YouTuber David Dobrik took it upon himself to play Santa for a few fortunate strangers this Christmas, randomly distributing thousands of dollars in a surprise giving spree.

While the vlogger’s video uploaded Dec. 14 opens with a surprisingly violent Christmas skit, the holiday spirit truly shows its face when fellow YouTuber Erin Gilfoy confesses she found “the one” via dating app Bumble. 

Still driving, Dobrik immediately calls up “the guy who controls the budget at Bumble” and says he’ll keep Gilfoy’s statement in the video “depending on how much money [Bumble will give him].” Apparently the number quoted is satisfactory, as “the next morning” Dobrik runs out of a bank with literal armfuls of legally obtained cash (3:09 in the video).  Read more…

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Look. At one point or another, everyone’s found themselves doing something a little unholy at a Denny’s. 

The DIY music scene is known to throw shows wherever it can. Whether under a bridge or in a friend’s friend’s unfinished basement, dedicated artists can take any space and turn it into a decent venue. Denny’s may be known for its quietly cursed 24-hour breakfasts, but on Saturday, it became a mosh pit. 

Denny’s became a meme in the DIY scene when a video of a 2013 show resurfaced in 2018, in which the lead singer belted, “What the fuck’s up, Denny’s?” in an effort to rile up the crowd. It worked, and the audience began raging.  Read more…

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Baby boomers were the real snowflakes all along.

A study published on Dec. 10 in Psychology and Aging found that although individuals tend to become less sensitive as they age, overall, millennials were less sensitive than baby boomers. It’s the largest recorded study on narcissism ever conducted, Insider reports, with a study group of nearly 750 people. 

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder have an “inflated sense of self-importance” and a “sense of entitlement,” according to Mayo Clinic. Other traits include arrogance and an unwillingness to “recognize the needs and feelings of others.” For this study, researchers interviewed people between 13 and 77 years old about their work and personal lives.  Read more…

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If you thought that maybe with Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm, or its 2019 purchase of 21st Century Fox, or the launch of Disney+ we’d finally get a new release of the de-specialized versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, we’ve got bad news. 

In an interview promoting the upcoming Rise of Skywalker, Abrams told Now This that, actually, he has asked Disney about getting those versions of the films back into wider circulation beyond old VHS copies. 

Disney said no. 

With the Maclunkey debacle as a prompt, Abrams said that of course he would love to see the original theatrical versions of George Lucas’ original trilogy released commercially again.  Read more…

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Baby Yoda has officially gone to the locals, but at least it’s still cute. 

A horde of infants dressed as the internet’s sweetheart lined up at a Sacramento Kings NBA game on Friday for what could have been a riveting race for the Best Baby Yoda. About a dozen Yoda hat-wearing babies waited at the starting line. Wriggling in their parents’ arms, the Baby Yoda racers seemed amped up and ready to win. 

But when their parents finally set them free, most of the Baby Yoda racers were fine with just laying down. Despite coaxing from the finish line, the race started with zero contestants getting past the start. One took a few hesitant steps before falling down, and another broke down into sobs.  Read more…

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Frozen 2 continues to make all the money.

The current weekend sees Disney Animation’s latest crossing $1 billion at the global box office, making it the Disney label’s third release to reach that milestoneFrozen 2 now joins Disney Animation’s fellow billion dollar earners Zootopia and the original Frozen.

The long-awaited sequel hit theaters in the U.S. on Nov. 22, and has so far earned $366.5 million domestically. The other roughly $666 million in foreign ticket sales, with China ($104.4 million), South Korea ($75.4 million), and Japan ($55.2 million) leading the way in overseas markets. 

The current totals establish Frozen 2 as the 11th highest-earning animated film of all time in the U.S.,  a ranking that’s likely to improve even more in the coming weeks. With $366.5 earned so far domestically, Frozen 2 is just a couple million shy of the 9th and 10th positions, currently held by The Secret Life of Pets and Despicable Me 2, respectively. Read more…

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After months of waiting, Apple’s new, powerful (and expensive) Mac Pro is here, cheese grater casing and all. And while we’ve gotten up close with it in the past, the folks at iFixIt have done their thing and popped it open for all to see. 

Known for their tear-downs of new tech in an effort to help users understand how they can fix their own devices, despite Apple’s best efforts to prevent that, iFixIt’s video here is even cooler than usual because of the new Mac Pro’s power and it being a modular computer. 

And, yes, they try to shred cheese with that case. 

This isn’t even iFixIt’s full tear-down of the Mac Pro, either, just an initial 20-minute look which means there’s even more to come. Here’s hoping that will include those $400 wheels.  Read more…

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The Hallmark Channel, producer of all your favorite schmaltzy Christmas movies, is facing a stiff online backlash after pulling multiple ads featuring same-sex couples kissing. The ads were pulled as a result of pressure from the conservative group, One Million Moms. 

The controversy started when Hallmark aired a series of ads for wedding planner site Zola, including one that featured a lesbian couple. 

One Million Moms, though, was apparently appalled at this perfectly innocuous advertisement for a website that reflects the real world and shows two consenting adults in a loving relationship.  Read more…

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Essentials Week spotlights unexpected items that make our daily lives just a little bit better.

When Apple unveiled its Smart Keyboard Folio alongside its latest and priciest iPad Pro models in late 2018, the peripheral barely registered on my radar. Little did I know it would become my constant companion, one of the most loved and most essential Apple products I’d ever bought. 

Sure, I’d been a huge iPad fan, and a sucker for the latest model, ever since nabbing the first model the day it launched in 2010. And yes, I was forever hunting for the best not-on-screen keyboard solution for my iPads. I’d long been jealous of Microsoft Surface users, who used keyboard covers to turn their tablets into tiny ultraportable laptops. But Apple’s version seemed more like a full-on keyboard case, which often name themselves Folios. I had no need to protect the back of my iPad (c’mon, Apple, it’s pretty durable) so I dismissed the option out of hand.  Read more…

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Top Gun: Maverick takes to the skies on June 26, 2020 and here’s a brand new poster to help get you in the mood.

That’s not all, either. Paramount released the poster on Sunday ahead of a new trailer that will be coming on Monday morning. The end of the year is always blockbuster trailer season, and Top Gun: Maverick promises to be one of the biggest hits of summer 2020.

The long-awaited sequel brings us back into the life of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, though it’s not clear exactly how or why. The first trailer made it clear that Maverick’s career pretty much stalled after the events of Top Gun, but it seemed to be much more about setting a mood. This next trailer should gives us a better sense of the story.  Read more…

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