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A Guide To Surviving Your First Burning Man

It’s been almost a year since my first trip to Black Rock City and I’m pretty sure that I’m no longer carrying any playa dust on my body. As that magical week approaches, I’ve been seeing first hand and virtually all the chatter and preparation my fellow Burners are going through for their trip “home”.…

One of the best live medleys in the history of rock ‘n’ roll

Sometimes you don’t need striking imagery to make a great music video. You just need David Bowie and the camera of a documentarist like D. A. Pennebaker, who filmed Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture. This scene in particular is one of the best medleys in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. The only problem when…

This Sneaker Is an Homage to an Eames Chair

This sleek-looking Nike trainer isn’t real (yet), but it ought be. Because while it looks like a piece of footwear from the future, it is in fact a homage to furniture from the past. The brainchild of French designer Ora-Ïto, the shoe pays tribute to Modernist furniture designers Charles and Ray Eames—and in particular their…

The Modern-Day Loop of Infinite Self-Distraction

When you’re sat at your computer gazing at its screen it’s easy to get bored and start looking at a smaller screen until you get bored and start looking at a computer screen and then get bored and… This is the modern-day infinite loop of self-distraction. But, as Randall Munroe points out, there’s nothing particularly…

Google’s Voice Search App Will Now Understand Five Languages At Once

When it came to choosing a language to do a voice search with in the Google Search app, you were spoiled for choice. You could speak over 50 languages — anything from Arabic to Italian — and Google would still understand you. The problem was, you could only choose one language at a time. Until…

Looks like the rumor mill was right. Windows 9 will finally be unveiled to the public on September 30 at a press event. Not only will Microsoft highlight the new features in the next version of Windows codenamed “Threshold” — virtual desktops! Cortana! A new Start menu! No more Charms! — it will also release…

Into The Amazon: What To Do When Attacked By A Poo Bat

In part three of this series, Laurel actually gets into the Amazon, taking a swim after a reported lack of caiman sightings. That was after finding dozens of the world’s most venomous spiders and prior to a close encounter with ayahuasca. The spider above my head is as big as my hand, squatting on an…

Twitter Might Start Attaching Promoted Media To Your Hashtags

Seriously, what’s up with Twitter trying to actively piss us off? Since last week, it has been stuffing our timelines with tweets from people we don’t follow. And now, it might just use a hashtag in your tweet to attach promotional content to your message. A promotion for Selfie, ABC’s new TV comedy that premieres…

Seeing F1 cars race in thermal vision is so freaking cool

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that racing F1 cars is pretty much insanity. The ridiculous speeds, the punishing G-forces and not to mention the beasts of a machine they call cars. But when you look at a F1 car under thermal vision, you’ll never forget how scary it is: they’re driving fire breathing monsters. FLIR…

Here Are The First Images Of The Moto X+1

Behold the “X+1”, the sequel to Motorola’s critically acclaimed Moto X. These press images were leaked by retiring leaker @evleaks aka Evan Blass as a “retirement gift” and confirm the poorly-lit images we saw on Android Police last month. The X+1 seems to sport dual camera flashes, a wooden back option, and front-facing speakers like…

Video replaces the sounds in Game of Thrones with old video game sounds

If you think there’s too much violence and sex and awful human behavior in Game of Thrones, you’ll enjoy this light hearted remix where all the sounds of the show are replaced with old school video game noises. If you like Game of Thrones already, you’ll like the video because it’s more Game of Thrones.…

How an alien race may transform barren worlds into living paradises

It starts ominously. A robot spacecraft flies into a planet’s atmosphere and embeds itself into the ground. Scouts are sent off to test the planet’s resources and presumably suck the planet dry. I’ve seen this movie about robot uprisings and the hijacking of Earth too many times. Luckily, this short isn’t one of them. Directed…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Rafting Through Strange Waters

This lone traveler is coasting through the waters, seemingly unaware of what lurks below. Or are they? And are the creatures of the deep friends or fiends? Tell us your story inspired by this image. “Sailing” is by the artist Alexandra Petruk, discovered via r/SpecArt. As always, we invite you to come up with your…

The Journalistic Exploits of Mr. Poon… Er, Jane Doe… I Mean, Fletch

Dr. Rosenpenis. Dr. Rosenrosen. Dr. Rosen. John Cocktoston. Mr. Poon. Arnold Babar. Jane Doe. Ted Nugent. Fletch F. Fletch. They’re all the same man: Irwin M. Fletcher. Goes by Fletch. He’s actually 6’5″, with an afro 6’9″, and if you spend the night with him he will make you very happy. For my money, this…

The British Library Unveils a New Show Devoted to Gothic Literature

Two hundred rare objects will trace 250 years of Gothic literature, in the British Library’s forthcoming exhibition, Terror and Wonder. Dave McKean has designed this image to promote the event, inspired by Frankenstein, Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “Dave’s artwork brilliantly captures the drama and intensity of the Gothic…

How Good Is A Shark’s Eyesight?

Some of the shark senses — particularly smell, taste, and hearing — are famously sharp. But around one sense, vision, the debate has been much more muddled. So just how well does a shark really see? Shark biologists Lisa Natanson and Cami McCandless from NOAA’s Apex Predator Program joined us today to take our questions…

What Was a Truly Original Story Idea That Degenerated into Clichés?

There is nothing more frustrating than a science fiction or fantasy story that starts out in a brilliantly original way … only to fall apart in a mess of overused, tropey awfulness. What movie, TV series, or book disappointed you in this way? You need to warn the rest of us! Post pictures, video, or…

The Real Talent Behind Iggy’s “Fancy” and Icona Pop’s “I Love It”

Unless you’ve been living vacuum-sealed under a rock on the ocean floor, the hook to Song of the Summer 2014 “Fancy” has surely wormed its way into your ear. And last summer, you couldn’t walk into a party without “I Love It” blasting to the stratosphere. These two insidiously catchy songs have one thing in…

These Tiny Stickers Want To Connect Your Belongings To the Internet

Raise your hand if you’re a little bit sick of hearing about the Internet of Things and how it’s going to change everybody’s lives, like, tomorrow. It’s been a slow and frustrating process to watch so many products make big promises and so few live up to them. Estimote’s latest promise, however, has me intrigued.…

A Comedy About A Nuclear Engineer Shot In A Real Cold War Missile Silo

The real-life missile silo setting really helps make this short film something special. A nuclear engineer lets his art hobby get in the way of his job—but when something goes awry, it may just save him. Writer and director David Soll, who produces political ads as his day job, funded Silo through a successful Kickstarter…