Taylor Swift called out Trump for ignoring her Equality Act petition at the VMAs

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Taylor Swift opened the 2019 VMAs with a performance of her single “You Need To Calm Down” — in which she famously, finally, Said Gay Rights. She picked up the Video For Good award for the clip, peppered with celebrities and icons of queer pop culture, but allowed her co-executive producer and BFF Todrick Hall to give that acceptance speech. 

When she won the fan-voted Video Of The Year, however, she took the mic and proceeded to back up the video’s message, surrounded again by Hall as well as other members of the YNTCD cast such as Trinity the Tuck and Jade Jolie.

“In this video, several points were made, so you voting for the video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law, regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify,” she said. Read more…

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VMAs host opens with safe space jokes, and bombs hard

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The 2018 VMAs didn’t have a host, and ten minutes into the 2019 VMAs, fans were wishing this year’s show didn’t either.

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco — already the host who launched a thousand SEO-optimized “Who is…?” posts — opened the show with a series of jokes punching directly down at the crowd in front of him, and not in a particularly clever way.

From a punchline-free bit about people recording things on their phones (fresh!) to an extended rant about how there was a “safe space” backstage for anyone who was “triggered”, Maniscalco didn’t endear himself to the audience in the room or at home. Read more…

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Instagram is working on yet another Snapchat clone

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Facebook is testing yet another Snapchat clone. 

Yes, again. And, once again, Facebook’s latest effort to take on Snap is centered around Instagram. That’s according to The Verge, which reports that Instagram has been testing “Threads,” a new, separate app based around Instagram users’ “close friends” lists. 

The app is “designed to promote constant, automatic sharing between users,” says The Verge, which has published mock-ups of the app based on screenshots of the unreleased app. The images show a single feed where you can view friends’ Stories or brief “statuses.”  Read more…

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Golf balls programmed with Nissan’s self-driving tech always find the hole

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Autonomous golf balls might not be what anyone really needs, but it’s pretty satisfying to always get a hole-in-one. 

The high-tech golf balls from Nissan are just a concept the Japanese automaker is showing off this week in Japan to highlight its newest driver assistance system, ProPilot 2. The new system will let drivers take their hands off the wheel on designated roads with the destination plugged into the navigation system.

It’s a small dose of autonomous driving that’s coming to the Nissan Skyline sedan this fall in Japan. It’s like a hands-free Autopilot system on Tesla vehicles. But to get a better sense of how the car can drive itself between two points, Nissan took the technology and put it in a golf ball. There’s even a small electric motor in the ball. Read more…

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6 tweets from Women’s Equality Day remind you to keep striving for a better world

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On August 26, 1920, the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution officially gave women the right to vote in state and federal elections. Every year, we celebrate this historic victory with Women’s Equality Day, including on Twitter, where this year, people used the hashtags #WomensEqualityDay and #EqualityCantWait to call attention to the day — and how necessary it is to keep fighting. 

Because while women can vote, that’s only part of the story, and there’s still a long way to go. 

How long? The World Economic Forum measures gender parity by four categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. At the current rate, according to their Global Gender Gap Report, it will take the United States 208 years to reach true gender equality. In 2018, out of 149 countries, just 17 have women as their heads of state.  Read more…

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C-3PO’s red eyes in the new ‘Rise of Skywalker’ footage have everyone guessing

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You probably didn’t recognize him because of the red eyes.

Disney’s D23 footage released on Monday of the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker left us with more than a couple teasers: Star Destroyers. The voice of Emperor Palpatine. Dark Rey. An intense lightsaber battleDark. Rey. And if that weren’t enough, Twitter also caught a frame that showed a slight change in appearance of one familiar, gold-plated face. 

Yep. C-3PO, our favorite odds-telling, doesn’t-know-when-to-shut-up hot mess of a protocol droid, is back for the final installment of the Skywalker saga. And if one shot making the rounds on social media is any indication, he’s having a bit of a glow-up moment.  Read more…

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FORM’s pricey AR goggles will make you want to swim faster

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FORM Swim Goggles
$199
View Product
The Good

Doesn’t leak • Comfortable fit • Well-organized app • Heads-up display is mostly clear and easy to see

The Bad

Pricey • Really only for pool swimmers • Proprietary charger

The Bottom Line

FORM goggles perform as advertised, but competitive swimmers using a pool will get the most out of the device.

⚡ Mashable Score
4.0
? Cool Factor
4.0
?Learning Curve
4.0
?Performance
4.5
?Bang for the Buck
3.0

As I glided through the cool water, a timer ticked away, floating in front of my right eye. Blocky, yellow numbers projected underwater warned I had 15 seconds to make my goal.  Read more…

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Viola Davis will play Michelle Obama in Showtime’s ‘First Ladies’

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The saying “behind every great man, there’s a great woman” may be slightly outdated, but Showtime’s newly ordered series First Ladies aims to explore its more literal interpretation. 

As reported by Deadline, the show will be a scripted drama about how various First Ladies of the United States have wielded their influence, as well as examining their inner lives and experiences in the White House. The first season will focus on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, and Michelle Obama. 

While the castings for Ford and Roosevelt have not been announced, Viola Davis will play Michelle Obama; the Emmy and Academy Award–winning actor is also set to executive produce the project.  Read more…

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