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Yapping in Detail About Ambiguity — Aphex Twin

Major thanks to Geoff Manaugh for having conducted this interview with me on the occasion of my new book, Selected Ambient Works Volume II, part of the great 33 1/3 series. The subject of the book is the 1994 album by Aphex Twin with which it shares its title.

Tech News Marc Weidenbaum Mar 14 '14

Noise Outta Richmond

Here’s a thick, chaos-strewn whorl of noise courtesy of the Richmond Tape Club outta Richmond, Virginia. Squelched spoken segments secrete from dense, churning static. There are more than enough looped elements — upward — to lend signal to the noise. Originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/rvatapeclub.

Tech News Marc Weidenbaum Mar 14 '14

Seeing a cat walk on a treadmill chasing food basically sums up life

Seeing a smart cat walk on a treadmill to its plate of food tickles me more than it should. I scream out aww under my constant laughter. I must be a bad person. But let’s be honest. Metaphorically, we’ve all been this cat before. We’ve seen our goal but we kept walking in place not…

Sploid Casey Chan Mar 14 '14

If you want to find me, I’ll be drinking 100 feet underground

After the radiation disaster, the survivors moved underground. We built towns in old mining shafts, hammering wood over the expressionless planes of the rock face. When we longed for windows, we sidled up to the granite bar and drank until the walls went transparent. Created by an artist who goes by 0111011001111000, this image won…

io9 Annalee Newitz Mar 14 '14

Why are materialists less happy?

The latest word on how to be happy: be more appreciative of the things you have. Newly published research out of Baylor University finds materialistic people are less happy in large part because of their lack of gratitude. Top Image via Forbes via Driving “As in past research, we found that materialism was negatively associated…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Mar 14 '14

Why The Blair Witch Project Is Still the Scariest Movie Ever

On a Friday afternoon in 1999, I went to the matinee showing of a movie that I knew barely anything about. The film ended, the credits rolled, the house lights went up, and no one moved for a very long time. As we stumbled into the daylight, someone verbalized what we were all thinking: Was…

Tech News Alissa Walker Mar 14 '14

Holy crap, this parrot is actually a woman posing in bodypaint

Man, it took me an embarrassingly long time to see her but she’s there all right. The picture above is not a parrot but a woman in bodypaint posing so she looks exactly like a parrot. What a fantastic mind trip. It’s so impressive. Even after seeing the woman, I can still convince myself that…

Sploid Casey Chan Mar 14 '14

Live from Space 8pm EDT

1. If you don’t subscribe to National Geographic, you can’t watch the livestream. (Lame.) 2. The NatGeo setup techs didn’t notice their mic was live during setup. …whooops. 3. @NASAWatch is live-tweeting for curious non-NatGeo subscribers. Update: it looks like even NASA had a hard time watching.

Television Mika McKinnon Mar 14 '14

Most Beautiful Items: March 7 – 14, 2014

A beautiful 1960s New York guidebook, crazy scans of amazing insects, and so much more. Welcome, and let us wow you with some of our favorite finds from the worlds of art, architecture, and design from the past week: The 1960s NYC Guidebook That the Czech Secret Police Almost Destroyed Back in 1963, two Czech…

Tech News Leslie Horn Mar 14 '14

This was the first kiss ever filmed—and it was between two women

The Internet is currently ablaze over a video of strangers having a first kiss, but what was likely the first kiss committed to film was between two models—two female models. Oddly, the photographer filmed a same-sex kiss because, not in spite of, mores of the era. Artful nudity below. Eadweard Muybridge was a pioneering photographer…

io9 Lauren Davis Mar 14 '14

Bored Cats Find Sense of Purpose in Personalized Cat Playgrounds

High-end, customizable architecture and design has been on the rise for several years, but it’s starting to grow stale. The new trend lies in foregoing personal comfort altogether and extending that luxury to your cat. Goldtatze, a German company specializing in the “symbiosis of timeless elegance and true naturality,” creates pieces of cat furniture that…

Tech News Eric Rydin Mar 14 '14

Yep, that’s totally Gandalf’s sword in Game of Thrones‘ Iron Throne

An eagle-eyed Redditor named NoMoreHodoring — well, eagle-eyed compared to the rest of us, but how it took this long for someone to notice this boggles me — discovered that Gandalf’s sword Glamdring is one of the many weapons melted and forged into the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Is this a subtle Easter…

io9 Rob Bricken Mar 14 '14

Would You Go For A Ride On This Massive Slip ‘n Slide On A City Street?

British artist Luke Jerram wants to take over a Bristol high street for an afternoon to set up a massive, 90-meter-long wet and wild joyride. Would you give it a try? Park and Slide is planned as part of the local council’s Make Sunday Special initiative, organizing events for car-free jolly good times, and would…

Tech News Jordan Kushins Mar 14 '14

Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II Turns 20

Bay Area sound critic Marc Weidenbaum—acoustic historian, noise futurist, music instructor, and writer of a brand new book about Aphex Twin—has been blogging about music, electronics, and everyday sounds at his blog Disquiet here at Gizmodo for the last few months. But his writing and music career both go back nearly two decades, and can…

Tech News Geoff Manaugh Mar 14 '14

I can’t believe that everyone survived these close calls with death

If you don’t cringe and close your eyes a few times watching this seven-minute compilation of close calls with death, you’re probably a robot. I just can’t believe all these people survived these accidents, sometimes by only an inch. And I just can’t believe how some of the people who were almost killed just kept…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Mar 14 '14

These incredible close-up photos of eyes are actually pencil drawings

Check out these hyperrealistic pencil drawings by Redoskin—spotted by Illusion. It’s hard to believe that they are not photos. A close up of the above: SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Sploid Jesus Diaz Mar 14 '14

A Self-Charging Robot Vac That Remembers Exactly Where It Left Off

Where as Roomba—arguably the most popular robot vacuum on the market—uses a tried and true pre-programmed algorithm to randomly explore and clean the floors in your home. Neato’s robotic vacuums—including its new BotVac—use a built-in laser scanner to map a room and plan out the most efficient cleaning route. So besides maximizing its battery life…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 14 '14

This Week in Time Capsules: Skywhales and Schoolkids

This week in our round-up of time capsule news, we have a recently unearthed capsule made from a WWI artillery shell, a new 100-item capsule sealed in Australia, and more disappointed rugrats who were unimpressed by a 25-year-old capsule in New Jersey. Australian capitol city seals 100-item capsule under public art The Canberra City Hall…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 14 '14

The world’s biggest rope swing jump is 600 feet of pure adrenaline rush

Who the hell looks at a 600-foot cliff in South Africa and says “let’s build a rope swing here”? Mike Wilson and Andrew Kirkpatrick, that’s who. Luckily, they filmed the madness as they sent a bunch of their friends flying on the world’s biggest, scariest, craziest rope swing. This thing is so big, they needed…

Sploid Bob Sorokanich Mar 14 '14

US Government Is Finally Giving Up Control of the Internet

That’s all folks. Officials announced on Friday that the U.S. government would surrender control over the internet—or at least the administration of the internet. It’s unclear who will take over the responsibility, but as The Washington Post points out, it will almost surely not be the United Nations. You’re probably thinking, “Wait a second… the…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Mar 14 '14

Yapping in Detail About Ambiguity — Aphex Twin

Noise Outta Richmond

Seeing a cat walk on a treadmill chasing food basically sums up life

If you want to find me, I’ll be drinking 100 feet underground

Why are materialists less happy?

Why The Blair Witch Project Is Still the Scariest Movie Ever

Holy crap, this parrot is actually a woman posing in bodypaint

Live from Space 8pm EDT

Most Beautiful Items: March 7 – 14, 2014

This was the first kiss ever filmed—and it was between two women

Bored Cats Find Sense of Purpose in Personalized Cat Playgrounds

Yep, that’s totally Gandalf’s sword in Game of Thrones‘ Iron Throne

Would You Go For A Ride On This Massive Slip ‘n Slide On A City Street?

Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II Turns 20

I can’t believe that everyone survived these close calls with death

These incredible close-up photos of eyes are actually pencil drawings

A Self-Charging Robot Vac That Remembers Exactly Where It Left Off

This Week in Time Capsules: Skywhales and Schoolkids

The world’s biggest rope swing jump is 600 feet of pure adrenaline rush

US Government Is Finally Giving Up Control of the Internet

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