A recent piece of audience mail expressed concern about the “listening” capability of smart phones. The writer said she had been planning a funeral and searched on Google for funeral homes. She typed f-u-n-e-r-a and Google suggested funeral homes near her as well as other funeral-related websites. Just then, a friend called her on her landline phone. The friend suggested that the woman make food called “funeral potatoes” for a gathering after the service. After the call ended, the woman returned to her Internet search. She again typed f-u-n-e-r-a. This time, the first suggestion to appear on Google was “funeral potatoes.” She called a relative and told him what happened. He thought it was a coincidence. So he experimented. He typed f-u-n-e-r-a into Google. The search suggestions that appeared were funeral, funeral songs, funeral homes near me, and funeral homes. Then, the man said the words "funeral potatoes" out loud. Then, he re-typed "f-u-n-e-r-a" into Google. Funeral potatoes, funeral and funeral songs appeared. The woman who wrote about the experience says she and the man had their cell phones in the room with them at the time. It seemed the cell phones had listened to what they were talking about.
Title: Your Phone Might Be Listening to You
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/listen_audio.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Your Phone Might Be Listening to You' data-article-id='1618'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='9354'>A recent piece of audience mail expressed concern about the “listening” capability of smart phones.</span> <span data-start-time='9354' data-end-time='17354'>The writer said she had been planning a funeral and searched on Google for funeral homes. </span> <span data-start-time='17354' data-end-time='30333'>She typed f-u-n-e-r-a and Google suggested funeral homes near her as well as other funeral-related websites.</span> <span data-start-time='30333' data-end-time='35875'>Just then, a friend called her on her landline phone.</span> <span data-start-time='35875' data-end-time='45688'>The friend suggested that the woman make food called “funeral potatoes” for a gathering after the service.</span> <span data-start-time='45688' data-end-time='51458'>After the call ended, the woman returned to her Internet search.</span> <span data-start-time='51458' data-end-time='56500'>She again typed f-u-n-e-r-a. </span> <span data-start-time='56500' data-end-time='64042'>This time, the first suggestion to appear on Google was “funeral potatoes.”</span> <span data-start-time='64042' data-end-time='68563'>She called a relative and told him what happened.</span> <span data-start-time='68563' data-end-time='71479'>He thought it was a coincidence.</span> <span data-start-time='71479' data-end-time='74146'>So he experimented.</span> <span data-start-time='74146' data-end-time='79188'>He typed f-u-n-e-r-a into Google. </span> <span data-start-time='79188' data-end-time='89896'>The search suggestions that appeared were funeral, funeral songs, funeral homes near me, and funeral homes.</span> <span data-start-time='89896' data-end-time='96354'>Then, the man said the words "funeral potatoes" out loud.</span> <span data-start-time='96354' data-end-time='102792'>Then, he re-typed "f-u-n-e-r-a" into Google.</span> <span data-start-time='102792' data-end-time='110146'>Funeral potatoes, funeral and funeral songs appeared.</span> <span data-start-time='110146' data-end-time='119458'>The woman who wrote about the experience says she and the man had their cell phones in the room with them at the time.</span> <span data-start-time='119458' data-end-time='124792'>It seemed the cell phones had listened to what they were talking about.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/listen_img.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=6430 data-hint-location='68563' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/what_does_coincidence_mean.m4a'>What does coincidence mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='when events happen at the same time in a way that is not planned'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/allowed_or_permitted.m4a'><span>allowed or permitted</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/when_events_happen_at_the_same_time_in_a_way_that_is_not_planned.m4a'><span>when events happen at the same time in a way that is not planned</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/surprising.m4a'><span>surprising</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/a_ceremony.m4a'><span>a ceremony</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=6431 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/what_did_the_smartphone_user_discover_her_phone_is_capable_of.m4a'>What did the smartphone user discover her phone is capable of?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='listening'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/listening.m4a'><span>listening</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/growing.m4a'><span>growing</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/breathing.m4a'><span>breathing</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/eating.m4a'><span>eating</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=6432 data-hint-location='110146' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/the_individuals_had_their_cell_phones_in_the_room_at_the_time_of_the__blank_.m4a'>The individuals had their cell phones in the room at the time of the <span class='blank'>experiments</span>.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='experiments'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/experiments.m4a'><span>experiments</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/article.m4a'><span>article</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/cooking.m4a'><span>cooking</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1127/funeral.m4a'><span>funeral</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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