Urban Hippie

The internet is full of horrors, but there's a unique grotesquery in the Youtube prankster. Desperate for followers, this reckless fool refuses to take anything seriously or consider anything sacred — except for their sponsorship deals. Inevitably, their quest to shock and awe audiences will go too far, drawing the attention of more than their fans. A wider world disgusted by their ruthless idea of humor could spark so-called cancellation, costing them access to monetized media platforms. Now, imagine such a clown tossed into a haunted house, where he might face a grim comeuppance. This is the mercilessly clever setup of the SXSW premiere Deadstream, a wickedly fun found-footage horror movie that offers scorching commentary on internet fame. In a frenzied opening, audiences are given a cra

October's Made by Google 2022 event marked the full launch of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. Thanks to some credible leaks, we saw a lot of this coming, but now we know the lowdown on all of the phones' exciting new software features — like macro mode and Photo Unblur. Now that the Pixel 7 line is officially official, one question remains: How do the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro compare to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro? SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 7's new photo features seem like the real deal Let's break it down.Pixel 6 vs. Pixel 7 The Pixel 7 comes in a soothing lemongrass color. Credit: Google DisplayThe Pixel 6 has a 6.4-inch display while the Pixel 7 co

Large, living legends dwell in the remote Alaskan wilderness. They're the internet-famous bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve, and they grow impressively fat over the summer on the livestreamed explore.org wildlife webcams. A majority of these bears — like the singular, persevering Otis — return to feast on calorie-rich salmon in the park's Brooks River each year. Katmai celebrates the success of these wild animals by hosting an annual Fat Bear Week contest in the early fall.In reality, every bear is a winner for surviving in the harsh northern wilderness. But the public (that means you) gets to vote online for the fattest bear in a light-hearted tournament. It's a superb way to learn about the fascinating lives of these animals, and how they thrive. After months of chomping salmon,

Ever since Chris Pratt was revealed to be voicing everyone's favorite video game plumber in The Super Mario Bros Movie, we've had one question on our minds: What in the world is he going to sound like?Now, with the release of the first trailer, we have our answer. Pratt's take on Mario sounds like... Chris Pratt. That's it, that's the truth. Sure, maybe there's a hint of an accent on his delivery of, "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come," but "It's-a me, Mario!" it is not. SEE ALSO: No thanks, Chris Pratt. The perfect 'Super Mario Bros.' movie already exists. The rest of the trailer features some Mario Easter eggs and pretty cool animation, including a look at Bowser's (voiced by Jack Black) forces taking on an army of penguins. There's al...

Google is saving terrible photographers (like me) from ourselves.I got to try out the new Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel Watch devices shortly after the Made By Google 2022 event. While there’s still a ton that I can’t judge about these new devices based on some brief testing with display units (like many of the Pixel 7 phones’ new AI features and all of the Pixel Watch’s health tracking features), the little bit I was able to try out left me hungry for more Pixel camera shenanigans. SEE ALSO: Everything Google announced at the 2022 Pixel event New Pixels, a lot like the old PixelsLet’s start with the part where I literally put my hands on both new Pixel phones. While I didn’t have either of the Pixel 6 models on hand for a direct co

Your dog is the best dog in the world. That's what everyone thinks about their pooch. In a way, we’re all absolutely right. All dogs are the best dog in the world. You already know that your dog is unique, but you're probably wondering: What it is that makes them so special? Why are their eyes different colours? Why do they have spotted fur? Why do they insist on barking any time something walks past the window? All important questions in the dog-owner world. It comes down to this: Genetic make-up.You could put a picture of your dog on Twitter and have people vote on what mix of breeds that he or she is. But it would be pure guesswork. Enter dog DNA tests. What is a dog DNA test?Yes, dog DNA tests are a real thing, and it’s pretty much as it sounds. DNA can tell you lots about your dog's f

In "Alligator Man", the opening act of Atlanta Season 2, viewers were given a glimpse into the shared family life of Earn (Donald Glover) and Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry). In the episode, Earn pays a visit to his uncle and Al's father Willy (Katt Williams, whose performance in the episode won him an Emmy). At the time, Earn is on probation and doing Al a favor, but Willy's girlfriend Yvonne complains to the police. Willy and Earn get into a confrontation during which Earn is accused of fearing Al ("Mr. Moneybags") and of intentionally staying on his good side: "You find out," Willy says, "family is business".Atlanta is prone to offering slices of life, adding slivers of context, and layering the stories of its core characters, whose lives sometimes feel like pieces of a collage left for the ...

Google's Pixel phones have steadily been getting even better over the years. With Google's new Tensor chip and the "pure" Android experience they offer, they're a very interesting choice for Android fans. However, they've often been hard to get, either due to delays at launch, or due to Google simply not having enough of them in stock. While this situation has been a little better with the Pixel 6, it appears that Google is truly trying to remedy it with the launch of Pixel 7. According to Nikkei, Google has requested more than 8 million units of its Pixel 7 phones from supplies, with the intention to roughly double its smartphone sales in 2023, compared to this year. SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 7 leak leaves little to the imagination The...

In a timely (and necessary) step towards broader news literacy, a new fact-checking site has launched to teach people how to better pinpoint misinformation. Called RumorGuard, it offers a one-stop shop for misinformation debunking and a glimpse into the fact-checking process, on top of a library of authoritative tools to help individuals spot, verify, and fight against rapidly spreading misinformation themselves. With the escalating problem of unverified information continuing to trend and spread ahead of this year's midterm elections, every resource is essential — especially as Americans continue dropping the ball on media and news literacy tests. A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center found that only 26 percent of American adults could discern factual news statements from fake ones. A 2

It’s time to drop the notion that movie adaptations have to be accurate to be good.When the husband-and-wife director duo Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel sat down to bring the Super Mario Bros. video games to life in the early 1990s, they didn’t have much to go on. There had only been a few flagship games starring Nintendo’s Italian plumber mascot released at that point. Plus, nobody had ever turned a video game into a live action movie before — there wasn't a blueprint to follow. They were pioneers.And sometimes pioneers mess up. 1993’s Super Mario Bros. is not a great movie. It’s not even really a good movie, at least not by conventional standards. It has next to nothing to do with any of the Mario games, is full of bizarre casting choices (Dennis Hopper as the equivalent of Bowser), and