Author Archives: Carol Edwards

When Elon Musk tweets, the market listens.

Twitter shares skyrocketed Monday as news broke that the Tesla CEO and Twitter obsessive had purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media company. At the end of the day’s trading, CNBC reported that Twitter stock was up 27 percent — bringing the value of Musk’s holding up with it to a staggering $2.89 billion.

That word of Musk’s investment would spur a buying frenzy itself is not a new phenomenon. We saw similar activity after the richest person alive announced that his company Tesla had purchased bitcoin, an announcement which immediately proceeded a new record high for the cryptocurrency.

Notably, this all falls barely a week after Musk questioned whether or not Twitter’s time had come — on, of course, Twitter.

“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” he wrote on March 26. “What should be done? Is a new platform needed?”

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In the form of 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, it seems that Musk has provided an answer to his own question. That is, unless he intends to liquidate his entire holding, take a substantial profit, and use that to create a new social media platform entirely.

Either way, we’re sure to hear about it… on Twitter.

Ukraine supporters have successfully left their mark on Reddit’s digital canvas r/place, but it hasn’t been easy.

Monday was the last day of r/place, a subreddit (created by Josh Wardle, pre-Wordle fame) where users have a limited number of days to add to a digital canvas by changing pixel colors one by one. Once r/place is closed, the end result is a collage of images that artfully represent the multifaceted community that is Reddit. The collaborative art project was first introduced on April Fools’ Day in 2017. Over the course of three days, over one million people uploaded 16 million pixels. For the first time since 2017, r/place is back and it has become another digital frontline for showing solidarity with Ukraine.

“When Reddit announced r/place again, I knew that Ukraine would have to be represented properly,” said moderator u/anondeadpixel in an email to Mashable. “I reached out to a few folk who had started the r/placeUkraine as a joke before the announcement of r/place 2022, and well, we very quickly became inundated by everyone flooding us.”

To create a pixelated image on the r/place canvas takes a concerted effort. Millions of people are constantly changing pixels throughout the duration of the project. So, to make any real progress — and keep it — requires a group effort. Thousands of people with collective interests join forces to create an image. But once the image is created, it doesn’t stop there. Now the group has to defend its place on the canvas by forming strategic alliances with its neighbors in exchange for some pixels or protection against other coordinated groups trying to invade. In many ways, r/place mimics the delicate balance of international diplomacy. “There’s limited space on R/Place, and everyone is fighting to gain territory, hold territory, and some communities like R/PlaceUkraine, just wanted to be peaceful,” said u/anondeadpixel.

It’s fitting that a coordinated group has formed to create Ukraine-themed artwork on the canvas. “We wanted to celebrate Ukraine with a mural of peace and prosperity, showing off Ukrainian culture and history, while working with allied communities to allow them to add their own artwork,” said u/anondeadpixel. Over the past four days, the subreddit r/placeukraine is responsible for a large swath on the upper lefthand corner of the canvas devoted to Ukraine. Against the backdrop of the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wearing sunglasses, the phrase “Slava Ukraini!” in Ukrainian, which means “Glory to Ukraine!,” the fighter jet belonging to the mythical “Ghost of Kyiv,” a tractor pulling a tank, as well as two Ukrainian churches.

u/anondeadpixel said initially, the public made a massive Ukrainian flag, which destroyed other artwork and angered other users, who in turn started to dissolve the flag. “That’s when r/placeukraine stepped in to coordinate everything, and we made the oath to NEVER attack anyone, and remain peaceful.”

The design and execution of this artwork has been painstakingly coordinated with the help of a dedicated team of moderators. Most of the granular planning happened in its Discord channel which has over 2,000 people. “We started planning it as we went, asking our community what they wanted to see, and working closely with Ukrainian members to ensure we stayed true to their culture,” said u/anondeadpixel. Design ideas were proposed and voted on. Next, Google spreadsheets that served as the templates for the designs were shared out. The cells in the Google spreadsheet mimic the pixels of the canvas; each one has a corresponding number and color, which makes for a foolproof way to build out the design.

Even at the time of this writing on the last day of the project, new designs are being proposed and added, and existing designs are still evolving. Early on in the project, the yellow band on the Ukrainian flag had “Fuck Putin” written repeatedly across it, but participants overwhelmingly agreed to clean it up because people felt it disrespected the flag and looked ugly. At some point, r/placeukraine seemed to make an alliance with a French group, which allowed Marianne, the French symbol of liberty, to extend into the Ukraine flag. Instead of her traditional red cap, which would represent France’s colors, she wears blue and yellow. “I think she matches the Ukrainian spirit of revolution/defense against the Russians,” wrote u/MrPapillon. While r/placeukraine has friendly relations with r/placefrance and a group from Denmark, it has had to keep fighting to maintain its design on the canvas. Redditors are constantly having to “hold the line” in defense of their pixel borders as other colors try to creep in. And earlier today, suspected Russian bots tried to destroy Zelenskyy’s face. The attack prompted an “all hands on deck” announcement from u/lilknapsack to protect Zelenskyy.

Redditors remain active on r/place with the intent to protect their designs until all the pixels are locked forever at some point today (an announcement confirmed that it would close today, but didn’t say what time.) u/anondeadpixel says the response has been extremely positive. “You will always have some folk who want a little more, [or something] a little different, but the great thing about cooperation is compromising and working together to share our ideas and make something amazing.”

UPDATE: Apr. 4, 2022, 8:10 p.m. EDT This story has been updated to correct the r/placeukraine moderator’s username to u/anondeadpixel.

SAVE UP TO 20%: As of April 4, Sephora Rouge members can save up to 20% off everything with code SAVESPRING — including the Dyson Airwrap, the Dyson Corrale, and the Dyson Supersonic. VIB and Insider tier members can begin using their Spring Savings discounts beginning April 5 and April 7, respectively.

Dyson Airwrap discounts are few and far between, but the Sephora Spring Savings Event gives Beauty Insider members the chance to save up to 20% on the whole lineup of Dyson’s cult-favorite haircare products. Beauty Insider members can save 10%, 15%, or 20% on all purchases, depending on what membership tier they’re in.

While you can save up to 20% on the Dyson Airwrap, Dyson Corrale, or Dyson Supersonic, there’s a small catch to using your Beauty Insider discount for Dyson products— you’re limited to one Dyson item during the entire savings event.

Insiders (the lowest membership tier) will save 10% during the event, VIB members will save 15%, and Rouge members will save 20%. Folks would have had to spend $1,000 at Sephora in the last calendar year to achieve Rouge status and get the best discount, but the beauty retailer is allowing Rouge members to share their discount with friends via a referral portal through April 4. If you have a loved one who spends a little too much money at Sephora, you just might be able to snag their 20% off and score a Dyson Airwrap for cheap.

VIB members would have had to spend $350 in the last year to get the 15% discount, but there’s no barrier to entry for the Insider tier — and you can still sign up to be an Insider now and snag your 10% discount.

VIB members can begin using their 15% off discount beginning April 5, and Insiders can use their 10% off starting April 7. The whole event runs through April 11, and code SAVESPRING can be used to apply your respective discount on as many purchases as you’d like in that time.

The official start of the sale was April 1, but the Dyson Airwrap and Dyson Supersonic have both already sold out once. As of the time of writing, the Airwrap and Supersonic limited edition version were both back in stock, so take advantage of the Beauty Insider discounts while you can.

Explore related content:

• A new and improved Dyson Airwrap is coming out this summer

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• Dyson unveils its latest product, and it’s… a headphone purifier?

Amid all the glittering hubbub of the 2022 Grammys — the style and celebrities, the performances and accolades — there is a moment forever etched in the cosmos, captured on video by a fan I would like to personally thank for their service.

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@Ttaetae_Pteryong’s video opens on the buzzing MGM Grand arena floor, where we see BTS’ V. He briefly glances back at the rest of his group and then, with the confidence of a thousand men, makes a beeline for Lady Gaga. Gaga, the epitome of glamor in a baby blue gown, greets him like an old friend. 

They stand and exchange warm words. He touches his chest in a gesture of sincerity, she reciprocates by gently placing her hands on his shoulders. We don’t know what they say, but I hope he tells her ArtPop never got the praise it deserved, and she tells him that she just ordered an ARMY Bomb in the mail. 

They hug, and the universe holds its breath. Then, they move to take a photo together. She turns so that they are cheek to cheek. Gaga looks like she has reached her final form as Mother Monster. V looks like he’s seen heaven. They bid each other farewell with an il bacetto (a gorgeous double air kiss on the cheek) because, lest we forget, Gaga is an Italian girl from New York. 

Beauty.
Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Grace.
Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

I am convinced that this interaction was fated by the art kid gods. Gaga performed jazz standards in a tribute to Tony Bennett last night (April 3) and was a Manhattan club kid who studied music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Meanwhile, V played sax as a child and regularly visits art museums in Paris like a studious apprentice of the masters. She is one of the biggest pop stars in the world, and he is a member of the biggest band on Earth.

Imagine them as friends. They would host the chicest dinner parties, the most refined salons, the world’s most inspiring poetry slams.

V is known for his gentle thoughtfulness and Gaga has exhibited overflowing kindness this past week — from her iconic “I got you” to Liza Minnelli at the Oscars to holding SZA’s train as she stepped onstage on crutches to accept the Grammy for Best Pop Duo Performance with Doja Cat. 

What could they accomplish together? I am shaking in the shadow of their power.

Their friendship may be just a hopeful twinkle in my eye, but I have faith that it could soon become a reality. Earlier in the night, BTS member Suga chose Gaga as his dream collaborator. And what Suga wants, Suga usually gets.

Minimizing online harassment is a good thing, but what happens when some measures go too far?

Over the weekend, healthcare activist Laura Marston inadvertently showcased just how Twitter’s new safety mode can hinder legitimate discourse on the platform. This happened when Marston sent a tweet directed at an account connected to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. And that tweet from Marston resulted in her account being autoblocked by the Speaker of the House.

“Organize, mobilize and fight #ForThePeople. This is Nancy’s political account,” reads the @TeamPelosi account on Twitter. “Tweets from her are signed -NP.”

That’s the account Marston, an advocate for affordable insulin, replied to on Sunday which led to the block. The @TeamPelosi account had just sent a tweet about how every single House Democrat voted for a bill to cap insulin co-pays at $35 per month. (193 Republicans voted no, as the Pelosi account pointed out.)

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However, Marston wanted to add some crucial information that @TeamPelosi did not include in the tweet. The bill did not actually lower insulin’s price from $300 or more per vial, it only capped copayments for those fortunate enough to have insurance. Meaning those without insurance are still stuck paying exorbitant over-priced amounts for life saving medication. So Marston added her comments in a quote tweet of @TeamPelosi original post. There was no attack, harassment, or even vulgarity. Marston offered a fair critique along with additional context.

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Less than an hour later, Marston noticed this Twitter prompt when she tried to access the @TeamPelosi Twitter profile.

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“Autoblocked by Twitter,” reads the message, blocking Marston from viewing tweets from the account. “You’re temporarily autoblocked from viewing and interacting with @TeamPelosi’s tweets. This happened when they were in Safety Mode, and we flagged your interactions as potentially abusive or spammy.”

Marston’s tweet about the autoblock, directed at Twitter, quickly went viral.

Safety Mode is a fairly new feature from Twitter. First introduced in its testing phase in September of last year, when activated in a users’ settings, Safety Mode will temporarily block accounts for a period of 7 days for using “potentially harmful language” or sending repetitive and uninvited replies.” The main intent of the feature seems to be to help users who have a tweet go viral and then are inundated with nasty comments and spam mentions. This is certainly a problem on the platform and a tool to limit this can be a welcomed feature. Over the past couple of months, Twitter has been rolling out the Safety Mode feature broadly across the platform.

However, this is clearly a case where the algorithm was wrong. And it’s possibly the most unfortunate case for a false positive to occur: A diabetic activist advocating for affordable insulin gets blocked by an account belonging to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, one of the most powerful public officials.

It’s also a possibility that this block is in violation of Marston’s first amendment rights. Courts have ruled that a public official using a social media platform for public business is akin to a public forum, which means blocking users from accessing or interacting with it is in violation of their rights. However, there have been distinctions. For example, a politician’s personal account is not necessarily a public forum just because it’s run by a public official, even if that account posts about politics. And the @TeamPelosi account isn’t her official one, which can be found here: @SpeakerPelosi.

Regardless, it’s a bad look for any politician to block users, especially progressive activists who make up their base. Perhaps they should stay away from Safety Mode.

For its part, Twitter knows this feature can accidentally block the wrong users. It says so on its prompt that it doesn’t get it “right all the time” and it’s working on improving detection. Mashable has reached out to Twitter regarding the incident and will update this post if we hear back.

Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have created a slimy soft robot designed to enter the human body. The bot is made up of a slime containing magnetic particles which can be manipulated using external magnets. Scientists hope to one day deploy the slimy creation into a human digestive system to help retrieve objects that have been accidentally swallowed.

Just over a month after going live on the Apple App Store, two central tech figures working at Truth Social are saying “bye bye” to former president Donald Trump’s social media endeavor.

According to a new report by Reuters, Truth Social’s “chiefs of technology and product development” Josh Adams and Billy Boozer have resigned from the company. 

Their resignations could have major implications for the conservative media project. Sources highlighted to Reuters just how integral the two were, with one calling Adams the “brains” behind Truth Social’s development. Boozer was described as having a “major leadership role” and acting as a manager across multiple teams working on Truth Social. As Reuters mentions in its report, the hiring pool was already fairly limited for Truth Social due to the nature of it being a politically conservative platform.

Adams and Boozer’s decisions to leave the company are yet another major blow to the alternative social network. When first announced last year, an alpha version of Truth Social’s unreleased website was quickly discovered by trolls who quickly defaced the platform with fake accounts and vulgar memes like pig poop balls.

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Shortly after, Trump’s social media platform was forced to publicly credit Mastodon, the open-source software it was built on after it broke its licensing agreement by omitting those details.

When Truth Social finally launched on President’s Day this past February, most weren’t even able to use the platform. Instead, potential users were met with a waitlist. Many potential users have still not been granted access to the platform. Those who have been let into Truth Social have found that these various issues have resulted in a fairly inactive platform, unless you’re an established figure in the conservative movement. 

Billed as a “free speech” platform, users on Truth Social discovered that the social media platform is anything but. Just like the Big Tech platforms, Truth Social has its own rules that have resulted in bans and content being removed. In fact, one user reported that the username they registered on Truth Social was banned from the platform simply because a user with a similar username that trolls Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes on Twitter. Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) is the parent company of Truth Social.

Truth Social has seen its new iOS app installs plummet from hundreds of thousands of downloads to just 60,000 in recent weeks. The app is only available in Apple’s App Store, with no web or Android version yet. To make matters worse, the man who the entire company is based around, Donald Trump, has been MIA on his own social media platform. Trump made one post prior to the app’s launch and has not posted since.

It’s unclear exactly why Adams and Boozer have left the company. However, all these issues certainly could have played a part. Their departure is already having a negative impact on the company as shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company TMTG merged with in order to trade on the stock market, have dropped by as much as 14 percent on the news. 

First, thunderstorms delayed the dress rehearsal for NASA’s megarocket over the weekend, the final crucial step before launching it to the moon.

Then, lightning “struck twice” for the simulation test — figuratively speaking.

Mission operators said they needed to stop mid-rehearsal on Sunday to sort out a problem in the mobile tower that supports the rocket, known as the Space Launch System, on the ground. A fan that keeps hazardous gases out of the launcher wasn’t working. When it failed, technicians tried to use a backup fan to proceed, only to discover that it wasn’t working either. Each one was having a different issue, officials said.

The fans are intended to prevent gases that could cause a fire from entering the launchpad during the fueling process, said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. This is called “positive pressurization.”

Without the fan system, the NASA team didn’t believe it was safe to put the propellant into the rocket.

“We decided that we wanted to really understand that, given it was the first time loading the vehicle, and we made the decision to stand down to get in a configuration to go troubleshoot that and then be ready to make another run at it,” she said during a briefing with reporters on Sunday.

• 6 things to know about NASA’s moon-bound megarocket

• NASA’s monstrous moon rocket is an overpriced, political beast

• The star of NASA’s megarocket reveal isn’t the big rocket

• Invincible: Eddie Vedder and…NASA just made a weirdly inspiring rocket music video

By Monday, it appeared the space agency had resolved the fan issue and was prepared to continue the dress rehearsal.

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NASA is readying the 32-story, 5.75 million-pound rocket for a mission to the moon, known as Artemis I. It’s the first in a series of deep space exploration voyages that could blast off as early as May. The upcoming launch won’t include astronauts, but the monthlong flight will allow the United States to send a crew on the next, more complex mission, Artemis II.

The rocket is thought to be the most expensive ever built with each launch estimated to cost over $4 billion.

It’s been a long time since NASA had a rocket of this magnitude, capable of sending large payloads — astronauts and cargo — into deep space. Not only is the Space Launch System, or SLS, built to travel to the moon, it’s expected to one day put millions of miles on the odometer during the first crewed flight to Mars. Robotic scientific journeys to Saturn and Jupiter also could be in its future.

At its Florida launchpad, the fully assembled rocket, capped with the Orion spacecraft, is undergoing a two-day demonstration that involves filling the rocket with liquid fuel, practicing a countdown that stops right before ignition, and draining the tanks.

Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The four main engines, fueled with 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel, will produce a thrust powerful enough to keep eight Boeing 747s aloft. Filling the humongous tanks will take about eight hours.

Only after successfully completing this so-called “wet dress rehearsal” will NASA set a date for the first lunar mission, agency leaders have said. Officials have said Artemis could lift off as early as May, though it’s more likely it will happen this summer, given the tight schedule.

As of Sunday evening, NASA didn’t believe the storms and lightning in the vicinity of the launch pad had anything to do with the fans malfunctioning. Mission representatives said the system ran normally during the foul weather.

When NASA said it was “go” for tanking fuel, it wasn’t immediately clear to the public how the agency addressed the fan problem overnight.

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Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, told reporters on Sunday the events surrounding the rocket rehearsal, including four lightning strikes inside the launch pad perimeter the day before, have been unusual.

“It has been one of the more interesting 48 hours that I’ve had in the context of working missions leading up to a launch, and, in this case, leading up to a key test,” he said.

Good day, Wordlers!

As always, if you just want the April 4 Wordle answer, scroll to the bottom.

But here’s a little more on Wordle in case you’re unfamiliar: It’s a daily word game created by Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle and purchased by the New York Times.

Every day, players are greeted with a fresh word puzzle that can only be solved — or not! — using a series of process-of-elimination clues.

(And if you’re the adventurous type, you can also give Absurdle, Worldle, the 31-word Grand Slam or Wordle clones for specific fandoms a shot.)

More on our favorite word game below, along with the answer that brought you here.

Best Wordle starting word?

That depends, but we’ve got plenty of ideas for you to try.

Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

There were two different Wordle answers again Wednesday. Here’s why.

Is Wordle getting harder?

In case you were wondering, no, it’s not getting harder. In fact, we’ve technically all been playing it on easy mode — here’s how to go to Hard Mode.

The Wordle archive: Dig in

Just one Wordle a day not doing it for you? Good news. You can also play the whole archive of past Wordles.

Yesterday’s Wordle: Here’s the April 3 Wordle in case you’re looking for it. We do this every day.

Here’s a hint for today’s Wordle answer:

Grab one of these to stay warm.

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that ends with…

The April 4 Wordle ends in the letter “L.”

What’s the answer to Wordle today?

It is…

SHAWL.

Mashable will be providing Wordle answers, along with more Wordle updates in the weeks ahead.

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Apple may put three models of MacBooks out to pasture this month, according to a report.

As PCMag reports (which is owned by Mashable’s publisher, Ziff Davis), Apple may add the 11-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro models released in early 2014 to its obsolete products list.

That means they’ll no longer be eligible for hardware repairs, and will only be eligible for “battery-only repairs in select countries for a limited time,” according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors.

MacRumors reports that Apple does this for all products that they last sold more than seven years ago. All three laptops have been on Apple’s list of “vintage” products since 2020, which feels bizarre to type.

MacBooks, they grow up so fast!

You can learn more about what products Apple considers “vintage” and “obsolete” on the company’s website.