- Tech NewsFacebook
Facebook Admits to Major Screw-Up That Silently Unblocked People Without Asking
Facebook disclosed a new “bug” on Monday that temporarily let some users who’d been blocked on the service send messages to the people who had blocked them. The bug also let some previously-blocked users view posts that were shared “to a wider audience,” such as publicly or with friends of friends, Facebook said. Facebook’s privacy … Continued
- Tech NewsSamsung
A Bug in Samsung’s Default Texting App Is Sending Random Pics to Other People
Sending pictures to others is one of the most basic functions of a smartphone, but when your phone’s texting app starts randomly pushing out photos without your knowledge, you got a problem. And unfortunately, according to a smattering of complaints on Reddit and the official Samsung forums, it seems that’s exactly what happened to a … Continued
- EartherEnvironmental Justice
Hurricane Maria ‘Climate Refugees’ Avoid Displacement for a Couple Days Longer [Updated: Extension Granted]
For those who’ve lost their homes since Hurricane Maria, the hits keep rolling. Over the weekend, more than 1,700 people displaced by the Category 4 storm nearly lost aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). They were temporarily rescued when a court ruled Saturday to extend the housing assistance program until Tuesday. That means … Continued
- Tech News
How Birdwatching Got Me to Finally Log Off and Actually Go Outside
Waking up in New York City can be like a safari—all you need to do is listen rather than open your phone the second your alarm goes off. I might notice five different species from my bed: sparrows cheeping, blue jays jay-ing, mourning doves cooing, cardinals pewing, and even a chickadee, well, chicka-dee-dee-deeing. If you’re … Continued
- io9Books
The New Star Wars Canon Desperately Needs More Books Like Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina
The world of Star Wars was aflutter recently with drama about the future of Star Wars movie spinoffs that maybe-don’t-but-actually-do-oh-who-knows-anymore exist. But amid all that, one rumor of great interest focused on alleged plans for a spinoff film set in Mos Eisley Spaceport. It sounds silly, but it could’ve been a great idea. Let me … Continued
- EartherExtreme Weather
Why Atlantic Hurricane Season Is Quiet While the Eastern Pacific Is Roaring
It is a tale of two hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific. The former got off to a raging start with a late May storm that basically made it to the Great Lakes, while the latter was DOA. Now their roles have reversed, though, with the Atlantic taking a nap while the … Continued
By Brian Kahn - Tech NewsNews
The Price of Viagra Is Only Getting Even Stiffer
So much for President Donald Trump’s guarantee of “massive” drops in drug prices in the near future. On Monday, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced a slew of price increases for many of its best-selling brand name drugs, including Viagra, the Financial Times first reported. Amazingly enough, it’s the second time Pfizer has increased some of … Continued
By Ed Cara - io9Movies
It: Chapter Two‘s First Official Look at the Adult Losers’ Club Is Here
The Losers’ Club is reuniting in Derry, and now they’re all grown up. On Twitter, Warner Bros. just released the first official photo of the new cast of It: Chapter Two, which is currently filming in Toronto. Though the actors are not in costume, the image still counts as our first look at the Losers’ … Continued
- EartherClimate Change
The American Museum of Natural History’s New Climate Exhibit Delivers on Science But Avoids Solutions [Updated]
A new interactive climate change exhibit will open at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) this week, becoming the museum’s first permanent installation dedicated to modern day, human-caused climate change. It’s replacing a climate-centric portion of the museum’s Hall of Planet Earth, which features a ton of good rocks and a pretty awesome piece of … Continued
- Tech NewsNews
Uganda Goes Through With Social Media Tax and People Are Pissed
The Ugandan government has implemented a law forcing mobile users to pay taxes to use mobile money and social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Skype. As of July 1, people in Uganda have to pay 200 Ugandan shillings (about 5 cents in USD) a day if they want to use social media … Continued
- Tech News
Drake Spam Flooded Spotify This Weekend, Making People Upset
Spotify just found out there’s such a thing as too much Drake. This weekend, Spotify users were bombarded with the stern visage of Aubrey “Drake” Graham as part of a promotional deal, known as “ScorpionSZN,” meant to promote the artist’s latest album, Scorpion. While Drake is definitely a household name, that doesn’t mean everyone on … Continued
- Tech NewsNews
Instagram Under Fire for Removing Photo of Gay Couple
Instagram has apologized to a British photographer after removing her photo of a gay couple kissing, saying the post was removed “in error.” London photographer Stella Asia Consonni uploaded photos of couples as part of an art series on modern relationships, published in i-D magazine. After posting the photo, Instagram removed it, sparking public backlash. … Continued
- ReviewsVPN
AT&T’s WatchTV Is the Very Cheapest Way to Stream Live TV, But Is It Worth It?
AT&T, despite owning DirecTV and thus the live TV streaming service DirecTV Now, just launched another: AT&T WatchTV. Like DirecTV Now, it streams live TV to nearly every kind of mobile device and set-top box. Like DirecTV Now, it has an easy-to-navigate interface. Unlike DirecTV Now, AT&T WatchTV is the cheapest way to stream live … Continued
By Alex Cranz - Tech NewsNews
China Claims to Have a Real-Deal Laser Gun That Inflicts ‘Instant Carbonization’ of Human Skin
As the U.S. prepares for war in space, China’s bringing the space war home. Its ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle is reportedly capable of hitting a target from a kilometer away, igniting flammable objects, and burning through human skin. And it’s ready for production, the researchers behind the project claim. A weapon that fires a destructive … Continued
By Rhett Jones - io9Movies
How Both Captain America: Civil War and Infinity War Impact Ant-Man and the Wasp
Ant-Man and the Wasp was born when director Peyton Reed first saw an early version of Captain America: Civil War. In that film, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is recruited to help Captain America fight Iron Man, and ends up revealing in addition to shrinking, he can also grow very big. As audience members, we can … Continued
- Tech NewsGadgets
All Signs Point to a Late August Release for Nvidia’s New GTX 1180 GPU
Even though Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told journalists at Computex that new GPU’s wouldn’t be available for “a long time,” new rumors and leaks indicate that the upcoming Nvidia GTX 1180 could get announced much sooner, possibly as early as late August at Gamescom in Germany. Originally, Nvidia was scheduled to showcase what people expected … Continued
- ScienceSpace
Our Skies Are More Watched Than Ever, So Why Are Reported UFO Sightings on the Decline?
Reported UFO sightings have been declining in the United States for the last few years, according to the statistician tasked with making sense of all the data acquired by the leading civilian UFO investigation group. The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) is a non-profit that investigates reports of UFO sightings. The group encourages people who have … Continued
- io9Television
This Fan Video Might Be More Epic Than Steven Universe‘s Actual Finale
Just before the beginning of ever new batch of Steven Universe episodes drops, Cartoon Network posts bingo cards filled with hints about all of the major things that might happen during the arc. From the looks of it, “Heart of the Crystal Gems” is going to be epic. On Thursday, Cartoon Network posted the latest … Continued
- ScienceSpace
Astronomers Have Captured First Direct Evidence of an Exoplanet Being Born
At this point, we’ve spotted several thousand exoplanets—there’s nothing super exciting anymore about finding a distant star with several worlds orbiting it. But today, scientists are announcing that they have seen an exoplanet in the middle of forming. The dust disk of the star PDS 70 was detected by the Very Large Telescope’s SPHERE and … Continued
- How To
How the New Android Messages Actually Compares to iMessage
Google’s messaging options are a mess, and it just rolled out a new tool to muddy the waters even further: Android Messages, but on the web. It gives you access to your Android SMS chats through a web browser, and lets you send and receive messages. So does it make life any easier for those … Continued
By David Nield