Everyone loves to hear Kanye West say crazy things (admit it), and usually he reserves his craziest outbursts for the MTV Video Music Awards. He gave a six-minute speech at tonight’s VMAs, but that’s not what social media was buzzing about afterwards. Instead, the birds were tweeting about Drake and Rihanna. Presenting the Video Vanguard …
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If you love music, you’ll love it even more with this turntable
I go way back with Rega, back to the 1980s when I worked in high-end audio sales. Rega was my go-to ‘table for aspiring audiophiles on a budget, and Rega only made two models: Planar 2 and Planar 3. Those two were very similar, but the ‘3 had a slightly different plinth/base, platter and mat. I typically sold one or …
Read More »Social media’s echo chamber fuels migrant backlash in Sweden, Finland
This is part of our Road Trip 2016 summer series “Life, Disrupted,” about how technology is helping with the global refugee crisis — if at all. Maria Booth and I sit at a table at Mälarpaviljongen, a gay-friendly bar and cafe in Stockholm. It’s a sunny, breezy day on the Baltic waterway that surrounds the city. The cafe’s floating patio …
Read More »Audio specifications: Which ones matter, which ones don’t
I’ll start with the obvious: most audio specs are nearly useless to consumers — frequency response, total harmonic distortion, slew rate, input sensitivity — fuhgetaboutit. The most useful specs are the ones that average people understand, like the product’s size (dimensions) and weight. Duhhh — is the product too big or small for your needs? At home, heavier speakers and …
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Some people like to live on the edge, but daredevil Flaviu Cernescu prefers to unicycle on the edge. On Wednesday, Cernescu posted a YouTube video of himself and a friend having fun on top of a very tall abandoned factory chimney measuring 840 feet high (256 meters) at CET Targu Jiu in Romania. Related stories Courageous couple scales crane perched …
Read More »This robot is a lousy sandwich chef
We’ve all had fantasies of a future where robot chefs live in our homes and make us any meal we desire at any time of day. Sadly, robots aren’t quite sophisticated enough for that sort of home use as of yet. But that didn’t stop Simone Giertz, a YouTube vlogger known for putting together hilariously crappy robots, from making her …
Read More »Ax handle made using gummy bears looks handy and delicious
Crafty YouTuber Peter Brown loves covering everyday things like cookies, bubble wrap and crayon wrappers in resin, and then transforming them into usable tools, jewelry or even birdhouses. In one his new videos, Brown shows step-by-step how he made a mold of a wooden ax handle so he could fill it with 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms) of gummy bears and …
Read More »Is Spotify punishing artists who cozy up to Apple Music?
The rivalry between the subscription music giants may be turning bitter. Spotify has been penalizing some artists who provide music exclusively to its main competitor, Apple Music, according to a Bloomberg report. Citing unnamed people familiar with the practices, the report said Spotify search results bury tunes by artists who give their material to Apple Music first. The company also …
Read More »10 Microsoft Word tips to make you a power user
1. Use the universal search bar to find features Word has way too many features to remember the location of them all…and you don’t have to. There is a search bar located by the View tab that says “Tell me what you want to do.” Just type in the name of the feature you’re looking for. The search bar also …
Read More »How to stop WhatsApp from sharing your data with Facebook
For the first time in four years and since being acquired by Facebook, WhatsApp is updating its terms and conditions, as well as its privacy policy. Part of this update includes WhatsApp sharing your account information with Facebook to, among other things, provide better targeted ads. What information is being shared with Facebook? The updated WhatsApp FAQ page says that …
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