Category Archives: Blog

Barack Obama is releasing his end of year lists, and his favorite songs of 2019 are all absolute bangers. 

His round up includes viral songs like the remixed version of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” which includes Billy Ray Cyrus’ iconic twang in the line “spent a lot of money on my brand new guitar.” The former president also included “Burning” by Maggie Rogers, “Not” by Big Thief,” and “Seventeen” by Sharon Von Etten, confirming that Obama is in fact a sad indie kid at heart. He nodded to hip hop’s catchiest bops of this year, like “Suge” by DaBaby and Young Thug’s “The London,” which featured J. Cole and Travis Scott.   Read more…

More about Music, Obama, End Of Year 2019, Culture, and Web Culture

Travis Kalanick will leave the company with $2.5 billion from Uber stock as he ventures further into new projects. Read more…

More about Transportation, Mashable Video, Uber, Ride Sharing, and Travis Kalanick

As he has in years past, the 44th President of the United States just released a list of his favorite music, movies, TV shows and books of 2019. And as in years past, the main thing about Obama’s favorites are that he has pretty good taste. His movie list, for example, is full of solid choices, and he’s careful to point out the one case where’s he’s biased:

More about Facebook, Google, Surveillance, Barack Obama, and Capitalism

A new study of YouTube’s algorithm attracting mainstream attention this weekend claims that the online video giant “actively discourages” radicalization on the platform. And if that sounds suspect to you, it should. 

The study flies in the face of everything we know about YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. There has been plenty of evidence that it pulls users down a rabbit hole of extremist content. A 2018 study of videos recommended to political viewers during the 2016 election found that an overwhelming majority were pro-Trump. Far-right allies of the authoritarian Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil say he and they wouldn’t have won election without YouTube.  Read more…

More about Youtube, Radicalization, Conspiracy Theories, Extremism, and Recommendations

After its famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial, Apple officially unveiled the Macintosh 128k, the “the computer for the rest of us.” The Mac revolutionized personal computing. And it was Apple designer Susan Kare’s job to create digital fonts and icons to usher in this new age. 

“I was a typical customer that they were trying to attract, someone for whom the graphical side of it would have been attractive,” Kare told a technology historian in 2000. “I didn’t really have much computer experience, but even then I found the rudimentary Mac more appealing to me than the Apple II.”

Compared to most personal computers at the time — which used command line interfaces that were too technical for many users to understand— the Mac adopted a much more user-friendly graphical interface (GUI). It featured plenty of things that even the most novice computer user today understands intuitively — pointers, menus, scroll bars, windows, icons, and typefaces. Read more…

More about Tech, Apple, Design, Fonts, and Typography

Black Friday, Cyber Week, and Green Monday have all come and gone. But there’s no need to pay full price just because you missed out on the major deal days. We’ve rounded up 12 of the sweetest deals we could find on everything from action cameras to kitchen essentials. Just be sure to enter the code 20SAVE20 at checkout to score the lowest price possible.

Playseat Challenge racing video game chair

With integrated wheel and pedal mounts, and a compact, foldable design, the Playseat Challenge is the perfect racing seat for gamers who want a complete setup but have little space to spare. It’s compatible with all steering wheel and pedal sets, as well as all consoles, and can easily be stored when not in use. Currently on sale for $249 (usually $277), it’s available for $199.20 when you use the code 20SAVE20. Read more…

More about Gadgets, Home, Kitchen, Mashable Shopping, and Tech

Home security cameras don’t only exist to record your late-night drunken shenanigans or alert you when your Amazon package is finally waiting for you at the door. While those are unintended perks of having a camera, don’t ever forget their core function: Keeping an eye on what’s happening in and out of your home.

To ring in the new year — and the brand new decade — invest in security cameras to keep your home safe and sound. Below are 15 worthwhile options, all of which are on sale for an extra 20 percent off for a limited time with the code 20SAVE20.

RemoBell S: Fast-Responding Smart Video Doorbell Camera ($99 Value) Read more…

More about Smart Home, Security Cameras, Home Security, Mashable Shopping, and Tech

It’s the Mashable staff’s final haul of 2019 (don’t worry, we’ll be back in 2020).

In addition to cozying up by the fireplace, we’ve also been spending the hard-earned cash we accrued throughout the year at record pace — the past 12 months have felt like 120, so don’t judge us if we went a little overboard with our retail therapy.

Below, December’s staff picks:

A jigsaw puzzle work surface with storage

“Jigsaw puzzles are great for the brain. I want my parents to do more of them but they often drag their heels — the puzzles take up valuable table space, often for days at a time. This nifty puzzle board solves that problem, allowing my parents to move their puzzles in progress and work on their masterpieces wherever they want.” —Jessica Coen, Editor in Chief Read more…

More about Gift Guide, Mashable Shopping, What We Bought, Culture, and Work Life

It might seem difficult to sum up an entire year using only five words, but Greta Thunberg completed the task with ease.

Inspired by #2019in5words, the latest end of year hashtag to trend on Twitter, the 16-year-old climate activist tweeted one of her most powerful quotes: “Our house is on fire.”

Thunberg spoke those five words at Davos 2019 earlier this year when delivering a blunt climate warning to a room full of the world’s most powerful leaders.

The teen’s actions in 2019 have not only gotten her named Time magazine’s Person of the Year, but they’ve inspired many people, including actress and activist Jane Fonda, to fight the dire climate crisis that’s facing our planet head on. Read more…

More about Twitter, Climate Change, Greta Thunberg, Culture, and Web Culture

For weeks the internet has been absolutely obsessed with The Mandalorian‘s adorable Baby Yoda and the ridiculously bizarre film Cats, which is why it brings us great pleasure to announce that there’s a cat in this world that looks just like Baby Yoda.

Yes, a precious rescue kitty named Joy with large green eyes, a sweet face, and Baby Yoda-like ears will let Star Wars and Cats fans enjoy the best of both worlds. It’s the cutest crossover since the Adam Driver cat.

On Dec. 15, a woman found Joy in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and contacted the Humane Society of Rowan County. Joy, who had a wound on her neck and an upper respiratory infection, was taken to a Humane Society veterinarian for treatment and will remain there while she recovers. Read more…

More about Cats, Baby Yoda, Culture, Movies Tv Shows, and Animals