I live in Japan, but I usually spend Christmas in the UK with my family. I have lived in Japan for 20 years. Every year, I go back to the UK for Christmas. However, this year, because of COVID19, I am staying in Japan. It is my first time to spend Christmas in Japan. I … Continue reading [Easy English Blog] Christmas

Insta360, one of the pioneers in making 360-degree cameras, just raised $30 million in a Series C+ funding round from Chinese investors, including Everest Venture Capital, MG Holdings and Huajin Capital. The Shenzhen-based camera maker declined to disclose its latest valuation. It plans to use the fresh proceeds in research and development, marketing and after-sales services […]

I’m not allowed to have a dog or a cat in the place I live. I really want a dog. When I was a child, my family had dogs. Having a dog in the house is normal for me. We treated our dogs as family members. I enjoyed walking our dogs every day after school. … Continue reading [Easy English Blog] No dogs or cats

While mirrorless cameras accelerate into the future, medium format models are hearkening unto the past — and Hasselblad chief among them. Its new digital back fits lenses going back to the '50s, and the tiny 907X camera body is about as lovely a throwback as one can imagine.

Electric-bike maker Cowboy recently let me spend a couple of weeks with one of their e-bikes. It’s a well-designed e-bike that makes biking effortless, even if you’re going uphill. Cowboy is a Brussels-based startup. The company raised a $3 million seed round a couple of years ago and an $11.1 million (€10 million) Series A […]

It was Christmas Eve. The small local train was almost empty. It was snowing very hard outside, it was very cold, and it was very dark. Suddenly the train stopped.  Everyone wondered what was wrong. Then the train conductor walked through the train. “I am very sorry,” he said to everyone. “The snow is too … Continue reading [Short Story] A wonderful Christmas Eve party

Today, my neighbor asked me to check in on his pet. When I went into his house, I couldn't find any animals. I searched all over, and finally gave up and called him. I asked him what type of pet he had. His response? "My pet rock, Stubby." That's right, I just spent some time looking for a rock. FML

Today, I was going for a relaxing walk but my dog broke free from his leash. At the same time, my 80 year-old neighbor was leaving her apartment. My dog ran inside her home and she screamed. I ended up in her bedroom, running around her bed, chasing my dog who was trying to get at her pantyhose. FML

Meet Motto, a new French startup that plans to offer electric bikes in Paris. Instead of buying those bikes, Motto customers will be able to rent them for a fixed price of €75 per month (around $82 at today’s exchange rate). Customers get Motto-branded electric bikes with a motor in the rear wheel that helps […]

Back in September, endurance events marketplace Let’s Do This (a YC alumni) raised a $5 million seed round from a number of U.S. investors, including Olympic star Usain Bolt and tennis star Serena Williams. As much as I’d like to get excited, this is slightly par for the course for a lot of sports-oriented startups […]

Today, our cat wrote me a story: "This is where I caught a mouse. This is where I ate the mouse. This is where I puked the mouse." Unfortunately, she wrote it as a graphic novel on the carpet. FML

Today, someone let my puppy escape. I didn't know, until I arrived home and hit him with my car. FML

When you think of dog daycare, Wag Hotels and Rover likely come to mind. Now, there’s a new entrant in the space. Dogdrop, launching this September in Los Angeles, aims to be a daycare service for dog parents who need more flexible care and pricing. Through a monthly membership, dog parents can drop off their […]

Today, I walked into my house after my nightshift as a nurse and my corgi had the house turned upside down, with things everywhere. I have people coming to look at the house in 2 hours. FML

Today, our cat is in heat. Her male counterpart is sitting outside my bedroom door, serenading her loudly, and has sprayed his piss all over the house, making sure she cannot escape him broadcasting his availability. FML

The U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has given the go ahead to local startup sees.ai, which is developing a beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) command & control solution to aid data capture for industrial use-cases, to trial a concept for routine BVLOS operations — the first such authorization for a U.K. company, the regulator said today. The test […]

New gear from DJI will equip you with everything you need to become the best first-person drone racer that’s ever graced the Earth – you’ll be the Anakin Skywalker of FPV drone races. The company is launching a new suite of products specifically to make the most of Digital First Person Viewing (FPV) when operating […]

We would like to wish all of our readers and site visitors who celebrate Christmas a very Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful time. ❤

Today, a couple at the dog park, who seemed afraid of large dogs, tried to kick my dog for trying to say hi to them. They then called the police on me for lunging and yelling at the guy for trying to kick my dog. It's an off-leash dog park people, don't go there if you're afraid of dogs! FML

Today, I realized the kitten I adopted months ago either has serious attachment issues or the worst case of Stockholm syndrome I've ever seen. Only I can get near him, he can't stand us being over 5 feet apart, he meows until I let him into the bathroom with me, and I feel like a jerk for disliking it. I need space. FML

Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope your day is full of love! If you would like to read some stories about love, try our level 3 graded reader “Be My Valentine”. See here for more details!

I’m in the process of looking for a pup friend to bring home with me, but I quickly found that it’s not an easy process. There are tons of places offering up pups, including breeders, shelters and rescues. But it’s not always clear if these places are legitimate. This is where Good Dog, a startup […]

GoPro today announced a new flagship action camera for its lineup, the HERO10 Black. The main update for the camera is a brand new processor inside, called the GP2, which enables big improvements to image quality and video captures, including recording at 5.3K revolution at up to 60 frames per second, 4K video capture bumped […]

Small Door, a veterinary services membership startup, today announced the grand opening of its NYC location at 15 Seventh Ave. Small Door soft-launched the space in November of 2019. The vet startup first came onto the scene in April of 2019 with a $3.5 million seed round led by Lerer Hippeau Ventures, with participation from […]

Let’s Do This is a YC alumni startup form 2018 which is a marketplace for endurance events, from a 5k fun run or an IronMan triathlon. It’s now raised a $5M seed round with Serena Williams and Usain Bolt participating. The round was led by Pete Flint (Partner at NFX, formerly Trulia, LastMinute). Other investors […]

As we wade into the second pandemic-era holiday season, there's no better time to throw yourself headlong into a new hobby. Or that's what you should tell your loved ones when you gift them one of the cameras on our list of photography gift ideas this year.

Today, on my wedding day, when they said "you may kiss the bride", I swung my wife over in the romantic fashion and went in for the kiss. Unfortunately my hands were sweaty as I was nervous and she slipped under my grip. She fell and was knocked unconscious in front of hundreds of people. FML

Sony announced two new APS-C mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras at a special event in New York today, and the announcements are big news for anyone who’s looking for a small, capable camera that can handle everything from sport shooting to vlogging. The new a6600 flagship takes everything that is great about the a6400 it introduced […]

Arc is not even a year old and the electric boat startup has attracted investment from top VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, entertainment industry big wigs and now a $30 million raise led by an early Tesla executive who led the automaker’s early manufacturing efforts. The $30 million Series A was led by Greg Reichow, the […]

Continuity Camera was one of the odder additions that arrived in the last round of Apple operating system updates. It seemed like an awkward fix to a longstanding issue with Mac webcams, clipping your iPhone to the top of your laptop lid, but I’ve come to appreciate it in my recent travels. Today, Belkin announced […] Belkin’s $30 Continuity Camera accessory is now available for MagSafe iPhones by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch