A "Bot-Mitzvah" depicted on the TV show "Futurama." (Via Hulu) NEW YORK (JTA) — Robots can hold a conversation, but should they count in a minyan? A chatbot at Britain’s University of Reading was heralded this week as passing the Turing test, showing a conversational ability that managed to fool people into thinking it was human. Using the fictional… Read more »
Food writer Mark Bittman wants you to eat more plants. (Courtesy photo) NEW YORK (JTA) — Mark Bittman is not a religious man by any stretch of the imagination, least of all his own. A longtime food writer for The New York Times who three years ago shifted from cooking to food policy columnist, Bittman has made a living eating the… Read more »
Discount Purim basket with a rich theme: Products purchased at a 99 Cents Only Store connect to characters in the Purim story. (Edmon J. Rodman) LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Falling between the giving season of Chanukah and the getting season of tax refunds, Purim time finds households like mine searching for ways to keep holiday expenses down to earth without losing the mirth. What with the cost of fancy, professionally made kosher shalach manot… Read more »
