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OkCupid announced this week that it would scrap all of the usernames on its site and require prospective daters to use their real names instead. Naturally, a bunch of OkCupid users are now worried about being exposed to harassment from people they turn down on the dating site. “Before the new year, we’re removing OkCupid…
A new probe designed specifically to take a deep view of a damaged nuclear reactor at the Fukushima plant was unveiled by Toshiba earlier today. Regrettably, it looks too cute to die. As the Associated Press reports, Toshiba’s energy systems unit developed the 42-foot-long, snake-like probe with help from the International Research Institute for Nuclear…
On Friday, Uber tried to celebrate the anniversary of the Puerto Rican flag’s creation on social media. Unfortunately, the company commemorated Puerto Rican Flag Day with an image of the wrong flag. As people on Twitter were quick to point out, the image Uber used was a photo of the Cuban flag, not the Puerto…
Comcast has been embroiled in a legal battle since 2016 regarding potentially deceptive business practices surrounding its “Service Protection Plan”—a $6 a month program which covered almost nothing. But as an amended complaint recently filed by the Washington state attorney general alleges, Comcast didn’t just dupe customers, it may have signed them up for the…
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has helped create a new way to protect you from potential snoops. Snowden joined with the Freedom of the Press Foundation to create an open-source Android app called Haven, which turns your phone into a pocket-sized security system. All you need is a spare phone and a healthy dose of paranoia.…
Coinbase, one of the larger markets for buying and selling bitcoin, announced that all buying and selling has been temporarily disabled. The announcement comes in the midst of a price slump for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and it’s not yet clear when Coinbase will open back up again. Bitcoin’s value has surged over the past…
For those of you already weary of the Christmas cheer, a new study published this week in Scientific Reports might put some pep in your step: It suggests the holiday spirit gets people more in the mood for boning, no matter where you live in the world and when you might celebrate it. Starting first…
Every year around Halloween, you can’t turn on the radio without hearing the novelty song “Monster Mash.” Released by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers in August 1962, it was such an instant hit that Pickett rushed out a Christmas version of the song called “Monsters’ Holiday” by December of that same year. If you…
The price of bitcoin plunged on Friday, continuing a steady downward spiral that’s lasted all week. True believers are shrugging it off, but with its newfound notoriety, a lot of latecomers are feeling some pain. All but two of the top 100 cryptocurrencies were significantly down this morning. At the moment, Coinbase lists the price…
As you gather round the fireplace this Christmas and your smug second cousin decides it’s time to drunkenly berate everyone about the blockchain market, try drowning him out with this new, technologically-advanced carol: “Santa baby bore sweet Jesus Christ. Fa la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la.” Research…
Whether you write for business or pleasure or both, you want your prose to be at the very least comprehensible and free from typos—and as usual, there are apps for that. These are some of the best tools we’ve come across for keeping your writing as neat, as tidy, and as impactful as possible. Grammarly…
The state of Indiana is suing the former owner of a hotel over a policy to charge guests $350 for making “disparag[ing]” public comments about the business. According to the state’s attorney general’s office, Katrina Arthur wrote a negative online review of Abbey Inn and Suites in March 2016. The hotel room, she says, was filthy,…
Now that Apple has actually admitted to using software updates to limit the performance of older iPhones, people are pissed. So naturally they went and did what any angry American customer would do: sue. On Thursday, Apple was hit by two separate class action lawsuits, one filed in California, and another filed in Illinois. Both…
What a year, huh? While Facebook snooped on your family secrets, Trump tweeted us deeper into disaster, and various foreign objects were being pulled out of unsuspecting people’s heads, there was some joyous things to behold too. Like a hand-squeezed Juicero bag, or a flat Earther trying to go to space to prove a point.…
Security researchers have discovered a cryptocurrency-mining malware targeting Facebook Messenger users. The malware, called Digmine, is disguised as a video file, usually with the name video_xxxx.zip, according to cybersecurity company Trend Micro. It will infect users who try and run the file. The malware installs a malicious Chrome extension that allows it to access an…
After six years as executive chairman—first at Google, then Alphabet—Eric Schmidt announced in a press release today that he will step down, taking on the role of technical advisor at the company and remaining on its board. In the press release, Schmidt notes that, “in recent years, I’ve been spending a lot of my time…
It happens every year. People spend hours doing homework and weighing the options before finally dropping a sizable chunk of money on expensive new tech. And then, in keeping with the season, they give that gadget away in hopes of bringing joy into someone else’s life. This year, maybe it’s a shiny new iPhone X…
A burger chain in California will scan your face to take your order, and they’ve tapped a global surveillance-technology firm to help them do it. CaliBurger is currently testing out kiosks equipped with facial recognition at its Pasadena location, giving customers who sign up for their loyalty program the option to link their faces to…
One 63-year-old man had so many prostate orgasms that he couldn’t stop. If you didn’t already know, it’s possible for someone with a prostate to orgasm by massaging it through their anus. I thought everyone already knew this, thanks to awkward conversations in health class and the movie Road Trip. But it’s an understudied phenomenon,…
It starts with a single lesion. And then another. Soon, the snake’s entire body is covered in the unsightly sores. If the snake is lucky, its skin will start molting, expunging the reptile of the infection. Less fortunate snakes will die. And in some cases, desperate snakes will spend more time in the sun to…
