Category Archives: Blog

Dating. Whether you hate it a little or hate it a lot, it’s a rite of passage for most of us.

It’s also particularly challenging for members of the LGBTQ community, who’ve traditionally only had access to hetero-based sites and apps. When I was on the apps in the late aughts, queer women could barely be found. I met so many cis straight men who checked the “women seeking women” box so they could match with queer women who, they fantasized, would magically change their sexual orientation just for them. (Nope.) 

Some of that hasn’t changed in 2018. But as the number of out LGBTQ people has grown, so too have their opportunities in online dating spaces. Queer-friendly dating apps and sites are multiplying, and there are even a few that are — wait for it — pretty damn good. Read more…

More about Lgbtq, Online Dating, Tinder, Grindr, and Shopping Ziffdavis

E-scooters can really rile people up — whether it’s cities trying to contain the onslaught of the mini motorized vehicles, or celebs such as actor-turned-venture-capitalist Ashton Kutcher fighting for their rights at a tech conference, it seems we are a nation divided.

And sometimes, it’s the scooter companies that can get all hot and bothered.

Take Lime, for example. Last week, the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency shut down any aspirations the scooter-share company had of operating in the city, instead giving two newer companies, Scoot and Skip, permits to test scooters within the city for the next year.  Read more…

More about Uber, San Francisco, Scooters, Lime, and Tech

Instagram Stories are about to get more dramatic. The app is adding six new “Superzoom” effects to its in-app Stories camera.

In case you need a refresher, Superzoom is the camera feature, which lives alongside Boomerang and other effects, that creates three-second zoomed-in videos, often with sound effects and animations. The meme-worthy feature has been in the app since October last year, and soon inspired a crop of ridiculously adorable dog memes. 

But now the popular feature is getting an upgrade, with six new variations. Among the new effects: a heart-filled fog with cheesy music, paparazzi-like camera flashes, flames, and a big red x. There’s also a particularly emo-looking animation called “bummer,” which features black leaves falling against a melancholy soundtrack (in case you want to be woken up when September ends). Read more…

More about Tech, Instagram, Apps And Software, Instagram Stories, and Tech

Quincy Jones has too many awards, accolades, and accomplishments to list.

And the legendary musician and film producer’s upcoming Netflix documentary, directed by his own daughter Rashida Jones, features almost as many stars. 

The trailer for Quincy shines a spotlight on the influence he had on some of the most talented people in the entire entertainment industry: Oprah Winfrey, Kendrick Lamar, Will Smith, Lady Gaga. And we heard a little Barack Obama moment in there too.

But the doc appears to focus on his life both before and after becoming the iconic Quincy Jones. 

You can catch it on Netflix Sept. 21. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Netflix, Documentary, Rashida Jones, and Quincy Jones

To Fly. To Serve. To have your customers’ financial information stolen by unidentified hackers. 

British Airways today announced it was the victim of a data breach in which the “personal and financial details” of customers were stolenThe Guardian reports that 380,000 “payment cards” were affected. 

So who exactly are those hundreds of thousands of victims? According to the airline, customers using the BA website or mobile app to make “bookings” between Aug. 21 and Sept. 5 are the ones who should be nervously checking their credit card statements.  Read more…

More about Hackers, British Airways, Data Breach, Tech, and Cybersecurity

Someone give this man a raise. And maybe a modeling gig. 

When this UPS driver delivers packages to Reddit user u/deadleaf_shrimp’s apartment, the building mailroom emails its residents with a picture. As deadleaf_shrimp writes in a post, the email is supposed to include a photo of the shipping label. 

Instead, a certain driver got creative. 

The hero was identified as Colby Holloway. He acknowledged his newfound fame on his Instagram story: “Since I’m Reddit ‘famous’ for a day … everyone listen to @dolloppodcast.” 

He also dropped a Patton Oswalt quote about kindness. 

More about Reddit, Selfie, Ups, Culture, and Web Culture

Boutique fitness classes may be on the rise, but working out from the comfort of your home has always had its positives.

For the new wave of in-home workouts, there’s Mirror. It’s an actual mirror you can use for your morning routine, but with high-powered tech built inside. The panel itself is a liquid crystal display (LCD), with stereo speakers, a camera, and some custom software powered by a quad-core processor. Bluetooth and WiFi allow you to connect with monitoring devices and stream the classes from Mirror. As for the classes, there’s cardio, yoga, strength, barre, boxing, stretch, and pilates, with various levels of each. Read more…

More about Fitness, Live Streaming, Mirror, Mirrors, and Tech

If the only news you ever read came from Twitter, you’d think America was some kind of post-apocalyptic political landscape. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. 

But it’s not all dystopia. If you travel to Vermont, for example, you’ll find Democrat Christine Hallquist, who won her primary this August and could very well become the country’s first openly trans governor. 

It’s a remarkably modern accomplishment, and one — for liberals at least — well worth getting excited about. Just don’t dilute your political high and look at what people tweet at her. 

More about Watercooler, Transgender, Vermont, Governor, and Culture

Instagram Stories have become a dominant force in our visual-obsessed culture, and a little-known hack is about to make it a bit GIF-ier.

For this tutorial, a third-party keyboard is your secret weapon (Gboard, Bitmoji, and Giphy are all good options).

But before we get started, we should point out that Instagram’s partnership with Giphy has already made it easy to insert some GIFs into your stories — the problem is that the in-app database doesn’t include every GIF you could ever want.

But with this trick, noticed by Matt Navarra on Twitter, users can copy a GIF from, say Google Images, Tumblr, or GIF sites, paste it natively in an Instagram Story, and then arrange it however you want. The world of GIFs is your oyster.  Read more…

More about Instagram, Gifs, How To, Bitmoji, and Instagram Stories

It’s time to get hyped!

Google just sent out press invites for a “Made by Google” launch event in New York City on Oct. 9, where the company will most likely announce the Pixel 3.

As for hints on the invite, there’s not much that could tell us what to expect from the event.

The invite shows a Google logo and then an “I <3 NY". The "3" in the "<3" (that's a heart in case you didn't know) likely refers to to the Pixel 3.

Google’s expected to announce a Pixel 3 and a Pixel 3 XL. Much of the Pixel 3 XL has already leaked out thanks to various unboxings by Russian YouTubers who were able to illegally obtain the unreleased phone. Not to mention someone apparently left a Pixel 3 XL in a Lyft (yeah, really). Read more…

More about Mobile, Google, Android, Pixel 3, and Tech