Category Archives: Blog

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants the super-rich to pay a heavier share of taxes.

The newly elected Congresswoman’s proposal that any earnings higher than $10 million carry a 70 percent tax rate has been widely popular. That’s true even among voters who might be more inclined to put on a MAGA hat; a recent Hill-HarrisX poll showed that some 45 percent of GOP voters agree.

On Friday night, Ocasio-Cortez greeted the news of her plan’s popularity with a play on the deepest of deep cut memes.

More about Entertainment, Gaming, Culture, Meme, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

Too often, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is seen as a day off — and little else.

Aside from grade school lessons painting a vague picture of King’s life and activism, the majority of us, especially white people, remain detached from his impact. King is a historical name we’ve learned to recognize, coupled with bits and pieces of facts from a whitewashed history. But truly appreciating his work is hardly on the radar — even on a day made to honor him.

It’s an uncomfortable reality of how we’ve been taught to value (or, rather, not value) one of the most influential black leaders in history. It’s all merely surface; a story we don’t see as extending beyond the crisp pages of an elementary textbook. Read more…

More about Martin Luther King Jr., Mlk Day, Social Good, and Activism

Facebook, as part of its never-ending quest to win over teens, is now working on a feature just for memes and funny viral content.

The social network is experimenting with something it’s calling “LOL,” according to TechCrunch, which got a look at some early beta versions of the feature. 

While Facebook could eventually decide to make LOL into its own app, it’s for now part of the main Facebook app, as the company tests out the new experience, which TechCrunch describes as “a special feed of funny videos and GIF-like clips.”

“We are running a small scale test and the concept is in the early stages right now,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to Mashable.. Read more…

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

Distracted? Tired? Bad at staying in your lane? Just plain out of it? Don’t worry, your car’s got you.

While fully autonomous vehicles might not be here for awhile, new driver assistance systems are so advanced you’ll feel like you’re in a self-driving car. 

What’s coming down the pipeline makes Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system look positively polite and passive. Instead of quiet beeps urging you to put your hands back on the wheel or a light flashing when something’s in your blind spot, these features plan to give control over to the vehicle. 

More about Autopilot, Autonomous Vehicles, Semi Autonomous, Ces 2019, and Tech

So you’ve got a $100 to spare. Maybe grandma included a crisp hundo in this year’s birthday card, or, hell, let’s just say you’re a brain genius who always has extra cash laying around. Yeah, let’s go with that. 

The question is, just what are you going to do with your excess wealth? If music-streaming service Spotify has its way, you’re going to spend those dollars on its completely necessary forthcoming voice-controlled music player for your car. That’s right, Spotify is allegedly getting into the hardware game. 

So reports the Financial Times, which notes that the company best known for paying artists shit is asking you to kick some additional hard-earned dollars its way in exchange for a device that the market is definitely crying out for.  Read more…

More about Spotify, Streaming, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Let Jim Cantore scare you into staying inside this weekend.

The Weather Channel meteorologist stars in a new video previewing this weekend’s winter storm, which is set to strike the Midwest and Northeast. Like the network’s previous videos about storm surges and wildfires, the segment utilizes immersive mixed reality (IMR), which means that that simulated fallout from the storm “happens” around Cantore as the video progresses. 

It also means that everything looks extremely real and scary. A power line falls. A city bus skids on the ice. Are you venturing outdoors this weekend? Please do not. Read more…

More about Climate, The Weather Channel, Jim Cantore, Culture, and Climate Environment

New court documents filed by the Democratic National Committee unveiled a previously unknown infiltration attempt by Russian hackers.

“On November 14, 2018, dozens of DNC email addresses were targeted in a spearphishing campaign,” claim the DNC in the documents, which were filed on Thursday night. “The content of these emails and their timestamps were consistent with a spearphishing campaign that leading cybersecurity experts have tied to Cozy Bear (APT 29).”

Cozy Bear is the Russian intelligence agency-linked hacker group that infiltrated the DNC during the 2016 presidential elections. 

The DNC says there is no evidence that the group was successful in the attempt, which was made one week after the 2018 Midterms. Read more…

More about Russia, Hackers, Dnc, Democratic National Committee, and Tech

Look, we’re only 18 days into 2019 and it’s already looking better than the shitshow that was last year. Starting with this thread. 

Twitter user @macnchief came across the most blessed image on Reddit and shared it to Twitter: an impossibly small pup wearing a Croc on its head. 

Hmmmmmm.

Dare I ask … who wore it better?

More about Twitter, Dogs, Pope, Culture, and Web Culture

Bored of regular fireworks? ALE, a Japanese “space entertainment” company, is working on making artificial meteor showers an option. ALE has already managed to send its first satellite into orbit to conduct experiments ahead of their first attempt for a meteor show due in 2020. If the company succeeds, you might soon be able to buy shooting stars. Read more…

More about Mashable Video, Meteor, Fireworks, Meteors, and Artificial

He blames the revenue loss on less travel by government contractors and employees. Read more…

More about Ceo, Tsa, Delta Airlines, President Trump, and Government Shutdown