People across the country stage walk outs in solidarity with sexual assault survivors

TwitterFacebook

It’s been a particularly traumatizing week for victims of sexual assault and harassment.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh now faces at least two accusations of sexual misconduct, and yet, Senate Republicans remain determined to appoint him. In response, women’s rights organizations organized a national walkout on Monday at 1 pm ET in solidarity with survivors.

SEE ALSO: ‘Women must be heard’: Time’s Up calls for walkout in light of Brett Kavanaugh accusations

Time’s Up, along with NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Women’s March, the YWCA, and Planned Parenthood helped plan the walkouts, organized under the hashtags #BelieveSurvivors and #StopKavanaugh. Protestors were encouraged to wear black.  Read more…

More about Watercooler, Walkout, Times Up, Kavanaugh, and Culture

These $50 wireless earbuds can apparently last up to 60 hours

TwitterFacebook

Bluetooth earbuds are here to stay. Now that more and more electronic devices are doing away with the headphone jack, we must accept the fact that wired earphones will eventually be extinct. Before we know it, they will belong in the pile of gone but never forgotten tech items like floppy disks, beepers, and Walkmans (RIP). 

And so we’re left with no choice but to embrace the wireless revolution.

SEE ALSO: 10 of the best wireless headphones, according to Amazon reviews

If you’re ready to go shopping for your first pair, the NOVA True Wireless Earbuds could be a good place to start. Equipped with Bluetooth 4.1 technology, these earbuds have simple one-touch controls you can use to respond to calls quickly, and the included small, medium, and large earplugs help you get a good fit. You also never have to worry about recharging regularly, as these little guys can apparently last up to 60 hours with help from the accompanying charging case. (Use it to juice up your other devices in a pinch too.) Read more…

More about Earbuds, Bluetooth, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Stackcommerce, and Shopping Solo

Nightmare two-headed snake found in Virginia just in time for Halloween season

TwitterFacebook

‘Tis the season for nightmare fuel, and one fascinating but unsettling discovery is getting into that fall spooky spirit.

A woman in northern Virginia found an extremely rare baby copperhead snake in her neighbor’s yard recently, complete with not one but two heads. Because, ya know, the venomous viper part wasn’t terrifying enough in itself.

SEE ALSO: New panda mom doesn’t know she has twins thanks to these sneaky zookeepers

After initially being picked up by the Virginia Wildlife Management & Control, the rare serpent is now being taken care of by an unnamed, experienced private reptile keeper.  Read more…

More about Watercooler, Science, Snakes, Reptiles, and Culture

Internal memo from Google’s CEO insists search results are free from political bias

TwitterFacebook

Google chief Sundar Pichai wants the people working for him to understand this clearly: Google’s search results aren’t influenced by political bias.

That’s the message Pichai focused on sending in a Friday email to all employees. He was responding to reports of a January 2017 email chain that started a few days after Donald Trump instituted his first version of the Muslim ban.

SEE ALSO: Google is trying, and failing, to cover its creepy Chinese search engine tracks

A Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal noted that, in early 2017, employees talked about using Google’s search features to respond to Trump’s controversial travel ban that focused on predominantly Muslim countries. They sought a way to push back against “islamophobic, algorithmically biased results from search terms ‘Islam’, ‘Muslim’, ‘Iran’, etc.” and “prejudiced, algorithmically biased search results from search terms ‘Mexico’, ‘Hispanic’, ‘Latino’, etc.” Read more…

More about Tech, Google, Sundar Pichai, Big Tech Companies, and Tech

Bananas donated to a Texas prison turn out to be $18 million of cocaine

TwitterFacebook

No, this is not an episode of Breaking Bad. This is real life.

On Friday, Sept. 21, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) posted on Facebook about a drug mix up that sounds like it has just as wild a story behind it as the hit AMC TV series.

The department received 45 boxes of donated bananas from Ports of America in Freeport near the Gulf of Mexico. But it turns out the donation was a greater gift than either organization could have imagined, containing an additional 540 packages of cocaine, valued at nearly $18 million.

“Sometimes, life gives you lemons. Sometimes, it gives you bananas,” the TDCJ post joked. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Prison, Drugs, Cocaine, and Culture

Silicon Valley’s hottest job is styling helpless tech execs

TwitterFacebook

The casual uniform of the millennial techie is a running joke by now, but some are starting to swap in their t-shirts and worn jeans for actual adult clothes. Stylist Victoria Hitchcock told Vox what it’s like to overhaul the lives and styles of Silicon Valley’s emerging employees – who literally can’t dress themselves – as they go “from boys to men.”

SEE ALSO: This picture of Mark Zuckerberg’s wardrobe is hard to believe

Hitchcock has been styling members of the tech and business industries for 25 years, convincing them to part with stained tees and ratty jeans and glow up enough to be prominent in the field without embarrassing anyone.  Read more…

More about Tech, Fashion, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Disney re-did the art for a princess in ‘Wreck-It Ralph 2’ after whitewashing criticisms

TwitterFacebook

For once, it seems the story of a big Hollywood studio facing criticisms over poor representation ended with a happily ever after.

In the months since teasers for Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, started showing a Disney princess reunion scene, fans have been calling out the studio behind the movie for whitewashing one of its few princesses of color: Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

SEE ALSO: This Disney princess cameo in ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is already a meme

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Sept. 20, Disney actually listened and re-did her scenes. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Disney, Social Good, Racism, and Disney Princesses

Japan’s Hayabusa2 successfully deploys two rovers on the surface of an asteroid

TwitterFacebook

It’s just like the movie Armageddon, but without the apocalypse scenario.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has reason to celebrate after successfully deploying a pair of robots on the surface of an asteroid. The mission, which played out on Friday, aims to gather photos and data from the asteroid called Ryugu.

SEE ALSO: Astronaut captures photos of ominous-looking Hurricane Florence from space

The mission’s success — marking the end of a four-year journey — was confirmed in a tweet on Saturday from JAXA’s account for the Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer.

We are sorry we have kept you waiting! MINERVA-II1 consists of two rovers, 1a & 1b. Both rovers are confirmed to have landed on the surface of Ryugu. They are in good condition and have transmitted photos & data. We also confirmed they are moving on the surface#asteroidlanding

— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 22, 2018 Read more…

More about Space, Science, Jaxa, Hayabusa2, and Science

Period tracking apps taught me more about my flow than sex ed

TwitterFacebook

The internet has changed how kids learn about sex, but sex ed in the classroom still sucks. In Sex Ed 2.0, Mashable explores the state of sex ed and imagines a future where digital innovations are used to teach consent, sex positivity, respect, and responsibility.

Have you ever had a weird question about sex? We want to know about it. Fill out this Google Form and your response may be included (anonymously) in a future story.


My period has always been something of a mystery. 

For months at a time it will arrive as expected like clockwork, then it vanishes for what seems like an eternity, and on far less pleasant occasions, it has lasted for as long as 45 days thanks to birth control complications.  Read more…

More about Women S Health, Sex And Relationships, Sex Education, Sex Ed 2.0, and Tech

J.J. Abrams’ produced ‘Overlord’ beats up Nazis and wins over audiences at first screening

TwitterFacebook

Director Julius Avery’s Overlord screened for the first time at Fantastic Fest on Saturday, and the jam-packed war thriller has audiences buzzing with excitementCollider praises the film’s blend of gore and drama and its commitment to genreThe trailer offers enough to pique our interest – World War II but with super-soldier monsters – but early reactions promise one hell of a ride.

SEE ALSO: Netflix’s ‘Maniac’ is seriously messing with people’s heads

Overlord is a blast. It’s a men-on-a-mission, behind-enemy-lines, one-goal WW2 movie, with creepy creature stuff spread throughout. Good characters, great set pieces, a ton of fun#FantasticFest

— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) September 23, 2018 Read more…

More about Entertainment, Twitter, Movies, Reactions, and Fantastic Fest