12 European festivals you have to experience this summer

LONDON — If there are greater ways to spend a weekend than drinking and watching live music outside with a bunch of friends, we're yet to be acquainted with them.

Europe offers an abundance of awesome weekenders as the summer unfolds, from Benicassim's sun-drenched shindig on the Spanish coast to Oya's five-day festival in the heart of Oslo in Norway.

See also: UK festival guide: Where to spend your time and money this summer

The best thing about these festivals is that you can turn them into mini-holidays, bolting on a few cultural days in Lisbon, say, or a week on a Croatian beach in the build up to - or recovery from - the music. Read more...

More about Uk, Live Music, Festivals, Entertainment, and Music



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1C5uMXo

via IFTTT

Asus's new T300 Chi: A fine Windows tablet with delusions of laptop grandeur

Motorola has long taken the extreme route with its naming conventions and Samsung always seems to promise an entire Galaxy. But Asus’s approach is far less dramatic than much of the competition

The company has focused its efforts on taking a far more peaceful approach to consumer electronics, first through its Zen line and now in the form of its latest Transformer convertible tablet, the T300 Chi.

See also: Asus ZenWatch is a smartwatch that achieves fashion zen

In Taoist philosophy, Chi represents the vital life force circulating through all living things — and more to the point, in the case of this Windows 8.1 tablet, a balance between negative and positive forces essential to harmonic living. For Asus, it's striking the balance between the two often-at odds gadget categories of laptop and tablet, an attempt to design a product that fulfills the need for both. Read more...

More about Reviews, Asus, Tech, Gadgets, and Mobile



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1I2Lcbu

via IFTTT

Abused Peruvian circus bear to start a new life in Colorado sanctuary

A Peruvian bear named Cholita that suffered years of torture and mutilation at the hands of a circus is getting a new home in a Colorado wildlife sanctuary

The 25-year-old Andean bear, who was rescued from the circus 10 years ago and now resides in a small-town Peruvian zoo, will be flown to the United States along with 33 rescued lions, thanks to the fundraising efforts of a group of wildlife activists at British nonprofit Animal Defenders International (ADI).

See also: 'Free Arturo': The Campaign to Save a 'Sad' Polar Bear in an Argentine Zoo

The circus, which was holding her captive illegally, kept her in a tiny cage, tore out her claws and smashed her teeth to keep her from harming her handlers. All the stress caused her to shed all of her hair, and she is still mostly hairless today. Read more...

More about Animals, Us World, Us, and Circus



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1GK64Tg

via IFTTT

You can now get your Starbucks smoothie with a dash of kale

It seems we cannot get away from kale. It is in smoothies, salads, sandwiches, ice cream and now it is at Starbucks.

On Tuesday, the coffee chain will introduce three new Greek yogurt smoothie flavors to its range: Strawberry, Sweet Greens and Mango Carrot. Wait, what? Yes, mango and carrot together. Apparently orange vegetables and fruit combinations are a thing now.

See also: 16 matcha recipes for anyone green to the latest culinary craze

The smoothies, called Evolution Fresh, combine Greek nonfat yogurt, cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juice made using high pressure processing.

If that doesn't have you feeling like you are living on the fringe of normality, you can chuck in some fresh kale or protein powder to get you in with the right crowd Read more...

More about Us and Lifestyle



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1yy5fWE

via IFTTT

This pug wedding in Australia is what dreams are made of

The pugalicious wedding of the year is happening in Melbourne, Australia

Two rescued pugs, Jasmine and Jasper, are set to say "I do", before Jasper licks the bride, in a ceremony taking place on Sunday, May 17 at the West Beach Bathers Pavilion in St Kilda

See also: Pug can't contain his excitement for bath time

These two balls of joy have had a long journey and have been through many hard times together. The happy couple were surrendered into care in 2013, morbidly obese, struggling to breathe and with severe eye problems.

Never leaving each others side, they were nursed back to health by the team at Pug Rescue & Adoption Victoria with a pudgy-puggy bootcamp to shed the excess pounds and regular eye treatment to clear up blindness-causing pigmentation. Read more...

More about Pug, Watercooler, Australia, and Pug Wedding



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1CKIC6A

via IFTTT

5 smartest April Fools' Day pranks confusing Australians

Brands across Australia were fighting for attention this April Fools' Day, with dozens of pranks flooding inboxes, Facebook pages and websites across the country

Google took the global crown this year with Pac-Man on Google Maps, which actually worked. A prank that is not a prank is our kind of prank.

See also: Google's April Fools' Day prank turns maps into Pac-Man games

Down Under, surf life savers have extended the beach time through the chilly winter, NT News declared no more croc stories or capital letters as it is "immature," Finder ruined Easter for everyone and ASOS Australia released the much-awaited clip-on man bun. Read more...

More about April Fools, Australia, and Us World



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1FfS8hK

via IFTTT

7-year-old girl gets 3D printed 'robohand'

When Faith Lennox was nine months old, she lost her left hand. Now at age seven, she's getting one custom made by a 3D printer. It's called a 'robohand'. She got to pick the colors and watch the printing process firsthand at Build It Workspace, a 3D printer studio in California

Build It's Mark Lengsfeld thinks the technology will revolutionize prosthetics, especially in children who outgrow prosthetic limbs or have trouble using them due to size and weight.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Google Panda is the April Fools' joke you wish was a real product

Introducing the selfie shoe

What it's like to snack like Homer Simpson IRL

The new 'Mad Max: Fury Road' trailer is the wildest ride yet Read more...

More about 3d Printers, Tech, Dev Design, Gadgets, and Us



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1EAFkVQ

via IFTTT

Husky walks on water, rapture is probably coming

No, not Jesus, but a husky walked on water.

This dog seems perfectly happy prancing about, completely unaware that he's actually, in fact, a god. It only takes spelling dog backwards to make perfect sense of why this pooch can perform such a feat of biblical proportions. Russian photographer Fox Grom snapped this majestic scene on a Russian lake right after a fresh rainfall

See also: Hovercraft Turn Humans Into Heroes With Deer Lake Rescue

Let's hope Husky Jesus can turn that entire lake into wine. Read more...

More about Dogs, Russia, Watercooler, and Pics



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1CuT00Y

via IFTTT

Google Panda is the April Fools' joke you wish was a real product

It's already April Fools' Day in Japan and Google isn't wasting any time.

In a video posted to Google Japan's YouTube page, the company introduced Google Panda, its new adorable take on voice-enabled search.

"Google Panda is engineered with state of the art emotional and conversational intelligence," promises vice president of engineering, Chris Yerga, in the video. "All you have to do is speak your mind."

Later, a Google engineer takes the stage to walk through the design inspiration (a real-life panda, of course) and the various features of Panda, which include its extra cute, mobile and shock-absorbing abilities. In keeping with Google's tendency to make devices in multiple sizes, Panda is available in the "compact" Google Panda 5 and Google Panda 6. Read more...

More about Google, Tech, April Fools Day, Apps Software, and Watercooler



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1Dq2hJR

via IFTTT

Boycott Indiana: Who's actually doing something to protest 'anti-gay' law

Lots of businesses and politicians are talking the talk, disgusted with Indiana's new Religious Freedom Protection Act that's been widely slammed as an "anti-gay law" for its failure to protect the LGBT community from discrimination

But who's actually doing something about it?

While Gov. Mike Pence says the whole thing is just a "perception problem," a number of businesses, state and city governments, and organizations have taken concrete steps to push back against the state of Indiana.

Mashable has tracked who's put their pen to the table:

Governments

	Who did it?	What's the action?
Connecticut	Gov. Dannel P. Malloy	Governor Malloy signed an executive order that bans state-funded travel to Indiana.
Washington	Gov. Jay Inslee	Gov. Inslee issued a ban on travel to Indiana for members of his administration.
New York	Gov. Andrew Cuomo	"I direct all agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to the State of Indiana and to bar any such publicly funded travel that is not essential to the enforcement of state law or public health and safety."
Portland	Mayor Charlie Hales	Mayor Hales issued an executive order to temporarily suspend city-funded travel to Indiana. Read more...

More about Lgbt, Us World, Politics, Indiana, and Lgbtq



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1F0IrkP

via IFTTT

Hands on with Microsoft's next browser, Project Spartan

We're finally getting a real taste of Microsoft's new Web browser Project Spartan. That's just a codename for now, but based on my recent experience with the online surfing tool, which I downloaded with the latest Windows 10 Preview Build, the name fits.

See also: HoloLens: The hands-on experience

It would be easy to describe Project Spartan as a boiled-down version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft's legacy browser that will live on with less frequent updates. But that description would also be wrong. Spartan, which arrives alongside Windows 10 later this year, has a new browsing engine, one that IE will not share Read more...

More about Microsoft, Web Browsers, Tech, Apps Software, and Spartan



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1agNIwX

via IFTTT

12 food pranks that serve nothing but trouble

On April Fools' Day, you can't trust anyone or anything — not even your food

Whether you're seeking inspiration for your own edible mischief or you just want to ensure that no one is messing with your lunch, these cruel pranks cover the basics of foodie follies

See also: 17 April Fools' pranks for couples brave enough to test their relationship

Turn liquids into solids, sweets to sours, or just freak everyone out with some well-placed organ meats — the choice is yours. Just make sure you know a person's dietary restrictions before ruining more than someone's lunch.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Read more...

More about List, Humor, Pranks, April Fools Day, and Watercooler



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1I26AO4

via IFTTT

Space Station astronaut snaps breathtaking pictures of record-breaking typhoon

Super Typhoon Maysak's maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour are churning the waters of the Western Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, lashing the tiny island of Yap, with a population of only 11,000, with strong winds and heavy rain.

Yet from far above, the storm looks other-wordly, like something that might fit better on Jupiter rather than our home planet

See also: Rangers protect 3 of the last remaining northern white rhinos in the world

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station overflew the typhoon's massive circulation on Tuesday, with Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti snapping this breathtaking shot of the storm as it buffeted the tiny island of Yap. She also captured several close-up images of the storm's eye, which is surrounded by the storm's fiercest winds and heaviest rains. Read more...

More about Us World, Philippines, Typhoon, Space, and Climate



from Mashable http://ift.tt/1OWP93q

via IFTTT