Hasta La Gadget!

Tesla may not have been around for as long as some of the country’s most iconic car manufacturers who have been a permanent fixture in the industry for decades and yet the company has claimed a symbolic victory over all of its rivals. Tesla has actually overtaken General Motors to become the most valuable car maker in the United States. This has been made possible by Tesla’s raising market cap in the stock market.

Shortly after the market opened today, Tesla’s share price bounced up giving it a total market capitalization of $51 billion. That’s $1.7 billion more than what GM is worth on the market.

This is symbolic and doesn’t mean that Tesla is actually “better” than General Motors, is making more cars than its established competitor, or is even making more money than it.

A stock’s price normally reflects the future potential of the company and given Tesla’s recent results which beat investor expectations, it shows that people who have poured money into Tesla stock are hopeful that its performance will continue to increase in the coming quarters.

It goes without saying that Tesla can just as easily lose this top spot as far as market cap is concerned if the stock price retraces a bit in the coming days, or if GM’s stock rises and pushes its market cap past $51 billion.

Market capitalization based on stock price aside, General Motors and Tesla are still poles apart. The former sold almost 690,000 cars in the previous quarter while Tesla sold only 25,000. Tesla is also known for bleeding cash and hasn’t really turned a major profit while GM is a profitable company that has survived even the worst of market conditions.

Tesla’s investors will be hoping that the Model 3 does wonders for the company’s bottom line. This $35,000 model is Tesla’s first mass-market electric car and is expected to really drive the adoption of all-electric cars among the average working class customers.

Tesla Is Now The Most Valuable Car Maker In The United States , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

This morning reports from several sources suggest that preorders for the Samsung Galaxy S8 are well and above those for the Galaxy S7. Last year’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, says Samsung, have been “outpaced” by those of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus (or S8+, if you prefer) in pre-orders here in the United States. Samsung adds … Continue reading

Janelle Monáe has an idea to get people to “start respecting the vagina.” 

In an interview for Marie Claire’s May issue, the singer-songwriter and actress discussed empowerment, breaking down gender norms and why a sex strike might be necessary. Monáe did not hold back.

“People have to start respecting the vagina,” she told Marie Claire. “Until every man is fighting for our rights, we should consider stopping having sex. I love men. But evil men? I will not tolerate that. You don’t deserve to be in my presence.”

She continued, saying that this year she’s all about black girl magic: 

If you’re going to own this world and this is how you’re going to rule this world, I am not going to contribute anymore until you change it. We have to realize our power and our magic. Because I am all about black-girl magic, even though I’m standing with all women. But this year? This year, I am so carefree black girl.

The “Hidden Figures” and “Moonlight” actress also discussed why it’s so important to push back on gender stereotypes.

“It is important for women to be [in control], especially when gender norms and conformity are pushed upon us,” Monáe told Marie Claire. “Women automatically are told that this is how you should look. This is how you should get a man. This is how you should get a woman. You need to fit into all these boxes to be accepted. I don’t subscribe to that way of thinking.” 

In true Monáe fashion, the actress reminded readers just how important it is to stay true to yourself.

“I believe in embracing what makes you unique even if it makes others uncomfortable,” she said. “I have learned there is power in saying no. I have agency. I get to decide.”

Head over to Marie Claire to read all five of their May cover star interviews, with women like Emily Ratajkowski, Aja Naomi King, Zoey Deutch and Alexandra Daddario. 

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Shoshanna has always been a bit of an alien on “Girls,” first the fast-talking stainless sapling, then the irresponsible disrupter, then the angry truth-teller, then the transient lost sheep, then the resourceful sorta-comeback kid and finally the nearly absent try-hard. Indeed, this final season of “Girls” shipped Shosh off to TV limbo for four of the nine episodes that have aired, sidelining its best character in an unfortunately poetic way: The show never quite knew what to do with her, and in that confusion she became its most pliable, and most interesting, resident. 

Now we know where she’s been: getting engaged. And we know why she hasn’t been around: she’s over these people. Just like she was at the beach house in Season 3, Shosh is the voice of reason. During a Marnie-imposed “group meeting” in Shoshanna’s bathroom at the engagement party to which Hannah shows up uninvited, Shosh completes the 180-degree arc that has been her destiny since the pilot six years ago. She is no longer the fumbling, virginal prepster who was “definitely a Carrie at heart, but, like, sometimes Samantha kind of comes out.” In fact, she’s the only member of this half-baked posse who seems to have a vision for her future ― a future that contains a stable group of career-driven friends and a relationship that isn’t sown from seeds of will-they-won’t-they melodrama. 

“I have come to realize how exhausting and narcissistic and ultimately boring this whole dynamic is, and I finally feel brave enough to create some distance for myself,” she tells the group, more assured of herself than ever. “If you guys happen to know all of those really pretty girls out there who have, like, jobs and purses and nice personalities, those are now my friends. Not you guys. I think we should all just agree to call it. OK? Great.” 

Shoshanna’s arc encapsulates the wisdom of “Girls,” which consistently struggled to convince us its characters would indeed remain friends as their 20s continued. Burgeoning adulthood involves as many decisions as it does conveniences, and Shoshanna seemed worthy of far more than the convenience of these “Girls”-friends. She was regularly shoved around in the group, heartbroken when Jessa didn’t tell her she was getting married, duped by Ray’s insecurities, called a non-intellectual by Hannah. It turns out she’s the most intellectual of them all, primarily because Shoshanna is the only character with a healthy self-reflection.

Based on Sunday’s penultimate episode, it seems the series has bid farewell to most non-Hannah characters. Other than Shosh, the only person who seems stabler than he did two years ago is Tad, with his groovy new live-and-let-live gayness. That’s a revelatory way to end the show, by proving that characters’ dilemmas will not usually manifest in digestible life lessons. Now the one who could have been voted Most Likely To Hang Digestible Life Lessons on Her Wall is the person who needs them the least.

Shoshanna was once the character who seemed to have a playbook listing all the proper social mores, the one to see flailing friendships as a personal failure. But now she’s realized Hannah didn’t even tell her she’s pregnant, and whatever remaining consolation for the time they’ve spent together has evaporated. This is the new Shoshanna, “living her truth,” as writer Jenni Konner has said. Shosh’s sendoff reminds us that “Girls” was always best when its characters were contradictory. 

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A few lucky folks at Disney World got quite a surprise over the weekend when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson decided to commandeer the theme park’s Jungle Cruise ride. (Wonder if anyone reacted like this fan?)

The actor, who’s set to appear in a live-action adaptation of the iconic theme park ride, explained on Instagram that he took over the ride because he wanted to “dive head first” into research for his upcoming role.

“It was a GREAT day on the river. Learned a lot … for example, it takes approximately 12.6 minutes for all the passengers to get over the shock of me jumping on the boat and thinking I’m a DJ look-a-like,” he wrote, before joking, “One passenger even said, ‘Oh the real Rock is much smaller than this guy’. I threw his ass off the boat.”

He continued, “Best part about this surprise research day was knowing how FUN of an experience we’re gonna work hard to create for families around the world. That’s the part that gets [me] excited the most. The movie. The ride. The experience,” he wrote. “It’s the cruise of a lifetime. And trust me, you’ll want me as your skipper.”

Johnson has been extremely busy over the past couple years, appearing in “Moana,” “Central Intelligence” and “The Fate of the Furious.” Oh, and he’s also starring in the upcoming “Jumanji” and “Baywatch” remakes.

Clearly, Hollywood smells what The Rock is cooking. 

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