Music could make Snapchat more like TikTok

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Snapchat could soon get more musical.

Snap has been “in talks” with a number of record labels in an effort to broker deals that would let the company add more music to its app, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. The talks are not yet final but have “intensified in recent weeks.”

If these talks do progress to actual licensing deals, it would mean Snapchat would be able to add musical features akin to Instagram and TikTok, both of which allow users to add short clips from popular songs to their posts. It’s also the latest sign that Snap wants to do more to lure fans of TikTok to its service. Read more…

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Tesla will limit charging to 80 percent at some Supercharger stations

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Tesla owners will soon find that they can no longer charge up to 100 percent at some Supercharger stations. 

The car maker has opted to limit charging to 80 percent at some of its busiest stations, according to a report in Electrek. “Today, we released a new Supercharger feature that will limit owners’ State of Charge (SOC) to 80% at select high-traffic sites,” Tesla told employees in a memo obtained by the site.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk explains why you shouldn’t charge your Tesla battery to 100%

The new limits will reportedly apply to 17 percent of U.S. charging stations. In some cases, the limit will be in effect at all times, while some stations will only have limits during holidays and “large regional events,” like music festivals. Tesla says it expects the change to “result in a 34% improvement in throughput at our busiest Supercharging locations” and that Tesla owners will be alerted to the limit when they show up at an affected station.  Read more…

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You probably can’t watch these ‘Black Mirror’ mini-stories

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Netflix teamed up with Latin American YouTubers to create three Little Black Mirror mini-stories, but they’re only available in Latin America.

The Little Black Mirror series is a promotional campaign aimed at Spanish-speaking audiences, according to a report from Variety. Netflix confirmed to Mashable that the videos, which will be published on the Netflix América Latina YouTube channel, are only available in Latin American countries and will not be released in English.

That’s a bit of a bummer for Black Mirror fans outside of Latin America. But hey, you’re not the target here.

Little Black Mirror stars actors and YouTube personalities Alesso, Delaney Glazer, Anwar Jibawi, Rudy Mancuso, Maia Mitchell, Lele Pons, Hannah Stocking, Jeff Wittek, and Juanpa Zurita. Mancuso, who saw massive popularity on Vine, directed the three episodes and scored the music for them. Read more…

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Upcoming children’s book from Marie Kondo aims to build good habits early

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Tidying master Marie Kondo is working on a children’s book about friendship, tidying up, and, of course, embracing joy.

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Introducing “Kiki & Jax,” my upcoming children’s picture book co-written and illustrated by @salinayoon. It’s a timeless story about friendship, and I hope that the characters of Kiki and Jax will inspire children and families to tidy and embrace joy! The book launches on November 5, but you can preorder it wherever books are sold – and on konmari.com – starting today. For more details, visit the link in my profile!

A post shared by Marie Kondo (@mariekondo) on Read more…

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Dutch soccer referee accidentally scores a goal… and counts it

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Congratulations to the referee in the Netherlands who scored a goal against the Harkemase Boys football club on Saturday.

During a match between the Harkemase Boys and HSV Hoek in the Netherlands, the Harkemase Boys’ defense were scrambling to stop the Hoek offense from scoring inside the penalty box. One of the defenders tried to clear the ball away from the goal but kicked it right at the referee and the ball bounced back into the goal.

After a second, the referee signaled that the goal counted much to the dismay of Harkemase players.

Unfortunately for the Harkemase Boys, the referee made the correct call. FIFA considers referees to be part of the field of play, so balls that touch them are still in play. Read more…

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Artist auctions off virus-ridden laptop for $1 million

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A laptop infected with some of the most destructive pieces of malware ever may sound like the kind of ticking time bomb you’d expect only in sci-fi movies. But one man has created just such a machine, and it can be yours — if you have about $1 million to spare. 

No, this isn’t some shady dark web marketplace. It’s an art auction, and the current bidding price is around $1.2 million. 

The piece, by artist Guo O Dong, is titled “The Persistence of Chaos,” and the name is apt because the laptop could wreak some serious havoc. The old Samsung Netbook that runs Windows XP is infected with half a dozen extremely dangerous pieces of malware that, cumulatively, have caused nearly $95 billion in damages, according to Dong.  Read more…

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‘Gaming disorder’ is now officially recognized by the WHO

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Gaming disorder, which basically boils down to video game addiction, was officially recognized by the World Health Organization Saturday.

After a year and a half of deliberation on the new revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which included gaming disorder in its 2017 draft, all 194 member states of the WHO agreed to adopt ICD-11. The new revision goes into effect Jan. 1, 2022.

So what exactly is gaming disorder? It sits in the subcategory in ICD-11 called “Disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviors” alongside alcoholism, gambling addiction, and, curiously, a section devoted to harmful cannabis use dependence. Read more…

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The best (and worst) summer hits of the past decade

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Songs of the summer — you know them, you love them, and according to some, they’re an entire musical genre that is in danger of melting away like sweet sugar syrup on a popsicle. 

It is true that it used to be a lot easier to judge which mega hit dominated the airwaves during the heatwaves. How do we measure the success of a single that you can’t escape during the summer months now? Billboard charts? Spotify streams? Music video hits? Inspired memes

We’re taking a look back at the last decade of sizzling summer smashes, bops, and jams to give you unequivocally the best of the best. Our criteria will be a mix of cultural impact, and listenability while you road trip with the top down, put some dogs on the backyard grill, or chill by the pool.  Read more…

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SpaceX’s 60 orbiting Starlink satellites lined up for an out of this world photo opp

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It’s been a couple days since SpaceX sent its first 60 Starlink satellites into orbit and the skywatching has begun.

A video captured by Dr. Marco Langbroek, who runs the StatTrack Cam Leiden Blog, shows the satellites all lined up as they sail through the sky. It looks like some kind of high-tech conga line, or an unintelligible string of Morse code.

Whatever it is you see when you look at this, we should all be able to agree that it’s an unusual sight to behold in the night sky.

Langbroek points out in his accompanying blog post that the lineup you see here isn’t a permanent arrangement. 

“Over the coming days the ‘train’ of objects will be making 2-3 passes each night,” he writes. “As they are actively manoeuvering with their ion thrusters, they will be more spread out with each pass, so the ‘train’ will probably quickly dissipate.” Read more…

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Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Parasite’ takes top prize at Cannes: What critics are saying

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Okja director Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite won the Palme d’Or in a unanimous decision at 2019’s Cannes Film Festival. This is the first time a Korean director has won the festival’s top honor.

Cannes jury president Alejandro G. Iñárritu said, “We all shared the mystery of the unexpected way this film took us through different genres and spoke in a funny, humorous, tender way — with no judgment — of something so relevant and urgent, so global in such a local film, with such a beautiful efficiency of media, and an understanding of what film really is. We were all fascinated when we saw it, and it kept growing and growing: that’s why it was a unanimous decision.” Read more…

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