Category Archives: Blog

To be fair, you shouldn’t eat the logo either. 

Microsoft’s Edge browser is freshening things up with a new look, and it’s a swirling blue-and-green design that to many calls to mind another thing that’s gone out of style: Tide pods.

Discovered by The Verge, Tom Warren writes that the “Edge icon was revealed in an elaborate Easter Egg hunt where Microsoft employees posted cryptic clues to a series of puzzles and  images.”

More about Microsoft Edge, Tide Pods, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Some days, social media is a gift. This is one of those days.

Jason Momoa, star of Aquaman and also our hearts, got up close and personal with a real, live bear at some point in the not-too-distant past. I guess this is tied to his new Apple TV+ series, but all I see is an adorable bear gently extracting a cookie from the mouth of a gentle giant.

Please enjoy.

More about See, Bear, Jason Momoa, Apple Tv, and Culture

Five dead, and four injured. 

A Halloween house party in Orinda, California, took an unexpected and dark turn late Thursday night when gunfire erupted and partygoers fled for their lives. The house had been rented on Airbnb, and on Saturday the company’s CEO belatedly said enough is enough. 

“Starting today, we are banning ‘party houses’ and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda,” wrote Brian Chesky on Twitter. 

More about Airbnb, Gun Violence, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg graciously let Critters 3 star Leonardo DiCaprio post an Instagram pic with her on Friday.

DiCaprio, who also dabbles in climate activism, praised Thunberg in the post as a “leader of our time” and called upon world leaders to take her message seriously. He also called out the initiative Fridays for Future, which tracks and promotes climate strikes around the world.

More about Instagram, Social Media, Leonardo Dicaprio, Greta Thunberg, and Culture

Alexa Answers is somehow turning out even worse than expected. 

The program, launched in September, gives any idiot off the streets of the U.S. the chance to answer real questions posed to Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant by actual people. As any thinking internet user might have expected, just over a month into the service those answers range from unintentionally inaccurate, to deliberate trolling, to calculated misinformation. 

According to Amazon, here’s how Alexa Answers is supposed to work: “Discover questions Alexa doesn’t have an answer for, submit your own and share them with the world.” Read more…

More about Amazon, Alexa, Smart Assistants, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

The trick-or-treating is done. The jack-o-lanterns have been tossed. The office party was fine. Now, there’s only one post-Halloween task to take care of: your beautiful surplus of candy.

Candy is good, so having a lot of it is not necessarily a problem. But if you have “too much” candy, you have a few options for getting rid of it without causing unnecessary waste.

That being said, extra candy corn can go directly in the trash.

Donate it

Some nonprofit organizations seek out candy donations after Halloween, including Operation Gratitude and a few local chapters of the Ronald McDonald House.

You can also call shelters, schools, and nursing homes in your area to see if they’re accepting candy donations. Be sure to give them advance notice, though — if they don’t want candy, showing up unannounced with an enormous bag of candy is not the move. Read more…

More about Halloween, Candy, Culture, Web Culture, and Food

Maybe giving the U.S. president unfettered and relatively unregulated access to Twitter was a terrible idea?

A Saturday morning report from the New York Times comes with the chilling takeaway that savvy social media users outside the U.S. are gaming President Donald Trump’s Twitter habits. It’s an alarming prospect for anyone who treasures America’s continued independence – including the famously controlling president himself.

Trump’s habit of retweeting ideas he agrees with has strengthened the platforms, and therefore the influence, of what the report’s headline describes as “conspiracy-mongers, racists, and spies.” The NYT‘s deep-dive looks at the president’s 11,000-plus tweets, as well as the 47 accounts he follows and the accounts he’s retweeted. Read more…

More about Facebook, Twitter, Donald Trump, Tech, and Social Media Companies

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Tesla over alleged battery defects that have reportedly led to fires in the Model S and Model X.

On Oct. 24, the agency sent a letter informing Tesla that it planned to open a defect petition requesting that “certain battery management system software updates” be evaluated in Model S and Model X vehicles sold between 2012 to 2019 in the United States. It also requested information about those updates, as well as details on consumer complaints, lawsuits, and claims related to the alleged defects.

More about Tesla, Tech, Transportation, and Big Tech Companies

Don’t have an iPhone but still lusting after Apple’s newest AirPods? You’re probably not alone, though you might want to think twice before you sink $249 of your hard-earned cash into them. 

But, if you’re reading this, chances are you’re seriously considering it anyway. The good news: AirPods Pro definitely work with Android. The bad news? There might be a few hiccups. 

First, it should go without saying, but you’ll never get the same functionality with AirPods on Android. AirPods are meant to be used with iPhones and iOS. And unlike Apple’s Beats headphones, which have an Android app to make up for some of the functionality iOS users get automatically, Apple has no such solution for non-iOS AirPods users.  Read more…

More about Tech, Android, Airpods, Airpods Pro, and Tech

Money matters aside, sometimes there’s a gadget or gizmo you just have to have. For some, it’s the latest and greatest tech. For others, it’s a hyped-up product on Instagram. We’re not here to judge; we think you should treat yourself.

We’re in the final quarter of the year and you’ve worked your butt off. Get yourself something nice. Here are 15 sweet deals that will have you saying, “take my money.”

Ryze Tech Tello Quadcopter Iron Man Edition Powered by DJI

Learn to fly and feed your Marvel obsession with this Iron Man-inspired drone. You can capture perfectly stabilized 720p HD video and 5MP photos, plus explore the Avengers world with the immersive app. Plus, thanks to intelligent flight modes and aerial safety, even beginners can get in on it. Read more…

More about Tech, Gadgets, Lifestyle, Mashable Shopping, and Culture