RVR, the customizable bot that you can make do many, many things

Uploads%252fvideo uploaders%252fdistribution thumb%252fimage%252f90857%252f1162e509 3d46 44b5 8f86 1e0631c72c9e.jpg%252foriginal.jpg?signature=ycziokejophrekwsdbresxikqlo=&source=https%3a%2f%2fblueprint api production.s3.amazonaws

Kevin Urgiles

Sphero is out here trying to make customizable bots super fun by giving you an insane amount of creative and technical freedom. That’s where RVR comes in. The bot, which by now has been fully funded on Kickstarter, is a kid-friendly bot that you can change into just about anything with some code.

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America can literally run on Dunkin’ with these new shoes

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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.

Coffee lovers rejoice!
Coffee lovers rejoice!

Image: saucony x dunkin

2019%252f02%252f04%252fdf%252fimg 58811.67a74.jpg%252f90x90By Harry Hill

Coffee isn’t the only workout fuel Dunkin’ has to offer— they have shoes now, too. 

The classic shoe brand Saucony has once again collaborated with Dunkin’ on a pair of branded running shoes. In preparation for the Boston Marathon on April 15, the coffee company is serving up a colorful take on Saucony’s Kinvara 10 shoe design for the second year in a row.

Since both Dunkin’ and Saucony are Boston-based, the collaboration is sure to hit a sweet spot amongst locals— as well as fans across the country. Last year, their collaboration sold out almost immediately, proving there’s no way to slow down these front-runners. 

The shoe comes packaged in a custom Dunkin’ donut inspired box

The shoe comes packaged in a custom Dunkin’ donut inspired box

Image: Saucony x dunkin 

SEE ALSO: You can now wear avocado toast on your feet for $130

The shoes come equipped with all the necessary breakfast-themed accoutrements: strawberry-frosted donut medallions attached to the laces, coffee cup-covered tongue, and three sets of laces—white, orange, and pink— to fit every taste.

The shoes are available on the Saucony website as well as multiple retailers around the U.S for about $120, and they come in women’s, men’s, and kid sizes.  

If you’re planning to cop a pair, you might want to step to it— they could sell out faster than you can say “Boston kreme.” 

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What legacy did Karadzic and the war leave behind for Bosnia?

United Nations judges have sentenced former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic to life in prison, ending one of the most momentous trials over genocide and war crimes committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. 

The Hague-based tribunal ruled his initial 40-year jail term was too light and decided to increase it to life behind bars.

But do his victims feel justice has finally been served?

When Yugoslavia broke up in the early 1990s, it triggered a three-year conflict that led to the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II.

Karadzic was the leader of the Bosnian Serbs at the time.

He planned the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in a campaign of genocide against Bosnian Muslims.

When the 73-year-old lost his appeal on Wednesday, survivors of the massacre celebrated. But many Bosnian Serbs still regard Karadzic as a hero.

More than 20 years on, has the region been able to heal its wounds? And what legacy did Karadzic and the war leave behind for Bosnia today?

Presenter: Nick Clark

Guests:

Jasmin Mujanovic – Political scientist at Elon University

Refik Hodzic – Former spokesman for International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia

Amila Buturovic – Professor of humanities and religious studies at York University

Source: Al Jazeera News

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Mayor Pete’s husband, Chasten, is the most charming guy on Twitter

Chasten Buttigieg (left) with his husband, “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg

Image: getty images

2016%252f09%252f16%252fe5%252fhttpsd2mhye01h4nj2n.cloudfront.netmediazgkymde1lzew.e9fc9.jpg%252f90x90By Heather Dockray

Historically, politician spouse Twitter is one of the most insipid parts of Twitter. With the exception of that one time Melania psychoanalyzed a dolphin, politician spouse Twitter is the place where you’ll find the internet’s most useless political statements and hackiest, corniest hashtags. 

Politician spouse Twitter is so bad it makes brand Twitter look good.

Every once in a while, however, a spouse comes along who gives you hope. This week, that’s Chasten Buttigieg, presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s husband.

Buttigieg is a respected humanities and drama teacher in Indiana. That’s nice, I guess, but I’m far more interested in his *real* contribution to society: his beautiful Twitter account.

SEE ALSO: Goat mayor celebrates first day in office by taking a dump on the floor

Buttigieg currently rocks over 55,200 followers on Twitter, a number that grows by the hour. I’m not surprised by this success. It appears that Buttigieg has dug deep into Twitter’s broken brain and carved out the content it loves most. 

First of all, Buttigieg is a huge supporter of his husband on social media. He’s not even corny about it, he’s just earnest as hell. Even when he pokes him, it’s so gentle it barely leaves a mark. This is that good, Midwestern shit, shared by a proud gay couple in the political spotlight (traditionally, politics isn’t a welcoming environment for queer people).

It’s deeply exciting to see an openly gay political spouse be so openly affectionate towards their partner. It’s transformational. I’m so in love with their love. Gross! I hate myself now!

Sometimes when he’s on the road and I’m missing him, I just take a deep breath and watch this to remind myself what we’re here for. pic.twitter.com/0uTQKbycOo

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 15, 2019

This adorable little guy ran up to me in the parade this morning, gave me a high five and said “hi mayor!” I’ve arrived. pic.twitter.com/MXC4vkhj8z

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 16, 2019

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little emotional. Peter is about to give his 8th and final State of the City address. He has done remarkable things for the city of South Bend and I am beyond proud of him. pic.twitter.com/ImRgMtjE9A

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 12, 2019

Buttigieg routinely posts the only quality bipartisan content out there: photos of the couple’s two dogs. Their rescue dogs, mind you. One of whom is missing an eye, making him, I’m sorry, even more lovable.

This photo is a platonic thirst trap. It makes me want to be their (entirely non-sexual) third. I want to move into a cupboard under their stairs and take care of their dogs full-time. 

Of course, the dogs have their own Twitter account, which Buttigieg includes in his profile. It’s extremely wholesome content, designed to make the people of the internet chuckle.

Oh hell yeah I’ll chuckle for this.

It’s possible you know Buttigieg from one of his most viral posts to date — the time he revealed both he and his husband were Hufflepuffs.

Folks, it takes courage to reveal you’re from one of the lesser known (and frankly, underrated) Hogwarts houses. Mayor Pete is going to be sharing a debate stage with a bunch of Gryffindors and Slytherins.

For Buttigieg to come out and state his house proudly — right alongside his husband — is brave. It’s also the kind of stuff the Harry Potter-obsessed Twitterverse loves. 

I need to apologize. Seems I made a mistake and wasn’t as clear as I could’ve been with an earlier tweet. I just want to be as transparent as possible. So, I’ll try again.

I, too, am a Hufflepuff. 🦡

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 18, 2019

As a fellow gay Hufflepuff, I stan his bravery (about his sexuality, sure, but also about his house designation).

Wish I had known when I was ten and other kids were making fun of my Harry Potter obsession I could’ve said “yeah, well someday @thehill is going to think this is very important!” https://t.co/UF0Pc6TKEX

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 17, 2019

Bonus: Buttigieg is able to tell jokes that are geared towards a millennial audience without making them groan:

This new exposure can be very weird, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to teenagers taking pictures of me and then running away giggling when I look up and see them pointing their phones at me. This is why I can no longer smell deodorants at Target. They’re always watching.

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 20, 2019

Who among us doesn’t love to go to a big box store and smell some scents? Honestly, I’ve gotten through so many break-ups just by driving to a suburban Target and smelling the deodorants and candles for hours.

Buttigieg is also capable of executing a neat SNL nostalgia joke:

A GIF and a fast food reference? This is Twitter’s favorite genre of literature.

At the drive-thru

Kid hands me my food: you’re the mayor?!

Other kid: no that’s his HUSBAND!

*both look at me disapprovingly* pic.twitter.com/u8MJBAOaJ4

— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chas10Buttigieg) March 18, 2019

And finally, you can’t be a Twitter celebrity without making your policy positions clear on this national issue:

So thank you, Chasten Buttigieg, for making political Twitter — the dumpster fire of Twitters — a far more wholesome place. 

There’s no need to #BeBest when you’re already #ThisGood.

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Tesla files lawsuits against ex-employees for stealing trade secrets

Tesla is suing five former employees for stealing trade secrets in what looks like ridiculously obvious fashion. 

On Wednesday evening, Tesla filed two lawsuits against former employees and the self-driving startup Zoox, as spotted by The Verge. In the first case, it accuses four ex-employees of porting over “proprietary information and trade secrets” to Zoox. And in the second, it accuses one employee of stealing Tesla’s Autopilot source code, and bringing it over to Xiaopeng Motors (XPeng).

The theft, according to Tesla, was “blatant and intentional.” From the filings, it certainly seems that way.

SEE ALSO: China will stop at nothing to steal information from Apple’s secret self-driving car project

The information Tesla is accusing its former employees of taking to Zoox includes proprietary knowledge about its manufacturing, warehousing, inventory, distribution, and transportation systems, including its “WARP” software platform.

One defendant, Scott Turner, reportedly sent documents to his personal email, writing “you sly dog you…” in the body of the email. Another defendant, Christian Dement, sent an email with four confidential Tesla documents to his personal account with the subject line “Good Stuff.” 

Most damning of all, defendant Craig Demigh accidentally sent an email to defendant Sydney Cooper’s former Tesla account, when he meant to send it to his new Zoox account. The document contained an attachment with a “modified version of a Tesla proprietary document, freshly-emblazoned with the Zoox logo, yet still bearing the layout, design, and other vestiges of the Tesla version.” The lawsuit argues that this blunder clearly shows that the former employees are actively using the information they decided to take with them.

“These materials and knowhow were developed by Tesla over many years, and at great expense,” the lawsuit reads. “Tesla’s proprietary information and trade secrets [helps] Zoox leapfrog past years of work needed to develop and run its own warehousing, logistics, and inventory control operations.”

In the second lawsuit, Tesla accuses the now head of perception at XPeng, Guangzhi Cao, of stealing Tesla’s AI source code in order to bring it over to XPeng. Cao was a member of Tesla’s “elite” Autopilot team, and was one of only about 40 people with access to the source code.

“Tesla restricts the neural network source code most stringently: currently, only about 40 people have access to this source code, which is granted on a strict ‘need-to-know’ basis,” the suit reads.

Unlike his Zoox counterparts, Cao apparently attempted to be somewhat stealthy. The suit alleges that Cao began looking for a new job in November and had already received an offer from XPeng in December. During that time, Cao uploaded the highly confidential source code to his iCloud account. He then spent the remaining month scrubbing evidence of this, by disconnecting his iCloud account, and directly accessing Tesla’s secure servers to erase his activity history. 

“Tesla has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and more than five years developing Autopilot,” the lawsuit reads. “Now that investment is at risk.”

In both cases, Tesla is seeking the return of the proprietary information, knowledge about what the companies were doing with it, and damages that result from the alleged theft. 

Trade secrets are a hot button issue, especially in the autonomous vehicle world. Tesla, Waymo, and other companies are in a race to bring a commercially viable product that consumers are comfortable with to market. That’s led to competitors fighting dirty. In 2017, Tesla accused former employees of bringing trade secrets over to their new self-driving business, Aurora. Waymo accused a former employee of bringing its self-driving trade secrets to Uber in 2016 in a case that was settled out of court two years later. And XPeng has been accused of stealing AI trade secrets from Apple before. 

Sometimes, however, Tesla’s legal actions have come off as vindictive and paranoid. In June 2018, Elon Musk reportedly led a campaign to bring down a Tesla whistleblower using spying, intimidation, and a $167 million lawsuit.

The latest lawsuits against the former Tesla employees appear to be a different story. If the allegations of the clumsy emails and cover-ups are true, the defendants may have made their own bed — with Elon Musk as an adversary.

You can see the full text of both lawsuits below.

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Cyclone Idai creates giant inland sea in Mozambique

Mozambique flooding shown in red.
Mozambique flooding shown in red.

Image: esa

2017%252f12%252f04%252f7d%252fmarkpic.c6031.png%252f90x90By Mark Kaufman

Cyclone Idai left death, destruction, and a sprawling inland sea in its wake. 

The powerful tropical cyclone — which struck Mozambique last Thursday as the equivalent of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane with winds of around 100 mph — has left at least 150 dead and 600,000 in need of help in the flooded nation said the EU, though the Associated Press reports over 300 fatalities as of March 21 when accounting for deaths in neighboring Zimbabwe.

The cyclone’s widespread flooding — in part overshadowed by simultaneous and historic flooding in the Midwest — has left behind an inundated area some 200 square miles in size (518 square kilometers), with the inland sea reaching up to 15 miles wide, according to satellite images from the European Space Agency (ESA). 

The destruction is particularly severe around Mozambique’s fourth largest city, Beira. 

SEE ALSO: The West accepts its drought-ridden future, slashes water use

“The situation is terrible. The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed,” said the Red Cross’s Jamie LeSueur, who is working in the region. 

Though there’s little evidence showing that the planet is experiencing more cyclones and hurricanes, there is mounting evidence that illustrates these storms are growing stronger compared to storms in the 21st century.

What’s more, cyclones, like any big storm today, can now carry more water: The world has warmed by 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1 Celsius, over the last century, and for every 1 degree C of warming, the atmosphere holds seven percent more water

Since the 1960s, only three tropical storms of category 3 or stronger have hit Mozambique, according to Weather.com.

When the total number of fatalities are confirmed and the great inland sea dissipates, Idai’s rampage may end up being the worst storm on record in the Southern Hemisphere, the EU noted

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