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Twitter Is Trying to Patent “Pull to Refresh”

The Pull to Refresh action is a common gesture for mobile apps—used by the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Tweetbot, and Sparrow for a variety of commands. It may soon be a lot less common if the USPTO grants Twitter’s patent request. Loren Brichter filed for the “User Interface Mechanics” patent back in 2010, when he…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Mar 28 '12

How To Crack the Passcode of Any iOS Device

If you think your iPhone passcode will keep you as safe as a Pimp with an Android, you are sadly mistaken. The XRY cracking program can crush Apple’s paltry security measures faster than you can say, “Bitch, where’s my money.” https://gizmodo.com/how-a-pimps-android-pattern-lock-foiled-the-feds-5893410 The Swedish security firm Micro Systemation developed XRY for use as a forensic recovery…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Mar 28 '12

Robin Williams On Weed, Exploding Utilities, Launch Boxes and the Dream We All Share (NSFW)

Roll that spliff phatly, pack some fresh ice into the binger, and set the Volcano to “toastify.” It’s time for tonight’s Stoner Channel. We’ve collected our best high-times material for the discerning pothead so sit back, relax, and pass that shit on the left, yo. Tonight’s cluster of Grapes comes from reader Jorge Click here…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Mar 28 '12

Thor-Stand Ladder Leveler Promises to End Roof-Hanging Hijinx

Ladders are like bears—they don’t work on hills very well. A bear’s shoulders aren’t built to extend far enough forward to run downhill effectively and a ladder’s legs are just as useless. The new clamp-on Thor-Stand, however, could help ladders tackle downhills with aplomb. The Thor-Stand—no relation to the Norse god inverting himself over a…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Mar 27 '12

New Hospital Alarm System Shames Smokers into Stopping

There’s no smoking in front of Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Scotland—the sign says so—though nobody really paid attention to it. That’s why the hospital installed a loudspeaker-backed smoke alarm commanding cigarette scofflaws—in no uncertain terms—to cut that shit out. “Despite warning signs telling patients, visitors and staff that smoking is banned in the hospital…

Health Andrew Tarantola Mar 27 '12

Picture of the Day: March 27, 2012

THE INVISIBLE MAN | Artist Liu Bolin turns himself “invisible” to make a statement about the ways technology is hiding us from each other. Photo by Asiatic League on Flickr, via OpEdNews. Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view. Or visit Observation Deck, our general discussion forum.

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Mar 27 '12

Danny Trejo gets his skull perforated by a rampaging webcam

The 2009 cult movie Eyeborgs has many things to recommend it, including a totally subtle allegory about what happens when the War on Terror goes Too Far and we get mobile surveillance cameras — basically, webcams with legs — running around everywhere. But the main thing the movie has going for it is this great…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Mar 27 '12

I Am Going To Burn Some Words With This Magnifier-Lighter

Often, when I finish with a book, I want to burn it. Not really! But I do love this magnifying glass that doubles as an emergency lighter. The Magnifire Reader or Firestarter from Kikkerland has a 2.5 x Fresnel lens capable of both blowing up text, and setting it alight—hence the nod to the Zippo’s…

Tech News Mat Honan Mar 27 '12

The Most Extensive Face Transplant Ever Gives a Man a New Jaw, Teeth, Tongue, Muscle, Tissue, Bone and Skin

In 1997, Richard Lee Norris suffered a horrific gun accident that ripped off his nose, chin, lips and teeth and turned him into a recluse. 15 years later, doctors were able to perform the “most extensive face transplant ever” and give him a brand new face and new life. Face transplants are always so futuristic…

Tech News Casey Chan Mar 27 '12

In search of Ancient Egypt’s very own watery answer to Venice

Long before the canals of Venice sprung up in the swamps of the Adriatic, the ancient Egyptians are said to have used their own waterways to build an entire city into the Nile River. Now at last, we might actually find it. The city of Thebes was never really lost, but the ruins of the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 27 '12

Vibrating Car Seats Ensure Your Butt’s the First To Know About Dangers

A few days ago we reported on how a prototype vibrating steering wheel could provide GPS directions with minimal driver distraction. And now it turns out that Cadillac will implement a similar system using vibrating seats to grab a driver’s attention. https://gizmodo.com/vibrating-steering-wheels-could-provide-distraction-fre-5896098 The latest version of the Cadillac XTS will include General Motor’s new Safety…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Mar 27 '12

The Problem with Syfy’s Being Human, Presented in Two Telltale Clips

What started off as a charming episode of Being Human spiraled right back down the toilet of soap opera cliches and Grey’s Anatomy “if we play the sad music really, really loud then the audience will have to feel something, right?” TV making. How can a show with so much chemistry turn stale so swiftly?…

Television Meredith Woerner Mar 27 '12

Why Do Android Tablet Apps Suck So Much Compared to iPad Apps?

Right now, Android tablet apps don’t belong in the same conversation as the iPad. As much hardware versatility as Android tablets offer (and there are a lot of great things!), the app situation in droidland is piss poor pitiful. Sascha Segan at PC Mag took a closer look at the app situation and compared the…

Tech News Casey Chan Mar 27 '12

What created these mysterious hollows on the surface of Mercury?

Until NASA’s spacecraft MESSENGER took up orbit around Mercury last year, the surface of the solar system’s innermost planet was a great mystery. Now we’ve gotten a good look — and we have no idea what we’re looking at. These features spotted by MESSENGER have been dubbed “hollows.” Though they don’t actually glow bluish green…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 27 '12

This Horrible/Amazing Man Makes $1,000 a Day on Pinterest (Updated)

And you thought Pinterest was only useful for lonely pastry fantasy. This anonymous conman talked to the Daily Dot, and boy does he have an easy job: fooling Pinterest’s lonely materialists into clicking Amazon spam links. For money. It works like this. Pinterest Spammer creates thousands of fake accounts, probably with regular breaks to stare…

Tech News Sam Biddle Mar 27 '12

Watch an avalanche inside a superconductor

The famous “superconductor monorail” was a wonderful visual demonstration of what superconductors do to magnets. At first, magnets are repelled by the superconductor. As the temperature drops, a superconducting material unceremoniously kicks magnetic fields out of its territory. If a magnet is forced close to a superconductor, though, it gets ‘stuck’ there, and so can…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 27 '12

Watch as lasers transform a centuries-old church into a psychedelic freakout

The projection mapping artists at the Macula Project have done something incredible with this baroque chapel in the Czech town of Olomouc. By using interactive light technology, they converted the church’s interior into a massive musical instrument that can be manipulated by laser-pointer-wielding visitors. It’s pretty trippy when they begin playing individual angel statues. Explains…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Mar 27 '12

The One Moment of Real Emotion in Last Night’s Alcatraz Finale

Alcatraz so often felt like a bargain-basement Lost — even down to the music and the frequent Jack Bender visual touches. Not to mention the power of Jorge Garcia. And yet, the makers of this time-traveling jailbird show seemed totally oblivious to what made Lost such an addictive show: its compelling characters, and their intense…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Mar 27 '12

Classic Center Channel Speaker or Contemporary iPod Dock?

What do you get when you combine the warmth of antique vacuum tubes and the precision of modern transistors? You get Samsung’s newest sound station. The Samsung DA-E750 employs a unique hybrid amp that includes both analog vacuum tubes to provide more natural-sounding amplification and a digital amp to reduce noise distortion. The 2.1 channel…

Gadgets Andrew Tarantola Mar 27 '12

Artist Carves Bowling Balls Into Unreadable Tomes

You might not think a bowling ball could be recycled into anything other than an implement of destruction. But Los Angeles-based artist Eddy Sykes turns them into timeless pieces of art suitable for sitting on the shelves of any library. The bowling balls Eddy prefers to work with have typically been abandoned for over 30…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 27 '12

Twitter Is Trying to Patent “Pull to Refresh”

How To Crack the Passcode of Any iOS Device

Robin Williams On Weed, Exploding Utilities, Launch Boxes and the Dream We All Share (NSFW)

Thor-Stand Ladder Leveler Promises to End Roof-Hanging Hijinx

New Hospital Alarm System Shames Smokers into Stopping

Picture of the Day: March 27, 2012

Danny Trejo gets his skull perforated by a rampaging webcam

I Am Going To Burn Some Words With This Magnifier-Lighter

The Most Extensive Face Transplant Ever Gives a Man a New Jaw, Teeth, Tongue, Muscle, Tissue, Bone and Skin

In search of Ancient Egypt’s very own watery answer to Venice

Vibrating Car Seats Ensure Your Butt’s the First To Know About Dangers

The Problem with Syfy’s Being Human, Presented in Two Telltale Clips

Why Do Android Tablet Apps Suck So Much Compared to iPad Apps?

What created these mysterious hollows on the surface of Mercury?

This Horrible/Amazing Man Makes $1,000 a Day on Pinterest (Updated)

Watch an avalanche inside a superconductor

Watch as lasers transform a centuries-old church into a psychedelic freakout

The One Moment of Real Emotion in Last Night’s Alcatraz Finale

Classic Center Channel Speaker or Contemporary iPod Dock?

Artist Carves Bowling Balls Into Unreadable Tomes

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