Watch This Balloon Kite Hover Forward by Turning Itself Inside Out
This beautiful floating object isn’t quite a kite or balloon, but rather a flying demonstration of a completely new method of moving through the air. As opposed to rotational or linear propulsion, this floating band moves through the air by inversion-driven propulsion. Basically, it turns itself inside out to generate thrust. It’s comprised of six…
Straight, Gay, or Binary?: HAL Comes Out of the Cybernetic Closet
In this essay from his new collection I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts, cultural critic Mark Dery contemplates the sexual orientation of one of science fiction’s most memorable machines: HAL, from 2001. Now it can be told: HAL, the psychotic supercomputer in the sci-fi classic 2001, failed the Turing Test. Not Alan Turing’s classic blindfold…
Anontune: The New Social Music Platform From Anonymous
In a move sure to attract attention from the music industry, a small group of coders claiming to be part of Anonymous is putting together a social music platform. The rather ambitious goal: Create a service that seamlessly pulls up songs streaming from all around the internet. The project, called Anontune and still in its…
How To Make Liquor Infused With Pot
Unless you have not inhaled through your nose today, you are surely aware that it is April 20, the high holy day for pot smoking. Now, this is Happy Hour, a column dedicated to alcohol. So it’s not high and not dry in here. But it’s a bummer to be left out. With all this…