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If your Surface Pro 2 has been underperforming in terms of battery life, go upgrade to the latest firmware release: it provides an almost 20 percent increase in longevity. Which is kinda crazy.

Massive Credential Hacks Are the Crosswords of the Future

When hackers break into the databases of the great and good—like Adobe—they’re often left with an encrypted password and an unencrypted password hint. In other words, a giant, modern version of a crossword puzzle. https://gizmodo.com/hackers-have-seized-38-million-adobe-customer-records-1454590078 As Randall Munroe points out, the hackers are essentially presented with a set of clues, the answers to which are…

Hackers Grab VIP and Celebrity Details from Online Limo Service

A hacker’s broken into the databases of an online limousine service, grabbing details of more than 850,000 customers—including Fortune 500 CEOs, lawmakers, and A-list celebrities. The hackers nabbed the details from CorporateCarOnline, based in Kirkwood, Missouri, which bills itself as “the leading provider of on-demand software management solutions for the limousine and ground transportation industry.”…

Western Digital’s New Hard Drives Are Filled With Helium

Digital storage is always getting cheaper and more capacious—but Western Digital has a plan to fill it with helium to make hard drives way more efficient than ever before. If you could see inside a normal hard drive, you’d find it was a pretty brutal environment. The plates on which data are stored spin at…

This awesome roaming city would actually work in real life

Architizer showcases this awesome engineering and architectural project: a roaming city that would will actually work if someone builds it. In the past, some people have imagined roaming cities but nobody got to turn these pipe dreams into functional projects. This is the first one that actually makes sense. British architect Ron Herron first proposed…

Watch The Simpsons slamming Apple Siri because it sucks (it does)

Everybody knows that Siri still sucks—voice recognition is one of those technologies that has to work flawlessly for it not to suck. Like in Star Trek or 2001. Siri doesn’t, which is why The Simpsons slammed it this Sunday in an episode full of Apple references. Watch. This reminds me of Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury famous…

There’s A Lot Going On In This “Under The Sea” Cover

I mean. What is this? Or a better question might be what isn’t this? They’re playing bottles in a pool in Borneo. They’re apparently called the Bottle Boys. This probably took quite a bit of rehearsal time. I don’t know what else to say. Good job, internet. You’ve done whatever it is you do again.

Skydivers In Two Planes Escaped After A Collision By…Skydiving

Two planes carrying skydivers had a midair collision last night over northwest Wisconsin near Lake Superior. But everyone survived because they were planning to skydive out anyway. Additionally, one pilot was able to eject and the other landed his plane safely, even though it was severely damaged. It’s unclear what caused the crash at 12,000…

Attack on Architectural Titan

Jonno had seen the cathedral once in his youth and had marveled at the towers shaped like stone guardians. He never imagined the legends were true, nor that when the guardians finally moved, it would be to attack his city. Illustration by Kerem Beyit. Invasion [Kerem Beyit via reddit]

Swedish Kids Say their Parents Are Too Tech-Obsessed

In a recent study, 33% of Swedish parents surveyed (521 total) admitted that their phone and tablet use was a sore point with their kids. The children said that their parents spend too much time on the devices. And experts are weighing in about the developmental damage this could cause. The study results also indicated…

Photographs of cosplayers at home capture both the person and the mask

Klaus Pichler’s photo series Just the Two of Us explores the dual identity of the costume and the person who wears it by taking the subjects out of the conventions and carnivals where we typically encounter them and showing them in their homes. Pichler photographs not just cosplayers who dress up as characters from genre…

A haunting short film about the ways a body moves after death

While we tend to associate death with stillness, the short film Danse Macabre explores the ways in which a human body can move in the hours and days after death, giving its subject an unexpected grace. Be warned, this is an especially grim short, set in the aftermath of a murder suicide, and it’s most…

The YouTube Music Awards Are Live Tonight

The first ever YouTube Music Awards are starting…really soon at 6pm EST (streaming free). Which is cool! Jason Schwartzman and Reggie Watts are hosting, Spike Jonze is directing, and the likes of Lady Gaga, Eminem, Avicii and Arcade Fire will be making appearances. The Music Awards showcase YouTube’s desire to become a serious player in…

Take a 3D animated tour of our Solar System with NASA’s models

Shane Gehlert used a combination of NASA models and digital animation to create I Need Some Space, a brief educational tour of the planets, moons, and spacecraft spinning through our solar system. The background music is performed by the Zephyr quartet, which includes Gehlert’s sister, Belinda Gehlert, on the violin. [via Kuriositas]

There Was an Incredible Hybrid Solar Eclipse this Morning

This morning’s hybrid solar eclipse was stunning. But, depending on where you are in the world, you may not have been able to see it at all: cloud cover may have messed with visibility or you might only have had a partial view. So, for anyone who missed it, this is what the eclipse looked…

Can you tell satellite images from microscopic pictures? Test yourself

Is this image a satellite picture or a microscope one? That’s the question posed by “Macro or Micro?,” an exhibit created by two scientists with completely different focuses. Oh, and we’ll tell you the answer below. Stephen Young and Paul Kelly are both science professors at Salem State University. Young’s a geography professor, studying vegetation…

You Don’t Have To Use Google’s Search Encryption If You Don’t Want To

It’s pretty much agreed that Google’s Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption is a good thing. Why not get a little free protection given that our search queries are often a good way of piecing together exactly what’s going on in our lives? https://gizmodo.com/google-searches-just-got-a-bit-safer-5851530 But if there’s one thing all the leaked NSA revelations and international…

Crowdfund an apocalyptic comedy and new shorts by Aardman Animation

There are a couple of post-apocalyptic projects looking for a little crowdfunding: a star-studded comedy film and a comic starring a badass version of Charlie Brown. Plus, Aardman Animation is bringing back one of their original characters and a gorgeous environmental art project is getting a coffee table book. Top image from Crochet Coral Reef.…

The Best Deals And Gear This Week

With November upon us, great discounts abound, and as you’ve hopefully noticed, we’ve been quickly ramping up our product recommendations. Here’s all the best stuff you may have missed this week, or just may want to take a second look at. We look forward to bringing you another week of huge deals, and we’ve also…

Key & Peele ask: Do vampires really want to be sexy all the time?

Vampires are often portrayed wearing black leather and hissing their sexy hisses while grinding up against one another. Sketch comedy show Key & Peele wonders: doesn’t that get kind of exhausting?