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How My Little Pony‘s Equestria resembles Plato’s utopian Republic

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic draws on everything from the musicals of Stephen Sondheim to Lord of the Rings. But is their a classic philosophical touch to the social structure of pony-filled land of Equestria? An essay on the aptly titled site Overthinking It examines the parallels between Equestria and Kallipolis, the titular utopia…

The “Poke” sound bite from Facebook’s new Poke app? Apparently that’s Zuck. [TechCrunch]

How would Joss Whedon’s A Fistful of Wookiees perform at the box office?

We’ve spent a good deal of time speculating about how this writer or that director could make Star Wars: Episode VII a success, but Star Wars: Sequel Debacle Simulatron goes further. This Flash toy lets you pick your perfect Star Wars scriptwriting/directing/acting team and see if it results in Empire Strikes Back-worthy success or if…

The Brazilian iPhone Is Actually an Android Device

iPhone is a powerful name. It conjures up a the vision of a meticulously crafted phone, something that’s a pleasure to hold and pleasant to look at. Most of all it makes you think of an Apple device. Well in Brazil, that’s not necessarily the case. The “iphone” that came out there this week rocks…

Dumb Ways for Zombies to Die: A Musical Tribute to The Walking Dead

Remember Australia Metro Train’s PSA on “Dumb Ways to Die”? Teddie Films used their cheery little death anthem as their jumping off point for a Walking Dead spoof, reminding Walkers to shamble safely, especially when in proximity of Michonne. https://gizmodo.com/an-absurdly-cheerful-music-video-about-all-the-dumbest-5961404 Should we add letting your showrunner leave to that list? https://gizmodo.com/showrunner-glen-mazzara-leaves-the-walking-dead-5970547 [via Design You Trust]

Star Trek portrait pancakes will go where many pancakes have gone before

Pancake artist Nathan Shield of Saipancakes has already delighted us with his mathematic and scientific pancake shapes. More recently, he tried his batter-pouring hand at portraiture, rendering characters from the original Star Trek series in dough. Of course, their mission to explore the human digestive system is already familiar to the pancakes that came before…

Who Doesn’t Need a Remote-Controlled Watermelon?

We’ve got quadcopters and burrito bombers and horrifying, flying hexapods so really, what other kind of new remote-control robot is left to think of? How about a watermelon boat? Never thought of that, right? If you have, seriously, what is going on in your head all day? https://gizmodo.com/all-burritos-should-be-delivered-by-a-bomber-like-this-5966901 The watermelon boat you see here is…

The Best New and Short Webcomics of 2012

Each week, we’ve been looking at webcomics new and old, bringing you some of the best of what we’ve seen online. 2012 brought us a wide range of genre webcomics, from a fanciful tale of an artist and his editor that uses all three spatial dimensions to one of the sweetest fan comics DC has…

Oh, the world didn’t end yesterday? Nutcracker Galactus will take care of that.

Galactus is here to deal with the planetary destruction overlooked in this week’s non-apocalypse. Not only that, he’ll do it in festive attire, imitating a holiday nutcracker. Mike Del Mundo wishes the world a Merry Christmas with this planet-crunching nutcracker piece. https://gizmodo.com/a-very-special-card-wishing-you-happy-maya-non-apocalyp-5970606 He also collaborated with fellow artist Skam Graff on this picture of the…

Memory worms shouldn’t be handled barehanded in the latest Doctor Who Christmas special clips

The BBC has released another couple of clips from the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special. In one, Jenna-Louise Coleman’s Clara learns how Sontarans reproduce and why you should always wear gauntlets when handling a memory worm. [Blogtor Who via Geeks Are Sexy] And here’s a creepy teaser from the episode’s opening: [via Bleeding Cool]

Flickr is Going Free for Three Months to Entice Instagram Deserters

Marissa Mayer and the folks at Yahoo! have a nice little gift for you this holiday season: free Pro Flickr for three months for any and all users, old and new. Surely this is just all in the spirit of holiday cheer and has nothing to do with cleverly making use of another image-sharing service’s…

Family Chaos on My Little Pony plus the horrors of Christmas Cartoon Specials

This week in the world of cartoons…well, I’ll level with ya. Not a lot of new cartoons aired this week due to tweaks in pre-Christmas holiday scheduling. We did, however get new episodes of Tron: Uprising and MLP: Friendship is Magic, as well as a very funny Marvel Mash-Up. The greatest cartoon gift of all…

These Weird Cartoon Faces Are All Drawn By an Algorithm

There’s a certain aspect of human creation, a quaint sort inconsistent imperfection, that most of us tend to think is exclusive to us meatbags. Turns out it’s not; computers can emulate that too, and these weird-looking cartoon faces you could swear were drawn by a five-year-old prove it. The faces are the product of code…

New York Cops Want to Catch Future Mass Shooters Online—Before They Snap

The recent school shooting in Newtown, CT is proving a watershed moment for American gun control efforts—public opinion is quickly coalescing in favor of stringent regulation proposals while civic leaders scramble to respond to the outcry. But fear not New Yorkers, the NYPD has a plan—wait for potential killers to mention their murderous intentions on…

io9’s Ultimate Gift Guide for 2012

Amazing Last-Minute Gifts That You Can Buy Or Make Right Now https://gizmodo.com/amazing-last-minute-gifts-that-you-can-buy-or-make-righ-5970528 Still haven’t finished your Holiday shopping list? Here is a list of items you can purchase online right here, in the stores of make in your home right now. Don’t get deflated by “sold out” signs, this is a list of goodies we…

The SC: Stereoscopic Skateboarders, Feynman’s Flower Ode, and Obvious Observations Are Obvious

KROOK3D Watch world-class skaters like Bobby Worrest, Mark Gonzales, and Mike Anderson throw down impossible tricks in stunning anaglyph 3D. Yes, you will need a pair of those red-blue 3D glasses. If you don’t own a pair, make a pair. “Nie musze wracac” – Pezet x Jimek I have no idea who these guys are…

Moog Just Made Its Gnarly iPad Synthesizer App Way Better

Released last year, Animoog was a triumph for Moog Music. The synthesizer app was a powerful digital tool built by legends of analog instrument design. https://gizmodo.com/moog-just-crammed-an-incredible-analog-synth-into-an-ap-5850625 Beyond capturing the classic Moog sound, the parameters of the Animoog’s sonics seemed almost infinitely tweakable without having overly complicated controls. The interface took full advantage of a touchscreen’s…

This Week’s Top Comedy Video: Samuel L. Jackson and Anne Hathaway Have a Sad-Off

This Christmas, you’ll have your pick of not one but two righteously depressing movies hitting the theaters. But between Django Unchained and Les Miserables, who’s the saddest sack of all? Samuel L. Jackson and Anne Hathaway try to settle this once and for all. To be honest, the answer probably comes down to how well…

Male Peacocks Get Laid By Getting Laid

Duke University has studied the mating habits of peacocks to find out the logic behind why males make a noise called a “hoot dash” before they, you know, do it. And the reason turns out to be pretty funny: The best way for a dude peacock to attract a lady peacock is to first fornicate…

Nine Stubborn Nail Houses Giving the Finger to Redevelopment

The wheels of progress may turn slowly but they don’t ever stop, as these nine landlords have learned the hard way. Our friends at Oobject have assembled the best examples of what resisting gentrification gets you. Be sure to also check out these 16 bamboo scaffolds, some extreme Vietnamese street cables, and this guide to…