A game where David Lynch teaches you to type, while breaking the fabric of reality

We all remember sitting in front of the computer screen in middle school while the typing teacher droned on about the proper placement of your right index finger. 

Then suddenly he transformed into The Man from Another Place, dancing in his red suit, and leaning over to whisper backwards English into your ear.

OK, so maybe that last bit would only happen if you were being taught how to type by renowned surrealist filmmaking David Lynch. And that's the TL;DR of Rhino Stew Productions' David Lynch Teaches Typing, a brilliant little tribute game that warps the classic interface of old school keyboard tutorial software into the deepest, darkest bowels of Lynchian hell. Read more...

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Monumentally stupid tweet blows up in blockchain company's face

The blockchain can't solve for stupid. 

That painful truth hit the internet-of-things blockchain project Waltonchain hard today, with one Twitter huge fuck up leading to the erasure of tens of millions of dollars in the market cap of its associated Walton Coin.

And people are pissed. 

Here's what went down: On Feb. 8, the team behind Waltonchain posted a contest to Medium with the goal of spreading awareness about the platform. If you followed the @Waltonchain Twitter account, quote retweeted a specific tweet, dropped #WaltonchainLove in your comment, and tagged someone, then you were eligible to split a pot of 564.96 Walton Coins (WTC) with 213 other people.  Read more...

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Here's Vero CEO's proof he was no longer involved in Saudi Oger during employee riots

Ayman Hariri, CEO of viral social app Vero, has shared a document that shows he was not financially tied to or running Saudi construction company Saudi Oger when it left thousands of migrant workers destitute and homeless. 

SEE ALSO: Meet Vero: Why a billionaire's Instagram alternative is suddenly so popular

The decision followed backlash from Vero users and media reports exploring Hariri's ties to the company that caused such damage and destruction to people's well-beings. Hariri did indeed serve as Deputy CEO and Deputy Chairman of Saudi Oger, as explained in a previous statement from Vero's team, until 2013.  Read more...

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Barbra Streisand deals with grief like the rest of us - by cloning her dead dog

After her beloved dog Sammie passed away, Barbra Streisand used the dog's cells to have her cloned twice. Read more...

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After days of technical issues, Vero says app will be free 'until further notice'

Vero, the Instagram-like app that suddenly went viral in the last couple days, has more than a million users, but it's still free — at least for now.

The app doesn't host any ads, and the company's founders have always said they intend to charge users a yearly subscription to support the business. The fee was originally supposed to kick in after the app's first million users signed up (this first wave of users would be exempt from the fee).

SEE ALSO: Meet Vero: Why a billionaire's Instagram alternative is suddenly so popular

But with the app getting so much attention that it's been almost unusable for days, Vero now says the app will remain free "until further notice." Read more...

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All the social media opt-outs you need to activate right now

Vero is a three-year-old app that's suddenly become a popular alternative to established social media platforms. It has a platform that promises to show you what your friends and network are posting, in chronological order — and with no ads.

It does sound alluring. Tons of users signed up for the Instagram-wannabe before anyone read the fine print and noticed the small detail that your account linked with your name and phone number is difficult to delete.

But the Vero micro-scandal serves as a useful reminder: It's always a good time to go through your social media app settings on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and all the rest to check how your data is being used. This is especially necessary when it's your content getting exploited for the benefit a company, usually for targeted advertising. Read more...

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Disconnect with this minimalist phone

'Light Phone 2' is an updated version of 'Light Phone,' a smartphone that only gives you the necessities. It has no apps, no camera, and no frills — allowing you to stay in the moment. Read more...

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Porsche's first electric sports car, Mission E, will charge 250 miles in 15 minutes

Porsche is charged up and ready to go with its first electric sports car, the Mission E. 

The luxury sports car brand first introduced the Mission E in 2015 and is expected to release it in 2019. This week the German carmaker's head of electric vehicles revealed more about its charging capabilities and the company's plans to take on Tesla.

SEE ALSO: Porsche and Audi take on Tesla with two gorgeous electric car visions

Stefan Weckbach told Ars Technica the electric car is still very much a Porsche even if things look a bit different under the hood. "The entire company is working towards a single goal: with Mission E, we will offer a fully electric Porsche, which is a perfect fit for our brand, finds approval with our customers, and rightfully bears the name 'Porsche.'" Read more...

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Spotify files for an IPO on the NYSE

Soon, you too can own a part of Spotify.

The music streaming service has filed for its initial public offering, seeking $1 billion for its start on the New York Stock Exchange. The ticker will be $SPOT, according to the F-1 filing.

SEE ALSO: Spotify may be building a smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo

Spotify's decision to go public has been expected and in the works for months as the company aims to return investments to venture capitalists and further grow its business. Now, it's opening itself up to the pocketbooks and the scrutiny of the public market. That status isn't always easy — just look at competing music-streaming service Pandora.  Read more...

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Google opens its Slack competitor, Hangouts Chat, to everyone

Google Hangouts is officially a business tool.

After months of testing, Google is opening its business messaging platform, Hangouts Chat, to everyone. The Slack-like service for team communication is now open to all of the company's business customers who use its G Suite services.

SEE ALSO: Apple stores some iCloud objects on Google's cloud

Hangouts Chat, first unveiled nearly a year ago, is a lot like Slack in that teams can communicate in group chat and one-to-one messages. It also supports integrations with third-party apps and bots. 

Google is a relatively late entrant to the business-messaging software game. At this point, Slack and Microsoft, with its Teams app, both have significant head-starts. But there are a few areas where Google is hoping to differentiate itself from the competition. Read more...

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This is the Apple Watch band that can detect irregular or dangerous heart rhythms

Heads up: All products featured here are selected by Mashable's commerce team and meet our rigorous standards for awesomeness. If you buy something, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Listen up, Apple Watch users: A new FDA-approved band is on the market and it can help you monitor your heart in a whole new way.

Yes, you can feel when your heart is beating fast after a run or a nerve-racking situation — but most of us aren't doctors and can't tell whether this is normal or an actual problem. Detecting when a heart has a truly irregular rhythm by yourself is a toss up, and the only way to confirm an atrial fibrillation (AFib) is to get an electrocardiogram (EKG) from a cardiologist.  Read more...

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Twitter's new Bookmarks feature saves you from embarrassing likes

On Twitter, a like is a like — unless it's not. 

Over the years the "like" button has come to embody several distinct uses on the social media platform: a way to designate appreciation for a tweet, show agreement, or, confusingly, to essentially bookmark the tweet in question for later reading. Thankfully, with Twitter's unveiling of an official new bookmark feature today, that ambiguity will go the way of the star (although, to be fair, we miss the star). 

SEE ALSO: Twitter totally solves all of its problems with new profile photos

That's right, no more "liking" a super weird tweet with a linked article — intending to revisit it later in the day when you have a free moment — only to have that same bizarre thing live forever in your "likes" tab. Read more...

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How to turn off Facebook's new face recognition features

Facebook gave users a scare this week when it began sending a notification in its mobile app, declaring it was introducing face recognition for more features.

The new developments are designed to give users more control over a few Facebook experiences. With the new feature enabled, you'll be notified if you appear in other users' photos, even if you're not tagged. Once notified, you can decide whether you want to tag yourself or ignore the photo.

SEE ALSO: 5 questions Facebook's 'privacy principles' don't answer

Facebook also hopes the new feature will make the platform more accessible for blind and visually impaired users. Read more...

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The Apple Watch just got way better for skiers and snowboarders

Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.

Skiers and snowboarders, the Apple Watch is your new best friend. 

Apple announced on Wednesday that it's given third-party Apple Watch apps access to winter sport tracking. Several of these apps, including snoww, Slopes, Squaw Alpine, Snocru, and Ski Tracks, are releasing updates that will enable the Watch to track a number of metrics related to skiing and snowboarding performance.

The API that supports such tracking rolled out with watchOS 4.2 in December. Bad news for legacy Apple Watch owners, though: Almost all of the new features are only available for the Apple Watch Series 3, which is the first Apple Watch to include a barometric altimeter.  Read more...

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Massive Solar Flares Diminish Chance of Finding Life on Proxima Centauri

Ever since we found an exoplanet around the nearest star from Earth, there's been intense interest in whether it could host life. Today's news points in the opposite direction.

The post Massive Solar Flares Diminish Chance of Finding Life on Proxima Centauri appeared first on ExtremeTech.

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China banned the letter 'N' from Weibo and WeChat

In some sort of Sesame Street 'Letter of the Day' nightmare situation, the letter N was temporarily banned on many of China's most popular social platforms.

SEE ALSO: China ironically decides to clamp down on online news outlets on World Press Freedom Day

On Sunday, China's Communist Party announced that it was planning to abolish the presidential two-term limit, which would enable Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely.

Some Chinese citizens weren't too keen on the plan. Apparently, many started criticizing it on popular messaging apps Weibo and WeChat, referencing dystopian novels like 1984, and poking fun at Jinping by invoking the popular (and hilarious) comparison of Jinping to — wait for it — Winnie the Poo.  Read more...

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Ride in Waymo's self-driving minivan with 360-degree video

With more than 5 million autonomous miles logged on public roads, Google's self-driving car division, Waymo, is celebrating the major milestone with free rides in a driverless minivan. 

Waymo has opened its doors to its driverless Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivan wth a 360-degree ride-along in Phoenix, Arizona. The company has recreated what a self-driving car "sees" all around while driving around to improve the technology to one day implement autonomous vehicles on all roads.

Waymo started test driving its fleet of Pacificas without a driver in Phoenix in OctoberStarting in April similar driver-less test rides can happen on California public roads. Waymo has been testing in California since 2009 and always with a support driver. Read more...

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Apple's new 'zero waste' ad is complete garbage

The iPhone is hard to recycle, difficult to repair, and rendered needlessly obsolete by software updates — but Apple wants us to believe it's "zero waste."

A new ad published to YouTube earlier this week implores customers to switch to an iPhone on the basis of Apple's supposed environmental bonafides. "iPhone is assembled in facilities that send Zero Waste to landfills," the copy under the ad reads. "Life’s easier when you switch to iPhone. Switch today."

Frankly, this is nuts.

SEE ALSO: Apple is basically a parody of itself

If "zero waste" is true about the iPhone's assembly, it certainly isn't about everything that happens after. In fact, it's easy for old iPhones to become waste themselves, because Apple makes it difficult to repair or recover the valuable components that make them work. Critical materials like cobalt, recently in headlines following a report that Apple will attempt to buy it directly from miners, are in limited supply but very difficult to recover from the gadgets they're used in. There won't always be "new" resources for use in our electronics, which should make companies ensure old devices last as long as possible. Read more...

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