Category Archives: Blog

On Thursday afternoon, as efforts to to keep the government from a possible shutdown were in a tailspin thanks to President Trump’s border wall funding demands, Trump promoted a bill signing with an old video of him and Megan Mullally singing the theme song to Green Acres. The bit performed at the 2006 Emmy Awards.

Yes. That’s the current sitting U.S. president promoting a bill signing for the “Agricultural Improvement Act” (meant to help farmers hit hard by Trump’s ongoing trade dispute with China) with a video of him singing a television theme song filmed 12 years ago. 

At least he remembered the “#TBT” hashtag, I guess. Read more…

More about Donald Trump, Megan Mullally, Farm Bill, Green Acres, and Culture

Looking for an OLED TV on sale? You’ve come to the right place.

The 55-inch LG C8 OLED 4K TV is currently on sale for $1,696.99 at Walmart, which is $1,103 off the original price of $2,799.99.

You can expect a stellar display from this TV: The colors are crisp, the HDR provides deep blacks and whites, and you’ll get extremely smooth picture all thanks to the new Alpha 9 processor.

It’s also easy to hook up to your smart home system courtesy of AI ThinQ. Aside from standard streaming features, ThinQ will turn the TV into a smart hub for the home theater. Once a compatible Amazon Alexa or Google Home device is connected you’ll be able to control all compatible devices through it, like the lights or a sound bar. Read more…

More about Lg, 4k Tv, Oled, Mashable Shopping, and Mashable Deals

If you’ve ever visited Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Syria, or the Crimea region, you should probably check if you’re Slack account is still active.

Early Thursday morning, Slack users began reporting the real-time messaging app had sent a message notifying them that they had been banned from the service. The reasoning given to these banned users: U.S. economic sanction laws and regulations.

“Slack complies with the U.S. regulations related to embargoed countries and regions. As such, we prohibit unauthorized Slack use in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine,” Slack said in a statement provided to Mashable. “Our systems may have detected an account and/or a workspace owner on our platform with an IP address originating from a designated embargoed country. If our systems indicate a workspace primary owner has an IP address originating from a designated embargoed country, the entire workspace will be deactivated. If someone thinks any actions we took were done in error, we will review further.” Read more…

More about Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Slack

The Palm phone is one of the hardest devices I’ve had to review. Read more…

More about Reviews, Palm, Palm Phone, Tech, and Consumer Tech

Richard Branson, who is competing with the likes of Tesla and Amazon, is reaching new heights. The SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket hit a new height of 82.7km. It took off from the Mojave Desert in California.  Read more…

More about Space, Mashable Video, Richard Branson, Space Exploration, and Space Flight

If you think you’ve had a rough year, take comfort in the fact that it probably hasn’t been as stressful as Mark Zuckerberg’s.

The embattled Facebook founder lost more money than any other billionaire this year, thanks to a year of constant scandals.

Hell, even the last 24 hours has seen nearly half a dozen new rounds of negative headlines for the social network. Seriously, it’s hard to keep track.

Luckily, The Guardian has stepped in to help, with a handy recap of some of Zuck’s biggest moments in an imagined “year in review.” It’s a hilarious burn that’s a near-perfect replica of those cloyingly cheery Facebook compilations of the same name. Read more…

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

Owners of the newest iPad Pro have noticed their devices are slightly bent.

Apple confirmed the strange warping issue, which affects the aluminium chassis of the iPad, to The Verge, but the company doesn’t consider it a defect.

Apple said the subtle bend is a result of the manufacturing process, occurring after the device’s metal and plastic components cool. 

The tech giant added that it shouldn’t affect performance, nor should the bend worsen as time goes by. Still, if you find the bend annoying, you should be able to exchange or return the device to Apple or retailers. Read more…

More about Tech, Apple, Ipad, Ipad Pro, and Consumer Tech

If ride-hailing app Uber goes public next year its valuation could hit $120 billion. Its smaller rival Lyft: $30 billion. But will drivers benefit?

Flush with cash despite years of never earning a profit, the companies will be able to do things like finally pay out employees and acquire other businesses. As the hot new IPOs, they’ll also get good publicity, which can raise the visibility of Lyft and help Uber — with new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the helm — gloss over past reports of harassment in the workplace, gender discrimination, and cut-throat tactics.

Outside of Uber and Lyft, would-be investors are champing at the bit. “There’s so much pent-up demand to invest in the ride-sharing businesses,” financial consultant Christopher Clapp at MorganFranklin said. They’ll be the first major companies in the sharing economy to go public, and what happens could affect the industry’s next round of IPOs, which will most likely include Airbnb. Read more…

More about Uber, Ipo, Lyft, Ride Hailing Apps, and Drivers

The copied has become the copier. 

Snapchat, whose features Facebook and others have spent years duplicating, is changing things up a bit by borrowing a new from a competitor. The app introduced a new “Lens Challenge” feature that lets users share interactive lip syncing videos similar to those on TikTok.

The new feature is built on Snapchat’s augmented reality lens platform. People can access “challenges” by unlocking the corresponding lens in the app or via Discover. You can then create your own lip sync video, complete with animated AR effects, and share it to a themed “Our Story.” The Our Story will highlight user-submitted videos for each challenge. Read more…

More about Tech, Snapchat, Snap Inc, Social Media Companies, and Tiktok

We definitely suspected, but it’s good to know: Netflix’s charming To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is getting a sequel, based on the novel Jenny Han.

Stars Lana Condor and Noah Centineo teamed up for an adorable video posted to author Jenny Han’s Twitter to announce the sequel (and tease the casting of Peter K’s romantic foil, John Ambrose McClaren). The sequel – based on Han’s P.S. I Still Love You – does not yet have a release date.

More about Movies, Netflix, Lana Condor, To All The Boys I Ve Loved Before, and Noah Centineo