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Looks Like Facebook Is Broken Right Now (Updated: It’s Back!)

Monday morning got off to a rough start for Facebook, where users reported widespread difficulty updating their status, liking and commenting on posts. The extent of the outage is so far unclear, but if Twitter whining is any indication, it’s affecting just about everybody worldwide. We tried posting on Facebook ourselves with no luck. Luckily…

Microsoft just brought out a Surface RT recovery image for users who had trouble installing Windows RT 8.1 over the weekend. Seems Microsoft had to pull the software this weekend due to installation issues. [Microsoft via ZDnet]

A Photographic Tour of Russia’s Disappearing Soviet-Era Cinemas

The phenomenon of the multiplex cinema goes back decades in America, but in Russia, the verdict is still out. Some residents aren’t happy about watching the grand—though often decaying—movie theaters of their youth traded for bland 32-screen mega theaters. Moscow-based photographer Sergey Novikov is among them. Novikov is a professional photographer who spent years documenting…

How excited should we be to see Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy?

It’s all about sequels today: there are rumors about the star of Jurassic World, the plot of Terminator 5, and a director for Beetlejuice 2. Plus, Stephen Amell previews the resolution to last week’s Arrow cliffhanger and there’s a ton from the cast of The Hunger Games. Spoilers ahead! Hunger Games: Catching Fire Sci Fi…

WSJ: The New iPad Mini Will Be Retina After All

With Apple’s big iPad event a day away, it’s the last second to get in any predictions, and the Wall Street Journal has a good one. According to their sources, there is definitely a retina iPad Mini in the works. https://gizmodo.com/our-new-ipad-liveblog-starts-right-here-on-10-22-at-12p-1446693465 The Wall Street Journal doesn’t pin down a release time or price for the…

Overhead Cams Replace Bored Humans in Honda’s Driverless Valet System

If worrying about your vehicle and personal possessions has always made you hesitant about using valet parking, Honda will alleviate your fears with a new system that replaces clumsy valet drivers with overhead tracking cameras and software smart enough to juggle an entire lot full of cars. First and foremost, the system does require a…

The Sony Xperia Z1S Might Be a Mini Z1 For Everyone Else

Remember the impressive-looking Xperia Z1F handset, shrinking down the flagship Sony Xperia Z1 to a more pocketable size? Some bad news; it’s pencilled in only for Asian markets. The good news? Looks like we’re getting the Xperia Z1S instead, which is basically the same phone, with a different name. That’s according to perennial leaker EvLeaks,…

Nokia Leaks Details of Its First Oversized Lumia Handset

With Windows Phone 8 now geared up for larger displays, you can expect to start seeing correspondingly large handsets. Like, for instance, the much-rumored Lumia 1520—which Nokia has now leaked details of. https://gizmodo.com/heres-the-gigantic-nokia-windows-phone-we-might-never-1263159607 The company has prematurely posted details of its first larger Windows phone on its official Chinese Tmall store. There are no images,…

Rumor: iPad 5 Could Get an Apple-Built Surface-Style Keyboard Cover

New iPads! That’s the suspected plan for tomorrow’s Apple event. With much of the consumer attention now turning to the more discreet form factor of the iPad Mini, Apple’s iPad 5 needs to justify its full-size existence. And that justification may now come in the form of an Apple-built, pro-orientated keyboard cover. According to ex-Apple…

How Computer Scientists Make Programs Efficient Using Upside Down Trees

How do people manage to write the neatest, most compact code to make programs super-small and lightweight? Well, there are many ways—but one of the most common is to use trees. Upside down trees, to be precise. In this video, Professor Brailsford explains how computer scientists use Huffman Trees to make their code as efficient…

A Map of How Personality Types Vary Across the United States

Are folks in California actually laid back? Are New Yorkers really rude? Wonder no longer, because now a team of researchers has mapped personality clusters across the US and presented them in this fascinating set of maps. Combining data from five surveys, totaling responses from about 1.6 million people, Peter J. Rentfrow and his colleagues…

It’s Amazing the Weird Crap You Learn From Hidden Autoplay Videos

Wait, where is that audio coming from? I didn’t press play. Oh wait, it’s an autoplay video in one of the 30 or so browser tabs I have open and I have no chance in hell of finding it. Better just listen, then. Still, if you do take that approach, you never know what you…

Rumor has it that GarageBand might be the next built-in app to go free on new iOS devices. Rockin’.

Surface 2 Review: One Step Forward, Two Steps Behind

The Surface RT was Microsoft’s brassy if ultimately flawed attempt to do a cannonball into the placid, iPad and Kindle-dominated tablet pool. It didn’t quite work out. With the Surface 2, Microsoft is taking the opportunity to say “No guys, but really,” with a blistering, scary sort of confidence. What Is It? The Surface RT…

Surface Pro 2 Review: A Little Bit Better, But So Much the Same

The original Surface Pro was many things, but chief among them was strange. Not only did it deftly—if not quite perfectly—straddle the line between tablet and laptop, but it also straddled the line between futurist ideal and problematic product. This time around the Surface Pro 2 is packing plenty of practical improvements, but as a…

Brian Eno — Ambient 1: Music for Airports

In high school I had a weird ritual where I would listen to this suite while I did my math homework. But it sort of makes sense because Brian Eno wanted this music to reduce tension. He conceived it while observing the stress and rush at a German airport during the mid-1970s. And it really…

Why Is There 35mm Film Burning In the Olympic Torch?

Out with the old in with the new is a good motto for staying on top of new technology, but there’s really no reason to burn the 35mm film we have left. Don’t worry Olympic committee, we’ve solidly transitioned to the age of digital photography. Photographer Tom Waugh contacted PetaPixel when he realized that something…

The astronaut spies a bathing giant

Upon reaching the source of the distress call, Commander Jameson realized that it was a mistake to build the escape pod in the shape of a rubber ducky. Painting by Michal Lisowski. [via MashKULTURE]

This Supercut Proves That All Running Should Be In Slow Motion

Just admit it. Sometimes you’re jogging in the park or you’re on the treadmill and you visualize yourself running in slow motion. Sweat pouring off you, hair swinging, face contorted as you fight for your goal. It’s pretty epic. And we’re definitely all drawing that image from movies where slow motion montages actually make running…

Baby Cthulhu sculpture will drive the world to adorable madness

Baby Cthulhu doesn’t wait dreaming. He’s bright-eyed, curly-tentacled, and ready for your squeeing worship. Cassia Harries of Monster Mind Sculpts made this little guy. She cast the original sculpture and will soon have an army of Cutethulhus available for sale. In the meantime, you can check out her artwork on her Facebook page, including these…