues of child safety and social media addiction.
What's more, it’s entirely possible that more layoffs at Meta are just over the horizon. Reuters reported last week that Meta would lay off 20% or more of their workforce. That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of about 15,000 people.
The reason for the layoffs, according to Reuters, was an attempt to offset “costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets” and to “prepare” for “greater efficiency” that’s supposed to be realized by AI advancements.
Meta told Gizmodo over email Wednesday that the Reuters report was “speculative” and had “theoretical approaches”, whatever that means.
Raya vibes are here! Wishing a joyful celebration to those celebrating and rapturous happiness to all!
This year, I picked Mekdi's Hari Raya reel titled "Pulang":
[If you're wondering what I mean, it's my own small way of celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri on my lonesome. 😊].
I came across this news report from The Star on March 19.
A woman on an evening walk in Macau, China appeared to have suffered from small 't' trauma and was briefly hospitalised after a humanoid robot startled her, police told AFP on Wednesday.
Police said they had received a call for assistance for the woman, who “was startled when she suddenly noticed a robot behind her while using her mobile phone”.
Video widely shared online showed a woman angrily confronting a robot as it waved its metallic arms at her, while a crowd of curious onlookers gathered around.
“With so many other things to do, why bother me? Are you crazy?“ the woman yelled at the unperturbed bot in Cantonese, as she gestured agitatedly towards it.
The woman wasn't harmed in any way; there had been no physical contact with the robot, but she required hospital treatment, police said in a statement.
“She has since been discharged and has not pressed charges regarding the incident”, which took place earlier in March, the statement said.
Social media videos showed officers leading the robot away, though police made a point to stress they “did not seize” the bot.
The robot was operated by a Macanese man in his 50s, who said he was conducting a test and intended to use it for promoting his business.
My very last World Speech Day video viewership update was published ten-and-a-half months ago.
This time, we're featuring the Top 70 from our YouTube channel "WSD with CV Plus" – as tagged under "Popular" – given that there are already sixty-two videos that have accumulated at least a thousand views. And nine of the said videos have even collected more than 3,000 views!
Check out our latest updates – the viewerships are correct as at 05:30 PM Malaysian time on March 14, the eve of World Speech Day:
I came across this Nury Vittachi post published February 23 that I just have to share here.
A Shenzhen, China-based company, LimX Dynamics have no interest in robots that dance or do kung fu.
Instead, they developed a robot that does something harder: it is a generalist, listening to its human masters, processing what it hears, and working as a company staff member.
Meet COSA (Cognitive OS of Agents), a physical-world-native Agentic OS that unifies high-level cognition with whole-body motion control, enabling humanoid robots to think while acting in real environments.
Yesterday's Scottish Premiership game between the two Old Firm rivals was a match that Celtic could not afford to lose! It's what I would call a title eliminator.
The end result: Both Glasgow teams played to a 2-2 draw.
Actually, Celtic were nearly shown the door when Rangers scored a brace (8, 26) in the first-half. The latter's Portuguese striker did a scissor kick to open the scoring after eight minutes, before he capitalised on an error from Julian Araujo to tap home his second on 26 minutes.
Fortunately, Martin O'Neill's men found forward momentum and reduced the deficit when Kieran Tierney nodded home from close range just ten minutes in the second-half. And Reo Hatate stepped up to the spot in the 91st minute and the goalkeeper saved twice amid the mayhem, but the Japanese midfielder forced home at the third attempt to complete a remarkable comeback and share the spoils.
I stumbled across a YouTube video about a local oddity in Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, USA, and had a good laugh! It's the unique tradition of "parking chairs", where residents place chairs in public parking spots to reserve them.
😂😂😂
Check out the said clip which examines the history, legality, and cultural significance of this practice, highlighting its acceptance by both residents and authorities:
Yinz can't park here!
[Note: "Yinz" is a second-person plural pronoun, meaning "you all" or "you guys," used in the Pittsburgh dialect of English (Pittsburghese). It originates from the Scots-Irish phrase "you ones", brought to the area by immigrants in the 17th century, which evolved into "you'uns" and eventually "yinz"].
Let me explain why I laughed. It's not such an oddity because in Malaysia, the locals frequently do it too! Not just metal chairs and plastic stools but even plants, tyres and concrete posts. I mean, anything also can!
China's most-watched TV show, the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala, on Monday showcased the country's cutting-edge industrial policy and Beijing's push to dominate humanoid robots and the future of manufacturing.
Four rising humanoid robot startups – Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab – demonstrated their products at the gala, a televised event and touchstone for China, said to be comparable to the Super Bowl for the United States.
The program's first three sketches prominently featured humanoid robots, including a lengthy martial arts demonstration where over a dozen Unitree humanoids performed sophisticated fight sequences waving swords, poles and nunchucks in close proximity to child performers. The fight sequences included a technically ambitious one that imitated the wobbly moves and backward falls of China's "drunken boxing" martial arts style, showing innovations in multi-robot coordination and fault recovery – where a robot can get up after falling down.
The program's opening sketch also prominently featured Bytedance's AI chatbot Doubao, while four Noetix humanoid robots appeared alongside human actors in a comedy skit and MagicLab robots performed a synchronised dance with human performers during the song "We Are Made in China".
The hype surrounding China's humanoid robot sector comes as major players including AgiBot and Unitree prepare for initial public offerings this year, and domestic artificial intelligence startups release a raft of frontier models during the lucrative nine-day Lunar New Year public holiday.
Last year's gala stunned viewers with 16 full-size Unitree humanoids twirling handkerchiefs and dancing in unison with human performers.
Unitree's founder even met President Xi Jinping weeks later at a high-profile tech symposium – the first of its kind since 2018.
Xi has met five robotics startup founders in the past year, comparable to the four electric vehicle and four semiconductor entrepreneurs he met in the same timeframe, giving the nascent sector unusual visibility.
The CCTV show, which drew 79% of live TV viewership in China last year, has for decades been used to highlight Beijing's tech ambitions, including its space programme, drones and robotics, said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics and automation at technology consultancy Stieler.
"What distinguishes the gala from comparable events elsewhere is the directness of the pipeline from industrial policy to prime-time spectacle", Stieler said. "Companies that appear on the gala stage receive tangible rewards in government orders, investor attention, and market access".
Stieler added: "It’s been just one year – and the performance jump is striking", and highlighting that the robots' impressive motion control showed Unitree's focus on developing robot "brains" – the AI-powered software that enables them to complete fine motor tasks that can be used in real-world factory settings.
China accounted for 90% of the roughly 13,000 humanoid robots shipped globally last year, far ahead of US rivals including Tesla's Optimus, according to research firm Omdia.
Morgan Stanley project that China's humanoid sales will more than double to 28,000 units this year.
Elon Musk has said he expects his biggest competitor to be Chinese companies as he pivots Tesla toward a focus on embodied AI and their flagship humanoid Optimus.
"People outside China underestimate China, but China is an ass-kicker next level", Musk said last month.
Overall, the song is packed with all of Waits’ dark wit and gritty honesty. For sure, the choice to forego any instrumentation works brilliantly as well, putting me right in the room with Waits and making me feel like I’m staring right at the eponymous fly. 
