Technology news

The Milwaukee Brewers race sausages (tasty!). The Washington Nationals race presidents (America!). But the latest entry into the MLB comically sized mascots running for the laughs of drunk baseball fans might be the classiest.
The San Diego Padres debuted the Anchorman runners on Friday, and in the words of Ron Burgundy, "Don’t act like you’re not impressed."
Burgundy ran away with the win, handily beating Champ Kind, Brian Fantana, and noted lamp fan, Brick Tamland.  Read more.

When you’ve been doing this job long enough, you start to develop strange interests (though some might compellingly argue that strange interests are a prerequisite). Lately for me it’s been power banks. Quite possibly the least sexy product in all of consumer electronics outside of the ever-ubiquitous dongle.
I don’t know what to tell you. Blame the fact that I’m traveling every other week for this job. There are also all of the liveblogs from years’ past that got c

AMC has released the first trailer for its upcoming adaptation of Joe Hill’s horror novel, NOS4A2. The network also announced that the series will premiere alongside the next season of Fear the Walking Dead on June 2nd, 2019.First published in 2013, NOS4A2 follows the story of Victoria “Vic” McQueen (played by Ashleigh Cummings in the series), who discovers that she has a supernatural ability to find lost things by riding her bike across a strange bridge. She crosses paths wit

It’s been a busy day for Facebookexec op-eds. Earlier this morning, Sheryl Sandberg broke the site’s silence around the Christchurch massacre, and now Mark Zuckerberg is calling on governments and other bodies to increase regulation around the sorts of data in which Facebook traffics. He’s hoping to get out in front of heavy-handed regulation and get a seat at the table shaping it.
The founder published a letter simultaneously on his own page and The Washington Post, the latter

On our final day in Pittsburgh, we find ourselves in a decommissioned coal mine. Just northeast of the city proper, Tour-Ed’s owners run field trips and tours during the warmer months, despite the fact that the mine’s innards run a constant 50 degrees or so, year round.
With snow still melted just beyond the entrance, a team of students from Carnegie Mellon and Oregon State University are getting a pair of robots ready for an upcoming competition. The small team is one of a dozen or

Valve Corporation's VR headset, Valve Index, will officially launch in May 2019. The previously rumored launch was confirmed with a teaser on Friday with more details forthcoming.
Per earlier rumors, the Valve Index should have a 135-degree field of view and knuckles controllers. It's also likely that the tracking will be "inside out" (sensors inside the headset, as opposed to previous generations of Vive and Oculus, which used external sensor stations to track movement). 
SEE ALSO: How VR

In an op-ed for The Washington Post and Independent.ie, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that he believes that there needs to be “a more active role for governments and regulators” in order to counter broader threats to society, while balancing freedom of expression. He outlines four broad areas where he feels that new regulation is needed: data portability, election integrity, harmful content, and privacy.
Zuckerberg uses the op-ed to lay out his case for each of the f

The final season of Game of Thrones is almost upon us, and the promotional onslaught for the HBO series is underway. English Heritage, the charity that preserves the country’s historic sites, announced that before the finale premieres, it is posting its own version of the Night Watch on Hadrian’s Wall in northern England — the original inspiration for the wall in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series.The organization said earlier this month that its members will be decked

At WonderCon in Anaheim, California, DC Comics announced that Swamp Thing, its third live-action series its streaming service DC Universe, will premiere on May 31st. The company also provided a first look at its fourth upcoming series, Stargirl, and says that the company’s entire digital comics library will be added to the service for users in April.The streaming service is a one-stop-shop for almost all of DC’s content, and includes access to existing DC film and TV adaptations, co

Welcome back to this week’s transcribed edition of Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast that unpacks the numbers behind the headlines. We’re running an experiment for Extra Crunch members that puts the words of our wildly popular venture capital podcast, Equity, in your eyes instead of your ears.
This week, Kate Clark and Alex Wilhelm recorded an emergency episode to discuss Lyft’s IPO, which debuted Friday. The crew has been talking about the ridesharing

Freshman Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a public letter to Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai last week asking for him to explain the company’s work in China to the public. The letter followed Pichai’s week full of meetings in DC addressing comments made by US defense leaders in March.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting in March, General Joseph Dunford argued that Google’s current work in China “is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military.” The comments

Antonio Monteiro set a Guinness World Record in February for his enormous collection of 20,139 video games. Now, he's finally showing them off.
Monteiro walked through his treasure trove, which includes full North American sets for several consoles, in a video for Guinness World Records YouTube channel. He keeps all the games, which are stacked on the floor and on shelves up to the ceiling, in a single room. (The room seems pretty small at first, then just keeps going, and going, and going.)
The

The Sega Genesis Mini is making a comeback. Sega revealed the news at a fan event in Tokyo, adding details later about the U.S. version. 
Though there are few details about the console right now, Kotaku confirmed that the six-button controller will look the same for the Japanese version (the Mega Drive Mini). The U.S. version's three-button controllers will come with USB connectors. And for anyone with original controllers, sorry, but they won't work. The U.S. Mini will offer games inc

Everyone has a different tolerance for horror movies. 
But the one thing even those easily spooked can agree on is that scary movies can be overall enjoyable if they're more funny and less, you know, spine-chilling. 
Not everything has to be Hereditary-levels of sinister or conversely, veer into the extremely silly Scary Movie category. 
The following films offer the perfect balance for those looking to dive into the genre through comedy and without worrying about being haunted by

Earth is often in the firing line of fragments of asteroids and comets, most of which burn up tens of kilometers above our heads. But occasionally, something larger gets through. That’s what happened off Russia’s east coast on December 18 last year. A giant explosion occurred above the Bering Sea when an asteroid some ten meters across detonated with an explosive energy ten times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. So why didn’t we see this asteroid coming? And why are

It’s common for couples to question whether their relationship timeline is “on track.” Flowing Data’s new animation will be helpful for answering that question. It shows how quickly Americans today pass through various relationship stages — like living together and getting married — compared to the 1970s.The stages of relationships towards marriage https://t.co/vT9aote2WG pic.twitter.com/aevdhWpUa7— Nathan Yau (@flowingdata) March 26, 2019The data comes

Earlier today, the New Zealand Herald published a letter from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, addressing how the company is addressing the deadly terror attack in Christchurch two weeks ago. In the letter, she lays out three steps that the company is taking, including that it’s “exploring restrictions” for live video.She described the attack as “an act of pure evil,” and that the company is “committed to reviewing what happened,” and that it’s worki

There is never a bad time to look at a cute baby animal, so please enjoy this adorable seal.
The little guy was born earlier this month at an aquarium in Numazu, JapanAccording to the Mainichi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, he currently weighs about 48 pounds and is roughly 35 inches long. His cuteness level rests at a firm infinity.【動画】静岡県沼津市の水族館「伊豆・三津|

At Sega Fes 2019, Sega announced that it will finally release a retro version of its Sega Genesis console later this year: the Sega Genesis Mini (in the US) and the Mega Drive Mini (in Japan). The device will come with 40 built-in games, and will hit stores on September 19th, 2019.According to Kotaku, the Genesis Mini / Mega Drive will have slightly different game lineups when released. The Japanese version will include Castlevania Bloodlines, Comix Zone, Gunstar Heroes, Madou Monogatari Ichi,

It was brought to the internet's attention on Friday that Tom Hiddleston recently starred in a Centrum commercial. 
The ad, which was made for the company's Chinese market, is filmed from the perspective of an unknown woman — perhaps a vlogger, judging by the vertical video format — who walks down the stairs to find Tom Hiddleston making her a breakfast that does not look very good. "I finished early, so I thought I'd pop back in and make you breakfast," Tom Hiddleston says.
How

This week brought a lot of good deals that have come and gone, but a few remain if you’re on the hunt for some savings.The Apple HomePod smart speaker is down to $279.99 at Best Buy this weekend. It’s no stranger to this price point, but it has been about a month since we’ve seen it for this low. The speaker is usually $349.99, and the lowest price recorded for Apple’s HomePod is $249.99.
The LG G8 ThinQ will hit shelves on April 11th. Most places are taking preorders fo

Since the 1980s, bright orange parts of a novelty Garfield phone have been steadily washing up on the Iroise coast of Brittany in France. Nobody knew where the Garfield phones were coming from, and locals had no choice but to continue collecting pieces of the famous fat cat for 35 years. According to the BBC, the mystery was finally solved this week, when a lost shipping container filled with Garfield phones “in a more complete condition than any found before them,” was discovered i

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.If you love the movie Coco (and if you don't, you're a monster), prepare to cry all over again thanks to this stunning recreation of the film's titular Mama Coco made entirely of food. View this post on InstagramMAMA COCO from COCOMash potato, vermicelli noodles, purple cabbage, shrimp, white tortilla wrap, tomato Mama Coco reminds me so much of my naneh -the most kindest, selfless

"Weird, bad jeans" are practically their own fashion genre by now, and brands are well aware that making some weird, bad jeans is a great way to get some viral attention. Just something to keep in mind as you gaze upon these denim panties, which are made by Y/Project for Ssense and cost $315.
The underwear, which look a lot like a denim diaper, are apparently designed to be worn both over and under your pants. "Underwear that doesn't need to stay under there," reads the product description. View

Imagine for a second you run the largest aircraft manufacturing company in the world. You have orders worth +$600-billion of an aircraft model that, as of March 10th 2019, has had it’s second tragic crash. The first being mere months earlier. But instead of stepping ahead of the problem, tackling the hard things and taking an immediate loss – you do the complete opposite. There’s a lot of talk about Boeing 737 Max aircraft crash recently. And rightfully so. Over 300 lives were

In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple and helped lead it to become the powerhouse we know today, spearheading the launch of iconic innovations such as the iPhone, iPod, iMac, and MacBook Pro. Suddenly, WiFi was everywhere.
WiFi technology has grown and changed since 1997: we now have new innovations that help improve the user experience with wider coverage and faster speeds such as MU-MIMO technology, 5GHz band frequency, and more. Even through all the advancements, the most common problem we st

A video surfaced in recent days of a particularly scary concept — a drone with a shotgun mounted in its airframe. But it doesn’t look like it’s designed to hunt people: the video is a demonstration of a Russian device that’s designed to take on smaller aircraft, namely other drones.
The drone seems to have begun development back in 2016 (via Foxtrot Alpha) from a group of students at the Moscow Aviation Institute. While there have been instances of people mounting firear

To be clear, many pranks are mean, and even more of them are a waste of perfectly good office supplies. But there are a few pranks that are still pretty good, even for people who aren't members of the "epic prank" community.
Is April Fools' Day coming up? A co-worker's birthday, perhaps? Are you simply jonesing to do some pranks this week? (Why?) Then consider doing one of these pranks — they're low-effort, high-reward, and do not involve spilled liquids of any kind. 
Best of all, we'

Every day, millions of people use Google Docs to share and collaborate on documents. And when it comes to working on documents online, few tools match the power and versatility of Google Drive and Google Docs. But like all online tools that provide an open environment for many people to share data, Google Docs entails privacy risks. A while back, one of the readers of TechTalks raised expressed concern that a malicious actor was using Google Drive to stalk him and find his identity. &ldquo

Whether you’re shopping for your first iPad, or upgrading from a previous generation, figuring out which Apple-made tablet is best for you can be confusing. That there are a bunch of models out there make it hard. That most of them look similar makes it even more difficult to shop with confidence.
Let’s break it down.
Currently, Apple sells five different models. In order of most affordable to most expensive, there’s the 9.7-inch iPad, the new 7.9-inch iPad mini, the new 10.5-

Beware, for this post is dark and full of spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 1-7 
Valar morghulis, friends. You've just entered Mashable's Citadel, where we are Rewatching for the Throne, dissecting Game of Thrones season by season to prepare for the final six episodes beginning on April 14. 
Here are all the best Season 6 theories, unanswered questions, unresolved plots, and forgotten tidbits you need to remember before winter comes for the endgame in Season 8.
1. What matters about

Welcome to CHEAP, our brand-new series about things that are good, but most of all, cheap. CHEAP! Yes, this is my hype. The Lenovo Smart Display (with, of course, Google Assistant) is on offer for only $99.99 – in other words, HALF PRICE! Fast, go get it! I have this exact device and, well, I’m sorry to say it makes me pretty happy. Look, I never thought I’d be into voice-activated assistants, but, lord, I was wrong. Maybe it’s the screen? On second thought, it&rsqu

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. Read more...
Humm.ly
$0-10.99 a monthView Product
The Good
Tracks progress • Rewards consistency • Provides morning affirmations • Offers music and guided meditations for specific scenarios • Allows for customization
The Bad
Monthly premiu

A single DNA test can reveal a lot of things: where your family comes from, if you have a genetic predisposition to a disease, or whether or not you're related to a famous person (who is hopefully not a serial killer). As humans, we're naturally curious to uncover these things, which is why we willingly have companies decode our DNA, causing the sequencing market to explode in recent years. (If you're unsure about which DNA test kit is right for you, this guide will help. Want to test your

It’s the 21st century, folks. If your idea of learning a new language is listening to robotic voices narrate phrases on repeat, or sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher drone on — think again. There’s another way to learn: getting a song stuck in your head. (If you need a refresher on how fast that can happen, listen to this clip of Homer Simpson playing the "saxamaphone" and see if you can get *that* out of your head.)
Basically, the brain has a natural ability to memo

It takes time to put in the hours needed to master a craft. Not all of us can be Bob Ross — in fact, this video is proof.
If you're just getting started on your journey to being an artist, all this can be discouraging. But the age-old adage holds true here: small steps lead to big things over the long term. Aspiring artists have to start somewhere, and this LED Adjustable Tracing Pad that's on sale provides an easy way to do just that.
SEE ALSO: Instagram artist brings weird seltzer water

Editor's note: Mashable and PCMag are both owned by Ziff Davis.
The robot vacuum craze is still running rampant — and why wouldn’t it? No one wants to take time out of their day to vacuum anymore. (Especially not when that vacuuming requires dealing with pet hair.)
Being able to push a button and let someone (in this case some-thing) else do the work for you while you kick back and catch up on your Netflix queue is an invaluable luxury. Anything that will make your living situation m