Technology news

Uber relies heavily on Google’s extensive maps, but it appears that the ride share company is getting ready to stand on their own. According to The Financial Times, it is planning to invest half a billion dollars into creating its own worldwide maps, a crucial step towards using autonomous cars.
This will allow the company to create their own detailed maps
The Financial Times reported that the company is looking to "pour $500m into an ambitious global mapping project," which would allow th

Uber relies heavily on Google’s extensive maps, but it appears that the ride share company is getting ready to stand on their own. According to The Financial Times, it is planning to invest half a billion dollars into creating its own worldwide maps, a crucial step towards using autonomous cars.
This will allow the company to create their own detailed maps
The Financial Times reported that the company is looking to "pour $500m into an ambitious global mapping project," which would allow th

Human-assisted travel bots like Mezi and Lola have some new competition.
The Marina bot, developed by Alterra, works within Facebook Messenger to make reservations using natural language understanding techniques. For example, you can type in multiple routes between your home city and your final destination, ask about a “romantic getaway,” or look for the best hotel deals.
Alterra developed the bot by transcribing conversations between humans and travel agents. The company claims the

GUEST: If you work for or with startups, you’ve likely been a part of the Gartner Hype Cycle and the sky-high expectations that can come with it. It goes like this: the potential of a new concept gets over-hyped, and then companies in that area get panned when they don’t meet expectations quickly.
Current examples include the Internet of Things (IoT), which is currently on the mean side of the hype cycle for not evolving fast enough. Bots, the new “it-thing,” seemed to ha

Stepping on a Lego with your bare foot is excruciating experience. Deliberately running on Legos? You’d have to be an absolute glutton for punishment. That’s where the internet comes in, because there’s plenty of people willing to go through hell to appear on YouTube.
WheresMyChallenge is a channel that features all kinds of cringeworthy challenges, and their latest takes stepping on a Lego brick to the worst possible extremes: running on Legos.The setup is simple and insane: s

Niantic Labs’ John Hanke will be delivering a fireside chat for AR/VR day (augmented reality/virtual reality) at GamesBeat 2016. Get a ticket here!GungHo Online Entertainment is in an interesting phase of its business. The game studio is no longer part of Softbank, the giant Japanese telecom company. Its breadwinner, Puzzle & Dragons, is still doing well in Asia, and in May it hit the 10 million download landmark in the U.S. It’s testing Super Senso, a mobile strategy g

GUEST: It has been 74 days since “regulation crowdfunding” (aka Title III of the JOBS Act) kicked off, and the data is starting to pour in. Regulation crowdfunding allows any American startup or small business to raise up to $1 million from friends, family, and followers on debt and equity crowdfunding platforms that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The initial data is revealing just what advocates of the move expected:A slow logical progression of offering

Now you can say, "I'm with her ... coloring book."
SheKnowsMedia jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon by releasing its own title celebrating Hillary Clinton. 
SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton's devastating collection of one-linersImage:SHEKNOWS MEDIAThe book, simply called, "Hillary Clinton Coloring Book," has the Democratic presidential nominee in many valiant poses. Image:SHEKNOWS MEDIAThe series follows the media company's previous coloring book inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

During this weekend’s Television Critics Association press tour, HBO has finally announced a date for its long-awaited science fiction show Westworld. According to the network, the J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan collaboration will premiere on October 2nd at 9PM.
The show was originally supposed to premiere in 2015
We’ve been waiting for the latest J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan collaboration since it was first announced in 2013. The premiere date comes after

HBO's Westworld premieres on Oct. 2 at 9 p.m., just shy of two years after it was first announced in 2014.
The series is inspired by the late Michael Crichton's 1973 film in which a future-world amusement park's lifelike robots malfunction and start murdering guests. The HBO take, created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, expands on that premise in a way that touches on current tech trends.
SEE ALSO: 'Game of Thrones' will end after eighth season, HBO confirms
Nolan explained in a prepared stateme

The Simpsons are going after Donald Trump.  
No stranger to political satire, the FOX show has taken stances on issues including gay marriage, immigration and gun control, among many others, in the past. 
SEE ALSO: Kelsey Grammer reveals the inspiration behind Sideshow Bob
Now, The Simpsons is taking a bold stance against GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
In a new clip posted by the show's showrunner, Al Jean, Marge and Homer Simpson think over who to vote for while watching a T

The official KickassTorrents website (also known as Kickass Torrents, or just KAT) may be dead, but the war to keep its name alive rages on. The torrent site version of whack-a-mole is never-ending.
Earlier this month, the original KAT site went down after alleged founder Artem Vaulin was arrested. Soon after the most popular torrent site disappeared, genuine mirrors and fake sites quickly sprang up to take its place.
One apparently legitimate mirror was kickasstorrents.website, which came onlin

When Netflix brought back Arrested Development for a fourth season in 2013, it looked different. Each of its fifteen episodes focused on a different character, ran just over half an hour, and took place at roughly the same time. It was a move that divided critics and audiences. Now, the show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz has finished an ambitious project: recut the entire season so that plays out more like a traditional television season.
The edit turned the fifteen, thirty-minute episodes into twent

Jason Bourne is the top box office earner for the weekend, with the Matt Damon-led sequel amassing an estimated $60 million in domestic ticket sales.
That, plus Universal's reported $50.1 million in foreign sales, puts the cumulative box office of the Damon-led Bourne movies — Jason Bourne makes it four — over $1 billion. 
SEE ALSO: 'Jason Bourne' is a brutal, soulless slog that feels like punishment
The series already hit the $1 billion mark after 2012's The Bourne Legacy, a so

Would you still walk down the aisle if it was filled with walkers?
For Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. The NFL player and, more importantly, Walking Dead fan held a zombie-themed photoshoot modeled after his favorite show.
SEE ALSO: 23 awesome moments from 'The Walking Dead' season finale
ESPN produced a video documenting the photoshoot, which reportedly took place the day after his actual wedding.The running back and horror fan claims th

GUEST: We’re all familiar with the SMS text message based security codes used as a security feature by huge numbers of websites from social networks to email to online payments. This is the feature that aims to verify your identity after you log in with a password, by sending a text message to your phone with a code that you use to access the site.
But SMS security codes aren’t safe and should be avoided. That’s the news that’s been circulating over the last few days from

Marriage is great until it isn't. 
In Divorce, stars Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) and Thomas Haden Church live through the messy reality of parting ways in the modern world. And as you can see in HBO's new teaser, they're very graceful and mature about it.
Divorce premieres on HBO at 10 p.m. on Oct. 9.Rihanna literally collides with her fans in stunning 'Goodnight Gotham' video
Margot Robbie fills Jimmy Fallon in on her artsy secret talent
Beetle lands a solid high five during p

Billed as the eighth Harry Potter story, The Cursed Child officially opened on London’s West End last night, while a copy of the script is now available in bookstores. According to J.K. Rowling, the story of her famous magician is now at an end.
During the premiere of the play, Rowling was asked if the The Cursed Child represented the beginning of a new era of stories for the character. She confirmed that that Harry’s story was now over: "This is the next generation, you know. S

It’s often said that Japan was slow to smartphones, with tens of millions of flip phone users long unconvinced of the benefits of iPhone and Android. It’s less often pointed out that those flip phones were miraculous in their own way, seamlessly integrated into Japanese society with features that people in the West could only dream of. And it’s even less often mentioned that Japan has had slick, advanced pocket computers since the ‘90s.If I’d been using an advanced

Niantic Labs’ John Hanke will be delivering a fireside chat for AR/VR day (augmented reality/virtual reality) at GamesBeat 2016. Get a ticket here!The World of Warcraft needs a hero, even if its maybe-crazy Night Elf with glowing green eyes.
On August 30, Blizzard releases Legion, the sixth expansion for its hugely successful World of Warcraft. The online role-playing game makes most of its money from monthly subscriptions, so massive content drops from expansions help back lapse

NEW YORK – If you've ever wanted to watch a curious gigantic flower that smells like death bloom, well, you're not alone. 
The Amorphophallus titanum, a massive flower native to Sumatra that only blooms once a decade, is finally blossoming in New York City at the New York Botanical Garden. It's also known as the "corpse flower."
SEE ALSO: Thousands of people flock to see stinky 'corpse flower'
According to the NYBG's site, it's a "horticultural jewel 10 years in the making" and hasn't

There are few better ways to relax on your day off than sparking up a little bit of weed. But if you're trying to get a little stoned and not blow you're entire day away, you should put a little thought behind the cannabis strain you select. 
As any seasoned stoner will tell you, different strains of cannabis offer various effects. Some are light and uplifting, while others can make you feel tired and groggy. But don't worry, there are a ton of resources available to inform you exactly what

Warning: I've tried to take out as much of the context as I can to minimise spoilers, but there are still story hints and giveaways in the quotes below. If you've yet to read the Cursed Child script or watch the play, you'd be best off apparating yourself away from this article post-haste.
LONDON — With a title like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the eighth chapter in the world's favourite wizarding saga was never going to be an entirely happy one.
J.K. Rowling even admitted as much. A

These cloud-riding birds can fly for months at a time at over 13,000 feet, without stopping to rest and catch their breath. Frigatebirds are badasses of the sky.
The tropical bird that can make trans-Atlantic flightsThey don't look incredible: from afar frigatebirds are black and grey with white patches and long, hooked beaks and though close up their feathers are iridescent dark greens and blues. During courtship the males protrude a red balloon-like pouch on their necks to attract females &mda

You don’t need a degree in marketing to get started with your career and get your foot in the door, or grow your business with proven marketing techniques. The Professional Web Marketer’s Certification Bundle will guide you to fully certified mastery of modern marketing essentials such as Google Analytics and the social media world dominated by Facebook, Twitter and beyond. For a limited time, you can take 98 percent off the total price for this great bundle on TNW Deals. Through tw

Luke Aikins is a skydiver who is a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association, and who has performed stunts on films such as Iron Man 3. Last night, he became the first person to jump out of an airplane without a parachute or wing suit and survive the landing.
The stunt is nothing short of amazing: leap out of an airplane at 25,000 feet (most skydivers jump at around 13,000 feet) without any sort of parachute or wing suit to slow his fall. To survive, he dropped into

Niantic Labs’ John Hanke will be delivering a fireside chat for AR/VR day (augmented reality/virtual reality) at GamesBeat 2016. Get a ticket here!GUEST: In the dawn of the success of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3 and its welcomed, arguably innovative, or perhaps retro attitude toward free content, it is easy to see why even the little guys may want to follow those giant footsteps. But is it viable for indie developers to do so? And more to the point, why do it at all?
As the q

GUEST: The savviest social marketers aren’t throwing pasta at the wall to see what sticks anymore. Social media marketing has become a more data-driven endeavor, with an emphasis on analytics and the insights gained from using data to make decisions.
As social media networks mature, they usually release a native analytics platform that marketers can use to hone their campaigns. These analytics often include standard metrics, such as reach and engagement, as well as proprietary metrics, suc

I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re in a bubble. It’s a bubble made up not only of the work you do, but your friends, the books you read, and your day-to-day routine. It’s a bubble built from the meals you make each week. It’s your Monday/Wednesday/Friday gym schedule. It’s the route you take to work or the favorite coffee shop you write in on Sundays. Yes, all those things are your bubble. Your bubble is the safety net you surround yourself with

After their releases, the Harry Potter films quickly became classics. But, how close did they actually stay to the books on which they were based? 
In part one of Harry Potter — What's the Difference?, we compare the plots, characters and details of first three films to the books. It turns out that at the end of the day, they are pretty darn close.  Read more...More about Mashable Video, Standalone Featured, Cinefix, Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, and Harry Potter Films

Image: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty ImagesIn 1962, Burt Lancaster was at the height of his film career, having won a Best Actor Oscar two years prior for his performance in Elmer Gantry. The muscular, blue-eyed star of From Here to Eternity was taking on diverse and challenging roles, from a Nazi war criminal in Judgment at Nuremberg to an Italian prince in The Leopard.On Feb. 16, he appeared as a guest on The Soupy Sales Show, the slapstick children’s program which punctuated eve

WARNING: I've tried not to go too heavy on major spoilers, but there are still references to the plot — and specific scenes — below. If you haven't seen the play or read the book yet, it might be worth holding off on this article for the time being.
LONDON — It's been a whopping nine years since J.K. Rowling's last Harry Potter book came out, but now we finally have a new story in our clutches.
SEE ALSO: Before 'Cursed Child,' all muggles need this glorious 'Harry Potter' refre

When China passed its first national legislation criminalizing domestic violence in March, it was a hard-won victory for Chinese women. The landmark law had been in the works for more than a decade and addressed an important issue: A reported 25 percent of Chinese women have experienced domestic violence, but only 40,000 to 50,000 complaints are registered each year. 
The past year has seen other signs of progress. After more than 30 years of coerced abortions and hefty fines, the governmen

Since Thomas Smyth and Daniel Petkevich created the chatbot Trim to rid their personal bank accounts of forgotten but costly subscription fees seven months ago, it has helped more than 50,000 people save $6.3 million.
That may be only the beginning.
Now Trim wants to find more ways to take proactive steps for users. It’s the ability to act on people’s behalf that has helped Trim grow, and new investments will help the company scale impact, CEO Thomas Smyth told VentureBeat.

Activity Monitor for Mac Activity Monitor is a little know gem of an app hidden in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. It can look daunting when you first launch it but once you look past the information overload and find out what to focus on it can become an invaluable tool to make your Mac run faster and smoother. Find yourself staring at a spinning beach-ball cursor regularly? Do you hear your computer fan start up regularly? Are some apps slower than usual? Activity Monitor wi

We believe in bringing your whole selves to work. Many times, that might mean stepping away from work for a bit to celebrate and wholly focus on your family. This is a foundational pillar here at Buffer and we’re committed to supporting our team members in many different ways: pPerks, flexible time off and a fully-paid family leave. In our experiences as a growing startup, no two individual’s experience is quite the same — especially with family leave. So Buffer has a loose po

If you’re like me, you look at screens all day and late into the night. Your eyes could probably use some relief. Fortunately, an increasing number of applications offer dark themes, which display text, images, and videos on top of dark backgrounds. At least for me, they’re easier on the eyes in the nighttime, and even in the daytime.While the iOS operating system does have an Invert Colors option (Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations) that forces apps

With Yahoo's big sale to Verizon finally becoming official and a new look at how the iPhone without a headphone jack could work, you may have missed some of this week's best new apps.
Each weekend, we round up a few of our favorite new and updated apps. This week's list includes a DJing app, a new puzzle game and an app that will make your GIFs look like they came out of Harry Potter.
SEE ALSO: 6 apps to help you win summer
Check out the gallery below to see our top picks. If you're looking for

Harry Potter fans who thought the eighth instalment, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, might signal JK Rowling was not quite finished with the series will be disappointed.
"Harry is done now," the author said Saturday, according to Reuters.
SEE ALSO: 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' stars reveal how they kept the play a secret
Speaking at the opening of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London's West End theatre district, Rowling said she hoped fans would enjoy the play, the script of whi

LOS ANGELES — A 42-year-old skydiver with more than 18,000 jumps made history Saturday when he became the first person to leap without a parachute and land in a net instead.
After a two-minute freefall, Luke Aikins landed dead center in the 100-by-100-foot net at the Big Sky movie ranch on the outskirts of Simi Valley.
SEE ALSO: U.S. Constitution becomes Amazon best-seller after father's powerful rebuke of Trump
As cheers erupted, Aikins quickly climbed out, walked over and hugged his wif

If you're not into amazing, 80's-inspired television, you may not have spent your weekend freaking out because a Netflix outage interrupted your binge of the new show, Stranger Things.
According to a tweet from the U.S. company, errors were affecting those trying to watch Netflix on web browsers and the issue has since been fixed. 
SEE ALSO: 5 things we learned about Netflix's 'Gilmore Girls' revival
A supernatural pastiche of The Goonies, E.T. and almost every Stephen King novel, Stranger

Google is making it a little easier for you to get an alert whenever your name gets mentioned on the internet.
Now, when you Google yourself, so long as you’re logged into Google and you’ve allowed it to save your web and app activity, Google will show you a new widget at the bottom of the first page of search results that will help you easily set up a Google Alert to track new references to your name.
This is a reasonable move for Google to make. Google Alerts have been around since

Amazon Alexa is slowly becoming self-aware.
Well, not really. Amazon has added some new features, including the ability to read an entire book, start your Ford Fusion (still in beta), and unlock the doors of your house with a simple command. You can engage in a conversation, or even play a role-playing game. A soothing voice and lame jokes make Alexa highly accessible, like a robot friend who can handle some routine chores. I’ve ordered pizza by voice, and I love asking about the weather f

BRZEGI, Poland — Pope Francis challenged hundreds of thousands of young people who gathered in a sprawling Polish meadow to reject being a "couch potato" who retreats into video games and computer screens and instead engage in social activism and politics to create a more just world.
Peppering his speech with contemporary lingo, the 79-year-old pope, despite a long day of public appearances, addressed his eager audience with enthusiasm Saturday on a warm summer night.
SEE ALSO: Pope: Gay p

LOS ANGELES — A pocket version of the U.S. Constitution has become a best-seller on Amazon.com.
The Constitution emerged as a best-seller days after Muslim-American lawyer Khizr Khan, whose son was killed while serving in Iraq, flashed a pocket Constitution and offered to lend it to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a speech at the Democratic National Convention.
SEE ALSO: Father of slain Muslim Army captain has a challenge for Donald Trump
"Donald Trump, you are asking

GUEST: By now, we’ve all heard of Silicon Valley’s shiny new technology: Artificial intelligence and chatbots. They bring the promise of an industry-wide transformation that many believe will reach the scale of the personal computing industry or the commercial internet.
Funding in artificial intelligence startups has increased more than fourfold — to $681 million in 2015, from $145 million in 2011 — according to the market research firm CB Insights. The firm estimates tha

Just because you and your friends have moved to different corners of the globe doesn’t mean you have to stop watching shows and movies together.
Trying to all hit play at the same moment — as well as juggling between Netflix and Skype, a Facebook chat, Slack, Discord or any other online chat program — isn't exactly the most convenient thing in the world. Luckily, there is another way. 
SEE ALSO: Get rid of Netflix's annoying 'Continue Watching' button with this extens