Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Surprise, surprise: Facebook is still overwhelmingly white and male.

That’s the bottom line of Facebook’s fifth annual diversity report, which was released Thursday. And while the company may still have a race and gender issue, the report does show slight increases in the number of employees who are women and people of color.

Globally, the number of women employees grew from 35 percent to 36 percent and the number of women in senior leadership positions rose from 28 percent to 30 percent. The number of black employees grew only slightly from 3 percent in 2017 to 4 percent, and the number of Hispanic remained unchanged at 5 percent.  Facebook employees are still overwhelmingly white (46.6 percent globally) and Asian (41.4 percent globally).  Read more…

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Initial coin offerings are the way of the future, and oh boy is that future shady. 

A new study found that the favorite fundraising mechanism of the blockchain universe is often employed by those trying to fleece the world, not improve it. And, well, no one should be too shocked — it’s not like ICOs are exactly the picture of above board. 

For the blissfully unaware, ICOs provide companies with a poorly regulated way to raise large sums of money. Unlike the more traditional IPO, an ICO lets those in the cryptocurrency space sell tokens or so-called coins that will — in theory — be worth something at a future date. The reality often isn’t so pretty. Read more…

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Build-A-Bear Workshop is a childhood staple, but according to some angry parents, it’s just going to remind their children of a horrible day at the mall. 

The toyshop ran a one-day promotion on Thursday, promising customers that they could pay their age for any stuffed animal. (Bears typically cost anywhere from $14 to upwards of $60.)

Except, the fun summer activity did not go as planned. 

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Marvel’s Black Widow just got one step closer to emerging from perpetual pre-production purgatory.

The studio has reportedly set Cate Shortland, the Australian filmmaker known for dramas like Somersault, Lore, and Berlin Syndrome, to direct the standalone superhero adventure.

Shortland beat out around seventy other candidates in the grueling search for the perfect director. She’ll be the second female director behind a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie – joining Anna Boden, who’s directing Captain Marvel with Ryan Fleck.  Read more…

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There’s good news for people who still use Windows Notepad: For the first time in years, big changes are coming to the app — and some of those changes are all thanks to you.

Windows announced yesterday that the next Windows 10 update will include some quality of life improvements for its iconically clunky app. Microsoft wrote in the announcement that it employed user feedback to determine its new features, which include the ability to delete a whole word by hitting Ctrl + Backspace.

This update, which is right on the heels of Microsoft Office’s revamp last month, will come with Redstone 5 (the codename for Microsoft’s impending update) predicted to launch later this year. If it goes smoothly, the update would be a positive move for the tech giant after a spate of — shall we say — less-than-smooth rollouts these past few months. Read more…

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If you have any interest at all in Mission: Impossible — Fallout, any inkling that you may want to someday, maybe, eventually get around to seeing it, I suggest you do so in the next several weeks, while it’s still in theaters. 

Preferably in IMAX, if you can manage it. It’s that kind of movie.

As usual for this franchise, Fallout has a convoluted plot that’s hardly worth the trouble it takes to explain, since it’s really just an excuse to trot around the globe indulging in extravagant set pieces.  Read more…

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Some Australian customers are losing their damn minds after finding single-use plastic bags banned from many major supermarkets. One even became violent, a perpetrator of “bag rage.”

Oh, Michelle Wolf noticed.

The Break host took a moment during her  monologue this week to skewer part of the country’s attitude toward the plastic bag ban rolling out in some states, as Australia moves to reduce marine pollution.

Kicking off July 1, the states of Queensland and Western Australia banned single-use, lightweight plastic bags from major retailers. This means aligning with other state bans in the ACT, South Australia, and Tasmania. Read more…

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It’s been a tough couple of years. Keeping up with current events is an emotionally exhausting chore.

Which is why, despite how bizarre it sounds, people got so invested in watching this lemon roll down the street for one minute and 51 seconds. 

That’s it. That’s literally all that happens in this video. A very determined lemon follows a street curb and rolls downhill for about a quarter mile, trekking through piles of dried leaves and narrowly avoiding a run-in with the tires of a parked car. It hugs the sidewalk, ambling down its little concrete path. At one point, it appears to slow down when it’s apprehended by some leaves clogging a storm drain, but the little lemon that could trudges on for a remarkable 40 seconds more. Read more…

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It feels like Netflix’s library has always been online. But before the content behemoth pioneered movie streaming, it only mailed out DVDs. Remember?  

Redditor u/graysonkatz unearthed a true relic in their parents’ attic: a 1999 Netflix advertisement in the shape of giant movie ticket. 

“Rent as many DVDs as you want for 20 bucks a month,” the antique flier reads. 

Although the service seems like it’s a pretty recent innovation, Netflix has actually been around since 1997. It expanded into streaming movies and TV shows ten years later in 2007.  Read more…

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If, like us, you have no idea what to do with your feelings about the Season 2 finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, do not despair.

The creators and actors behind the hit Hulu show are already contemplating what lies ahead for Season 3. And if you thought this one was too grim to bear at times, there seems to be hope on the horizon.

“Next season is about fighting back,” said showrunner Bruce Miller at a Q&A on Monday, July 9, following a finale event at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. “She goes back to hurt Gilead as much as possible and to get her daughter back. I don’t know if it’s exactly in that order.” Read more…

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