“Advent,” by Heather Christle

Poetry by Heather Christle: “It’s hopeless, the stars, the books / about stars.”

from Everything https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/advent
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Commandments of the Lord Who Created Meryl Streep

Shouts & Murmurs by Matt Whitaker: “Do not steal money. Do not steal cattle. Do not steal focus from Amy Adams the way that Meryl did in ‘Doubt’ and ‘Julie & Julia.’ ”

from Everything https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/commandments-of-the-lord-who-created-meryl-streep
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The Star of “Roma” Takes an Empire State Building Selfie

Yalitza Aparicio was studying to be a schoolteacher in a small town in Mexico when she was cast in Alfonso Cuarón’s lauded film. 

from Everything https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/the-star-of-roma-takes-an-empire-state-building-selfie
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Harry Bliss’s “Out in the Cold”

Françoise Mouly and Genevieve Bormes talk to Harry Bliss, who, for the January 7, 2019, cover of The New Yorker, chose to riff on the Puck Building, one of the great surviving structures of New York’s old publishing district.

from Everything https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2019-01-07
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New top story on Hacker News: How Facebook tracks you on Android [video]

How Facebook tracks you on Android [video]
559 by gala8y | 185 comments on Hacker News.


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35 British tweets from 2018 that are guaranteed to make you chuckle

Britain may have been a wildly chaotic place in 2018 (you know, that whole Brexit thing) but that hasn't stopped us tweeting.

Quite the opposite. British Twitter is generally a glorious place filled with puns, sarcasm, and the kind of amusing day-to-day observations capable of bringing surprising levels of joy — and 2018 was no exception.

SEE ALSO: 69 times James Blunt was laugh-out-loud funny on Twitter

From kebab shop photoshoots to creative delivery methods, here are some of the most amusing British tweets of the year...

1.

Isn’t this the guy who plays Sherlock? pic.twitter.com/4pT0smc6g0

— 🥰 isla 🥰 (@islrsm_) February 18, 2018 Read more...

More about Twitter, Uk, Jk Rowling, Gordon Ramsay, and James Blunt

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/best-british-tweets-2018/
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Elon Musk asks Tesla employees to test out new full self-driving mode

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is reportedly moving full speed ahead when it comes to autonomous driving.  

Based on an email Electrek obtained this week, Musk is searching for Tesla employees to test out a new hardware update for the currently semi-autonomous driver assistance feature, Autopilot.

SEE ALSO: Here's all the ways you can make your Tesla fart

We reached out to Tesla to confirm the authenticity of the email, but haven't heard back.

The new self-driving program has "over 1000% more capability than [previous hardware]!" Musk exclaimed in the email. Now he needs "a few hundred more internal participants" to test out new capabilities made possible by Tesla's neural net, which the company has called the "world’s most advanced computer for autonomous driving." Musk also revealed in an earnings call that Tesla is developing its own AI chip instead of working with a chipmaker. Read more...

More about Tesla, Elon Musk, Autopilot, Autonomous Vehicles, and Tech

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/autopilot-tesla-elon-musk-full-self-driving/
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Colin O'Brady makes history with solo mission across Antarctica

The American is the first person in history to cross the frozen continent without any assistance. Read more...

More about Mashable Video, Antarctica, Culture, and Climate Environment

from Mashable https://mashable.com/video/colin-obrady-antarctica-first-solo-mission/
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Mark Zuckerberg pats himself on the back for a great 2018

It's the end of the year, and for many of us that means taking a moment to reflect on decisions past. For Mark Zuckerberg, however, it means taking a moment to bask in your manifold and unqualified successes. 

The Facebook CEO published a roughly 1,000-word post on Dec. 28 detailing his company's various wins over the course of 2018 that, while admittedly helpfully informing the most oblivious of readers that there is still work to be done, seems completely at odds with how the rest of the world views Facebook's 2018. Namely, that it was an unmitigated disaster. 

SEE ALSO: Think twice about posting photos of your kid on Facebook Read more...

More about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Media, Year In Review, and Tech

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-2018-review/
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Little kid uses and abuses Alexa for his math homework

Alexa is a powerful tool — and one that's easy for little kids to weaponize.

One mother, Yerelyn Cueva, recently caught her son Jariel using Alexa to do his math homework.

Can we blame him? What else is Alexa for except to perform the most basic operations we could otherwise complete ourselves?

SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama's letter to her younger self is so tender it has broken me

Give the kid credit — subtraction isn't easy, and at least he's not asking Alexa to add two plus two.

Amazon reported selling "tens of millions" of Echo devices in 2018. So expect this homework-cheating crisis to grow, not contract, in the upcoming years. Read more...

More about Watercooler, Viral Videos, Alexa, Culture, and Web Culture

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/alexa-homework-cheat/
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Personal information of nearly 1,000 North Korean defectors hacked

For North Korean defectors, this is a nightmare come to life.

Hackers stole the personal information of 997 North Korean defectors living in South Korea, the South Korean government reported Friday. 

The identity of the hackers is still unknown. But experts are reportedly worried for the safety and security of defectors and their families, according to the BBC.

SEE ALSO: North Korea officially blocks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Hana centers are South Korea's resettlement agencies that work with defectors to introduce and acclimate them to life outside of the North Korean dictatorship. There are 25 centers servicing approximately 32,000 defectors. The centers keep track of defectors with digital records. Read more...

More about South Korea, North Korea, Hack, North Korea Technology, and Tech

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/north-korean-defector-hack/
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ATT's first 5G speed tests look uninspiring

AT&T's Netgear Nighthawk 5G hotspot, the first consumer mobile 5G device, has been on the market for about a week now, but it's hard to find any evidence that anyone's using itOne post on Reddit shows a Speedtest result of 194.88Mbps down — impressive, until you see that the Redditor got 187.44Mbps on AT&T's 4G network in the same location.

Otherwise, AT&T's, Netgear's, and Reddit's forums are deathly quiet when it comes to any actual 5G users, and Ookla's Speedtest Intelligence database doesn't seem to show any dramatic speed upticks in AT&T's 12 announced 5G cities. The carrier doesn't seem to have shown the 5G device to any journalists, and there are zero hands-ons being shown on YouTube. The company declined to make a unit available to me when I asked, saying they needed to save the relatively small inventory for customers. Read more...

More about At T, 5g, 5g Wireless, Tech, and Smartphones

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/att-first-5g-speed-tests-look-uninspiring/
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California to require zero-emissions buses by 2040

The eco-friendly push will start in 2029, when the state will mandate all new buses to stop using fossil fuels. Read more...

More about Mashable Video, California, Fossil Fuels, Buses, and Zero Emissions

from Mashable https://mashable.com/video/california-buses-zero-emissions/
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Barack Obama releases his year-end list of his favorite songs, movies, and books

Remember when Presidents used to read books, listen to music, and share innocuous lists?

President Obama, for example, recently shared his end-of-year list, featuring the books, movies, and music that touched him the most. His taste is impeccable and, most importantly, similar to mine.

The former president included queer favorites like Brandi Carlile and Janelle Monaé, books on the death of democracy (charming), and movies like Won't You Be My Neighbor, the Mr. Rogers documentary.

The whole list just oozes with good taste. Scroll through the full post on Instagram to see his favorite songs, books and films. Read more...

More about Watercooler, Lists, President Obama, Culture, and Web Culture

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/president-obama-list-culture/
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With Google Maps on Apple CarPlay, iPhone owners can finally ditch clunky mounts

Google Maps on Apple CarPlay

$0 (free on CarPlay-enabled cars)

View Product

The Good

Really easy to connect • Similar to Google Maps on iOS • CarPlay integrates well with texts • calls • and music streaming

The Bad

Google Maps not native experience • Difficult to input destination info mid-ride • Not as full-featured as iOS version of Google Maps

The Bottom Line

If you're an iPhone owner but prefer Google Maps to Apple Maps, the CarPlay version is a smooth, albeit limited way to get the in-car experience you want.

Mashable Score4.0

Cool Factor4.0

Learning Curve3.0

Performance4.0

Bang for the Buck5.0

Read more...More about Apple, Reviews, Google Maps, Navigation, and Carplay

from Mashable https://mashable.com/review/google-maps-apple-car-play-review/
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New Study Says Sleep Texting Is a Thing

Read more...More about Mashable Reels, Sleep Texting, Tech, Web Culture, and Consumer Tech

from Mashable https://mashable.com/reels/sleep-texting/
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'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' is here and Twitter is flipping out

After a year of no new Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker's trippy, life-destroying sci-fi series returned with an interactive choose-your-own-adventure style game disguised as a TV movie. Its name? "Bandersnatch." Its purpose? To drive Twitter completely up the wall. 

SEE ALSO: 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' marks the dawn of a new era in television

"Bandersnatch"uses Netflix's interactive story features to allow the audience to choose what happens to Stefan, a young video game developer living in 1984. What begins as a tale of Stefan pursuing his dreams in the industry quickly morphs into...well, not that. Everything but that. And it's all the player's fault.  Read more...

More about Black Mirror, Bandersnatch, Bandersnatch Netflix, Entertainment, and Gaming

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/black-mirror-bandersnatch-twitter-reacts/
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These are the animals that went extinct in 2018

With the end of 2018 comes the near-certain reality that some critters, after millions of years of existence on Earth, are gone for good. 

There's little question that humanity's continued exploitation of wild animals and the depletion of their habitats have left many species either clinging to existence, or at worst, extinct. Today's extinctions are happening 100 to 1000 times faster than the expected, natural rate of die-offs. It's grim.

"The topic gets a hold of people in a way that few things do," Sea McKeon, a biology professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland and co-host of "The Naturalist Podcast," said in an interview.   Read more...

More about Science, Animals, Conservation, Extinction, and Endangered Species

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/animals-that-went-extinct-2018/
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Ousted Oculus co-founder 'fixes' Oculus Go VR headset with custom modifications

You can fire him from Facebook and remove him from working on the Oculus VR technology he helped pioneer, but you can't stop him from letting his inner geek run wild.

Ousted Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey is still very much the same boy who's obsessed with VR. Case in point: Despite being fired from Oculus, ostensibly for his pro-Trump political views, he's still finding ways to improve Oculus's VR headsets, namely the all-in-one Oculus Go.

SEE ALSO: The best tech of 2018

Since leaving Oculus, Luckey's taken to his own blog to post reviews, mods, and general thoughts on advancements in current AR and VR technologies. Read more...

More about Facebook, Vr, Oculus, Palmer Luckey, and Mod

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/palmer-luckey-improves-oculus-go-mod/
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People were very quick to voice their displeasure at Instagram's 'swipe' update

Instagram pulled its new "swipe" update after major backlash. Read more...

More about Instagram, Mashable Video, Social Media, Social Media Companies, and Tech

from Mashable https://mashable.com/video/instagram-swipe-update-backlash/
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A fake Amazon Alexa app somehow got into the iOS App Store

How 2018 made the elusive horror renaissance official

If you despise slasher films, hate any scene that'll make you toss your popcorn, and flee spooky previews let alone full-length fright fests, then here’s something really terrifying: Hollywood's horror industry is coming for you. 

Whether you’ve heard it called a resurgence, a renaissance, or (ugh) scary movies “getting good,” anyone within spitting distance of a box office knows something is up with the horror genre. In the past few years, a storm of scary films with big name stars and high art aspirations has swept over theaters with support from major studios, awards committees, and mainstream audiences.  Read more...

More about Netflix, Halloween, Horror, Renaissance, and Slender Man

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/horror-movies-2018/
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'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' marks the dawn of a new era in television

This is a choose-your-own-adventure review of the brand new choose-your-own-adventure Netflix special, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. 

You can choose to remain entirely spoiler-free until you experience it for yourself. In which case: this is quite simply a brilliant, groundbreaking piece of interactive television. One that has cracked the code as to how you let the viewer make interesting storytelling choices without spoiling the immersive mood of good drama. 

(Important spoiler-free caveat: Netflix hasn't yet cracked the code of how to show this interactive episode on Chromecast or the top-of-the-line Apple TV 4K. It does work on Roku, for some reason the company can't quite explain, and on a console, laptop, tablet or phone. Which is odd, because all you really need to play is a left button, a right button and a select button — things every TV remote has.)  Read more...

More about Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, Storytelling, Interactive Design, and Entertainment

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/black-mirror-bandersnatch-review/
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