Author Archives: Carol Edwards

In case you slept on the overnight sensation, Fortnite is the latest “battle royale” game to take over. Now, the #boogiedown competition is inviting fans to dance their way into the game itself.

Epic Games announced the competition with the help of two huge names in the Fortnite community: competitive player and Team SoloMid Fortnite captain, Myth, and popular streamer Ceez. They busted out some moves, encouraging others to join and share their own videos with the #boogiedown hashtag for a shot at the grand prize: having your dance digitally immortalized as an emote in the game. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Entertainment, Esports, Twitch, and Streamers

The Tiangong-1 should complete its fiery journey back to Earth sometime on Sunday night.

The Chinese space station has been circling the planet in a gradually degrading orbit since it was decommissioned in late 2016. It is now expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere — and mostly burn up in the process — sometime before 12:00 a.m. ET.

In fact, the latest estimate as of Sunday morning — from noted astronomer Jonathan McDowell — points to a significantly earlier re-entry, sometime during the 6:00 p.m. ET hour.

More about Space, Science, China, Tiangong 1, and Science

Taylor Swift is getting back to her roots — for, uh, one night only.

The singer made a surprise appearance at Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tenn. — the cafe where she was broke out as a star — on Saturday night. Fans in the crowd and on the internet soaked up all the ’00s nostalgia they could. 

Horrifically branded though they may be, celebrity guest appearances have a special dumb magic that works on us every time.

T Swift performed some of her earliest hits including, “Shake It Off,” “Better Man,” and “Love Story.” About 40 people were estimated to be in the audience. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Taylor Swift, Culture, and Music

Snapchat wants the olds of the world to know what it is and why it’s useful.

The social network’s first-ever television ad campaign kicked off during the NCAA’s Final Four this weekend. Framing the app as a different kind of camera, the 60-second spot focuses on demonstrating the various ways Snapchat’s augmented reality (AR) capabilities can enhance everyday mobile camera use.

The direction of the ad makes sense as an appeal to an over-25 demographic that spends most of its on networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Snapchat is trying to position itself as an alternative social platform that also lets you apply CG dog makeup to anyone’s face. Read more…

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

No matter how good your Good Friday was, it probably paled in comparison to Stranger Things’ star Millie Bobby Brown’s own — when she finally met Kim Kardashian

Since being catapulted into stardom, the young Netflix star behind the character of Eleven has been adorably vocal about her love for all things Kardashian. She mimics their odd Kardashian-isms at every opportunity. She asked Khloé to shake her salads on Twitter. They even had a moment of mutual recognition after Brown declared her love on national television during her Jimmy Fallon show appearance last November. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Snapchat, Selfies, Kim Kardashian, and Stranger Things

Happy Easter. Time to talk about eggs.

There are, of course, many ways to appreciate the egg — as breakfast staple, as fancy appetizer, as weird chocolate candy. But some egg presentations are better than others. And some (*cough* — hard-boiled eggs — *cough*) are unforgivable.

Here, our ranking:

17. Scrambled (without cheese)

Scrambled eggs without cheese may as well not be scrambled eggs at all.

16. Humpty Dumpty

Creepy, depressing, and maybe not even an egg. Pass.

15. Hard-boiled

Robs the egg of all its joy. The obligatory “protein’ in your salad. Sure, they are okay, but you’d rather have your eggs cooked another way and you know it. Read more…

More about Easter, Rankings, Eggs, Culture, and Web Culture

Where’s Waldo, you ask? Somewhere inside Google Maps, apparently.

English artist Martin Handford’s creation is living in Google Maps for the next week, as part of Google’s annual April Fool’s Day celebration. You can check it out now in your browser or on Android/iOS devices.

All you have to do to play is open Google Maps and tap or click on the little Waldo graphic that appears on the edge of your screen. You’ll then be taken to another section of the map and prompted to start the game.

Clicking the button opens up one of Handford’s classic illustrations, containing not only Waldo but also his friends: Wenda, Woof, Wizard Whitebeard, and Odlaw, the evil mirrorverse Waldo. Once you spot and tap/click Waldo, you’re able to move along to the next “level” or keep looking for his pals. Read more…

More about Tech, Entertainment, Gaming, Google Maps, and Where S Waldo

Beloved physicist Stephen Hawking was honored at a private funeral service on Saturday.

Hundreds of people gathered outside Great St. Mary’s Church in Cambridge, U.K. for the event, which was attended by about 500 of the scientist’s family, friends, students, and collaborators. Attendees included Elon Musk, Chuck Lorre, Brian May, Lily Cole, and others.

Inside, according to NBC News, Eddie Redmayne (who played Hawking in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything) read from Ecclesiastes. Two people delivered eulogies. Read more…

More about Uk, Stephen Hawking, Funeral, Science, and Celebrities

Tesla has confirmed that yes, Autopilot was active when a Model X was the at the center of a fatal crash last week.

A new post filed to the auto maker’s blog on Friday confirmed this key detail. The March 23 crash, which occurred when the Model X struck a highway barrier, left the driver dead.

“In the moments before the collision, which occurred at 9:27 a.m. on Friday, March 23rd, Autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum,” Tesla’s blog post reads.

The driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel during the six seconds prior to the crash, though the vehicle had issued one audio “hands-on” warning and multiple dashboard warnings earlier in the drive. Read more…

More about Tech, Transportation, Tesla Motors, Autopilot, and Tesla Model X

Every year on April Fools’ Day, reporters in newsrooms around the world brace themselves. While we’re usually a pretty skeptical bunch, April 1 brings out the worst in us. 

We don’t believe anything anyone tells us on this one day of the year, and rightfully so. It’s a holiday that literally just celebrates people lying, and brands have been in on the act for years, leading to some really bad moments for journalists the world over. 

That said, each April Fools’ Day, there’s usually one person pulling more of their hair out than anyone else in the newsroom. 

More about Space, Science, Culture, April Fools, and Science