Category Archives: Blog

Google sees everything. Well, almost everything.

On Friday, the company revealed in a blog post that Google Earth now covers more than 98 percent of the world, and has captured 10 million miles of Street View imagery.

To put those numbers in perspective, Google shared that the distance of 10 million miles would wrap around the globe more than 400 times, and that Google Earth lets users browse more than 36 million square miles of satellite imagery, aka A LOT.

“While these stunning photos show us parts of the world we may never get a chance to visit, they also help Google Maps accurately model a world that is changing each day,” the post reads. Read more…

More about Tech, Google, Google Maps, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson are back, baby.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, who played the beloved on-screen couple in 1978, recently reunited for a Grease sing-along in Florida. 

It’s been more than 40 years since the two starred in the iconic musical rom-com together, and they got back into costume for the first time since making the movie for the exciting fan event.

On Friday, Newton-John shared a photo of her and Travolta looking cool as ever, walking hand-in-hand at the event. Needless to say, we got chills and they instantly multiplied.

More about Musical, John Travolta, Grease, Entertainment, and Celebrities

It’s yule log season, people, which means it’s time to sit in front of your screens and stare at some crackling fires on a loop.

Instead of watching one of the many yule log videos that feature real fireplaces, consider breaking tradition and watching Lego’s Festive Fireplace. It’s cute as hell, and streaming live on YouTube 24/7.

The video features a gorgeous Lego living room complete with a cozy chair, decorated tree, and stunning fireplace made from bricks. The flames peacefully crackle and shift back and forth, but if you watch long enough you’ll see some members of the family pop in to decorate, roast marshmallows, or play with their toys. Read more…

More about Youtube, Lego, Yule Log, Culture, and Web Culture

Essentials Week spotlights unexpected items that make our daily lives just a little bit better.

Here’s a bad situation: You’re strolling outside in the cold, perhaps on your way to a doctor’s appointment or a performance of The Nutcracker, and you realize your lips are a little chapped. You reach into your coat pocket for some Chapstick. It’s not there. No worries; you’ll use the tube in your bag. You unzip the back pocket of your bag (best pocket for Chapstick — easy access) and root around in there. No Chapstick. God. Your lips will never feel moisture again.

Due to life being unpredictable and harrowing, it’s impossible to feel prepared most of the time. Plans change, people change, and seasons change, and there’s no way to anticipate the thousands of ways in which things could go wrong for you every single day. But there’s one tiny way you can always be prepared, a way that’s as inexpensive as it is luxurious. Place a tube of lip balm in every single one of your bags and every single one of your jackets, never to be moved. It will change your life. Read more…

More about Beauty, Essentials Week, Culture, and Work Life

Words, man. Amirite? They’re so limiting — with their defined meanings and their need for correct spelling. And don’t even get me started on grammar.

If you, too, are sick of words, ooh buddy do we have an app for you. Meet Color Chat: an app which lets you DM with your friends by sending colored rectangles of various sizes and hues back and forth. 

It might not be super efficient at getting a message across, but it’s perhaps more fun — and definitely prettier — than just shooting the regular shit.

More about Messaging Apps, Messaging, Tech, and Web Culture

Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly in December of 2018, but don’t try telling that to the people who lost millions worth of cryptocurrency as a result. 

The then 30-year-old founder of the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX was traveling in India when he reportedly died from complications resulting from Crohn’s disease. His former customers, however, suspected foul play — and now, reports Coindesk, they want Cotten’s body exhumed. 

Why? Well, that would be because they don’t think he’s actually dead. 

The problem, other than the supposed death of course, was that Cotten had sole access to the approximately $190 million worth of customers’ cryptocurrency held by the exchange. With him gone, no one could touch it. To those who lost access to their funds, Cotten’s overseas death just seems too fishy to believe, especially considering the questionable way in which his company was run.  Read more…

More about Bitcoin, Scam, Cryptocurrency, Quadrigacx, and Tech

The quality of the photos smartphones capture has become increasingly important, and Apple just acquired a company called Spectral Edge to ensure future iPhone photos look even better.

As Bloomberg reports, Spectral Edge is based in Cambridge, England and focused on developing technology that improves the photos we take automatically. It does this using a combination of capturing an infrared version of each photo taken and then using machine learning to use it for image enhancement. The end result is a crisper photograph with more accurate colors.

Clearly Apple is impressed by what Spectral Edge was doing because it acquired the company. Although there’s been no official announcement yet, Peter Ronald Denwood is now listed as a director at the company. He’s better known as one of Apple’s corporate lawyers. It’s also telling that all other board members have been terminated, leaving Apple in control. Read more…

More about Apple, Iphone, Spectral Edge, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Tiny apartment-havers face a unique dilemma during the holidays: How do you set up a Christmas tree when your home is smaller than one?

That’s when it’s a useful time to consider some Christmas tree alternatives. Wreaths, branches, a big leftover pumpkin that you’ve wrapped in tinsel (don’t do that one) … rest assured you can make your space festive without also making it unlivable.

Please note that none of these items are intended to replace a Christmas tree. Nothing can replace a Christmas tree! These are simply fun alternatives for those whose living rooms can’t accommodate a full pine.

And if it’s the smell you’re after, just light a pine-scented candle. Read more…

More about Christmas, Holidays, Holidays 2019, Culture, and Work Life

Aiming to lower the environmental impact of farming, Aero Farms has created an indoor growing system that uses 95% less water than field farming systems.  Read more…

More about Mashable Video, Tech, Energy, and Climate Environment

A new Star Wars movie is coming out around the same time German carmaker Porsche will deliver its first all-electric vehicle, the Taycan, to U.S. customers.  

So on Friday, Porsche and Star Wars released a behind-the-scenes look at its new “starship,” the Tri-Wing S-91X Pegasus Starfighter. The Taycan shape seems to be in there, somewhere. Sure. 

You’ll have to wait until Star Wars: The Rise of Starwalker‘s premiere in Los Angeles next week to see the actual model the designers made. Read more…

More about Star Wars, Porsche, Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker, Porsche Taycan, and Tech