Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Have you been dying to outfit your home office with a brand new desktop? Biting your nails, waiting for the moment your ancient laptop finally gives up the ghost?

Don’t let this situation get to death-rattle territory. Friends, it’s time to upgrade — and HP has you covered. From Labor Day through mid-September, the company is offering discounts on over 20 different laptops and desktops, with free shipping and returns, plus price matching.

The biggest deal of the bunch is on the 15t Touch, which is discounted to $559.99 through September 12 — at a savings of a whopping $680. (Think about it: you are literally saving more than you’re spending.) This laptop has a 7th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB memory, and it’s not holding out in the looks department. The sleek design, with its black matte finish, basically announces, “I woke up like this.”  Read more…

More about Tech, Supported, Hp, Desktop Pc, and Desktop

It’s make or break time for the longest-living rover on Mars. 

NASA’s Opportunity rover has survived 15 years exploring the red planet thanks to solar power, but due to an extreme, planet-enveloping dust storm, the space agency hasn’t been able to communicate with it since June 10. 

Now, however, the dust is clearing, and NASA is listening for the little rover to phone home once it powers up.

“The sun is breaking through the haze over Perseverance Valley, and soon there will be enough sunlight present that Opportunity should be able to recharge its batteries,” John Callas, Opportunity project manager, said in a statement.  Read more…

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

We were invited to check out the first tennis match in space, which was broadcast on the Unisphere in Queens, New York, on August 21. The event included some free ice cream, fancy 3D projection, and zero-G fun. We were also able to talk to astronaut Andrew J. Feustel — one of the first people to play tennis in space — about the match and why physical activity in space is a must-do.  Read more…

More about Sports, Space, Mashable Video, Tennis, and Us Open

At this point, it takes a lot to get critics raving over a remake (of several other remakes). 

But it looks like Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, in which he stars alongside Lady Gaga, achieved the impossible. It not only made reviewers go goo-goo for Gaga, but it also seems to have reminded them that unabashedly heartfelt melodramas still have a place in the world in 2018.

The movie, which releases in theaters on Oct. 5, had an early screening for critics and audiences in attendance at Venice Film Festival. And it seems to have lived up to the hype that’s been brewing ever since the first trailer debuted. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born, and Review Roundup

It’s been nearly a week since the mass shooting at a Madden NFL 19 esports tournament in Jacksonville, Florida claimed the lives of two people and injured 11 others. But in the face of tragedy, the gaming community refuses to give in to fear.

On Monday, professional gamer and shooting survivor Shay “Young Kiv” Kivlen, will play again publicly as part of an esports livestream put together by Cameron Kasky, the 17-year-old mass-shooting survivor and student activist who co-founded the March For Our Lives. He was a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a mass shooting killed 17 people earlier this year  Read more…

More about Gaming, Social Good, Shooting, Madden, and Cameron Kasky

SURPRISE! Twitter made another meme this week. The “really start dressing” meme might just make saying goodbye to summer a little easier. Read more…

More about Twitter, Memes, Mashable Video, Twitter Reactions, and Web Culture

For quite some time, fans of The Simpsons were unsure: Was that really Michael Jackson’s voice on the show?

In the 1991 episode “Stark Raving Dad,” Jackson voiced the character of Leon Kompowsky, a patient in a mental health facility who thought he was the pop icon. 

Jackson was credited as John Jay Smith, and although producers have spoken about his appearance, the show’s creator Matt Groening put the rumors to bed once and for all in an interview on Australian TV show The Weekly.

“We really did have him,” Groening said.. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Tv, The Simpsons, Matt Groening, and Entertainment

Bring on the scooters.

After months of scooter-less streets in San Francisco, city transportation officials finally broke their silence Thursday to announce which electric scooter companies would be allowed to rent out the battery-powered vehicles.

Of the 12 companies that applied for a year-long pilot program in San Francisco, only two were selected: Skip and Scoot. The two companies are allotted 625 scooters each available to riders starting Oct. 15. 

The final decision came as a bit of a surprise to some companies, seeing as the city originally said it could award up to five companies permits back in June. It comes off as a retaliatory move for Bird and Lime, scooter companies that came into the city early without collaborating with officials. Uber and Lyft were also vying for a spot in their hometown’s scooter program, but may have paid the price for its past transgressions when ride-hailing apps arrived in the city unannounced years ago. Read more…

More about Uber, Bird, Lyft, Scoot, and Jump

Like Han Solo in the iconic cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope, we’re sorry about the mess. And we’re taking the shot first.

That’s right, folks, the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge park expansion to Disneyland is serving alcohol. We couldn’t imagine recreating the sleazy intergalactic dive bar filled with smugglers and bounty hunters any other way.

Disney made the welcome announcement on the park’s blog on Thursday, Aug. 30. The company also offered up some new concept art for the highly anticipated Black Spire Outpost expansion, which opens in 2019.  Read more…

More about Entertainment, Entertainment, Food, and Star Wars

Snapchat users were greeted with an alarming change to Snap Maps this morning: New York City had been renamed “Jewtropolis.”

Even worse, social media was filled reports of maps on other websites and services with the same change, including Zillow, The Weather Channel, Citibike, and Streeteasy. 

More about Snapchat, Maps, Antisemitism, Weather Channel, and Hate Speech