All posts tagged: surf

The Best Sustainable Surf Gear (2026): Patagonia, Billabong, Outerknown

The Best Sustainable Surf Gear (2026): Patagonia, Billabong, Outerknown

The suits come in a wide array of sizes and thicknesses, and their design has improved massively in recent years, adding better flexibility and sealing. This fall, Patagonia will launch a new U-Zip version of the suit, featuring a long zipper that arcs from one shoulder to the other across the chest. I tested it this winter and it kept me extremely warm and prevented flushing (when water gets down your neck), better than any wetsuit I’ve used before. They are on the pricier side, but they are durable and should last you a long time. If you’d like to save a little money, Billabong’s Upcycler line is another excellent option. I tested the 3/2 Furnace Natural Upcycler ($380) last year and it was one of the most comfortable, flexible wetsuits I’ve ever worn. Like Patagonia, it’s also made from natural, sustainably harvested rubber (Hevea, rather than Yulex), Bolder Black, and recycled polyester and elastane. It did start leaking at the seems faster than the Patagonia suits, but I still love it on less-frigid days. …

How Flipboard’s new Surf app lets you merge social feeds, YouTube, and RSS to escape the algorithm – finally

How Flipboard’s new Surf app lets you merge social feeds, YouTube, and RSS to escape the algorithm – finally

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Can a new social network make it? Flipboard Surf has a shot. Surf combines social networks with text, video, and audio feeds. Think of Surf as the anti-algorithm, anti-AI-slop social network. I’ll give Flipboard, the once-popular tablet news aggregator site, credit for chutzpah.  Also: A Meta-powered investment scam is spreading across 25 countries – how to spot (and avoid) it After a year in beta, its new Android app and website, Surf, go beyond simple news aggregation to incorporate content from social networking protocols like ActivityPub, AT Protocol, and good old Real Simple Syndication (RSS), enabling you to craft custom feeds blending posts and blogs from social networks such as Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads.  But, wait, there’s more Surf also lets you blend in podcasts and YouTube channels, making it a one-stop shop for your web reading, listening, and viewing. As Mike McCue, Flipboard and Surf’s CEO, explained in a statement, Surf’s mission is to help “podcasters, creators, …

Flipboard’s new ‘social websites’ help publishers and creators tap into the open social web

Flipboard’s new ‘social websites’ help publishers and creators tap into the open social web

Flipboard on Thursday announced social websites, a new way for creators and publishers to build their own spaces on the web. These social websites are built around conversations already taking place across the open social web, which includes decentralized platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky, as well as other public web content. Social websites bring together social posts, videos, podcasts, newsletters, and other conversations into a single destination that creators control, Flipboard says. You can consolidate profiles and posts from Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, YouTube, podcasts, blogs, and RSS feeds into a single destination. Flipboard sees social websites as a new model for social media, where communities have more ownership and control over how content and conversations are organized. The company, which has embraced decentralized social media over the last few years, is now looking to make it easier for publishers and creators to access the open social web. “Social websites help podcasters, creators and publications build communities around their work and control the experience, including the algorithm,” Flipboard CEO Mike McCue said in a blog post. …