Category Archives: Blog

Everyone who’s read Harry Potter will have fond memories of practicing their wand twirling action in front of the mirror, muttering “Expelliarmus” over and over again in the vague but undying hope that something will actually happen and that magic is indeed real.

Even though our Hogwarts letters may have never arrived, though, we’ll always have the memories. And the spells.

SEE ALSO: 15 Magical Harry Potter Cocktails to Charm Your Palate

Harry Potter readers recently voted on their favourite spells as part of a world-wide survey by Bloomsbury Children’s Books — you can probably guess which Harry Potter spell got the top vote, but there are still a few surprises in here… Read more…

More about List, Harry Potter, Entertainment, and Movies Tv Shows

Facebook bubbles are dangerous. 

Not in an abstract, immeasurable way. They actually make communities more prone to racial violence, claims a disturbing new study from the University of Warwick. 

The New York Times reported a lengthy piece outlining the study from Altena, Germany, where a man attempted to light a refugee house on fire after sharing racist messages with friends on Facebook. Like many other cities in Europe, the community is home to refugees fleeing violence from countries including Syria and Afghanistan. 

Even in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it’s a shocking study. The researchers studied every refugee attack in Germany over two years (3,335) and considered factors such as wealth, political views, and the number of hate crimes and refugees.  Read more…

More about Facebook, Refugees, Germany, Tech, and Consumer Tech

Hey, Fox News, any big news going on? No? Okay. 

As you may have noticed, a lot went down on Tuesday. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, was found guilty of eight counts of tax and bank fraud. 

Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, meanwhile, plead guilty to campaign finance crimes and stated that Trump directed him to pay off two women during the campaign to keep them quiet about affairs they had with Trump. 

While most news outlets have been airing extensive coverage of the two major cases, Fox News has predictably turned a mostly blind eye to it. 

People on Twitter responded to the channel’s reluctance to cover anything that looks bad on Trump into a very amusing meme.  Read more…

More about Twitter, Memes, Fox News, Paul Manafort, and Michael Cohen

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. 

On Tuesday afternoon Facebook released yet another detailed look at an elaborate political influence campaign taking advantage of its platform. According to the social media giant, this time around Iranian state media attempted to use the power of Facebook to shape political opinions around the globe. Oh, and there was some more Russian stuff, too. 

This, of course, is just three weeks after Facebook revealed in another blog post a separate campaign run by so-called “inauthentic” accounts with the goal of influencing U.S. politics.   Read more…

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

Welcome to another chapter in the bizarre saga of Azealia Banks/Grimes/Elon Musk!

Azealia Banks — who claims she was abandoned by Grimes and trapped in Elon Musk’s mansion while he tripped acid — has been dropping juicy screenshots hinting at the unfolding drama in her Instagram stories. 

On Tuesday, Banks posted a screenshot of a conversation between her and an unnamed source. She circled a text that said, “I made you look really good today. The attorneys like you and said you’re smart.” 

The texts also discuss “damages that Claire caused” — Claire is Grimes’ birth name.  Read more…

More about Instagram, Elon Musk, Grimes, Culture, and Web Culture

Yes, it’s true: The promise of self-driving cars zooming around while their human operators doze off, read, or watch movies is not quite here yet. 

But who said that had to happen right now or we’ve missed our chance at driverless vehicles forever? On Monday, The Outline published an article titled “The self-driving car that will never arrive,” calling self-driving cars “delusional” and part of “our grossest capitalistic dreams.” It’s just the latest from those who believe driverless cars and other artificial intelligence innovations are an unrealistic pipe dream.

But innovation happens incrementally, step by step. Just because it’s not instantaneous doesn’t mean it will never happen.  Read more…

More about Autonomous Vehicles, Self Driving Cars, Waymo, Tech, and Transportation

Remember back in 2015 when Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen joked about sending Hillary Clinton to prison?

It’s funny how things change. It now appears that Cohen, not Clinton, will be the one headed to prison. On Tuesday, Cohen reached a plea deal in the Southern District of New York, pleading guilty on charges that include campaign finance violations from his time working on the campaign of President Donald Trump.

According to the Associated Press, Cohen could spend between four and five years in jail.

Between news that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty of tax fraud and Cohen’s plea, news fiends’ attention was divided on Tuesday. Still, the internet found time to craft some five-star memes, GIFS, and tweets about Trump’s right-hand man.  Read more…

More about Social Media, Twitter Reactions, Michael Cohen, Watercooler, and Web Culture

There’s a new Tinder in town. It’s a feature called Tinder U, made specifically for users of the dating app who are in college. And the company is rolling it out just in time for the start of the new school year.

To set up Tinder U on an account, users must have an active .edu email address and be geolocated on their college campus. At launch, Tinder U will be available to iOS users who attend a four-year, accredited, not-for-profit school.

Tinder U functions just like regular old Tinder, with swiping and all. You can even toggle back and forth between the Tinder U feature and the original. When toggled on, users will see their school logo depicted as a badge on their profile image. Using this feature brings up college students in the same area, including students on Tinder who attend nearby universities.  Read more…

More about Facebook, College, Tinder, Dating Apps, and Tech

Latex and mesh and denim, oh my! Welcome to MTV’s Video Music Awards — an event that’s both a celebration of pop culture and a competition for who can pull off the most outrageous outfits. 

Save your evening gowns for the Grammys — this year’s VMA stars strutted down the pink carpet in vintage throwbacks and in Amber Rose’s case, latex lingerie complete with a mask and whip. 

Here are 2018’s wildest VMA looks. 

Grace VanderWaal 

Bethany Meyers and Nico Tortorella 

More about Fashion, Mtv, Vmas, Culture, and Music

Spoilers ahead for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Like, in-the-credits-level spoilers.

Thought Lara Jean’s love story in Netflix’s delightful rom-com To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was done and dusted? 

There’s a little easter egg in the credits that’ll convince all of you hopeless romantics that her boy dramas are nowhere near over.

The film, based on Jenny Han’s YA romance novel, follows the antics of Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) who writes letters to all her crushes, never intending to sending them. But, yeah, they get sent. Read more…

More about Netflix, Romance, Rom Com, To All The Boys I Ve Loved Before, and Entertainment