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God’s Home

This is NGC 7023. It’s also called the Iris Nebula, an immense six-light-year-across cloud of dust located in the constellation Cepheus, 1,300 light-years from planet Earth. I like to call it God’s Home. Get inside with this zoom-zoom video: I mean, if I were God, I would go live there: A well illuminated apartment, with…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Dec 1 '09

Gizmodo’s Guide to Other Gift Guides

The swirling vortex of postmodern metacommentary has all led down to this: Our Gift Guide to Other People’s Gift Guides. How do you approach Bob Vila’s earnest recommendations for household handymen, or OK!’s abstinence-vampire-centric guide for Twilight fanatics? Follow me! (If you hate the gallery view as much as some of us hate Twilight, click…

Tech News Dan Nosowitz Dec 1 '09

Winners Of The “Describe Your Favorite Bookstore” Contest

Over a week ago, we asked you to describe your favorite bookstore or comic book shop to win a giant box of free books from DelRey/Spectra. Now we’ve got our winner – and several runners-up. https://gizmodo.com/describe-your-favorite-bookstore-and-win-free-books-5407246 This was one of my favorite contests we’ve done at io9, because I love bookstores – and the next-best…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz Dec 1 '09

A Memo for My Favorite Rude Cellphone Users

I really want to print this memo and throw it at all rude people who insists on chit-chattering on their phones in public, but that would be hypocritical. So, can someone else please do it for me? Just don’t send me one. I already know that my cellphone manners are lacking. [Murray the Nut]

Tech News Rosa Golijan Dec 1 '09

Thermally-Activated Roof Tiles Change Color to Conserve Energy

Since black roof tiles absorb heat and white ones reflect it, we should all just plain re-do our roofs biannually to save energy as the seasons change. Or maybe just get roof tiles that change color on their own. A bunch of MIT students came up with this funky-looking roofing material, dubbed Thermeleon, which changes…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Dec 1 '09

Cyborg Assassins Are Really, Really Good In Bed

He’s an unstoppable cyborg killer, whose brain is in his stomach… but he’s also a sex machine. In 1986’s Assassin, a cyborg death-monger needs a place to recharge his batteries, and finds a little romance, in a surprisingly cute scene. The little interlude in the middle of that clip involves Robert Conrad and his partner…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 1 '09

The Truth About Plasma Screen Burn-In

People are still talking about plasma burn-in, even though it’s a non-issue. Actually, two very rare separate non-issues, permanent burn-in and temporary image retention. Gary at HD Guru decided to put the matter to rest: Gary decided the best way to illustrate this issue is to figure out what it takes to create image retention…

Television Rosa Golijan Dec 1 '09

Celebrate The Great Beards Of Your Favorite Heroes

If you’re like us, you lay awake at night wondering, “What if Batman had a beard?” Well wait no longer! We’ve got a gallery of the most heroic super beards ever. Vanjamrgan via The Laughing Squid]

io9 Meredith Woerner Dec 1 '09

Dog Food : Ice Cream :: MSN Search : Bing

Microsoft is sick of the term dog food. Why? Because it’s the term used to signify software a company tests on its employees before it’s ready for release. Eating your own dog food, essentially. So they made a euphemism. “I decided very quickly that dogfooding just didn’t sound very appealing. We started to change the…

Tech News Jason Chen Dec 1 '09

This Is Why a Book About the Moon Costs $90,500

I included the $1,500 Moonfire book—Norman Mailer’s account of the Apollo 11—in our space gifts guide. The last 12 books of the 1969-unit edition are $90,500 each. Ninety-thousand-and-five-hundred United States doubloons, people. Here’s why. https://gizmodo.com/gifts-for-space-explorers-who-swing-among-the-stars-5411986 A funky fancy table and a lunar rock. Just that. Sure, the lunar rock sounds worthy, but when they tell…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Dec 1 '09

Microsoft’s Internal Focus Shifting to Windows 8 in July 2010

We’ve heard that Windows 8 will be coming in 2012, so it’s only logical that Microsoft’s focus shift to the operating system soon. And based on recent job postings, that attention shift is happening this coming summer, in July 2010. https://gizmodo.com/windows-8-expected-in-2012-according-to-roadmap-5409668 Of course, this is just based on a series of postings on Microsoft Careers,…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Dec 1 '09

Carbon Fiber, Biometric and Bluetooth iWallet is the Undisputed Fort Knox of Wallets

A $600 carbon fiber and Kevlar wallet ($299 for fiberglass version) might seem expensive, but if you frequently forget your wallet or cellphone, it could be the best money you ever spent. It’s loaded up with Bluetooth and biometrics. Here is how it works: the wallet connects to your cellphone via Bluetooth. When the two…

Privacy & Security Sean Fallon Dec 1 '09

Kant’s Philosophy on Aesthetics Explained Through Comic Book Art

Want to understand the works of German philosopher Immanuel Kant but don’t have the time to slog through them? In this video, comic book critic Douglas Wolk explains the concepts in Kant’s Critique of Aesthetic Judgment using comics art. [via Neatorama]

Books & Comics Lauren Davis Dec 1 '09

Gizmo5 Update Available, Brings Better Google Voice Support

Good news for those who snagged a Gizmo5 account before it closed its doors to new users: It appears that the Gizmo5 4.0 v 269 update is available and along with “various bug fixes” it bring “improved support for Google Voice.” [Cool Geex] https://gizmodo.com/gizmo5-currently-closed-to-new-users-5403663

Tech News Rosa Golijan Dec 1 '09

Spooky Buttons, Balloons, and Santa Dominate Animation Nominations

Stop-motion animation edged out computer-generated effects in this year’s Annie Award nominations, with Coraline topping the list at ten nods. But CGI is nipping at its heels with big nominations for Pixar’s Up and Disney’s Prep and Landing. The International Animated Film Association announced the nominations for the Annie Awards. Laika’s Coraline was the most-nominated…

io9 Lauren Davis Dec 1 '09

Razer Imperator Review

The Imperator is Razer’s latest gaming mouse, and it may be their best—oddly, because it feels like a mouse from an entirely different company. https://gizmodo.com/razer-imperator-gaming-mouse-with-slip-slidey-thumb-but-5411894 Price It’s $80, which is about par for the gaming mouse course. Verdict It uses the tracking engine that’s standard on all of Razer’s high-end mice now, a 5600dpi sensor,…

Reviews Matt Buchanan Dec 1 '09

You’re Rich! In Reputation, Anyway. The Whuffie Bank Is Here At Last.

If you wished you could live off your sterling reputation, like the people in Cory Doctorow‘s Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom, then rejoice — the Whuffie Bank has arrived. Of course, right now it looks pretty basic: All it seems to do is tell you how many times someone on Twitter has mentioned…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 1 '09

The Art of the Space Race

Over at Berg London, Megan Prelinger has an amazing essay about the design of advertisements for defense industry companies during the mid-twentieth century space race. Interestingly, socialist-inspired designs were used to advertise anti-commie missile systems. About this particular advertisement for Los Alamos Labs (which worked on weapons systems), Prelinger writes: The blue spot disrupts the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 1 '09

Where Is My iPhone Videochat, Apple?

Dear Apple and AT&T: I have had enough of this. Tell me, why don’t we have videochat on the iPhone, you assclowns? Whatever excuse you may have, I’m here to destroy it. This morning, the latest Fring update brought videochat to the iPhone. It only works in one direction, from a computer to your iPhone.…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Dec 1 '09

This is Not a Trailer For Tiger Woods 2011, But It Should Be

Despite the fact that TMZ pays to have eyes everywhere, they couldn’t actually get footage of Tiger Woods’ mishap with his wife. So what did a Taiwanese news program do? They made their own. It’s a lesson news organizations should learn from here: Just make machinima reproductions of events using a Sims 3/GTA 4 style…

Tech News Jason Chen Dec 1 '09

God’s Home

Gizmodo’s Guide to Other Gift Guides

Winners Of The “Describe Your Favorite Bookstore” Contest

A Memo for My Favorite Rude Cellphone Users

Thermally-Activated Roof Tiles Change Color to Conserve Energy

Cyborg Assassins Are Really, Really Good In Bed

The Truth About Plasma Screen Burn-In

Celebrate The Great Beards Of Your Favorite Heroes

Dog Food : Ice Cream :: MSN Search : Bing

This Is Why a Book About the Moon Costs $90,500

Microsoft’s Internal Focus Shifting to Windows 8 in July 2010

Carbon Fiber, Biometric and Bluetooth iWallet is the Undisputed Fort Knox of Wallets

Kant’s Philosophy on Aesthetics Explained Through Comic Book Art

Gizmo5 Update Available, Brings Better Google Voice Support

Spooky Buttons, Balloons, and Santa Dominate Animation Nominations

Razer Imperator Review

You’re Rich! In Reputation, Anyway. The Whuffie Bank Is Here At Last.

The Art of the Space Race

Where Is My iPhone Videochat, Apple?

This is Not a Trailer For Tiger Woods 2011, But It Should Be

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