Now that Ellie Goulding is back to releasing new music, the UK singer has also returned to the wonderful world of music videos — which is great news for anyone who missed seeing her stun onscreen.
For “Close to Me,” the shimmering comeback single she released last month, Goulding chose to venture overseas to Budapest for a posh, scenic glamour reel. While singing about her wild, animistic romance, she stuns in a bunch of expensive-looking threads, essentially making the video look like a proper Vogue spread. Diplo, who collaborated on the song’s beat, doesn’t appear in the video, but Swae Lee beams in to deliver his verse from a lush green garden.
And just when you thought the video’s high-fashion vision was straightforward enough, Goulding throws in a little drama involving lots of guys in pink-accented suits. Check it out below.
While it’s unclear whether “Close to Me” is the first taste from Goulding’s fourth album or simply a one-off single, a press release for the singer says there is “new music on the horizon.” Vague, but promising!
Ford teamed up with Domino’s last year to test out self-driving cars for pizza delivery. And while a hot cheesy pie is certainly delicious, the autonomous technology is now being put to even better use.
On Wednesday, Ford announced that it is now using Postmates delivery service to bring Walmart products to customers’ homes via self-driving Ford vehicles. Ford and Walmart already partner with the delivery service Postmates, making it a smoother (and more obvious) collaboration. Ford works with Argo AI to power the self-driving part of the car.
Starting in the Miami area, where Domino’s is still testing autonomous pizza delivery and Ford has developed a urban self-driving car proving ground, the service will kick off with Walmart employees putting groceries into the car. The self-driving car then takes the bagged items to its destination, wherever someone who ordered items from the Walmart, Postmates, or other delivery app can come out and grab the bags from the trunk.
The cars are clearly marked as Ford self-driving cars as well as “research” vehicles.
A touchscreen on the car window provides instructions and gives access to the trunk. As it’s still in testing, a safety driver will be in the front seat, so don’t expect to see driverless cars roaming around with your groceries.
In a blog post, Ford said by the end of this year autonomous Walmart deliveries will expand to 100 regions in the U.S. at 800 Walmart stores. In 2019, Ford says at least 1,600 Walmart stores will offer self-driving deliveries.
Humans haven’t been entirely replaced yet.
Image: ford / walmart
Walmart never shies away from new technology at its stores. It’s previously experimented with a self-serve kiosk, self-driving floor scrubbers, and AI-powered shopping apps. Back in July, Walmart partnered with Waymo, Google’s self-driving car company, for Phoenix users to get autonomous rides to the store to pick up pre-ordered groceries.
While taking a self-driving car to the store is something decidedly different, self-driving grocery delivery isn’t new. Kroger and Nuro kicked things off, and AutoX offers a digital grocery shopping experience delivered by autonomous vehicle in the San Jose, California area.
Ford plans to have a self-driving car service in 2021, but until then it continues to partner with companies to bring users food, groceries, and other products.
Why go to the store when a robot car can bring everything to you?
1. The amount of money the U.S. government spent on K-12 education in 2017
or….
2. The amount of money Americans spent on holiday shopping in 2017
Prepare to let out a big, fat “yikes.” In 2017, the U.S. budget for education was $69.4 billion. Meanwhile, Americans spent a whopping $1 trillion on holiday shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s enough money to send 8.3 million people to a 4-year college. Enough to buy every San Fransisco resident an apartment. Enough to literally purchase Apple.
What we’re saying is: That’s a lot of dough.
Of course, giving and receiving gifts is awesome and makes you warm and fuzzy inside — no one is disagreeing with that. And we are the last ones to weigh any objections to spending money and getting good deals wherever we can find them. But there’s also a dark cloud hovering over that ginormous pile of cash we’e spending. In 2016, 60% of all online sales went to 10 of the biggest retailers, none of which has a proactive social mission. Welp.
Listen: There’s no shame in the shopping game. We need to buy stuff, you need to buy stuff, and, hell, we love helping you make those purchases! But there’s something to be said for the occasional moment of mindfulness.
Enter Shop For Good Sunday. Known as “the day to shop with companies that do good for people and the planet,” this special shopping day lands on Nov. 25 — smack dab in the midst of the “Cyber Five,” which is what people are now calling the span of time between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. The special shopping day aims not only to give people a way to spend their holiday shopping money on brands that make the world better, but also doubles as a massive charity that donates 100%of its revenue to people who need it most. Now that seems like true holiday spirit.
Image: Mpowerd, Shop for Good Sunday partner and Certified B Corp
Now, we’re not about to completely abandon the big guys — we love a good tech deal as much as you do, and many times, those are the only places to get big ticket items or the year’s biggest toys. But with over 125 brands participating in Shop For Good Sunday this year (that’s more than double the number of brands from 2017), you should be able to find a perfect gift for at least one person on your list. On top of that, many brands participating are offering promotions to give buyers “Shop4Good” discounts. The site has even defined categories like best gifts for her, best gifts for him, popular gifts, gifts under $50, and more to help get you organized — because there are a lot of options. Candles, bedding and pillows, jewelry, home decor, and clothing are just a few of the unique things up for grabs.
It seriously looks like an Urban Outfitters catalog up in here.
Image: donegood
There’s a lot to like about Shop for Good Sunday, but we particularly love that 100% of the revenue made on Nov. 25 (whether that be from the Shop for Good Sunday gift shop, the DoneGood shop, or through the DoneGood plugin) will be donated to RAINN, America’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. So in addition to purchasing a gift for your nearest and dearest, you’re also giving the gift of helping survivors, educating the public, and improving policies. Really, it’s the gift of a brighter future.
The initiative is powered by DoneGood, a public benefit corporation (B-corp) co-founded by Cullen Schwartz and Scott Jacobsen in 2016. It aims to bring socially and environmentally responsible brands to consumers to divert their money to merchants that do the right thing. DoneGood works in tandem with charities and non-profit organizations like Oxfam America and Be One Percent (both working to end poverty) to spotlight eco-friendly, cruelty-free, fair trade, and other socially responsible products to help people feel good about where their dollars are going. DoneGood also encourages buyers to support local community businesses that they know use eco-friendly practices and pay living wages.
If thousands of us choose to spend a few of our dollars at retailers that have the public’s interest in mind, Schwartz believes we can make the most wonderful time of the year also the most impactful. In a post on B the Change, Schwartz writes:
“We started DoneGood because we genuinely believe the dollars we spend are the world’s most powerful force for change. Consumer spending is 70 percent of the economy. And it’s a supply-and-demand economy, so we all have total power—whatever we demand, the market supplies. The more we demand worker empowerment, living wages, eco-friendly practices, and other good stuff, the more the market supplies those things.”
As sustainable food advocate Anna Lappé says, “Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the type of world that you want.” Shop For Good Sunday makes it easier than ever to support the companies that do good for people, animals, and the planet. Enter your email address, avoid the in-store stampedes, and start changing the world (while simultaneously becoming the best gift giver in the family) here.
Disclosure: Mashable is a Shop for Good media partner, but we earn no affiliate revenue through the initiative. We just think it’s a really awesome cause.
A fundraising page has raised more than $121,000 for a black security guard killed by a white police officer while he subdued a suspected gunman at a bar in Chicago.
Jemel Roberson apprehended the man who had fired shots inside the bar on Sunday, but when police arrived at the scene they shot the 26-year-old as he held down the attacker.
The shooting suspect left at least four people inside the bar wounded.
According to local media reports, witnesses shouted “security” at the police officers in a vain attempt at stopping them from firing their weapons.
“Everybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’ He was a security guard,” witness Adam Harris told WGN9.
“And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him,” he added.
Midlothian Police said one of their officers shot Roberson after he ignored multiple requests to put down a firearm that he was licensed to carry. The department confirmed that the officer was white.
Roberson, a father of one whose partner was pregnant with his second child, died in hospital after receiving multiple bullet wounds.
‘Intentional, willful, and wanton’
A lawsuit has been filed against Midlothian Police for their role in Roberson’s death and the officer responsible has been placed on administrative leave, according to local media.
A lawyer for Roberson’s family said his killing was “intentional, willful, and wanton,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
Friends described Roberson as a “church-going guy” and devoted father, who had dreams of joining the police.
His death is the latest of black man at the hands of a US police officer, and the circumstances of Roberson’s killing have prompted renewed focus on police violence in the country.
According to the Washington Post’s Fatal Force database, at least 841 people have been killed by the police in the US this year. The Post found that more than 980 people were killed by police in 2017.
The Guardian identified more than 1,090 police killings the previous year.
Nearly a quarter of those killed by police in 2016 were African Americans, although the group accounted for roughly 12 percent of the total US population.
According to watchdog group The Sentencing Project, African American men are six times more likely to be arrested than white men.
These disparities, particularly the killing of African Americans by police, has prompted the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, a popular civil rights movement aimed at ending police violence and dismantling structural racism.
“Jemel Roberson was a young father and a security guard who aspired to one day become a police officer,” said Democrat New Jersey Senator Cory Booker on Twitter, adding: “He was doing his job, subduing a shooter, when he was killed by a police officer.
“Words can’t begin to describe my horror and outrage.”
Jemel Roberson was a young father and a security guard who aspired to one day become a police officer. On Sunday, he was doing his job, subduing a shooter, when he was killed by a police officer. Words can’t begin to describe my horror and outrage. https://t.co/WZsIKHHDDa
Mike WiLL Made-It wasn’t playing around when he said “the soundtrack album game would never be the same” after his Creed II compilation. The star-studded soundtrack doesn’t arrive until next week, but Mike previewed one of its buzziest contributions Tuesday night (November 13) by releasing “The Mantra,” which reunites Pharrell and Kendrick Lamar.
Pharrell flies solo for the first half of the mesmerizing cut, which features a haunting hook and muted production from Will. “If what you doin’ don’t help you elevate / Far as I’m concerned, it’s in the way,” Pharrell advises.
The track really comes to life when Kendrick jumps in with a characteristically sprawling, athletic, quirky verse. “I was down, bad, then my life switched … I was lifeless, I was deadweight, I was triflin’ / Then my eye twitched, then my hand shook, and my fisted balled / Then my right wrist took a risk for us,” he raps in the verse’s evocative opening lines, before unleashing a few knock-out bars that prove he’s sprung back to life.
“The Mantra” is just the latest K.Dot/Pharrell team-up — most recently, they collaborated on a pair of tracks that landed on N.E.R.D.’s No One Ever Really Dies album last year. Prior to that, Pharrell lent his producing talents to Kendrick’s 2012 song “good kid,” and the To Pimp a Butterfly anthem “Alright.”
Along with “The Mantra,” the Creed II soundtrack — executive produced by Mike WiLL — will include music from Bon Iver, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Vince Staples, Rae Sremmurd, and more. The album arrives alongside the Michael B. Jordan-starring blockbuster on November 21.
You think you’re good at Instagram lurking? There’s always room to be sneakier.
The most proficient lurkers among us — people we both revere and fear, to be honest — have devised truly impressive ways to Insta-skulk without being detected. We’re not talking basic stuff like “use desktop Instagram,” either. The methods below will require a little effort, but you’ll probably find them useful, whether you’re keeping tabs on your crush or your sworn enemy. (These, of course, are the only two types of people anyone lurks.)
To be clear, we’re not suggesting that you do these things. We are merely explaining that they are possible, and that if you wanted to do them it would be within your reach. That’s all!
The repurposed finsta
The “finsta” or dark Instagram, is a separate account which users accept very few followers, then post whatever they want — niche memes, gratuitous selfies, personal anecdotes — without worrying about judgement or how many likes their posts will get.
But the finsta can also be a strong lurking tool. If it’s unclear to whom an account belongs, the people you’re lurking are less likely to notice it watching their Stories or, in the event you make a mistake, accidentally liking one of their posts from 2012. To truly protect your identity, however, you’ll need to ensure that the person you’re lurking doesn’t follow any of the people who follow your finsta — if they do, those people will appear under your finsta’s bio (in the “Followed by” section), making you easier to identify. The person you’re lurking will also need to have a public account for this to work.
And, of course, they might notice.
I was lurking on this guys story from my finsta and he requested to follow it so I’m feeling very called out
Want even more of a cloak? Take it a step further. One user, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that she periodically changes her finsta handle to something that seems like a bot — “new_followers_now200k,” as a hypothetical example — to prevent suspicion when she wants to watch people’s Stories covertly.
The pleasant meme account
If you don’t want to use your finsta for nefarious purposes, you could also create another account entirely. A highly specialized meme or lifestyle account, for example, is unlikely to make the people you lurk suspicious — especially if your account gains a following in its own right.
For example, one such user (also anonymous) said she usually lurks one person on an account created originally for niche bubble content.
“It used to be an account for pretty bubbles,” she explained, “and now it’s an account for revenge.”
“It used to be an account for pretty bubbles, and now it’s an account for revenge.”
For her, this particular lurking method was born from necessity. Since the person she wants to lurk (an enemy, she explained) has her regular account blocked, she had to use another to see her posts at all. The bubble account, which had fallen dormant anyway, fit the bill.
So far, it’s working, she said — the person “doesn’t seem to notice the bubble account watching her Stories.”
The small peek
Perhaps you’re not sure if you want to take the plunge and view someone’s Instagram story. (After all, they will know you’ve seen it.) This is a good time to employ the “peek” method.
The peek method in progress.
Image: Chloe Bryan
Stories appear on your timeline back-to-back, letting you know in what order they will appear when you start watching your queue. So, once you find the story you’re interested in, click on the one before it. Then — once you’re on the last frame — pause the story, and partially swipe to the left and the first frame of the next story will start to appear. You need to have a very, very delicate touch here, though: Don’t swipe all the way or you’ll be counted as having viewed the story.
If you don’t follow the person whose story you want to watch, peeking will be a bit more difficult.
If you don’t follow the person whose story you want to watch, peeking will be a bit more difficult. You’ll have to wait for their story to appear on your Explore page — which, if you have their phone number or have friends in common, it probably will. Then, follow the same steps above, though you’ll need to be cool with publicly viewing the story that shows up before theirs.
Of course, there’s a huge caveat here, which is that you can only watch the first frame of the story you’re interested in. But the peek can be a useful way to determine whether you want to take the plunge and watch the whole story.
The third-party approach
Yes, there are numerous apps and websites (we’ll let you Google them for yourself, but it’s extremely easy) that allow you to search for and retrieve Instagram Stories anonymously. You know how stan accounts always seem to have full downloads of celebrities’ disappearing content? They’re probably using one of these tools.
Still, employ them with caution: Make sure you’re logged out of Instagram on desktop before you search, and pay close attention to what you’re clicking on. We can’t vouch for any of these websites’s safety, so we’d recommend trying one of the methods above before taking the plunge.
Moo Moo, the very needy (and very sweet) cat has absolutely no regard for her owner’s personal space. Michael Vartan shared a video on YouTube of his typical morning routine with Moo Moo as she follows him through his apartment like a shadow.
She even follows him into the bathroom, and while having a cat perched on your shoulder at that time doesn’t seem, um, ideal, Moo Moo does seem like charming company.
The Golden State Warriorsannounced Wednesday that point guard Stephen Curry will miss at least the next 10 days because of his strained right groin before being re-evaluated.
Curry has already missed the team’s last three games with the injury, and it appears the issue will keep him out at least another four games.
Head coach Steve Kerr said on Monday the team was being extra careful with Curry because this is a “new injury for him,” perAnthony Slaterof The Athletic.
The guard has dealt with leg injuries before though, with knee and ankle problems causing him to miss over 30 games last season and part of the playoffs. He seemingly returned too quickly a few times which led to an extended stretch off the court.
Golden State will try to avoid this type of issue and make sure he is 100 percent healthy before returning to the lineup.
On the other hand, the team has struggled without Curry over the past week.
The Warriors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last Thursday when the guard first went down and lost again to the Los Angeles Clippers. Even the two wins have been unconvincing, surviving with just a seven-point home victory over the 3-11 Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
It’s not time to panic, but the squad could use a healthy Curry as soon as possible.
But since then, the country has been torn by civil war.
Two rival governments, dividing the country east and west. And both backed by different countries.
An international conference in Italy hoped to find a way to end the violence and provide Libya with some stability. The only breakthrough: a commitment to a United Nations plan for elections next year.
So, what hope – finally – for peace?
Presenter: Martine Dennis
Guests
Salah Al Bakkush – political analyst and former senior adviser to the negotiating team of the High Council of States
Youssef Cherif – researcher in international relations
Lamar Jackson sounds ready to make his first NFL start for the Baltimore Ravens if Joe Flacco is forced to sit out Sunday’s game.
The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner told reporters he would be prepared to handle an expanded role against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I feel like I’d be very prepared,” Jackson said, via ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley. “I’m trying to sponge everything in. Whatever happens, will happen.”
Hensley added Flacco was unable to practice for the Ravens on Wednesday as he deals with an injured right hip.
Per The Athletic’sJeff Zrebiec, Flacco was injured during Baltimore’s sixth play from scrimmage during a 23-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 9. He remained in the game, finishing 23-of-37 for 206 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions.
Ravens head coach John Harbaughtold reportersMonday that Flacco has been receiving treatment and the team is “hopeful” he will be able to play.
Jackson, who was selected 32nd overall in the 2018 NFL draft, has appeared in all nine games this season. The 21-year-old has been used primarily as a runner with 139 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries. He’s also gone 7-of-12 for 87 yards and one touchdown as a quarterback.
The Ravens (4-5) enter Week 11 having lost four of their last five games, but they are one game behind the Bengals for the final playoff spot in the AFC.
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