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Superstars are not excluded from the pains of trying to be creative in the midst of a pandemic. Artists like Cardi B and Taylor Swift have found their own ways to work on their respective projects over the past year. Drake is another act on the list of artists who aim to finish an album amid the coronavirus restrictions, and while fans hoped his upcoming Certified Lover Boy project would arrive this month, the Toronto rapper recently revealed he would need some more time to finish it. During an appearance on Pensados Place, Drake’s go-to producer 40 shared how they’ve worked on the project without being in each other’s presence.

40 explained that he and Drake used a platform called Unity Connect, which allows developers, artists, creators, and more to connect and collaborate with each other from a distance. He also revealed Zoom has been a big help to the process. “I like Zoom because I can screen share him my ProTools screen to his laptop. So he opens up his laptop, he sees my Pro Tools screen and he sees me in the corner on Zoom… and then he’s listening to the playback in realtime of what I’m playing and he’s got his headphones plugged into his MacBook so he’s got digital audio coming off his Mac converter. It sounds amazing,” 40 explained.

He also said jokingly, “If I was an artist, I’d be done going to the studio. Yo, set me up on Connect. I’ll be in my hotel room.”

You can watch his interview in the post above.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In video games you can do anything! Or at least almost anything. Up until recently, savvier players of Cyberpunk 2077 — the much-discussed but deeply troubled new RPG — could even sort of, not quite have sex with the character modeled on and played by Keanu Reeves. But no more: As per PC Gamer (by way of The AV Club), the game’s developers, CD Projekt Red have gone in and removed the mod that allows one to have their way with the star of Johnny Mnemonic.

Before it was deleted, the mod in question allowed players to, as PC Gamer put it, “manually swap character skin textures onto other models.” And so, if you were one of the lucky gamers to acquire this mod, you could hypothetically swap Keanu onto the body of a “joytoy,” which is to say a sexbot.

Mind you, it sounds like it was very, very, very far from fake-having sex with one of Hollywood’s most ageless stallions. “The mod creates a pretty bad approximation of having sex with Keanu,” PC Gamer reports, “because the character remains dressed and doesn’t have Keanu’s voice (it retains the Joytoy’s voice lines).” Still, it’s the thought that counts, we guess.

When PC Gamer reached out to CDPR for an explanation, they were told they were looking out for those big-time actors who put their trust in them, assuming their likenesses wouldn’t be draped over top a video game sexbot. “Our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods in particular, is that it can’t be harmful towards others,” they told the publication. “In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077.”

So if you ever wanted to play a video game in which you have sex with a fully clothed Keanu Reeves as he speaks with another character’s voice, it looks like you’re too late.

(Via PC Gamer and The AV Club)

Facebook may have had modest beginnings: It was a way for college males to rate the hotness of female students. But it somehow grew into a global service that may have helped make Donald Trump president for four years, becoming an unstoppable hotbed of misinformation. And though the site’s top brass has tried to limit its spread (such as banning Trump himself, though he could slink back in), they say they’re finally going to take further steps to reduce its political content altogether.

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of the social media giant, said on a conference call Wednesday that they’re trying a new way to reduce the amount of users sharing fake news from sites with questionable urls: They’re going to reduce the amount of political content in the News Feed section altogether.

“One of the top pieces of feedback that we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services,” Zuckerberg — described by Deadline as “clearly worn down by recent events” — told reporters. Apart from changing what’s in the News Feed, he didn’t specify any other ways to stop the spread of far right lies. “We are still working through the best way to do this,” he admitted.

The announcement comes three weeks after the failed MAGA coup, in which whipped-up Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. They organized in part over social media, not just Facebook but Twitter and, especially, the currently AWOL Parler, which lost a lot of its foundation in the fatal riot. As mentioned, Facebook was quick to ban Trump from their coffers, though, unlike Twitter, the move wasn’t permanent.

(Via Deadline)

For the past four years, Drakeo was locked up in Los Angeles’ Men’s Central Jail following a pair of arrests that stunted what seemed to be a steady and promising rise to fame. In November, the rapper was freed from prison and he quickly got to work. Among his accomplishments: the new video for “Captions,” a track off his late 2020 mixtape We Know The Truth. In the video, the West Coast rapper stands tall in front of the camera, letting the rap game know he’s back.

Draeko released the We Know The Truth mixtape — which originally boasted 18 songs but grew to 25 with its deluxe release — a month after his release from prison. But that wasn’t all. Before 2020 was up — and again, with less than two months after his release from prison — Drakeo dropped a second mixtape, Because Yall Asked, proving through its 15 tracks the rapper will undoubtedly make an impact now that he’s home.

The new “Captions” video is also his second of the month. A few weeks back he shared another one for “Mr. Mosely Claps Back” a few weeks back.

You can watch the “Captions” video above.

We Know The Truth is out now via Stinc Team. Get it here.

If you’ve never seen a Maori haka performed, you’re missing out.

The Maori are the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, and their language and customs are an integral part of the island nation. One of the most recognizable Maori traditions outside of New Zealand is the haka, a ceremonial dance or challenge usually performed in a group. The haka represents the pride, strength, and unity of a tribe and is characterized by foot-stamping, body slapping, tongue protrusions, and rhythmic chanting.

Haka is performed at weddings as a sign of reverence and respect for the bride and groom and are also frequently seen before sports competitions, such as rugby matches.

Here’s an example of a rugby haka:

Maori All Blacks Haka at sold-out BC Place in Vancouver

www.youtube.com

The intensity of the haka is the point. It is meant to be a show of strength and elicit a strong response—which makes seeing a tiny toddler learning to do it all the more adorable.

Danny Heke, who goes by @focuswithdan on TikTok, shared a video of a baby learning haka and omigosh it is seriously the most adorable thing. When you see most haka, the dancers aren’t smiling—their faces are fierce—so this wee one starting off with an infectious grin is just too much. You can see that he’s already getting the moves down, facial expressions and all, though.

As cute as this video is, it’s part of a larger effort by Heke to use his TikTok channel to share and promote Maori culture. His videos cover everything from the Te Reo Maori language to traditional practices to issues of prejudice Maori people face.

Here he briefly goes over the different body parts that make up haka:

This video explains the purerehua, or bullroarer, which is a Maori instrument that is sometimes used to call rains during a drought.

This one shares a demonstration and explanation of the taiaha, a traditional Maori weapon.

For another taste of haka, check out this video from a school graduation:

Heke even has some fun with the trolls and racists in the comments who try to tell him his culture is dead (what?).

Unfortunately, it’s not just ignorant commenters who spew racist bile. A radio interview clip that aired recently called Maori people “genetically predisposed to crime, alcohol, and underperformance,” among other terrible things. (The host, a former mayor of Auckland, has been let go for going along with and contributing to the caller’s racist narrative.)

That clip highlights why what Heke is sharing is so important. The whole world is enriched when Indigenous people like the Maori have their voices heard and their culture celebrated. The more we learn from each other and our diverse ways of life, the more enjoyable life on Earth will be and the better we’ll get at collaborating to confront the challenges we all share.

It’s been three weeks since a mob of whipped-up Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, attempting to overturn the 2020 election but succeeding only in causing the deaths of five people. The blowback has been severe: It got Trump finally kicked off Twitter, for one. (Ditto the MyPillow Guy.) But to some it hasn’t been severe enough. Two of the senators who helped instigate the siege, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, have refused to step down from their positions, or even apologize. Most House Republicans have also said they won’t impeach the just-departed president. But there’s one conservative who’s still pissed: Joe Scarborough.

The longtime MSNBC host — and former Republican representative — spent part of Wednesday morning’s Morning Joe tearing into those in the GOP who think America needs to move on from the failed MAGA coup. One of those people is Senator Lindsey Graham. But Scarborough wasn’t having it.

“He wants us to forget about the fact that people were bludgeoned in the head with an American flag because of Donald Trump,” Scarborough shouted. “He wants us to forget that a cop was beaten to death, and the reason why the cop-killer beat the cop to death was because they were inspired by Donald Trump to do so. Ted Cruz wants us to forget because he led the sedition along with Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.” (Joe got so worked up he forget he’d already mentioned Cruz earlier in the sentence, but perhaps some extra emphasis on his involvement was needed.)

“Forget? Forget? You are out of your mind and you’re not a conservative. That’s how conservatives do not talk,” Scarborough continued. “We don’t forget: If you attack our country, we go after you, we jail you, we throw away the key.”

Scarborough was out for blood, which is to say “justice.” Over disturbing images of the siege, he screamed, “This is what the Republicans in the Senate want you to forget.” He then refused to sugarcoat his words. “You know what these people are? These are Trump terrorists. Call them by their name.”

Mind you, many on the left won’t find much else to agree on with him, and his language did have similarities with conservative sentiments expressed in the lead up to the Iraq War. But strange times make strange bedfellows.

You can watch the whole thing above.

(Via The Huffington Post)

WNBA free agents won’t be able to officially sign new contracts until Monday, but Wednesday brought a flurry of news regarding some major players changing teams in the W for this upcoming season.

The first domino to fall was Candace Parker leaving the Sparks after 13 seasons to go home to Chicago to play for the Sky, where she’ll immediately boost expectations in Chicago to be a championship contender. The Sparks did get good news elsewhere, as Nneka Ogwumike will ink an extension to stay in Los Angeles, but there’s work to be done for L.A. to fill the massive hole left by the future Hall of Famer.

Another top team in the West saw a longtime former All-Star depart, as three-time All-Star Kayla McBride will go from Las Vegas to Minnesota to play for the Lynx, first reported by Rachel Galligan of Winsidr.

McBride figures to bring more shooting to the Lynx backcourt, as she looks to bounceback from what was a bit of a down season in the Wubble, but was an All-Star in 2018 and 2019, shooting 41 percent from deep across those two seasons. It’s a big get for Minnesota, who finished 4th in the standings in the Wubble and can fit McBride in between their sensational youngsters, Crystal Dangerfield and Napheesa Collier, to create a formidable trio capable of contending in the loaded West.

Mulatto’s rap name has brought the Atlanta native plenty of criticism. For a long time, some have called on her to change the moniker, as a “mulatto” refers to a person of mixed Black and White parentage, though its original usage was for livestock, specifically a hybrid offspring of a horse and donkey. Most recently she was called out during a discussion on Clubhouse, the popular voice-based social media app. She recently said she’s ready to change her rap name, and in a recent interview with Hot Freestyle, she explained why.

“You know you might know your intentions, but these are strangers who don’t know you, never even met you in person,” she said. “So you gotta hear each other out, and if you know those aren’t your intentions and that’s how it’s being perceived, it’s like why not make a change or alter it? For me, it was the name. So now I’m like, ‘OK, my intentions was to never glorify being mulatto.’” She added, “So if that’s how it’s being perceived and people think I’m saying, ‘Oh, I’m better because I’m mulatto’ or ‘My personality trait is mulatto’ … then I need to change the matter at hand.”

While she hasn’t shared the new name just yet, she did reveal that it will not be a version of her legal name, Alyssa Michelle Stephens. However, she did say that some fans have “definitely” figured it out. “I want them to also understand that the name change at this level in your career is a big decision,” she said to her fans. “Freaking investors, labels, everything has been riding on this name, so it is a big decision.”

Kid Cudi is back in a big way since the release of his third Man In The Moon album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen in late December. The Cleveland rapper recently let fans know that aside from being back in the music game, he’s also planning to branch off into clothing. “Finally startin my own clothing line,” he wrote on Twitter yesterday. “Been a long time comin and another dream of mine. More madness, true vision, freshness comin soon!!!”

Cudi isn’t the only rapper to get into the style game recently — the obvious precedent is his mentor Kanye West’s foray into fashion and footwear, and last year Travis Scott partnered with McDonalds for a series of exclusive Cactus Jack merch. Fans responded excitedly asking when they could expect pieces and Cudi let them know that he anticipates as early as this summer

No word on who any of Cudi’s potential distribution or design partners could be, but considering he’s still on pretty good terms with Kanye per their Kids See Ghosts collab in 2018, there’s always a chance that Yeezy will be involved. And given his recent collaborations with Travis, too, maybe some pieces will feature a collaboration with The Scotts. Keep an eye out for more

Anyone who’s an educator knows that teaching is about a lot more than a paycheck. “Teaching is not a job, but a way of life, a lens by which I see the world, and I can’t imagine a life that did not include the ups and downs of changing and being changed by other people,” Amber Chandler writes in Education Week.

So it’s no surprise that Kelly Klein, 54, who’s taught at Falcon Heights Elementary in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, for the past 32 years still teaches her kindergarten class even as she is being treated for stage-3 ovarian cancer.

Her class is learning remotely due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, so she is able to continue doing what she loves from her computer at M Health Fairview Lakes Medical Center in Wyoming, Minnesota, even while undergoing chemotherapy.

“I’m going to make the most of my time,” Klein told “Good Morning America.” “I don’t take anything for granted.”

Klein battled cancer five years ago and had to take off about six months due to treatments. But this time, she swore she wouldn’t let that happen again. For Klein, teaching gives her the ability to keep her spirits up in a depressing situation.

“Teaching 5-year-olds I always say is like going to Disney World. Everything is exciting and they’re so excited about everything that it gets me excited,” said Klein. “When you’re at chemo and you’re around a lot of sick people, it’s kind of a depressing place to be. For me, to be around 5-year-olds during that time, it’s like a slice of normalcy in an abnormal environment.”

Klein told CBS News that her students give her strength. “It’s real easy to go down the ‘Why me?’ — and I think if I didn’t have five-year-olds to teach every day, I would spend a lot of time thinking about that,” Klein said.

She also hopes that by continuing to teach she can show her students and their families that even with cancer, people can continue to live.

After the mother of two learned she had cancer last summer, she pleaded with her principal Beth Behnke to stay on the job. “Please don’t make me take a leave,” she told Behnke who was “not surprised because of who she is as a person and what teaching means to her. It’s her tapestry.”

“She’s a very beloved teacher and she deserves it because she’s the type of teacher who shows up every year,” Behnke said of Klein. “And what she’s doing is part of living in our world, just helping kids manage through lots of situational things that don’t have to define us but are part of our lived experience.”

Receiving a cancer diagnosis has to be completely devastating. But two doctors from Stanford have noticed that one of the most important factors in recovery is maintaining the desire to continue living. “Patients with positive attitudes are better able to cope with disease-related problems and may respond better to therapy,” Ernest H. Rosenbaum, M.D. and Isadora R. Rosenbaum, M.A. writes.

Klein’s decision to continue teaching may mean a lot more than finding fulfillment in a tough situation, it could prolong her life.