Category Archives: Blog

Which member of The Beatles wrote “In My Life,” from the 1965 album Rubber Soul? It turns out that math has the answer.

Debates have long raged across pop culture about who wrote which Beatles song, both before and after the internet was born. The melody from “In My Life” in particular has been one of the bigger sources of consternation among fans.

John Lennon said in a 1980 interview with Playboy that it was his, even singling it out as “the first song I wrote that was consciously about my life.” He did say McCartney helped with part of the song, the “middle-eight,” he said.  Read more…

More about Entertainment, Music, Science, Paul Mccartney, and The Beatles

Belching human smokestack Alex Jones is scrubbing his Twitter accounts of their most overt violations of Twitter’s Terms of Service. 

On Thursday, CNN published a list of InfoWars and Jones tweets that contained fun content like individual harassment and degradation on the basis of religion and gender identity. These are behaviors that a reasonable reading of Twitter’s updated 2017 Terms of Service would seem to prohibit.

The news network sent the list to Twitter, after executives repeatedly said that Twitter was allowing Jones and InfoWars to remain on the platform because the accounts had not violated Twitter’s Terms of Service. Jack Dorsey has pledged to “enforce” Twitter’s own rules if Jones ever violates them. Read more…

More about Twitter, Jack Dorsey, Infowars, Alex Jones, and Tech

Don’t chuck your Android phone across the room in fear just yet.

A report from the security firm Kryptowire, via Wired, shows that many Android phones are stunningly vulnerable thanks to Android’s open operating system. But while this report is concerning, the real-world threat it poses to actual Android phone users might not be that big of a deal.

Kryptowire analyzed 10 Android devices supported by U.S. carriers, and found that bugs in the firmware — the permanent pre-loaded software responsible for running the phones — left them open to attack by a malicious app. Read more…

More about Android, Malware, Zte, Tech, and Cybersecurity

Seattle hosted an all-star grunge festival this weekend featuring some of the era’s best acts.

Of all the sets, Pearl Jam’s stood out the most. With the help of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, the band covered Chris Cornell’s “Missing.”

It’s been just a little over a year since Cornell’s suicide.

 “Missing” came from Cornell’s 1992 EP Poncier. You can watch the full Pearl Jam here:

Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil also joined the band later on, for a cover-filled encore that included songs by MC5, The Stooges, and Dead Boys. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Culture, and Music

Whatever your opinion may be of a live-action Dora the Explorer movie, there’s no denying that star Isabela Moner has the look down.

On Friday, Moner posted a photo of herself in costume on her personal Instagram page. The caption accompanying the photo is as straightforward as such things get: “So excited to show you the First Look of me as #DoraTheExplorer.”

See for yourself:

The animated TV series keeps up with Dora’s adventures as a 7-year-old adventure-seeker armed with a purple backpack and a talking monkey named Boots. Dora’s Hispanic identity is an important part of the show, with much of its educational output revolving around the Spanish language. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Film, Dora The Explorer, Entertainment, and Movies Tv Shows

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about the only nice thing that happened on the internet this week.

In case her list of accomplishments and talents wasn’t long enough, we’re here to remind everyone that on top of being an actress, writer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Oprah Winfrey is also an extremely smooth dancer.

On Wednesday, Oprah’s close personal friend and A Wrinkle In Time co-star Mindy Kaling shared a damn-near perfect moment she captured on video: Oprah dancing.   

But this wasn’t just any casual little jig. Oprah was at a photo shoot busting out some soulful, smooth, sassy moves for the camera. She was also looking fresh to death — wearing white pants, a poppin’ yellow tunic and scarf, and a super stylish hat. Read more…

More about Dancing, Mindy Kaling, Havana, Web Culture, and Oprah Winfrey

Kanye West never leaves our news cycle — whether he’s there to stir up boring, gratuitous social media controversy or simply share music.

Thankfully, this weekend gave us the latterDJ Clark Kent shared Kanye’s latest track, “XTCY,” on Twitter sometime Friday night.

It’s his first track released since he dropped five Kanye-produced albums in five weeks.

Credit where it’s technically due: “XTCY” is a decent track. And frankly, it’s a welcome relief from the controversy stirred up from West’s interview with Jimmy Kimmel earlier this week. West was initially silent after Kimmel confronted him about his past attitude towards Bush (West famously said “George Bush doesn’t like black people”) and his current view of Trump. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Entertainment, Kanye West, Entertainment, and Music

Doom Eternal is back with fresh news out of QuakeCon 2018 coming after a completely unfulfilling tease at E3.

The upcoming game is a sequel to id Software’s 2016 series revivalDoom is a reboot of the original first-person shooter, both of them following an anonymous space marine’s bloody assault on the forces of Hell as they invade Mars.

You know, that old chestnut.

The upcoming sequel revisits the events of Doom 2, with Doom Eternal facing players off against demons as they bring their hellish party to Earth. Game director Marty Stratton and creative director Hugo Martin both took the stage at QuakeCon 2018 on Friday to share a proper first look at the in-development sequel. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Gaming, Doom, Bethesda Softworks, and Id Software

Nothing harshes a good mellow like sick buds. Thankfully, there may one day be an app for that. 

Hidden from the hazy Friday afternoon of Las Vegas, tucked away in the basement of the Flamingo casino, a group of likeminded hackers and security researchers gathered to explore “DIY cannabis tech” at DEF CON’s Cannabis Village. One researcher in particular, Harry Moreno, told the rather laid-back crowd that he believed that machine learning could one day solve a huge problem for home-grow enthusiasts: determining whether or not, and in what capacity, a marijuana plant is sick.

More about Marijuana, Machine Learning, Def Con, Tech, and Cybersecurity

Well, apparently Twitter does have a line when it comes to unhinged hate speech.

The company suspended accounts associated with the Proud Boys ahead of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend. The move was originally reported by BuzzFeed News. 

Started by VICE co-founder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys are very thinly veiled white nationalists in Fred Perry polo shirts. Former member Jason Kessler organized the first Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, at which counter-protester Heather Heyer was murdered. He was “expelled” from the group only after the ensuing controversy.  Read more…

More about Twitter, White Supremacy, White Nationalist, White Nationalism, and Infowars