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Skip to main contentBridgeport, CTWestport, CTTrumbull, CTStratford, CTWeston-Redding-Easton, CTNorwalk, CTWilton, CTMonroe, CTMilford, CTNew Canaan, CTConnecticutTop National NewsSee All CommunitiesFAIRFIELD, CT — Judith Medor was at work Friday when she got a text from her teenage son, Jamar, asking if they could talk.This was unusual, so she called right away, only to find he was in the principal's office. But he wasn't in trouble. Instead, Judith learned that a classmate of Jamar's at Fairfield Warde High School had taken a picture of Jamar, who is Black, without his knowledge and posted it on Snapchat, overlaid with text that included a racial slur. "I was very disturbed by it," Judith said.Since the incident Friday, school and law enforcement officials have taken action. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with second-degree breach of peace and ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race, according to police. While Fairfield Public Schools Director of Communications Andrea Clark said the school district does not disclose disciplinary action taken against students, Medor said she was told the student behind the post was suspended for 10 days and that a hearing will be held to determine if he will be expelled."I want that…

Your favorite YouTube twins are back, and this time they're giving fans a look at their lives like never you've see before. Even though Niki & Gabi DeMartino have been in the spotlight for over a decade, fans were thrilled when the duo teased a new reality show in late 2020. Now, viewers are finally getting to see what all the hype has been about, and the first look at Niki & Gabi's Twinning Out Snapchat trailer shows the series was definitely worth the wait. Nicola Teresa DeMartino and Gabriella Nelida DeMartino, better known as Niki and Gabi, first gained fame through YouTube for their honest and hilarious videos. They market themselves as being "opposites," and the description on their joint YouTube channel reads: “We're twins, but we're polar opposite in our looks, fashion, and personalities. Even though we're 'twins,' we're our own individuals.”Since the 26-year-old sisters first started creating content, the pair has amassed over 15 million subscribers across their YouTube channels and have since made names for themselves on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat as well. Now, Niki and Gabi are giving viewers an intimate, unstaged look at their lives in their new Snap Original show, Twinning Out.According to…

Decatur, GA — Do you live in DeKalb County and have a question about the recent state Legislative session or Georgia politics? You need to tune in to the May 12 edition of the Decaturish.com Twitch Show. Our show will feature four members of the DeKalb County Legislative delegation: State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, state Sen. Elena Parent, state Rep. Becky Evans and state Sen. Kim Jackson. They will be taking your questions. The Twitch Show starts at 6 p.m. and can be viewed by clicking here. If you want to ask questions, create an account and give us a follow on Twitch by clicking here. (To create an account, click the purple “sign up” button in the upper right-hand corner of the Twitch website.) People interested in viewing past episodes should subscribe to the Decaturish Youtube channel. To see the Youtube channel, click here. We’ll see you on May 12 at 6 p.m. If you appreciate our work, please become a paying supporter. For as little as $3 a month, you can help us keep you in the loop about your community. To become a supporter, click here.  Want Decaturish delivered to your inbox every day? Sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.

(Newser) – With their globe-trotting—or, in pandemic times, US-trotting—lifestyle, the "Bucket List Family" has gained more than 2.6 million followers on Instagram, but Stephanie McNeal as BuzzFeed feels they have now gone too far in the search for clicks. Some of the influencers' followers were alienated by the way they handled mother Jessica Gee's recent skiing accident in Utah, she writes. The traveling family's May 2 YouTube video, promoted with an Instagram Story Slide saying it contains "some sad and heart breaking footage," had the "clickbait" title "Mom is Emergency Lifted by Helicopter to the Hospital. Heli Ski Accident in Utah," she notes. It ended with the words "to be continued"—but the family then "went dark" on social media for days, alarming fans who pleaded for more information. Some said they were so worried they couldn't sleep. After fans started complaining about "emotional manipulation," father Garrett Gee confirmed that Jessica had undergone surgery for a knee injury—and said "hurtful comments" had made her cry. McNeal says it's no surprise fans were upset by the way the accident was presented as a cliffhanger. She notes that the video shows Garrett's "first instinct" when he reached his injured wife was to keep…

Snapchat has and continues to be one of the world’s most popular social media applications, and for good reason. With most social media networks relying on textual mediums of communication, Snapchat changed the game with its image-based platform. Like every social media app, Snapchat has seen millions of users worldwide, but not all of them report having a good experience on it. While one person might never have faced an issue in the use of the app, others have reported facing harassment, privacy invasions by the people they’ve been connecting with on this platform. There are various ways in which one can spy on people’s Snapchat, and scammers and predators have taken advantage of these for years. As a result, it’s essential that you understand how to keep yourself safe on an app that primarily relies on your images as a medium of communication. This article dives into five keys ways in which you can keep yourself safe on Snapchat. Read on to find out! Always Connect With the Right People People use Snapchat for various reasons. Friends use it to communicate with one another, while couples use it as a medium to be able to see one another even…

Pune: Local businesses have faced heavy loss since the beginning of the pandemic and more so after the implementation of stricter restrictions. Traders are now trying to stay afloat by taking their products and services at customers’ doorsteps. Garment retailer Shahin Aziz said, “Since our shop is closed, we have been sending photographs on WhatsApp and offering home delivery of garments. For Eid, I sent a broadcast message to our customers appealing them to show some support for small businesses such as ours and received a good response from them. Sales have not been as they were in the pre-Covid times, but at least we have had some income since last month due to Eid shopping.” An accessories store owner from Laxmi Road, who has suffered heavy losses since last year, said, “Businessmen like us were anyway losing the battle to e-commerce websites, who could afford to offer heavy discounts. After the pandemic hit, things have become so bad that we cannot earn enough to run our homes. Initially, I waited for things to get back to normal but then I decided that I have to adapt my business according to the current situation. I have started selling the stock…

Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill's newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you don’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking HERE. Welcome! Follow our cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and tech team, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@chrisismills) and Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), for more coverage.ALL ABOUT COLONIAL PIPELINE, PART TWO:UNDER THE FEDERAL MICROSCOPE: The Biden administration and Capitol Hill are taking a closer look at the security in place for critical oil and gas utilities following the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.Some officials have indicated that the ransomware attack on a pipeline that provides almost half of the East Coast's energy may have unfolded as it did due to the relative lack of federal oversight of pipelines compared to other utilities.Read more about the potential new oversight here.PIPELINE SECURITY PROGRAM: House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John KatkoJohn Michael KatkoHillicon Valley: US, UK authorities say Russian hackers exploited Microsoft vulnerabilities | Lawmakers push for more cyber funds in annual appropriations | Google child care workers ask for transportation stipend Lawmakers push for increased cybersecurity funds in annual appropriations America's Jewish communities are under attack — Here…

A new rumor claims that Lucasfilm will be making changes to The Bad Batch after a number of Star Wars activists claimed the show and characters are racist. Back on May 7th, Bounding Into Comics reported that Star Wars activists particularly those at Project Stardust and a Tumblr user named clonehub were demanding Lucasfilm “unWhiteWash The Bad Batch.” Specifically clonehub claimed, “The Bad Batch has been whitewashed in two ways: through their visual and physical design, and through their voice actor.” (L-R): Omega and Hunter in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved. Clonehub made clear his issue with voice actor Dee Bradley Baker, who has been voicing clone troopers since The Clone Wars animated film. The Tumblr user stated, “Dee Bradley Baker is a white man from Colorado who was chosen to play a group of men of color with an ethnically-tied dialectical accent.” “If it still isn’t clear, Baker being white and doing this accent is equivalent to him being hired to play a Black character and then poorly attempting an African American Vernacular English accent (aka “blaccent”, ebonics, etc.). It’s racist,” he asserted. (L-R):…

Instagram is making it easier to address people by their defined pronouns. The company announced today that it’s allowing people to add up to four pronouns to their profile, which they can then choose to display publicly or only to their followers. (Users under 18 will have this setting turned on by default.) Instagram says people can fill out a form to have a pronoun added, if it’s not already available, or just add it to their bio instead. Instagram says this is available in a “few countries,” but doesn’t specify further. We’ve reached out for more information and will update if we hear back. A couple Verge staffers already have the pronouns setting available to them, suggesting it’s live in the US. You can get a better sense of the feature’s user flow in the screenshots below, courtesy of news writer Jay Peters. Instagram’s pronoun feature allows users to choose from a set of options to add pronouns to their profile. Instagram’s pronoun feature allows users to choose from a set of options to add pronouns to their profile. Instagram’s pronoun feature allows users to choose from a set of options to add pronouns to their profile. Instagram’s pronoun…

The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken December 2, 2019. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Illustration/File PhotoThe judge in the U.S. government's antitrust case against Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Tuesday the social media company's motion to dismiss the lawsuit "raises a number of serious challenges" and put the discovery process on hold.In a brief order, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said he expected to rule on the motion to dismiss next month."Given that Facebook's motion to dismiss raises a number of serious challenges to the complaint," the judge wrote in a brief order, it would be premature to exchange documents until he has a chance to decide if some or all of the complaint will be tossed out.Facebook had asked the court to dismiss both lawsuits, one brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the other by a big group of states, alleging they were brought "in the fraught environment of relentless criticism of Facebook for matters entirely unrelated to antitrust concerns."Facebook said in a second filing that a recent Supreme Court ruling meant the FTC lawsuit against it calling for the sale of WhatsApp and Instagram should…