Author Archives: Carol Edwards

As much as Pride Month is about paying homage to those who jumpstarted the modern LBGTQ movement, it’s also about celebrating people who are making history right now and paving the way for a more inclusive future. 

Every day of Pride Month, Mashable will be sharing illuminating conversations with people who are changing laws, increasing representation, challenging expectations, comforting the afflicted, and championing inclusivity. Learn about a man who sued Trump for the right to serve in the military, an Iranian activist building safe havens for refugees, a YouTuber starting conversations about discrimination, an actor who cares about activism, and more inspiring individuals. 
Read more…

More about Pride Month, Pride Month 2019, Social Good, Celebrities, and Activism

Google is reportedly urging the Trump administration not to ban it from doing business with Huawei, citing security concerns.

Last month, the U.S. government placed Huawei on a blacklist that restricted it from trading with U.S. companies without prior government approval. As a result, Google restricted Huawei’s access to its Android operating system. The U.S. later delayed that action by 90 days, but that reprieve expires on Aug. 19.

Should the ban be fully implemented, Huawei would be allowed to use an open-source version of Android, but that means its phones will not come pre-loaded with Google apps like the Google Play Store or security features like Google Play Protect. According to Google, allowing Huawei to run a forked version of Android is a security issue, The Verge reports, citing the paywalled Financial Times. Read more…

More about Google, Huawei, Tech, Smartphones, and Consumer Tech

Black Mirror is not known for subtlety.  

Most of its episodes can be boiled down to the idea that technology is dangerous in the hands of the wrong people and that most people are, in fact, the wrong people. It’s taken shots at the military industrial complex, online shaming, reality television, virtual reality, and millennials not calling their moms enough. 

Some of those episodes get their points across better than others, but Season 5’s “Smithereens” has the distinction of being the only Black Mirror episode to have no discernible point and to literally deify the CEO of a tech company. 

With “Smithereens,” the show’s previous dedication to saying something, anything about technology and/or humanity is thrown out the window in favor of an absolute clusterfuck of mismatched ideas. “Smithereens” says distracted driving is a menace and rideshares are untrustworthy. It also says social media has more of your data than the government does and privacy is only important up until you die. But the weirdest, most bizarre of “Smithereens” big points is that… tech CEOs are Jesus.  Read more…

More about Black Mirror, Topher Grace, Smithereens, Entertainment, and Movies Tv Shows

Credit cards can be an excellent tool for managing your cash flow and earning rewards from everyday purchases. (Some credit cards can even help give your love life a boost.) But what if you want to do more with each swipe than save money? 

If saving the planet is also top of mind, you may want to consider which credit cards do to the most to help you cut back on your carbon footprint. However, it’s important to understand environmental concerns with both the cards themselves and the institutions that issue them.

Some environmentally friendly credit cards are partnerships between issuing banks and nonprofits. Others are simply cards from issuers with an aim for environmental excellence and sustainability. We’ve compared what’s out there to come up with this list of the 7 best credit cards to help offset your carbon footprint. Read more…

More about Social Good, Personal Finance, Mashable Shopping, Social Good, and Work Life

Well, this is going to be one frightening view.

A 360-degree infinity pool has been planned for a skyscraper called Infinity London in well, London, and designers say it’s the only building in the world to have one.

The ambitious concept comes from Compass Pools, who are looking to build the 600,000-litre pool out of cast acrylic, rather than glass, on top of the 55-storey building.

OK, looking at the pictures, you’re probably wondering how you’d get in (or out). According to the design team, a rotating spiral staircase, much like a submarine’s door, will arise from the floor of the pool. That’s all the detail we get for now, so the actual practicalities of this remain to be seen. Read more…

More about Design, Culture, Pool, Culture, and Innovations

The New York Police Department has formally apologized for its actions during the 1969 Stonewall riot. But the mea culpa is getting flak as the police have been accused of mistreating trans people. 

In a statement on Thursday, NYPD commissioner James O’Neill apologized on behalf of the police department, and said it would be “irresponsible” to not acknowledge its part in the riots. 

On Jun. 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn — a club in New York City that provided an LGBTQ-friendly safe haven with cheap drinks and dancing. Homosexuality was criminalized in the ’60s and solicitation of homosexual relations was illegal. The NYPD arrested the club’s employees for operating without a liquor license and arrested other patrons for “not wearing at least three articles of gender-appropriate clothing.” Bystanders and other patrons began throwing debris at the officers, sparking a five-day long riot. The event is considered a “turning point” in the gay rights movement.  Read more…

More about Pride, Nypd, Statement, Social Good, and Web Culture

Uber’s aerial commuter goals are landing at a helipad in New York this summer.

Remember when Uber offered helicopter rides for a brief period in Brazil? It was three years ago, and only for a trial period, but UberCoper was briefly a thing. Now it’s back, with rides in New York City.

Dubbed Uber Copter, Uber is offering on-demand helicopter rides between lower Manhattan and JFK International Airport during the afternoon commute Monday through Friday. It’s an option for diamond and platinum riders (those are the highest tiers) on Uber Rewards and only comes up as a transportation option on the app if you’re in the New York area. You can book fights up to five days in advance. Read more…

More about Uber, Helicopter, Uber Elevate, Electric Planes, and Tech

410,203 acres burned.

Last summer, the Ranch Fire — which was part of a greater complex of fires — ripped through Northern California, smashing the previous, short-lived record for the largest wildfire in state history by some 128,000 acres.

And it all started because a hammer, used to drive a stake into the ground, tossed either sparks or bits of hot metal onto the parched land. The Golden State’s fire protection agency, Cal Fire, revealed the historic conflagration’s cause Thursday and posted the incident report online.

That the use of a simple tool is responsible for igniting the Ranch Fire highlights how extreme fire conditions were last year, and how the Western U.S. overall is experiencing a significant hike in conditions ripe for flames. A warmer climate means more dry, flame-susceptible vegetation. Read more…

More about Science, California, Climate Change, Wildfires, and Fires

Jyroball is a self-balancing, spherical, portable electric vehicle designed by Dublin-based vehicle company Moby. Read more…

More about Transportation, Mashable Video, Hoverboard, Jyroball, and Tech

Shed no tears for Jeff Bezos. 

The Platonic ideal of an out-of-touch rich man was slightly inconvenienced Thursday when a protester confronted the billionaire king on stage at Amazon’s re:Mars conference in Las Vegas.

The protester, who was quickly ushered off stage, addressed the CEO directly. The audio is a little rough, but it sounds like she’s asking Bezos to commit to stopping Amazon’s alleged engagement in animal cruelty. 

“Jeff, please,” she can be heard saying. “You’re the richest man on this planet, you can help the animals.”

Bezos, meanwhile, laughed it off. “Do you have a response for that,” he asked the interviewer — to a hearty laugh from the Las Vegas crowd.  Read more…

More about Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Tech, and Big Tech Companies