Technology news

Mark Hamill you rascal.
The Luke Skywalker actor had a good laugh at everyone's expense on Saturday when he tweeted a look at his very own trailer for Star Wars Episode IX.  His very literal trailer that he hung out in when he wasn't on set. People keep asking me over & over & over again- "When will they release the #EpisodeIX trailer?"
A) I don't know.
B) Until they do, just be satisfied with this exclusive look at my own personal #StarWars trailer.#PatiencePadawans #IXWillBeF

Nothing gold can stay. 
A bunch of humorless and fun-hating jerks are trying to ruin the famous Hillsborough, Calif., Flintstones-style house by getting it declared a public nuisance. So reports the East Bay Times, which notes that it's the latest additions to the home that have Hillsborough planning and building officials peeved.
SEE ALSO: We yabba dabba do want to live in this Flintstones house that's up for sale
And what might those additions be? Why, freaking dinosaurs, of course. 

Having tasted the viral birth highs of 2017, it was only a matter of time before April the giraffe came back to YouTube for another sweet hit of the good stuff. 
That's right, everyone's favorite cam star is back at it again. According to the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, April gave birth to a healthy male calf at 12:43 p.m. ET on March 16. 
A Facebook post announcing the birth neglected to mention that we are all born into suffering. 
SEE ALSO: April the giraff

Valve removed more than 100 tributes to the alleged white supremacist responsible for the mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand from Steam profiles, says Kotaku. In the days after the attack, it found that numerous users updated their profiles to include the name or image of the shooter, and in one case, a GIF of the attack.
Kotaku says that it initially saw 66 profiles that paid tribute to the shooter in the aftermath of the attack, which claimed 50 lives. The number of tribut

The tit-for-tat war of words between Spotify and Apple continued today, with the former calling the latter a “monopolist,” and that it’s response to the lawsuit was “entirely in line with our expectations,” according to Variety.
The statement is the latest in a highly public spat between the two companies. On Wednesday, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Union, alleging that Apple uses unfair practices in the App Store. Specifically, Spotify is upset at th

Eighty-four percent of the time, it works every time. 
A study involving more than 400,000 participants and their Apple Watches indicated that the smart device may provide some form of early warning for those experiencing the heart rate irregularity known as atrial fibrillation. So reports Reuters, which notes that the research was funded by Apple. 
The study, done in collaboration with Stanford Medicine, required people to wear an Apple Watch and made use of the watch's irregular rhyt

A growing number of universities in the US are abandoning the use of standardized tests as a key factor in the admissions process. Last month, Creighton University announced that it won’t require hopeful applicants to submit ACT or SAT test results beginning in 2020, joining the likes of Arizona State University, DePaul University, Drake University, University of Arizona, and University of Chicago, among others. Why are these respected institutions ditching these test scores, which have b

The entertainment industry is really going all out to sex up Ted Bundy, between Netflix's documentary series on the serial killer and the upcoming Zac Efron-starring Bundy film, and Stephen Colbert has had enough of it. 
Responding to viewer tweets that discussed Bundy's hotness, Colbert deadpanned, he was smokin' because they gave him the electric chair for murdering people.” And the host even shared a Netflix tweet that shared the same sentiment. 
But then Colbert kicked it up

Apple and the Stanford University School of Medicine each issued press releases today citing the results of the Apple Heart Study that they jointly announced in November 2017. Stanford Medicine also took its findings to the American College of Cardiology’s 68th Annual Scientific Session and Expo today. Apple fully funded the study.
The Apple Heart Study, which did not include the Apple Watch Series 4 (with its built-in ECG feature), included 419,093 participants. Apple says people from al

The more getting rejected changes, the more getting rejected stays the same. 
Tinder announced in a March 15 blog post that it had stopped showing users potential matches based on the frequency with which people swiped left or right on their respective accounts. Now, using lots of words to explain very little, the company says it just does something even more nebulous and undefined — but you'd better believe that people running for the hills from your terrible profile still affects wh

As we struggle our way through the cold mud towards spring amidst a barrage of awful news, it's good to know that we can still find respite in the most reliable of places: adorable zoo animals.
SEE ALSO: In a glamorous turn of events, polar bears are pooping glitter to fight off extinction
This latest example comes in the debut of a new polar bear cub at Berlin's Tierpark Zoo. The three-month old cub is the offspring of mother Tonja and was born on December 1, 2018, but she just made her public

One Australian teen gave the world a much-needed moment of catharsis on Saturday, egging Australian senator Fraser Anning over his reaction to the horrific Christchurch, New Zealand mass shooting and taking a punch in the face for his efforts. 
Video of the incident, showing the teen sliding up behind Anning while he spoke to reporters, immediately went viral. The teen splats an egg on the back of Anning's head, filming the whole thing with his phone, which prompted Anning to spin around an

National Geographic has completed its investigation reports of sexual misconduct by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and will resume plans to air two shows that he is involved with, Star Talk and Cosmos: Possible Worlds, reports Entertainment Weekly.According to EW, National Geographic did not disclose the findings of its investigation, only that it had concluded. We’ve reached out to National Geographic for comment, and will update this post if we hear back.In 2017 and 2018, Three wom

Today is your last day to save $30 on a Mario-themed game when you buy a Nintendo Switch. You can purchase a Nintendo Switch for $299 (its regular price) and get a $30 discount on Super Mario Party, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, or Mario Tennis Aces. This deal is available at Walmart, Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy, and Target, both online and at your local store, but availability may vary depending on your location.
Eero officially became a part of Amazon ea

If a new report is correct, you could soon have the option of playing a smattering of mobile games on Snapchat in between all of those goofy snaps you take of your dog barking at its own shadow. 
The news comes from Cheddar, which reports that Snapchat will announce the platform, codenamed "Project Cognac," at its partner summit on April 4 in Los Angeles. Cheddar also reports having seen an invitation for the event (I assume mine was lost in the mail) that features the slogan, “Less t

The second season of American Gods just premiered on Starz this past week, and fans can breath easy: Deadline reports that the network has renewed the series for a third season, and has brought on Hemlock Grove and Walking Dead producer Charles Eglee to serve as showrunner.Based off of the classic fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman, American Gods follows a former convict named Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) who is pulled into an epic battle between factions of old and new deities when he’s hired b

On February 22nd, Virgin Galactic’s passenger spaceplane VSS Unity took to the skies above the Mojave Desert in California during a test flight, carrying a type of rider it’s never had before. On board the vehicle was Beth Moses, the first passenger the Unity has ever flown. Along with the plane’s two pilots, the trio climbed to a height of 55.85 miles (89.9 kilometers) — what many consider to be the beginning of space.
The short flight qualified Moses for commercial ast

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.What's cuter than Chris Hemsworth? Chris Hemsworth with a quokka, of course. 
The middle Hemsworth brother has blessed our feeds once again. The 35-year-old actor posed with an adorable raccoon-like animal on Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth, Australia. "Got my first quokka selfie this week at @rottnestislandwa," he wrote in the caption. The Thor star was joined on vacati

March Mindfulness is our new series that examines the explosive growth in mindfulness and meditation technology — culminating in Mashable's groundbreaking competitive meditation bracket contest. Because March shouldn't be all madness.When you're stressed — consumed by thoughts about your next career move, that embarrassing thing you said a few weeks ago, or anything else that makes your chest tight — it's helpful to bring yourself back into the present by taking a few deep, ste

As long as voice assistants are on the rise, data privacy should be too. The market is now saturated with voice assistants from Siri and Google Assistant to Facebook Portal and Amazon Alexa. In January, Amazon announced that more than 100 million Alexa enabled devices have been sold globally. And, Google boasted that more than 1 billion devices, including Android phones, have the Google Assistant built-in. Whether it’s your alarm clock, bluetooth speaker, or even microwave, voice assistan

Google is making a big play in gaming next week, but we’re still unsure exactly what that entails. For years, the company has toyed with the idea of getting involved in what is now the biggest sector of the entertainment industry, worth an estimated $138 billion dollars as of last fall. And it would make competitive sense: Amazon owns Twitch, Facebook acquired Oculus, and Microsoft has Xbox. The only other major tech company without a serious gaming platform or investment of its own, not

Spring season officially begins on March. 20, and that means misery to people that suffer from hay fever. With symptoms ranging from sneezing, itchy eyes, nasal congestion, and many more. These symptoms will interfere with sleep and make it hard for you to concentrate throughout the day.
Rakuten is currently offering a refurbished Dyson AM11 Pure Cool HEPA filter tower purifier with code HOME20 for $159.99 (listed at $499.99). Having this air purifier at home is an excellent way to reduce airbor

A new mom never knows when she’ll feel utterly alone and desperate. Maybe it’ll be when she’s laid out her pumping equipment in a closet-sized room at work only to realize she’s forgotten the power cord. Or when her bus stalls on its way home, and she knows her infant son will need to go directly to sleep after she picks him up late from daycare. Or when she’s finally crawled into bed and it’s at that precise moment her baby wakes up screaming.
Sometimes paren

Earth is now the warmest it's been in some 120,000 years. Eighteen of the last 19 years have been the warmest on record. And concentrations of carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — are likely the highest they've been in 15 million years. 
The consequences of such a globally-disrupted climate are many, and it's understandably difficult to keep track. To help, here's a list of climate-relevant news that has transpired in 2019, from historically unprecedented disappearances of

Welcome to Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2019 and we have the entire internet to contend with.Youth sports are often pure chaos. I’m the head coach of two girls’ basketball teams and I’ve seen my share of wild behavior. There are coaches cursing at referees like the NBA championship is on the line, and parents who think their 5-y

A few months ago I was offered (and have since accepted) a full time offer to work at Facebook in San Francisco and in that time I have been reflecting on my own usage of social media and the amount of value it has added to my life. A common trend I’ve been seeing is the urgency to delete all your social media immediately or even go completely off-the-grid to avoid the unimaginable long-term implications of having your attention and personal data potentially

Imagine finally finding the time to unwind after weeks of soul-crushing work. You uncork that special bottle of wine you've been saving, and park yourself in front of Netflix.
But after your second glass, your inner klutz accidentally spills the precious vino all over your white couch. Oops.
Avoid a similar situation from happening with the Aura Glass Non-Spill Drinking Glasses — wine glasses designed to avoid spillage.Image:aura glassCrafted with a stainless steel ball, this patented glas

Editor's note: Mashable and PC Mag are both owned by Ziff Davis.
Learning a special skill is an important aspect of making yourself indispensable in today’s workforce. Plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and countless other workers have some of the strongest job security because there will always be a demand for their crafts. 
Another skill you may have heard of is one of the most valuable in today’s job market: Coding.
SEE ALSO: 12 of the best online dating sites for geeks
Codin

If you've ever been sucked into the black hole that is YouTube, you're likely familiar with the wonderful world of dash cam footage. In it, you'll witness talented parallel parkers, insane crashes, and even meteor blasts.
But dash cams don't just exist to immortalize highway drama. They can also save your butt when a person doing the Bird Box challenge collides with you on the road.
We know you don't want your auto-insurance premium skyrocketing, which is why we bring you these five dash cams on