As thousands of firefighters battled uncontrolled flames in both Northern and Southern California on Saturday, President Trump tweeted out an ill-informed, distorted message about the cause of these deadly autumn infernos. 

But the firefighting community quickly rebutted the president’s claims, wherein he blamed “gross mismanagement of the forests,” while also threatening to cut federal support to fire management efforts. 

More about Science, Global Warming, Climate Change, Wildfires, and President Trump

Rihanna has struck a blow to the Donald Trump team by denying their rallies the rights to play her music. But the fight may not be over yet.

The music publishing company Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has backed up Rihanna’s efforts to stop President Trump from using her songs at his rallies, according to Rolling Stone.  That could have implications for other artists, like Guns N’ Roses, that have pushed back against Trump’s use of their music

Unfortunately, the legal world of music licensing is so thorny that Trump rallies still might be able to bump Rihanna’s jams.

More about Rihanna, Trump, Tech, Music, and Politics

Another day, another non-apology from a man.

Victoria’s Secret issued a message on behalf of its Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Ed Razek, clarifying statements that Razek made in Vogue about why the lingerie brand hasn’t cast trans models in its tentpole fashion shows. 

Razek originally stated that Victoria’s Secret has not and should not cast trans models because they’re not consistent with the “fantasy,” as he called it, presented by the show. Now, Razek says that the company has never cast trans models because they simply didn’t make the cut, not because of their gender. And that Victoria’s Secret would “absolutely cast a transgender model.” Read more…

More about Transgender, Victorias Secret, Culture, Identities, and Discrimination

French president Emmanuel Macron added another chapter to his ongoing handshake journey with Donald Trump on Saturday.

It all started in May 2017, the first time the two leaders met. In the months leading up to their meeting, Trump had built up a reputation for being kind of a dick about his handshakes. So when he met Macron, the French president came prepared to do battle.

Macron later admitted that the handshake “wasn’t innocent.” As he told a French newspaper a couple days later: “One must show that you won’t make small concessions, even symbolic ones, but also not over-publicize things, either.” Read more…

More about Politics, Culture, Donald Trump, Handshake, and Emmanuel Macron

While American police struggle to equip officers with body cameras, Dubai’s police continue to drift further into the future and make the world’s authorities red with envy.

The Dubai Police have begun training crews to ride Hoversurf’s S3 2019 Hoverbike, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle capable of hovering above the ground and speeding forward. They’re not unlike the speeder bikes seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

According to CNN, the Dubai Police has started training two crews to ride the Hoverbike as part of a “first responder unit used to access hard to reach areas.” Read more…

More about Police, Dubai, Hoverbike, Cops, and Tech

As California’s deadly wildfires rage on, none other than billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk has come forth to offer help once again.

Just after midnight (ET) on Saturday morning, Musk took to Twitter (where else?) to offer help from his electric vehicle company Tesla, which is based in the state.

“If Tesla can help people in California wildfire, please let us know,” he tweeted. “Model S & X have hospital grade HEPA filters. Maybe helpful for transporting people.”

More about Tesla, Elon Musk, Wildfires, California Wildfires, and Tech

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.

In my feminist utopia, sanitary pads and tampons are provided free of charge by the United States government.

In my current reality, they’re offered at $4 bucks a pack at CVS — and that’s with the savings from my CVS card.

We’re a long way from menstruation equality, which makes Nevada’s recent elimination of the “tampon tax” a critical step forward.

On Tuesday, Nevada voted to do away with their 6.85% sales tax imposed on sanitary pads and tampons.  Read more…

More about Watercooler, Menstruation, Women S Rights, Culture, and Activism

Ah the weekend. The perfect time for kicking back and relaxing, maybe watching a movie, maybe eating a lot, and definitely, doing a little shopping.

There are two massive promotions that are running until midnight on Sunday Nov. 11. There’s no need to get up, we know you’re comfy. We’re just saying take a look, from the comfort of your sofa.

Adidas and Reebok are running sales for one day only and you’ll have to be fast to get in while stocks last. 

With the code ADI25, you will receive a 25% discount on more than 4000 full price products and outlet products from Adidas. Likewise, you can use the code RBK25 and receive a 25% discount on more than 2000 full price products from Reebok.  Read more…

More about Lifestyle, Fashion, Adidas, Reebok, and Mashable Shopping

#ThisisMyLane

The National Rifle Association has a bone to pick with “anti-gun doctors” (what) and their collective desire to stop pulling bullets out of patients. They don’t know what they’re talking about, the NRA contends, when they argue in favor of common sense gun control.

“Someone should tell self-important  anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane,” the Wednesday tweet read. “Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves.”

More about Culture, Gun Control, Nra, Doctors, and Hashtag

We now have proof that apps drain less of your phone’s battery life when they use darker colors, like black and gray.

At a recent Android Dev Summit session (via SlashGear), Google revealed what we’ve long suspected: the colors used within apps have a direct impact on smartphone battery life, and white or brighter colors are a bigger drain.

Using an original Pixel phone, Google tested various ways the phone was draining battery life. Brightness was of course one of the most obvious factors; everyone knows that the brighter you set the screen to, the faster your battery depletes. Read more…

More about Mobile, Iphone, Android, Ios, and Dark Mode