*By Conor White*
Apple has done Snapchat one better with the introduction of its "Memojis," animated self-styled avatars users can send to friends, according to the editor of Emojipedia.
Jeremy Burge, who runs the online encyclopedia of all things emoji, said the filters created by Snapchat have been the prevailing standard in animated selfies, but Apple offers something a little new.
"You want to send something to someone but don't want to send yourself, maybe you feel awkward or whatever, and you want something kind of fun," said Burge in an interview Monday June 4 with Cheddar's Hope King, hours after Apple unveiled its new feature at its annual developers conference, WWDC
"I've tried some other similar things," he said. "It's sort of like Bitmoji, or Samsung has something similar, but this one's sort of super customizable, lets you make it look however you want, and it's fun."
Apple's Memojis won't give your friends the heebie-jeebies, either, according to Burge.
"I've seen some that look pretty creepy," he said.
Memojis will be available with iOS 12, likely to be released in September.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/memoji-myself-and-i).
Arkansas is planning to reshape itself by putting a strong emphasis on technology through computer science in the classroom. Governor Asa Hutchinson joined Cheddar News Buffa to discuss the state's efforts to promote itself as a future tech hub. “It gives young people such a huge opportunity for success," he noted. The term-limited governor also touched on the issue of gun ownership, offering up the idea of possibly raising the age limit to obtain rifles like the AR-15 to 21 instead of 18 as it currently stands.
Elon Musk is demanding his Tesla employees to return to the office full time, a minimum of at least 40 hours a week. The CEO also took a shot at other companies who have some form of work-from-home status. The ultimatum comes at a tumultuous time for Musk with the reveal of a sexual misconduct scandal and his attempted Twitter purchase.
Bindu Sundaresan, Director, AT&T Cybersecurity, joins Cheddar to discuss best practices and important cybersecurity milestones to hit for any organization, and how small business owners can think about cyber beyond technology and compliance.
Memorial Day rang in the unofficial start of summer here in the United States -- and with it, the unofficial start of summer travel. Whether consumers traveled by air or by land, they probably experienced some form of frustration over the weekend. Flyers faced delays and cancellations, and drivers faced the most expensive gas prices ever recorded on Memorial Day. Zach Griff, Senior Aviation Reporter for the Points Guy, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
