Archive for August 2018

Friday, August 31, 2018

Inside the cult of Ann Dowd: 'The Handmaid's Tale' actress offers a masterclass in the art of antagonists

Some spoilers for Compliance, True Detective: Season 1, The Leftovers, The Handmaid's Tale, and Hereditary lie ahead.

Hollywood's go-to malicious missionary, Ann Dowd, knows a thing or two about indoctrinating audiences. With over 30 years of stage, film, and television experience, Dowd has assumed the roles of politicians, doctors, mothers, FBI agents, and—as of late—lots and lots of cult members.

Gaining prominence in Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, the notorious character actress has earned a reputation, as well as an Emmy, for getting into the minds of antagonistic zealots and delivering disturbingly convincing performances. Read more...

More about Entertainment, Interview, The Handmaid S Tale, The Leftovers, and True Detective

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People are really loving Tess Holliday's Cosmo cover

While some would argue that we've come a long way when it comes to representation and diversity in the media, it is still not every day you see a size 22 woman on the cover of a major publication.

That's why the October issue of Cosmopolitan UK is already getting a lot of buzz, despite not having hit the stands yet.

The cover girl is supermodel Tess Holliday. Dressed in a swimsuit, Holliday poses on the cover blowing a kiss to all the fat-shamers out there. The headline reads "Tess Holliday wants the haters to kiss her ass." Read more...

More about Body Positivity, Plus Sized Model, Tess Holliday, Culture, and Identities

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Hey look, another new QWERTY-equipped BlackBerry for Kim Kardashian to buy

As decent as the BlackBerry Key 2 is, it's really not worth spending $650 on when there are better phones like the OnePlus 6 that cost less.

TCL Communications, the company behind the BlackBerry Key series, has heard the cries of the people and has announced a cheaper Key 2 LE coming in September, which'll start at a more affordable $399.

At a lower price, you're probably wondering what corners TCL cut to shave down the price. Although the display is the same 4.5-inch LCD touchscreen with 1,620 x 1,080 resolution, almost everything else about the Key 2 LE has been downgraded. Read more...

More about Mobile, Android, Blackberry, Ifa, and Ifa 2018

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China says lots of countries take steps to prevent terrorism

Many countries take steps to prevent terrorism, China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday, after United Nations' human rights experts voiced alarm over the country's alleged political re-education camps for Muslim Uighurs.

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'Mr. Robot' to end run after upcoming fourth season

Mr. Robot's fourth season on USA will be its last, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The final season will feature an extended run of 12 episodes instead of eight before bowing out.

The striking hacker drama starring Rami Malek debuted in 2015, when it floored critics and audiences with a fresh, addictive take on the hacker trope with a twist of psychological thrill.

Malek's breakout performance earned him an Emmy and a lifetime spot on the list of actors now inseparable from their iconic television roles.

Creator Sam Esmail originally considered doing a fifth season – back when Season 4 was supposed to be shorter – but ultimately chose to condense the story. Read more...

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This YouTube artist paints scenes straight out of your favorite video games

This post is part of Hard Refresh, a soothing weekly column where we try to cleanse your brain of whatever terrible thing you just witnessed on Twitter.

For those of us who love a relaxing episode of the Joy of Painting, let me introduce you to the Bob Ross of the video game world.

MalMakes is a YouTube channel dedicated to recreating gorgeous scenes from video games on canvasMallory Georg, the artist behind the account, is a high school art teacher with an affinity for gaming.

In her videos, Georg condenses the process down into a super quick time-lapse, showing the painting's progress from start to finish. In one episode, she takes on the challenge of painting the iconic Hyrule Castle stage from Super Smash Bros. Read more...

More about Art, Painting, Artist, Video Games, and Paintings

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Save $100 on the Amazon Echo Show through Sept. 3

Is your smart home actually kinda dumb? Time to fix that.

The Amazon Echo Show is on sale for $129.99, marked down from $229.99. Imagine all the great stuff you can buy with that extra $100!

At its core, the Echo Show offers all the functionality you'd expect out of Amazon's Echo devices. Link it up to your WiFi and you'll be able to get the news, weather, and music, like with any other Echo home assistant. It's the Echo Show's video display screen that makes this device a total game changer.

If you need to get in touch with anyone, you can now do video calls direct from the Echo Show. You'll also be able to pull up video clips from Amazon Prime Video and more. This will keep you entertained while doing chores around the house or offer visual aids for cooking recipes. And, like most other Echo devices, it can be integrated with compatible smart home devices like Philips Hue lights. Read more...

More about Echo Show, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Amazon, Shopping Daily Deals, and Tech

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Goats like it best when you smile, new research shows

You should be happy when you meet a hoofed friend. Especially if that friend is a goat.

Because, it turns out, goats can read human moods and are more drawn to people who look happy.

According to a new study recently published in the journal Open Science, goats prefer "positive human emotional facial expressions." That's smiling faces, to you and me.

Researchers set goats free to explore a closed-off test area with two black and white photos of a human face – one smiling and one angry – posted at goat eye level.

The researchers found that that the goats preferred to approach the photo of the smiling face. Read more...

More about Goats, Emotions, Science News, Science, and Climate Environment

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Labor Day 2018 sales: Nectar mattresses, REI camping gear, Dell laptops, Amazon Echo Dot, J.Crew, Target, and more

Labor Day is right around the corner — and while we're technically supposed to be celebrating the American labor movement, we're mainly reminded about two things:

Summer is basically over
Fall sales are just starting

Good news: Tons of online retailers are having massive Labor Day sales, and they all seem to be devoted to relaxation.

Whether your ultimate "me time" activity is spending a day in the great outdoors, binging Netflix, or watching the inside of your eyelids, there's a deal (or ten) for you. Save on mattresses from Nectar and Nest, furniture from Gjemini and Target, hiking and biking gear from REI, Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices, and tons more. If nothing else, your humble abode can get the glow-up it's been waiting for since spring. Read more...

More about Mashable Shopping, Shopping Fun, Labor Day Sale, Lifestyle, and Work Life

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This PlayStation®VR bundle has everything you need to leave reality behind

VR technology continues to bridge the gap between gaming and reality. Sometimes that gap becomes a little too close for comfort and you are left shrieking and grasping at thin air. All from the comfort of your living room.

If that sounds like your sort of thing (and let's be honest who doesn't like to throw themselves around their home in terror?) then there is a bundle offer that may be perfect for you.

Game are currently offering the PlayStation®VR starter pack, Firewall Zero Hour, Resident Evil 7, and a NOW TV two month entertainment pass for £199.99. If that seems like a heavy bundle then you are right. It's stuffed. Read more...

More about Virtual Reality, Playstation, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Solo, and Uk Deals

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We could detect Alzheimer's with an eye test in the near future

Participants of the Memory and Aging Project at Washington University's Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center found out they had an increased chance of developing Alzheimer's after an analysis of the condition of their eyes. Now researchers think a simple eye exam could help detect the deadly disease, and save lives in the future. Read more...

More about Health, Mashable Video, Eyes, Alzheimer S, and Alzheimer S Disease

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Here's how to set up Google Gboard's 'Mini' stickers

There's no shortage of personalized stickers and avatars to choose from on your mobile device: Apple Memojis, Snapchat Bitmojis, and the list goes on and on.

Now, Google is launching its own version. Google's Gboard (a keyboard extension for iOS and Android) is launching Minis, a sticker version of yourself with two distinct drawing styles.

The most diehard Google fans might remember selfie stickers in Allo, one of the company's many different messaging apps. The new Google Gboard Minis are similar, however, they're a little more customizable. Read more...

More about Google, Android, Ios, Gboard, and Stickers

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Twitter drags Trump-backed Florida candidate for racist comment

Ron DeSantis is already in hot water less than a day after winning the GOP nomination in the Florida gubernatorial race because of a racist remark he made about his upcoming general election opponent, democrat Andrew Gillum.

The Trump-endorsed DeSantis stepped it in big time on Wednesday morning during an appearance on Fox News in which he said that Florida shouldn't "monkey this up" by electing Gillum, who is black.

No, really. He actually said it.

It's hard to believe in 2018 that white people still claim ignorance around using "monkey" or "ape" in connotation with African-Americans when the use of the word has a had an incredibly long association as a racial epithet. Read more...

More about Politics, Racism, Ron Desantis, Andrew Gillum, and Culture

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Google's revamped Android One program picks up where the Nexus left off

As great as Google's Pixel phones are — the Pixel 2's have arguably the best smartphone cameras and the Google Assistant has grown to be indispensable — they lack one thing that made their predecessors, the Nexus phones, so irresistible: affordable pricing.

The Nexus brand and hardware are long dead, but the key fundamentals that made the phones such game-changers lives on in Android One.

Google launched Android One in 2014 as program geared towards pushing its apps and services onto budget phones designed for emerging markets such as India. Read more...

More about Google, Android, Smartphones, Nexus, and Android One

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Yes, Michael Jackson really was on 'The Simpsons'

For quite some time, fans of The Simpsons were unsure: Was that really Michael Jackson's voice on the show?

In the 1991 episode "Stark Raving Dad," Jackson voiced the character of Leon Kompowsky, a patient in a mental health facility who thought he was the pop icon.

Jackson was credited as John Jay Smith, and although producers have spoken about his appearance, the show's creator Matt Groening put the rumors to bed once and for all in an interview on Australian TV show The Weekly.

"We really did have him," Groening said.. Read more...

More about Entertainment, Tv, The Simpsons, Matt Groening, and Entertainment

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San Francisco and Santa Monica finally decide which e-scooter companies can roll through

Bring on the scooters.

After months of scooter-less streets in San Francisco, city transportation officials finally broke their silence Thursday to announce which electric scooter companies would be allowed to rent out the battery-powered vehicles.

Of the 12 companies that applied for a year-long pilot program in San Francisco, only two were selected: Skip and Scoot. The two companies are allotted 625 scooters each available to riders starting Oct. 15.

The final decision came as a bit of a surprise to some companies, seeing as the city originally said it could award up to five companies permits back in June. It comes off as a retaliatory move for Bird and Lime, scooter companies that came into the city early without collaborating with officials. Uber and Lyft were also vying for a spot in their hometown's scooter program, but may have paid the price for its past transgressions when ride-hailing apps arrived in the city unannounced years ago. Read more...

More about Uber, Bird, Lyft, Scoot, and Jump

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Disneyland's 'Star Wars' cantina will serve booze to all us lowlife smugglers

Like Han Solo in the iconic cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope, we're sorry about the mess. And we're taking the shot first.

That's right, folks, the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge park expansion to Disneyland is serving alcohol. We couldn't imagine recreating the sleazy intergalactic dive bar filled with smugglers and bounty hunters any other way.

Disney made the welcome announcement on the park's blog on Thursday, Aug. 30. The company also offered up some new concept art for the highly anticipated Black Spire Outpost expansion, which opens in 2019. Read more...

More about Entertainment, Entertainment, Food, and Star Wars

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