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This story first appeared on capsulenz.com You haven’t lived if you haven’t had a lol at Tom Sainsbury’s Paula Bennett impersonation (we’ve all asked for a panini and a bowl latte once). We sat down with New Zealand’s favourite social media-political-satirist to find out what truly makes him tick. The one book you’d recommend above all others?SuppliedTom Sainsbury rates Shakespeare as a writer, and blueberries. The Diary of Samuel Pepys. I read it three years ago and I’m still thinking about it. It takes a little while to get into the flow of the language and then you keep marvelling that you’ve got a direct link to someone from 400 years ago. The song that never fails to move you? Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush. So dramatic. READ MORE: * The power of forgiveness: How are you today, Stan Walker? * What makes Fresh Eggs' Claire Chitham tick * Let's give it up for hard-working Kiwis The drink you’re ordering at the bar tonight? White wine. Probably Pinot Gris. The piece of advice that sticks with you the most? It’s that Ira Glass quote. About keeping going with your art. And to begin with you’ll hate what you create because you’re not skilled enough. But you have to keep trying and keep trying because you’ll get closer and closer to what you want to achieve. The dream you still hope to achieve? That I’ll create a character that takes on a life of its own and inspires people for all of humanity a la James Bond, Frankenstein’s Monster or Batman. The first thought you had this morning? Oh s..., I feel like I’m forgetting something. The thing you’re the most proud of? The fact that such lovely people are choosing to be in my life. The travel you…

In the aftermath of the election, millions of users rushed to sign up for Parler, an up-and-coming social media app that has quickly become a hub for conservatives seeking refuge from what they believe is censorship from Facebook and Twitter. Those companies have labeled or hidden posts from President Trump and others disputing the results of the 2020 presidential election.This rush of sign ups launched Parler into the top spot on Apple's App Store list of free apps earlier this week. The surge is reminiscent of other social media upstarts that tried to exploit key markets where Facebook was lacking, like Snapchat among teens or TikTok for short-form video.Taking on Facebook is no small task, and many apps have failed in this endeavor. Facebook counts more than 3 billion monthly users across its numerous services, including Instagram and WhatsApp. No other social media platform is even close. Additionally, the company has fended off many would-be challengers, often by copying their key features and using them to keep users from leaving.But newcomers keep trying. Here are four to watch:TikTokPerhaps the biggest threat to Facebook's social media dominance is TikTok, the wildly popular user-generated video app of Chinese origin. The app shows users a never-ending feed of videos of other users dancing, singing, cracking jokes or putting to use fascinating augmented-reality visual effects. Over the last few years, TikTok has emerged as one of the most popular apps for teenage and young adult users on the internet. TikTok and Douyin, its Chinese counterpart, together claimed 980 million monthly active users in September, up from 670 million a year prior, according to data from App Annie. That puts the app on pace to surpass the 1 billion MAU mark in 2021.Facebook has taken note of TikTok's fast-paced growth, and in August, it responded with…

With the new astrological feature, Snapchat wants to help users stay better connected with friends by showing personality traits and how they align. Over the last few months, Snapchat has launched several new features with the aim to help users cope with the present scenario. Snap has now launched an astrological feature which helps users test their compatibility with their friends. With the new astrological feature, Snapchat wants to help users stay better connected with friends by showing personality traits and how they align. Also Read - OnePlus, Snapchat bring a new Augmented Reality lens to celebrate Diwali To bring this feature Snapchat partnered with Cosmopolitan US’s astrologer, Aurora Tower in order to provide chart readings. Also Read - Snapchat testing TikTok-like swipe navigation for public videos The Astrological Profile is a series of Snaps that cover the ten different planets including Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus and an Astrology Profile Summary. The platform allows users to send Snaps to friends, post to Story, and save them to the camera roll. Users will also be able to view your friends’ Astrological Profiles.  Also Read - Snap Spectacles 2, Spectacles 3 launched in India starting at Rs 14,999 To access Astrological Profile, head over to your Profile and tap the Astrological Sign next to your name. Then enter your birthday, time of birth, and place of birth. The friendship Compatibility Story contains a series of Snaps that cover five aspects – Attraction, Intensity, Tension, Support, and Harmony and also a compatibility summary. These too you will be able to send to friends, post to Story, and save them to the camera roll.  Snapchat also allows you to view your Astrological Compatibility with a friend if you and that friend have both opted-in to Astrological Profiles.…

How many of you had “NASCAR driver suspended for toaster strudel swastika” on your 2020 sports bingo card? Josh Reaume, a driver on NASCAR’s truck-racing circuit, was suspended indefinitely this week for posting a Snapchat story featuring a toaster strudel with icing that appears to depict a swastika. The California-born Reaume has since apologized to anyone who took offense to his ill-advised Snapchat, though he insists the post was not meant to be anti-Semitic. “What happened was, I made a toaster strudel, I put icing on it. I put icing on it arbitrarily,” Reaume recounted in an exclusive interview with TobyChristie.com. “When I was done, I took a picture, I wrote, ‘Snack time,’ and posted it to my Snapchat, which I had no idea it was even more than my immediate friend group.” It’s hard to fathom Reaume, who owns a team (Reaume Brothers Racing) in NASCAR’s Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series, could inadvertently apply icing in the shape of a Nazi symbol, but that’s the 30-year-old’s contention and he’s sticking to it. “Now, shame on me for maybe not fully understanding SnapChat and I don’t care to get on social media in the immediate future, but somebody obviously screen-shotted it or did something with it and pushed it to NASCAR. I don’t know what the image looks like.” NASCAR has weathered an unusual amount of controversy this year. Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only African American driver, was a central figure in the Black Lives Matter movement this summer, pushing for the sport to ban Confederate flags at races (which NASCAR eventually did). Wallace was also the subject of an FBI investigation after a noose was found in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway. More recently, Mike Wallace was suspended by NASCAR for an overtly racist Facebook post in criticism of Joe Biden’s…

Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News Published 6:28 p.m. ET Nov. 13, 2020 | Updated 7:59 p.m. ET Nov. 13, 2020A Potterville man used an unconventional method to kill a deer, and his acquaintances made an unconventional decision to show the killing, said state officials.Two unconventional moves, like two wrongs, don’t make a right. What they do make are possible criminal charges.The Eaton County Prosecutor’s Office is mulling whether to charge the 23-year-old man for allegedly killing the deer with a hammer. His name will be released by authorities if charges are filed.The prosecutor knows about the death because the man’s acquaintances posted it on Snapchat and it circulated on Facebook Wednesday night.During the video, which lasts less than a minute, the deer is standing in the middle of a road in Eaton County, blinded by vehicle headlights. The animal is then struck repeatedly in the head while laughter and words of encouragement can be heard.A state conservation officer learned about the video from a relative at 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.More: Michigan deer firearm season is nigh, interest highThe officer, Todd Thorn, who was off-duty, tracked the man to a friend’s home on Doane Highway, which was near the site of the attack.Grand total of time it took Thorn to find the alleged culprit: one hour.When Thorn arrived, he found the deer partially butchered with its head severed, according to a DNR press release.The man admitted killing the deer but told Thorn it was an act of mercy. The man said he was on his way home when he came upon the deer, which he described as disoriented from being struck by a car.“(He) decided to put the deer out of its misery,” said the DNR.The man told Thorn he and his acquaintances loaded the…

Snapchat's stepping into new territory with Astrological Profiles, which will provide users with insights into their star sign, and what that means for them and their relationships. As explained by Snapchat: "Based on birth date, time and location, Astrological Profiles give Snapchatters insight into their personal star signs. They can also check out their friends’ Astrological Profiles if they’ve added each other." From there, friends can also view their astrological compatibility, based on their own astrology info.  "This includes a detailed compatibility reading, showing the intersection of each friend’s birth chart together. Relationship traits will be detailed across 10 different planetary dimensions, and all Astrology info is presented in Stories format and can be easily downloaded to camera roll or shared to anyone on Snapchat." So, that's a thing you can now do on Snapchat. If you want. To find your Astrological Profile on Snapchat: Go to your Snapchat profile by tapping on your Bitmoji Image at the top right corner of the main camera screen Next to your name and Snap Score, look for a purple icon with your sun sign on it Tap the purple icon, and this will prompt you to enter your birth information, including your birth date, time and location Once you've done that, you'll have access to your personal Astrological Profile. You'll also be able to see your friends' profiles once they've followed the same steps. Not sure how popular the option will be - some research suggests that star signs are seeing a resurgence among younger audiences, with 2020, in particular, prompting more interest as: "people tend to turn to astrology in times of acute stress". That could see Snap aligning with the trend at just the right time, and adding another tool that will help connect users, and spark more engagement in the app. The…

Netflix already borrowed the concept of short-form video “Stories” from social apps like Snapchat and Instagram for its Previews feature back in 2018. Now, the company is looking to the full-screen vertical video feed, popularized by TikTok, for further inspiration. With its latest experiment, Fast Laughs, Netflix is offering a new feed of short-form comedy clips drawn from its full catalog. The feed includes clips from both originals and licensed programming, Netflix says. It also includes video clips from the existing Netflix social channel, “Netflix Is A Joke,” which today runs clips, longer videos and other social content across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fast Laughs resembles TikTok in the sense that it’s swiped through vertically, offers full-screen videos and places its engagement buttons on the right side. But it’s not trying to become a place to waste time while being entertained. Like many of Netflix’s experiments, the goal with the Fast Laughs feed is to help users discover something new to watch. Instead of liking and commenting on videos, as you would in a social video app, the feed is designed to encourage users to add shows to their Netflix watch list for later viewing. In this sense, it’s serving a similar purpose to Netflix’s “Previews” feature, which helps users discover shows by watching clips and trailers from popular and newly released programming. As users scroll through the new Fast Laughs feed, they’ll encounter a wide range of comedy clips — like a clip from a Kevin Hart stand-up special or a funny bit from “The Office,” for example. The clips will also range in length anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds. In addition to adding clips to Netflix’s “My List” feature, users can also react to clips with a laughing emoji button, share the clip with friends across…

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A SNAPCHAT video and a man who claimed to be the last person to see two men before they were involved in a fatal car crash, were on Wednesday the focus of the inquest into the death of Croydon man Damon Edward McCoy. Mr McCoy and Nick Michael Rogers, 29, were in a Toyota Landcruiser when it crashed about 17km south of Croydon on July 21, 2016. Mr McCoy died at the scene. Mr Rogers survived the high-speed rollover and was later found injured and naked in the area. A key inquest issue is determining who was driving the Landcruiser before the crash. The Cairns Coroners Court heard that Mr McCoy sent a 10-second Snapchat video to close friend Anna Stratford. Ms Stratford testified the video showed a "panoramic" panning of the Landcruiser's cabin before the crash. She said she saw Mr McCoy as the passenger and got a "clear view" of Mr Rogers as the driver. A key issue in the inquest into the death of Croydon man Damon Edward McCoy is to determine who was driving the Landcruiser he was travelling in before it crashed. The court heard Ms Stratford did not tell others, including her mother and Mr McCoy's sister, about the video until days later because of her grief about Mr McCoy's death. "When I woke up next morning, I was a bit of a mess in finding out all the information. I was very vague to her (mum)," she said. "My biggest concern was the family … not to put ideas in anybody's head about who drove." Coroner Nerida Wilson said that while she acknowledged Ms Stratford was experiencing a significant loss, she was confused by why Ms Straford did not tell anyone about the video until later. "It just strikes me as unusual when…

The world is strange right now as the COVID-19 crisis continues, and we're relying on social media more than ever to keep in touch. Even when we're not in a pandemic, we use these apps to talk to family, friends, and new people. There are always updates to these, and the latest update on Facebook Messenger has people curious. What does "vanish mode" do in Messenger?Article continues below advertisementWhat does "vanish mode" do in Facebook Messenger?In September 2020, Facebook announced some new features to its Messenger platform to allow its users to have more functionality. Every improvement or new feature usually comes after some research and testing with smaller audiences so the people at Facebook felt confident that a feature in a competitor's service would be beneficial on theirs as well. And that's when the vanish mode was offered in Facebook Messenger.Vanish mode on Facebook messenger is kinda cool, just like Snapchat— Ryan|Middle Management👔 (@FourStarManager) November 10, 2020 Article continues below advertisementSimilar to Snapchat's feature, vanish mode allows the sender of a message to set their note to vanish, or disappear after a certain amount of time. This was one of the top features in Snapchat which made it popular among people who were dating — and teenagers — who would send fast messages that couldn't be read after they disappeared.Facebook unveiled the new feature in Messenger, and it was also available on Instagram, another app owned by Facebook. Facebook's version of vanish mode allows the person who is sending the message to choose exactly how long they want the message to be viewable for by setting a timer which allows them to have a private and secret conversation with someone else.  Once the timer has expired, there's no way for the recipient to view the message again. Article continues below…