Sony crowdfunded a personal air conditioner, but only in Japan for now

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Who among us hasn’t wished for a personal, private air conditioner during our climate change-addled world’s increasingly brutal summers? Well, Sony’s apparently been listening.

The company introduced a product called the Reon Pocket through its only-in-Japan First Flight crowdfunding program. It’s a unique kind of portable air conditioner; instead of blowing processed air with the aim of cooling an entire space, it’s a body-mounted device that works by lowering you internal body temperature.

As a short video demonstrates, the app-controlled device slides into the pocket of a specially designed undershirt. The pocket is situated right between your shoulder blades and it uses thermoelectric currents to provide cooling and heating. Read more…

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Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge proves Disneyland is made for childless millennials

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Despite their reputation as the happiest places on earth, Disney theme parks have recently become a lightning rod for profoundly unhappy people airing their opinions on what millennials can and cannot do. 

First came the viral Facebook post from an unhinged mom who railed against childless millennials taking up space at Disney World, in which she accused complete strangers of being pretzel-buying sluts (her words, no joke) who should cede their attendance at the park to parents with children. Then there was the New York Post article that associated Disney park trips with millennial immaturity and said childless park attendees have “an unhealthy relationship” with the House of Mouse.  Read more…

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Amazon’s ‘Modern Love’ trailer is filled with beautiful famous people in all kinds of love

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Amazon is stepping up its rom-com gameModern Love is an anthology series based on a running New York Times column that the paper describes as “weekly essays that explore the joys and tribulations of love.” Isn’t that nice?

The Amazon series presents a hefty ensemble of famous faces, with this new trailer hyping appearances from the likes of Anne Hathaway, Julia Garner, Dev Patel, Catherine Keener, Tina Fey, Andy Garcia, and John Slattery.

Modern Love will run for eight episodes and it’s set to premiere on Oct. 18. Amazon describes it as “a romantic comedy anthology series that explores love in all of its complicated and beautiful forms. Each standalone episode of the half-hour series will bring some of the most beloved stories to life with a stellar cast.” Read more…

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Tesla owners should have YouTube and Netflix in the car by the end of August

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Watching TV while you drive is a terrible idea, but can your fully stopped car double as a self-contained entertainment center? That’s what Elon Musk and Tesla are betting on.

Netflix streaming and YouTube streaming are both coming to Tesla vehicles “soon,” according to a Saturday tweet from Musk. The feature will only work while the car is stopped, though Musk noted in a follow-up tweet that the safeguard won’t be in place forever.

Once regulators approve full self-driving, he said, video while moving will be switched on.

Ability to stream YouTube & Netflix when car is stopped coming to your Tesla soon! Has an amazingly immersive, cinematic feel due to the comfy seats & surround sound audio.

— e^?? (@elonmusk) July 27, 2019 Read more…

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How should you take your Equifax data breach settlement?

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Do you go for the free money or the free service? And what does the fine print say?

The Federal Trade Commission confirmed on July 22 that Equifax will pay as much as $700 million — and no less than $575 million — for the 2017 data breach that affected the personal information of roughly 147 million people. And in the days that followed, a question sprang up: how do you get your own piece of that action?

It’s pretty straightforward on the face of things. You can get up to 10 years of free credit monitoring or, if you already have credit monitoring (which can be gotten for free through a service like Credit Karma), you can get $125. Read more…

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The Microsoft Surface Book 2 laptop is on sale for $600 off

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TL;DR: Get the powerful Microsoft Surface Book 2 2-in-1 laptop on sale for $1,399. It’s usually priced at $1,999, so you’ll be saving 30%. 


A lot of 2-in-1 products get a bad rap but let’s face it, a shampoo just shouldn’t be able to double as a body wash and that’s that. But in the wild world of multi-purpose items, the 2-in-1 laptop stands out as a special exception that really does perform. Especially in the case of the Microsoft Surface Book 2, 13.5-inch 2-in-1 laptop

Right now, you can head to the PC Mag Shop (which is owned by Mashable’s publisher, Ziff Davis) to get the Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5-inch 2-in-1 laptop on sale for $1,399. By comparison, that’s $600 less than it’s listed online directly through Microsoft and only $100 more than the price of the less-powerful, previous i5 model.  Read more…

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How older generations share news articles in the smartphone era

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When millennials head home, a lot of them are greeted with a pile of newspaper clippings. 

Others receive highlighted articles sent in the mail, usually from grandparents or old-school parents.  The more “with it” parents snap a photo of articles and email or text that over. And yes, some parents have figured out how to email or text over a link to a news story.

With so many options to share a news story (using the share buttons on a website, copying and pasting links into texts, email, or a messaging app, or use your smartphone’s built-in share options) it’s fascinating that a strong showing of parents are resistant to new (and arguably easier) ways to share content. Read more…

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Someone has to make the family mac and cheese. I was worried it couldn’t be me.

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Mashable bites into a creamy, nutty, gooey, and sometimes stinky world during our first-ever Cheese Week.


Black people don’t mess around when it comes to macaroni and cheese. The great African-American culinary tradition demands excellence in all aspects of its existence. Bad macaroni — dry, crunchy, lacking smoothness and squelch — is an abomination, a stain on the institution of soul food. Good macaroni is a point of pride. Many mac and cheese recipes, like the one in my family, are passed down from grandmothers who created the standard upon which all iterations of the dish are compared, and the person responsible for keeping that recipe alive is someone I call the Keeper of the Mac.  Read more…

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Trump’s ‘infested’ tweets violate a very specific Twitter rule

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Rats, rodents, maggots, crime. These words have literal meanings, but when they’re used to describe specific places or groups, they take on something more.

It’s something CNN anchor Victor Blackwell pointed out in a moving segment about Trump’s racist use of the word “infested” in tweets — and also something that Twitter explicitly prohibits in its rules against “dehumanizing language.” 

It’s no secret that Trump walks all over Twitter’s rules against racist verbal attacks — rules that Twitter neglects to enforce. But it’s important to show the many ways the president normalizes creeping, dangerous discrimination, and Twitter’s failure to stop him. Read more…

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Despite Trump’s anti-crypto tweets, the IRS wants its cut of virtual currency profits

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Cryptocurrency might be a challenge to the primacy of the U.S. dollar, but that’s not stopping the Internal Revenue Service from wanting a piece of the action.

The IRS announced Friday that it was sending letters to 10,000 cryptocurrency holders informing them that they needed to report, and pay taxes on, their crypto transactions and capital gains.

“Taxpayers should take these letters very seriously by reviewing their tax filings and when appropriate, amend past returns and pay back taxes, interest and penalties,” Chuck Rettig, IRS Commissioner, said in a statement. “The IRS is expanding our efforts involving virtual currency, including increased use of data analytics. We are focused on enforcing the law and helping taxpayers fully understand and meet their obligations.” Read more…

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