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Saturday, August 17, 2019

Facebook's Voice Transcripts Were More Invasive Than Amazon's

The Capital One hacker, a Bluetooth vulnerability, and more of the week's top security news.

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When Tech Moguls Act Like Galactic Overlords

In Max Gladstone's new novel *Empress of Forever*, technology controls everyone.

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Best Gaming Mouse for 2019 (WIRED Tested, Wireless, Cheap)

Whether you're into esports or casual fragging, these are the best corded and wireless gaming mice we've tested.

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VW's ID Buggy Is an Electric Dune Dominator

The concept car remixed the past to show where a very fun future of driving could be headed.

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Back-to-School Sales for 2019: Best Tech Deals We Could Find

We combed through this weekend's back-to-school deals for bargains on great tech and dorm room essentials.

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Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo talks to Zeinab Badawi about Sudan accord

Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo, a key military leader, has promised to abide by a power-sharing agreement with the opposition.

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Sudan conflict: Senior commander Hemeti vows to stick with deal

Senior commander Hemeti tells the BBC the military will abide by the deal to be signed on Saturday.

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Elephant protection debate to dominate conservation meeting

Some countries are seeking extra protection while others want to re-open ivory markets at key trade meeting in Geneva.

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Friday, August 16, 2019

Why Nigeria has restricted food imports

The government hopes to boost agriculture but will it lead to higher prices?

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Sheikh Zakzaky: Nigeria's Shia leader leaves Indian hospital

The leader of Nigeria's banned Shia Muslim group returns to Nigeria without receiving medical treatment.

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Op-Ed: Only an idiot would be shocked that Jay-Z’s NFL deal leaves out Colin Kaepernick

A couple years ago, I compiled all of the Jay-Z bars and verses from his entire two-decade-plus career in which he addresses his own business acumen – in ventures legal and illegal – for a project that never got off the ground. I opened the document today – it’s eight pages long.

He’s gone much deeper and wittier than the “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!” bar that’s currently doing rounds on social media. Making your head bop as he raps about how much money he makes while actually making loads of money is the essence of Jay-Z’s entire career; throw a stone at his verses and you’ll likely hit one in which he’s gleefully explaining how much better off he is than your broke ass.

READ MORE: Eric Reid blasts Jay-Z for partnering with NFL

He’s a living legend for a reason: people listen to his music. That’s why I’m so surprised by how many are crestfallen by the recently-announced partnership between his Roc Nation company and the National Football League. Among the several NFL entertainment ventures Jay will oversee is the (once?) vaunted Super Bowl halftime show. Roc Nation also plans to amplify the NFL’s “Inspire Change” initiative announced in January to promote education and criminal justice reform, which…yeah, right.

Of course, the NFL continues to blackball quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the progenitor of a movement to kneel for the National Anthem before sports games that has been co-opted by athletes in several other sports. There appears to be a widespread cognitive dissonance at the idea that Jay-Z would “betray” Kaepernick to make a buck with the putative people’s enemy; it’s perhaps especially upsetting to Jay fans considering his vocal support of Kaepernick, most notably in the lyrics for “Apeshit” in which he calls out the NFL by name.

What did everyone truly expect from an avowed capitalist like Jay? The last time he was trending was in early June, when he hit Forbes’ list for becoming the first billionaire rapper. A lot of the same people who championed him for that are castigating his decision now, but I think those people don’t understand what “billionaire” means or entails.

READ MORE: Jay-Z defends NFL deal with Roc Nation, talks Kaepernick

Typically, one doesn’t usually make it to the Three-Comma Club without stepping on a few toes or testing the limits of morality in the interest of profit margins. There’s a decent chance someone had to visit an unemployment office or fret over how they’d feed their family on the road to Jay-Z clocking those nine zeroes.

Delusional Hov supporters have suggested that Jay was being entirely altruistic in its intentions and that he is simply positioning himself within the league to engender greater social change. Indeed, Jay’s cultural influence – especially when combined with that of his wife Beyoncé – is nonpareil. But even if that was Jay’s intention, he can’t alone turn around a century-old, multi-billion-dollar league mired in institutional racism, which has made it known in no uncertain terms that it doesn’t give a hammered shit about the protestations of Black folks – even at the sacrifice of a decent halftime show.

Some folks grasping for straws expect Jay will infect the white supremacist structure from within the league, but dude will simply not possess that level of juice. Don’t expect Beyoncé to lead a bunch of kneeling backup dancers draped in Kente cloth as she tears up a mock Declaration of Independence on-stage for next year’s Super Bowl halftime show. The check-cutting good ol’ boys aren’t going to let that happen.

I’ve even seen people suggest he’s not doing the deal for money because he already has plenty. Come now…how many billionaires have you seen say “f– it” and stop trying to accumulate even more wealth? None, because that internal engine that drives billionaires only shuts off when they’re rocking highly-ornate caskets.  Warren Buffett is 88 whole-ass years old and he’s still out here making paper because it gets the blood flowing to those ancient veins of his.

 

As for the “Apeshit” lyrics that suggest he’d never get in bed with the NFL, well…that’s no different than a husband who made a vow to his wife and screwed around on her. It just so happens there’s a whole album dedicated to Jay doing just that, but I digress.

During a conference on Thursday with the Pale Rider, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, a reporter asked Jay pointedly if he’d stand or kneel for the anthem, to which he responded “we’ve moved past kneeling” before devolving into a diatribe in which he looked more uncomfortable and uncertain than I’ve ever seen him.

If you need any proof of how he really feels about the protests, watch that video on a loop.

Hov is one of my favorite emcees, and I respect his ability to build an empire that runs deeper than rap. But there are aren’t too many billionaire heroes out there, regardless of how many foundations they set up or tuitions they pay off – the financial bottom line remains the imperative.

He was never meant to be the heroic voice to fight the NFL instead of joining it, and he shouldn’t have been expected to don that cape. Just listen to his bars.

 


Dustin J. Seibert is a native Detroiter living in Chicago. Miraculously, people have paid him to be aggressively light-skinned via a computer keyboard for nearly two decades. He loves his own mama slightly more than he loves music and exercises every day only so his French fry intake doesn’t catch up to him. Find him at his own site, wafflecolored.com

The post Op-Ed: Only an idiot would be shocked that Jay-Z’s NFL deal leaves out Colin Kaepernick appeared first on theGrio.



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The Smart Prison Initiative Pairing Inmates With Rescue Dogs

Since 2016, Pawsitive Change has transformed the lives of hundreds of violent offenders and helped pets find permanent homes.

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Even Physics Textbooks Tend to Get Friction Slightly Wrong

No matter what that Intro to Physics book says, you can't calculate the "work done by friction." Nope. Doesn't work. Don't even try it.

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Is a Nicki Minaj and Cardi B dust-up brewing again?

Are they at it again?

It seems as if Nicki Minaj is stirring the pot and stewing in pettiness after appearing on the Joe Budden podcast to talk about numbers – not record sales – but who did or didn’t make a list of the top 50 rappers of all time.

Charlamagne Tha God denies being conductor of Nicki Minaj ‘Hate Train’; says he loves her

While Minaj didn’t make mention of her rap nemesis Cardi B, many assumed she was throwing not-so-subtle shade at the rapper for not making the list despite the accolades she’s racked up and the hits that dominated the charts this past year, E News reports.

“This is what I want to say, I would feel so f–king crazy if I had numbers ones and Grammys and ain’t on nobody top 50 list,” Nicki said. “I’m not talking about myself.”

“We just sat here and spoke for an hour and all I’ve seen, stuff on the Internet about this top 50 thing, have not once seen anyone say, ‘Well does he have a Grammy?'” Minaj continued. “Yet, the Grammys have brainwashed us into thinking for years that the Grammys are about what? Talent.”

Cardi’s career has exploded this year, and she won Best Rap Album at the 2019 Grammys and has made history in places Minaj never has, like becoming the first female music artist to have all her album tracks certified gold or platinum by RIAA.

Trina quickly addresses member of her team’s negative shot at Nicki Minaj on social media

Surely that’s the only list Cardi cares about and she posted a world album sales chart to seemingly stick it to Minaj.

“One year and some change later and my album is still SELLING,” Cardi wrote about Invasion of Privacy. “Only list I give a f–k about. Have a beautiful day everybody.”

“Welp Cardi Heard the podcast,” one commenter wrote on the rapper’s Instagram post.

It seems like Minaj started this one and Cardi finished it.

The two will probably never be fast friends, especially after the nasty altercation last September at New York Fashion Week. This year marks the first anniversary of the fight at the Harper’s Bazaar Icon party at The Plaza Hotel.

Back then, Cardi raised the white flag and vowed for them both to “keep it positive and keep it pushing.”

But for whatever reason Minaj seems to be still taking jabs.

The post Is a Nicki Minaj and Cardi B dust-up brewing again? appeared first on theGrio.



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Instagram Now Fact-Checks, but Who Will Do the Checking?

Facebook said it will expand its fact-checking program to Instagram. But the system is already overwhelmed, and may not be able to handle more information.

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Domino's and the Web are Failing the Disabled

Opinion: A potential Supreme Court case over ordering pizza could exclude 49 million Americans from the 21st century.

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Nintendo Is Taking Down YouTube Archives of Its Music

Though the company has the right to do that, this is a huge bummer for gamers who want to hear their favorite tunes.

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Anxiously Seeking the Perfect Anti-Anxiety App

Soon I may be swiping my screen, looking for a newer, better, flashier app, like Tinder for fixing mental anguish. But what if the magic stops working?

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Marlon Ways says social media to blame for today’s culture of “canceling” comedians

Comedians who make “questionable statements” run the risk of being “canceled” which has now become somewhat embedded into today’s culture and that’s something Marlon Wayans frowns upon.

Marlon Wayans wishes daughter ‘Happy Pride’ and claps back at trolls for hateful comments

The comedian opened up to Buzzfeed about how today’s “cancel culture” has made it challenging to be funny and the delicate dance it takes between keeping it real and authentic without offending folks.

“My job is to talk about all the things people are scared to say,” Wayans said. “My job is to go into these dark topics and go in these dark caves and come out with this elixir called ‘the laugh.’”

But being honest has hurt some comedians’ careers and he says social media has a lot to do with it.

“Social media alerts the media, which then tells the message that everybody should be as sensitive about every topic, but that’s not true,” he explained. “Comedians, we’re supposed to speak our voice and we’re supposed to find what’s funny. That’s my job. It’s like telling a fireman, ‘You can’t go into that burning building.’ Well, how am I gonna save lives?”

Some of his famous peers like Kevin Hart have dealt with backlash for telling offensive jokes. Hart, for instance, got caught in a whirlwind of criticism after decade-old homophobic tweets resurfaced and caused him to step down from hosting this year’s Academy Awards.

Recently comedian Chris Rock outraged folks with a social media post that took aim at white mass shooters. Some argued that it was racially insensitive to assume mass shooters are likely to be white men.

Wayans doesn’t subscribe to saying sorry for a joke and says he “personally doesn’t believe in apologizing.”

“You know, freedom of speech,” he said. “What happened to that?”

R. Kelly was a ‘no show’ at pretrial hearing in Chicago

He said a comedian’s style shouldn’t result in his career going up in smoke for testing out material.

“I’m just up there exploring the joke,” he said about testing out material at comedy clubs. “It takes about a year to two years to get that joke good enough to where you’re gonna wanna say it out loud in a special. We say dumb shit in order to say smart shit,” he said. “But it takes time, and so the audience has to give us that time to work on the material before we present it to you in a special. And then you can judge.”

 

The post Marlon Ways says social media to blame for today’s culture of “canceling” comedians appeared first on theGrio.



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R. Kelly was a ‘no show’ at pretrial hearing in Chicago

R. Kelly may have thrown in the towel because he reportedly refused to show up in court for a pretrial hearing on Thursday.

“The defendant was to be brought to court today. That was all worked out. The sheriffs were going to be bringing him over,” explained Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Gonzalez said.

R. Kelly sits in solitary while allegations eat away at him, lawyer says

“As I understand it, he refused transport and so that is why the defendant is not before your honor today,” Gonzales said, according to NBC News.

Kelly is in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago awaiting trial on a number of sexual abuse crimes, and the hearing was a routine part of the evidentiary process. The hearing before Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood still was held.

Kelly’s attorney, however, said the claim that he refused transport is “not 100-percent true” but wouldn’t elaborate.

“I don’t want to discuss matters that I discussed with the U.S. Marshals Service in open court,” Greenberg said. “Suffice it to say, the Marshal Service says that moving Mr. Kelly is a large undertaking.”

As previously reported, the embattled R&B singer is having quite a tough time behind bars, as he waits in federal custody to face charges behind multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with minors, according to his attorney.

R. Kelly charged with criminal sexual abuse; no-bond warrant set by judge

Steve Greenberg said his client is downright miserable and frequently gets emotional, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“He’s dealing with a lot of stories that have been made up. He’s not a fighter. I’ve seen him cry when he talks about the situation,” Greenberg told the Sun-Times.

However, Greenberg said Kelly is determined to “fight for the truth” to get out.

Kelly is charged with child sex crimes in multiple states and is currently being held behind bars in Chicago.

Kelly’s next court day is Sept. 17, and the Judge let both sides know that an R. Kelly absence better not happen.

“We’ll have Mr. Kelly here then,” he said.

The post R. Kelly was a ‘no show’ at pretrial hearing in Chicago appeared first on theGrio.



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