TechByter Worldwide 2017-03-19: Software like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana are getting better while American literacy rates remain stagnant.

Do you use a smart phone to control things in your house? Thermostats, TVs, maybe the light switches? A voice command can turn devices on or off, but they can also create some nasty problems. Video editing once required a large room full of high-priced equipment. Then, in 1991, version 1.0 of Adobe Premiere was released to compete several existing programs. Desktop video editors changed everything. In Short Circuits: This week the Guardian newspaper published an article by the guy who invented the World Wide Web. Tim Berners-Lee says the web has fulfilled some of what he hoped it would do, but improvements are needed. If the headline "Smart Phones Will Read and Write Better Than 32 Million American Adults in Next Decade" doesn't frighten (or at least concern) you, it should. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Members of the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) seem to be making changes faster than we can deal with them, and a new IOS and Android app is being promoted to help with snakebite victims.