Shameless Plug

In this special edition of MashTalk, Mashable sits down with Dario Gil, COO of Research at IBM, at CES 2019. Gil details IBM's latest announcement of IBM Q System One, the world's first commercial quantum computer, and explains why widespread use and teaching of quantum computing is a lot closer than we think. Read more... More about Technology , Mashable Video , Future , Mashtalk , and Ibm from Mashable https://ift.tt/2VqYmbJ

Some memes are born to die. Others, like the "Thanks, I hate it" meme, can live eternally. "Thanks, I hate it" — unlike many memes which fade as quickly as they appear — has real life force and patrons supporting its art. And thankfully there's a whole new subreddit, r/TIHI (Thanks, I hate it), dedicated to keeping this meme alive.  At its core, "Thanks, I hate it" is a meme that celebrates what I like to call "Internet Gothic." Similar to Southern Gothic , Internet Gothic is composed of the grotesque: hellish images, perverse photoshops, photos suggestive of late capitalism, disturbing GIFs, shitposts, nihilist memes, and all the dumb shit we try and forget we saw on the internet. Read more... More about Memes , Reddit , Culture , Culture , and Web Culture from Mashable https://ift.tt/2GS1EBx

The Denver International Airport is elaborately trolling travelers once again — this time with an animated gargoyle statue. Over the years, the airport, which many people know of because of all the wild conspiracy theories surrounding it , has done a truly impressive job of embracing the chaos.  For its latest prank, the airport installed a talking gargoyle statue right in the middle of "Illuminati Headquarters" to throw shade, tell jokes, and confuse the hell out of travelers.  According to the airport, the statue is there to "clear the air on all the conspiracies at DEN," and travelers seem to love it. Read more... More about Travel , Pranks , Culture , Conspiracy Theories , and Denver International Airport from Mashable https://ift.tt/2SyklMi

Anti-Cheat Software Causing Big Problems For Windows 10 Previews Published on March 01, 2019 at 03:00AM An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Windows 10 Insider Preview Slow Ring -- the beta track that's meant to receive only those builds that are free from any known serious problems -- hasn't received an update for months. While the fast ring is currently testing previews of the April 2019 release, codenamed 19H1, and the even-faster skip-ahead ring is testing previews not of the October 2019 release, 19H2, but of the April 2020 release, 20H1, the Slow Ring is yet to receive a single 19H1 build. This has prompted some concern among insiders that perhaps the ring has been forgotten about, and it has even caused a few complaints from companies that are using the Windows Insider for Business program to validate new Windows releases before their launch. Without Slow Ring builds to test, there's nothing to validate, meaning that they'll have to delay

On Wednesday, San Jose Mercury News photojournalist Karl Mondon spotted a man in flooded Guerneville, California rowing through town in a blue dumpster . A potent atmospheric river — a long band of water vapor that often transports ample amounts of moisture to the western U.S. like "rivers in the sky" — deluged portions of Northern California this week. The Russian River, which winds through the Sonoma County town of Guerneville, reached over 45-feet high and swamped the area, prompting the Sheriff to announce on Twitter that the town had been surrounded by water — with no way in or out.   While California relies heavily on these wintertime atmospheric rivers for its water, scientists expect these storms to grow wetter as Earth's climate heats up .  Read more... More about California , Global Warming , Climate Change , Atmospheric River , and Flooding from Mashable https://ift.tt/2BZu3Sj

One of the activities that makes living in cold environments actually worth it is ice skating.  In Prince George, Canada the weather conditions just the right weather conditions turned the into a perfect skating rink after the plow cleared off the snow. So that can only mean one thing: street skating.  These skaters took no time at all strapping on their skates and making the most of an otherwise slippery situation.  Read more... More about Winter , Viral Video , Ice , Ice Skating , and Watercooler from Mashable https://ift.tt/2tHf6j4

Fortnite players have discovered a new addition to the game with the launch of Season 8 Thursday: Weezer World. If you're a big Weezer fan and are excited to hear their upcoming self-titled album, known as The Black Album , you may want to check out this island because it's playing songs that aren't available publicly yet. Weezer World, which is an island you can check out in creative mode, is basically a giant Weezer-themed amusement park with a handful of different activities to check out either by yourself or with others. While you're on the island, you can listen to four different Weezer songs from The Black Album . Read more... More about Weezer , Fortnite , Entertainment , Music , and Gaming from Mashable https://ift.tt/2NAVINZ

Amazon just introduced a new way to help Prime members feel less guilty about ordering a bunch of packages.  The e-commerce giant announced Thursday the creation of " Amazon Day ." Now, Amazon Prime customers can opt to receive all of their purchases on the day of the week of their choice. And, whenever possible, Amazon will group these purchases into one package to reduce shipping materials like cardboard.  “Prime members can now choose to get their orders delivered together in fewer boxes whenever possible on the day that works best for them,” Maria Renz, Amazon's vice president of delivery experience, said in a public statement. Read more... More about Amazon , Amazon Prime , Sustainability , Shipping , and Tech from Mashable https://ift.tt/2UfFDzO

US Companies Put Record Number of Robots To Work in 2018 Published on March 01, 2019 at 02:21AM U.S. companies installed more robots last year than ever before, as cheaper and more flexible machines put them within reach of businesses of all sizes and in more corners of the economy beyond their traditional foothold in car plants. From a report: Shipments hit 28,478, nearly 16 percent more than in 2017, according to data seen by Reuters that was set for release on Thursday by the Association for Advancing Automation, an industry group based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Shipments increased in every sector the group tracks, except automotive, where carmakers cut back after finishing a major round of tooling up for new truck models. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Nubia Alpha wearable smartphone looks innovative, but up close, it doesn't live up to the hype. It's clunky and cheap on the wrist and the interface is overwhelming. Read more... More about Mashable Video , Wearables , Consumer Electronics , Nubia Alpha , and Nubia from Mashable https://ift.tt/2EjX4bR

Viviana Troya is a Colombian artist, whose work ' Hatchery ' captures our obsession with the symbol of the egg – something fragile and ubiquitous, yet also synonymous with life and love.  Read more... More about Instagram , Mashable Video , Religion , Egg , and Sculpture from Mashable https://ift.tt/2C0fqhI

We played with the Boring Company's Not a Flamethrower. And it indeed isn't a flamethrower! It's a glorified propane torch and campfire lighter, and that's fun on its own. Read more... More about Mashable Video , Elon Musk , Flamethrower , Tech , and Elon Musk from Mashable https://ift.tt/2SzDFsi

US Bars Lithium-ion Batteries From Passenger Aircraft Cargo Published on March 01, 2019 at 01:40AM The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration have issued new rules designed to protect air passengers from the potential dangers of lithium ion batteries. From a report: The new Transportation Department rules come after Congress last year directed the agency to adopt the new rules. The new restriction doesn't apply to passengers or crew bringing electronics aboard aircraft. "This rule will strengthen safety for the traveling public by addressing the unique challenges lithium batteries pose in transportation," US Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said in a statement. In the past couple of years, the use of lithium-ion batteries has been linked to fires and spewing smoke in a slew of products, including Samsung's now-canceled Galaxy Note 7, hoverboards and Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fox News Breaking News Alert Free agent Bryce Harper reportedly agrees to 13-year, $330M deal with Philadelphia Phillies 02/28/19 12:07 PM

YouTube has announced a few sweeping changes amid a number of controversies involving children’s safety on the platform. In a post on the YouTube Creator Blog, the company laid out the actions being taken. The biggest update: YouTube will now disable comments on all videos featuring minors. YouTube states that this change will be rolled out over the next few months. Comments will be disabled on all videos featuring young minors as well as videos with older minors that “could be at risk of attracting predatory behavior.” Select creators that would otherwise be affected by this change will be allowed to keep comments enabled on their videos. They will be required to actively moderate their comments and keep predatory content off their video pages. YouTube will work with them to provide guidance.  Read more... More about Video , Youtube , Children , Comments , and Tech from Mashable https://ift.tt/2T4YssW