Image: netflix/black mirror

It may be a groundbreaking high-tech piece of TV entertainment, but the interactive Black Mirror movie Bandersnatch is off limits if you happen to be using the highest-rated high-tech TV setup.

That would be the Apple TV, the 4K model of which we recently rated not only the most essential set-top box but also the most ahead-of-the-pack product Apple currently makes. (Many users agreed.) 

Bandersnatch is also unavailable on Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire Stick. Try to watch it on these platforms and what you’ll get instead of the two-plus hour storyline is a 2-minute supercut of Black Mirror characters from other episodes saying “sorry.” And if you thought you could stream it from other devices to these set-top boxes: Sorry, that won’t work either. 

But you’re not necessarily banished to watching/playing it on your laptop, tablet, or phone. Bandersnatch will work if you have a Roku, a relatively new smart TV, or a games console with Netflix. The company says it’s confident most users will be able to see the story somehow, and lists Apple TV and Chromecast alongside “some legacy [ie. super old] devices” on which it will not work. Ouch.

Netflix is playing a little coy as to the exact reason why its interactive story technology works on Roku (which, if anything, is more of a legacy device than the more popular Apple TV and Chromecast) but not its rivals. The company told Mashable the problem had something to do with “support”, but has not yet explained further. (We’ll update you if they do.) 

Other interactive services, such as HBO’s Mosaic app, work fine on Apple TV. Perhaps Netflix hasn’t got around to updating its Apple TV and Chromecast apps to support Twine, the open-source programming language in which Bandersnatch was written. 

Maybe it only had the resources to support a limited number of platforms and chose which ones it would service first almost at random — or maybe CEO Reed Hastings has some behind-the-scenes beef with Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and the Google guys. 

At least Netflix was able to confirm that the problem had nothing to do with the Apple TV remote, which incorporates a trackpad rather than regular left or right buttons (you play Bandersnatch by choosing between options on the left and right of the screen). After all, you also use a trackpad on your laptop, and the game works fine there. 

Regardless of the reason, Apple TV and Chromecast users took to Twitter to vent their frustration. 

If Black Mirror: Bandersnatch wasn’t unsettling or meta enough for you, the show’s team snuck in another layer of gameplay: an actual Tuckersoft Games website. You can peruse the company’s history (which you’ll be familiar with if you watched Bandersnatch) and explore its game titles – all of which reference other Black Mirror episodes.

Perhaps the sneakiest goody on the site is that you can actually play Nohzdyve, the game Colin (Will Poulter) is working on. But there’s a significant catch. 

The .tap file containing the game can only be played by downloading a ZS Spectrum Emulator – a program that mimics the OS of a personal computer from the 1980s’ Bandersnatch era. Fuse, Qaop, or Speccy are some potential emulators, but they only work on certain computers or operating systems (one of the only Mac-compatible downloads I found wouldn’t open because it was from an unidentified developer).

The rest of the Tuckersoft website is worth exploring for its fun nods to Black Mirror lore. There’s an ad from founder Mohan Tucker (Asim Choudhry) – probably the ad young Stefan responded to, which led him into this whole Bandersnatch mess.

The Bandersnatch page explains the game as simply as it can, with a few images we saw on Stefan’s computer and a creepy cartoon of Pax, the Thief of Destiny.

Other than Bandersnatch and Nohzdyve, the only other game featured in the sidebar is Metl Hedd, a reference to the Black Mirror episode “Metalhead.” Like Bandersnatch and a few others, this page contains a hyperlinked warning reading, “The people, places and actions depicted in this game are based on true events.”

The text links out to the “Metalhead” Netflix page.

At the bottom, you’ll see another Easter egg: A link to rateme.social, an app that lets you rate your friends or learn your own rating a la “Nosedive.” If you plug in a handle, you can get an arbitrary (we hope) rating, and hopefully not stress too much about it.

The remaining games’ descriptions can only be accessed through the History tab, where you’ll find Roachbusters (“Men Against Fire”), Terror on Rannoch B (“Men Against Fire”/”White Bear”/”U.S.S. Callister”), Rolling Road (“Fifteen Million Credits”), Pig in a Poke (“The National Anthem”), Valdack’s Revenge (“U.S.S. Callister”), and White Bear (“White Bear”). 

And on the Roachbusters page, another chilling ad: Coach, the dating app simulation found in “Hang the D.J.” We’ve tried that one.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is now streaming on Netflix.

Hot pickles should be eaten cautiously, with plenty of preparation in the event of extreme sourness and heat.

Not every little kid knows that. Twitter user @iamlaurans recently fed a hot pickle to her nephew who was begging to have a taste, only to have him collapse in agony.

Be careful what kind of pickle you wish for, folks.

@IamLaurans believes that her nephew’s reaction wasn’t all that exaggerated:

“He’s very dramatic, but the pickle was definitely hot!! Lol,” she told Mashable.

Remember, kids: pickles are just fancy cucumbers. Nibble cautiously.

Image: Chan Bekti/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A huge blue light flashed brightly over over the New York City skyline late Thursday night. New Yorkers filled social media with photos and videos of the phenomenon, which appeared to be centered over the borough of Queens. In short, people .

Con Edison quickly put everyone’s alien-conspiracy theories to bed. The utility company tweeted that what New Yorkers were seeing was the effect of a brief electrical fire that broke out at a substation in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. 

ConEd’s explanation made sense, but questions remained. For starters, why was the light so big and blue? In a phone conversation with a Con Edison spokesperson, Mashable got to the bottom of what happened, which was initially reported to be a transformer explosion.

“The failure was on a piece of equipment that monitors voltage, not a transformer explosion,” explained a Con Edison spokesman. “The failure caused a transmission dip so some people may have noticed their lights or TV flicker or go out. The grid is all interconnected. Anyone in New York City and possibly even Westchester County could have noticed an impact.”

And the bright blue light?

“There are failures of substation equipment that could result in an arc flash,” the spokesman said. “The failure results in the release of heat and light. The light is what folks saw last night.” 

An arc flash occurs when an electric current flows through the air in between conductors. This flash of light was what New Yorkers saw in the sky. Con Edison also tweeted a summary of last night’s events in a tweet on Friday.

The Con Edison spokesman added that the light phenomenon on Thursday night lasted for approximately 10 minutes. The blue tinted light may have been intensified due to the over the New York City sky last night, some reports postulated.

“This sort of thing doesn’t happen all the time,” said the spokesperson. “But there was one that also got considerable attention .”

So definitely not aliens. But “arc flash” lets you tick at least one term off your sci-fi checklist.

Image: Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool/Getty Images

For North Korean defectors, this is a nightmare come to life.

Hackers stole the personal information of 997 North Korean defectors living in South Korea, the South Korean government reported Friday. 

The identity of the hackers is still unknown. But experts are reportedly worried for the safety and security of defectors and their families, according to the BBC.

Hana centers are South Korea’s resettlement agencies that work with defectors to introduce and acclimate them to life outside of the North Korean dictatorship. There are 25 centers servicing approximately 32,000 defectors. The centers keep track of defectors with digital records.

That provided hackers with a database of defectors. An employee at the North Gyeongsang resettlement center reportedly opened an email with a malicious attachment, which was able to penetrate his computer. That led to the hacker’s acquisition of the personal details of 997 defectors living in the North Gyeongsang province.

Personal details include names, birth dates, and addresses. The South Korean state said that this is the first significant hack involving defectors. 

The elephant in the room: Was this the North Korean government? 

Apparently the identity of the hacker or hackers is not yet known. But the South Korean government is aware of a North Korean hacking group that targets defectors. And North Korean hackers have been behind other high-profile breaches, notably the 2014 Sony hack.

Even without knowing with certainty the identity of the hackers, experts told the BBC that the breach may make defectors more fearful, and future defectors less willing to come forward. There is a chance that the hack may impact the families of defectors, since the identity of every defector is not known in North Korea.

Mashable has reached out to the U.S. State Department to learn whether the U.S. government is investigating the incident. We will update this story when and if we hear more.

Alexa is a powerful tool — and one that’s easy for little kids to weaponize.

One mother, Yerelyn Cueva, recently caught her son Jariel using Alexa to do his math homework.

Can we blame him? What else is Alexa for except to perform the most basic operations we could otherwise complete ourselves?

Give the kid credit — subtraction isn’t easy, and at least he’s not asking Alexa to add two plus two.

Amazon reported selling “tens of millions” of Echo devices in 2018. So expect this homework-cheating crisis to grow, not contract, in the upcoming years.

Alexa, what is my favorite new problem?

[h/t:Gizmodo]

Image: Getty Images for Robert F. Ken

Remember when Presidents used to read books, listen to music, and share innocuous lists?

President Obama, for example, recently shared his end-of-year list, featuring the books, movies, and music that touched him the most. His taste is impeccable and, most importantly, similar to mine.

The former president included queer favorites like Brandi Carlile and Janelle Monaé, books on the death of democracy (charming), and movies like Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the Mr. Rogers documentary.

The whole list just oozes with good taste. Scroll through the full post on Instagram to see his favorite songs, books and films.

Sometimes I wish President Obama wouldn’t do such kind, forward-thinking things like this. It gives us all a sickening, not-always-deserved case of nostalgia.

Now excuse me while I download everything he listed.

Image: raymond wong/mashable

You can fire him from Facebook and remove him from working on the Oculus VR technology he helped pioneer, but you can’t stop him from letting his inner geek run wild.

Ousted Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey is still very much the same boy who’s obsessed with VR. Case in point: Despite being fired from Oculus, ostensibly for his pro-Trump political views, he’s still finding ways to improve Oculus’s VR headsets, namely the all-in-one Oculus Go.

Since leaving Oculus, Luckey’s taken to his own blog to post reviews, mods, and general thoughts on advancements in current AR and VR technologies.

In his latest blog post, the Luckey shared a detailed look at several modifications he made to the Oculus Go.

While the Oculus Go was lauded for its clean design, simple setup, and high-res display, like many products it’s not without some shortcomings.

The three biggest cons for Luckey are battery life, light leakage, and input. So Luckey did what any tinkerer would do: he fixed them on his own.

<img class="" data-credit-name='Palmer luckey‘ data-credit-provider=”custom type” data-caption=”Palmer Luckey’s “Oculus GoBlack” mod is more than just a black paint job.” title=”Palmer Luckey’s “Oculus GoBlack” mod is more than just a black paint job.” src=”https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/qNcvQ5Hc-w7ZbAip_sHMxSIVG_I=/fit-in/1200×9600/https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fcard%2Fimage%2F909986%2F0881499c-ab1c-403f-9154-de1f94f07465.jpg&#8221; alt=”Palmer Luckey’s “Oculus GoBlack” mod is more than just a black paint job.” data-fragment=”m!b06c” data-image=”http://bit.ly/2ETZj7l; data-micro=”1″>

To extend battery life from about two hours to over three, he added a custom battery that attaches magnetically via a pogo pin system. And it’s swappable! Removing the Go’s built-in battery from the headset itself also helped re-balance the headset, distributing weight from being front-heavy to the rest of your head.

Solving the light leakage (particularly from the soft mask) was also another easy mod: just dye it black so the lenses reflect less light into your eyes.

Another mod adds connectivity for a physical keyboard, which can be used in VR to type. (Of course, you’ll need to be a touch typist to benefit from this upgrade.)

Luckey dubs the entire Oculus Go mod the “Oculus GoBlack” edition and we have to admit it’s spiffy, especially the see-through front that exposes all the circuitry.

On the surface it’s just Luckey being his regular ol’ self: a boy modding things together. But read between the lines and he’s clearly trying to show Facebook’s deficiency with hardware. Sure, Mark Zuckerberg may be a huge believer in VR, but he doesn’t get it the way Luckey does. 

Oculus is still on track to release its more advanced standalone VR headset, the Oculus Quest, in early 2019, but I’m now a little worried they might drop the ball on the details — details Luckey maybe could’ve helped spot and improve if he were still with the company.

Firing Luckey was one thing, but most recently Oculus co-founder and former company CEO Brian Iribe also left Facebook.

“So much has happened since the day we founded Oculus in July 2012,” Iribe wrote in a goodbye post on his Facebook page. “I never could have imagined how much we would accomplish and how far we would come. And now, after six incredible years, I am moving on.”

For now, anyone can go and follow Luckey’s instructions to improve their own Oculus Go (warning: it’ll void your headset warranty). But you have to wonder: If Luckey can’t stay away from Oculus and VR, maybe it’s time he started a new VR company.

It’s one of the oldest forms of communication in the book, but a powerful speech can seriously light a fire under the internet.

Some speeches may be interrupted, like that of Prince Harry who had a stand-off with a bumblebee during a speech about his dad. But most made their mark. They moved, infuriated, devastated, shocked, and inspired folks on social media, making us cry or air-punch right at our desks.

Here’s some of the unforgettable speeches that got the internet fired up this year. If you missed one, now’s the time to catch up.

Parkland activist Emma Gonzalez delivered an unforgettable and devastating address during the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. in March. Most memorably, she stood in silent remembrance for six minutes and 20 seconds — the time it took a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to claim the lives of 17 of her fellow students.

Memorable quote: “In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us, 15 were injured, and everyone, absolutely everyone, was forever altered. Everyone who was there understands. Everyone who has been touched by the cold grip of gun violence understands.”

There have been many empowering, applause-worthy speeches since the inception of Time’s Up, but Natalie Portman’s is worth noting. The Oscar-winning actress delivered one heck of a speech at Variety‘s “Power of Women” event in October, pulverising Harvey Weinstein before unpacking gender parity and diversity in the entertainment industry and other workforces.

Memorable quote: “Be embarrassed if everyone in your workplace looks like you.”

There was a day in September, when the world literally laughed out loud at Donald Trump. During the president’s address to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump boasted that “my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” Crowd guffawing ensued. But guys, Trump claimed he wanted everyone to laugh. Nice try.

Memorable quote: I didn’t expect that reaction but it’s okay.”

An early speech for 2018, but one that would prove hard to beat. Oprah’s acceptance speech for the esteemed Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes in January made us cry — and inspired us to take action. Her powerful speech is a moving moment for Oprah herself, who changed the Hollywood landscape for women and people of color, but it became a larger rallying cry for the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. Plus, it made folks champion a 2020 presidential run like crazy.

Memorable quote: “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up.”

Mindy Kaling delivered multiple burns to Donald Trump during her Dartmouth commencement speech in June, along with some sage advice to deal with “graduating into a world where it seems like everything is falling apart.” Ending on a far more positive note, the actress, comedian, and writer reiterated the sentiments of her memoir title, urging students to ask the same question she did: “Why not me?”

Kaling wasn’t the only memorable commencement speech this year either, with hits from Chance the Rapper, Jimmy Fallon, and Chadwick Boseman.

Memorable quote: “I’ll tell you my secret, the one thing that has kept me going through the years, my superpower: delusion. This is something I may share with our president, a fact that is both horrifying, and interesting.”

What’s an ‘inclusion rider’? Most of us didn’t know before Frances McDormand’s powerful speech at the 2018 Academy Awards. Taking out Best Actress for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, McDormand reflected on gender equality in Hollywood representation and the film industry, calling for two words: “inclusion rider.” It’s a contractual detail lead actors could demand, to ensure the production they’re about to sign onto adequately achieves diversity.

Memorable quote: “Look around you, because we all have stories to tell, and projects that need financing.”

Ball of love and star of Angels in America revival Andrew Garfield landed the Tony Award for best actor in a play in June, and dedicated his win to the LGBTQ community. It was a particularly poignant moment to do so, with The White House choosing not to recognise LGBTQ pride for the second year running, and the Supreme Court deciding that a baker could legally refuse to sell a cake to two gay customers — something Garfield directly addressed in his speech.

Memorable quote: “I dedicate this award to the countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died to protect that spirit, to protect that message. For the right to live and love as we are created to.”

Just a few days after leaving Twitter after she became the target of a homophobic meme, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown slammed bullies in a commendable, swift MTV Awards speech. Take that.

Memorable quote: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it. There should be no space in this world for bullying, and I’m not going to tolerate it. And neither should any of you.”

Bill Gates truly brought a jar of human poop on stage during a speech in November, appearing at the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing, China. The Microsoft founder had a good reason to bring that piece of crap out, using it as a prop to bring attention to a global lack of toilets, diseases which can spring from poor waste management, and the need for better sanitation options, which the Gates Foundation funds.

Memorable quote: “This small amount of feces could contain as many as 200 trillion rotavirus cells, 20 billion shigella bacteria and 100,000 parasitic worm eggs.” 

Genuine wonder woman Gal Gadot delivered one heck of an inspiring speech at the 23rd Critics’ Choice Awards in January. Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins presented the Marvel star with the #SeeHer Award, which recognises actors who present female characters with accuracy and integrity, challenging female stereotypes both on screen and within the entertainment industry. Gadot’s description of the realness of her character is worth watching. 

Memorable quote: “[Wonder Woman]’s full of heart, strength, compassion, and forgiveness. She sees wrong that must be made right. She takes action when everyone around her is idle. She commands the attention of the world, and in doing so, she sets a positive example for humanity … She gets confused, insecure, and she’s not perfect — and that’s what makes her real.”

In May, Apple CEO Tim Cook took a moment during his commencement speech for the graduating students at Duke University to give a nod to Apple founder Steve Jobs. Apple’s top executive also used the opportunity to throw shade at climate change deniers and tech companies like Facebook who need to do much, much better to protect user privacy, and urged students to be empowered to “find your fearlessness.” 

Memorable quote: “No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved unless people dare to try something different, dare to think different.”

How do you royally piss off the president? One hell of a roasting by comedian Michelle Wolf, who hosted the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April. A large chunk of the speech was directed at the media, Donald Trump (who Wolf later torched for not attending) and his administration, but particularly White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. 

Although celebrated by many on the internet, the roast didn’t sit well with others, or with the people who had booked her to do it (The White House Correspondents Dinner won’t have a comedian in 2019, breaking with tradition). Months later, the speech reportedly had an even bigger impact on the president‘s view of Sanders than it had originally appeared. We couldn’t leave this one out.

Memorable quote: “I would drag him here myself, but it turns out the president of the United States is the one pussy you’re not allowed to grab.”