Technology news

GUEST: Millennials love to chat. Their personal lives rotate around messaging and instant gratification. From getting their pals’ views on a new t-shirt they are thinking of buying to sharing their New Year’s resolutions publicly so as to make themselves more accountable, Gen Z, which comprises the majority of the workforce today, lives an instant and synchronous life, one that is built on the foundations of consumerism.
It is only natural that people’s preferences at work

PREVIEW: Mario Kart 8 is back for another race around the track. By reviving the Wii U era game with minimum additions, it seems Nintendo thinks that it was the Wii U console — not its software — that caused the system to sell so poorly, and it’s trying to bring the nearly 3-year-old game to what it hopes is a wider audience on its $300 hybrid console.
Initially released in 2014 for the Nintendo Wii U, Mario Kart 8 is being re-released on Nintendo Switch as Mario Kart 8 De

On Friday, NASA released an image of Jupiter taken by the Juno Spacecraft on December 11th. Interestingly, the stunning picture was processed by Russian musician Roman Tkachenko, who took the raw data taken by Juno's cameras to produce the final result.
The Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since July, where it’s been studying the gas giant’s atmosphere and magnetosphere. Along the way, it’s been taking some excellent pictures of the planet. Juno took the picture while

GUEST: People often categorize me as a ‘B2B SaaS’ investor, when in actuality I haven’t invested in a single SaaS company in years.
Why? Because I think it’s really hard for a traditional SaaS company to be successful in today’s market.
Given the level of transparency and competition in the enterprise software market (and the VC activity willing to fund enterprise software companies), traditional SaaS businesses often don’t present significant enough moats to

In a notice posted to its website on Friday, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced that it would be requiring mobile app stores to register with its offices in an attempt to clamp down on fraudulent applications.The rules go into effect on Monday, January 16th, and follow a 2016 law designed to restrict apps that attempt to disrupt national security, social order, and other illegal activities. These new rules appear to be designed to protect consumers from apps that deliberately steal

Apple held off until after the holidays to run its first TV ad for AirPods, perhaps due to their constrained supply. That situation hasn't improved much, honestly, but you should start to see these video spots airing across cable networks as of this weekend. They feature dancer Lil Buck, who’s listening to his AirPods through the streets of Mexico City.The 60-second “Stroll” is clearly meant to highlight the freedom and, as Apple loves to say, “magic” of truly wirel

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket today from California — over four months after one of the company’s vehicles exploded on a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket took off just before 1PM ET from Vandenberg Air Force Base, putting 10 satellites into orbit for communications company Iridium. After the initial takeoff, SpaceX was also able to land the Falcon 9’s first stage on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first successful launch of the F

GUEST: Looking at the list of 2016’s most common passwords, I can’t stop shaking my head. Nearly 17 percent of users are safeguarding their accounts with “123456.” What really perplexes me is that so many website operators are not enforcing password security best practices.
My firm, Keeper Security, scoured 10 million passwords that became public through data breaches that happened in 2016. A few things jumped out at us:
The list of most-frequently used passwords has chan

A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off from California on Saturday, returning the company to flight for the first time since a fiery launchpad explosion in September.
The launch of the 230-foot (70-meter) rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:54 a.m. PST (1754 GMT) aimed to deliver 10 satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc.
SpaceX’s founder and entrepreneur Elon Musk’s ambitious flight plans had been grounded since the Sept. 1 explosion during fueling ahead of a pre-fl

Following today’s rocket launch, SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 on the company’s drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the first landing SpaceX has done since August, and the fifth time one of these vehicles has landed at sea. However, this marks SpaceX’s first launch in the Pacific and the first landing for the drone ship “Just Read The Instructions.” The feat brings the total number of recovered SpaceX rockets to seven, as two other Falcon 9 vehicle

A few months ago, rumors were flying that a new Nvidia Shield Portable might be on the way. Newly uncovered Federal Communications Commission filings have given us our first look at what a new version of the flip-up portable Android-based console could look like.The original Shield was released back in 2013, and while Nvidia has since released a variety of tablets and set-top boxes under the Shield branding, the rebranded Shield Portable hasn’t had a major update since it launched.A new Sh

Sometime last year, my girlfriend told me she'd watched Carol while on a flight. It was mostly a great movie, she'd said, but she couldn't understand why, in a movie about a woman becoming comfortable with her interest in another woman, it would be so prudish about showing actual intimacy. It almost felt offensive.
It turned out, she was right. A few months later, it came out that Delta, the airline she was on, was censoring Carol, cutting out pretty much all of the physical intimacy in the film

Tomorrow, SpaceX is hoping to get back to launching — and landing — its rockets again, a little over four months after one of its Falcon 9 vehicles exploded on a Florida launchpad. The company’s vehicle is slated to take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:54PM ET, carrying 10 satellites into orbit for the communications company Iridium. And as is the norm with Falcon 9 launches these days, SpaceX will attempt to land the majority of the rocket upright on one

Tonight Lucasfilm took to the Star Wars website to make it very clear that the company will not be using digital effects to recreate Carrie Fisher in future entries of the franchise.
“We don’t normally respond to fan or press speculation, but there is a rumor circulating that we would like to address,” the statement reads. “We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.&rdq

A private company you probably haven't heard of just announced that it has the money it needs to shoot for the moon, literally.
Moon Express — one of the teams competing to win the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize — says that it has now raised enough money to build, test and launch its uncrewed MX-1E spacecraft to the lunar surface before the end of this year. 
SEE ALSO: A private spaceflight company just got approval to land a spacecraft on the moon
“We now have all the r

 Greater compute power and power efficiency has made deep learning algorithms ubiquitous in our world. Deep learning has found its way into self driving cars, convenience stores and hospitals. Yet the fight for top talent in the space remains fierce and is a bottleneck for reaching new industries and solving tough challenges. To complement Udacity’s previous AI courses, the… Read More

A big media executive is stepping down at Sony to help Snapchat on its quest to redefine the camera — and television. 
Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony’s entertainment division, announced Friday he is leaving his role at Sony to focus on Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat where he is chairman on the board. 
SEE ALSO: Snapchat is quietly making updates that Facebook advertisers like
According to an internal email obtained by Mashable, Lynton decided that Snap n

When packing up to get on the plane, you might want to leave that loaded gun at home. 
That might sound obvious, but 2016 actually saw the highest number of guns seized at airport security checkpoints — almost 3,400 firearms and 83 percent of them loaded — since the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was founded in 2001, the government agency announced on Thursday.
A total of 3,391 guns were seized at nearly 240 different airports across the country. Last year, TSA age

Deadpool is not winning the Oscar for Best Picture — not happening, nope, never, no way — but a series of recent developments have us wondering: Could it be nominated?
Could a disturbingly vulgar, hyper-violent superhero-rascal movie stand alongside La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight on Feb. 26 at the Dolby Theatre? Is this like a Brexit/Trump presidency thing happening right before our eyes?
SEE ALSO: All 23 times 'Deadpool' gleefully smashed the 4th wall
Ehhh, probabl

In yet another Twin Peaks revival teaser that tells us absolutely nothing, Kyle MacLachlan emerges from the shadows as Special Agent Dale Cooper, gazing into the abyss. And that's pretty much it, besides a little Pacific Northwest scenery and a road illuminated by headlights. 
But for fans starved of any hints, it's as sweet as cherry pie.
The revival, advertised as a "pure heroin" look into the curious mind of creator David Lynch, will premiere on May 21 on Showtime. 'Street Fighter'

The Hamilton soundtrack is making history. 
According to Billboard, the cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical has surpassed 1 million U.S. album sales.
SEE ALSO: The 'Hamilton' cast performing 'One Last Time' at the White House will wreck you
The soundtrack is only the ninth original cast recording to claim the honor. The top selling cast recording, at just shy of five million, is a selection of songs from the original London cast recording of Phantom of the Opera released in 1991

Hi. I'm old. You're oldLeBron James is old. 
The best basketball player in the Milky Way and all other galaxies made a surprise announcement Thursday night. But, even more surprisingly for something revolving around footwear, this surprise is a surprisingly emotional thing. 
Ugh. Now we're sitting over here getting all nostalgic and playing that one Green Day song on repeat. So, please: Join us as we explore these feelings. 
SEE ALSO: The most dad-ass dad sneaker of all time just

Professional Street Fighter player Lee "Infiltration" Seon-woo really opened up about Capcom and his issues with how they handle the pro scene.
In an interview with Core-A Gaming on Wednesday, Infiltration discussed some of his frustrations with season 2 of Street Fighter V and how changes and updates are focusing on bringing in new players, which in turn is forcing dedicated players to learn new characters and strategies. With all the new changes, Street Fighter V now rewards offensive strateg

Samsung's long battle with Apple has entered a pivotal new phase.
A patent case between the two tech rivals was reopened late Thursday evening, Law 360 reports. The major outstanding question is how much Samsung will have to pay Apple for infringing on the iPhone's design. 
SEE ALSO: Apple might depend on a rival for the next iPhone's display
This case has a long and complicated history stretching back to 2011. You could spend hours exploring this rabbit hole, but the most relevant bit to T

It can be tough to keep track of everything going on in the world of professional competitive gaming. Fear not: Each week, Mashable rounds up the best and biggest tournaments in esports to let you know when they're going down, and where to catch all the action. Plug in.
Some great events are taking place this weekend and next week, including the conclusion of the biggest annual speedrunning event in the world — Awesome Games Done Quick — and the end of group stages in the $100,000 Ov

Two former Microsoft employees are suing the company because they say the disturbing content they had to view for their jobs caused them to experience post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Both men are suing the tech giant for damages, alleging disability discrimination, violations of the Consumer Protection Act and negligence. The amount is to be decided during trial, according to the complaint filed in district court. 
SEE ALSO: Nokia finally returns to the smartphone market
When they co

Harry Potter star Rupert Grint and Gossip Girl alum Ed Westwick transform into hustlers for their new roles in Crackle's Snatch.
The 10-episode show, which Grint also executive produced, follows a group of 20-something, up-and-coming hustlers in London who stumble upon a truck load of stolen gold bullion and are suddenly thrust into the high-stakes world of organized crime. 
The series, from showrunner Alex De Rakoff, also stars Luke Pasqualino (Skins) as Albert Hill, Lucien Laviscount (Scr

Donald Trump is an image sensitive guy, always aware of his personal branding even if he's been elected president of the United States. So it's perhaps inevitable he would be micromanaging the details of his inauguration in Washington, D.C. next week.
Having the names of the port-a-potties covered up, though? That might seem like going a bit far, until you hear the name of the offending portable toilet company: Don's Johns.
Even Trump could see how bad that looks — and how quickly the joke