Over the weekend, #WhereAreTheChildren became a viral hashtag of horror. 

Initial reports that the federal government “lost” nearly 1,500 immigrant children gave way to outraged tweets, calls to action, and reflections on what it’d be like to have a child torn from your arms.  

While the preliminary coverage reportedly mischaracterized the children’s whereabouts, it quickly drew attention to a new Trump administration policy that separates children from their immigrant parents once they attempt to enter the United States, particularly at the Mexican border. Read more…

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Another week, another Tesla crashing into a stationary vehicle that just came out of nowhere.

But that’s the thing. The electric car’s semi-autonomous driving assistance feature, known as Autopilot, has this very situation — parked cars seemingly coming out of nowhere — written into the manual. It’s a known limitation of the driver assistance tool.

This week it was a Tesla driver in Laguna Beach, Calif., that hit a parked police car. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt (and no one was in the police vehicle), but it was another ding for Tesla’s Autopilot reputation. It keeps crashing.  Read more…

More about Tesla, Autopilot, Self Driving Cars, Semi Autonomous, and Tech

Weather is one of our big obsessions here at Mashable (just take a look at our Science page if you don’t believe us). We’ve covered everything from incoming tornadoes in the midwest that contribute to climate change to our favorite cloud types (seriously). We even coined the phrase “bomb cyclone” to describe the storm that brought some epic snowfall back in January. Yup, we love the weather as much as we do Marvel movies and iPhones. 

If you’re as obsessed with forecasts and weather warnings as we are, then a weather station should be high up on your shopping list. (Or if you know someone who loves all things weather and science, then a weather station could make a great gift for them.) Read more…

More about Weather, Weather Station, Mashable Shopping, Shopping List, and Shopping Amazon

Roseanne may be canceled, but Netflix wants you to fill the void (is it even a void?) with better content immediately. The streaming platform hosts plenty of non-problematic family comedies, starting with One Day at a Time, which it recommended in a tweet indirectly throwing shade at Roseanne.

More about Entertainment, Television, Netflix, Abc, and One Day At A Time

Sure, they’re small, but that doesn’t mean earbuds are a purchase to be taken lightly.

You’ve probably been listening to music on the go since you were about 12. So you know that finding a good pair of earbuds is actually pretty tricky. (I’ve gone through more in my lifetime than I can count.) 

And while picking up a $5 pair in the checkout line is easy enough, you know you’ll just be back again next month (or sooner) for a new pair because they stopped working.

Does that mean all earbuds are crap? No way. It’s simply not true that bass, noise cancellation, and crisp sound can only be found in fancy over-ear headphones. Some of us prefer our headphones to be a little more inconspicuous and portable. Read more…

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Internet security is an important issue for all of us. It’s easy to be complacent and assume that it’ll never happen to you — you’re too sensible and secure with your data after all, right? But keeping your computer secure from various threats online is no longer just about avoiding clicking on the “wrong” link, and utilizing common sense. Nor is it just about protecting yourself from viruses.

It’s worth it to invest in software like Norton or McAfee — two of our top picks — that can help keep your computer secure.

What threats are out there?

Zero-day vulnerabilities are one key way of suffering a breach of your information before anyone even knows an issue is there. Effectively, they’re software flaws or bugs often found by cyber criminals, before many companies realize what’s happened. Due to their popularity, commonly used software like Java, Adobe’s PDF reader and Flash Player are ripe for exploitation with many zero-day attacks stemming from the popular plug-ins. Read more…

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Surprise, surprise, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is NOT a fan of Facebook and its incessant copying of Snapchat. 

But what is a little surprising is the usually reserved CEO just threw some serious shade at Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg over its handling of users’ data privacy.

Speaking at Recode’s Code conference Tuesday, Spiegel was asked how he felt about Facebook’s continued copying of Snapchat, he said, “We’d really appreciate it if they copied our data protection policies as well.” 

Ouch.

The remark, was of course, a reference to the Cambridge Analytica scandal and others that have rocked Facebook as users have become aware that the behemoth social network hasn’t always done a very good job at protecting its users data.   Read more…

More about Tech, Facebook, Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, and Snap Inc

Sick of being forced to use “login with Facebook?” You might soon have an alternative and it could come from a company you’d least expect: Snap.

The historically closed off company is reportedly working on a new developer platform called “SnapKit.” It would allow developers to tap into parts of Snapchat for their own services, including a kind of social login that would let users access third-party services using their Snapchat credentials.

The move, first reported by TechCrunch, would be a significant departure for the company, which up until now has been resistant to letting third-party developers onto its platform.  Read more…

More about Tech, Facebook, Snapchat, Apps And Software, and Snap Inc

Self-driving cars are coming to Australia at some point, and lawmakers have to prepare for their arrival, whether they like it or not.

By 2020, a national law will be put into place around autonomous vehicles, helping guide manufacturers and operators looking to bring the technology to the country.

The National Transport Commission (NTC), an independent body that develops regulation for the Australia’s roads and other transport systems, will be tasked to establish a uniform law around the technology. Read more…

More about Tech, Australia, Autonomous Cars, Self Driving Cars, and Laws

More about Space, Science, Spaceflight, Virgin Galactic, and Richard Branson