Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Subaru unveiled its latest Forester model and we have to say it: It fucks. 

The company showcased a number of new models at the 2020 Singapore Motor Show. One, though, stood out from the rest thanks to its extremely confident name. 

The Forester Ultimate Customized Kit Special edition. 

The F.U.C.K.S. edition. They wrote it out on their display like that and everything.

People have been, rightfully, taken aback by Subaru’s bold new car. YouTuber Casey Neistat couldn’t believe it was real. Read more…

More about Cars, Nsfw, Subaru, Culture, and Web Culture

Giving up? Now that’s a resolution the common person can get behind. 

Facebook CEO and laser enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg has a decade-long tradition of setting a yearly “personal challenge” for himself. And while they’ve frequently been, well, a bit odd, this year he’s going in a different direction. Specifically, Zuckerberg announced today that he’s abandoning the very concept of a yearly personal challenge. 

Which, hell yeah, why not I guess?

“Every new year of the last decade I set a personal challenge,” wrote Zuckerberg. “… This decade I’m going to take a longer term focus. Rather than having year-to-year challenges, I’ve tried to think about what I hope the world and my life will look in 2030 so I can make sure I’m focusing on those things.”  Read more…

More about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Media, Resolutions, and Tech

With the start of a new year comes the return of your favorite shows.  Read more…

More about Entertainment, Mashable Video, Hulu, Streaming Services, and Tv Shows

Creators are used to taking a beating from YouTube. They make the content that drives people to the site. They work to figure out a winning formula for their channel. And then, at the drop of a hat, YouTube can tweak a policy that completely transforms how visible their content is or how much money their channels make.

The latest YouTube policy change affecting kids content, which went into effect this week, is a big one. Creators and their viewers are once again freaking out.

More about Video, Youtube, Children, Creators, and Coppa

The first commercial bike of its sort, the XE-1 uses a series of foils to keep the bike stable and maneuverable. Read more…

More about Transportation, Mashable Video, E Bike, Hydrofoil, and Future Blink

At 8:30 in the morning on the first official day of CES, my cab driver and I were on the same page. 

“These are the worst three days of the whole year,” he said as we sat, and sat, and sat some more in traffic.

The traffic, bad suits, recirculated air, and endless hawking of wares makes most industry trade shows a living nightmare. But CES is its own beast for the sheer scale of the thing: it takes over multiple convention centers across the Las Vegas strip, bringing companies and humans from around the globe to what feels like the least walkable city in the world. 

Getting anywhere on time and without sweating through your shirt is a feat. Staying hydrated? Forget about it. There are bright lights and salespeople vying for your time and attention. All the while you have a schedule to keep, emails to answer, and — oh yeah — your feet are killing you. Read more…

More about Ces, Relaxation, Meditation, Tech, and Consumer Tech

We knew hackers were creeping on Ring video feeds, but Ring’s own employees?

In a Jan. 6 letter addressed to five U.S. Senators, Amazon-owned Ring admitted that, yes, an unspecified small number of employees have at least tried to inappropriately access customers’ home surveillance videos. Which, well, damn.

The letter, obtained and published by Motherboard’s Joseph Cox, acknowledges four internal reports of employees going above and beyond their job duties in exactly the wrong kind of way. 

“Over the last four years, Ring has received four complaints or inquiries regarding a team
member’s access to Ring video data,” reads the letter. “Although each of the individuals involved in these incidents was authorized to view video data, the attempted access to that data exceeded what was necessary for their job functions.” Read more…

More about Amazon, Privacy, Ring, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Well, Grimes has hinted that she’s pregnant. Of course, who can truly know the nature of the universe?

The musician, whose legal name was Claire Boucher and is maybe just “c” now, posted a photo to Instagram on Wednesday in which she appears to be pregnant. The Instagram post, which showed her nipples, was taken down, but she posted it on Twitter, too. She also posted a similar photo, but with her nipples covered by her braided hair, on Instagram after the original was removed. “Censored for insta haha – almost got away w it 😮,” reads the new photo’s caption.

The first Instagram post was caption-less, but she did speak to the “feral & war-like state of being” she feels while “knocked up” in a reply to a comment on the original post, so there is an extremely good chance pregnancy is truly what’s happening. She captioned her tweet with what one could describe as feral and war-like emoji. Read more…

More about Twitter, Instagram, Social Media, Grimes, and Culture

The smart home has reached peak cute.

If you care about your weight, stepping on the cold, metallic top of a scale can be a scary moment. But a new model debuted at CES — made from soft white silicone in the shape of clouds and adorned with a friendly three-dimensional character — delivers something cuddlier. 

The best part? It’s a smart scale with an app that will say nice things to you, no matter what the number reads.

The smart scale is made by Kakao Friends, a spinoff design and merchandise company from a Korean messenger app called Kakao Talk. In the app, three characters — Ryan the bear, Muji the bunny, and Apeach the … pink mushroom? – became so popular that it began creating merchandise like plush toys around the characters. Read more…

More about Weight Loss, Scale, Tech, Health, and Consumer Tech

Uber’s making some interesting changes in California, but not for the usual reasons apps add new features.

In an email received by customers in the Golden State, the ride-share giant revealed a small handful of new additions to the app. Attributed only to “a new state law,” Uber in California will now display prices differently, allow users to pinpoint preferred drivers, and discontinue some Uber Rewards benefits.

Prices will be displayed as an estimated range rather than a set amount for everything other than Uber Pool rides. You’ll pay what the app calculates based on time and distance traveled at the end of a ride, like a regular taxi cab.  Read more…

More about Transportation, Uber, California, Ride Hailing Apps, and Labor