Current in Offbeat

The adult wrestling cult

The adult wrestling cult

‘you’re breaking the fourth wall!’ Wrestling is massive again, and I’m not quite sure how that happened. Every casual conversation I have with a group of lads seems to inevitably turn to how John Cena recently turned heel. Having not tuned in at 5 in the morning, my immense powers of...

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We need to talk about ‘Almond Mums’

We need to talk about ‘Almond Mums’

How the fascination with our mothers’ diets has permeated social media and changed the way we think about food.  There are few social trends as pervasive as the ‘almond mum’. She’s slim, she’s usually wearing yoga leggings, she shops at Whole Foods. And according to the thousands of videos featuring self-proclaimed ‘almond mums’ on TikTok, we can’t get enough of her. The term ‘almond mum’ traces back to a viral moment...

By Brighton, UK
Google’s Gemini AI advert coughs out incorrect cheese facts

Google’s Gemini AI advert coughs out incorrect cheese facts

In the first version of its latest advert for AI, Google’s Gemini can be seen providing incorrect information on cheese. It’s an excellent example of why we shouldn’t rely entirely on AI to do the thinking for us. Honey, the Large Language Model (LLM) AI program is hallucinating again! It looks like Google’s own AI model – Gemini 2.0 - has been playing up, and no actual human being within...

By Bristol, UK
Ed Sheeran street concert shut down by police in India

Ed Sheeran street concert shut down by police in India

In widely-shared footage online, a police officer can be seen unplugging Ed Sheeran’s microphone at a street performance in India. Ed Sheeran had his street performance in India cut short over the weekend, despite reportedly asking permission before starting. A police offer unplugged his microphone and ushered him away, leaving onlookers disappointed. The incident occurred before Ed was scheduled to play in the city of Bengaluru later that evening. He...

By Bristol, UK
Is Quora on death’s doorstep?

Is Quora on death’s doorstep?

The platform once deemed a barometer for quality responses to user queries has lost its way. AI is largely responsible – in more ways than one. Have you ever heard of ‘Dead Internet Theory?’ It subscribes to the idea that both bots and content created by algorithms will soon overtake the digital presence and volume of human works online. We’ve written about it in detail previously. Apprehension about that prospect has...

By London, UK