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After Resignation of HR Chief, Yet Another Uber Exec Faces Allegations of Discriminatory Behavior

Earlier this week, ridesharing giant Uber’s Chief People Officer Liane Hornsey resigned under allegations that she systematically shot down internal complaints about racial discrimination within the company—indicating at least some prior concerns about a toxic company culture of wild abandon during the tenure of former CEO Travis Kalanick have continued under his successor, Dara Khosrowshahi.…

Tech News Tom McKay Jul 14 '18

This Fan Edit Puts All the Crystal Gems Together for a New Steven Universe Intro

The core crew of Steven Universe keeps getting bigger. It’s time we got an intro to match. One of the most beautiful elements of Steven Universe is its focus on redemption—on its ability to turn enemies into allies, to showcase the Crystal Gems not just as a group of rebels but as a growing family…

Television Julie Muncy Jul 14 '18

TaleSpin‘s Swashbuckling Villain Is Going to Cameo on DuckTales

Out of the whole block of Disney-centric cartoons from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, TaleSpin, which used a version of Baloo from The Jungle Book as a protagonist, was probably the most distinct. Transposing Disney characters and vibes to a 1930s-style caper about air pirates in a lush tropical setting. It was an unusual,…

Television Julie Muncy Jul 14 '18

Watch Toys “R” Us’ Geoffrey the Giraffe Get Knocked Out of the Ring With an Amazon Box

Geoffrey the Giraffe, venerable mascot of the now-defunct Toys “R” Us retail chain, was doing pretty good for himself at the Florida Supercon’s FCSW 30-man wrestling rumble on Friday—until, like in real life, he was cold-clocked with an Amazon Prime delivery box and stumbled unconsciously out of the ring. Per Pro Wrestling Sheet, a competitor…

Toys & Collectibles Tom McKay Jul 14 '18

Venmo, the People Are Begging for a ‘Cancel Payment’ Button

We all make mistakes, but some are worse than others. Make a typo in a text message? No big deal. But if you accidentally tap the “0″ one too many times when entering a payment on Venmo or misspell the recipient’s username, well, then you have a problem on your hands—and not much recourse to…

Tech News AJ Dellinger Jul 14 '18

George Jenson, Production Illustrator for Return of the Jedi and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Has Died

You may not have heard of him, but his work is far more influential than you realize. George Jenson, born in 1930 in Calgary, worked on art for some of the most important science fiction and fantasy films of the 20th century. He did production illustration or storyboards for Close Encounters of the Third Kind,…

Movies Julie Muncy Jul 14 '18

Chinese Police Bust Crypto Betting Ring Allegedly Worth $1.5 Billion

Chinese authorities have busted what they said was one of the world’s largest online betting operations involving cryptocurrency, with over $1.5 billion in illicit bets allegedly on the line. According to the South China Morning Post, police in southern Guangdong province said late this week that they had nabbed “six major suspects of the syndicate,”…

Privacy & Security Tom McKay Jul 14 '18

The First Images of Star Trek: Discovery Season Two Show the Enterprise, a New Alien Design

The first two official, non-production images of Star Trek: Discovery are out in the wild, and they showcase a new alien design as well as hint at a season that will begin, at least, with the meeting of the past and the present of Trek. Both of these images come from Entertainment Weekly, who’s doing…

Television Julie Muncy Jul 14 '18

Florida Man Jailed for Failing to Unlock His Phone

What started as a routine traffic stop has quickly escalated into a civil rights case in a Florida courtroom after a man was put behind bars this week for failing to unlock his phone. William Montanez was given 180 days in jail by a judge after he was asked to unlock two separate phones seized…

Privacy & Security AJ Dellinger Jul 14 '18

Once Upon a Time, Steven Spielberg Apparently Helped Save the Child’s Play Franchise

Being one of the biggest directors ever brings with it a lot of power. There are a lot of ways to use that power. Fortunately, Steven Spielberg has opted to use that power to help good actors get good roles and, apparently, save cult classic film franchises. That story comes from Bloody Disgusting, sharing a…

Movies Julie Muncy Jul 14 '18

What Did You Get in Trouble for at Your School’s Computer Lab?

Left hand on A S D F? Good. Right hand on J K L and, for some reason, “;”? Congrats, you’re in home position! A thing basically every learned in their school’s computer lab and never used for the rest of their lives. Did you learn other things? Brag a little louder about going to…

Tech News Avery Ellis Jul 14 '18

A One-Letter Typo Is (in Part) the Reason Aliens: Colonial Marines Sucked

When Aliens: Colonial Marines dropped in 2013, it has built up a ton of hype that made it seem as though the game would transport players into the terror-filled and action-packed Alien universe. Instead, they got an absolute mess of a game that, as it turns out, may have been just one letter away from…

Games AJ Dellinger Jul 14 '18

Looks Like Facebook Is Getting Serious About Making Its Own Chips

It’s been rumored for months that Facebook might be interested in building its own, in-house processing chips. Now it appears the social network company is really going for it. Bloomberg reported Friday that Facebook managed to snag one of Google’s top silicon engineering directors to head up its own efforts in the field. Shahriar Rabii,…

Social Media AJ Dellinger Jul 13 '18

Some Senators Want to Know if Smart TVs Are Spying on Us

Two US senators have some suspicions about smart TVs, and they’re asking the Federal Trade Commission to look into the data collection practices employed by TV manufacturers to see if the internet-connected devices are quietly sucking up information from unwitting consumers. Democrats Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut signed on to a…

Privacy & Security AJ Dellinger Jul 13 '18

Deadpool’s Looking for a New Crew in This Charming Musical Parody

I’m a sucker for musicals—put something into song and I’m sold. For instance, you can damn well bet I’m gonna see the Mamma Mia! sequel, even though I know it’ll be terrible. But in the meantime, here’s a musical sequel that actually is worth a watch: A Deadpool musical crossover extravaganza. Director Julian Higgins has…

Movies Beth Elderkin Jul 13 '18

Yvette Nicole Brown Is Taking Over Walking Dead Post-Show Hosting Duties

Walking Dead superfan and actress Yvette Nicole Brown has officially been tapped by AMC to, at least temporarily, host Walking Dead related programming—such as the popular post-show, Talking Dead. “Yvette Nicole Brown will step in as an interim guest host of The Walking Dead Season 9 Preview Special on August 5 and Talking Dead when…

Television Germain Lussier Jul 13 '18

Universal Soldier Is a Cautionary Tale About Reckless Resurrection

Two American soldiers fight to the death in Vietnam. That’s the start of Universal Soldier, which imagines the pair being brought back to life and given superstrength so they can (inevitably) fight each other again. The movie is stupidly entertaining—but like the UniSol program itself, there are some serious glitches. Universal Soldier was the Hollywood…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Jul 13 '18

Mego Makes a Nostalgic Return, and More of the Best Toys of the Week

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s weekly round up of the toys that we’ll be buying immediately after we’re done staring at everything at San Diego Comic-Con next week. While there’s all that ahead of us, right now we’ve got Lego Movie 2 sets, a very stylish Half Life hero, and, as always, adorable porgs.…

Toys & Collectibles Andrew Liszewski Jul 13 '18

PC Sales Are Up, But Only a Little, So Play It Cool

After more than five years of declining sales, nerds and APM enthusiasts everywhere can gently rejoice: The PC has made a comeback so far this year, thanks in part to businesses switching operating systems and the insatiable appetites of gamers. The second quarter of 2018 “showed shipments of traditional PCs (desktop, notebook, and workstation) totaled…

Gadgets Patrick Lucas Austin Jul 13 '18

In This Week’s Best New Comics, People and Their Identities Are Mere Commodities

What does a perfect world look like, exactly? Is it a place where everyone agrees to get along because we’ve set aside our differences, or is it a place where the trauma that so often gives birth to those differences never existed at all? There’s an argument to be made that our struggles are what…

Books & Comics Charles Pulliam-Moore Jul 13 '18

After Resignation of HR Chief, Yet Another Uber Exec Faces Allegations of Discriminatory Behavior

This Fan Edit Puts All the Crystal Gems Together for a New Steven Universe Intro

TaleSpin‘s Swashbuckling Villain Is Going to Cameo on DuckTales

Watch Toys “R” Us’ Geoffrey the Giraffe Get Knocked Out of the Ring With an Amazon Box

Venmo, the People Are Begging for a ‘Cancel Payment’ Button

George Jenson, Production Illustrator for Return of the Jedi and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Has Died

Chinese Police Bust Crypto Betting Ring Allegedly Worth $1.5 Billion

The First Images of Star Trek: Discovery Season Two Show the Enterprise, a New Alien Design

Florida Man Jailed for Failing to Unlock His Phone

Once Upon a Time, Steven Spielberg Apparently Helped Save the Child’s Play Franchise

What Did You Get in Trouble for at Your School’s Computer Lab?

A One-Letter Typo Is (in Part) the Reason Aliens: Colonial Marines Sucked

Looks Like Facebook Is Getting Serious About Making Its Own Chips

Some Senators Want to Know if Smart TVs Are Spying on Us

Deadpool’s Looking for a New Crew in This Charming Musical Parody

Yvette Nicole Brown Is Taking Over Walking Dead Post-Show Hosting Duties

Universal Soldier Is a Cautionary Tale About Reckless Resurrection

Mego Makes a Nostalgic Return, and More of the Best Toys of the Week

PC Sales Are Up, But Only a Little, So Play It Cool

In This Week’s Best New Comics, People and Their Identities Are Mere Commodities

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