Month: May 2024

Since being established in Texas in 1996, Amber Alerts have been implemented in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and have been incredibly effective at preventing child abductions.

As of December 31, 2023, over 1200 children have been successfully through the program, which was named after Amber Hagerman, who was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, 28 years ago.

The alerts are delivered through TV broadcasts, radio, text messages and cable TV, deputizing the general public to help find a kidnapped child immediately after they’ve been reported missing. Back in February, an autistic child who was abducted from his father was recovered in under 3 hours after 2 friends took action.

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It all started on February 13, 2024 when Kim Chan was delivering food in downtown Long Beach, California. He left the car running while he made his delivery and while he was gone, a carjacker stole his car. To make a terrible situation worse, his 4-year-old son, Justin, was in the backseat. After the carjacker drove away, the father contacted the police and the California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert.

Right around that time, Reagan Dunn and Yenni Lu, both 20, from nearby Huntington Beach, were cruising downtown Long Beach and just “hanging out” when they received the alert on their phones. “We had nothing else to do so, we were like, ‘Hey, let’s go look,’” Dunn told the Long Beach Post.

A few minutes later, they drove past a Honda Accord parked in front of an outlet mall that matched the description in the alert. They checked the incense plate and it was a match. “I thought maybe I was seeing things,” Dunn said.

The women quickly called 911 and stayed by the car, waiting for officers to arrive.

By 8:10 that night, Justin was reunited with his parents. “The vehicle was located by two Good Samaritans who found the car and immediately called 9-1-1. We would like to thank them for this act of heroism in finding this young boy,” the Long Beach Police Department said in a statement.

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to the 2 remarkable young women who spotted the vehicle from the amber last night in Long Beach.

Good work Reagan Dunn and Yenni Lu! Your courage and quick actions are commendable 🙌.@LBPD @CHP_HQ @LongBeachCity pic.twitter.com/P9P9zDzTIh

— Office of Mayor Rex Richardson (@LongBeachMayor) February 14, 2024

The Long Beach Police later identified the carjacking suspect by reviewing footage from security cameras in the area. After stealing the car, he promptly abandoned it at the outlet mall located a few blocks away from where it was stolen. Timothy Wood, 34, who is experiencing homelessness, was booked on suspicion of kidnapping, child endangerment, and vehicle theft and his bail was set at $100,000.

Dunn and Lu’s heroic act to help save the young boy is another great example of California’s successful Amber Alert program. Since 2002, it has been activated over 320 times in the state, involving over 380 victims and over 97% have been safely recovered. “The program definitely works, and it’s getting better every year,” the California Highway Patrol says on its website.

The Amber Alert program is an excellent reminder that when you call on people to help in a crisis, more often than not, someone will always step up and do what’s right.

On May 28, 2014, 13-year-old Athena Orchard of Leicester, England, died of bone cancer. The disease began as a tumor in her head and eventually spread to her spine and left shoulder. After her passing, Athena’s parents and six siblings were completely devastated. In the days following her death, her father, Dean, had the difficult task of going through her belongings. But the spirits of the entire Orchard family got a huge boost when he uncovered a secret message written by Athena on the backside of a full-length mirror.

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After removing the mirror from the wall, Dean discovered a 3,000-word letter written all the way down its backside in black pen. “She never mentioned it, but it’s the kind of thing she’d do,” her father told People magazine. “She was a very spiritual person, she’d go on about stuff that I could never understand – she was so clever.” The moving letter revealed her deepest feelings about her fight with the dreaded disease. “Every day is special, so make the most of it, you could get a life-ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day,” she wrote. “Life is only bad if you make it bad.”

Although Athena is gone, the mirror now serves as a powerful memory of her undying spirit. “We’re keeping the mirror forever, it is a part of her we can keep in the house, it will always be in her room,” her mother, Caroline, said. “Just reading her words felt like she was still here with us, she had such an incredible spirit.”

Athena’s full message:

“Happiness depends upon ourselves. Maybe it’s not about the happy ending, maybe it’s about the story. The purpose of life is a life of purpose. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. Happiness is a direction not a destination. Thank you for existing. Be happy, be free, believe, forever young. You know my name, not my story.

You have heard what I’ve done, but not what I’ve been through. Love is like glass, looks so lovely but it’s easy to shatter.

Love is rare, life is strange, nothing lasts and people change. Every day is special, so make the most of it, you could get a life ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day. Life is only bad if you make it bad. If someone loves you, then they wouldn’t let you slip away no matter how hard the situation is. Remember that life is full of ups and downs.

Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about. I want to be that girl who makes the bad days better and the one that makes you say my life has changed since I met her!

Love is not about how much you say I love you – it’s about how much you can prove it’s true. Love is like the wind, you can feel it but you can’t see it. I’m waiting to fall in love with someone I can open my heart to. Love is not about who you can see spending your future with, it’s about who you can’t see spending your life without… Life is a game for everyone but love is the prize. Only I can judge me.

Sometimes love hurts. Now I’m fighting myself. Baby I can feel your pain. Dreams are my reality. It hurts but it’s okay, I’m used to it. Don’t be quick to judge me, you only see what I choose to show you… you don’t know the truth. I just want to have fun and be happy without being judged.

This is my life, not yours, don’t worry about what I do. People gonna hate you, rate you, break you, but how strong you stand, that’s what makes you… you!

There’s no need to cry because I know you’ll be by my side.”

This article originally appeared on 04.15.19

Rick Astley has to be the luckiest ’80s musician on the planet. The whole “Rickrolling” phenomenon has given his hit song “Never Gonna Give You Up” a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.

(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they’re being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” video instead as a joke. It’s a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that’s been going since 2006.)

But what people may not realize, because his most famous song has become an internet joke, is that Rick Astley is actually a really freaking great musician. The man can saaaang and it seems he’s only gotten better with age.

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If you were to choose the most unlikely combo of musical mashups, it might just be Rick Astley and Foo Fighters. Right? Like who would put them together?

Oddly enough, they put themselves together in 2017, when Foo Fighters brought Astley on stage during a concert to sing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl even created his own Rickroll-inspired meme, the Dave G’Roll, with the band’s song “Best of You.” So there’s a history there.

But nothing has been more surprising than hearing Rick Astley do an acoustic cover of Foo Fighters’ “Everlong.” It’s so good. Like, so good.

Not to knock Rick Astley of the 1980s, but that strangely deep voice on a young man was sort of his signature thing. Ergo, you’d think it would be easy to recognize Astley’s voice no matter what he was singing. But you’d be wrong. If you close your eyes and listen to this, you’d likely never guess it was Rick Astley.

Maybe it’s because the song itself isn’t something you expect from the “Never Gonna Give You Up” guy. Maybe it’s because you had no idea that Rick Astley was still making music. Who knows. All I know is that my jaw dropped watching him knock out an awesome version of a grungey rock song with just his voice and acoustic guitar.

Seriously, that was amazing, right? Even hardcore Foo Fighters fans gave Astley props in the comments:

“As a huge Foo Fighters fan, all I can say is this cover didn’t let me down.”

“Tbh I could listen to a whole album of Rick Astley doing grunge covers.”

“Are you kidding me?????? That voice from the 80’s… And one of the greatest numbers of all times…. Didn’t think you could pull that of…. But you did….. Respect to you Rick.”

And, of course, some had to make jokes:

“I love this cover. It feels like the singer is never going to give you up or never gonna let you down. He doesn’t run around and desert you. He will never make you cry and never say goodbye. He doesn’t tell a lie and hurt you. I think that is special.”

“This guy should stop making memes and stick to music! He’s got talent!”

“I’m glad he’s never given up. This did not let me down.”

But this comment perhaps best summed up what most of us walked away thinking:

“God now I feel bad that we’ve ridden on Rick Rolling for so long that we missed the part where Rick Astley is actually a badass musician…”

This article first appeared on 4.4.22.

Those of us of a certain age remember asking for directions and keeping two-inch thick road atlases in our cars to find our way around. Then with the internet came the miracle of Mapquest, followed by the how-did-we-ever-live-without-this GPS systems you could attach to your dashboard.

Then smartphones kicked the road trip game up a notch with map apps that not only give up step-by-step directions but also real-time traffic conditions and the ability to find a gas station or restaurant with gluten-free options along your route. Even those of us who grew up with paper maps struggle to recall how we ever got anywhere before Google Maps.

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Now we’re so deep into the map app era that we’re past the wow stage and into the nit-picky stage. It’s no longer good enough to have a handheld computer tell us how to get someplace in real time. Now we have expectations, preferences, opinions and complaints. We also have data and anecdotes with which to compare different apps and discuss which ones do what best.

And hoo boy do people have thoughts on that front.

Former Uber employee Flo Crivello shared some info on X about the analysis they did with three of the most popular map apps—Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze—using a dataset with millions of trips.

The big winner? Apple Maps.

— (@)

Google came in second, and Waze was a distant third (worst “by far”).

“The research also included which apps people *thought* was worse, and the order came in the exact opposite order,” Crivello shared. “We understood why Apple Maps got a bad rap given how bad it was at launch — it rapidly got better, but the brand stuck. Waze was more of a mystery, and we ended up realizing that people thought its routes were best because it was exposing them to so much info on traffic, construction, police presence etc… Everyone thinks they want a minimalist UI, but in practice, when they see all this info, they subconsciously conclude ‘wow, these guys really have their sh*t together’ — even when the routes were actually the worst ones.”

Crivello said the results “may be shocking,” presumably because Apple Maps started with the worst reputation. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook famously apologized for Apple Maps in 2012 and recommended people use Google Maps instead.

However, in the years since, Apple Maps has redeemed itself while Google Maps has lost a bit of its initial luster. Then Waze came along, which people in cities with variable traffic touted as more accurate for timing and real-time updates, becoming some people’s favorite. But according to his data eight years ago, Apple was the winner.

Do those results still hold? Some people in the replies said Google Maps was the best, hands down, while other said they preferred Apple or Waze.

It might depend on where you live and what you look for in a map app (and whether you even have access to Apple Maps). Discussions about these apps abound, with some common threads throughout. Many people agree that the U.S. is where Apple Maps shines, but Google Maps works better abroad. Apple Maps offers more natural navigation directions, such as “Not at this stop sign, but at the next one, turn right,” instead of Google Maps’ assumption that everyone knows how far 300 feet is. Google maps has great searchability and is easier to check reviews of places compared to Apple Maps. So opinions might vary on “best” depending on what you’re using it for.

Waze has loyal users and people who love to joke about where it reroutes you when there’s traffic.

— (@)

These are not the only three map apps available, either. People who travel internationally and use public transportation seem partial to the CityMapper app, which makes finding train and bus routes simple with a user-friendly interface, so again, a lot depends on why you’re using the app in the first place.

As far as popularity goes, Google Maps boasts a whopping 1 billion monthly users. While Apple Maps usage doesn’t have any hard numbers, there is data that shows younger generations are partial to iPhones, on which Apple Maps is a native app, so its usage may be growing.

What’s your experience? Which map app do you prefer?

Toddlers can be hilarious. They’re learning the world around them while simultaneously acting as if they’ve got it all figured out. There’s nothing like arguing with a tiny version of yourself whose pants are on backwards and inside out. But even with all their sass, they’re mostly filled with adorable moments.

Caroline Victoria uploaded a video to her social media page of her toddler daughter saying her bedtime prayers. The little girl is wearing a pink satin bonnet laying on the bed with a sweet grin on her face as her mom starts prayer. Since the girl is just a toddler she is only contributing one word responses for the things she’s thankful for.

That tiny toddler voice only makes the answers even cuter. Caroline starts off by saying, “dear Lord, thank you for,” then she pauses waiting for the little girl’s response. She’s off to a pretty solid start by being thankful for her brother, Brandon and her mommy but things quickly take an interesting turn.

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Caroline starts her off again, “thank you for?” The response was no longer a person in the house. This baby was thankful for pizza and she didn’t think her mom was taking her gratitude for the cheesy delicious meal seriously. You hear her mom laughing behind the camera before asking her again what she was thankful for.

If you thought the answer was going to change, you don’t know how much she appreciates pizza. The little girl rattled off pizza at least five more times in a row to make sure her point was taken proving to be a bit too much for Caroline who can be heard squeaking with laugher in the background.

Watch her request below:

Commenters can’t seem to get over how adorably hilarious the little girl is.

“She is a little comedian and a beauty,” one person writes.

“Too precious!! She grateful for her Pizza.. Amen,” another says.

“She didn’t add you in the prayer ma’am.She said her brother, me , and pizza.She didn’t say “mummy.” Go get your prayers somewhere else,” someone jokes.

“I’m with her Pizza is definitely something to be thankful for all the time,” another person declares.

Let’s all hope mom answers this little girl’s prayers and order some pizza. It’s clear that pizza is a top priority for her and until she has it her little brain will not be able to move on to pray for other things.

A video making the rounds online is reminding us all that love transcends all time and distance.

94-year-old Barbara Carolan of Seabrook, Massachusetts, hadn’t been able to see her 90-year-old sister Shirley, who lives in Nevada, since 2020.

When it became clear to Barbara that she might not have much time left to spend with her beloved sister, she prepared to make the 2,700-mile cross country trip to say goodbye.

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“They waited so long to see each other, and if you don’t know if you’re going to see someone again, you know, especially siblings, it must be really hard,” Barbara’s granddaughter, Stephanie Atkinson Shively, told told her local news outlet WMUR.

Shively volunteered to ride alongside her grandmother and document the trip. In a TikTok video, which has been seen over 13 million times, we see Barbara and Shirley getting emotional while reminiscing.

“We had a wonderful, wonderful time,” Barbara tells Shirley through tears.

“If we don’t see each other [again] on this earth, we’ll see each other in heaven,” her little sister assured.

“You betcha!” Barbara sobs. “You betcha.”

Watch the video below, aptly captioned: “Hug your sister.”

@stephanieatkinson #goodbye #sistersforever #notgoodbye ♬ original sound – Stephanie Atkinson Shively

Needless to say, viewers were struck by the sweet moment.

“There needs to be a category on this app for videos that are guaranteed to make you cry cuz dammit I’m tired of randomly balling my eyes out!” one person wrote.

Another added, “It’s not good bye, it’s see you later. I imagine when we pass, it’ll be like going home. And never again will we have to be separated from the ones we love.”

Shively shared several other moments from the journeys, including some pictures of the sisters when they were younger. But the ‘last tearjerker’ showed grandma Barbara waving goodbye as she made her way back home.

There’s a bit of comic relief in this one, as Barbara yells “until we meet again!” and gets “WHAT?!” from Shirley, having to repeat herself a few times.

Watch:

@stephanieatkinson #sistersforever #notgoodbye #sisterlylove ♬ original sound – Stephanie Atkinson Shively

All in all, just a beautiful, heartwarming reminder to savor our lives, and all the loved ones in it.

Now go hug someone.

This article originally appeared on 9.16.23

It seems everyone needs subtitles nowadays in order to “hear” the television. This is something that has become more common over the past decade and it’s caused people to question if their hearing is going bad or if perhaps actors have gotten lazy with enunciation.

So if you’ve been wondering if it’s just you who needs subtitles in order to watch the latest marathon-worthy show, worry no more. Vox video producer Edward Vega interviewed dialogue editor Austin Olivia Kendrick to get to the bottom of why we can’t seem to make out what the actors are saying anymore. It turns out it’s technology’s fault, and to get to how we got here, Vega and Kendrick took us back in time.

They first explained that way back when movies were first moving from silent film to spoken dialogue, actors had to enunciate and project loudly while speaking directly into a large microphone. If they spoke and moved like actors do today, it would sound almost as if someone were giving a drive-by soliloquy while circling the block. You’d only hear every other sentence or two.

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But with today’s technology, microphones are so small they can be strapped just about anywhere on an actor. This allows the actor to move about the set freely and speak at a normal volume without worrying that their words won’t be picked up. So then why can’t we hear them? Turns out it’s super complicated…and also not.

“A lot of people will ask, ‘Why don’t you just turn the dialogue up?’ Like, ‘Just turn it up.’ And…if only it were that simple,” Kendrick said before explaining, “If you have your dialogue that’s going to be at the same volume as an explosion that immediately follows it, the explosion is not going to feel as big. You need that contrast in volume in order to give your ear a sense of scale.”

Sure, you may be thinking, well that kinda explains it, but why do the music and other cinematic noises sound like they’re beating on your eardrum while the dialogue sounds like the actors are whispering every line? That doesn’t seem very balanced. There’s more to it, and again, it falls back onto technology.

In the video, they explain how our televisions are too thin to hold large speakers facing in the correct direction, and until this video, it didn’t dawn on me that the speakers to my television are indeed in the back. No wonder we can’t hear. The actors are quite literally talking to our walls.

And there’s more. Check out the full explanation in the video:

This article originally appeared on 2.1.23

In Shaboozey’s two-minute album trailer for Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, a man is all alone in the country, except, try as he might, he can’t comically escape Shaboozey’s omnipresence. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is on every radio. A flyer for a Shaboozey tour is on the post. There’s Shaboozey again, photographed in the newspaper. Finally, Shaboozey shows up in the flesh and politely waves at the man, who is likely the only person not looking forward to a Shaboozey album.

Learn more about Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going below.

When Will Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Be On Spotify?

The album is expected to hit Spotify, Apple Music, and all DSPs at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 30, and midnight ET on Friday, May 31.

Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Album Cover Artwork

Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Tracklist

1. “Horses & Hellcats”
2. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
3. “Last Of My Kind” Feat. Paul Cauthen
4. “Anabelle”
5. “East Of The Massanutten”
6. “Highway”
7. “Let It Burn”
8. “My Fault” Feat. Noah Cyrus
9. “Vegas”
10. “Drink Don’t Need No Mix” Feat. BigXThaPlug
11. “Steal Her From Me”
12. “Finally Over”

Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going is out 5/31 via American Dogwood/EMPIRE. Find more information here.

Shaboozey is ten years deep in the music game, but 2024 is undeniable his breakout year. The Virginia-born country artist gained countless new fans as a featured artist on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. He likely retained those fans and gained even more with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” his now-ubiquitous April single that peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

So, Shaboozey is primed to have one of the most popular albums of the year in Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going.

When Will Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Be On Apple Music?

Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going is due out at 9 p.m. PT tonight (May 30) and midnight ET on Friday, May 31. It would stand to reason that the album will become available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and all DSPs at that time.

Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Album Cover Artwork

Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Tracklist

1. “Horses & Hellcats”
2. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
3. “Last Of My Kind” Feat. Paul Cauthen
4. “Anabelle”
5. “East Of The Massanutten”
6. “Highway”
7. “Let It Burn”
8. “My Fault” Feat. Noah Cyrus
9. “Vegas”
10. “Drink Don’t Need No Mix” Feat. BigXThaPlug
11. “Steal Her From Me”
12. “Finally Over”

Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going Album Trailer

Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going is out 5/31 via American Dogwood/EMPIRE. Find more information here.

Eminem is gearing up for what could be the final release of his career — or, at least, his final album under the “Slim Shady” persona he’s been cultivating over the past two and half decades. To that end, he announced the release of “Houdini,” the first single from the upcoming album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), with the help of illusionist David Blaine earlier this week. So, when will the new single be available to stream on DSPs like Apple Music?

“Houdini” is billed for release on May 31, which means that it should be available to stream in just about 11 and a half hours, at 9 pm Pacific, midnight Eastern time. Although some artists are known for last-minute shenanigans that make timing their releases much more of a chore than it should be, Eminem is not one of them, which means you can likely expect to be streaming “Houdini” on time.

Anticipation for The Death Of Slim Shady is sky-high among Eminem fans, as he hasn’t released an album since 2020’s Music To Be Murdered By. That hasn’t stopped him from being more active than ever this year; he’s released the single “Lace It” with Juice WRLD and Benny Blanco and “Doomsday 2” with Lyrical Lemonade since the year started, giving fans plenty of new music to tide them over until the release of his new album.

“Houdini” is due on 5/31 through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records.