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This Is What Happens When You Fight a Five-Alarm Fire in Single-Digit Weather

Firefighting is an extremely dangerous job on par with helicopter linemen and DC pizza delivery boys. But when fighting a Chicago-area warehouse inferno earlier today, crews had to endure both fire and ice caused by temperatures hovering just above 0 degrees F. Check out shots of the fire’s aftermath over at WSJ. Images: AP Photo/Charles…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Jan 23 '13

Your Chance to See John Dies at the End for Free in San Francisco!

The gonzo adventure movie John Dies at the End opens in limited release on Friday, but it’s not coming to San Francisco and Berkeley until February 8. Except that a few lucky io9 readers can get passes to a free preview screening this Wednesday, Jan. 30, at the Embarcadero Cinema. Just go to this Eventbrite…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Jan 23 '13

You Want a Cast Iron Teapot on a Freezing Day Like Today

It’s cold as hell today. Seriously, frigid enough that the wind hurts your face. That’s why today we’re longing for a piping cup of hot tea, and this cast iron Ciacapo Teapot ($100) will keep your drinks warm for hours because it’s super heavy and thick. The heavy-duty pot is beautiful—an old fashioned style with…

Tech News Leslie Horn Jan 23 '13

Where Memes Really Come From

Though history will probably remember Richard Dawkins as the activist who spearheaded a new atheist movement, there is something far more famous and important that he invented — and few people know it. He is the guy who first popularized the idea of the meme, way back in the 1970s. That’s right. Dawkins is indirectly…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 23 '13

Apple Sold More iPhones and iPads Than It Ever Has, And Somehow That’s a Disappointment

Apple’s first quarter earnings are in. According to Bloomberg News, Apple made $13.1 billion in profit on $54.1 billion in revenue. It sold an absurd 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads—both records. Somehow, this is a disappointment. Apple has been fighting off rumors of lagging interest in its products—iPhone and iPad specifically—for weeks now.…

Tech News Kyle Wagner Jan 23 '13

Every Apple.com Homepage From the Last 15 Years

I was looking at screenshots of Apple.com’s former homepages (using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine) and decided to compile them into a slideshow. With the exception of Apple’s homepage in 1997, it’s pretty remarkable how little the core design has changed. After 15 years, the layout of Apple.com is still the same: prominently feature the…

Tech News Charlie Hoehn Jan 23 '13

The Sad, Stupid State of Airplane Travel

Let me tell you something that happened last Sunday, the story of Wynand Mullings and his t-shirt. Mullins boarded a Qantas flight with a funny t-shirt that said “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” the universally known quote from the universally beloved and widely watched The Princess Bride. But…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Jan 23 '13

Burn Silicon Valley to The Ground (NSFW)

What you’re about to watch is a real video advertisement created by a real venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, ostensibly a real place in the United States. If you didn’t hate the startup world before, you’ll now instantly die. According to TechCrunch, Runa Capital is “a $135M technology-focused venture capital firm” that’s invested in…

Tech News Sam Biddle Jan 23 '13

Court Says You Can’t Ban Sex Offenders From Social Networks

The 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an Indiana law, which bans sex offenders from using social networking sites just because children are on them, is unconstitutional. The AP reports that the decision overturns a previous federal decision upholding the law. The circuit found that while there are legitimate concerns about the…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Jan 23 '13

What I’ve Learned From 5 Years of Arguing on the Internet

I can still remember my first internet argument. It was on Usenet, when I was 14 or 15, and it was over some finer point of Doctor Who lore, like how exactly the Chameleon Circuit was supposed to work. I posted an impassioned rant, and then watched in amazement as people started sending their responses.…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jan 23 '13

This is the largest collection of planetarium projectors in the world

The Planetarium Projector Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of old school planetarium projectors. Museum owner Owen Phairis (who, when he’s not overseeing his collection, plays Nikola Tesla in an electrical stage show called “Man of Lightning”) has been obsessed with the machines ever since he visited the Hayden Planetarium as a child…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jan 23 '13

Yes, Of Course The Guy Who Made This Awful App Is a Virgin

Playbook is a stupid skeezy app that lets you brag to your bros about your hookups, inserting ratings and degrading commentary along the way. What’s not to love? So, we thought this was a joke at first. We looked up the Whois record, fully expecting it to be registered to Frucci or something, and instead…

Tech News Leslie Horn Jan 23 '13

We could be watching The CW’s answer to The Hunger Games this fall

On paper, The CW’s show The Selection sounds like a slam dunk: a TV version of Hunger Games, set 300 years in the future, where the reward for winning is to marry a handsome prince. But when The CW actually filmed a pilot last year, the results were apparently not satisfactory — perhaps not surprising,…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Jan 23 '13

This Is the Future of Video on Twitter

In October of last year, Twitter picked up a little video clip company called “Vine” before it even got the chance to launch. Now it’s finally being folded into Twitter, and CEO Dick Costolo is showing it off. As you can see, the upcoming functionality will allow users to embed auto-playing GIF-like videos right into…

Tech News Eric Limer Jan 23 '13

Dwayne Johnson is producing a movie based on this DeviantArt Illustration

DeviantArt is home to thousands of online illustrations, designs and doodles, but now it’s inspired a movie! Alex Panagopoulos’ fantastic depiction of what happens to our Teddy Bears once we’ve gone to sleep has inspired actor Dwayne Johnson produce a full feature film. THR is reporting that New Line has purchased the rights to the…

Movies Meredith Woerner Jan 23 '13

The Sims 3 Is Your Why-Are-My-People-Crying Deal of the Day

Although The Sims 3 came out in 2009, folks are still buying it today. It’s partly because new graphics and downloadable content continues to come out for the popular people-growing game. Some of the new DLC is awesome — outfits from the 70s and 80s, or seasons, or vampires — and it certainly adds a…

Tech News Kif Leswing Jan 23 '13

G.I. Joe: Retaliation would like to remind you that it’s chock full of ninjas

Now that they’ve converted the film to 3-D and (reportedly) increased its Channing Tatum levels, Paramount needs to remind people that the G.I. Joe movie sequel Retaliation is actually coming out on March 29th (unless they decide to postpone it again at the last second). Step one: 1) this new trailer, full of new footage…

Trailers Rob Bricken Jan 23 '13

Everything You Need to Know About Running In the Cold

“Damn, it’s freezing. I know I said I’d go for a run, but in this cold it’s probably unhealthy, right?” Sound familiar? It’s this line of reasoning that keeps me on the couch, watching Downton Abbey, crying into my nachos. But is running in cold weather actually unhealthy, or is it just a flimsy excuse?…

Health Brent Rose Jan 23 '13

No New Doctor Who Episodes Between This Spring and the Anniversary Special!

Doctor Who used to have a pretty aggressive schedule, showing 13 episodes a year plus a Christmas special during the Eccleston and Tennant seasons. But ever since Steven Moffat took over running the show, the pace of new episodes has been slowing. We only had five episodes, plus the Christmas special, in 2012. And now,…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Jan 23 '13

Damn This Lunar Rover Video Is Fun

Watch as Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charlie Duke have a blast driving the lunar rover around the moon. According to NASA, the 16mm film became known as the “lunar rover Grand Prix”. Make sure to expand to full screen and turn on the HD option. [NASA via Kottke]

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Jan 23 '13

This Is What Happens When You Fight a Five-Alarm Fire in Single-Digit Weather

Your Chance to See John Dies at the End for Free in San Francisco!

You Want a Cast Iron Teapot on a Freezing Day Like Today

Where Memes Really Come From

Apple Sold More iPhones and iPads Than It Ever Has, And Somehow That’s a Disappointment

Every Apple.com Homepage From the Last 15 Years

The Sad, Stupid State of Airplane Travel

Burn Silicon Valley to The Ground (NSFW)

Court Says You Can’t Ban Sex Offenders From Social Networks

What I’ve Learned From 5 Years of Arguing on the Internet

This is the largest collection of planetarium projectors in the world

Yes, Of Course The Guy Who Made This Awful App Is a Virgin

We could be watching The CW’s answer to The Hunger Games this fall

This Is the Future of Video on Twitter

Dwayne Johnson is producing a movie based on this DeviantArt Illustration

The Sims 3 Is Your Why-Are-My-People-Crying Deal of the Day

G.I. Joe: Retaliation would like to remind you that it’s chock full of ninjas

Everything You Need to Know About Running In the Cold

No New Doctor Who Episodes Between This Spring and the Anniversary Special!

Damn This Lunar Rover Video Is Fun

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