Technology news

General Motors had long been planning to release its all-electric Chevy Bolt before the end of 2016 — and it will, but only in California and Oregon. Wider availability — basically the rest of the country — will need to wait until 2017 says The Wall Street Journal.
The paper spoke to GM spokeswoman Michelle Malcho, who said the company is "focusing on this year getting the cars ready for customers," and will be delivering vehicles to other states at a slower pace. Despite high

After two years of collaborating on self-driving cars, BMW and Chinese search giant Baidu have ended their partnership, according to multiple reports. Baidu is said to now be searching for a new automaker to team up with as it looks to ramp up its testing of autonomous vehicles in the US.Wang Jing, the head of autonomous car development at Baidu, told Reuters the company was now using cars from Ford's Lincoln in its US testing. "I'm open for any partners, actually I'm talking to many,” Wan

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters this weekend, and to promote the film, Eddie Redmayne stopped by The Late Late Show with James Corden, where he appears in a hilarious sketch that reimagined his character Newt Scamander contending with the challenges of travel in the modern era.
What’s really funny about this is that we’ve actually seen Scamander breeze by the US Customs Service in the trailers for the film, using a setting on his suitcase to hide his creatu

Over the course of the 2016 presidential election, political campaigns took to Twitter like never before, using extensive ad buys and promoted tweets to spread their message. According to a Medium published last night, the Trump campaign attempted to purchase a promoted hashtag, and was shut down by Twitter.
Gary Coby, the Trump Campaign’s Director of Digital Advertising and Fundraising, outlined in his post that the campaign signed a $5 million spending commitment in August following the

The weeks since the 2016 presidential election has put Facebook under the spotlight for its role in the circulation of fake news articles, which included President Barack Obama weighing in during a press conference earlier this week. While CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made an effort to sidestep the blame leveled against his company for the rise of these articles, he had said that the company has more work to do in combatting misinformation.
In a post to Facebook last night, Zuckerberg outlined the st

An Atlas V rocket is all set to launch this afternoon from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending a NASA-built weather satellite into orbit. It’s the GOES-R probe, and it’s being touted as a game changer for weather forecasting. The spacecraft, which will also be operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is supposed to provide incredible real-time images of developing storm systems, better than any satellite that has preceded it.GOES-R even has a lightning mapper on

The human mouth is a disgusting place, capable of emitting awful smells. Viruses, fungi, and possibly more than 1,000 species of bacteria live inside this dark, moist orifice. Nestled into the crevices between your gums and teeth, these microbes can sometimes cause serious health problems like tooth decay and gum disease. These conditions can also make breath smell putrid, so one quick, easy way to check on your oral health is to smell your own breath. If it stinks, it could be a clue that somet

Last week, I went to see Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, a documentary on Jane Jacobs' work as an urban planning writer and activist, with a particular focus on her battles to save New York City from some godawful ideas about cutting up more of Manhattan with roads and highways.
The film highlights two wonderful, symbiotic things that speak to Jacobs' success in pushing back on destructive ideas: first, her work promoting thriving communities inside of cities; and second, how those very commu

The tech industry is constantly innovating and ever-shifting, but there are some persistent truths — such as the fact no programming language is more ubiquitous than Java. Anyone who masters this skillset will turn into a job-ready coder, and the All-Level Java Programming Bundle provides some critical instruction towards that end. For a limited time, this all-encompassing course package is available for just $29 from TNW Deals. In this two-part, 14-lesson course bundle, you’ll be g

The broadway hit Hamilton has been a magnet for celebrities, and last night, Vice President-elect Mike Pence was the latest to attend. At curtain call, the show’s cast and crew delivered a message to him before a packed house.Aaron Burr actor Brandon Victor Dixon delivered the remarks as the Vice President-elect was leaving the show:
"Thank you for joining us at Hamilton: An American Musical. We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not prote

There’s an old adage that says “don’t judge a book by its cover.” And while that’s usually used metaphorically to discourage making judgements of a person or situation based on initial impressions, there’s no reason why you couldn’t interpret it literally to refer to actually judging works of literature. That’s the idea behind recommendmeabook.com, which takes the idea of not judging a book by its cover and takes it to the natural conclusion.Design

(Reuters) – Cybersecurity company Optiv Security, majority owned by Blackstone Group, filed with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering of its common stock on Friday.
The company set a nominal fundraising target of $100 million in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing showed that both Optiv and its shareholders were offering shares in the IPO, but did not disclose the number of shares being sold or their expected price.
Optiv was created when cyber

Grammy nominee Sharon Jones died Friday at 60 after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to her band's website. 
The soul singer was known for her high-energy performances with her band the Dap-Kings; some had even called her the "female James Brown." Jones was a latecomer to the stage, starting her professional music career when she was 40. In 2014, she was nominated for her first Grammy for her album Give the People What They Want.We are deeply saddened to announce Sharon Jon

2016 was the year of Serena Williams.
The great athlete and amateur dancer stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to spill on the remarkable past 11 months she's experienced. 
While there, she detailed what it was like to dance with Beyoncé on stage. "All I could think was, 'Serena don't miss your note,'" she exclaimed, retelling the experience to DeGeneres before launching into explaining a more somber subject of a new resource center in honor of her late sister, Yetunde Price, who wa

Public cloud market leader Amazon Web Services (AWS) today said that people can now use the Amazon WorkSpaces service without downloading and installing a client. Instead they can use the service on the web after logging in.
“You can now be productive on heavily restricted networks and in situations where installing a WorkSpaces client is not an option. You don’t have to download or install anything, and you can use this from a public computer without leaving any private or cached da

As a lover of all things gaming, and retro titles in general, the offer to take a look at Pixel Pals was just too appealing. These light-up figurines are full of pixelated glory and feature video game icons from both past and present. The first two in the series are some of our all-time favorites, Mario and Mega Man. True to form, both pieces capture every last detail in softly-lit piece of free-standing pixel art.   Each figure stands about six-inches tall and runs on two (

Hyperloop One has settled a lawsuit that accused top executives of cronyism, nepotism, misuse of funds and allegations of harassment.
The Los Angeles-based developer of a futuristic transport system first thought up by Elon Musk has finally put a close to a lawsuit filed in July by four former employees. The settlement amount is confidential.
SEE ALSO: Hyperloop One's Dubai transport video is the sexiest thing you'll see all day
"Hyperloop One is pleased to announce that it has reached a confide

SPONSORED: Presented by Centrify.
There is little debate that this election will be described as a referendum on the status quo, with very strong anti-establishment and anti-elitist sentiment driving record numbers of unexpected voters to the polls. But that doesn’t tell the complete story. Yes, the Hillary campaign brought the current administration out in force in the final weeks, thus cementing her image as an entrenched Washington insider.
But I can’t help but think that this sta

The NES Classic Edition is nearly impossible to find. Overwhelming demand from a generation of people who want to go back the video games of their childhood (and scalpers) has ensured that Nintendo’s limited supply sells out the instant it goes on sale anywhere.
But why is a throwback console with 30 baked-in NES games (our review) generating so much excitement? After all, it’s easy to find most of these games on a 3DS — hell, you can even play them on your smartphone usin

When it comes to getting irrationally angry about random things, dads are in a league of their own.
SEE ALSO: Creative dad creates downhill mountain bike simulator for his daughter
The Twitter thread below — which started with the simple question, "What's the funniest thing you've ever seen your dad get angry at?" and escalated beautifully from there — is clear proof of this.just asked a great question in the group chat, extending it out to here: what’s the funniest thing you&r

Morgan Spurlock gained fame as the man behind the 2004 McDonald's exposé Super Size Me, a raw, stomach-churning look at America's favorite fast food chain.
Twelve years later, the filmmaker is opening a pop-up burger joint of his own.
There's just one very notable difference this time round: The mass-produced beef and waist-expanding grease of McDonald's mostly won't be offered at Spurlock's place.
SEE ALSO: You'll finally be able to order McDonald's from your smartphone
His joint, Holy C

LOS ANGELES — Apparel from YouTuber Connor Franta's lifestyle brand Common Culture will soon be sold at Urban Outfitters. 
Franta, 24, announced the partnership on YouTube Friday. 
As part of the deal, the retailer will distribute five exclusive pieces from the clothing collection including a T-shirt, a sweatshirt, a hoodie and two baseball hats. They will be available for purchase at eight brick and mortar locations.
Proceeds from the collection, which launches on Nov. 29, will

When we think about Tesla, the conversation often tips toward Autopilot, its self-driving feature. Less discussed, but equally impressive, are the numerous features that might just save your life while you’re piloting the car. Tesla owner Jason Hughes captured one of these moments. The video above was captured on a rear-mounted dashcam on Hughes’ Model S P85D — the fastest four-door production car on the planet. In the video, we see a distracted driver that hasn&rsqu

Editor's note: This is the 44th — and final! — entry in the writer's project to read one book about each of the U.S. Presidents in the year prior to Election Day 2016. Follow Marcus' progress at the @44in52 Twitter account and the 44 in 52 Spreadsheet.
Well, here we are, finally, at the end of the project. 
And what a time to end it. An unprecedented election came to a stunning close on November 8, 2016 as Donald Trump shocked everyone — including himself — by defeat

LOS ANGELES — This is not a drill: Emilia Clarke is joining the Star Wars universe.
Disney announced Friday that the Game of Thrones actress, best known for her role as the badass Khaleesi Queen of Dragons, is joining the upcoming Han Solo standalone film.
SEE ALSO: Emilia Clarke can barely stand up during 'Game of Thrones' filming
The untitled Han Solo movie, which takes place before the original Star Wars trilogy, is set for a 2018 release.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will direct. C

Weather forecasts are about to get more accurate and better looking. On Saturday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) newest and most capable weather satellite is scheduled to launch to space aboard an Atlas V rocket from Kennedy Space Center in FloridaThe satellite, known as GOES-R (pronounced in the bureaucracy as “GOZR”), could dramatically improve forecasts for severe weather events, from hurricanes to tornadoes and solar storms. The spacecraft is t

Emilia Clarke, who you probably recognize as the dragon-taming queen Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s Game of Thrones, has joined the young Han Solo standalone film, according to the official Star Wars website. The announcement does not make clear what role Clarke will be playing. However, she joins recent addition Donald Glover, who is set to play a young Lando Calrissian, and Alden Ehrenreich, who will be assuming the role of Han Solo years before his portrayal by Harrison Ford in the origina

The World Vasectomy Organization has taken an unexpected step in its efforts to promote sterilization in Kenya — by livestreaming the process on Facebook.
A series of operations were performed by doctors on a stage at the Kenyan National Theater in Nairobi Friday. They took place behind a curtain and were streamed online in an effort to banish stereotypes about masculinity, according to BBC News.
Some 150 men were booked in to take part in the 20-minute procedures.
SEE ALSO: Kenya's first

Reporter's note: This is part of a series featuring each new original show or movie debuting on YouTube Red. The subscription streaming service's first slate of originals launched in February.
LOS ANGELES — YouTube Red may not seem like the best place for an animated comedy series.
But for Michael Rowe, the Emmy Award-winning writer of Futurama and Family Guy, YouTube's subscription service actually was the place.
This week, YouTube Red launched Rowe's show Paranormal Action Squad, markin

In case you forgot, it's still PSL season, with all the love and disgust the drink inspires. 
And one person drank the equivalent of seven of them in under 2 minutes. SEE ALSO: Pumpkin sushi takes the spice out of a new fall trend
Competitive eater Matt "Megatoad" Stonie (who had never even had one of the famed beverages) drank about four cups of coffee, ordered seven Venti PSLs, combined them in a large cup and the rest is basic, fall-spiced history. He says it is about 4,000 cal

 It might be time for movie lovers to add another streaming service to their monthly subscriptions — FilmStruck, a new service created by Turner Classic Movies. Services like Amazon and Netflix are building up libraries of originals (starting with TV, but also including films), and they’re striking deals to get high-profile new releases. But if you’re a particular kind of… Read More

In a scary scene from Thursday Night Football, Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion. 
Kuechly took a hit to the back of the head, near the neck, in addition to twisting his knee awkwardly on the play. Injuries can often be emotional for players, but Kuechly, the league leader in tackles, was a wreck. He sobbed as the medical staff tended to him. Prayers go out for Luke Kuechly. Nobody loves football more than this guy pic.twitt

Traditional media companies see a huge amount of potential in gaming-related content, and that has translated into another acquisition.
Warner Bros., a hollywood and gaming behemoth, took full control over the Machinima digital-video company yesterday, as first reported by Variety. While a lot of internet media startups are struggling to find a business model that can sustain growth, larger companies are seeing this market as a way to access a younger, more connected audience. This acquisition s

Following a year of decline in the number of women that make up its workforce, Microsoft says it will now tie executive bonuses to the company’s diversity efforts, according to a report in Bloomberg. The move is a form of pressure to incentivize top leadership to reform the company’s hiring practices in an effort to include more women and minorities. After Microsoft wrote off the acquisition of Nokia’s handset unit and fired thousands of employees, it saw its percentage of fema