• Change.org just got a $30 million investment to expand petitions into real social movements

    Change.org just got a $30 million investment to expand petitions into real social movements
    Change.org is getting some major support from tech billionaires to create real social movements. 
    LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is leading a $30 million funding round for the site in what he said in a post on LinkedIn was his largest personal impact investment to date. 
    Bill Gates and Y Combinator's Sam Altman are also investing in Change.org in this round, Change.org CEO Ben Rattray said in a blog post. 
    "As a society, we should be doing everything we can to build powerful, ea
  • Uber CEO’s mother dies in boating accident, father hospitalized

    Uber CEO’s mother dies in boating accident, father hospitalized
    Bonnie Kalanick, the mother of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, died Friday evening in a boating accident outside Fresno, Calif. Donald Kalanick, Travis’s father, suffered “moderate injuries” as a result of the accident, and is currently hospitalized in Fresno, according to a report by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
    The Sheriff’s Office received a report of the accident slightly before 5 p.m. Friday. Deputies with the office’s boating enforcement unit alrea
  • This was a big week for blockchain

    This was a big week for blockchain
    GUEST: I just spent four days at two of the most important conferences in the emerging blockchain/crypto-currency space.
    One was Consensus. The other Token Summit.
    I had about 100 conversations with people who are at the epicenter of the blockchain wave, including one of the approximately 35 people in the world who make up the Bitcoin Core team that’s responsible for the protocol’s upkeep.
    It’s going to take a few weeks or months to totally get my head around all this, but here
  • Tragedy strikes as Uber CEO Kalanick loses mother in boating accident, father in serious condition

    Tragedy strikes as Uber CEO Kalanick loses mother in boating accident, father in serious condition
     We’ve received word from Uber that the Kalanick family suffered a tragic event this weekend. CEO Travis Kalanick’s parents were in a boating accident in Fresno yesterday and his mother Bonnie Horowitz Kalanick has passed away. His father Donald Kalanick was also injured. The company provided the following statement. “Last night Travis and his family suffered an… Read More
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  • YouTube star Colin Furze turned a microwave into a video game console

    YouTube star Colin Furze turned a microwave into a video game console
    Internet star and maker Colin Furze has built all sorts of crazy inventions for his YouTube channel, ranging from a working hoverbike to a homemade Iron Man suit built to withstand a barrage of fireworks. In his latest video, he’s turned his microwave into a playable game console.His new invention is the Play-o-Wave, a fully-functional microwave with a screen mounted on it. He built a screen into the door, and included a set of inputs for a handheld controller in the body. He proceeded to
  • Juno sees something familiar looking out from Jupiter's rings

    Juno sees something familiar looking out from Jupiter's rings
    Imagine that you're standing on an alien world, far out in the galaxy. You look up and see a brilliant bed of stars above you, blanketing totally foreign sky. 
    But what if you were on a different planet a little closer to home? What would you see then?
    A new photo beamed back from Jupiter by NASA's Juno probe, gives us a good idea of what that could be like.
    SEE ALSO: Jupiter is the gigantic, stormy hellscape we always feared
    The new Juno image gives us our first view of what it's like to l
  • Flight of Passage is an incredible immersive ride through the world of Avatar

    Flight of Passage is an incredible immersive ride through the world of Avatar
    Theme park attractions don’t normally require real suspension of disbelief. You strap into a vehicle, get swung around a bit, and then you’re off and running to the next line. But when you’re dealing with an entire immersive world, like Disney’s new Pandora: The World of Avatar, that dynamic changes. There has to be a narrative behind the ride, an in-world reason for people to line up when they’ve ostensibly traveled to an alien world known for its lush, exotic land
  • Shiba Inu dog: Yes, fidget spinners 'are' evil

    Shiba Inu dog: Yes, fidget spinners 'are' evil
    It turns out that dogs (of course) know that fidget spinners are the work of the devil, and one brave Shiba Inu had no problem making her feelings known in a video posted on Instagram this week. 
    SEE ALSO: Shiba Inu Cashier Wants to Sell You Much Magazines
    Nothing odd happens here other than the mere spinning of the popular time-wasting gadget, but Kiba the Shiba isn't fooled and emphatically calls out the unnatural movements of the seemingly innocent device. #kibatheshiba loves #fidge
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  • Lyft and Uber will return to Austin on Monday

    Lyft and Uber will return to Austin on Monday
    Ride-share companies Lyft and Uber plan to resume their operations in Austin, Texas, on Monday, more than a year after both companies pulled out of the city following the rejection of a measure that would have restrictions on the ride-share companies in the city.The return for both companies follows the passage of HB100 by the Texas legislature, which Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign on Monday. The bill stipulates that the ability to regulate ride-share companies is controlled by the sta
  • Coke made a label that doubles as a wristband for music festivals

    Coke made a label that doubles as a wristband for music festivals
    Bottles of Coke could get Romanians into concerts this summer.
    The soda giant is printing detachable labels that double as festival wristbands to some of the country's biggest musical events. 
    SEE ALSO: Why Warren Buffett is the new face of Coca-Cola in China
    Not every bottle is a winner; drinkers have to use a special app to determine whether or not their package is a real ticket.
    But the company is hoping that the eight quirky designs it's rolling out will make teens want to wear them reg
  • Uber is only legal in London for 4 more months

    Uber is only legal in London for 4 more months
    London isn't totally sold on Uber. 
    The city's transportation authority, Transport for London, renewed Uber's license Friday — but only for four months. 
    Uber's current 5-year license, which it won in 2012, expires May 30. 
    Uber wants another five-year agreement — not a measly four-month extension. And Uber's opponents aren't thrilled about the short-term approval either. 
    “Uber has still not answered questions that TfL asked months ago. We say they are eith
  • Gazillion 2.0: How an online game company rebooted itself and brought Marvel Heroes Omega to the consoles

    Gazillion 2.0: How an online game company rebooted itself and brought Marvel Heroes Omega to the consoles
    Gazillion Entertainment is a company that came back from the dead. It was shedding employees a few years ago, and now it’s celebrating the recent debut of its massively multiplayer online game Marvel Heroes Omega on the PlayStation 4. Soon it will debut on the Xbox One.
    The company’s new leadership refers to this era as Gazillion 2.0, where it had to reboot not only its biggest game but also the whole company. And early results from the beta test look good.
    “The word of mo
  • Chasing dreams may be the next sleeper hit for venture capitalists

    Chasing dreams may be the next sleeper hit for venture capitalists
     After decades spent funding technologies tailored to deprive us of sleep (see: streaming video, gaming, social networks and 24/7 online shopping), the venture capital industry has decided to direct its considerable capital reserves at helping us get more shut-eye. Read More
  • Breaking down Kim Dotcom’s bizarre, conspiracy-theory filled week

    Breaking down Kim Dotcom’s bizarre, conspiracy-theory filled week
    The conspiracy theory around murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich isn’t weird so much as sad: it drags a man’s fairly recent death into the spotlight in order to promote the idea of a “deep state” plot, based on evidence that’s either speculative or factually wrong. But it’s brought together a strange coalition of well-known subscribers — including the internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.
    Dotcom, founder of defunct cloud storage site Meg
  • British Airways extends London flight cancellations through Saturday amid IT failure

    British Airways extends London flight cancellations through Saturday amid IT failure
     British Airways has yet to fix the IT outage that caused them to cancel all flights at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports earlier Saturday. They originally thought they would be back online by about 6pm GMT, but they’ve now acknowledged that operations will remain suspended through the rest of the day. Following a major IT system failure this morning, we've cancelled… Read More
  • Snap acquires drone company, may put eyes in the skies

    Snap acquires drone company, may put eyes in the skies
    All the pieces of Snap's grand plan are coming together, the latest of which appears to be putting its camera technology atop drones. 
    SEE ALSO: Snapchat blew its first-ever earnings
    At least that's the obvious conclusion based on Snap's acquisition of Ctrl Me Robotics for "under $1 million," a deal that was first reported by Buzzfeed on Friday. Snap has not commented on the deal or the acquisition price.  
    Although the report calls the Venice Beach-based company a drone manufacturer,
  • Snap recently acquired Ctrl Me Robotics, an LA-based drone company

    Snap recently acquired Ctrl Me Robotics, an LA-based drone company
    Late last year, Snap acquired LA-based drone company Ctrl Me Robotics, according to Buzzfeed. Recent reports indicate that the maker of Snapchat and Spectacles intends to develop a drone of its own as it looks to push beyond developing apps and into hardware.
    Snap reportedly acquired Ctrl Me Robotics for less than a million dollars last last year, in a deal that included some of the company’s equipment and assets, as well as its founder, Simon Nielsen. Ctrl Me Robotics described itself as
  • The Warriors have been unbeatable since Klay Thompson fulfilled a weird autograph request

    The Warriors have been unbeatable since Klay Thompson fulfilled a weird autograph request
    The Golden State Warriors are unbeatable right now. Literally. 
    The team America loves to hate has been perfect in the NBA Playoffs, racking up a 12-0 record through the first three rounds in barnstorming its way to a third consecutive NBA Finals. 
    All this despite one of Golden State's vaunted superstars, Klay Thompson, slumping his way through the entire post-season. But it's possible that Thompson, wittingly or not, traded his on-court talents for something more powerfulMuch more po
  • Take the party wherever you go with this portable beer pong table

    Take the party wherever you go with this portable beer pong table
    'Oche Pong' allows you to play beer pong wherever you go. You can bring it to your next tailgate or stick it on your window. No need to move furniture or look for a table to play. You can play with either one or two boards. One board costs $39.99. May the first to clear their board win.  Read more...More about Games, Beer, Board Games, Fun, and Party
  • How to use Snapchat in 2017

    How to use Snapchat in 2017
    From the beginning, Snapchat has never been a particularly intuitive app to use. And now, five years in, with the addition of more and more new features and several redesigns, using the ephemeral messaging app can still be confusing if you don’t already know where everything is and what it does. Fortunately, I’ve spent hours puzzling through the labyrinthine digital corridors that make up Snapchat, and I can teach you the tricks.Why use Snapchat?
    Like it or not, Snapchat is one of th
  • President Obama stays far away from America with Prince Harry

    President Obama stays far away from America with Prince Harry
    President Barack Obama moved on from his picture-perfect vacation in Italy for basically the next-best thing: hanging out with Prince Harry. 
    The president met up with future Mr. Meghan Markle at Kensington Palace in London on Saturday, the palace shared on Twitter and Instagram. Prince Harry hosted former US President @BarackObama at Kensington Palace todaypic.twitter.com/9SWfSRY4FH
    — Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 27, 2017
    Good to see my friend Prince Harry in London
  • LED eyelashes are the future of making your eyes literally light up

    LED eyelashes are the future of making your eyes literally light up
    We see your glitter tears and barbed wire eyebrows, but if you really want to take beauty into the future, you'll at least consider these LED eyelashes. 
    SEE ALSO: Anonymous found photos explore a century of hairstyles
    Dubbed F.Lashes, the illuminated eyelashes appear to change display animations depending on how you tilt your head or move your body. 
    The LED eyelashes will come in pink, red, blue, light blue, white, yellow, green, and can be applied using normal eyelash glue, no elabo
  • The crossover between car simulations and autonomous vehicles

    The crossover between car simulations and autonomous vehicles
    Artificial intelligence is advancing fast and it is leading to strange bedfellows. One case is the interplay between AImotive, a maker of self-driving car software for real-world autonomous cars, and Slightly Mad Studios, the London-based maker of the Project Cars video game and the upcoming Project Cars 2.
    AImotive found that it needed to test its self-driving car software in cars on the road, but that wasn’t really easy to do, given regulatory restrictions on where such cars can be drive
  • The unexpected trouble of revisiting old video game screenshots

    The unexpected trouble of revisiting old video game screenshots
    A while back, I chronicled the experience building and enjoying my first PC. I bought and assembled the parts, downloaded Steam, and became obsessed with the many features I had never experienced on consoles. After that piece wrapped, one particular tool continued to stand out: the screen capture.Today, capturing what’s on your screen is as simple as tapping a button on a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One controller — even Nintendo has dedicated screencap button on the Switch. But when I beg
  • Judah Vs. The Machines: The race for prowess against a toy car

    Judah Vs. The Machines: The race for prowess against a toy car
     In the latest installment of Judah vs The Machines, Judah ventures down to Anki, a company combining augmented reality and artificial intelligence to entertain fans of racing games. Anki utilizes smartphone cameras and a dedicated app to recreate the imagery of racing battles happening on a real physical track in front of you. Judah challenges three autonomous Anki cars to a death match… Read More
  • Europe’s Mars Schiaparelli lander crashed due to a software glitch

    Europe’s Mars Schiaparelli lander crashed due to a software glitch
    Last October, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission lost contact with its Schiaparelli lander as it attempted to land on Mars. As the agency began to investigate, it suspected that a computer problem or bad navigational data was to blame. Now, an independent investigation has issued its final report, confirming that software problems caused the capsule to crash, and provided recommendations for the 2020 ExoMars mission.
    The report highlights reveals a timeline for the crash, noting t
  • Silicon Valley law firm Gunderson Dettmer’s legal advice for Pied Piper

    Silicon Valley law firm Gunderson Dettmer’s legal advice for Pied Piper
     Gunderson Dettmer is the law firm a good majority of tech startups turn to in the Valley for fundings, mergers, licensing and other deals and it’s been in the business of offering tech companies everyday legal advice to everyone from Oracle to DoorDash since the dot-com boom. It was ranked the “most active law firm globally” in PitchBook’s recently-released… Read More
  • These terrible dress shirts must go

    These terrible dress shirts must go
    At some point between late 2015 and early 2016, the ubiquitous cold-shoulder top took hold of fast fashion and has since refused to let go. You know the ones — those dumb, otherwise long-sleeved shirts with holes inexplicably cut from the shoulder. True to name, they make your shoulders cold and your life just a little bit worse. 
    Now another another unforgivable trend is creeping its way into fast fashion stores across America. 
    The style: Deconstructed shirting. 
    The look:
  • New trailers: Game of Thrones, Valerian, Spider-Man, and more

    New trailers: Game of Thrones, Valerian, Spider-Man, and more
    Between Arrival and the trailers for Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve is looking like one of the hottest directors right now. He also got a lot of attention for Sicario back in 2015. I missed it then, thinking it looked like a rote action film, but I decided to watch it the other weekend to get a better sense of what Villeneuve's been up to.
    There are some really gorgeous shots in the movie. But the thing that stands out to me most about Sicario is just how dramatically different it is from A
  • Could the UK be about to break end-to-end encryption?

    Could the UK be about to break end-to-end encryption?
     Once again there are indications the UK government intends to use the law to lean on encryption. A report in The Sun this week quoted a Conservative minister saying that should the government be re-elected, which polls suggest it will, it will move quickly to compel social media firms to hand over decrypted data. Read More
  • 'Terminator 2' entirely recreated in 'Grand Theft Auto'

    'Terminator 2' entirely recreated in 'Grand Theft Auto'
    There are Terminator movie fans and then there are beautiful maniacs like this guy who recreated the entire Terminator 2 movie using Grand Theft Auto V. 
    We already know that the GTA modding community is incredibly creative, but the dedication and attention to detail required by this project is mind blowing. Just about everything is there: the motorcycle chase, the flashback scenes to the robot resistance led by John Connor, the Terminator's nude time travel arrival, and even the liquid me
  • 5 types of rest every creative should adopt

    5 types of rest every creative should adopt
    There’s a pervasive idea out there that life and creativity are a zero-sum game. Indulge one, destroy the other. Or, as designer Stefan Sagmeister once wrote in a mural of coins across a plaza in Amsterdam: “Obsessions make my life worse and my work better.” But as anyone who has ever experienced it knows, there comes a point when obsession makes your work worse too. Burnout can be creatively lethal. As Sagmeister explains in his TED talk, “The Power of Time Off”:
  • Zoolz offers 1TB of cloud storage for life – for under $30

    Zoolz offers 1TB of cloud storage for life – for under $30
    Stack up all the hard drives and flash sticks you want, but online storage space is still a premium commodity. Without some regular attention to storage room on your phone, tablet or laptop, you’ll likely to find stuff clogging up your device. Rather than slow your tech to a crawl, just start sorting through all the stockpiled videos, images, documents and other low-priority digital content and push it to your 1TB of cloud space from Zoolz Dual Cloud Storage (now just $29 from TNW Deals).
  • President Trump left TripAdvisor reviews for the Middle East and just, wow

    President Trump left TripAdvisor reviews for the Middle East and just, wow
    President Trump wants to voice his opinions on the Middle East and no, not through some archaic Washington-insider liberal elitist speech.
    The man wants to communicate his worldview the best way he knows how — by yelling on the internet. Returning from his trip in the Middle East, the president has graciously left behind his TripAdvisor reviews for each and every country he visited. Trump got the travel bug! 
    SEE ALSO: Overpriced garbage from Trump's estate we could sell to offset his
  • The movement behind the rose emoji that you probably don't know about

    The movement behind the rose emoji that you probably don't know about
    Up until 2016, the Rose emoji only had two days in the sun: Mothers' Day and Valentines' Day.
    Since before the election of 2016, however, rose emoji began popping up in droves on social media, not as aesthetic, but as symbols.
    Placed next to usernames and in bios, the rose emoji signals more than an undying love for American Beauty: it indicates membership in the Democratic Socialists of America. 
    SEE ALSO: President Obama uses courage award speech to reframe the healthcare debate
    The DSA,
  • Drones aren’t having their mainstream moment yet

    Drones aren’t having their mainstream moment yet
     Write about technology for any amount of time, you’ll get run through the hype wringer. It’s impossible to avoid. After all, it’s the excitement of new technologies that drew so many of us to this field in the first place. And when DJI debuts a product like the Spark, the word “game changer” gets tossed around a lot, just like it did with last year’s… Read More
  • The NCAA needs to help college esports grow

    The NCAA needs to help college esports grow
    GUEST: As esports at all levels continues to earn mainstream credibility, one segment is poised for explosive growth – collegiate esports. How colleges and universities will manage esports is an important question.
    Esports has the potential to be a significant revenue generator at the collegiate level, it on par with money-making college sports like football and basketball. The current path of collegiate esports, however, puts it in the Wild West — no regulation, rules
  • This pop-up beach blanket solves every pet peeve about laying in the sand

    This pop-up beach blanket solves every pet peeve about laying in the sand
    Shlack is a pop-up beach mat that replaces traditional towels that get sandy and are hard to maintain. Read more...More about Kickstarter, Summer, Beach, Sand, and Ocean
  • The best tech sales of Memorial Day 2017

    The best tech sales of Memorial Day 2017
    While not as major as Black Friday, Memorial Day is known for its great sales, and many online retailers are having notable ones to mark the occasion. Below, we’ve rounded up the tech sales worth checking out during your long weekend, including three of our favorite deals.
    Our favorites
    Amazon has Anker’s popular PowerPort 10 at its lowest price ever of $28 with promo code BEST2133. We’re unclear when the code expires and recommend acting fast if you need one of these. (And if
  • Even Liam Payne can't talk to Jay-Z without bringing on a bodyguard

    Even Liam Payne can't talk to Jay-Z without bringing on a bodyguard
    One Direction's Liam Payne probably has his own bodyguards, but that didn't protect him from getting shoved out of the way by Jay-Z's. The singer got a little too close when he tried to talk to the rapper and it didn't go very well, Payne said on The Graham Norton Show.  
    And Leonardo DiCaprio was there, too.  Read more...
    More about One Direction, Jay Z, Graham Norton Show, Liam Payne, and Watercooler
  • Watch a working concept of a holographic Cortana assistant

    Watch a working concept of a holographic Cortana assistant
    When Microsoft unveiled its digital assistant in 2014, it looked to the Halo franchise for inspiration, naming its system Cortana, after Master Chief’s AI companion. One ambitious fan has gone a step further and created his own holographic version of the assistant for his home.Jarem Archer, who goes by untitled network on YouTube, demonstrates the build in the video by asking Corana if he’ll need an umbrella that day. The Halo AI appears in the pyramid-shaped device, and appears to c
  • British Airways suffers major IT outage, cancels and delays flights worldwide

    British Airways suffers major IT outage, cancels and delays flights worldwide
    Technology isn't going so well for British Airways. 
    The airline suffered a major IT outage on Saturday and canceled all its flights leaving from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports before 6 p.m. local time. Outside of London, British Airways passengers faced extreme delays and were stuck on the tarmac for hours. 
    "The terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and we have cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick before 6pm UK time today, so please do n
  • Chaos as global IT failure takes out all British Airways flights out of London

    Chaos as global IT failure takes out all British Airways flights out of London
     British Airways has a problem. Its new IT system has completely crashed five times inside a year, and today it added a sixth global crash to the roster. All flights from Heathrow and Gatwick have been cancelled until at least 6pm in London tonight, affecting all BA flights globally. The airline is asking passengers not to come to the airports. The system failure also took out the BA website… Read More
  • New species of meat-eating sponge found off the coast of Canada

    New species of meat-eating sponge found off the coast of Canada
    Canadian researchers have discovered a new species of meat-eating sponge in the North Atlantic Ocean. Don’t worry, though, it doesn’t eat human meat — it feeds on zooplankton, tiny animals that drift in sea water. (With those fish bone-looking spikes, though, it sure looks like a creature from hell.)Photo: Fisheries and Oceans CanadaCladorhiza kenchingtonae is about 6.5 feet long.The carnivorous sponge, named Cladorhiza kenchingtonae after Canadian research scientist Ellen Kenc
  • 7 Decades of Ferrari F1 Evolution in One Bellissimo GIF

    The key to staying relevant in F1 is to never stop evolving. The post 7 Decades of Ferrari F1 Evolution in One Bellissimo GIF appeared first on WIRED.
  • British Airways flights disrupted worldwide due to 'system failure'

    British Airways flights disrupted worldwide due to 'system failure'
    A “major IT system failure” is causing British Airways some headaches today. The airline reports that the computer issues are causing problems worldwide, and that flights out of London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been canceled.The airline is advising passengers to avoid going to the airport if they have a flight schedule before 6PM, to mitigate already crowded terminals, and that it’s unable to rebook passengers to other flights at this time. The problems don&rsq
  • British Airways cancels flights after major IT outage

    British Airways cancels flights after major IT outage
    There’s travel chaos this bank holiday weekend, after British Airways canceled hundreds of flights as a result of a major IT systems outage. The issue, which the airline has described as a “major IT system failure” and a “global system outage, has caused “severe disruption” to British Airways’ worldwide operations. Passengers are unable to check in, and parts of the British Airways website is down. Hundreds of passengers are also sat on the tarmac, as o
  • Why Are Colleges So Hostile to Fantasy Writers?

    College English departments aren't often havens for genre fiction. But some fantasy writers are starting to change that. The post Why Are Colleges So Hostile to Fantasy Writers? appeared first on WIRED.
  • Welcome to Pandora, avatars are included

    Welcome to Pandora, avatars are included
    Walt Disney Imagineering and James Cameron have built a whole new worldContinue reading…