Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Turn over the front page of the internet, and you’re liable to discover that it’s not just Reddit users interested in what’s going on behind the scenes. 

The company released its annual transparency report on Feb. 13, offering both a detailed look at data-disclosure requests from governments around the world and content removal numbers from Reddit admins. The data provides an inside look into how frequently the company decides to play ball with government officials, as well as how often it tells them to buzz off. 

More about Reddit, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Your annoying, bed-hogging partner has met its match.

Ford has designed what it calls a “lane-keeping bed,” in which pressure sensors monitor when a sleeper is out of their lane.

When the sensors detect your partner has moved into your space, a conveyor belt built into the bed aims to gently realign them into place.

We have questions: Will the moving conveyor belt wake you up? And can you switch off the lane-keeping feature, if you just like to cuddle? 

It doesn’t really matter though, because the “lane-keeping bed” is sadly only a gimmick to promote the carmaker’s lane assist feature. Still kinda cool, though. Read more…

More about Tech, Bed, Sleep, Ford, and Tech

It turns out that a heavily cited safety stat that Tesla received from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) back in 2017 isn’t so accurate.

Following a deadly Tesla crash involving Autopilot, Tesla’s semi-autonomous advanced driver assistance system, a 2017 federal report found that Autopilot led to a 40 percent crash reduction. But last week a small research group finally obtained most of the data NHTSA used to reach that number and found the underlying data was severely flawed.

The discovery confirms what the group, Quality Control Systems Corp., and others like this report from Wired last May suspected. People had been skeptical of the data for a long time. Even NHTSA said last year the numbers weren’t as solid as they had originally indicated. The QCS researchers wrote in their report, “Remarkably, NHTSA’s announcement was not accompanied by any of the data underlying this astonishing claim.” So back in 2017 they requested the data and successfully fought for access.  Read more…

More about Tesla, Safety, Autopilot, Nhtsa, and Tech

Of course, you knew they’d be back, but you didn’t know they’d be hauling a large Carly Rae jam.

Queer Eye has dropped a teaser for its forthcoming third season, with a little snippet from a new track from pop star Carly Rae Jepsen.

Posted on Twitter, the 38-second second teaser featuring Jepsen’s “Now That I Found You,” pumping in the background, announces Season 3 of the Netflix series will premiere on March 15.

More about Netflix, Carly Rae Jepsen, Queer Eye, Entertainment, and Music

Another day, another instance of something creepy happening on Facebook. 

The latest: a strange “bug” in Facebook’s search tool that lets you search for photos of women, but not men. It suggests some pretty alarming search terms.

The issue was first reported by Belgian security researcher Inti De Ceukelaire, who posted about the search results on Twitter. He noted that searching for “photos of my female friends” in the main Facebook search box indeed turns up photos of women you’re friends with on Facebook. Yet when you search “photos of my male friends” you get a bunch of random images (mostly of memes) that aren’t from your friends. Read more…

More about Tech, Facebook, Social Media Companies, Tech, and Social Media Companies

Local government won’t stop the Assman, who can finally display his name with pride.

A Canadian rear end enthusiast in Saskatchewan tried to get a vanity license plate in tribute to his last name, which just happens to be Assman. But Saskatchewan Government Insurance denied David Assman’s request because it was “offensive, suggestive or not in good taste,” the Saksatoon Star Phoenix reports. 

“Well I’ve never seen the government respond so quick, I sent my appeal in at 1 this afternoon!” David Assman posted on Facebook. “Of course it was denied in 4 hrs with no name attached to it.” Read more…

More about Petty, License Plates, Culture, and Web Culture

A mighty dust storm swirled around the Opportunity rover on June 10, 2018, forcing the robot to shut itself off and conserve power. The dust blocked out nearly all the sunlight, turning day to night. 

Opportunity would never awake. On Wednesday, NASA announced that they would no longer attempt to revive the 15-year-old machine, formally ending the legendary extraterrestrial mission. 

But on that dark June day, just before Opportunity went silent, the rover took one final picture:

The image captured a Martian world shrouded in darkness by the dust storm.  Read more…

More about Space, Nasa, Science, Mars, and Opportunity Rover

Nintendo announced today that a sequel to the 2015 Wii U hit Super Mario Maker is on the way. Even better? They’re finally giving players those much desired slopes. 

Super Mario Maker 2 will give fans the opportunity to “create the Super Mario courses of their dreams” using custom building tools and techniques. The gameplay featured in the announcement trailer indicated that plenty of the original game’s mechanics would remain at play alongside new, updated features. 

Start dreaming big about your next Mario DIY — Super Mario Maker 2 is out on Nintendo Switch this June. Read more…

More about Nintendo, Announcement, Trailer, Super Mario Maker, and Super Mario

Big news, Zelda fans: Nintendo is officially remaking The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and holy wow, is it adorable. 

The original Link’s Awakening came out in 1993 for Game Boy and has remained a favorite for followers of the franchise. As of yet, little is known about how the remake will differ from its predecessor, but the preview seems to promise a similar narrative with a notably different art style. The 2D game has been reimagined with 3D animation, featuring some particularly precious character models. 

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will be available exclusively on Nintendo Switch in 2019. Read more…

More about Nintendo, Link, Announcement, Trailer, and The Legend Of Zelda

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continues to be chill as hell.

In an interview with TMZ on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez shared some of her thoughts on cannabis legalization, proving she’s extremely open-minded on the topic.

When asked if she’d be OK with a sitting president who smokes, the 29-year-old congresswoman said, “I don’t care. Yeah. I don’t care, it’s fine with me. You’re not hurting anybody, you know?”

“There are plenty of people who drink, they’ll go out to happy hour … how is that different from anything else?” Ocasio-Cortez questioned.

Her comments come after several politicians running for president — such as Kamala Harris — shared positions on marijuana legalization, along with past experiences. Read more…

More about Politics, Culture, Weed, Marijuana Legalization, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez