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If Comic Heroes and Villains Had Business Cards, They’d Look Like This

Some of these make more sense (“Peter Parker, Photographer, The Daily Bugle”) than others (would Natasha Romanoff really have the need for business cards?), but The Vocations of Heroes & Villains is nonetheless an art print that’s quite fun to look at. Created by (and for sale at, in signed/numbered form) Pop Chart Lab, the…

A Scent-Blasting Face Mask: Because Virtual Reality Isn’t Weird Enough

When you’re hacking your way through a sweltering jungle in virtual reality, wouldn’t you like to feel as disgustingly hot and humid as your video game character? To smell that distinctive jungle scent? No? Then you’d sure as hell better not pay $250 for the Feelreal this summer. The Feelrealis just the latest in a…

The Live Action Rats Of Nimh Movie Is Still Happening

After six years of radio silencethere’s been movement on the new Rats of Nimh movie. That’s right – they’re making a live action Nimh movie with CG rats and real people. Imagine how horrifying Nicodemus is going to look! Deadline is reporting MGM has acquired the rights to Robert C. O’Brien books Mrs. Frisby &…

I Can’t Stop Using This Shitty App That I Hate

That goddamn app. Even though it’s ugly and incomprehensible and barfs useless notifications at me, I keep using it. When I touch its stupid icon on my screen, it’s a hate tap. It’s a finger cringe. But I can’t quit! Illustration by Javier Brosch via Shutterstock Right now, my biggest hate tap is the noxious…

Take A Moment To Marvel At These Unusually Intimate Owl Portraits

It is notoriously difficult to photograph an owl. The stately birds tend to be close-taloned with their trust, requiring several months to become comfortable with even one human handler – a fact that explains both the rareness of intimate owl portraiture, and the magnificence of these shots by photographer Brad Wilson. Above: A Western Screech…

300,000 Chickens Killed By Attacks on Farm Alarm Systems

In the past two weeks, attacks at 16 South Carolina chicken houses have left over 300,000 chickens dead. Farmed chickens rarely live good lives, but these deaths were especially horrible: Someone with inside knowledge of the houses temperature alarm systems, slowly killed the chickens with heat and cold. The criminals, who seemed to have expert…

The ‘American Dream’ Was Coined in 1931

Today the phrase “the American Dream” is a staple of political campaigns, book titles, and economic discussions. Everybody’s heard it, but nobody knows quite how to define it. It’s a phrase that feels as old as the country itself. But the American Dream wasn’t invented in 1776. The term was coined in 1931. James Truslow…

Young Lois Lane Investigates A Teacher In This Prequel To Her YA Novel

Lois Lane heads from the pages of DC Comics to her very own Young Adult novel this May, but you can read a teaser of what’s to come with this new short story from Gwenda Bond detailing the young Lois’ first day at a new school — and she’s already getting herself primed for a…

Anyone Can Do This 8-Day Trek Through Nepal

The trek to Annapurna Sanctuary in the mountains above Pokhara is 64 miles long and takes from six to 10 days. During the summer, it’s one of the easiest and most scenic hikes in Nepal and you can sleep in and eat at tea houses every night. We hiked it in the depths of winter…

G.I. Joe Finally Meets Transformers With This Cobra Rattler Decepticon

Despite severe differences in scale, G.I. Joe and the Transformers have been fighting side-by-side in kids’ bedrooms for decades now. They’ve even crossed paths in a handful of comic book series, but for the first time we’ve got our first official G.I. Joe-branded Transformers toy from Hasbro. Decepticon Viper, part of the Combiner Legends third…

Old Flames Alight On Archer… Oh, And There’s A Mission, Too

This week’s Archer is all about lust… with a bit of secret agent-y stuff thrown in, as well as a zillion tranquilizer darts, some unseemly Tunt family history, a very hungry plant, and some of this seasons’ best rapid-fire one-liners. Spoilers follow! “Pocket Listing” begins by tossing a bone to all us Malory fans, whose…

Feds Just Charged 3 Spammers With the Biggest Data Breach in History

The only thing that sucks more than spam are the greedy people who send it to you. That’s why the Department of Justice charging three spam kingpins responsible for one of the largest data breaches in history is so exciting. Finally, Feds are taking down the spam kingpins—or at least trying. A small army of…

The Exact Moment When Firefly Overcame My Considerable Skepticism

I’d love to pretend that I was a devotee of Joss Whedon’s Firefly from the first moment I saw it. But I can’t. I’d watched and enjoyed Buffy and Angel, but I was not sure what to make of this “space Western” show. As I watched, I scratched my head and maybe snarked a bit.…

I want to spend an eternal summer on this sailboat

This is Salt, the newest yacht concept by Lujac Desautel. It is a sailboat. It has a clean design. It is very pretty. It is not my ideal sailboat—I like classic lines—but it is the kind of ship that I imagine Steve Jobs would have wanted instead of the horror he actually got. I would…

Ted Chiang explains everything to you! If you’re in Washington State, you ought to make a beeline to the University of Puget Sound, where Ted Chiang will give a talk on “Technology and the Narrative of the Self” on Tuesday. Top image: Christian Pearce, Contact the author at [email protected]. Or follow her on Twitter.

15 Insane Indie Game Controllers For Even Crazier Games

Video games are pretty simple: there’s a TV, a handheld controller and some buttons, right? Not at the Alt.Ctrl gallery at this year’s Game Developer Conference. It’s a handmade arcade filled with bizarre, custom game controllers that defy convention. Spacebro Justice Rocket Have you ever thought the awkward moment when you try to fist-bump someone…

Reebok Pumps Are Back and Aren’t As Hideous or Expensive Any More

When originally introduced way back in 1989, the Reebok pump was a genuine innovation in footwear, providing a perfect custom fit with an inflatable bladder wrapping around the wearer’s foot. But as a flagship product for Reebok, the Pumps often featured outlandish designs as they came and went through the years. Until yesterday, when Reebok…

Here’s TV’s New Supergirl In Her Super-Outfit

The casting news for CBS’ Supergirl TV series have been coming both fast and furiously, but here’s the big reveal — the first look at star Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, complete in her Supergirl uniform. And we are shocked to report that… well… she actually looks pretty great! The costume is clean, simple, iconic…

Two guys race up a 27-story building and jump down from the top 

Andy and Jean don’t race like we did when we were kids. They put on their parachutes, run up abandoned buildings in South Africa, and then jump back down to the finish line. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Warner Bros. CEO Says DC Superhero Movies Are “Steeped In Realism”

Warner Bros. chairman-CEO Kevin Tsujihara took a swing at the Marvel Cinematic Universe labeling their DC world as superior for a bunch of completely nonsensical reasons. Variety is reporting that Tsujihara made these fascinating statements at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media ad Telecom Conference this past Wednesday. Let’s start with the first: “The worlds of…