Month: March 2023

TikTok has been on the minds of teens and adults alike over the past few years. During the pandemic, the video social media app helped bored teens and adults pass the time learning viral dances or doing internet challenges. But recently, it has come under more scrutiny for security concerns as well as mental health concerns for its teen users.

Social media and the significant role it plays in the decline of adolescent mental health has been a prime discussion as study after study raises concern. Teens don’t just face cyberbullying via social media apps, they’re also susceptible to body image issues and feelings of low self-esteem based off of the images they see online.

It seems that TikTok has taken note of the concerns and is attempting to help teens set healthier boundaries around the use of the app. The social media giant announced that they would be setting a default time limit of one hour for app users under the age of 18. After the hour is up, teen users will have to make a conscious choice whether they want to keep scrolling by typing in a passcode. This obviously won’t solve all of the problems, but the tech company could be on to something.

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Teenagers are generally more impulsive due to the way human brains develop. Our frontal lobes aren’t fully developed until we reach our mid to late 20s and since this is the part of the brain that controls impulses, it’s not a surprise teens are more likely to impulsively scroll. The reward factor is also high with fast-paced apps like TikTok. With each new video, dopamine is released in your brain, and if you couple that feel-good chemical reaction with low impulse control, you’ve got a recipe for endless engagement—unless it’s interrupted.

TikTok’s new feature will act as an interrupter for teens. sort of like when a person is daydreaming and someone snaps their fingers to break through to the daydreamer. The 60-minute notification will act as a virtual finger snap, giving teens a second to decide if it’s time to put down the phone.

The company also goes a step further for users under 13. In a press release, TikTok says that younger teens will still have the automatic hour time limit, but when their time is up, the parent/guardian will have to enter the passcode. This will only permit an additional 30 minutes of scroll time.

The time limits aren’t arbitrarily chosen by the social media powers that be. “While there’s no collectively-endorsed position on the ‘right’ amount of screen time or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we consulted the current academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in choosing this limit,” Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety said.

This move isn’t going to stop teens from overindulging in social media, but it’s something, and it shows that these big tech giants are at least taking note of the potential impacts on young users.

Just mentioning the idea of taking a break from their smartphones gives some folks a rush of anxiety. What if I get a text? What if I miss breaking news on Twitter? What if that special someone finally slides into my DMs?

The stress is real. But turning off our phones and taking a break has incredible health benefits. A report published in Psychology Today found that just turning off our phones for one hour a day before bed can improve your sleep quality and sex life, and gets you out the door faster in the morning.

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To help people find a better balance with the all-pervasive technology in their lives, March 3 has been designated the National Day of Unplugging (NDU). “The idea behind the day was to challenge people to keep their electronic devices unplugged and unused for 24 hours in order to give themselves the chance to take a break and spend time relaxing with family, friends, or alone,” Days of the Year says.

Rebooting, a Jewish organization, initially started NDU as an outgrowth of the Sabbath Manifesto that encourages carving out one day per week to unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors and connect with loved ones.

To learn more about the importance of unplugging, Upworthy spoke with Jennifer Kelman, a licensed clinical social worker, certified professional coach and JustAnswer.com mental health expert, on the importance of taking the occasional tech break.

Kelman sees the problems associated with tech addiction every day in her practice.

“We all need more than a day to unplug, but one day is a good start,” Kelman told Upworthy. “Our device use is controlling our lives, and we are losing the ability to interact with each other. Relationships are suffering as the devices are interfering with our interpersonal interactions and time spent together.”

While taking a tech break may stress some people out, it’s worth considering the stress that technology already has us fighting.

“We are more anxious and depressed as we doom scroll on social media and see the ‘perfect lives’ of others. There is no longer the work day, as now people are required to be accessible at all times,” Kelman told Upworthy. “Our relationships are suffering as we ignore our partners and family as the addiction to our device takes up most of our waking, and sometimes even our sleeping lives. People can’t even turn their phones off and are checking their phones in the middle of the night.”

Kelman believes that we need to choose people over technology and that NDU is a great way to bring that to people’s attention.

“This day is a good start to learning to disconnect, to reconnect with people and the world around them,” Kelman told Upworthy. “It is not enough, though, as the mental health of all of us is suffering, and we continue to choose to give our mental health over to technology, smartphones and social media. It behooves all of us to make a different choice and choose healthy interpersonal relationships and communication over technology and social media.”

In the end, it’s all about balance.

“There can be a time and place for device use and social media scrolling, but it should be in moderation and one should do a self-check to see how they feel when they are on social media and using their devices,” Kelman continued. “If you are aware that you are anxious and depressed, do all you can to limit the use of devices, technology and social media.”

Disneyland is coined “the happiest place on Earth” thanks in no small part to people who work there—particularly the performers. Sure, the rides are fun, but a lot of the magic comes from being able to interact with real life versions of characters we’ve fallen in love with from the movies.

That’s why people are hailing the Evil Queen, who had a very special encounter with an autistic teen boy, as the park’s true hero. She is one of many performers going out of their way to make sure everyone gets to be part of the fun, reminding us of what makes Disney so special in the first place.

A now-viral TikTok video shows the Evil (or maybe not-so-evil) Queen approach 15-year-old Thomas to offer a feel of her soft cape.

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“Sensory QUEEN🤌🍃💜😍” one person commented.

“She understands he likes to touch and feel things,” another user wrote.

Then, gently taking his hand, the two take a quick stroll through the kingdom while shooing away the peasants. She is a Queen, after all.

Watch:

@magicwiththomas The not so Evil Queen offering him to feel her cape #autism #autismawareness #autismacceptance #asd #specialneeds #disney #disneyparks #disneyland #disneytiktok #disney100 #snowwhite #evilqueen #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Magic With Thomas

By the looks of the follow-up video, Thomas and the Evil Queen became fast friends, as she showed off a “better angle” of Sleeping Beauty’s castle and suggested they take a picture together.

Thomas’ video got a lot of love online, including other parents who have had similar positive experiences, and those who had still been on the fence about taking their own autistic children to the park.

‘Why do you love Disney so much? This. This is why. I can take my autistic son, and he is loved and not an inconvenience to them,” one parent wrote.

Another added, “I haven’t taken my kids to Disney yet because I’m worried my autistic son will get overstimulated. I love [that] the cast members are so kind.”

Thomas’s TikTok account, which is run by his dad, is filled with all kinds of Disney characters making him feel welcome. The content is so pure and wholesome and leaves people with nothing but praise for the performers.

If you want to see Thomas chatting it up with the likes of Jack Sparrow, Winnie the Pooh, Cruella Deville and more, you can find his TikTok account here.

A lot has recently been revealed about the forthcoming HBO show The Idol, known for being spearheaded by Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd. He co-created it alongside Euphoria director Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim, and there’s a lot to unpack about the controversial, long-awaited series. From intensely spicy trailers to a confusing timeline of its release, find information about The Idol below.

Release Date

There remains no release date. In Rolling Stone‘s new bombshell report about the show, it was reported, “One source with knowledge of the production schedule tells Rolling Stone the network initially hoped for The Idol to premiere last fall, taking over the Sunday time slot left open by House of the Dragon, which ended in October. Yet three teaser trailers have come and gone, and HBO can still only offer a vague ‘later this year.’ (A rep for the network declined to comment on when the show will air.)”

Cast

The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp are the leads. Other actors include Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Jennie Kim, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Melanie Liburd, Tunde Adebimpe, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Nico Hiraga, and the late Anne Heche. There will also be a feature from Jennie of Blackpink.

Plot

The Idol, in six episodes, follows the story of “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.” The trailer boasts it as “the sleaziest love story” from “the sick and twisted minds of the Creator of Euphoria Sam Levinson and Abel ‘The Weekend’ Tesfaye.”

Drama

In April of last year, they announced a “new creative direction,” which included the departure of director Amy Seimetz. Still, The Weeknd teased trailers during his After Hours Til Dawn Tour last summer.

An anonymous source told Rolling Stone that Tesfaye was not happy with the story’s “feminist lens.” “It was like The Weeknd wanted one show that was all about him — Sam was on board with that,” they told the publication. Another source said, “What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century. It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”

“It was like, ‘What is this? What am I reading here,’” the source added. “It was like sexual torture porn.” Leaked scripts portrayed disturbing, violent scenes involving physical abuse and rape fantasies. “It was a show about a woman who was finding herself sexually, turned into a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it,” the source said.

The Pistons made a furious second half rally to turn a 21-point deficit into a tie game late in the fourth quarter against the Bulls, but they were never able to regain the lead.

Their best chance at a win came with nine seconds to play, when they got the ball after a Bulls missed shot and advanced it up the floor with their final timeout, trailing 114-112. Dwane Casey drew up a play to try and get the ball to Bojan Bogdanovic at the top of the floor, as he was 8-of-12 from three on the night and leading the Pistons with 34 points. Rookie Jaden Ivey was given the duty of inbounding the ball, and figured to be part of a secondary action in case the Bulls swarmed Bogdanovic, as he was the second leading scorer on the night with 19 points.

Unfortunately, Ivey didn’t get the message in the huddle that the Pistons did not have another timeout, and the youngster seemed to panic a bit after Bogdanovic didn’t pop free immediately and, terrified of a five-second call and a turnover, called for a timeout they didn’t have, leading to a technical and a turnover, effectively ending the game.

What makes it even worse is the ref was doing a very slow count and was only on her third count when Ivey called the timeout as Bogdanovic popped open near midcourt. You could see Ivey was distraught about making the error immediately after, with Bogdanovic trying to pick him up during the free throws on the other end. For Pistons fans who are also fans of the Michigan Wolverines, of which there are many, this has the added pain of ensuring that Chris Webber jokes and memes would hit the internet — on Webber’s birthday, no less.

While Detroit has all but locked up top-4 odds in the lottery, these are games that everyone wants to win — and arguably even moreso for a team desperate to build a little bit of positive momentum now that their place in the lottery is secured. In the end, it’s a tough learning experience for Ivey, who you can bet will be the most aware of the Pistons timeout situation in every game going forward.

There hasn’t been a new Star Wars movie in over four years, and the next one allegedly won’t arrive for another two years. But there are plenty of Star Wars shows. The ones that have aired have not been above fan service, bringing beloved characters back, even if it means making a young CGI Mark Hamill with an AI voice. Hell, you might even get one most people assume is long dead.

In a new interview with the Fade to Black podcast, The Mandalorian honcho Jon Favreau was asked about resurrecting a specific character: Salacious B. Crumb, the cackling Kowakian monkey-lizard from Jabba’s lair in Return of the Jedi, who really does look like a cross between a monkey and a lizard. Well, he wasn’t above the idea.

“I mean we had Max Rebo, right?” Favreau alluiding to the blue elephant keyboardist also presumed to have eaten it. “Max Rebo, many people thought that he met the end of his days in the sail barge right? But we never really saw, and then Bib Fortuna too, wasn’t Bib Fortuna on the sail barge? I think he was, and then he showed up at the end of Season 2 [of The Mandalorian]”.

In conclusion, “never say never,” Favreau added, who pointed out that some of Salacious’ species popped up in the Mandalorian’s pilot: one being spit-roasted over an open flame, another in his cage, bemoaning their likely fate.

In the meantime, there’s the show’s third season, which kicked off in high dudgeon Wednesday, complete with the return of a favorite from one of the least favorite Star Wars films.

(Via IGN)

It feels like it’s been ages since Variety first reported The Weeknd was co-creating a forthcoming HBO series, The Idol, with Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson. Enough nonsense has happened since July 2021 — scratch that, enough has happened just today, March 1 — to satisfy a six-episode arc, making it even more confusing to identify when The Idol‘s first season will actually premiere.

The Idol was already off to a rocky start. It was reported last April that the series was undergoing “an overhaul” due to a “new creative direction,” including the departure of director Amy Seimetz.

And today, Rolling Stone published a very long bombshell report detailing some very disturbing (alleged) turmoil, which one source called “a sh*tshow.” Across interviews with 13 unnamed members of The Idol‘s cast and crew, reporter Cheyenne Roundtree learned that The Weeknd “felt the show was heading too much into a ‘female perspective.’” When Levinson replaced Seimetz as director, he allegedly threw out “the nearly-finished $54-75 million project to rewrite and reshoot the entire thing.”

Roundtree added, “With Seimetz out of the picture, HBO handed the reins to Levinson, only to have him weaken the show’s overarching message, many sources say, by dialing up the disturbing sexual content and nudity to match — and even surpass — that of his most successful show, Euphoria.”

The publication additionally provided an update on when any of us might be able to watch The Idol: “One source with knowledge of the production schedule tells Rolling Stone the network initially hoped for The Idol to premiere last fall, taking over the Sunday time slot left open by House of the Dragon, which ended in October. Yet three teaser trailers have come and gone, and HBO can still only offer a vague ‘later this year.’ (A rep for the network declined to comment on when the show will air.)”

For now, all we have is a scene shared by The Weeknd in response to Rolling Stone‘s scathing report:

And Rolling Stone‘s Editor In Chief Noah Schachtman dunking on it:

After all of that, the plot of The Idol feels like a footnote, but The Weeknd stars as Tedros, “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult” who “enters a complicated relationship with a rising pop idol, Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn (as noted by IMDb). Dan Levy, Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jennie Kim, and Jane Adams are among those also listed in the cast.

Lil Kim told her audience at the Apollo Theater last month that she’s “so proud” of Lola Brooke before the two New York rappers performed Brooke’s “Don’t Play With It” together. Timberland has noticed Brooke’s potential, too.

The iconic brand shared its Hip-Hop Royalty Boot last week in honor of the 50th anniversaries of both hip-hop and Timberland. Brooke is the star of the accompanying 30-second campaign.

“The Original Timberland® Boot and Hip Hop were born in 1973 — that’s 50 years of an iconic combination,” Timberland captioned a joint Instagram post with Brooke. “Hip Hop has impacted our brand enormously over the past five decades, so we’re proud to present Brooklyn MC, @lola.brooke, who is one of the voices carrying Hip Hop into the next 50 years, in the Timberland® Hip Hop Royalty Boot.​”

The collection is available here.

In the video, Brooke narrates, “This is not a boot. This is how we thrive. It’s truth in living color, where the art comes alive. This is the cypher circling ’round the globe. Every gender, every nation adding to the flow. No limits to the vision. We defy definition. This is not a boot. It’s 50 years of ambition.”

Brooke discussed her lifelong ambition with Uproxx last month.

“Since a little girl, I’ve been saying that I wanted to be this entertainer,” the Brooklyn native said. “Sometimes you get discouraged because when you don’t receive the good feedback [that you wanted]. It just means that you got to keep working.”

She continued, “[There are] a lot of people that you going up against that want that same spotlight, so regardless if you’re not in competition with everybody else, the people will make you in competition with everybody else. So you got to find a way of being different so that you won’t get caught up in the drama and still win.”

Brooke is racking up more wins as the opener on A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s Me Vs. Myself Tour. See the remaining dates here.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. This week Adidas finally rejoins our weekly roundup with the Harden Vol 7 and not only that, we went ahead and gave them the front cover treatment by using James Harden in our main image. Welcome back, Adidas! While we’re happy to see the three stripes brand finally drop something worth scooping up, this week still belongs to Nike who snagged six of the eight spots with new Jordan drops, some Air Maxes, and a big Supreme collaboration.

We’re three months into 2023 and are only now getting a Supreme collab but for fans of the box-logo brand, it’s a big one as it also brings the resurrection of a forgotten ’90s silhouette from Nike’s archive — the Air Bakin. If Supreme can be counted on for anything, it’s bringing to light forgotten Nike silhouettes and pushing them back into rotation.

Will we finally see Nike showing some love to the Air Bakin throughout 2023? Let’s hope. For now, let’s dive into this week’s 8 best sneaker drops!.

Nike Women’s Dunk High 1985 Alabaster

If you’re looking for a pair of Dunks but want something that leans even more vintage, this week’s Dunk High ’85 Alabaster will check all the boxes. Featuring a mixed nubuck, suede, full grain and synthetic leather upper, this sneaker combines deep burgundy tones, off-white paneling, and aged yellow details for a luxurious-yet-worn look.

Rounding out the design is an embroidered ’85 logo at the heel and a woven tongue tag. Unfortunately for those with big feet, this sneaker is only dropping in a limited Women’s shoe size that caps at W12.

The Nike Women’s Dunk High 1985 Alabaster is out now for a retail price of $140. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Women’s Air Jordan 12 x A Ma Maniere Black and Burgundy Crush

If you missed out on last week’s super dope A Ma Maniére drop you have another chance to cop the Black and Burgundy Crush pair via the Nike SNKRS app. You’re looking at what will probably go down as one of the sneakers of the year, it features a classic leather build with metal eyelets and a mudguard made from super plush suede.

It takes the original concept of the Air Jordan 12 — a luxury basketball sneaker — and elevates it beyond what Tinker Hatfield and Jordan could’ve possibly imagined.

The Women’s Air Jordan 12 x A Ma Maniére Black and Burgundy Crush is set to drop on March 2nd at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $225. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT.

Adidas Harden Volume 7

Adidas is finally joining the lineup this week courtesy of James Harden. Featuring an all-textile upper in reflective silver, the Harden 7 looks like what a puffer jacket would look like if it were a shoe and considering the puffer jacket is bigger right now than ever, we’ll take it!

The Harden 7 sports a Lightstrike cushioning system for a lightweight but supportive fit over a BOOST midsole and a rubber outsole to help ensure that every step is like walking on clouds. It’s a reminder of how much Adidas prioritizes comfort. Nike may have the better designs, but tell try and claim Adidas aren’t more comfortable! You can’t.

The Adidas Harden Volume 7 is set to drop on March 2nd at 9:00 AM PST for a retail price of $160. Pick up a pair via the Adidas CONFIRMED app.

Nike Women’s Air Max 1 ’87 Safari

The Air Max 1 is getting the safari treatment! Featuring a Summit White and Sail upper, this Air Max sports the original 1987 design specs with a wavy mudguard and swoosh covered in Nike’s famed safari print, which debuted on the Nike Air Safari. Rounding out the design is a black outsole with university blue details. It’s an ultra-clean and simple design that catches the eye from every angle.

It’s that classic low-effort but big-return release that only Nike could pull off thanks to their legacy design details.

The Nike Women’s Air Max 1 ’87 Safari is set to drop on March 3rd at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $150. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.

Nike Women’s Air Max 95 Safari

If you’re not feeling the vintage vibes of the Air Max 1 Safari allow us to present to you a… slightly less vintage Air Max 95. Recalling the famous Silver Surfer colorway, this Air Max 95 features the same safari print from the 1 in three-different gradients across the ’95s famous wavy upper. What makes this sneaker special is the reflective details throughout the sneaker which make the show glow when light hits it.

While both the 1 and 95 Safari are dope, we’re liking the increased amount of effort on this pair by way of the reflective details. Nike took an already sleek silhouette and made it just a bit more flashy.

The Nike Women’s Air Max 95 Safari is set to drop on March 3rd at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $180. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Air Jordan 5 University Blue

How do you get the entire sneaker community excited about buying yet another Air Jordan 5? You drop it in a classic colorway like University Blue. Uni Blue is a top-five Jordan colorway, partly because it represents Jordan’s alma mater colors, so it has a sort of legacy to it that makes Jordan fans salivate. But University Blue is also great because… I mean look at it! It’s beautiful! Who doesn’t love that sky-blue sheen?

Featuring an all-leather upper with silver details, an icy outsole, and a speckled shark tooth, this Jordan 5 is perfect. No notes from us. It’s one of the best Jordan drops of the year.

The Air Jordan 5 University Blue is set to drop on March 4th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $225. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Supreme x Nike Air Bakin

Fans of obscure ‘90s era Nike silhouettes rejoice! Supreme is bringing back the Air Bakin. Recalled for having a stylized embroidered heel logo that resembled the Arabic spelling of Allah, the Air Bakin was debuted in 1997 by Tim Hardaway and sported a design that combined the swirling styles of the Air Penny 2 and the Air Max 95. Not explicitly, but it’s a little hard to look at a pair of these shoes and not think of those other staple silhouettes.

Supreme is dropping two colorways of the sneaker, a psychedelic purple-to-yellow gradient addition and an all-white pair both featuring Supreme branding at the heel tab and a revamped NYC embroidered logo at the heel.

The Supreme x Nike Air Bakin is set to drop on March 2nd for a retail price of $160. Pick up a pair exclusively at Supreme.

New Balance MADE in USA 996 Blue with White

After a very strong showing for the last few weeks, New Balance is keeping this quiet this week with just one simple drop: a new MADE in USA 996 colorway that combines cool blue tines with white and tan. Featuring a mesh upper with hairy suede paneling, and pigskin detailing, above an ENCAP midsole, the new 996 sports a vintage woven tongue label and a MADE in USA branded sockliner.

New Balance might have gone light on the release, but they’re serving quality and we’ll take that over quantity any day.

The New Balance MADE in USA 996 Blue with White is set to drop on March 3rd at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $189.99. Pick up a pair at New Balance.

Some three and a half decades ago, Nicholas Cage made a profoundly strange little movie called Vampire’s Kiss. He played a very ‘80s Manhattan literary agent who starts to think, probably foolishly, that he’s a vampire. It is bananas. Maybe the wildest part is this: He eats a real cockroach. Cage really did that. Jump to the present day, and one of his costars — and someone with almost the same first name — is following in his footsteps, sort of.

In a new, not-yet-online interview with Total Film (as caught by /Film), Nicholas Hoult talks about Renfield, the forthcoming Dracula riff in which he plays the titular familiar to Cage’s Count. Apparently Renfield does some bug-eating, mostly in a scene where he’s trying to “top up” his powers before a big fight. So Hoult decided to do go Faux-Method and eat some real bugs, too. But they weren’t just critters he found scurrying about set. And they didn’t only taste of bug:

“I think they just ordered them from Amazon or wherever. The crickets came in different flavors. Some of them were barbecue, some were salt and vinegar. Honestly, once you get over the idea of what it is you’re eating, they weren’t that bad. And I ate a lot. There was only one that I didn’t like — it was a potato bug, and that one did taste… buggy.”

Not that all of Hoult’s on-set diet was actual bugs. Some of the “cockroaches” were actually fake ones, made of chocolate, which Hoult deemed “suitably chewy and sticky in the teeth, but delicious.”

Anyway, bug-eating isn’t that weird! Survival guides advise eating bugs if you’re lost in the wild. They’re rich in protein. There’s even a documentary about the joy of eating insects, arguing that they may be a good source of food in a world being overrun by the effects of climate change. In the meantime, you can, like the makers of Renfield, order crickets on Amazon, or anywhere else that delivers food.

(Via Total Film and /Film)