Aisha Hassan

Halloween is losing its scariness and it’s time to bring it back.

Earlier this month, Sony announced a long-awaited feature for its gaming systems: For the first time, players can change their PlayStation Network Online IDs. A beta version of the feature can be tested on the PlayStation Preview Program until the end of November, and the full rollout is set for early 2019.

Rihanna reportedly could have performed at next year’s Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most-watched events in television, but said no. According to Us Weekly, Rihanna turned down the opportunity to show her support for Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who has says he has been blacklisted by the league for spearheading the players’ movement to kneel during the national anthem. (Kaepernick sought to spotlight police brutality and racial inequality in the US.)

The realm of guitar gods is not just a man’s world—even if the media has made it seem that way. In Rolling Stone’s most recent list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists,” of all time, there are only two women, and in Guitar World’s compilation of the top 30, there are none. And yet, a new study by guitar maker Fender found that 50% of new players are female.

Canada officially legalized cannabis today (Oct. 17), and it’s being covered all across the media. It’s logical that such buzz would encourage cannabis companies to ramp up advertising at this time—except they technically can’t, because it’s technically not allowed.

Canada just became the second and largest country in the world to legalize weed nationwide. (Uruguay was the first.) Medical marijuana has been lawful in Canada since 2001, but prime minister Justin Trudeau’s successful campaign to open up recreational use is a landmark moment in the legalization movement.

What might make your search for porn more efficient and nuanced? YouPorn has one answer: emojis.

Remember the iPod Shuffle? The small, pocket-sized gadget came in a number of colors and played downloaded songs in random succession. The mini music player was hugely popular, selling 10 million units in its first year and going through four generations of fine-tuning by Apple before it was discontinued last year. While the Shuffle’s days are over—for now—its spirit lives on in the Mighty Vibe, a pocket-sized music machine that links directly to Spotify.

Canada will become the first G7 country to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide today (Oct. 17). In the months leading up to this landmark move, cannabis companies have closed hundred-million-dollar deals, pot stocks have soared, and even Coca-Cola has announced it’s looking to invest in the weed industry.

Many tech companies have created minimalist phones with limited functionality—and limited success—ostensibly to try and pull consumers from the depths of smartphone dependency. The latest product in this trend, the “Palm” phone, is the size of a credit card, exclusively tied to Verizon, and has NBA star Stephen Curry involved as both an investor and a pitchman.

A new player just entered the arena for battle royale games, and it just so happens to be one of the most popular game franchises in the world. With the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 on Oct. 12, the current ruler of the battle royale genre, Fortnite, now has a new enemy in sight.

It’s no rumor: Lindsey Buckingham, former lead guitarist of Fleetwood Mac, is suing his former bandmates, declaring that cutting him out of their current tour deprived him of up to $14 million.

Samsung has just gotten a leg up in the phone camera wars. It announced the new Galaxy A9 on Oct. 11, likely the first smartphone in the world to have four rear cameras.

I, like most women I know, want my hair to look good.

In 2014, gay rights activist Gareth Lee ordered a custom cake for £36.50 ($48). As of today (Oct. 10), the costs related to that transaction exceed £450,000 ($593,000).

Hurricane Michael is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm in the Florida Panhandle later today (Oct. 10). If it does, it will be the strongest hurricane to ever hit the panhandle in records dating to 1851, according to Phil Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University.

When it comes to aircraft collisions, size doesn’t matter as much as you might think: Impact tests by the University of Dayton Research Institute show that even small drones have the ability to tear open a large airplane’s wing.

Here are a few things we know about the UK’s most expensive home ever sold: It has wraparound balconies and stellar views of London, 24-hour services from a five-star hotel, wine cellars, a golf simulator, and a £160-million ($209-million) price tag.

The 46th American Music Awards, to be presented at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Oct. 9, will feature performances by Dua Lipa and Cardi B and tributes to both Queen and the Queen of Soul.

PepsiCo’s North American beverage sales are finally bubbling over—the segment grew 2.3% in the third quarter of 2018, its first increase in more than a year. Some of that is thanks to Bubly, a brightly packaged sparkling-water brand that Pepsi expects to generate $100 million in 2018.

Mango lovers, ultimate frisbee players, and redheads—the days of not being able to express yourself in emoji form are over. With iOS 12.1, Apple is adding over 70 new emojis to increase the range of make text-speak.

Imagine having to scan your face and prove your age in order to play a video game. Tencent, the largest video game publisher in the world, just made that a reality for Honor of Kings, one of its most popular games.

Google announced Monday (Oct. 1) that it’s launching Project Stream, a “technical test” that will allow users to stream video games directly to the Google Chrome internet browser. On Oct. 5, Google will let a limited amount of users try out the service for free by playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which will be released by Ubisoft worldwide on the same day.

When you have a name that’s difficult to pronounce, it can be awkward to correct people, and even more so when people say it wrong time and again. As Ephrat Livni wrote recently for Quartz, it’s easy to let such mispronunciations slide, but names are fundamental parts of identity and should not be easily given up on—especially in schools.