NES Classic’s Achilles heel
Reviewers got their hands on Ninendo’s NES Classic this week—the mini console that comes pre-loaded with 30 games. Everyone seems to love the games, graphics, the trip down memory lane, and the look of the device. What they don’t like are the short controller cords (every review I read mentioned this flaw) and that you can’t add more games. Despite these downsides, the console is sold out pretty much everywhere. If you don’t want to cave and pay eBay prices, Nintendo says they’ll have a steady flow of inventory coming to stores through the holidays, so keep your eyes peeled. (Image credit: AOL)
Twitter rolls out troll-b-gone
With Twitter under pressure to control their troll population (one of the main reasons people drop the social media platform), this week they rolled out some anti-harassment tools. Now you can mute conversations you’re included in, so you’ll no longer receive notifications. This won’t delete the posts, but you can pretend they’re not there. There’s also though a new “hateful contact” reporting tool, and they’re doing additional training on their end—helping employees track hate speech even if it’s in coded language to avoid being filtered.
Amazon’s pre-Black Friday deals start now
The only catch? You need Alexa to get them. You’ve got to tell her what you want and she’ll hook you up with savings. For example, if you want to save $130 on a 10-piece set of All-Clad cookware? Say, “Alexa, order an All-Clad cookware set.” Engadget has a list of some of the best Alexa-only deals (and what you need to say). For those of us non-Alexa owners? Well, watch the Black Friday deal and Cyber Monday deals because some (but probably not all) will be available us plebs.
Get private on the web with new Firefox Focus
Just announced on Thursday, Firefox unveiled a browser for iOS designed to block web tracking. Their goal was to help users reclaim some “trust” and “meaningful controls” over their digital lives. They also claim that, without the trackers, your web experience will likely be faster. The app is free in the App Store. It’s so new, I haven’t found any reviews yet, so give it a try and tell us what you think.
Kickstarter of the week: Sevenhugs Smart Remote
The concept of this product is, “one remote to rule them all” – which has been done before, admittedly, but not to this scale. The Smart Remote goes beyond your TV and stereo by controlling ALL the smart devices in your home (heck, you can even order an Uber with it). Just point the remote and it will adapt and control it. Yes, really. The remote will retail for $299, but there are plenty of backing levels cheaper than that still available (at this writing, anyway). Delivery is expected to be in June of 2017.
Anime nerds are cheering
In 2013, anime great and Oscar-winning artist, Hayao Miyazaki announced he was retiring…but apparently he can’t stand to stay retired. Reports say he’s returning to do a full-length film called “Boro the Caterpillar.” Apparently the project started as a short for the Studio Ghibli museum Miyazaki co-founded. He wasn’t excited about how it was turning out, and was inspired to make it a feature film. Yay for us, even though we may have to wait until 2020 to see it. (Note: my personal favorite of his films is “Howl’s Moving Castle.”)
Because it’s Friday
And because I’m a big Beauty and the Beast fan, enjoy the full trailer for the live-action movie coming in March. And, if you’ve already seen it, how about some star interviews?
News bytes (see what I did there?)
- Samsung now rewards you for using Samsung Pay. Collect points for paying, get free
stuff. #winning - Apple Pay is now letting non-profits take donations with their mobile payment system.
- Reviews for the Apple Macbook Pro with Touchbars are coming in (like this one). And, warning, it’s not very upgradable and it’s difficult to repair (so pretty much, par for the course).
- Google and Facebook are both taking action to stop fake news from spreading.
