Adam Clark Estes

Facebook Is Finally Building a “Dislike” Button

The world has waited nearly a decade to show their disdain on Facebook with a single click. Now, Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is finally building a button. “I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years. Today is a special day because today is the day I can say we’re working on…

GoPro Falls Off Drone and Into Burning Man Rave, Loathing Ensues

A maybe fake video of a GoPro tumbling off of a drone and landing on the main dance floor at Burning Man has emerged. It is now a perfect testament to what makes those three things—GoPros, drones, Burning Man—so annoying. GoPros are annoying because nobody really cares about your action-packed life, when it mainly features…

Snapchat’s New Lenses Feature Is Utterly Horrifying

In tandem with a novel way to waste money, Snapchat now offers a new way to scare the shit out of your friends. It’s called “Lenses” and I never want to use it again. Lenses is basically some facial recognition software that’s hacked to distort your expression if various, usually horrifying ways. To activate it,…

Snapchat Will Now Sell You Replays for $1

If you like spending money and looking ridiculous, you’re going to love today’s Snapchat updates. The ephemeral messaging service now offers the option of being a little less ephemeral. For a penny shy of $1 you can buy three extra replays for a message. You can also take weirder selfies. The new “Replay” feature always…

Recreating the Plot of Hackers Using Nothing But My Fading Memories

Hackers, a 1995 movie starring Angelina Jolie’s haircut, hit theaters exactly two decades ago. Its themes have never been more relevant or concerning to our connected society. Can you remember them? I almost can. Rather recently, I revisited the movie Hackers in the context of reviewing its 2015 counterpart Blackhat, starring Thor. My piece referenced…

Twitter Teams Up With Square So You Can Donate Money Through a Tweet

Because you didn’t already have enough ways to transfer money online, Twitter now offers the ability to make political donations through tweets. Square is going to help make it happen. And yeah, it’s a little bit confusing. Essentially, political campaigns and causes can apply for the ability to accept donations via tweet. Once they’re set…

A Buyer’s Guide to Emoji Jewelry

Do you love emoji? Do you love emoji so much that you want to wear gold-plated versions of it on your body? Does somebody you love love emoji that much? Then, this is the buyer’s guide for you. Emoji fashion in general is not a new concept. For years, it’s been a fixture on Etsy…

Scientists Can Now Make THC from Yeast

Yeast is an incredible organism—you can thank it for booze!—and thanks to the marvels of modern genetics, we’ve made it incredibly versatile. Just a month after announcing a method for hacking yeast to produce narcotics, researchers just announced that the creation of yeast that produces THC and cannabidiols. You’re probably thinking this will yield a…

How to Rule on Blingee, According to the 50-Year-Old Queen of Blingee

The world almost lost an internet miracle this year. About a month ago, Blingee announced plans to close, but the users wouldn’t let it. The news made one middle-aged Russian grandma, the unofficial queen of Blingee, very happy. Irina Vladimirovna Kuleshova, a divorced orthodontist, turns 50 in a couple of months. She’s one of the…

The Guy Who Invented Net Neutrality Now Works for New York’s Attorney General

Tim Wu is one of the world’s most outspoken and influential advocates for an open internet. And now, the Columbia Law professor will help shape the future of technology and politics as a watchdog with the New York State Attorney General’s office. This is great news. “If I have a life mission, it is to…

FAA Warned Boeing About the Flaw That Caused a 777 to Explode in Las Vegas [Updated]

When a jetliner’s engine explodes moments before take off, people ask questions. Now, less than a week after that very thing happened to a British Airways 777, answers are starting to emerge—and they’re scary. (See update below.) Turns out the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned both Boeing and General Electric, the 777’s engine-maker, about a…

You Can Now 3D-Print Your Own TSA Master Keys

TSA-recognized locks provide little more than a false sense of security. That’s not news. It is news, however, that some hacker type has uploaded the CAD files of the agency’s master keys to Github, so that anybody can 3D-print them at home. Let the stealing begin! Just kidding, please don’t break into other people’s luggage.…

Google Fiber plans to explore expansion possibilitiesin three new cities: San Diego, Louisville, and Irvine. This just means that Google Fiber is working with folks in those respective city halls, so it’s not certain that they’ll get gigabit internet. Butany extra internet help is great! Contact the author at [email protected]. Public PGP key PGP fingerprint:…

Go Download the NASA Graphics Standards Manual Right Now—For Free

One nice thing about government agencies is that many neat things they produce are ultimately free to the citizens. Keeping with that tradition, NASA just released the graphics standards manual behind the iconic “worm” logo as a PDF. You can now download the 90-page document for free. As soon as you do that, you should…

Turns Out Ashley Madison’s Uncrackable Passwords Are Actually Very Crackable

It was little solace to victims of the Ashley Madison hack that the company had kept their passwords extra secure. Some even said the hashing algorithm was bulletproof. But—oops!—it turns out Ashley Madison made a programming error. And now, hobbyists have already deciphered over 11 million passwords from the leaked accounts. A team calling themselves…

New Apple TV Meta Hands-On: Touching and Talking Takes Some Practice

Apple wasn’t able to invite us to its homecoming dance in San Francisco this year, but we admired its dance moves from afar. We also tuned into the after party gossip when attendees told everyone how they really felt about the latest products. The new Apple TV, apparently, is pretty good. The new all-about-the-apps Apple…

What’s Up With Apple’s New iPhone Upgrade Program?

In a footnote to its big new product reveal, Apple announced a new iPhone Upgrade Program that looks very enticing. Extra emphasis on the word “looks” because some basic math reveals that the Apple’s new deal is not necessarily all that good. Here’s Apple’s description of the new upgrade program: Exclusively at Apple’s retail stores…

iPhone 6S Plus:  All About Apple’s More Powerful Monster

The iPhone 6 Plus changed the way people used the world’s finest smartphone. Now, Apple is making the jumbo phone even better with a faster processor, newfangled 3D Touch capabilities, and a revamped camera. This is the iPhone 6S Plus, and it looks predictably terrific. Design The new iPhone 6s Plus looks just like the…

The New Apple TV Is an App-Powered Fun Machine

Just when you thought the Apple TV was just another set-top box, everything has changed. The Cupertino company just announced the biggest Apple TV upgrade in recent memory, one that transforms the little box into a whole new platform for your home. Design The Apple TV hardware looks largely the same but bigger. It’s a…

Apple’s New Smart Keyboard Turns the iPad Pro Into a Surface Clone

We knew that the iPad Pro was on the way to help Apple contend with super tablets like the Microsoft Surface. We just didn’t know exactly how far the Cupertino company would go to make it’s big new tablet look more like a laptop. Apple went pretty far. The new iPad Pro works with a…