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Kim Jong-un: fragile and under pressure but he won’t give up
The Observer The North Korean leader’s surprise freeze of his nuclear programme is less a genuine move than a diplomatic manoeuvre,...
Sunday, 30 June 2019
AOC invites Megan Rapinoe to visit the House of Representatives
It's not the White House, but that's exactly the point.
Less than a week after President Trump attempted to pick a fight with U.S. women's national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe after she mentioned that, under no circumstance, will she go "to the fucking White House," Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proffered a more, shall we say, enticing offer.
"It may not be the White House," tweeted Ocasio-Cortez on Friday, "but we’d be happy to welcome @mPinoe & the entire #USWMNT for a tour of the House of Representatives anytime they’d like."
It may not be the White House, but we’d be happy to welcome @mPinoe & the entire #USWMNT for a tour of the House of Representatives anytime they’d like. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/ccgqE8vCds
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 28, 2019 Read more...
from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-invites-megan-rapinoe-to-house-of-representatives/
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Trump changes his mind, says Huawei can buy some U.S. tech after all
Well that didn't take long.
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that Chinese manufacturer Huawei will be able to once again purchase goods from U.S. technology companies. This is a sharp reversal from his stance in May 2019, when Reuters reported that the U.S. Commerce Department said the company would first need U.S. approval to purchase goods from American manufacturers.
According to The Washington Post, Trump made the announcement following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"We had a very, very good meeting with China, I would say probably even better than expected," the Post quotes Trump as saying. Read more...
More about Donald Trump, Huawei, Tech, and Big Tech Companiesfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/trump-huawei-technology-ban/
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This grandpa's pure reaction to the gift of Lady Gaga tickets will brighten your day
Every so often, a ray of light shines through to illuminate our dark world. This is one of those times.
Twitter's @boybehindbricks (display name Whit as of this writing), a graphic designer and self-described "cat mom," is a big Lady Gaga fan. So is her grandpa. They're both very aware that the pop star is in the midst of a long-term Las Vegas residency.
Whit is turning 21 in September and she was hoping to get the family out for one of Gaga's Vegas shows. But it wasn't to be; the tickets have been available long enough for the shows to sell out, and the pricing from any reseller is way outside the family's budget. Grandpa was disappointed. Read more...
More about Lady Gaga, Culture, Web Culture, and Musicfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/lady-gaga-tickets-for-grandpa-the-stan/
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Stormzy's Glastonbury Festival set featured a badass sign language interpreter
The U.K. grime star Stormzy staged an epic Glastonbury Festival set on Friday night, but the real star of the night was out in the crowd.
Tara Asher is a British Sign Language interpreter, and — according to the BBC's Colin Paterson — is also one of only four who specializes in signing grime. On Friday, Asher brought her talents to Stormzy's Glastonbury set, where she translated his entire set into BSL.
(For anyone who might not know, "grime" is a musical genre born in the U.K. that's like a blend of dancehall and hip hop.)
Asher's performance — there's no better word to describe her contribution to the show — is a delight. She apparently spent an entire day rehearsing for each of the songs she performed. It shows. Read more...
More about Glastonbury Festival, Sign Language, Stormzy, Entertainment, and Musicfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/stormzy-glastonbury-bsl-interpreter-tara-asher/
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Cookie Monster singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' is a moment of pure goodness
Sometimes the world needs a moment that is so gloriously pure that nothing can ruin it. Thankfully, we have that moment thanks to Cookie Monster.
On Thursday afternoon, the famed Sesame Street character joined the list of legends to sing baseball classic "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch of a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. It was as amazing as you'd imagine.
The Cubs have hosted a rotating cast of celebrities to lead the crowd in song since the 1998 death of legendary broadcaster Harry Caray who would usually conduct the crowd at Wrigley. Many of those singers have been memorably awful. Read more...
More about Cookie Monster, Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, One Good Thing, and Culturefrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/cookie-monster-cubs-singing-take-me-out-to-the-ballgame/
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Julia Weldon on new opportunities for non-binary performers and the power of Instagram
Every day of Pride Month, Mashable will be sharing illuminating conversations with members of the LGBTQ community who are making history right now.
Julia Weldon is the non-binary artist we need in today's world.
For all those who are struggling with love, loss, and life, regardless of identity, this singer/songwriter's work emphasizes that we can't make it through life alone.
Before breaking into music, Weldon was a child actor at 13 (when their "boyishness" was an asset, they told Mashable) performing alongside career legend Meryl Streep in Before and After. It was through acting that they began to explore their queer and trans identity, and recognized the importance of LGBTQ representation to change lives. Read more...
More about Tv, Music, Lgbtq, Pride Month 2019, and Culturefrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/julia-weldon-non-binary-lgbtq-tv-music-pride/
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The innate pleasures of the YouTube music rabbit hole
This is Ode To..., a weekly column where we share the stuff we're really into in hopes that you'll be really into it, too.
Echoing with the sounds of nature, the calls of birds and soft keys, “A I R (Air In Resort)” suddenly popped up while I was listening to music on YouTube, something I tend to just leave on like the radio while working these days.
The album, which I'm now obsessed with, was produced by Japanese ambient musician Hiroshi Yoshimura. Designed to complement a fragrance for cosmetics company Shiseido back in 1984, the record was merely a gift with the perfume.
For that reason, “A I R (Air In Resort)” isn’t available on streaming services, and I’m puzzled to think where I would think to find it — if it didn’t just appear out of nowhere on YouTube. Read more...
More about Music, Youtube, Culture, An Ode To, and Techfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/youtube-listen-music-rabbit-hole/
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Everything we learned about computer viruses from '90s films
If you know how to protect your mainframe from the backdoor trojan worm that’s duplicated the virus code malware drive in the reboot server, uh, code, then this article isn’t for you. If it sounds made up and like a movie script from the '90s, then keep reading unless you want your identity stolen and used on the dark web to buy caviar and rhino horn.
Unless you can type as well as the guy below (a government official in the original 1995 film Ghost in the Shell), or you've already got a cybersecurity solution like Bitdefender set up, then the world of computer viruses and hacking can be real confusing — but important to know. Read more...
More about Tech, Movies, Cybersecurity, Hacking, and Virusfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/ad/article/computer-viruses-90s-films/
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Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau got engaged and no one is sure if it's real
YouTube's loudest couple is engaged, and honestly nobody surprised.
Jake Paul proposed to fellow vlogger Tana Mongeau during a weekend trip to Las Vegas to celebrate her 21st birthday. At around 1:30 a.m. at a club on Monday, he brought out a three-tier cake decorated with an enormous ring and the words, "Will you marry me, Tana?"
She immediately tweeted about it.
JAKE JUST PROPOSED
— Tana Mongeau (@tanamongeau) June 24, 2019
JAKE PAUL AND TANA MONGEAU ARE ENGAGED! @jakepaul @tanamongeau Y'ALL CRAZY CRAZY DAMN CANT WAIT FOR THE CONTENT & THE DRAMA ALERT @KEEMSTAR pic.twitter.com/eUPns3mv0J
— 💌 (@fullsendjana) June 24, 2019 Read more...
from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/jake-paul-tana-mongeau-engaged/
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Fans say Netflix's dub of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' erases queer subtext
Some fans are not happy with Netflix's new dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
It's a time-honored media pastime at this point to bend over backward in order to avoid describing gay relationships as, well, actually gay. Just look at these gal pals! Just a couple of guys being bros! Those aren't lesbians, they're, uh, cousins.
But there's a difference between an animation studio choosing to keep LGBTQ relationships subtle, and censorship of queer themes and language. Translation falls right into a grey area between the two.
Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the most popular and influential anime series to come out of the '90s, was recently released from licensing hell, and has found a new home on Netflix. For unknown reasons, Netflix made an updated English dub of the whole series with a new script translation. Read more...
More about Twitter, Netflix, Lgbtq, Translation, and Neon Genesis Evangelionfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/netflix-neon-genesis-evangelion-dub-lgbtq-erasure/
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10 brands that tried too hard during Pride Month in 2019
It's Pride Month, the time of year when corporations do their very best to prove just how supportive they are.
Rainbows are everywhere: in clothing stores, on public storefronts, and on nearly every brand logo on Twitter. And while some of the profits from specialty Pride merchandise do go to worthy nonprofits, other brands donate a paltry amount, and some merch is simply used to generate additional profit. (It's worth noting as well that many companies that plaster their brands with rainbows for Pride also donate large sums to politicians who actively oppose LGBTQ rights.)
Then there's the merch and branding that just takes it a step too far. Either these products are far too corny for public consumption, or the brands themselves are too hypocritical to be involved. Read more...
More about Brands, Pride Month, Lgbtq Pride, Culture, and Identitiesfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/brands-pride-2019/
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Meet the robotic strawberry harvesters that are picking fresh produce — Strictly Robots
Named the “Agrobot,” the robot’s designed to carry out its tasks autonomously. Read more...
More about Mashable Video, Robot, Artificial Intelligence, Agriculture, and Strawberryfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/video/robotic-strawberry-harvesters-pick-fresh-produce/
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New giant squid footage shows they're not terrible monsters, after all
We love tales about monsters.
Especially monsters that dwell in the dark, and have only been glimpsed alive in grainy, murky pictures or videos. But recent footage of the legendary giant squid — including a new video captured during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition on June 19 — shows the elusive cephalopods likely aren't beasts of horror. They're a somewhat cautious, though huge, deep sea species.
"When we think of the giant squid we think of the Kraken dragging sailors to their deaths and images of doom," said marine biologist Nathan Robinson, who helped seek out and find the recent giant squid. Read more...
More about Science, Ocean, Deep Sea, Giant Squid, and Sciencefrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/giant-squid-video-not-monsters/
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Wendy's just sent everyone a mysterious Google Calendar invite for a lunch date
It's not every day that you receive a Google Calendar lunch invite from Wendy's. Yes, the entire corporation, Wendy's, is going to wine and dine us.
Today, Wendy's official Twitter account teased us all with the promise of something when they posted a subtle GCal link with the caption "Let's hang." Since using something as official and business-y as Google Calendar to announce a potential new item is new territory for brand marketing, I'll bite — but the internet has so many questions. Is this a casual hang, a professional lunch, or does Wendy's want something more? Do we have to bring a greasy bouquet of french fries? Read more...
More about Twitter, Brands, Wendy S, Culture, and Social Media Companiesfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/wendys-lunch-invite-spicy-nuggets/
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New top story on Hacker News: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?
2 by belltaco | 0 comments on Hacker News.
Not trying to start a flame war. I am finally switching away from my trusty Nokia Lumia 920 because the browser wouldn't load m.uber.com and WhatsApp says app will be gone at the end of the year. I like the snappiness of Windows Phone and iPhone UI. Haven't checked Android phones recently but years ago the UI was laggy and no one except I seem to notice. Also know that sideloading apps, blocking ads in apps etc. is much easier on Android so I am hard pressed to decide between the two.
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Saturday, 29 June 2019
A Garmin GPS can help you avoid traffic, and this one's on sale for up to $50 off
TL;DR: Walmart has Garmin's Drive 52, DriveSmart 55, and DriveSmart 65 GPS devices on sale for $30 to $50 off their suggested retail prices.
Fourth of July weekend traffic can be the stuff of nightmares, which makes it all the more important to have a premium GPS as your copilot — one that won't just guide you through congestion, but help you steer clear of it entirely so you can make it to the barbecue before all the Jell-O jigglers are gone.
The highly-rated models in Garmin's 2019 Drive Series are a smart pick for two reasons: One, they feature the company's Traffic service that suggests alternative routes to avoid gridlocks and slowdowns. And two, they're on sale at Walmart right now for up to $50 off: Read more...
More about Gps, Car, Navigation, Garmin, and Mashable Shoppingfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/shopping/deal-june-28-garmin-drivesmart-65-and-traffic/
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New top story on Hacker News: Tell HN: Social media strike proposed for July 4-5 by Wikipedia co-founder
20 by lsanger | 4 comments on Hacker News.
"Humanity has been contemptuously used by vast digital empires," says my new "Declaration of Digital Independence" ( https://larrysanger.org/2019/06/declaration-of-digital-indep... ), which you can sign. So I'm calling a massive social media strike ( https://larrysanger.org/2019/06/social-media-strike/ ) for July 4-5 to raise awareness of the possibility of decentralizing social media, which in my experience is wildly popular whenever proposed. Read the FAQ ( https://larrysanger.org/2019/06/faq-about-the-project-to-dec... ) and use some collected resources ( https://larrysanger.org/2019/06/socialmediastrike-resources/ ) to learn and spread the word far and wide. Look for lots of news about this soon. And get ready! Maybe we can make a long-held geek dream finally come true.
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Meet the robotic strawberry harvesters that are picking fresh produce — Strictly Robots
Named the “Agrobot,” the robot’s designed to carry out its tasks autonomously. Read more...
More about Mashable Video, Robot, Artificial Intelligence, Agriculture, and Strawberryfrom Mashable https://mashable.com/video/robotic-strawberry-harvesters-pick-fresh-produce/
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New giant squid footage shows they're not terrible monsters, after all
We love tales about monsters.
Especially monsters that dwell in the dark, and have only been glimpsed alive in grainy, murky pictures or videos. But recent footage of the legendary giant squid — including a new video captured during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition on June 19 — shows the elusive cephalopods likely aren't beasts of horror. They're a somewhat cautious, though huge, deep sea species.
"When we think of the giant squid we think of the Kraken dragging sailors to their deaths and images of doom," said marine biologist Nathan Robinson, who helped seek out and find the recent giant squid. Read more...
More about Science, Ocean, Deep Sea, Giant Squid, and Sciencefrom Mashable https://mashable.com/article/giant-squid-video-not-monsters/
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