Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Just because you’re in a private Facebook doesn’t mean the company isn’t keeping tabs on what you’re doing.

That’s the not-so-subtle reminder the social network is sending groups. In a lengthy blog post published Wednesday, Facebook’s VP of Engineering Tom Alison outlined some of the steps the company is taking to police bad behavior in groups, even if the groups aren’t visible to the public. 

“Being in a private group doesn’t mean that your actions should go unchecked,” Alison writes.

Those checks include more “proactive detection” by Facebook’s AI-powered tools that can automatically detect some types of rule-breaking content before it’s reported, and tougher rules for groups moderators. If moderators break the rules or approve too many posts from members who do, Facebook will punish the entire group with a “strike.” Read more…

More about Tech, Facebook, Facebook Groups, Social Media Companies, and Tech

Pumpkin spice season is upon us, and the food industry is already starting to unleash its wrath of candle-scented products for our autumnal consumption. 

Including pumpkin spice-flavored Spam. 

The concoction will only be available for purchase on Spam.com and Walmart.com starting Sept. 23, but the brave souls at the Daily Meal did the world a favor and tried it out early. In a thorough review, they noted that the signature pumpkin spice scent “only intensified” as the vaguely meat product fried on a stovetop.

The verdict: Pumpkin spice Spam, as cursed as it sounds, isn’t that bad. 

Tasters said they could see the product pairing well with breakfast dishes like waffles or in a nice egg scramble.  Read more…

More about Autumn, Spam, Pumpkin Spice, Culture, and Web Culture

Why do all the most cursed traffic experiences seem to happen in Russia? 

Another dashcam video has emerged of some unusual transit behavior, this time in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, Russia. 

The video shows a man crossing a street, but getting frustrated with a car stopped in the middle of the crosswalk. So what does he do? Open the car door, slide through the seat, and exit the other side, naturally! 

This level of petty malicious compliance is admirable, although we’re surprised the driver didn’t get out and give him a piece of their mind. 

Oh well, at least the car wasn’t parked in a bike lane!  Read more…

More about Youtube, Russia, Viral Video, Dashcam Video, and Culture

Facebook announced a big change on Wednesday, but don’t worry: secret groups aren’t going away. 

“For Facebook Groups, people have historically been able to choose between being public, closed or secret settings for their group,” wrote Product Manager for Facebook Groups Jordan Davis. “To better match people’s expectations and help provide more clarity, we’re rolling out a new simplified privacy model for Groups — public and private.”

The change makes it sound like Facebook is getting rid of its secret group option altogether. But, that’s not true. It’s just a name change.

“Closed groups will now be Private and Visible in Search, and Secret groups will become Private and Hidden in Search,” confirmed a Facebook spokesperson in a statement to Mashable. Read more…

More about Facebook, Privacy, Social Media, Facebook Groups, and Tech

TL;DR: You can get a pair of the well-reviewed Cowin E7 Active Noise-Cancelling wireless Bluetooth headphones for as little as $49.99 using a limited-time Amazon savings coupon.

Amazon’s been offering a lot of great deals on headphones lately, although most will still cost you at least a couple hundred dollars even after the site’s discounts. Not saying they’re not worth it, but for those of us with limited spending money — lookin’ at you, students heading off to college — making that kind of purchase just isn’t realistic. 

If you’ve been holding out for a more budget-friendly pair of headphones, your patience has finally paid off, because the Cowin E7 wireless headphones just went on sale. They’re our favorite sub-$100 model for noise-cancelation, and you can grab a pair for as little as $49.99 using a $10 extra savings coupon. (That’s, like, a quarter of the price of your average college textbook.) Read more…

More about Headphones, Wireless Headphones, Noise Canceling Headphones, Mashable Shopping, and Cowin

When it comes to recharging rental e-scooters and bicycles, it’s a messy process, often involving independent contractors scooping dead scooters off the street, taking them home to charge, and then dropping them off in the early morning. Even worse: During the charging process, the scooter is out of commission.

San Francisco-based e-scooter rental company Skip is mixing it up with swappable batteries in its new light blue custom-designed scooter, the S3. The scooter will start testing in San Francisco city streets this fall and eventually roll out in October. Skip is one of two scooter companies with permits for San Francisco scooter rentals. It also operates in Washington, D.C. Read more…

More about Battery, E Scooter, Tech, and Transportation

Greta Thunberg is bound for the high seas.

On August 14 the teenage climate activist set sail from Britain to New York City aboard the Malizia II, a technologically-advanced racing sailboat that generates electricity using solar panels and underwater turbines. Next month, Thunberg will speak at the U.N. Climate Action Summit (and Mashable’s Social Good Summit), before sailing on to a crucial U.N. climate conference in Chile. 

You can track her progress across the Atlantic Ocean on the ship’s website here (there may be a load time). 

“The science is clear,” Thunberg said in a statement after announcing the seafaring trip. “We must start bending the [carbon] emissions curve steeply downwards no later than 2020, if we still are to have a chance of staying below a 1.5 [Celsius] degrees of global temperature rise.” Read more…

More about Science, Global Warming, Climate Change, Greta Thunberg, and Science

Adobe is giving artists the ability to create 3D and AR worlds without needing to code thanks to three new Apps the company is planning to release in 2019. Read more…

More about Mashable Video, Adobe, Vr, Ar, and Mixed Reality

It seems that just like bees, Amazon can sense your fear.

Because nothing says “nightmare scenario” quite like a giant tech corporation everyone uses knowing what you’re feeling, Amazon announced on Monday that Rekognition, its controversial facial recognition tool, can now detect a person’s fear. 

The update includes “improved accuracy for emotion detection (for all 7 emotions: ‘Happy’, ‘Sad’, ‘Angry’, ‘Surprised’, ‘Disgusted’, ‘Calm’ and ‘Confused’)” but, just for kicks, I guess, “added a new emotion: ‘Fear’.”

More about Artificial Intelligence, Facial Recognition, Amazon Rekognition, Tech, and Cybersecurity

Facebook was listening. Sort of. 

It turns out the company that only recently made a performative pivot toward privacy was paying contractors to listen to and transcribe users’ conversations, according to Bloomberg.

Notably, the contractors reportedly did not know how Facebook obtained the audio and weren’t informed as to why it needed to be transcribed. Allegedly, the recordings included “vulgar content” — although the specifics of what that means is unclear. 

The audio in question reportedly came from the Facebook Messenger app, and was part of a process to check if the company’s AI correctly transcribed conversations between users. Facebook insisted to Bloomberg that a person would have needed to select the transcription option for their conversations to have been sent to humans for review.  Read more…

More about Facebook, Privacy, Tech, and Big Tech Companies