Kate Knibbs

This Tool Makes Encrypting Files As Easy As Locking Your Door

Encryption options like PGP are great, but the labyrinth of keys and passwords that look like a master’s thesis written in gibberish can be overwhelming. For simple exchanges, there’s now an easier way. A Chrome browser extension called Minilock is offering a simple encryption option for people who want to make sure the files they…

Kick Your Weekend Off Right With the Godfather of Soul

The new James Brown biopic “Get On Up” is in theaters now. Should you see it? I don’t know, maybe! Dan Aykroyd is involved, which is a good sign if you’re making vodka that comes in overwrought skull containers made of crystal, and a bad sign if you’re making a movie. Whether or not the…

You’re Not Going Crazy: Facebook Is Down (Update: It’s Back)

Looks like you’ll have to wait to furiously click through photos of your ex and her new, stupid boyfriend frolicking in Cabo: Facebook is down for many users. O brave new world that has such people in it, unable to mass invite acquaintances to Candy Crush Saga. In withdrawal? Need help transitioning into this new,…

The World’s Fastest Network Lets You Download a Movie In .2 Milliseconds

Danish researchers just created the Usain Bolt of networks. A team from the Technical University of Denmark used a single multi-core optical fiber to transfer 43 terabits per second, making it the world’s fastest fiber network. I’d say it makes Google Fiber look like 1996 AOL dial-up from a decrepit rural phone line, but that…

The 5 Best Things You Can Buy From Amazon’s 3D Printing Store

Amazon’s new 3D printing store has its share of straight-up bizarre flotsam, like an $66 decorative egg cup that absolutely no one in the world needs. I can’t mislead you: A lot of the stuff on offer is overpriced and weird. But some of the store’s offerings are solid. Here are our top picks. Wallet…

Scientist invents math trick to slice bagel into two entangled halves

Bagels are delicious literally no matter which way you slice them—but are they more delicious when cut into a “mathematically perfect” shape? Stony Brook University’s engineering professor George W. Hart thinks he has found the magic formula. Hart created a way to cut bagels into interlocking chains. He thinks it’s the most mathematically correct way…

Like video chats but hate Google+? Good news: You no longer need to have Google+ to use Hangouts. Starting today, you can use Hangouts with your regular Google account on desktop. You still need Google+ for mobile Hangouts, though Google says that’s temporary. You can’t use Hangouts On Air to broadcast your video chats without…

Attack on Tor Has Likely Stripped Users of Anonymity

Tor, the network used specifically for privacy and anonymity, just warned users of an attack meant to deanonymize people on the service. Anyone who used Tor from February 2014 through this July 4 can assume they were impacted. This is very bad news for Tor, which is heralded for its ability to conceal users from…

Instagram’s Snapchat Rival, Bolt, Just Launched In 3 Non-US Countries

Instagram’s new messaging app Bolt has launched in Singapore, New Zealand, and South Africa. Looks like Instagram is leaving it up to an international delegation of message senders to decide whether its first standalone app is distinct enough from competitors. An Instagram spokesperson told The Verge that the three launch countries were chosen for their…

Your Chance to Help Make a 70-Foot Car Juggling Robot a Reality Is Here

If you watched charming 1999 animated movie The Iron Giant and thought, “Man, I wish that robot was real, and also could juggle Volkswagen Bugs,” then do I have the Kickstarter campaign for you. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/958028900/human-scale-prototype-for-bugjuggler-a-car-jugglin Dan Granett is an inventor with a dream of building a 70-foot robot capable of juggling vehicles. He calls it…

Facebook’s App Strategy Is Bad News For Anyone Who Uses Apps

Starting this week, to check Facebook messages on your phone, you’ll need to download Messenger, the company’s standalone chat app. This is part of a bigger Facebook strategy to create many standalone mobile apps. That might make sense for Facebook, but it sucks for you. That specific change isn’t all bad. Messenger is easier to…

Fed Wiretappers Can’t Keep Up With All These New Chat Apps

Wiretapping used to be straightforward. Potential drug lord? Bug his phone! But the proliferation of online chat options is making it hard for law enforcement officials and intelligence agents to carry out court-ordered wiretaps. FBI officials told The Washington Post that the Bureau has trouble fulfilling wiretaps because suspects use such a wide range of…

Uber Passenger Ratings Should Be Public

Uber lets its drivers rate their passengers, and its passengers rate their drivers. These scores should be public. Some Uber users have been understandably curious about whether their chauffeurs consider them charming or churlish; over the weekend a workaround that let people see their Uber passenger ratings popped up. Uber quickly shut it down. Instead…

Banks, Master of Sexy Pool Party Songs, May Be Our Next Great Pop Diva

Certain songs and musicians conjure a very specific mood. LA-based singer Jillian Banks has mastered a kind of music designed to pipe through the air on a humid July night as you engage in a lascivious and potentially morally ambiguous make-out session in an infinity pool. Home Banks’ first LP, Goddess, is due out September…

Bad News for Verizon’s Heavy Data Users: You’ll Be Throttled This Fall

If you’re clinging to your grandfathered Verizon unlimited data plan, here’s some bad news. Starting October 1, Verizon will throttle LTE speeds for heavy data users who enter high-volume areas. As GigaOm points out, this means Verizon will privilege users who pay for their data per gigabyte over their customers who use unlimited plans. And…

HP and Chubby Checker Finish Fight Over “Chubby Checker” Penis-Size App

Chubby Checker, the “Twist”-singing denim enthusiast, has made legal peace with Hewlitt-Packard and Palm following a trademark infringement lawsuit over Chubby Checker, a penis measurement webOS app. HP users intent on assessing the angle of their dangle and the girth of their groin are no longer able to size up their schwanz using the Chubby…

Here’s Tina Fey & Rachel Dratch In a Great, Odd 1999 Two-Woman Show

Some blessed Chicago improv fan has posted a full recording of Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch’s two-woman show Dratch & Fey. It ran from 1999-2000 at Chicago’s Second City and New York’s UCB just before the women got famous on SNL. The crackly VHS upload is definitely low quality, but the show holds up. If…

Report: Facebook and Uber Want You to Call a Ride From Messenger

According to a report from Recode, Mark Zuckerberg met with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to discuss putting an Uber integration within Facebook’s Messenger app. Someday soon we could order a car in between sending our Facebook friends weird cat stickers. Facebook has recently been making a push towards mobile payments and expanding to e-commerce, and…

Looks Like Instagram Is Working on a Snapchat Rival

Someone at Instagram has a slippery trigger finger: Some Instagram for Android users are reporting links posted to a “one tap photo messaging app” called Bolt. It sounds an awful lot like a very popular photo-sharing app not owned by Facebook that rhymes with “App Hat.” The link brings you to a dead page at…

Ebook subscription service Oysteris expanding its services to mobile and web browsers. I’m not sure what kind of maniac chooses to read a book on their web browser, but it’s good to see Oyster growing. The New York-based company has one of the better ebook selections, with agreements with Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.