A Wi-Fi Barbie Doll With the Soul of Siri

nytimes.com - Ever since Siri appeared as a regular feature on the iPhone, certain young children — and, let’s face it, some of their parents — have spent hours chatting up the virtual assistant, curious about the details of her humanoid back story.

Siri, where do you live? Siri, do you have a boyfriend? Siri, how old are you?

At a time when grown-ups can use voice commands to find restaurants, change channels on their TVs or get directions, it seems logical that children would now expect devices to understand their speech and respond in kind.

Review: ‘Home,’ With Rihanna and Jim Parsons

nytimes.com - The short, squat creatures that turn up in animated movies may all be starting to run together in your mind, which makes finding a distinctive voice for such characters all the more important. The creators of “Home” made an inspired choice in that regard for their little hero, recruiting Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” for the job, and they made another by pairing him with the pop star Rihanna.

The result is a charming concoction with positive messages for younger children about conquering fears, understanding outsiders and knowing yourself.

Make Way for Generation Z

nytimes.com - I recall the exact moment the temperature changed in the workplace. It was 2005, and I was speaking to an audience of 100 young professionals. I was relating my experiences building a career as a Gen Xer (born 1964-79) in a world of traditionalists (born before 1945) and baby boomers (born 1946-63).

Every time I threw out phrases like “paying your dues” and “playing the game,” the audience stared at me blankly. This was not the reaction I had come to expect from early twentysomethings. Usually they took notes on how they could get ahead in corporate America as quickly as possible.

Wanted at the White House: A Fence That Says Halt! (With Curb Appeal)

nytimes.com - WASHINGTON — Just after a Secret Service official shouted “Go!” and started a stopwatch, an agent hurtled toward a 10-foot-high fence with curving rods at the top.

Intended to slow any climber, the rods unexpectedly served as handholds that allowed the agent to hoist himself over the fence, a variation of the cast iron barricade at the White House. The feat took under seven seconds, even less time than it took two intruders to jump the seven-foot fence surrounding the Executive Mansion last year.

Since fall, the Secret Service has conducted dozens of tests on possible modifications to the White House fence, recruiting some of the agency’s best athletes — including tall, short, hefty and thin volunteers — to serve as pretend fence jumpers at a rural training ground outside Washington.

Ted Cruz and the Basic Cable Primary

nytimes.com - The message that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas hoped to convey by kicking off his presidential campaign with a speech Monday morning at Liberty University — a school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell — was unmistakable: Already an established star among Tea Party Republicans, Cruz wants to be the candidate of the party’s evangelical wing too.

But the fact that Cruz made his announcement as early as he did — he is the first official entrant in an election that is still more than 19 months away — also says something: He knows he has competition.

Milton Glaser on Starting New York Magazine, the Serendipity of ‘I Heart NY’ and Selling His First Nudes

tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com - The sign above the door to Milton Glaser’s Manhattan studio reads “Art is Work,” and for good reason. For the past 60-plus years, 50 of which he’s spent in the same office in Murray Hill, the influential graphic designer has made it his business to give visual identity to the very ideas that have shaped our culture — his sprawling body of work includes both the ever-present “I ♥ NY” logo and a psychedelia-inspired Bob Dylan poster that’s been a dorm-room staple since 1966. Now 85, Glaser invited T into his studio to discuss the early days of New York magazine, the origins of “I ♥ NY” and his lasting impact as a champion of ethical design.

The ‘Street-Level’ Artist

nytimes.com - At roughly 2 a.m. last Monday morning, B. D. White, 31, drove through Chinatown, working the gas and break with his left hand. He stopped on Division Street and eyed a graffiti-strewn section of brick wall.

Mr. White, who suffered a spinal cord injury as a teenager and uses a wheelchair, opened the car door and slid onto his chair, grabbing a shoulder bag containing spray paint and a bottle of adhesive.

“I have a child soldier piece,” he said, pulling a poster of a boy wielding a huge machine gun out of the bag.