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Open Channel: Which Fictional Character Would Make the Best Santa Claus?

The holiday season is upon us once before. As we all slip away to our families, friends, and nutrient-filled gel-tubes to celebrate the brief break in the dystopic darkness of our futurepresent, it’s a good time to reflect on the bright, fun parts of our regular holiday rituals. Like Santa Claus, that omniscient gift wizard…

io9 Julie Muncy

OK, Which of You Idiots Pranked Guillermo del Toro With a Crappy Homemade UFO?

Earlier this month, news broke that the Pentagon had secretly run a $22 million program to investigate unidentified flying objects—and obtained evidence including footage of Navy F/A-18 pilots chasing a strange craft off the coast of San Diego in 2004 and an alleged warehouse of mysterious “alloys.” To this list of evidence we can add…

Movies Tom McKay

California’s Thomas Fire Is Now the Largest Wildfire in Official State History

Southern California’s Thomas fire is now officially the largest in modern state history, Cal Fire announced late Friday night, after surpassing the 273,000-plus acre Cedar fire from 2003. Per CNN, Cal Fire says the blaze has now burned through some 1,063 buildings and is just 65 percent contained weeks after starting on December 4th. It…

Climate Change Tom McKay

This Fan Film Puts A Bit More Action into The Fight Between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader

One weird part about the aging of the Star Wars franchise is the datedness of the franchise’s action scenes. Don’t get me wrong, the old movies still have good fights, but they feel of a decidedly different tenor than the new ones. Fight choreography, like all manners of special effects work, has changed significantly over…

Movies Julie Muncy

How to Tell If Your iPhone Battery Is Screwed and What You Can Do About It

Earlier this week, Apple admitted that it is deliberately throttling the performance of older iPhones running newer versions of iOS, explaining that artificially limiting the speed of those devices was necessary to prevent aging lithium ion batteries from failing. As TechCrunch explained, while users have long suspected the slowdowns were intended to cajole them into…

Tech News Tom McKay

Kendrick Lamar Might Be Involved With the Black Panther Soundtrack

All the released Black Panther trailers so far have had one thing in common: incredible music. If a tease in a recent music video is any indication, that trend will continue into the film itself. In the new video for Kendrick Lamar’s song “LOVE”, there’s a quick tease thrown in at the 1:54 mark for…

Movies Julie Muncy

The New Jumanji Could Have Had Some Wild Alternate Endings

The new Jumanji, Welcome to the Jungle, is a surprisingly fun little romp. Recently, some of the people behind it dished on some fun alternate ways it could have ended. Talking to the Hollywood Reporter, the cast and crew shared some ideas that happened in the brainstorming process. The film has a fairly closed-off and…

Movies Julie Muncy

As Amazon Ramps Up Furniture and Appliance Business, Home Depot Is Sweating

In early December, pharmacy chain CVS decided to move big time into the insurance market by purchasing Aetna for $69 billion—a move clearly motivated by Amazon, which was preparing to scale up its pharmaceuticals division. With the e-commerce giant possibly on track to be worth a trillion dollars by next year, retailers in a number…

Commerce Tom McKay

Here’s How Fans Reacted to The Empire Strikes Back in 1980

Thanks to the letter archive of an old scifi mag, we can get a glimpse into how the nascent Star Wars fandom reacted to the shake-ups of The Empire Strikes Back. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reactions were mixed. Back in the pre-internet days, it wasn’t as easy to pull the whole Old Man Yells at Cloud…

Movies Julie Muncy

Pinterest Should Die

I hate Pinterest. It’s a kind of loathing. Not the fiery wrath I feel towards injustice, or the cool hatred towards people who liked The Last Jedi and tell me I “just don’t get complex storytelling.” No, this is sort of loathing that feels like general full body ache. Like when you’re about to throw…

Tech News Alex Cranz

Gorgeous Pacific Rim Robots, and More Toys That Are Probably Too Late to Add to Your Christmas List This Week

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s regular roundup of the cool toys and merchandise we’ve been trying to furiously add to our Christmas wishlists this week. We’ve got some excellent new Pacific Rim robots, the General of the Resistance herself, and even environmentally-conscious Jenga. What more could you want? Diamond Select Pacific Rim Uprising Figures…

Toys & Collectibles Andrew Liszewski

You Have to Be a Wizard of Puzzles to Open the Secret Compartments on This Harry Potter-Themed Table

You’ve got one level of Harry Potter fandom where enthusiasts re-read the books and re-watch the movies again and again. And then you’ve got David Lundell’s level of fandom, which inspired him to build a gorgeous, wooden Potter-themed coffee table complete with secret compartments you need a magic wand to open. The “magic” needed to…

io9 Andrew Liszewski

FOIA Researchers Are Targeting a Shadowy FBI Program Called ‘Gravestone’

If you’re the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), tasked with rapidly uncovering plots involving terrorism and cybercrime, you want access to as much intelligence as you can get your hands on. After all, your successes are rarely rewarded with a ticker-tape parade, but when you fail, well, there’s lots of career-ending blame and congressional testimony…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Why You Will Never, Ever, Ever Have a Real Lightsaber

The only thing a Star Wars viewer covets more than Padme Amidala’s sick wardrobe is a lightsaber. Laser swords wielded by space wizards are cool as hell. Most unfortunately, lightsabers are kind of not physically possible. As in, the laws of physics as we currently know them do not allow for a sword made out…

Physics & Chemistry Alex Cranz

The Doctor Who Yule Log Video Has a Few Hints for the Christmas Special, If You Stick Around Long Enough

It’s that time of year when YouTube gets drowned in epic-lengthed videos of various, crackling fireplaces, and this year, even the Doctor Who channel is getting in the festive spirit. But at least this Yule Log also has a few extra glimpses at Peter Capaldi’s swan song, too. Yes, among the lovely, seasonal music from…

Television James Whitbrook

The Shows and Movies the io9 Staff Is Mad Didn’t Make It Onto Our Best of 2017 Lists

Did you agree with every single entry and ranking on our best films and TV series of the year lists? We doubt it. After all, even the io9 staff didn’t agree on everything in there, so why would you? To give these aggrieved souls a chance to speak their mind, here are some of the…

io9 The io9 Staff

Amazon Just Bought Itself Another Way Into Your Home

Amazon has just been shoveling out smart devices this year, launching a buttload of new Alexa-powered devices including an all-new Echo, the Echo Spot, and the premium Echo Plus. But one category where Amazon’s portfolio feels a bit thin is home security, where its $120 indoor-only Cloud Cam is the company’s sole offering. However, it…

Commerce Sam Rutherford

Simple Cheat Gives You a Free Extra Life in HQ Trivia, No Friend Code Necessary

HQ trivia is so popular that it regularly fails to broadcast its online game show at the proper time. Since its recent launch, users constantly beg their social media followers to use a referral code when they join. If someone you know punches in the code, you get an extra life. But it turns out…

Tech News Rhett Jones

Wikileaks’ Digital Cats Need a Forever Home

Wikileaks is now in the business of selling digital cats. How far the mighty have fallen. You might remember CryptoKitties, which took off just a few short weeks ago—although this exhausting year makes it feel much, much longer. It’s an application built on top of the Ethereum cryptocurrency where users buy digital goods in the…

Tech News Avery Ellis

OkCupid’s New Real Name Policy Is Dumb

OkCupid announced this week that it would scrap all of the usernames on its site and require prospective daters to use their real names instead. Naturally, a bunch of OkCupid users are now worried about being exposed to harassment from people they turn down on the dating site. “Before the new year, we’re removing OkCupid…

Privacy & Security Kate Conger

Open Channel: Which Fictional Character Would Make the Best Santa Claus?

OK, Which of You Idiots Pranked Guillermo del Toro With a Crappy Homemade UFO?

California’s Thomas Fire Is Now the Largest Wildfire in Official State History

This Fan Film Puts A Bit More Action into The Fight Between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader

How to Tell If Your iPhone Battery Is Screwed and What You Can Do About It

Kendrick Lamar Might Be Involved With the Black Panther Soundtrack

The New Jumanji Could Have Had Some Wild Alternate Endings

As Amazon Ramps Up Furniture and Appliance Business, Home Depot Is Sweating

Here’s How Fans Reacted to The Empire Strikes Back in 1980

Pinterest Should Die

Gorgeous Pacific Rim Robots, and More Toys That Are Probably Too Late to Add to Your Christmas List This Week

You Have to Be a Wizard of Puzzles to Open the Secret Compartments on This Harry Potter-Themed Table

FOIA Researchers Are Targeting a Shadowy FBI Program Called ‘Gravestone’

Why You Will Never, Ever, Ever Have a Real Lightsaber

The Doctor Who Yule Log Video Has a Few Hints for the Christmas Special, If You Stick Around Long Enough

The Shows and Movies the io9 Staff Is Mad Didn’t Make It Onto Our Best of 2017 Lists

Amazon Just Bought Itself Another Way Into Your Home

Simple Cheat Gives You a Free Extra Life in HQ Trivia, No Friend Code Necessary

Wikileaks’ Digital Cats Need a Forever Home

OkCupid’s New Real Name Policy Is Dumb

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