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'Where are the good apples?': Trevor Noah asks why 'good' cops aren't speaking out against racist violence
The U.S. is once again — or more accurately, still — wrestling with its inability to deal with the issue of police violence against Black peopleDaily Show host Trevor Noah, who as a biracial man hosting a late night current affairs comedy show has devoted a lot of time to making bleak jokes during deep dives into this issue, ditched his usual WFH studio setup for his phone camera on Wednesday night to share an exhausted, bemused question he's been pondering.
"Where are the good apples?"
The refrain of "a few bad apples" is brought up constantly when a cop kills or injures a Black person. It's part of a range of phrases deployed to suggest that there's no systemic issue in policing in America, and it's almost invariably shorn of the idiomatic context — you know, the part where those bad apples spread their rot to the whole barrel. Read more...
More about Police Brutality, Daily Show, Trevor Noah, Culture, and ActivismTCL's new concept phone unfolds and rolls out to get bigger and bigger
Yes, we've seen foldable phones. We've even seen rollable phone prototypes — although LG's rollable phone, sadly, probably won't see the light of day.
But TCL now has a smartphone concept that's both a foldable and rollable phone in one, and it's pretty cool.
Image: TCL
The idea is fairly simple — take a foldable phone, similar to Huawei's original Mate X, and then make it rollable on one side so that it extends to something akin to a decently sized tablet. I've been critical of foldable phones precisely because they don't offer that much space when folded out, but this TCL phone solves that in a fairly elegant way. Read more...
More about Tcl, Tech, and SmartphonesSamantha Bee examines the history of anti-Asian racism in the U.S.
It's a terrible time to be Asian right now. Hate crimes against Asians in the U.S. have risen dramatically, with almost a third of Americans blaming China or Chinese people for the coronavirus pandemic. Asian people are being assaulted, stabbed, and killed with alarming regularity, prompting many to feel apprehensive about being out in public.
"Anti-Asian attacks are happening out in the open for all to see," said Full Frontal host Samantha Bee noted during Wednesday's episode. "It's like if Pennywise didn't bother hiding in the sewer and just went shopping for kids at Chuck E. Cheese."
Unfortunately, as Bee noted, none of this is new. Racism against Asian people has a long and disgusting history in the West, featuring arson, lynchings, and massacres. This isn't even the first time Asian people have been scapegoated and accused of spreading disease, with Santa Ana, California burning down Chinatown in 1906 after an alleged case of leprosy. Read more...
More about Samantha Bee, Asians, Culture, Identities, and ActivismComic for April 14, 2021
Secure Your Home Wi-Fi Network
Save 66% on an app designed to improve your sex life
TL;DR: A one-year subscription to the Lover Sexual Health App is on sale for £14.54 as of April 15, saving you 66% on list price.
There's an app for everything these days — including sexual health. One that should be on your radar is Lover, a sexual health app on sale for a limited time.
Whether you're looking to spice things up with a long-time partner, figuring things out with a new flame, or solo and struggling, the app provides everything you need to take control of your sexual wellness — from science-backed courses to a weekly playlist of interactive activities that help you explore your sexuality. Maybe you're struggling to reach orgasm or your stress is preventing you from getting an erection. Nothing to be ashamed of: Just set your goal and Lover will curate content specifically to help you reach it. Read more...
More about Apps, Sexual Health, Mashable Shopping, Tech, and Sex RelationshipsGet an introduction to PIC microcontrollers with this course bundle
TL;DR: The PIC Microcontroller Engineering Projects Course Bundle is on sale for £36.41 as of April 15, saving you 96% on list price.
At the heart of alarm systems, phones, microwaves, washing machines, and so much more are tiny microcontrollers telling them how to respond to certain commands. You know that episode of SpongeBob where Plankton controls SpongeBob's brain? It’s kind of like that. The average household has about 60 of these embedded microcontrollers they probably never even think about. But in reality, these tiny computer chips are ubiquitous and keep our everyday lives running properly. Read more...
More about Engineering, Mashable Shopping, Online Courses, Tech, and Work LifeAudi introduces the Q4 e-tron as its next generation, cheaper EV
The electric Audi keeps evolving.
Back in 2018 Audi unveiled its first all-electric SUV, the e-tron. Now, almost three years later, the next version of the original EV has been unveiled as the Audio Q4 e-tron, with an additional "sexy back" Sportback design.
The newest electric Audi started as a concept car, but will arrive in Europe this June with a starting price of 41,900 euros (about $50,000). It'll make it to America at the end of this year for about $45,000. That's significantly less than the original e-tron, which starts at nearly $66,000.
Actors Olivia Wilde and Regé-Jean Page (of Bridgerton fame), along with famous athletes, introduced the new EVs at a virtual event streaming from Germany Wednesday. Read more...
More about Audi, Electric Vehicles, Tech, and TransportationHow to get a Covid-19 vaccination appointment in every state
Generally, to get a vaccine appointment, users have to navigate either a government health department portal or sign up on select local retail pharmacies’ websites, made possible through the Federal Retail Pharmacy ProgramCVS, Walgreens, and Walmart/Sam's Club are serving people across most of the United States.
The CDC has also set up VaccineFinder, which is operated by epidemiologists and software developers at Boston Children's Hospital.
While most people are advised to schedule their vaccine appointment through state-mandated measures, those who identify as tribal or veterans also have the option to reach out to the Indian Health Service and Veterans Affairs, respectively. Read more...
More about Tech, Vaccine, Covid 19, Tech, and Consumer TechLime and its competitors plan to flood parts of NYC with e-scooters
It's finally happened — the electric scooter takeover has reached New York City, via the Bronx.
Lime was one of three scooter rental companies selected Wednesday to provide parts of NYC with the electric devices as part of a year-long pilot program. Bird and VeoRide also received permits. Lime will launch 1,000 of its Gen4 scooters, but only in the Bronx to start.
NYC was a major holdout for years as cities around the world accepted the two-wheeled electric devicesFinally, in 2019, New York state legislators opened up access to the electric vehicles. Throughout 2020, city officials worked on plans to launch scooters in a metro area with more than 8 million residents. Read more...
More about Lime, E Scooters, Tech, and Transportation3 delightful revelations from the 'Did I Stutter?' episode of 'The Office'
Bob Odenkirk thinks every action movie character should just run out the door
Better Call Saul and Nobody star Bob Odenkirk took a unique and hilarious approach to our game, "Up the Stairs or Out the Door?" Read more...
More about Mashable Video, Snl, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and Bob OdenkirkA garment technologist created a fashion line for fellow disabled folks — Future Blink
When garment technologist Victoria Jenkins became disabled in her 20s, she realized how limited clothing options could be...so she started her own line, Unhidden. Read more...
More about Fashion, Mashable Video, Wheelchair Users, Amputees, and InclusiveSnapchat teamed up with LACMA to make AR monuments around Los Angeles — Future Blink
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Snapchat collaborated for a new augmented reality initiative called "Monumental Perspectives," which will be explorable all around the world. Read more...
More about Mashable Video, Snapchat, Augmented Reality, Monuments, and LacmaThe iPhone 14 Pro might say goodbye to the notch and hello to a 48MP camera
2021 isn't even halfway over, and iPhone rumors are already abundant for future 2022 and 2023 models. We're talkin' better camera sensors, an under-display Face ID system (yes, that means no more notch), and a canceled iPhone design.
Here's what might be on deck for Apple's family of next-generation iPhone flagships.
Goodbye, iPhone miniAccording to well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company's "mini" lineup will end with the 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini. In a research note seen by MacRumors, Kuo predicts the 2022 iPhones (a.k.a. the iPhone 14 line) will include "high-end 6.7-inch and 6.1-inch" models, as well as "lower-end 6.7-inch and 6.1-inch" options. Read more...
More about Apple, Iphone, Tech, Consumer Tech, and Big Tech CompaniesInstagram will let some users choose whether they want to see like counts
The long debate over whether or not Instagram will hide likes may finally get an answer: It's up to you.
On Wednesday, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, tweeted a thread explaining that the platform is "testing a new option that lets you decide the experience that’s best for you – whether that’s choosing not to see like counts on anyone else’s posts, turning them off for your own posts, or keeping the original experience."
Instagram will now allow some users to choose the experience they want by opting to see likes on others' posts and turn off the like counts on their own posts. Mosseri added that while they're testing this on Instagram, they're also considering exploring similar experiences on Facebook. Read more...
More about Instagram, Tech, and Big Tech CompaniesOculus Quest 2 gets wireless PC connectivity and 120Hz support in update
Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 is the best value in VR, thanks to hardware that eliminates the need for a powerful PC or wires.
But it's not quite powerful enough to run the most high-end VR experiences. A software update could slightly alleviate that problem.
The new v28 Oculus update brings a bundle of new features, but the most important is Air Link, available in the headset's experimental mode. For those not in the know, the Quest 2 isn't designed for really horsepower-intensive experiences like Half-Life Alyx.
The only way to play those games on a Quest 2 is to connect it to a PC using an $80 link cable accessory. With Air Link, you can stream VR experiences directly between a PC and a Quest 2 wirelessly using a WiFi connection. Read more...
More about Facebook, Virtual Reality, Vr, Oculus, and Oculus QuestThis EV charger turns electric cars into back-up power sources
You could go the Tesla route to build out a complete energy system with an electric car, Powerwall battery for energy storage, and solar tiles to gather power from the sun. You can then charge your Tesla EV with the stored energy from the roof or feed that battery energy back to the house (although you still can't use a Tesla to directly power your home's electricity).
Total cost: About $6,000 plus installation for the Powerwall; some $44,000 for a full solar roof; and a Tesla Model 3 at around $38,000 for the cheapest model.
But Tesla isn't the only option. More "smart home" energy systems are popping up. On Wednesday, Montreal-based Dcbel announced it's launching the r16, an all-in-one energy management unit. It uses solar energy for EV charging, but also works as a home back-up power source. Read more...
More about Electric Vehicles, Tech, Transportation, and EnergyHere's where you can pre-order Roku's new $40 4K streaming stick
PREORDER: Priced at just $39.99, the new Roku Express 4K+ streaming media player is available for preorder at Amazon and Walmart ahead of its May 16 release.
You can easily spend a fat wad of cash on a fancy 4K TV. The question is, must you do the same if you want a streaming device that's up to par?
Not if Roku has anything to do with it: With this week's reveal of its all-new Roku Express 4K+, a powerful 4K UHD media player that comes in under $50, you don't have to break the bank to enjoy smooth wireless streaming with top-tier picture quality.
It doesn't officially drop until May 16, but if you want to lock one down ahead of time, you can now preorder the Express 4K+ from either Amazon or Walmart for only $39.99. (Upgrading to 4K has pretty much never been more affordable.) Read more...
More about Streaming, Roku, Mashable Shopping, Tech, and Consumer Tech'F9' trailer features the group facing off against John Cena
The trailer for F9 — the latest installment in the Fast and Furious saga — features the franchise's trademark car chases and appears to have some new tricks up its sleeves.
Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew are back, and this time they're facing down a new formidable foe: Dom's brother Jakob (John Cena). Directed by Justin Lin, who has helmed multiple Fast movies, F9 stars franchise regulars including Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson, with Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren reprising their roles from previous films. It's hard for this series to continue besting itself in terms of sheer spectacle, but this trailer promises heaps of action, the return of beloved characters, and even a potential venture into space. Also... magnets! Read more...
More about Entertainment, Movie Trailers, Entertainment, and Movies Tv Shows
