Tingle Tech

When you watch Lucasfilm announcements over a period of years, a pattern emerges: bad news is almost invariably drowned out by thrilling new details, which is something the makers of Star Wars always have up their sleeves. 

In 2013, the company was particularly proud of this one: They had to announce that the first Force Awakens screenwriter, Michael Arndt, had left the movie; unsaid would be that George Lucas' original script concept had pretty much gone with him. So Lucasfilm waited weeks, and wove it into an announcement that reverberated like a Death Star explosion: J.J. Abrams and Empire Strikes Back legend Lawrence Kasdan would write it instead. Arndt had done "a terrific job bringing us to this point," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said.   Read more...

More about Star Wars, David Benioff, Dan Weiss, Kathleen Kennedy, and Entertainment


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TL;DR: The dramatic Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart TV is on sale for £249 on Amazon, saving you 38% on list price.

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The popularity of 4K TVs does not seem to be waning, and we're expecting an avalanche of deals over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. 

You're likely to be able to make a big saving if you wait until the end of November to shop for a 4K TV, but we would be very surprised if you manage to get anything better than what's on offer right now on Amazon.

You can pick up a Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart TV for just £249 on Amazon. This is discounted by a massive 38% on list price, saving you £150. This deal even includes a two-year manufacturer warranty, for extra peace of mind. Read more...

More about 4k Tv, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Uk, Uk Deals, and Hisense


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TL;DR: Purchase three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for £32.92 on Amazon, and get another three months for free.

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Everything is better when it's free. There is something mysterious that happens at a cellular level within humans when things are procured without any money involved. Science cannot explain how free food tastes sweeter, free drinks are stronger, and free experiences are more fun.

This strange phenomenon extends to the world of deals, because there is something special about getting something for nothing. 

More about Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Uk, and Uk Deals


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Heads up, Costco members: The warehouse club's Black Friday 2019 ad just hit the web, tipping big savings on TVs, Apple devices, laptops, smartphones, smart home gadgets, gaming gear, and a lot more this holiday shopping season.

Costco's holiday savings event will run from Nov. 7 through Dec. 2, according to the leaked ad, posted Wednesday by BestBlackFriday.com. "Several of the prices mimic the same kind of savings we saw last year, with many electronics and gadgets discounted by only a minor percentage," the site says.

Costco stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, but the company will offer many deals online during the holiday, including the 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Pro for $999.99 ($250 off), HP Omen Gaming Desktop for $749.99 ($250 off), and Bose SoundSport Pulse wireless headphones for $99.99 ($30 off). Costco's in-store savings event kicks off at 9 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 29. Read more...

More about Black Friday, Tech, and Consumer Tech


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“Do you spook easily?”

This is the question a man who’s just sold me the biggest blueberry muffin I’ve ever seen has asked me. I’m standing in one of the most haunted hotels in the United States and my answer would’ve been completely different had this man asked just a few days ago. At the time he’s asking though, I’m two days into driving one of the most haunted road trips in North America and I am what I would describe as “genuinely a bit spooked.” 

Two days earlier, I set off with a map that would take me from Brooklyn to Pennsylvania, stopping off at four haunted destinations where visitors have claimed to see all manner of spooky goings-on. These aren’t your typically ghoulish locations — anyone can stop off at an old cemetery or abandoned hospital and be like “oooooh, this place gives me the willies." But that’s not for meThese creep-filled locations are a bit more off the beaten track. And so, armed with what I’m told is “the best ghost detector currently available in the app store” I set off for my first destination. Read more...

More about Halloween, Road Trip, Haunted House, Haunted, and Culture


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Facebook might offer encrypted video and audio chats to its users soon. 

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong found evidence of the feature being tested as part of Facebook's Secret Conversation Messenger feature. 

Secret Conversations was added to Messenger in 2016, offering users an end-to-end encrypted chat experience. To activate it, tap the "New message" icon in Messenger's top right corner and then tap "Secret." 

Right now, it will probably look very similar to a regular Chat in Messenger, but the audio and video call icons (top corner) will be missing. In Wong's screenshot, though, they're there.  Read more...

More about Facebook, Encryption, Messenger, Tech, and Social Media Companies


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TL;DR: The handy NuWave Oven Pro Plus can roast, air fry, bake, steam, and more without needing to preheat, and it's on sale for $99.95 — a $40 savings.

---

Thanksgiving is an easy-peasy, chill holiday when you're not the person cooking. You get to chill with family, drink wine at 12 p.m., and a perfectly-roasted turkey simply appears on the table.

But eventually, the year will come where you're the person in charge of food. November starts tomorrow, and you have less than a month to figure out how TF to cook a turkey.

Newbies, you can skip the advanced oven techniques and try the NuWave Oven Pro Plus instead. This unique appliance combines traditional convection heat, conduction heat, and infrared heat to save you half the time using a traditional oven would take. It's regularly $135.99 on NuWave's site, but you can get it for $99.95 at Walmart. Read more...

More about Thanksgiving, Cooking, Kitchen, Mashable Shopping, and Air Fryer


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Don't shed a single tear for him, but Mark Zuckerberg continues to be assailed for his very bad decisions about political speech on Facebook.

This time, it's Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The Social Network, the movie about Facebook's controversial and convoluted beginnings that Zuckerberg really, really, really wished had never been made. Sorkin laid out his argument in the opinion pages of the New York Times.

---

UPDATE: Oct. 31, 2019, 4:54 p.m. EDT Not only did Times have to issue an editor's note over several inaccuracies in Sorkin's letter, Zuckerberg hit back by quoting one of Sorkin's movies, which you can read about here. Read more...

More about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Aaron Sorkin, Tech, and Social Media Companies


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TL;DR: Clean up those Halloween messes with ease with the eufy robot vacuum — now over $110 off on Amazon.

---

If you have kids — or just trick-or-treaters coming to your door en masse tonight — chances are that you’re going to have a mess to clean up after it’s all over. Tossed candy wrappers, uneaten Mounds bars (why the hell are you giving anyone Mounds?), and large piles of candy corn (which are good, by the way) are sure to be littering your home. And who wants to sweep that up?

Couldn’t be us. Nope. Never.

And with a robot vacuum, you’ll have nothing to worry about — like this eufy robo-vac that’s on sale for over $110 off on Amazon today, for instance.  Read more...

More about Robot Vacuums, Mashable Shopping, Eufy, Culture, and Consumer Tech


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Goodbye Lizzie McGuire, hello fabulous Lizzie McGuire reboot.

One of our favorite early 2000s Disney Channel teens — Hilary Duff, of course — is returning to her roots and reprising her beloved role as Lizzie McGuire. At the D23 Expo in August, Disney announced that a Lizzie McGuire sequel series will air exclusively on Disney+ and series creator Terri Minsky is onboard, in addition to Duff.

The original show about a teen and her friends navigating the challenges of middle school aired from 2001 to 2004, and the iconic Lizzie McGuire Movie — which showed Lizzie casually becoming a famous pop singer on a class trip to Rome, as one does — came out in 2003. Read more...

More about Hilary Duff, Reboot, Disney Plus, Lizzie Mcguire, and Entertainment


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If you've ever pondered what your dog might look like as a cat, or another dog, your time is now. And even if you haven't, the tech company NVIDIA wants to show you.

NVIDIA has leveraged big gains in AI technology to develop a fun tool called the GANimal App, which allows users to upload a photo of their pet and generate pictures of what it would  look like as either different breeds of the same animal — or a different animal altogether. 

After watching the demo, I decided to give the tool a whirl with a photo of my dog, Charlie. 

Here's the original.

Image: Marcus Gilmer / Mashable Read more...

More about Artificial Intelligence, Nvidia, Deep Fakes, Tech, and Artificial Intelligence


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There are so many meme costumes to choose from, but this one really goes above and beyond. 

This past week, Twitter user Cody Palm dressed as the now ubiquitous "woman yelling at a cat" meme. Originally, Palm had planned on being the pink power ranger, but then he had a stroke of genius.

Of course, no great idea comes to fruition on its own. It was when Palm brought the idea up to his friend Kevin Posnanski that the costume truly took shape.

"I had a much simpler version of the costume I wanted to do and ran it by him – he's super crafty – but once you get Kevin going with an idea he can't stop," Palm told Mashable. "He came up with how the costume should actually look and just told me 'you know what, I'm doing this, we can get this done by Friday.'" Read more...

More about Halloween, Cat, Meme, Halloween Costumes, and Culture


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The infamous "11foot 8 Bridge" in Durham, North Carolina has claimed many trucks over the years, but the fall of its tyranny appears to be on the horizon. 

The rail crossing has an underpass which has a clearing of — you guessed it — 11 feet, 8 inches. While this is enough clearance for most vehicles, plenty of box trucks have had their roofs ripped off over the years, despite clear signage. 

Jürgen Henn has documented crashes for over 11 years and regularly uploads them to his YouTube channel, where a library of the bridge's greatest "hits" awaits you. Henn revealed in a conversation with Strange Carolinas that the videos come from a camera he's set up outside his office window. Read more...

More about Dashcam, Raised, 11foot8 Bridge, Culture, and Web Culture


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The ride-hail companies are backing a ballot measure to overturn a California law intended to transform gig-economy workers from contractors to employees.


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TL;DR: The dramatic Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart TV is on sale for £249 on Amazon, saving you 38% on list price.

---

The popularity of 4K TVs does not seem to be waning, and we're expecting an avalanche of deals over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. 

You're likely to be able to make a big saving if you wait until the end of November to shop for a 4K TV, but we would be very surprised if you manage to get anything better than what's on offer right now on Amazon.

You can pick up a Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart TV for just £249 on Amazon. This is discounted by a massive 38% on list price, saving you £150. This deal even includes a two-year manufacturer warranty, for extra peace of mind. Read more...

More about 4k Tv, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Uk, Uk Deals, and Hisense


via Tingle Tech

TL;DR: Purchase three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for £32.92 on Amazon, and get another three months for free.

---

Everything is better when it's free. There is something mysterious that happens at a cellular level within humans when things are procured without any money involved. Science cannot explain how free food tastes sweeter, free drinks are stronger, and free experiences are more fun.

This strange phenomenon extends to the world of deals, because there is something special about getting something for nothing. 

More about Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Uk, and Uk Deals


via Tingle Tech

Heads up, Costco members: The warehouse club's Black Friday 2019 ad just hit the web, tipping big savings on TVs, Apple devices, laptops, smartphones, smart home gadgets, gaming gear, and a lot more this holiday shopping season.

Costco's holiday savings event will run from Nov. 7 through Dec. 2, according to the leaked ad, posted Wednesday by BestBlackFriday.com. "Several of the prices mimic the same kind of savings we saw last year, with many electronics and gadgets discounted by only a minor percentage," the site says.

Costco stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, but the company will offer many deals online during the holiday, including the 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Pro for $999.99 ($250 off), HP Omen Gaming Desktop for $749.99 ($250 off), and Bose SoundSport Pulse wireless headphones for $99.99 ($30 off). Costco's in-store savings event kicks off at 9 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 29. Read more...

More about Black Friday, Tech, and Consumer Tech


via Tingle Tech

“Do you spook easily?”

This is the question a man who’s just sold me the biggest blueberry muffin I’ve ever seen has asked me. I’m standing in one of the most haunted hotels in the United States and my answer would’ve been completely different had this man asked just a few days ago. At the time he’s asking though, I’m two days into driving one of the most haunted road trips in North America and I am what I would describe as “genuinely a bit spooked.” 

Two days earlier, I set off with a map that would take me from Brooklyn to Pennsylvania, stopping off at four haunted destinations where visitors have claimed to see all manner of spooky goings-on. These aren’t your typically ghoulish locations — anyone can stop off at an old cemetery or abandoned hospital and be like “oooooh, this place gives me the willies." But that’s not for meThese creep-filled locations are a bit more off the beaten track. And so, armed with what I’m told is “the best ghost detector currently available in the app store” I set off for my first destination. Read more...

More about Halloween, Road Trip, Haunted House, Haunted, and Culture


via Tingle Tech

Facebook might offer encrypted video and audio chats to its users soon. 

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong found evidence of the feature being tested as part of Facebook's Secret Conversation Messenger feature. 

Secret Conversations was added to Messenger in 2016, offering users an end-to-end encrypted chat experience. To activate it, tap the "New message" icon in Messenger's top right corner and then tap "Secret." 

Right now, it will probably look very similar to a regular Chat in Messenger, but the audio and video call icons (top corner) will be missing. In Wong's screenshot, though, they're there.  Read more...

More about Facebook, Encryption, Messenger, Tech, and Social Media Companies


via Tingle Tech

TL;DR: The handy NuWave Oven Pro Plus can roast, air fry, bake, steam, and more without needing to preheat, and it's on sale for $99.95 — a $40 savings.

---

Thanksgiving is an easy-peasy, chill holiday when you're not the person cooking. You get to chill with family, drink wine at 12 p.m., and a perfectly-roasted turkey simply appears on the table.

But eventually, the year will come where you're the person in charge of food. November starts tomorrow, and you have less than a month to figure out how TF to cook a turkey.

Newbies, you can skip the advanced oven techniques and try the NuWave Oven Pro Plus instead. This unique appliance combines traditional convection heat, conduction heat, and infrared heat to save you half the time using a traditional oven would take. It's regularly $135.99 on NuWave's site, but you can get it for $99.95 at Walmart. Read more...

More about Thanksgiving, Cooking, Kitchen, Mashable Shopping, and Air Fryer


via Tingle Tech

Don't shed a single tear for him, but Mark Zuckerberg continues to be assailed for his very bad decisions about political speech on Facebook.

This time, it's Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The Social Network, the movie about Facebook's controversial and convoluted beginnings that Zuckerberg really, really, really wished had never been made. Sorkin laid out his argument in the opinion pages of the New York Times.

---

UPDATE: Oct. 31, 2019, 4:54 p.m. EDT Not only did Times have to issue an editor's note over several inaccuracies in Sorkin's letter, Zuckerberg hit back by quoting one of Sorkin's movies, which you can read about here. Read more...

More about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Aaron Sorkin, Tech, and Social Media Companies


via Tingle Tech

TL;DR: Clean up those Halloween messes with ease with the eufy robot vacuum — now over $110 off on Amazon.

---

If you have kids — or just trick-or-treaters coming to your door en masse tonight — chances are that you’re going to have a mess to clean up after it’s all over. Tossed candy wrappers, uneaten Mounds bars (why the hell are you giving anyone Mounds?), and large piles of candy corn (which are good, by the way) are sure to be littering your home. And who wants to sweep that up?

Couldn’t be us. Nope. Never.

And with a robot vacuum, you’ll have nothing to worry about — like this eufy robo-vac that’s on sale for over $110 off on Amazon today, for instance.  Read more...

More about Robot Vacuums, Mashable Shopping, Eufy, Culture, and Consumer Tech


via Tingle Tech

Goodbye Lizzie McGuire, hello fabulous Lizzie McGuire reboot.

One of our favorite early 2000s Disney Channel teens — Hilary Duff, of course — is returning to her roots and reprising her beloved role as Lizzie McGuire. At the D23 Expo in August, Disney announced that a Lizzie McGuire sequel series will air exclusively on Disney+ and series creator Terri Minsky is onboard, in addition to Duff.

The original show about a teen and her friends navigating the challenges of middle school aired from 2001 to 2004, and the iconic Lizzie McGuire Movie — which showed Lizzie casually becoming a famous pop singer on a class trip to Rome, as one does — came out in 2003. Read more...

More about Hilary Duff, Reboot, Disney Plus, Lizzie Mcguire, and Entertainment


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TL;DR: Kaspersky Total Security is on sale for £54.99 with the code MASH50, saving you 50% on list price.

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The world is a dangerous place, and the sad fact of life is that nowadays you need to invest in protection if you want to surf the web with peace of mind.

The list of cybersecurity services that are now available is long, and that's because the list of online threats is continuing to grow. You can now invest in password manager programs, security features for your kids, and of course, VPNs. You could shop for the best deals on each of these services, or you could opt for an all-in-one package. Read more...

More about Antivirus, Mashable Shopping, Kaspersky, Shopping Uk, and Uk Deals


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TL;DR: The two-year Hide.me VPN plan is on sale for £4.99 a month, saving you 64% on list price.

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What if we told you that you could get a VPN with around-the-clock customer support, a no-logging policy, over 1,000 servers in 57 countries worldwide, and 10 simultaneous connections for under £5 a month? 

You probably wouldn't believe a word we said, but we're telling the truth. We promise.

Hide.me VPN is now on sale for just £4.99 a month for two years. This is down by a massive 64% on list price, which is a pretty staggering saving. The service is billed in one instalment of under £120, and comes with a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. This way you're covered in case things don't work out. Read more...

More about Vpn, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Uk, Uk Deals, and Hideme


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Facebook is getting back into the news business. 

After months of rumors and speculation, the company is officially announcing Facebook News, a new section in its app dedicated to "high-quality" news. 

Facebook News will get its own section of the Facebook app, similar to Watch or Marketplace, though only a small group of U.S. Facebook users will see it to start. 

Unlike News Feed, where Facebook's algorithms tend to favor inflammatory headlines from sometimes questionable sources, Facebook has much stricter rules for publishers that are part of Facebook News, which will emphasize original reporting.  Read more...

More about Tech, Facebook, Media, Social Media Companies, and Tech


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In Mashable’s series Wasted, we dig into the myriad ways we’re trashing our planet. Because it’s time to sober up.

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A global problem requires a global solution. A little bit of collaborative fun thrown in the mix doesn't hurt, either. 

Say hello to Litterati, a free app that both encourages users to pick up litter and to share their efforts with likeminded individuals. But the app does more than just provide a nudge to tidy up. Behind the profile pics, photo galleries, and cheery campaigns announcing participants' intention to clean up their neighborhoods lies a secret weapon: crowdsourced data. Read more...

More about Apps, Instagram, Environmentalism, Wasted, and Tech


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Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert go way back.

Both alumni of Chicago comedy icon Second City, the pair landed jobs at The Daily Show based on one brilliant sketch created for The Dana Carvey Show. 

Colbert came up with "Waiters who are nauseated by food," based on his hungover days waiting tables, while Carell spun "Podiatrists who are nauseated by feet," without either of them knowing about the other's bit. And it got them both hired.

On The Late Show Thursday, the comedy stars took a trip down memory lane to this defining moment in their careers, and around 3:30 in the clip above, they re-enacted the best elements of the sketch. Read more...

More about Comedy, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and Sketch Comedy


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Keegan-Michael Key is one of the most versatile actors in the game, so naturally, he absolutely obliterated Jimmy Fallon's "Wheel of Musical Impressions" game on Thursday.

Whether it's nailing a Bob Marley impression to "Hush, Little Baby," or doing a weirdly accurate R.E.M. version of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," he's on fire.

Then, behold, his Frank Sinatra version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Take a bow. Read more...

More about The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Fallon, Impressions, Keegan Michael Key, and Entertainment


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TL;DR: These specially-treated roses from Rosephoria last up to a year and are up to 40% off. Save $134.99 on the round or square two-dozen boxes or $34.99 on an everlasting rose.

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A fresh bouquet of flowers is an easy, yet thoughtful way to shower someone you love with love. But, you've gotta admit, it's also hella wasteful. Roses wither within a week (tops) and they definitely don't come cheap. Some people opt out of buying flowers all together because they're just going to die anyway.

But there's a smart new trend that's completely changing the way flowers can be gifted. Remember the Enchanted Rose from Beauty and the Beast? Thanks to Rosephoria, it's basically a real thing now. Read more...

More about Dating, Gift Ideas, Mashable Shopping, Roses, and Entertainment


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It's a common misconception that only a blessed few can draw — like it's either you have the innate talent to sketch or you don't. But that couldn't be more wrong. Learning how to wield a pencil isn't quite synonymous with forcing yourself to learn how to carry a tune. While not everyone can achieve the greatness of, say, Van Gogh or Picasso, anyone who has the desire to transform a blank piece of paper into a work of art can absolutely do so, but only if they have the willingness to learn.

See, drawing is a skill that can be acquired. Much like grasping the laws of physics or coming to terms with the intricacies of a foreign language, you can also assimilate to putting a pencil to paper if you have the proper learning material. Whether you want to move on from your usual stick figures or wish to elevate your already intermediate sketching skills, we have some resources to help take your drawing skills to the next level. Take your pick from these courses, all of which are *drum roll* on sale: Read more...

More about Art, Learning, Work Life, Mashable Shopping, and Entertainment


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RED's Hydrogen project is no more. 

Founder Jim Jannard said so on the company's forum (via The Verge), saying he'll be "shutting down the HYDROGEN project, ending a career that has included Oakley, RED Digital Cinema and HYDROGEN." 

He also announced his retirement due to "a few health issues."

Jannard said that the Hydrogen One phone — the only smartphone the company has launched — will "continue to be supported in the future."

The move isn't particularly surprising due to the extremely poor reviews Hydrogen One has gotten, and the company's own admission in July that finishing the phone's feature and fixing its issues was "impossible," allegedly due to poor performance of RED's manufacturing partner in China.  Read more...

More about Red, Hydrogen, Hydrogen One, Tech, and Consumer Tech


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With the new Pixelbook Go laptop, Google presented me with a legitimate quandary: How good does a laptop have to be for me to get over the restrictions of ChromeOS? Read more...

More about Google, Chromebooks, Chrome Os, Pixelbook, and Pixelbook Go


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Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have finally teamed up to help clarify matters for the many people who have difficulty telling the Jimmys apart. 

Fallon joined Kimmel on Thursday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to state that, though both are white brunette American men who host late night talk shows, they are in fact two completely different people.

"We understand why people get us confused," said Fallon. "The names. We both wear suits. We both have shows."

"Both have dark hair," continued Kimmel. "We're both white guys — which is not as exciting as it used to be."

However, though they insisted they were entirely separate individuals, the Jimmys were soon rustled when they discovered their similarities ran deeper than they realized – down to matching DNA tests declaring both to be 100 percent that bitch. Read more...

More about Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Entertainment, and Celebrities


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On Thursday, Late Night with Seth Meyers' A Closer Look segment once again turned the host's critical eye towards — what else? — Donald Trump lying about his own screwups. 

Examining the reactions of both Kurds in Syria and Trump's own Republican supporters, Meyers pointed out that, despite the US Commander in Chief's assertions, few people aside from Trump himself seem to think anything he's done lately has resulted in "a great outcome." 

In fact, Republicans have been struggling to mount credible defenses around the president on everything from Syria to the alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine, futilely building pillow forts in a hurricane. Read more...

More about Donald Trump, Seth Meyers, Late Night With Seth Meyers, Trump Presidency, and Culture


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A former top Apple lawyer whose responsibilities included preventing insider trading has now been indicted for, uh, that. 

Gene Levoff, Apple's former corporate secretary and director of corporate law, is accused of using insider knowledge to trade Apple stock between February 2011 and April 2016 — the exact behavior he was entrusted to prevent.

Illegal insider trading gives people with access to nonpublic company information an unfair advantage over everyone else, a bit like using secret cheat codes in a multiplayer game. Only instead of leaderboards and kill streaks, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. Read more...

More about Apple, Crime, Insider Trading, Tech, and Big Tech Companies


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The iPhone is king of smartphone cameras again. 

At first, I was skeptical. When I got my iPhone 11 Pro Max a few weeks ago, the camera was buggy, slowish, and — at first glance — appeared to be no match to Huawei's excellent cameraphone in several key departments, such as zoom and low-lit photography. 

With an unprecedented onslaught of software updates, Apple slowly but surely fixed the bugs on the iPhone camera. It got faster, it stopped blacking out, and it gained Apple's secretive new Deep Fusion tech, though only in iOS beta at that point.

Since I found the Huawei P30 Pro to have the most versatile and overall best camera around, I decided it was time for a side-by-side comparison to see whether Apple was able to catch up with Huawei's camera. And while a TL;DR will never do justice to this type of text, the short answer is yes. The camera on the iPhone 11 Pro Max is better, in many important aspects, than the one on the Huawei P30 Pro.  Read more...

More about Tech, Tech, and Consumer Tech


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Jack Dorsey has some thoughts on Libra. Namely, it's bullshit. 

Speaking at today's Twitter News Summit in New York City, the pro-Bitcoin CEO took Facebook's so-called cryptocurrency project to task for being, essentially, a gimmick. He insisted that Libra isn't even a real cryptocurrency, and that his company will have nothing to do with it. 

Dorsey's comments, in response to the question if Twitter would ever join Libra, were captured by CNN media (and ex-Mashable) reporter Kerry Flynn. 

"Hell no," said Dorsey. "Nothing within Libra had to be a cryptocurrency to do what they want to do. They use that label liberally. It’s completely incorrect."  Read more...

More about Facebook, Jack Dorsey, Libra, Cryptocurrency, and Tech


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A congressman, responsible for leading the lawmaking process and representing the interests of the American people, has a comically weak phone passcode. 

An eagle-eyed viewer spotted Lance Gooden, a Republican representative from Texas, typing in his phone's passcode on camera on Wednesday during Mark Zuckerberg testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Although Gooden can easily be targeted as a weak link in national security, his passcode appears to be a simple 777777. 

The GIF has over 146,000 views on Gfycat at the time of writing, and also hit the Frontpage of Reddit on Thursday.  Read more...

More about Security, Passwords, Culture, and Web Culture


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Mochi teaches your kids about coding, without ever using a screen. Read more...

More about Mashable Video, Coding, Coding Toys, Strictly Robots, and Tech


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The idea of first aid training and emergency response makes some people squeamish, and that’s understandable. Maybe you can’t stand the sight of blood, or think you’re not good in a crisis. But in case you haven’t noticed, the world is a dangerous place and there’s never a bad time to train up.

Not everyone is cut out to be a paramedic or an ER nurse. We can all play a role though, and first aid training is the best way to make sure that you’re not standing around helplessly waiting for the pros to arrive. 

It’s no secret that hospitals and emergency staff are overloaded, and there is no denying that paramedics are struggling with the increased workload. The potential for low-frequency, high-risk emergencies is greater than before, and now is the right time for all of us to play a role in ensuring the health and safety of those around us Read more...

More about Supported, Medical, First Aid, Brand X, and Lifestyle


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Posting to his blog on Wednesday, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has declared he won't write for newly announced Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon until he finishes Winds of Winter — even though he really wants to. It's a bit like when you promise yourself delicious chocolate cake if you finish your 5K run.

"I expect to be involved in [the production of House of the Dragon] to some extent… and, who knows, if things work out, I may even be able to script a few episodes, as I did for the first four seasons of Game Of Thrones," wrote Martin in his post.

"But… let me make this perfectly clear… I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered Winds Of Winter.  Winter is still coming, and Winds remains my priority, as much as I’d love to write an episodes of House" (emphasis Martin's). Read more...

More about Game Of Thrones, A Song Of Ice And Fire, George R.R. Martin, Winds Of Winter, and House Of The Dragon


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Jack Dorsey took a swing at Mark Zuckerberg, and politicians took note. 

On Wednesday the Twitter CEO announced a new policy governing political advertisements — namely, that in contrast to Facebook, his company would no longer accept them. In doing so, he specifically alluded to Zuckerberg's defense of allowing political figures to pay to spread misinformation. Elected officials, both past and present, seized the opportunity to pile on. 

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that Twitter's move was a "good call," before adding that "Not allowing for paid disinformation is one of the most basic, ethical decisions a company can make." Read more...

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Everything was going relatively smoothly for Halloween 2019 at the White House until one kid dressed as a Minion appeared before Trump and Melania for some trick-or-treating. 

Instead of putting the candy in the kid's bag, both Trump and Melania placed candy bars on the Minion's puffy head, watching him confusedly stumble around afterwards.

And whether you love or hate the pair, undoubtedly the stunt they pulled Monday night was ridiculous and kind of hilarious. 

It's unclear if Trump didn't see the kid's bag or if he was just being a troll, but Twitter couldn't get over the fact that they really let the kid walk away like that. And why did Melania follow suit?  Read more...

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Next time you feel the urge to call someone out on social media, maybe stop and think about Barack Obama.

At an event for the Obama Foundation on Tuesday, the former president sat down with actress and activist Yara Shahidi and spoke to a group in Chicago. During the conversation, he voiced his concerns over certain types of social media usage, including cancel culture, and shared why he feels the act of calling people out online is largely ineffective.

"This idea of purity and that you're never compromised and you’re always politically woke and all that stuff — you should get over that quickly," Obama said. "The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids, and share certain things with you.” Read more...

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The spin-off, a Disney+ series, will be led by McGregor, a once-secret that is now a "massive relief" for him to spill. Read more...

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Worn during Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance, the cardigan is now the most expensive sweater sold at an auction. Read more...

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Roger Deakins has shot some of the most iconic movies of all time (The Shawshank Redemption, Skyfall, Blade Runner 2049). Here, he shows us how he pulled off the iconic inside-the-bowling ball shot in The Big Lebowski. Read more...

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Writing team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski battle each other in "Know Your Role" to see who truly knows more about biopics. Read more...

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TL;DR: Buy the quiet Omega masticating juicer for it's lowest price ever of $258.96 at Amazon. You save $116.46 today, which is a deal that might be hard to beat around Black Friday. 

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The holidays approach, so say goodbye to your regular diet. It's harder to get your recommended servings of fruits and veggies between discounted Halloween candy and gingerbread lattes. But it's not impossible to get a quick dose of essential vitamins and nutrients if you buy a home juicer. 

For a great deal on a juicer, a good place to start is this Omega masticating juicer extractor for $258.96 at Amazon. It's on sale for its lowest price ever, and it's hard to see it get any better even around Black Friday or Cyber Monday. If you need some time to research which type of juicer is best for you, here's a breakdown of some of Amazon's best juicer deals.  Read more...

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There's nothing cheap about the new AirPods Pro. And that includes replacing and repairing them. 

There are plenty of good reasons to yearn for the new, noise-canceling AirPods Pro. They look great, but if you lose or damage them, be prepared to pay up. Individual earbud replacements will run you $89, as will replacing the charging case, as spotted on Apple's support website by 9to5Mac. 

In other words, replacing all the components of AirPods Pro would cost slightly more than just buying a new pair for $249.99. What a bargain. As far as Apple is concerned, that's what AppleCare is for.

Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Read more...

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