Technology news

A playground scene: "Tesla, honey, please stop licking the slide."
That's right, 109 babies born in the United States were named Tesla in 2018, down from 143 in 2017. The Social Security Administration's annual data dump of baby names happened on Friday, giving numbers nerds and bored weekend writers (*raises hand*) the chance to look for interesting gems amongst the Liams, Emmas, and 2,545 girls named Arya.
The name Tesla — far more popular for girls than boys — started gaining popu

Looking forward to the premiere of HBO's Euphoria? So are we! 
At least, we think we are. The mysterious teen drama series dropped its first full-length trailer on Saturday  — and, despite a two-and-a-half-minute length, managed to avoid answering any of our  many questions from the similarly puzzling teaser. 
Starring Zendaya, created by Sam Levinson, and sporting a mysterious executive producing credit from Drake, Euphoria appears to be taking the "confuse them into w

It might surprise you to learn that many of Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí's greatest works can be found at a museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. 
What might surprise you even more? Thanks to artificial intelligence, the late painter, who died in 1989, now resides there too — and he'd love to snag a selfie. 
The Dalí Museum, renowned for its extensive collection of surrealist works, debuted a permanent exhibit to the public on Saturday, titled Dalí Lives. At

Bye, coral. Bye, blue. Hello, green. Hello, lavender. 
Apple's colorful line of iPhone XR phones could be in for a shift in the rainbow of options. The blog Macotakara cites "reliable information sources" in reporting a rumor that Apple will swap out the coral and blue iPhone XRs for green and lavender ones. 
Lavender is a fairly specific shade of purple, but what can we expect of the more vague green hue? Are we talking a kelly green, a lime green, something in the family of a dusty Y

When the next car-sized rover lands on Mars in 2020, the ultimate head of this extraterrestrial endeavor will be physicist Lori Glaze. She's leads NASA's Planetary Science Division. 
And she's not alone. For the first time in history, three of NASA's four science divisions are now run by women, a milestone announced by NASA on Friday. 
"I am proud to say that for the 1st time in #NASA's history, women are in charge of 3 out of 4 #NASAScience divisions. They are inspiring the next gener

HTC is doubling down on its blockchain phone idea. 
The company has announced a new blockchain phone called the Exodus 1s. Compared to its predecessor, the $699 Exodus 1, the Exodus 1s is a cheaper phone, but it also brings an important feature that was promised from the get-go: full Bitcoin node capability. 
SEE ALSO: HTC's Vive Focus Plus standalone VR headset will take on the Oculus Quest
Launched on Saturday by HTC's Decentralized Chief Officer Phil Chen (I just love that title) in

In April, CBS All Access launched Jordan Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone, the latest in a string of remakes of the franchise, and the latest anthology-style show to come from a streaming service. Now, CBS is releasing a new version of it, this time in black-and-white, which harkens back to the style of the original.The first couple of episodes of the new series cut really close to the original — so much so that reviewer Samantha Nelson noted that they’re a bit weaker than

We're a week out from the highly-anticipated release of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum — and critics are promising big things.
First reviews of the action franchise's new installment reveal a positive critical consensus, highlighting the film's meticulous world-building, all-star cast, and totally bonkers level of commitment. 
Star Keanu Reeves and Wickverse-newcomer Halle Berry are celebrated in many reviews, although Berry's much-discussed attack dogs/co-stars, seen first at Cine

You have four hours max to visit a galaxy far, far away. 
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the $1-billion Disneyland attraction set to open May 31, will employ Stormtroopers to enforce a strict time limit on visitors. The Los Angeles Times reports that the four-hour rule is only one part of the park's efforts to avoid overcrowding and a situation that feels as claustrophobic as being stuck in an Imperial trash compactor with a wookiee. 
During the first three weeks after opening, guests

It looks as though Instagram is testing a new feature for stickers in its Stories feature: music lyrics that play out along with a video. Jane Manchun Wong spotted the feature back in April, and demonstrated it in a short video on Twitter, showing lyrics from Rick Ashley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” alongside the music video.
Instagram is working on Lyrics Stickers pic.twitter.com/DWF1xUZBPX— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 19, 2019Instagram brought music to its Sto

On Thursday, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes wrote an op-ed in The New York Times calling for the company to be broken up, saying that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks,” and that he should be held accountable for his company’s mistakes. Now, Facebook has responded an op-ed of its own, saying that its size isn’t the real problem, and that its success as a platform shouldn’t be punished.Nick Clegg, Fa

If you’re looking for a tech gift to give to your mom, or a mom that you’re celebrating on Mother’s Day, your time is running out. Thankfully, there are several last-minute deals that you can check out, either in person or online (although you may have a slightly late gift if you buy online).
If you need a gift in hand for mom on Sunday
The Apple Watch Series 4 is still $50 off at both Amazon and Best Buy, starting at $349 for the option with a 40mm case. If your mom wants a s

Weekends are made for spending time with family, taking in the great outdoors and, if you’re like me, spending time on the couch binging good television series. HBO has made that last option even better, making the entire first season of Big Little Lies available to watch for free on YouTube this weekend.Big Little Lies, a miniseries based on a book of the same name, follows a group of close-knit friends in Monterey Bay, California as secrets unravel and deadly incidents occur. When a mur

Netflix has historically been notoriously tight-fisted when it comes to revealing viewer numbers with the press and even with the people producing its original content. That’s been slowly changing in recent months, and it announced earlier this week that it would be testing a top-10 most viewed list for UK viewers, providing a bit of a glimpse into what its subscribers are watching.Netflix says (via Variety) that it’s testing a top-10 feature in the UK that will reveal what’s

Netflix has historically been notoriously tight-fisted when it comes to revealing viewer numbers with the press and even with the people producing its original content. That’s been slowly changing in recent months, and it announced earlier this week that it would be testing a top-10 most viewed list for UK viewers, providing a bit of a glimpse into what its subscribers are watching.Netflix says (via Variety) that it’s testing a top-10 feature in the UK that will reveal what’s

Nine people have been charged in an alleged conspiracy to hijack SIM cards and steal cryptocurrency from unwitting victims, prosecutors said this week. The scheme, according to court documents, netted more than $2.4 million.In an unsealed indictment, prosecutors in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan allege that six of the people, living across the United States and Ireland, were members of a group called “The Community.” The hacking ring, prosecutors

This past week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos laid out his vision for the future of humanity’s presence in space. The richest man on the planet (on paper, at least) spent about an hour talking about how and why he believes we should someday develop massive free-floating space structures that can house millions of people off-world. And then he made the case for how his company Blue Origin will build the infrastructure required to make those big dreams come true.
That all starts with the rocket

Welcome to CHEAP, our series about things that are good, but most of all, cheap. CHEAP! I love headphones. Not only do I not go anywhere without a pair, but they just bring me endless joy. Listening to great sounding music is brilliant – and I’m sure you feel the same. With that in mind, we’ve got a hell of a deal for you today: a set of the KEF SPACE ONE headphones for only $150. YES! These things normally sell for $400, so this deal gets you a whopping $250 (or 63 percent) o

If there’s one brand I trust to build the best headphones in the world, it’s Audeze. The company’s flagship LCD line extends all the way up into the $4,000 price range, and I’d argue that its latest LCD-4z have the performance to match. Today, though, Audeze is addressing a broader market with the launch of its second gaming headphones, the LCD-GX. These borrow the same basic layout and construction as the 4z — meaning a suspension headband paired with memory-foam

You’d be forgiven for writing off HTC’s smartphone business as over. The Pixel 3A that Google just released was developed by its Taiwan team, which Google acquihired from HTC over a year ago, and HTC itself has been quiet about new flagships since last summer’s U12 Plus. Well, HTC has shown some small signs of life this week by announcing its release schedule for the overdue updates to Android 9 Pie. The HTC U11 will be updated first, around the end of May, to be followed by t

Nearly 50 years since man first walked on the moon, the human race is once more pushing forward with attempts to land on the Earth’s satellite. This year alone, China has landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon, while India is close to landing a lunar vehicle, and Israel continues its mission to touch down on the surface, despite the crash of its recent venture. NASA meanwhile has announced it wants to send astronauts to the moon’s south pole by 2024. But while these

Sony today debuted “God of War: Raising Kratos,” a full-length documentary chronicling the trials and triumphs of the development team behind the 2018 PlayStation 4 smash hit. It’s a wonderful peek behind the curtain at the wizardry that goes into making a seminal video game. And, best of all, it’s free on YouTube. Last year’s reimagined God of War game was absolutely adored by critics, receiving near universal praise. And it flew off shelves (or into download queu

Delta Airlines is passing around anti-union posters comparing union dues to the price of a new console, implying the latter will bring employees more joy than the former. And this particular message is uniting both gamers and pro-union labor leaders in a single message: WTF, Delta? The message, a poster emblazoned with a non-brand-specific controller, was spotted by Common Dreams writer Eoin Higgins. It reads, “Union dues cost around $700 a year. A new video game system with the late

It’s been nine years since UberCab made its first appearance on the WordPress pages of this website. In the ensuing years, the startup has grown from an upstart looking to upend the taxi cab cartels, to a juggernaut that has its hands in every form of transportation and logistics service it can think of.
In the process, Uberhas done some things that might give (and in fact has given) some shareholders pause.
Uber achieved many firsts, let's look back:
1. broke a ton of laws
2. killed someo