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It’s OK: We All Want a Pair of New Nike Free Trainers

Nike just dropped version 3.0 of its impossibly cool, colorful sneaker, the Nike Free. And even though they’re men’s trainers, I’m totally jonesing for a pair. Frees are cool shoes because even though they’re for all-around training, they’re more than passable as streetwear. These Nike sneakers are lightweight at just nine ounces, breathable and they’re…

Tech News Leslie Horn Dec 11 '12

Twitter vs. Instagram: Ultimate Filter Battle Royale

Twitter and Instagram want you to decide between the two of them. They used to be very different, but as of today, you can use them both to apply faux-vintage filters to your pictures. But only one can be the best. It’s not exactly a fair fight—Instagram boasts more than double the filters of Twitter…

Tech News Sam Biddle Dec 11 '12

Anything Sounds Cool If It’s Said In A Creamy English Accent

It’s really true. You can narrate anything in a smooth English accent, and it sounds awesome. It’s like spreading brie all over your frontal cortex, eliminating all of your B.S.-detectors. Someone with an English accent is saying it, so it must be brilliant. Right? Top: X-Men: Patrick Stewart could tell us to jump off a…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

What The Hell Are You Talking About, Crazy Announcer?

You know a science fiction movie is going to be totally absurd and balls-to-the-wall when it starts off with a voiceover that just throws a giant ball of crazy at your head. Someone who is trying not to giggle gives a little speech about how there was a guy named Zaark 795, and he rose…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

You Can’t Have An Apocalypse Without A Gloomy Voiceover

It’s just the law of apocalypses: You can’t feature the destruction of all (or most) life on Earth, without throwing in a gloomy monologue explaining exactly how we blew it all to hell. It’s the way things work around here. Typically, these monologues include scenes of devastation as well as a droning voice talking about…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

Science Fiction Movies That Start With Deep Personal Monologues

Some science fiction movies start out with a more personal touch — one character giving an internal monologue about their feelings. Either it’s a character being introspective, or it’s some kind of noir deal, where the person talks about their pain in a hardcore, tough-guy way. Here are some of our faves: Top: Red Planet:…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

Could you live in this futuristic, ultra-tiny apartment?

Instead of creating taller buildings to cope with skyrocketing urban populations, city planners are proposing tiny “micro-apartments” of just a few hundred square feet. A measure in San Francisco proposes to create hundreds of these apartments, which could increase the population in some neighborhoods by 35 percent. A similar measure would allow micro-apartments in New…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 11 '12

Voiceovers That Turn Into Conversations, And Weird Voiceover Spoofs

This is sort of a catch-all for two categories that didn’t quite deserve their own pages: monologues that start out as a voiceover, and then turn into someone talking to the camera; and voiceovers that are just sort of demented, silly or satirical. They’re both a bit different from your standard science fiction voiceover, in…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

In The Year 2727, Some Messed Up Shit Happened!

Perhaps my favorite kind of opening voiceover is the kind where the narrator starts out by intoning, “In the year 2027, we realized we had gone out of the house without any lower garments, and the Earth was reduced to rubble as a result. The survivors lived in caves, eating scraps of jerky. Until one…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

Here’s a USB Drive in a Deep Fryer Because Hey Why Not

There’s probably a term you learn if you’re an econ major to describe the point at which your product is so similar to every competitive product that you deep fry it in order to differentiate. Here it is. LaCie makes great portable storage stuff—hard drives, flash drives, and the like. Their little XtremKey is a…

Tech News Sam Biddle Dec 11 '12

Things From Thomas More’s Utopia That Have Come True Today

You probably think we’ll never actually live in Utopia — because Utopia is a perfect society that can never be achieved in real life. But think again. Thomas More’s Utopia, the book that gave us the word for a perfect society in the first place, contains a large number of somewhat wacky descriptions of how…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 11 '12

Win a $150 Gift Card to Best Buy, Upgrade Your Man Cave

Or your lady cave. Take the equal-opportunity, one-question survey located down below, and you could win a $150 gift certificate to Best Buy. Just email the last question to [email protected] with “Best Buy Gift Card Contest” as the subject line. You could get new speakers, or a TV, and finally have the “alone time space”…

Tech News Sponsored post Dec 11 '12

A Futuristic Golf Game in the Sky

This is the twelfth in a 24-part series looking at every episode of The Jetsons TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 12th episode of “The Jetsons” originally aired in the U.S. on December 9, 1962 and was titled “Astro’s Top Secret.” Personally, this is my least favorite episode in the entire series. It…

Tech News Matt Novak Dec 11 '12

Earth’s oldest trees are almost unfathomably ancient

We can’t get enough of this stunning piece of arboreal data visualization. Created by Vienna-based graphic designer Michæl Paukner, the interwoven lines of this chart connect over 20 of the world’s oldest trees and clonal colonies to their geographic origins. Pictured above: Paukner’s chart, bookended by a photo of Old Tjikko (at left) and Sri…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 11 '12

8 Easy Christmas Trees For the Festive But Lazy

There’s a reason the holidays are often referred to as the most wonderful time of the year. The decorations, the lights, the presents, and the food all come together to make it outshine all the other holidays of the year combined. But do you know the one thing that can make Christmas even more wonderful?…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Dec 11 '12

First Trailer for Gore Verbinski’s Lone Ranger: The Lone Ranger is a zombie?

Here’s the first ever trailer for Gore Verbinski’s Lone Ranger, which is a bit darker and much more supernatural than we expected. Turns out Armie Hammer is a Spirit Walker (a man who can not be killed in battle, and has been to the “other side”). Second big surprise? Johnny Depp doesn’t completely walk away…

Trailers Meredith Woerner Dec 11 '12

Here’s What It Looks Like When NYC Builds a Brand New Subway Tunnel

New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority is extending the 7 subway line into far west Manhattan. It won’t open until summer 2014 (hopefully), but today the MTA showed off some of its progress. Just so we remember that it’s actually a thing that is going to happen and the MTA isn’t just playing a joke. Photos:…

Tech News Leslie Horn Dec 11 '12

What the Strange Symbols on Your Gadgets Mean

On the back side of most gadgets, there’s a string of hieroglyphs that look like the bottom line on the eye chart from hell. But this mishmash of symbols and letters is actually essential to international trade. Here’s what each one means and why it’s on there. Underwriters Laboratories is an independent, non-profit “safety science…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 11 '12

These iPod Touches and Android Alternative Are Your Casual-Gaming-Nirvana Deal of the Day

Sorry Nintendo! Apple’s iPod Touch is now the best casual gaming platform in existence. Sam pointed it out in his gift guide for hardcore gamers, but the iPod Touch appeals to pretty much everyone (except those with an iPhone.) Lots of kids are going to freak out when they get one this holiday, and I…

Tech News Kif Leswing Dec 11 '12

What Does Space Travel Do to Your Mind? NASA’s Resident Psychiatrist Reveals All.

Space travel is tough on the human body. But what does it do to the human mind? Gary Beven, a space psychiatrist at NASA, answers our questions about how humans adapt to space, and what we have to do to go to Mars. Doctor Gary Beven has to have one of the most surprising careers…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 11 '12

It’s OK: We All Want a Pair of New Nike Free Trainers

Twitter vs. Instagram: Ultimate Filter Battle Royale

Anything Sounds Cool If It’s Said In A Creamy English Accent

What The Hell Are You Talking About, Crazy Announcer?

You Can’t Have An Apocalypse Without A Gloomy Voiceover

Science Fiction Movies That Start With Deep Personal Monologues

Could you live in this futuristic, ultra-tiny apartment?

Voiceovers That Turn Into Conversations, And Weird Voiceover Spoofs

In The Year 2727, Some Messed Up Shit Happened!

Here’s a USB Drive in a Deep Fryer Because Hey Why Not

Things From Thomas More’s Utopia That Have Come True Today

Win a $150 Gift Card to Best Buy, Upgrade Your Man Cave

A Futuristic Golf Game in the Sky

Earth’s oldest trees are almost unfathomably ancient

8 Easy Christmas Trees For the Festive But Lazy

First Trailer for Gore Verbinski’s Lone Ranger: The Lone Ranger is a zombie?

Here’s What It Looks Like When NYC Builds a Brand New Subway Tunnel

What the Strange Symbols on Your Gadgets Mean

These iPod Touches and Android Alternative Are Your Casual-Gaming-Nirvana Deal of the Day

What Does Space Travel Do to Your Mind? NASA’s Resident Psychiatrist Reveals All.

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