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 Beyoncé's big announcement gave an incredible start to Black History Month
Queen Bey just snatched the entire month. Beyonce and Jay Z announced that they will be having twins in a very Mother Earth-themed Instagram post. And, because she is the unofficial queen of America, the internet went insane with her post reaching over a two million likes in under half an hour. Along with well wishes and hilarious Destiny's Child jokes, people couldn't help but notice that Bey waited until the first day of Black History Month to announce her joyous news.
Can dating apps be used to catch fugitives? You bet.
Using a dating app to find someone special is nothing new, but CBS's new reality show, Hunted, takes matchmaking to a whole new level. The show follows several two-person teams as they attempt to get off the grid and stay on the run for 28 days, as a team of highly trained law enforcement experts use every trick in the book to try and track the "fugitives" down. In this week's episode, dreamy millennial duo Miles and Will are attempting to hide out somewhere between South Carolina and Georgia, so the Hunters devise a scheme to send their photos out on a number of dating apps with the offer of a reward, hoping that some enterprising young lady will give up their location for a sweet cash prize. Read more... More about Dating Apps, Cbs, Hunted, Entertainment, and Tv Read More »Facebook ordered to pay $500 million over Oculus VR lawsuit — but still comes out a winner
Facebook's Oculus has been ordered to pay $500 million after a jury found that Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey violated a non-disclosure agreement, according to Polygon. It could have been a lot worse. The jury also found Oculus innocent of the most serious allegations — that the virtual reality company's founders had stolen trade secrets — in particular, code that would help in the development of the company's Oculus Rift VR system. The lawsuit, brought by gaming company Zenimax, sought $4 billion in total damages. The lawsuit was first filed in May 2014, just months after Facebook acquired Oculus in a deal that at the time was reported to be worth $2 billion and signified the social network's entry into VR. The trial, held in a U.S. District Court in Dallas, Texas, featured testimony from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and surfaced an interesting detail — that employee retention and earn-out bonuses brought the price tag to $3 billion. Read more... More about Virtual Reality, Vr, Oculus Rift, Facebook, and Business Read More »The reunion that shocked Nicki Minaj fans on Instagram
Let's be honest, a Young Money reunion is the best way Black History Month could have kicked off this year, especially considering the confusing disaster of a speech from the White House. Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Drake were all in the same room recently and thankfully, they saw it fit to share pictures from their reunion with the world. We have no idea what they are doing together — maybe recording a follow-up to "Only." Maybe working on Drake's upcoming project, More Life. Or maybe just casually hanging out as The Big 3. Read more... More about Conversations, Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Watercooler Read More »Leaked video shows 'nightmare inducing' robot from Boston Dynamics
The company behind Atlas has a new impressive and terrifying robot. Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson shared a video of Boston Dynamics showing off a new robot called Handle — named apparently after its supposed ability to handle objects — that uses both wheels and legs. SEE ALSO: Atlas humanoid robot now tiptoes and balances over nearly any surface The video shows Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert recapping previous robots like Spot and Atlas, before debuting Handle. Read more... More about Robots, Boston Dynamics, and Tech Read More »Denis Leary knows he looks like Kellyanne Conway and he's not ruling out a biopic
At 7:20 AM on Jan. 31, the powers that be decided to throw us a bone and blissfully point out that Kellyanne Conway and Denis Leary share, like, a whole face.
The resemblance is... uncanny. At the very least it looks like he's one advanced Snapchat filter away from being able to pass as counselor to the president full-time. The comparison came to Denis's attention, and he seems to have a sense of humor about the whole situation, saying that he's owed an award for his performance. Read more... More about Politics, Entertainment, and Watercooler Read More »Denny's tweeted about eating babies because Beyoncé broke everything
Remember brand tweets? When pop culture news used to happen, brands would often jump on the trending topics to promote their products with a light-hearted quip. Sometimes, people would laugh at the tweets. Other times they would roll their eyes. Occasionally, people would get angry at the tweets for being insensitive. Today, it happened again. In the wake of Beyonce's pregnancy announcement on Instagram, in which she revealed she was due with twins, the fast casual pancake restaurant Denny's chimed in with a joke about buns. More about Beyonce, Brand Fail, Brands, Watercooler, and Food Read More »Yes, 'Game of Thrones' fans, you'll get something from George RR Martin this year
And lo, in the sixth year of waiting for new words from Westeros, the people's prayers were answered: George RR Martin has confirmed reports that he is writing a new story set in his "Song of Ice and Fire" universe. It isn't the next novel, Winds of Winter, which Martin has been working on since 2011. It's a prequel story called "The Sons of the Dragon," which will be published in a fantasy anthology called The Book of Swords on Oct. 10. The story deals with those pesky inbred Targaryens, back when they still ruled the Seven Kingdoms. But it's set two and a half centuries before the mother of dragons, Daenerys Targaryen, came on the scene. Read more... More about George Rr Martin, Winds Of Winter, Game Of Thrones, Entertainment, and Mashreads Read More »Beyoncé's pregnancy announcement spawned many, many wonderful jokes
As expected, the Internet exploded when Beyoncé announced via Instagram that she and Jay-Z are expecting twins. Twitter was flooded with responses to the news—everything from stories of unstoppable tears to the fact that the announcement coincided with Black History Month dominated timelines—and some of the tweets are downright hysterical.
This stoner's ingenuity is the best joke on the internet
Sometimes you've gotta make do with what you've got. After running out of sandwich bags, Twitter user @wallahi was in quite the predicament. How would he keep his sammy safe from the outside world during transit? Sure, most people would have reached for the tin foil, plastic wrap or tupperware, but @wallahi decided to make do with the dime bags he had laying around.
"The struggle is real," he wrote on Twitter. Read more... More about Funny, Twitter, Marijuana, and Watercooler Read More »Beyoncé's Coachella performance will be pretty interesting, according to Twitter
More like Preggochella. As you probably heard, Beyonce and Jay Z announced that they are expecting twins with a earthy Instagram post that gained over three million likes in an hour. And, while most people are celebrating the announcement, many are left wondering what this will mean for Beyonce's headlining Coachella performance which was set to begin on April 15. The announcement not only came as a surprise to the world, but apparently, according to TMZ, the people running the annual music festival had no idea either. Read more... More about Beyonce and Watercooler Read More »Facebook just set a record in quarterly user growth
Facebook hasn't hit 2 billion users per month, but it's getting pretty damn close. Just when you thought Facebook already connected the entire world, it's proving that it can grow faster than ever before. Facebook now reaches 1.86 billion monthly active users, having added 70 million users in the quarter. That's an 18 percent increase from the year prior and up from the 17 percent bump last quarter.
Instagram just ruined Instagram
Instagram, the popular social network based around sharing photos, died suddenly on Tuesday. The service was 6 years old. The cause of death was trying to be everything to everyone, a condition it had suffered for months but had been managing quite well. Despite its status as both a top-rated app in Apple's App Store and one of Facebook's prized acquisitions, Instagram couldn't find a path that remained true to its original mission, a fact that became evident when a new beta version of the app showed the service was experimenting with a way to share albums of photos, as opposed to a singular image. Read more... More about Facebook, Instagram Albums, Instagram, Apps And Software, and Tech Read More »Snapchat celebrates Black History Month with 'Young, Black and Proud' story
Snapchat is taking new steps to celebrate Black History Month in its app. The app is rolling out a set special geofilters and launching a new "Our Story" called "Young Black and Proud," which encourages Snapchat users to share their experiences and what makes them proud, to commemorate Black History Month. As with other "Our Stories," the content will be curated by Snapchat's editorial team and be live in the app for 24 hours. To go with the Our Story, Snapchat has added a set of Black History Month-themed geolfilters meant to encourage users to talk about their backgrounds and what makes them proud. Read more... More about Social Media, Black History Month, Snapchat, Apps And Software, and Tech Read More »Just watching 'Super Mario Maker' level is pure chaos
Created by YouTube user Val JP, known for similarly ridiculous Super Mario Maker levels, "Tricky Mario" looks like exactly that: tricky as hell. You can find and play it for yourself, if you dare, here. (h/t Reddit) Twitter's big tease on abuse updates is extremely disappointing
Twitter has a big plan to combat abuse. CEO Jack Dorsey and VP of Engineering Ed Ho have been chatting back and forth about it, on Twitter, all week. But don't get too excited just yet — you'll probably roll your eyes when you hear today's update.
Exxon's former CEO is now our secretary of state. So, there's that.
Rex Tillerson, the longtime head of ExxonMobil, won Senate confirmation on Wednesday to be secretary of state. In this new role, Tillerson will be in charge of U.S. international climate negotiations as well as international aid efforts on climate-related disasters. Yes, you read that correctly: The former head of one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world will now spearhead America's approach to mitigating the effects of climate change. The final Senate vote was 56 to 43 in favor, with three Democrats and one independent joining Republicans in voting for him. No Republicans opposed Tillerson's nomination. Read more... More about Exxon, Secretary Of State, Politics, Tillerson, and Global Warming Read More »I hate to say it, but Beyonce's pregnancy announcement photo is bad
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but let’s talk about Beyonce's pregnancy announcement photo for just a second. Because I really don't like it.
When she announced she was pregnant with Blue Ivy, I thought it was really cute. While singing “Love On Top” (very appropriate for the occasion), she showed off her growing baby bump on stage at the MTV VMAs. She had suffered a miscarriage in the past and her way of announcing her pregnancy to the world was powerful, joyous and full of love. Read more... More about Pregnancy Announcement, Pregnancy, Beyonce, and Watercooler Read More »Tokyo will make its 2020 Olympic medals from recycled smartphones
For those who've dreamt of taking a selfie with Olympic superstar Simone Biles, this might be the closest your smartphone will ever get to her. Olympics organizers are hoping to construct medals for Tokyo 2020 from recycled smartphones. “Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made out of people’s thoughts and appreciation for avoiding waste,” said three-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Kohei Uchimura, per The Japan Times. “I think there is an important message in this for future generations.” Read more... More about Simone Biles, Tokyo Olympics, Smartphones, Olympics, and Olympic Games Read More »Bad Lip Reading tackles the NFL in a hilarious new parody
It's becoming one of the best traditions of the year: just before the Super Bowl, Bad Lip Reading drops its annual overdub of the NFL. This year's edition doesn't disappoint. From random nonsense to silly phrases, there's just something hilarious about making grown NFL players sound completely ridiculous. Parents, do not let this dumb sign make you feel guilty about using your phone
You may have seen the viral photo of a daycare sign scolding moms and dads to get off their phones and pay attention to their kids. Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not let these people phone-shame you. The image was posted on Facebook on Friday by Juliana Farris Mazurkewicz, who took it as she arrived for pickup at her kids' daycare outside Houston. She told Fox News she was fully onboard with the sentiment: “I think [the message] definitely resonates with people.” She's correct — it's been shared widely and provoked a lot of discussion. Many people agree with Mazurkewicz, but I took one look at it and wanted to rip the damn thing to shreds. It's rude, for one thing — yelling at someone with ALL CAPS and underlines is no better than texting while you talk to someone. But it also presumes that you're a bad parent if you're not paying wrapt attention to your children 24 hours a day. You're not. Read more... More about Texas, Daycare, Phones, Parenting, and Sex And Relationships Read More »NASA experiments show how astronaut’s genes changed in space
Living in space for one year can change a lot about a person, including their DNA. For NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, his year spent living and working on the International Space Station made him more of an environmentalist and gave him a view of our planet that most people will never see in person. But beyond those shifts in perspective, Kelly's body may have changed in other ways. According to preliminary data released by NASA, Kelly's genes, fine motor skills, microbiome and other aspects of his body were altered during the 340 days he spent in orbit from 2015 to 2016. Read more... More about Genetics, Medicine, Health, Mars, and Space Exploration Read More »Need help with your taxes? IBM Watson is here to help
Tax season has finally brought in the ultimate expert: Watson. IBM's supercomputer, which has already applied its endless knowledge to curing cancer, researching ALS and writing songs, will use its talents to process huge amounts of information to do taxes through H&R Block this year. "Tax preparation is a perfect use for Watson. Just like Watson is already revolutionizing other industries like healthcare and education, here H&R Block with Watson is learning to process incredible amounts of information, helping create tailored solutions for H&R Block's customers," David Kenny, IBM's senior vice president for IBM Watson and cloud platform, said in a video announcing the partnership. Read more... More about H R Block, Taxes, Ibm Watson, Ibm, and Business Read More »An NBA free agent takes his job hunt to Instagram
Despite standing just 5-foot-9, Nate Robinson is the NBA slam dunk contest's only three-time champion. He's swatted LeBron James. He's swatted Yao Ming. He's averaged as many as 17 points per game in an NBA season. He's electrified arenas from Los Angeles to Toronto to Miami while becoming a basketball fan-favorite. Robinson is also, at the moment, unemployed. So what's an out-of-work hooper to do? If you're Robinson, you turn up on Instagram to tout your services. About a week ago, James said his Cleveland Cavaliers need to add talent if they hope to repeat as NBA champs. He said the Cavs need a "fucking playmaker," to be precise. As it often does with such tidbits, ESPN posted a photo of James alongside his quote on Instagram. Below the post someone left a comment: "Nate Robinson is available." Read more... More about Nba, Sports, and Entertainment Read More »Nothing to see here, just a cricket commentator announcing a match during his vasectomy
Not even a vasectomy will stand between this man and the sport of gentlemen. One cricket commentator was apparently so determined to not miss a day on the job, he decided to do a live broadcast of a New Zealand-Australia match while getting a vasectomy. After the numbing anesthetic kicks in, commentator Mike Lane goes about his regular broadcasting routine, streaming the game in one hand and adding commentary through a phone in the other. It's as if there's nothing unusual at all going on. Lane is part of the Alternative Commentary Collective, a "galaxy of cricketing cult heroes, has-beens and never-wills" which broadcasts cricket content online. Read more... More about Cricket, Watercooler, and Sports Read More »New energy forecast has good news for Elon Musk, but spells trouble for Trump
President Donald Trump can forget reviving America's fossil fuel sector, because the future belongs to renewable energy titans like Tesla's Elon Musk. According to a new report, there may not be any growth in oil and coal use worldwide after the year 2020. This contrasts with Trump's vision of a revived coal, oil and gas sector in the U.S., which was central to his electoral victory in states such as Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. The report, co-authored by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and the Carbon Tracker Initiative, found that solar and wind power plus electric vehicles will each experience explosive growth in the coming decades, to the point where electric vehicles alone could slash global oil use per day by 2 million barrels by 2025. This may rise to 25 million barrels per day by 2050, the report states. Read more... More about Science, Global Warming, Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases, and Wind Energy Read More »The internet's new favorite meme involves top-notch advice and a BBC show
Twitter has found its new meme of choice, and all it took was one great screengrab and some vaguely profound advice. To participate, you'll want to start with this photo of Kayode Ewumi, who writes and stars as Roll Safe (R.S.) in the BBC Three web series #HoodDocumentary. Lookin' good, dude. Image: BBC Next, tweet the photo with a sincere piece of advice attached. It can be about anything: fashion, love, staying afloat in our terrifying political climate, whatever! Don't have any sincere advice? Check out these examples and get inspired. Read more... More about Bbc, Twitter, Memes, and Watercooler Read More »Reddit banned r/altright over doxing violations
Reddit's alt-right community will all have to migrate to another corner of the internet. The alt-right subchannel, r/altright, was banned late Wednesday for violating the social media site's policy on doxing — revealing identifying details about someone on the internet, such as someone's address. "This subreddit was banned due to a violation of our content policy, specifically, the proliferation of personal and confidential information," reads the lone message on the subreddit's page. The r/alternativeright subreddit was also banned for "violating the Reddit rules," according to its now defunct page. Read more... More about 8chan, 4chan, The Donald, Voat, and Alternative Right Read More »This HTC Vive and HoloLens hack combines VR and AR for true 'mixed reality'
Yes, I'm tired of hearing about the "mixed reality" as "the next big thing," too. Virtual reality and augmented reality are still just becoming fully baked experiences. Enough with the VC-fueled hype cycles™. But a new experiment could merge the two technologies into something that's genuinely exciting. A software developer managed to take an HTC Vive headset (VR) and a Microsoft HoloLens headset (AR) and connect the two with an app, which allows users of both to interact with each other in mixed reality. Using Microsoft's HoloLens developer kit, Drew Gottlieb, who is studying at the Rochester Institute of Technology, created an app called the HoloViveObserver. It gives a HoloLens user the ability to observe or take over — in real time — a VR project from a Vive user. Read more... More about Mixed Reality, Hololens, Microsoft, Htc Vive, and Vr Read More »Prince Harry gets schooled by some young rappers
While Prince Harry may not have perfected his rapping skills just yet, he definitely knows how to kick it with the kids. On a recent trip to visit students at Nottingham Academy in England, he participated in a variety of cool classroom activities, spoke at a graduation ceremony and got schooled on how to spit rhymes by a smooth, mic-dropping young rapper. Prince Harry makes regular trips to schools to engage and support students and enhance education programs. Clearly the kids in Nottingham were pretty psyched the 32-year-old had stopped by, because they graciously let him pop into their classes and attempt to play some practical jokes. Read more... More about Entertainment, Twitter, Videos, Conversations, and Royal Family Read More »God loses verification on Facebook, blames Trump
And on the seventh day, the Good Lord Above lost their blue checkmark on Facebook. On Wednesday afternoon, God's account became unverified — not that God really needs the validation. The comedy Facebook account had been verified for years. In a post on the God Facebook page, the owner of the irreverent, politically minded account, who remains unidentified, announced the verification change status and blamed it on Trump supporters. God's logic: After posting about news organizations that falsely reported the Quebec mosque shooter was a Muslim, Trump supporters were highly offended and brought their wrath down upon the social media Higher Being. Read more... More about Parody, Verification, Facebook, and Social Media Read More »Donald Trump is absolutely terrible at handshakes
The president of the United States has no idea how to shake someone's hand. Or he's just being a dick about it. Now, before you go and make a weak "tiny hands" comment, let's look at the proof. It has been long documented that Trump is a complete disaster when it comes to shaking hands, and he appears to be getting worse. Trump's technique for shaking hands, as pointed out in 2012 by NYMag, is what handshake sites call "the pull in" or the "yank and pull." Instead of gripping the other person's hand then moving up and down in unison, Trump will pull his subject closer to him. This is possibly to make it appear as if the person he's shaking hands with is reaching out toward him, which many consider to be a power play. Read more... More about Neil Gorsuch, Scotus, Donald Trump, Watercooler, and Videos Read More »Google's Waymo self-driving platform shows big improvements
When the California Department of Motor Vehicles released its annual autonomous vehicle disengagement report Wednesday, Google's self-driving platform, Waymo, came away looking like the big moves it made this year were well worth the fuss. The company posted significant year-over-year improvements in its self-driving tech's safety and efficiency, even as it ramps up its autonomous efforts. As its name implies, the DMV report tracks the total number of disengagements that occur while the self-driving cars log test miles on the state's roads. Disengagements are instances when a driver takes manual control of a test vehicle in autonomous mode to correct its trajectory. Read more... More about Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Minivan, Report, California, Autonomous Cars, and Self Driving Cars Read More »The most absurd announcement videos from college football's National Signing Day
Wednesday marks National Signing Day, when the top high school football recruits officially commit to the university they'll call home for the next phase of their career. Players' announcements have gotten more extravagant and creative over the years. Gone are the days of simply signing a piece of paper, donning your future school's cap, smiling for the cameras and calling it a day. No, now we have superbly produced videos with all kinds of dramatic antics. Here are some of those antics. Read more... 1. Connor Wedington's super dangerous snowboard raceMore about Stanford, College, Ncaa, Football, and Entertainment Read More »Teacher's inspirational poem to grade four students is the sweetest thing
It's the start of the school year and many students are feeling a sense of trepidation and excitement. So it's no wonder this thoughtful welcome note was given to grade four students at Bowen State School in Queensland, Australia, has gone viral. The note was posted on the school's Facebook page on Jan. 23, and introduces each item the kids are about to receive in a goodie bag. "I'm so glad that you're here. Here is a little goodie bag to help kick off the year," the note reads. "The eraser is to remind you that is OK to make mistakes, we'll work and learn together, no matter what it takes. Read more... More about Notes, Schools, School, Teacher, and Teachers Read More »The 'Serial' podcast producers have a new show, and you can binge it
The crew behind the popular Serial podcast is launching another new true crime show — and this time you can binge it. S-Town — which debuts in March — follows an Alabama man asking for "a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who had allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder," according to a news release. All episodes will be released at once. The nonfiction limited series will be developed by Serial Productions, a newly announced production company from the Serial creators. Longtime This American Life producer Brian Reed will host the show, which will be executive produced by Serial co-creators Julie Snyder and Sarah KoenigThis American Life alum Starlee Kine is also on board along with Ira Glass. Read more... More about Sarah Koenig, This American Life, Podcasts, Serial, and Entertainment Read More »Jason Momoa's two 'bodyguards' are giving Twitter a good LOL right now
Not to state the obvious, but Game Of Thrones star and all around class act, Jason Momoa is jacked. Jacked enough to make those employed to keep him safe look as superfluous and puny. A recent photo snapped of the Khal Drogo actor and his "minders" makes it clear that serving as the star's bodyguard is kind of like working as Professor X's hairdresser. There's just no point, really. Naturally, the Twitter has taken notice. Just look:
'The 100' stars preview the end of the world
The 100 has spent three seasons exploring existence on a post-apocalyptic Earth, but with a nuclear meltdown imminent, things are about to get a whole lot messier in Season 4. (We're just crossing our fingers that life doesn't start imitating art.) "We're picking up directly where we left off," star Eliza Taylor told reporters on a recent visit to the show's Vancouver set. "We've obviously just discovered that the world's going to end, again, which is great — just another day on the ground. This whole season's mostly based around how we're going to deal with fighting an enemy that we can’t go to war with. So it's going to prove very interesting." Read more... More about Bob Morley, Eliza Taylor, The Cw, The 100, and Entertainment Read More »MIT researchers develop a wearable social coach for people with Asperger's
For people living with Asperger's syndrome, every social interaction can be a battle. While high-functioning in some aspects, those suffering from the form of autism often struggle to engage with other people and topics outside of their own spheres of interest. Keeping up with conversations can be especially challenging then, since difficulty interpreting the meaning of nonverbal communication (like gestures and facial expressions) and modulations in the speech patterns of others is one of the hallmarks of the condition. A pair of MIT researchers have set out to make these interactions less harrowing. Using wearable tech and AI deep-learning systems, they've developed a tool that could someday act as a real-time virtual social coach. Read more... More about Social, Conversations, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Algorithms Read More »Oscar the clumsy yet 'mystical' owl is on the loose and everyone's looking for him
Owls are not usually loveable. In fact they're mostly rat eating, wide-eyed horrorshows. And yet the story of Oscar, the "mystical" and "very clumsy" owl, is one that we can all recognise, one way or the other. Like many of us after a couple of drinks out on the town, Oscar has gotten himself a little bit lost. Following his performance at a bird show in Australia's Adelaide Zoo, Oscar, who is new to the area, got a fright and disappeared up a tree. The zoo's Facebook call to action has since gone into overdrive, with people sending their thoughts and prayers and discussing rumoured Oscar sightings around town. Read more... More about Owls, Oscar The Owl, Adelaide Zoo, Watercooler, and Australia Read More »This Super Bowl ad for Mexican avocados has nothing to do with Trump
As Donald Trump's suggested Mexican import tax thrusts avocados into the center of a fiery political debate, the very first commercial to air during this Sunday's Super Bowl will make the case for buying them from suppliers south of the border. The organization behind the ad, however, would rather you didn't talk about politics. Avocados from Mexico, a group that advertises on behalf of Mexican avocado growers and exporters, has done its best to stay out of the political fray even as its livelihood became a trending topic on social media last week. Read more... More about Avocados, Avocados From Mexico, Super Bowl 2017, Donald Trump, and Business Read More »This robot may have just ruined your sick day
Although robots may soon go to space, it's still difficult to build one that people genuinely want around the home and office. Marita Cheng thinks she's succeeded. Based in Melbourne, her company Aubot has built a telepresence robot that can be controlled by the brain. Although it's particularly useful for people with disabilities who have limited mobility, Cheng thinks it could also be helpful for a range of users. Basically, she's cancelled your sick day: "Rather than missing out on work when they're sick, they can send the robot to work," she told Mashable. "They can still go to meetings at work by putting on this headset and participating via our telepresence robot." Read more... More about Telepresence Robot, Aubot, Marita Cheng, Robotics, and Tech Read More »Donald Trump is being a total 'mean girl' to world leaders right now
Australia is traditionally one of the United States' besties, but it's looking more like the Gretchen Wiener (at best) of the Regina George-ruled highschool that is the Donald Trump presidency. A report by the Washington Post said that Trump was a total mean girl, during what was meant to be a cordial phone call with the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. Trump reportedly told Turnbull that it "was the worst call by far" out of a number of conversations with world leaders, which included Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump also hung up on the one hour call, 25 minutes in. Read more... More about Relations, Foreign Policy, Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister, and Donald Trump Read More »New space pics show off the greatest kitten toe beans in all the universe
As if you had any doubt that cats are the original space cadets. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) proves once and for all that cats and space belong together, releasing a new image that showcases some glorious cat toe beans in space. The Cat's Paw Nebula (as it's legit called) was first viewed by UK scientist John Herschel in 1837, according to the ESO. Might he could only make out the brightest "toepad." Since then, the full extent of the space paw has become visible and impressed humans with its "God's kitten about to swipe some cosmic crap off the universe's coffee table" likeness. Read more... More about Telescope, Space, Eso, Lobster Nebula, and Cats Paw Nebula Read More »'Bachelor' contestant couple slam claims they're in a fake relationship
It's hard enough being in femmes same-sex relationship in an often homophobic world, but when you're in the public eye, there's even more chance people will doubt you. The internet collectively rejoiced when contestants on The Bachelor in Australia, Tiffany Scanlon and Megan Marx, announced they'd found love with each other, rather than the "Bachelor," while competing on the show. But after fellow contestant and so-called "villain" Keira Maguire said their relationship was just for publicity and "definitely fake," the pair have hit back at criticism. More about Australia, The Bachelor, Keira Maguire, Tiffany Scanlon, and Megan Marx Read More »Watch this puppet cleverly take down the absurdity of banning refugees
As conflict beleaguers numerous parts of the world, there are plenty of refugees seeking asylum. The number of displaced people on earth right now is the highest on record, in fact. With Trump's immigration ban and Australia locking up of asylum seekers who arrive by boat in offshore centres, it's not good news for people seeking safety and better life. While it's not a light subject, the folks at Four Leg Films have put together a clever skit serves as an excellent analogy for the madness. It features a puppet with a gun, who doesn't want his neighbour — whose house is burning down — to come over. You'll just have to watch it. Read more... More about Refugee Crisis, Immigration Ban, Immigration, Asylum Seeker, and Asylum Seekers Read More »Nation's largest network is down and everyone's making a Trump joke
Telstra probably hoped the hashtag #TelstraOutage would be left behind in 2016. Sorry honey, no such luck. On Thursday afternoon, Australia's largest phone network went down for some users following a fire at a Chatswood exchange, which impacted mobile and fixed services. While the outage was genuinely disruptive, many could not resist making the joke of the day. And what a joke it was. On Twitter, the company said that due to the incident some SMS messages were "incorrectly delivered," adding that it would hold all messages until the issue was resolved. Read more... More about Malcolm Turnbull, Outage, Donald Trump, Australia, and Telstra Read More »Oscar-nominated 'Tanna' is just one non-English speaking Aussie film you should see
Of all the films nominated for an Oscar this year, Tanna might well be one of sweetest success stories. The 2015 joint Australian and Vanuatuan production, a romance set in the eponymous South Pacific island, is relatively unknown outside of the region. However, all that is set to change now the film has been nominated in the Best Foreign Language category for the Academy Awards, a first for Australia. But it's by no mean the first "foreign language" film the country's produced. There's a plethora of non-English speaking films set in Australia. We've compiled just a few you really need to see. Read more... More about Indigenous, Cate Shortland, Lore, Charlie S Country, and Ten Canoes Read More »'Idol' contestant besieged by pro-Trump Twitter users because of his name
Twitter and mistaken identities go hand in hand. Seems like not a day goes past that someone isn't getting the hate (or praise) that's meant for someone else with the same name. This particular story is a little more unusual though, given that it involves a comedian, a famous musician and, uh, the son of the President Of The United States. See, Shannon Noll is an American comedian known for her off-kilter impressions, as well as her self-described likeness to Barron Trump. In fact, she's putting on a play called Barron Trump: Up Past Bedtime. But the controversial decision to "take aim" at Trump's 10-year-old son means she's coming serious under fire. Read more... More about Shannon Noll, Saturday Night Live, Twitter, Barron Trump, and Watercooler Read More »Google just added a feature we always wanted for Chrome on iPhone
Google is adding a much requested feature to its Chrome browser. A new update to Chrome’s iPhone app — v56.0.2924.79 — introduces a built-in QR code scanner to the mobile browser. The feature can be accessed from the 3D Touch menu of Chrome, or by simply writing QR in Spotlight. The addition of QR scanner in Chrome — something that many have longed for years — comes months after Google added this feature to Now on Tap, an extension of Google Now available exclusively on Android smartphones. Image: manish singh/mashable india At the time, Google had positioned the new feature as an ability to quickly learn about products using their QR codes. And rightly so, QR codes are a great way to exchange information. Read more... More about China, Wechat, Google, Qr, and Google Chrome Read More »Indonesia's largest fleet of taxis teams up to beat ride-hailing apps
There is a war being waged for Jakarta's nine million commuters, and the country's largest traditional taxi company just made a huge play to counter the rising threat from the ride-hailing competition. Blue Bird, which runs a fleet of 23,000 taxis across the country, announced on Thursday it was teaming up with another big traditional player, Go-Jek. Go-Jek, which dominates the motorcycle taxi market, has expanded in recent years to cars, under its Go-car feature. The move is a strategic one, aimed at tackling a big announcement also made on Thursday by Grab, the reigning ride-hailing app. Read more... More about Grab, Go Jek, Blue Bird, Ride Hailing Apps, and Taxi Read More »You can now play Bill Gates' first PC game and run over donkeys on your iPhone, Apple Watch
Bill Gates may be best known for co-founding the world’s largest software firm Microsoft and his philanthropy work, but not a lot of people know he also programmed the first PC game. In 1981, Gates co-wrote DONKEY.BAS, a game written in BASIC programming language which saw the protagonist run over donkeys who appeared before the car. Since the operating systems our computers run today look nothing like anything that people in 1981 rocked, a good samaritan has released the iconic game to Apple’s iPhone and Apple Watch devices. Read more... More about Iphone, Apple Watch, Arcade Games, Games, and Donkey Read More »Oil spill off India's southern coast leaves fisherman stranded, marine life impacted
India's southern coast witnessed a massive oil spill on Saturday when two oil tankers collided at Ennore Port, north of Chennai city. Subsequently, the area has been enveloped by over 20 tonnes of oil and 40 tonnes of toxic substances keeping local fishermen at bay. Fishermen around Marina Beach, which is considered the world's second longest urban beach, fear venturing into the sea because crude oil contains carcinogens and the port authorities haven't provided them with protective gear, The News Minute reported. Read more... More about Fishermen, Coastal Zone, Oil Spill, News, and India Read More »This Filipino guy channels his inner Miss Universe by strutting in six-inch heels and speedos
A Filipino guy has become the stuff of legends after a video of him doing a catwalk in only a bright blue speedo and a pair of six-inch heels went viral. Sinon Loresca posted a video of himself on Sunday ahead of the Miss Universe competition strutting his stuff in support of Miss Philippines Maxine Medina. Though Miss Medina failed to win the crown, Loresca's video has won big time — with his video reaching 6.5 million views on Facebook and over 50,000 views on Instagram.
You can finally control YouTube videos playing on a TV from your iPhone's lock screen
If you have an iPhone and use Chromecast streaming dongle a lot, you can now thank Google for finally bringing some peace to your life. Users no longer have to go through the pain of unlocking their iPhone (or iPad, for that matter) every time they wanted to forward or rewind the YouTube video they are beaming on the TV. The welcome feature comes as part of an update Google rolled out to YouTube on Thursday. Google isn’t limiting the new feature to its Chromecast, fortunately. It says users who wish to control YouTube playback on smart TVs and other devices such as gaming consoles can do so now from the lock screen. Read more... More about Lock Screen, Iphone, Google, Chromecast, and Youtube Read More »Beyoncé's pregnancy photo destroyed Instagram record because of course it did
Sorry, Selena Gomez, you no longer have the most-liked photo on Instagram. That honor now belongs to (who other than) Beyoncé, whose pregnancy announcement photo has more than 7,400,000 likes at the time of this writing. The photo, which has been online for just over half a day, also has more than 360,000 comments. This Bollywood actor has launched stickers styled on looks from her movies
Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has done a Kim Kardashian by launching in-app stickers styled after her. The stickers are inspired by her looks from the films Neerja, Aisha, Khoobsurat, I Hate Luv Storys and Dolly Ki Doli. Kapoor posted an in-app message announcing the new feature. She wrote: "Hey Tribe, now you can react just like I would, simply by using any of these stickers. Just adding a little more Sonam to the Sonam Kapoor App." She also shared a preview of it on Instagram. Forget Prince George, the Prince of Bhutan is the OG royal baby
Many people might immediately associate the term "royal baby" with the UK's Prince George, but we think Bhutan has got a cuter kid in its ranks. Crown Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck is Bhutan's youngest royal, who just so happens to be turning 1 on Feb. 5. To commemorate the occasion, the Bhutanese website Yellow has made the Crown Prince the cover model for the February edition of its desktop calendar. The website promises the photo will "melt your heart," and with those puffy cheeks, a regal-looking yellow robe and that smile, it sure does. Read more... More about Photography, Asia, Baby, Royal Baby, and Prince Read More »This MP made a 'Trainspotting'-inspired anti-Brexit speech and it was epic
A Scottish MP has delivered a soul-stirring, anti-Brexit speech in Parliament, inspired by the famous "choose life" monologue from Trainspotting. While MPs debated and voted on triggering Article 50 — which will start the process to get Britain out of the European Union — Hannah Bardell said she saw Trainspotting 2 recently and it inspired her.
This cake is getting married and you can't even get a date
LONDON — Colin the Caterpillar has been a birthday cake staple in British households for the past 26 years OK, so we know that cakes can't actually get married. Marks and Spencer is launching two wedding cakes, Colin the Groom and Connie the Bride. J.K. Rowling has the perfect response to Trump trolls burning her books
LONDON — J.K. Rowling has had a very busy week on Twitter, even by her standards. It kicked off on Monday with a tweet about Mike Pence, then progressed to her shutting down Trump trolls again and again with a series of well-crafted, 140-character barbs. The tweets have generated media coverage, thousands of readers, and — unsurprisingly — have attracted a whole host of new trolls that seem drawn to Rowling like angry moths to a flame. The latest trend involves people telling her that they're going to burn her books.
These machines are testing human drivers’ skills with no mercy
You may think you're a speed demon now, but your ability to drive as skillfully goes down sharply as you age. On Thursday, huge automated dispensers started popping up in Singapore handing out kits to help people test their reaction time, vision and hearing ability. The traffic police's "Road Master Kit" is pretty low-tech, but it does what it says on the label. Inside, you'll get a poster of a street scene to test your eyesight, a simple list of questions to assess hearing loss, and a ruler so you can do a drop test for reflexes. Read more... More about Driving, Singapore, and World Read More »Drake gig gets interrupted by Travis Scott abruptly falling off stage
LONDON — You've got to hand it to rapper Travis Scott — despite falling through a giant hole in the stage during Drake's O2 concert on Wednesday, he barely missed a beat. Videos of Scott's fall — which happened during a rendition of "Goosebumps" at the O2 arena in London — went viral on Twitter in the aftermath of the gig. Here's the side view:And here's another angle (you can see Drake helping Travis back onto the stage in this one):Is that a quick recovery or what? If you were stood further back in the crowd you probably wouldn't even know he'd taken a tumble. Read more... More about Concert, Uk, O2, London, and Travis Scott Read More »PepsiCo CEO Indrani Nooyi reveals why she writes letters to parents of her senior executives
PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi has never been one to conceal her humane side. Be it her confession about the number of times she calls her mother to her acknowledgement of how her children have given her new perspectives in life, Nooyi has often bared it all. Hence, it came as no surprise when she admitted to writing personal letters as a mark of gratitude to the parents of her senior executives. Nooyi, who appeared on The David Rubenstein Show, said, "I was a product of my upbringing... It occurred to me that I had never thanked the parents of my executives for the gift of their child to PepsiCo." Read more... More about Employee, Parenting, Ceo, Organization, and Pepsico Read More »James Corden helps Aaron Paul find redemption for a past gameshow fail
We all have things in our past that haunt us. The moment of greatest regret in Aaron Paul's life is a loss he endured as a young man on The Price Is Right. James Corden decided he was going to help Paul find gameshow redemption. In the video above, Corden and Paul break into The Price is Right set and play the game so that Paul can right his past gameshow flub. It might have worked if Corden didn't steal the moment for himself. Better luck next time, Paul. Uber is pretty much throwing in the towel in Taiwan
After a protracted stand-off with the government, Uber has decided to suspend its service in Taiwan. The San Francisco company said in a blog post that its service will be "paused" from Feb. 10, and that it hoped it could "reset the conversation." Because taxi companies in Taiwan are legally required to be domestically owned and operated, Uber is in violation of that law, despite its efforts to become legal in Taiwan. As a result, it's racked up NT$1.1 billion ($35.3 million) in fines, made worse by the regulator just recently raising the maximum fine for unlicensed taxi operators. Read more... More about Taxi, Taipei, Taiwan, Ride Hailing Apps, and Uber Read More »Watch Ricky Gervais and Stephen Colbert debate the existence of God
Ricky Gervais is a man of many talents and interests. One day he can be cracking jokes about how he's never going to give up food and drink, and the next day he's calmly debating the existing of God with Stephen Colbert. "You deny one less god than I do," explains Gervais in the clip above, after explaining that there are roughly 3,000 gods in the world. "You don't believe in 2,999 gods — and I don't believe in just one more." Uber calls on citizens of India's Silicon Valley to fight UBERPool ban
Uber and its run-ins with local governments across the world are nothing new. But struggling to find a way around India’s archaic regulations, Uber has reached out to its customers for help. The American ride-hailing service today filed a petition to urge the state government of Karnataka to revoke a ban on its ride-sharing services in the state. Uber is seeking 50,000 people to sign the petition, and testify that that the city of Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley, needs ride-sharing services. Nearly 10,000 people have already signed the petition at the time of writing. Read more... More about Transportation, Ola, India, Uber, and Business Read More »Unique German words will help you express yourself like a boss
Ever been caught out in a situation you have no idea how you're going to explain? Or maybe you've longed for something that you know is just that little bit out of reach? Well it turns out there's a word for both of those things. The latest video from The School of Life explores the German words that aim to condense hard-to-describe emotions into a single expression (you've probably already heard of "Schadenfreude", which is on there, but there are a bunch of lesser-known ones too). "Fremdschämen" — a word which means a feeling of embarrassment on behalf of a friend — might be our favourite. Read more... More about Uk, Youtube, The School Of Life, Language, and German Read More »Sex toy warmer is the toasty cure for those cold, lonely nights
Even sex toys get cold during winter The warmer — which is aptly named "Warm" — launched Wednesday with the aim of providing sex toy enthusiasts with an "effective and discreet way to warm sex toys and take sexual pleasure to heightened levels." Celebrity conspiracy theory: Marisa Tomei wasn't supposed to win an Oscar
Welcome to Celebrity Conspiracy Theory, Mashable's new series in which we investigate the internet's most perplexing theories about famous people. It's a moment immortalized by memes: Steve Harvey, host of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, was forced to take the victory crown away from Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutiérrez — whom he had mistakenly announced as the victor — and regift it to Miss Phillippines Pia Wurtzbach, the actual winner. But what if he just, you know, hadn't? What if he'd simply slunk off, embarrassed, into the wings? What if he let Gutiérrez celebrate, leaving the audience and contestants completely unaware of the rightful winner? Read more... More about Conspiracy Theories, Oscars, Marisa Tomei, and Watercooler Read More »Daniel Radcliffe hasn't seen 'The Cursed Child' and probably won't
Every week, thousands of Harry Potter fans fill the seats of the Palace Theatre to watch The Cursed Child — which is exactly why Daniel Radcliffe is yet to see the play. "I just feel it would not be a relaxing evening at the theatre," Radcliffe said in a BBC interview. "I assume every night there are 1,000 Harry Potter fans in the audience." Though he hasn't watched the stage play, Radcliffe expressed his enthusiasm for fans saying it's a fantastic experience for the series lovers. Unlike Radcliffe, many of his Harry Potter co-stars have attended the two-part production. Read more... More about Play, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe Read More »Mind-reading machine helps 'locked-in' patients communicate
Researchers in Europe have developed a brain-computer interface that's able to translate brainwaves and blood flow into "yes" or "no" responses. Patients suffering from "'locked-in syndrome" experience complete paralysis, including the inability to blink. They're completely cut off from the outside world. But through this technology, four locked-in patients were able to communicate with their loved ones for the first time. Read more... More about Neurotechnology, Wyss Center, Real Time Video, Paralysed Patients, and Locked In Read More »Ellen DeGeneres and Jamie Dornan turn up the heat in an office supply bondage sesh
In case the Fifty Shades creators are looking to make a fourth installment to the franchise, Ellen DeGeneres has come up with a few suggestions. DeGeneres employed the assistance of Christian Grey himself — Fifty Shades Darker actor, Jamie Dornan — to demonstrate her brilliant idea. In the video above, they act out a hilarious Staples themed bondage scene that genuinely deserves its own feature. Office supplies never looked so sexy. Microchips lined with live human cells could save lab rats everywhere
Human Organs-on-Chips are microchips lined with human cells that replicate the way real human organs function. The technology was designed by the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, where various human organs have been miniaturized into chips. They're being used to replace animals in drug testing and speed up the process of creating new, more effective medicine. Read more... More about Drug Development, Lab Testing, Lab Rats, Microengineering, and Tech Read More »Keanu Reeves and Judd Apatow did standup with jokes written by kids
Knock knock. Who's there? Three rising "kid" comedians! Last night on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, the jokes that had the audience cracking up were all written by real kids ages five through ten. The jokes covered all kinds of topics from kolas falling out of trees to some old school political humor. The late night host was joined by actor Keanu Reeves and director/producer Judd Apatow; each guy created their own comedian persona to deliver the punch lines. Apparently wearing funky blazers is a requirement when doing standup. Who knew kids could come up with funnier jokes than adults? Read more... More about Jokes, Judd Apatow, Keanu Reeves, Jimmy Fallon, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Read More »Stephen Colbert takes on Trump's love of theatrics with 'So You Think You Can SCOTUS'
Donald Trump treated his Supreme Court nomination much like a reality show: he flew in both finalists, tried to build up anticipation on Twitter, then announced his pick in primetime. How very The Apprentice of him. On Wednesday night's Late Show, Stephen Colbert finally gave this bizarre television special a name: "So You Think You Can SCOTUS?" Seems about right. Anyway, when is the part where Neil Gorsuch break dances? Baby anteater is best friends with a giant stuffed teddy bear
Unlikely animal friendships come in all shapes and sizes, but this bond between a tiny anteater and a big stuffed teddy has to be one of the less conventional ones we've seen. Beanie, the baby giant anteater who's recently joined the ranks of ZSL London Zoo, befriended the bear after her mother was unable to look after her. Still, she won't be the little spoon in the relationship forever — Beanie's adult length is estimated to be around seven foot in the video above, which means she'll soon be dwarfing her stuffed friend. Read more... More about Uk, Cute, Teddy Bear, Zoo, and London Zoo Read More »This turntable put a new spin on your old vinyl records
'LOVE' is the first intelligent turntable. Revolutionizing the traditional turntable, 'LOVE' spins on top of the record. You can pause and skip songs, and stream music from your smartphone or any Bluetooth device. Read more... More about Mashable Video, Reality Tv, Real Time Video, Real Time, and Speakers Read More »The New York Times is headed for Snapchat Discover
Snapchat is getting some gray. The New York Times, or the Gray Lady, will join Snapchat Discover, the app's network of media outlets, the companies announced Thursday (Mashable is a Discover partner). On Snapchat, The Times will offer a daily edition, published Monday to Friday, of its "Morning Briefing," an email digest of the day's news. The edition will be available in the U.S., Canada and Australia, where Snapchat has about 64 million daily active users. There's no set launch date. The announcement is quite convenient timing for both companiesThe New York Times reported its quarterly revenue and full-year 2016 earnings on Thursday, and Snap Inc. is expected to file the papers for its initial public offering as early as this week. Read more... More about Media, Tech, Apps And Software, Business, and New York Times Read More »Samantha Bee compared Donald Trump to Paris Geller from 'Gilmore Girls'
Donald Trump has been compared to a lot of things, but a Gilmore Girls connection is definitely something new. After Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates when she would not defend his executive order banning refugees and and immigrants from seven major Muslim countries, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee host Samantha Bee found an interesting correlation between Trump's obsession with loyalty and a certain Stars Hollow favorite. “Remember on Gilmore Girls when Paris Geller staffed the school newspaper with her most loyal friends with no regard for talent level. It’s like that but with the leader of the free world and nukes,” Bee said. Read more... More about Politics, Gilmore Girls, Donald Trump, Samantha Bee, and Watercooler Read More »Hater, the app that lets you find love based on what you hate
We all have a long list of the annoying things we hate, and now — finally! — we can use this information to find true love. Hater is a brand new dating app that matches you with others who can’t stand the very same things you can’t stand. It’s a delightful concept that let’s you drop that idealized, perky version of yourself you’ve been putting in all your profiles and let’s you show off your inner crank instead. The app launches officially on February 8th but is now available in beta for iOS. (It will be available for Android this spring.) It offers you 3,000 hand-selected topics to weigh in on — butt selfies, build the wall, slow walkers and tipping less than 15% are just a few. You simply swipe down to hate, up to love, left to dislike or right to like. Read more... More about Hate, Dating Apps, Sex And Relationships, and Watercooler Read More »Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen have officially launched a book club
Pry your eyes off of Snapchat and re-runs of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, because Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen have officially launched the book club of your dreams. Watch out, Oprah. In a series of tweets Tuesday, Kim declared the start of a reading revolution. It started with a request for book suggestions. "Any good books I should start reading?," Kim tweeted on Monday. "I love reading before I fall asleep and need a new book." A few days later, the social media queen co-conspired a book club with Teigen and celebrity hair stylist Jen Atkins, and opened the invitation to all. Read more... More about Conversations, Watercooler, Mashreads, Book Club, and Chrissy Teigen Read More »Beyoncé graciously shares even more photos from her pregnancy shoot
Ever in tune with your emotions, Queen Bey has delivered what you wanted the most — more photos of her instantly iconic pregnancy shoot with Awol Erizku. Beyoncé's twins, who have not been born yet, are already the subjects of the world's most liked Instagram photo — a title they captured from Selena Gomez on Thursday. So it only made sense to give them some more time in the sun. The new pictures are featured alongside poetry from Warsan Shire, the Somali-British writer whose work is heavily featured in Lemonade. There are also several throwback shots of Jay-Z and Blue Ivy, as well as a few mesmerizing GIFs. Read more... More about Photos, Beyonce, and Watercooler Read More »Harvard scientists have created the rarest material on earth
Physicists have developed a process to make metallic hydrogen through extreme pressurization. Use of the rare and valuable material could revolutionize the future of many industries. Read more... More about Technology, Space, Rockets, Transportation, and Physics Read More »How to get even closer to your partner this Valentine’s Day (wink wink)
Let’s talk about sex. Yes, you read that right. We all know Valentine’s Day will be a special time for you and your partner. It’s a night to connect, unwind and get a little frisky. It's absolutely nothing to be shy about. As a matter of fact, it can really help to get everything out in the open. The more we talk about what we do in the bedroom, the more enjoyable it can be for everyone. There are a lot of different ways that partners can improve their time together and become even closer than before. But it's also important to stay safe while having fun. The truth is, you don't need to swap out pleasure for protection. And that's good news, because they both help to enhance the experience. Read more... More about Supported, Lifestyle, and Health Fitness Read More »Facebook's image recognition can now tell what you're wearing
Facebook's search tool is about to get way more visual. Director of Applied Machine Learning Joaquin Candela published a blog post today (accompanying his presentation at the Machine Learning @Scale event in New York City) to share updates about Facebook's AI-based image-recognition tool. The improvements can hone in on photos to the "pixel level" and will let users search images based on their content — whether or not they've been manually tagged. "Until recently, online search has always been a text-driven technology, even when searching through images," he writes. "Whether an image was discoverable was dependent on whether it was sufficiently tagged or had the right caption — until now." Read more... More about Ai, Facebook, and Tech Read More »'Rocket League' toy line is basically the new Micro Machines
It was only a matter of time before someone did the math and realized IRL Rocket League could be a super cool thing. Psyonix, the esports darling's developer, has partnered with Zag Toys to create a line of toys modeled after the rides in the "car soccer" video game. You can expect 12 cars in the initial line of "Original Minis," including Octane, Dominus, Masamune, Hotshot, Grog, X-Devil, Merc and Backfire. The toy cars are all "pull-back racers," meaning you drag them back a few inches, then release and watch them dart forward. Each one will be packed inside a plastic replica of Rocket League's ball. Read more... More about Psyonix, Rocket League, Toys, Gaming, and Entertainment Read More »Uber offers drivers $1 each to wipe away labor threats valued in the billions
Uber Technologies Inc. is offering its drivers an average of about a dollar apiece to dispose of alleged labor code violations that their own lawyer said might be worth billions. The ride-hailing company asked a state judge in Los Angeles Wednesday to approve a $7.75 million settlement to resolve claims stemming from the company’s refusal to give California drivers the protections and benefits of employees. The accord doesn’t require Uber to stop classifying the drivers as independent contractors. The claims by Steven Price, who sought to represent as many as 1.6 million California drivers in a class action, were brought under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, which gives employees the right to step into the shoes of the state labor secretary to bring enforcement actions. Under the 2004 law, the state keeps 75 percent of any penalties won. Attorneys for employers have nicknamed it the “bounty hunter” and “sue your boss” law because of the remaining 25 percent is a reward for the workers who bring the case. Thousands of such lawsuits have been filed in the past 12 years. Read more... More about Contractor, Gig Economy, Uber Drivers, Uber, and Business Read More »Kind humans rescue tired moose that fell through the ice
A few kind humans came to the rescue of a helpless moose that fell through thin ice into chilly waters, proving goodness still exists in the world. At the start of the video, the moose can be seen desperately attempting to escape the water without any luck. Using a hatchet, a woman cuts out a path in the ice to help the moose swim to safety. Exhausted, the moose barely makes it to land, but with a little coaxing it finally escapes the icy water and eventually walks away. Trump prays for 'Apprentice' ratings, Schwarzenegger prays for America
While the world is praying for peace and an end to the political controversy surrounding us, Donald Trump is busy praying for The Apprentice. At Thursday morning's National Prayer Breakfast in D.C., President Trump kicked off the meaningful event in true Trump fashion... by discussing television ratings, of course. SEE ALSO: Donald Trump finally got a fact right He couldn't resist taking another jab at his Apprentice replacement host, Arnold Schwarzenegger, by cracking a bizarre joke in the form of a prayer about ratings. After noting his own "tremendous success" as the reality show's host, he called out the show's drop in ratings since Schwarzenegger took over. Read more... More about Ratings, Television, The Apprentice, Conversations, and Videos Read More »Matthew McConaughey thinks it's time Hollywood 'embraces' Donald Trump
Matthew McConaughey has a message for Hollywood (that we have a feeling they will probably ignore). While sitting down with the actor to talk about his new film Gold, an interviewer from ChannelFI said "Every single American actor or arty type who comes over to London dumps on Trump," and asked if it was time for Hollywood and America's cultural elite to give "this guy a break.” "Well, they don't have a choice now, he's our president," McConaughey replied. "And it's very dynamic and as divisive of an inauguration and time that we've ever had. At the same time, it's time for us to embrace, shake hands with this fact, and be constructive with him over the next four years," he continued in the interview now removed from YouTube. This robot flies like a real bat and is not at all creepy
Drones have come a long way in a short amount of time. They now can deliver packages, help in search and rescue missions and will even slice off your finger if your happen to touch one of their spinning rotors. Since we almost certainly will live and work with flying robots in the future, scientists have been looking for a better and safer way to fly. A flying robot bat may provide the answer. You’ve got to hand it to bats. Not only are they nature’s only flying mammal, they beat the feathers off most other flying animals when it comes to flight mechanics. SEE ALSO: Talking to robots might make you feel better about your love life, new research shows Read more... New online shopping startup tries to predict what you'll want to buy next
Most online shopping sites are great at suggesting items similar to the ones you've previously purchased. But until now, none have quite mastered how to use that data to actually predict what you will be interested in next. That's the premise of Propulse, a new Montreal-based startup that uses machine learning and image recognition software to attempt to understand a shopper's tastes and recommend new products accordingly. The e-commerce platform, which officially launched Thursday, is billed as a sort of online retail analog to Netflix's video recommendation engine. Its algorithm analyzes nearly 40,000 attributes of product images or listings in order to suss out a customer's personal style and match it to known shopping patterns. Read more... More about E Commerce and Business Read More »A Syrian journalist's ordeal after Trump's travel ban
When Donald Trump approved the executive order on the travel ban for seven majority-Muslims countries, Zaina Erhaim couldn't believe her ears. The award-winning Syrian journalist and activist had been planning to tour America along with other Syrian women as part of a second-leg series of documentary screenings offering a rare insight into the one of the world's biggest crisis. Produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), the tour was funded by the Bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor (DRL), which is part of the US Department of State. Now, the same department was telling Erhaim and other Syrian women that they're not welcome in the country anymore. Read more... More about Donald Trump, Travel Ban, Muslim Ban, Syria, and World Read More »Curious kestrel videobombs a traffic camera for some adorable footage
Traffic camera footage isn't known for being a prolific source of excitement. However, one camera in Gloucestershire captured the attention of an unexpected critter. A wide-eyed kestrel couldn't help but stop and stare down the barrel of this highway CCTV. The footage is seriously adorable. In the video above, the kestrel is caught chirping, hopping, and being generally cute. The footage also captured the spunky bird holding it's own against a mapgie and a crow. In the case of these bird battles, we are definitely team kestrel. Read more... More about Gloucestershire, Cctv, Traffic Camera, Cute Animal Videos, and Cute Animals Read More »McSweeney's published Trump's Black History Month speech as a humor column
Welcome to the great humor-life convergence. Plenty of folks have for months said stuff like, "This is an Onion headline, but I'd believe it." Well, we're here now. 2017 is the year. Humor website McSweeney's published President Donald Trump's full Black History Month speech as a humor column on Wednesday, and it works. All they did was give it a title: My Very Good Black History Month Tribute To Some Of The Most Tremendous Black People. From there, it's published verbatim. And why not? Trump takes just two paragraphs before he begins talking about himself. Then he talks about Martin Luther King Jr. mostly to remind the world yet again that the civil rights icon's statue is still in his office. Read more... More about Speech, Humor, Mcsweeneys, Donald Trump, and Black History Month Read More »Scientists invented a hydrogel which could be used to create artificial skin
Researchers at MIT have enhanced a hydrogel with a coating to prevent it from drying out. This polymer could be used in the future for various types of wearable electronics. Read more... More about Real Time Video, Real Time, Medical Equipment, Biotechnology, and Electronics Read More »Wealthfront looks to make sure millennials never have to talk to an actual financial planner
Wealthfront has a mission: To make sure millennials never have to talk to a real-life financial planner ever again. The investing robo-advisor is expanding into financial planning with an interactive feature that lets its clients find answers to retirement questions from the app — not a finance professional. Through Path, its new financial planning feature, Wealthfront hopes to replace financial advisors at Goldman Sachs for couples in their 30s and 40s. Unlike firms like Goldman, Wealthfront doesn't require a $1 million minimum from clients. And Wealthfront thinks its software gives better and more convenient advice than an advisor ever could. Read more... More about Retirement Savings, Savings, Investing, Robo Advisor, and Wealthfront Read More »10 apps you'll definitely want at the next protest
Overwhelmed by President Donald Trump? Attending a protest or march is one way to make your voice heard. If you're headed out, it's a good idea to expect the unexpected. Here are the apps we recommend you have at your fingertips while you're fighting the good fight. 1. CountableImage: COUNTABLE What it does: Countable gives you information about your local lawmakers and how they voted on proposed legislation. It also helps you message your representatives directly. When you'll want it: Whenever you want additional detail about current events or want to take a step beyond marching. Read more... More about Social Good, Protesting, Apps And Software, Apps, and Tech Read More »Over 12,000 tweets are calling for Trump's assassination. Here's how the Secret Service handles it
In the 12 days since Donald Trump took the oath of office, a steady stream of social media posts have called for the new president's assassination. The posts are pretty basic and many are jokes or sarcastic or hyperbolic — but there are a lot of them. In a Dataminr search of Twitter posts since Inauguration Day containing the phrase "assassinate Trump" nearly 12,000 tweets came up. The U.S. Secret Service, however, or even Twitter and Facebook themselves, doesn't seem to be jumping onto many of these posts. When several users were asked about their recent "assassinate Trump" posts, all of them said they hadn't been contacted by anyone about their post and they all remain up. Read more... More about Facebook, Twitter, Assassinations, Secret Service, and Donald Trump Read More »Man busted for arson after his pacemaker snitched on him
A story out of small-town Ohio currently making the rounds online should serve as a cautionary tale for would-be crooks: if you're gonna lie to the cops, make sure you're not wearing any tracking devices that could throw off your alibi. A 59-year-old man from Middletown, Ohio was indicted on charges of arson and fraud after police inspected data from his pacemaker, which didn't match up to his story. Local WLWT5 reports Ross Compton's house burned down last September under questionable circumstances. Investigators were suspicious of an insurance fraud scheme from the moment Compton called 911—he reportedly told a dispatcher that after spotting the blaze, he was able to run back to the house, pack his bags, then book it out a window he broke with a walking stick. Read more... More about Ohio, Fraud, Arson, Wearable Tech, and Activity Trackers Read More »Game publisher offers to demo games for developers affected by Trump's immigration ban
Words are good. Hell: words are great. But in this, the age of the Trump, it's action that matters most. Enter Devolver Digital. The upstart indie games publisher is taking steps to directly help developers that were planning to attend the 2017 Game Developer's Conference but can't, because of the Trump administration's controversial immigration ban affecting seven predominantly Muslim nations. It works like this: if you're a game developer from one of the seven affected nations — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — and you had a game to show at GDC, get in touch with Devolver. You'll find all the info for submitting your game right here. Read more... More about Game Developers Conference, Devolver Digital, Gaming, and Entertainment Read More »Steph Curry's dad shows his son how it's done, sinks deep 3-pointer
The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, as they say. Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry leads the NBA with 199 three-pointers, and it's easy to see where that came from — his dad. Dell Curry, a former NBA player and current color commentator for the Charlotte Hornets, was at Oracle Arena for the Hornets-Warriors matchup on Wednesday night. Before the game, Steph joked around with Dell, tossing a basketball at his dad. But Dell, who retired as the Hornets all-time leader in points and three-pointers, picked up the ball and drained one from downtown. Steph was all smiles, and clearly took some of his dad's inspiration into Wednesday's game, putting up an astounding 11 three-pointers in the Warriors' 126-111 win. Read more... More about Golden State Warriors, Nba, Basketball, Entertainment, and Sports Read More »Merriam-Webster and the ACLU finally settle the 'woah' vs 'whoa' debate
Merriam-Webster and the ACLU have teamed up to solve a long-running spelling debate: is it spelled "whoa" or "woah"? Take a look at this friendly, good conversation between pals. Did we ever think we would admire the camaraderie between a dictionary and the American Civil Liberties Union? No. But these are trying times, and we will take what we can get. First, a pleasant inquiry from the ACLU:
How Twitter took on Trump's Twitter bot army—and won
Just around dawn, on Tuesday, at 6:21 a.m., President Donald Trump tweeted. He mocked Congressional Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and New York Senator Chuck Schumer's protests against his recent executive order on immigration, which banned citizens from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Over 39,000 tweets were sent in response to the president’s words. But for many users, it was a thread mocking Trump from New Yorker and television writer Bess Kalb that soared to the top of his replies. She pointed out how Trump failed to criticize the reason lawmakers protested, and instead, focused on calling them names. Read more... More about Trump, Twitter Replies, Twitter Trolls, Twitter, and Tech Read More »Patriotic, piano-playing chicken pecks its way through 'America the Beautiful'
All this chicken needs is a waving flag, an accompanying orchestra and a dream to really bring this divided country back together again. In this video posted on Youtube by user Two Creative Chicks, this brilliant, talented chicken uses its beak to peck keyboard keys and perform, quite possibly, the best version of "America the Beautiful" we've ever heard. (Of course the piano helps out a little.) Is it just us, or is the chicken keeping pretty perfect time? We salute you, our feathered friend. South Korean 'Overwatch' pros suspended for engaging in relationships with female fans
Two professional Overwatch players have been benched for two months after information came out about the two stars engaging in online relationships with multiple female fans. Popular South Korean Overwatch team Lunatic-Hai banned players Lee Tae Jun and Geum "Dean" Dong-geun from participating in OGN's Apex Season 2 — one of the biggest Overwatch leagues in the world — and all other events for the next two months because the players were caught in multiple online affairs with their fans, according to a Reddit post discussing the news. "Both of them have done something they should not be doing as esports players and we have taken steps to prevent recurrence," Lunatic-Hai said in a statement translated from Korean. Read more... More about Drama, Esports, Gaming, Lunatic Hai, and South Korea Read More »Smell like weed all day with these cannabis-specific perfumes
Back in the day people used to put perfume or cologne on to mask the smell of weed. In 2017, people are finally embracing the skunky smell of the sticky icky. Perfume company Xyrena is launching what it calls the first "strain-specific cannabis perfumes." While marijuana perfumes aren't entirely a new thing, Xyrena is taking weed scents out of shops like Spencer's Gifts and giving them a classier approach. Image: xyrena. Xyrena is releasing three unisex perfumes based off the following strains strains: Blue Dream, OG Kush and Space Cake, all of which are available for $74.20 (get it?) on its website. Read more... More about Perfume, Marijuana, Watercooler, and Conversations Read More »Facebook's Friends Day reactions monster is here to terrify us all
While International Friendship Day was popularized by greeting card companies, Facebook went a step forward and coined its own birthday, Feb. 4 as Friends Day a few years ago. Facebook, which has finally turned old enough to be a user on its own site, is marking the made-up holiday by bestowing its users with a personalized Friends Day video. The videos are similar to other auto-generated videos Facebook has done (like the ones for birthdays). with an eye-popping addition: a bizarre-looking humanoid creature, an apparent amalgam of reaction buttons and Facebook photos. More about Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Friends Day, Facebook, and Tech Read More »'Salt Bae' seasoned Leonardo DiCaprio's dinner, as is the natural order of things
Here we have Leonardo DiCaprio preparing to enjoy a dinner of expensive meats, courtesy of the exact person you would probably expect: Salt Bae.
As you'll recall, Salt Bae — aka Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe — rose to unexpected internet fame thanks to a video posted to his Instagram account. In the clip, Gökçe slices a slab of meat with finesse and artfully sprinkles the dish with a healthy dose of salt. Pennsylvania teacher makes GoFundMe to 'buy' senator's vote on Betsy DeVos
The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education is at an apparent standstill with 50 votes for, 50 against, going into a Monday vote. Pressure from constituents has led two republican senators to say they'll vote 'no' on DeVos but despite pressure from voters, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania still plans to confirm. It's worth noting, perhaps, that Toomey has received considerable campaign contributions (over $60,000, according to the Center for American Progress) from DeVos in the past. After placing several calls and faxes to Toomey's office without changing the republican senator's vote, a Pennsylvania teacher named Katherine Fritz decided to raise a DeVos-amount of money to "buy" Toomey instead. Read more... More about Us Senate, Pat Toomey, Watercooler, Politics, and Conversations Read More »Brave rabbit fends off a falcon in a showdown for the ages
The wild is a scary place, but unlikely heroes emerge as a result. In this video posted on Youtube by user DUB TV, a rabbit combats an attack from an aggressive falcon in a dramatic fight of life and death. Even though the falcon has height on its side, the scrappy hare puts its dukes up and shows the falcon who's boss. For now, this rabbit reigns on as King of the Prairie.
Beyoncé was trying to tell us about the twins this whole time and we are fools
On Feb. 1, 2017, Beyoncé stopped the world yet again by announcing that she is pregnant with two more heirs to the Carter-Knowles dynasty. But we should be ashamed of ourselves for our surprise at the glorious news. Because she tried to give us this beautiful gift around Christmas, and we were too foolish to realize what was right before our eyes. See, Bey Instagrammed a festive slideshow for the holidays, including a shot of her flashing two fingers. You know, FOR TWINS. More about Watercooler, Celebrities, Beyonce, Conspiracy Theories, and Music Read More » | ||||
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četvrtak, 2. veljače 2017.
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