Google’s ARCore lets anyone take advantage of powerful augmented-reality tools on Android phones, and furniture retailers left and right are taking advantage of it. Both Ikea and Overstock have launched AR features for furniture shoppers in their apps, joining such powerhouses as Amazon, eBay, and Wayfair.

Both apps will allow users to place virtual furniture in their homes to preview what individual pieces will look like in specific rooms so customers can check if they’ll fit and match their decor before buying. 

The apps are functionally very similar. The main differentiator is that Ikea’s app will display Ikea furniture (a large selection, to be sure) while Overstock’s app will feature the wide variety of brands that sell through its platform.  Read more…

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On Thursday, CNN aired an interview with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims she had a 10-month affair with Donald Trump over ten years ago.

And Pornhub, which has analyzed its users’ habits during major events like the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, pointed out that searches for “Karen McDougal” saw a 1140 percent increase shortly after the interview. The last time searches for her name spiked was shortly after a feature in the New Yorker broke the story of her alleged affair with the president.

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You’re a smart cookie, and would never typically fall for state-sponsored disinformation online. However, and just bear with me here, what if it came from a Tumblr account with a really great name?

And by great, we of course mean so perfectly stupid that it defies belief.

Tumblr today published a list of users it claims “were engaged in state-sponsored disinformation and propaganda campaigns,” and the wonderful collection represents a funhouse mirror look at internet culture as interpreted by possible Russian trolls. Specifically, Tumblr tied some of the accounts in question to the Internet Research Agency — a Russian troll farm known for its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Read more…

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Brands will be brands. Or, in other words there will always be corny content, promotions piggybacking on social issues, and cringe-worthy tweets from major corporations trying to capture the attention of millennial minds online. 

Some fail, but Wendy’s has been collecting W’s for awhile now. Their latest social media triumph is a bit unexpected and different from their fiery tweets: this time, they’ve dropped a mixtape. 

Yeah, you read that right. The weirdest part though is that it’s actually not bad. 

This isn’t the first musical endeavor from a food company. Hamburger Helper released Watch the Stove on Soundcloud two years ago. In a similar vein, Wendy’s entire project, We Beefin?, clocks in at 10 minutes total—a major departure from the incredibly long hip-hop albums that seem to be all the rage these days. With only five songs, that’s already a big +1 in my book.  Read more…

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Sure, memes are used for easy laughs. But they’re also a platform for some lighthearted diplomatic criticism. 

The younger generation of Americans may have made headlines for eating Tide Pods, but it’s also been the generation to use social media to advocate for stricter gun control laws. It’s not surprising that they have something to say about U.S. foreign policy, even if they share it through memes. 

American oil memes have become increasingly popular on social media this month — whether it’s the mere mention of oil in cooking or a reconstructed spelling of the word oil, Photoshopped U.S. troops, drones, and flags are guaranteed to be there. The trend started on Reddit earlier in March, and quickly spread to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Read more…

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Arctic sea ice expands and contracts throughout the year, reaching a peak extent sometime during March, just as the sun rises above the North Pole. 

It shrinks back during the summer, on its way to an annual minimum during the month of September. As the climate warms, however, sea ice has declined, compared to past levels, during all seasons. But in recent years, climate scientists have become more concerned as they’ve seen what’s taking place during the Arctic winter, which had historically seen less of a climate change signal in the ice compared to other seasons

That’s not the case anymore. Scientists announced on Friday that sea ice reached a wintertime peak in 2018 that was only a smidgeon above 2017’s all-time record low.  Read more…

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Clean water is a necessity, but as recent events in Cape Town have shown, securing it isn’t so easy.

That looming challenge has led to a competition called the Water Abundance XPRIZE. It’s getting teams to build technology which can extract a minimum of 2,000 litres of water per day from the atmosphere, using 100 percent renewable energy, at a cost of two cents a litre.

One of the five finalists is Behdad Moghtaderi from Australia’s University of Newcastle, whose team has developed a process which heats the air first, before cooling it. Read more…

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Even Russian spies apparently make mistakes when it comes to VPNs.

Like Guccifer 2.0, the self-proclaimed hacker apparently responsible for burrowing into the Democratic National Committee computer network, then sending stolen emails to WikiLeaks.

According to a new report by The Daily Beast, Guccifer, who’d long been presenting as a solo, independent hacker from Romania, infiltrating the DNC, has reportedly been exposed as working from Russia. And they would have got away with it if it wasn’t for a damn VPN.

The Guccifer persona apparently neglected to switch on the VPN client before logging on once. Read more…

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Usually it’s parents who disapprove of violent video games. In this case, it was the family dog. 

YouTuber Zane Schwartz posted this video of his mom playing Call of Duty WWII. His mom enthusiastically gunned down the enemy, blood splatter and all. His dog, on the other hand, looked pretty concerned by the whole situation. 

The pup sitting next to Schwartz’s mom and recoiled with every gunshot before making eye contact with the camera. 

It’s pretty hilarious. Read more…

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