Category Archives: Blog

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

Nothing like a little wholesome parent-child bonding. 

In this extremely cute video, a little kid dressed like Spider-Man acts out every child’s superhero daydream with some much-appreciated help from dad.

Can we talk about the sound effects dad added to make this a truly authentic experience? Incredible. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this kid’s on-point Spidey movements. We’ve got a Spider-Man star in the making, folks. Read more…

More about Kids, Viral Video, Costume, Spider Man, and Father And Son

Chucky is back — and not everyone’s happy about it.

On Friday, MGM announced it had started production for the reboot of Child’s Play, the legendary 1988 horror film. The original’s story creator Don Mancini, who won’t be involved in the new production, proceeded to let his feelings be known with a subtweet.

Mancini has produced six sequels to the original’s Child’s Play, six times as a screenwriter and three times as a director. He’s currently working on a Child’s Play TV series featuring the voice of the original Chucky. This is all through Universal, which owns the rights to all but one of the Child’s Play sequels (MGM, meanwhile, owns the original and 2004’s Seed of Chucky). Read more…

More about Watercooler, Entertainment, Film, Horror Movies, and Child S Play

How much water do you drink a day, really? What about your closest pal, or your family? Be honest. If it’s not the two litres recommended, then we’ve got work to do.

We all know someone (or are someone) who refuses to reach their daily H2O quota, so perhaps said rebel just needs a little sprucing up of their water receptacle. Plus, with an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the global marine environment each year, having your own bottle is no longer a want, it’s a planetary need.

More about Water, Gift Ideas, Gift Guide, Water Bottles, and Gift Guide 2018

On today’s internet, having at least some level of protection is essential.

A VPN or virtual private network is a tool to get an extra layer of protection — it essentially masks your connection while encrypting your data. The best part is you don’t need to get any physical hardware to use one; using a VPN is usually as simple as downloading and launching an app

Once you have a VPN setup, you can use it on your home WiFi, public networks, over LTE, and even while traveling. 

Certainly, the internet is a great way to connect with others, but users need to be careful now more than ever. A VPN will mask your IP address and give you a bit more security, especially for your viewing history — not to mention it makes using public WiFi networks much safer and can stop hackers from accessing data. Read more…

More about Internet, Tech Utility, Vpn, Internet Access, and Internet Security

Just hours after Amazon surprised us with more new Alexa-enabled gadgets than we can count, word broke that Facebook’s voice-activated smart speaker (reportedly called “Portal”) is apparently back on — and launching as soon as next week. 

Suddenly, a market that’s been dominated by Amazon and Google is starting to look more interesting … right? Well, not exactly.

I’m not trying to pick on Facebook but, of everything we’ve heard about the yet-to-be-revealed Portal speaker, nothing suggests that it can overcome what will likely be its biggest hurdle: that nobody trusts Facebook anymore. If you think an Alexa-enabled microwave sounds creepy, how do you think people will react to a Facebook-branded smart speaker with an AI-infused camera?  Read more…

More about Gadgets, Facebook, Amazon, Tech, and Consumer Tech

There isn’t one way to describe your cat’s daily activities. They’ll hide in Amazon Prime boxes, or drink from toilet bowls. One thing most pet parents can agree on though is that cats need engaging playtime. If your feline is bouncing off the walls or scratching furniture, it might be time to buy new cat toys. 

Googling “cat toy” could send you down an internet sinkhole, because there are so many plush mice, circle tunnels, and colorful wands available for felines. Plus, you might not know if a cat toy will meet your pet’s playtime needs. Before you buy a cat toy, there are some things you might want to consider: Read more…

More about Cats, Mashable Shopping, Culture, and Animals

Days after shuttering its dedicated gaming app, YouTube made some more big changes to how users discover content. 

Now, YouTube’s trending tab breaks down what’s popular in five categories: music, live, gaming, news, and movies.

Trending on YouTube previously just displayed what videos were trending throughout a user’s country. YouTube said its algorithm takes a number of factors into consideration, such as view count and the rate of growth in views, among others.

More about Trending, Video, Youtube, Tech, and Media Industry

I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised. But still, they did say it would be practically impossible. 

The Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Zaif suffered a major hack last week. It issued a statement on Thursday stating that approximately $59 million worth of bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and MONAcoin had been stolen by unidentified criminals. This, obviously, is not good. What makes it perhaps worse is the company’s past insistence that it applied the “maximum effort” possible to keep its customers’ funds safe — and that hacking it would be “practically impossible.”

Like many exchanges, Zaif has a page on its website where it details the precautions taken to secure customer funds. With tens (or potentially hundreds) of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency at stake, it makes sense to let everyone know that you’re taking this security stuff seriously.  Read more…

More about Hacking, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Cash, and Tech

Joana Ceddia is blowing up right now. 

You might have stumbled across a video of her hacking off her hair with craft scissors in her parents’ bathroom, or watched her break down the contents of her school backpack to reveal a watermelon wedge and a stray parka like an unboxing video gone wrong. 

In my case, her video about DIYing an overpriced clothing line haunted the “Up Next” side bar for weeks. Like many Gen Zers, Ceddia was thoroughly disappointed that vlogger Emma Chamberlain’s new collection wasn’t even visible, since each item of clothing for sale in the Dote app was pixelated to add a sense of intrigue.  Read more…

More about Youtube, Viral Videos, Vlog, Joana Ceddia, and Culture

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine think that octopuses are just like us! Well, at least in the way they react to ecstasy. The research, which, yes, means giving octopuses ecstasy, can definitely be seen by some as a little unethical, but the experts say they make sure to take care of the animals. The research could help us better understand that our brain and social behavior are influenced by more basic processes than we imagined.  Read more…

More about Animals, Mashable Video, Octopus, Drugs, and Ecstasy