Category Archives: Blog

George RR Martin may not be writing any of the Game of Thrones prequel series, but he certainly has insider knowledge about the stories they’ll tell.

And he just spilled the beans on two of them.

While Martin had hinted on his blog that one of the not-yet-greenlit series has something to do with the Targaryens, he revealed in an interview with The Guardian that “at least two of them are solidly based on material in Fire and Blood. Those haven’t been greenlit yet.”

Fire and Blood is a canon history of the Targaryen conquest, which is what happened when Daenerys and Jon’s great-great-super-great grandparents rained, well…fire and blood on the continent of Westeros. Read more…

More about Game Of Thrones, The Winds Of Winter, George Rr Martin, Fire And Blood, and Game Of Thrones Prequels

Never underestimate the power of single people buying themselves stuff. 

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba reported its highest individual sales day ever on Singles Day, an informal holiday dedicated to people who aren’t in relationships. 

Singles Day is on 11/11 (see all those “1”s? they symbolize being alone) and has become in recent years a bigger Chinese shopping day than Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Alibaba was a pioneer in offering discounts on the holiday, and their sales are promoted with a live TV show advertising the discounts available on the website.  Read more…

More about Alibaba, Singles Day, Singles Day Sales, Alibaba Sales, and Business

As thousands of firefighters battled uncontrolled flames in both Northern and Southern California on Saturday, President Trump tweeted out an ill-informed, distorted message about the cause of these deadly autumn infernos. 

But the firefighting community quickly rebutted the president’s claims, wherein he blamed “gross mismanagement of the forests,” while also threatening to cut federal support to fire management efforts. 

More about Science, Global Warming, Climate Change, Wildfires, and President Trump

Rihanna has struck a blow to the Donald Trump team by denying their rallies the rights to play her music. But the fight may not be over yet.

The music publishing company Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has backed up Rihanna’s efforts to stop President Trump from using her songs at his rallies, according to Rolling Stone.  That could have implications for other artists, like Guns N’ Roses, that have pushed back against Trump’s use of their music

Unfortunately, the legal world of music licensing is so thorny that Trump rallies still might be able to bump Rihanna’s jams.

More about Rihanna, Trump, Tech, Music, and Politics

Another day, another non-apology from a man.

Victoria’s Secret issued a message on behalf of its Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Ed Razek, clarifying statements that Razek made in Vogue about why the lingerie brand hasn’t cast trans models in its tentpole fashion shows. 

Razek originally stated that Victoria’s Secret has not and should not cast trans models because they’re not consistent with the “fantasy,” as he called it, presented by the show. Now, Razek says that the company has never cast trans models because they simply didn’t make the cut, not because of their gender. And that Victoria’s Secret would “absolutely cast a transgender model.” Read more…

More about Transgender, Victorias Secret, Culture, Identities, and Discrimination

French president Emmanuel Macron added another chapter to his ongoing handshake journey with Donald Trump on Saturday.

It all started in May 2017, the first time the two leaders met. In the months leading up to their meeting, Trump had built up a reputation for being kind of a dick about his handshakes. So when he met Macron, the French president came prepared to do battle.

Macron later admitted that the handshake “wasn’t innocent.” As he told a French newspaper a couple days later: “One must show that you won’t make small concessions, even symbolic ones, but also not over-publicize things, either.” Read more…

More about Politics, Culture, Donald Trump, Handshake, and Emmanuel Macron

While American police struggle to equip officers with body cameras, Dubai’s police continue to drift further into the future and make the world’s authorities red with envy.

The Dubai Police have begun training crews to ride Hoversurf’s S3 2019 Hoverbike, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle capable of hovering above the ground and speeding forward. They’re not unlike the speeder bikes seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

According to CNN, the Dubai Police has started training two crews to ride the Hoverbike as part of a “first responder unit used to access hard to reach areas.” Read more…

More about Police, Dubai, Hoverbike, Cops, and Tech

As California’s deadly wildfires rage on, none other than billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk has come forth to offer help once again.

Just after midnight (ET) on Saturday morning, Musk took to Twitter (where else?) to offer help from his electric vehicle company Tesla, which is based in the state.

“If Tesla can help people in California wildfire, please let us know,” he tweeted. “Model S & X have hospital grade HEPA filters. Maybe helpful for transporting people.”

More about Tesla, Elon Musk, Wildfires, California Wildfires, and Tech

Ah the weekend. The perfect time for kicking back and relaxing, maybe watching a movie, maybe eating a lot, and definitely, doing a little shopping.

There are two massive promotions that are running until midnight on Sunday Nov. 11. There’s no need to get up, we know you’re comfy. We’re just saying take a look, from the comfort of your sofa.

Adidas and Reebok are running sales for one day only and you’ll have to be fast to get in while stocks last. 

With the code ADI25, you will receive a 25% discount on more than 4000 full price products and outlet products from Adidas. Likewise, you can use the code RBK25 and receive a 25% discount on more than 2000 full price products from Reebok.  Read more…

More about Lifestyle, Fashion, Adidas, Reebok, and Mashable Shopping

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.

In my feminist utopia, sanitary pads and tampons are provided free of charge by the United States government.

In my current reality, they’re offered at $4 bucks a pack at CVS — and that’s with the savings from my CVS card.

We’re a long way from menstruation equality, which makes Nevada’s recent elimination of the “tampon tax” a critical step forward.

On Tuesday, Nevada voted to do away with their 6.85% sales tax imposed on sanitary pads and tampons.  Read more…

More about Watercooler, Menstruation, Women S Rights, Culture, and Activism