Latest

So Long, Open Web: Mozilla Accepts Closed Source DRM and We All Lose

It’s official: the last holdout for the open web has fallen. Flanked on all sides by Google, Microsoft, Opera, and (it appears) Safari’s support and promotion of the EME DRM-in-HTML standard, Mozilla is giving in to pressure from Hollywood, Netflix, et al, and will be implementing its own third-party version of DRM. It will be…

Comcast Reckons All Its Users Will Be Data Capped in 5 Years Time

A Comcast executive has said that the company expects to implement usage-based billing—that’s data caps to you and me—for all of its customers within the next five years. The news came out of a call with investors yesterday. In fact, Comcast already applies data caps in some areas—including parts of Alabama, Georgia, Central Kentucky, Maine…

The BMW i8 commercials are as beautiful as the car itself

These BMW i8 ads could be just another car commercialshot in an abandoned road in the middle of the desert, but when you hire an auteur film director like Gus Van Sant—Good Will Hunting, Elephant—those cliches transform into art. A trio of ads—featuring actors Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire), Sam Hazeldine (Resurrection) and Mickey Sumner (Frances…

HTC One Mini 2: Like a Small M8, But Not a Small M8

As if you were ever in any doubt of its existence, HTC’s officially lifted the covers off the HTC One Mini 2, its leading pint-sized phone for 2014. But, as its name suggests, it’s not quite as feature-rich as this year’s One M8 flagship, with the company instead presenting it as a direct successor to…

Look at the NSA Implanting Backdoors into Intercepted Electronics

We’ve known for months that the NSA has penchant for intercepting packages containing commercial electronic equipment to implant backdoors in them. Now, there are images which show what that process looks like. A new trove of documents, released alongside Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide, show what the NSA does when it gets its…

Can A $1 Cat Food Can Beat A $140 Backpacking Stove?

Can an old can of Fancy Feast cook food faster than an expensive, complicated backpacking stove? Let’s find out. Fancy Feast Alcohol Stove Pros: The Fancy Feast alcohol stove can be made for $1.49 — including the price of a paper hole punch. Ounce-for-ounce and dollar-for-dollar, it’s the lightest and cheapest backpacking stove that you…

Google is making a push to show Glass as a great tool for travel with the addition of TripIt, Foursquare, and Open Table apps for the $1,500 face computer (that’s in addition to Field Trip, Word Lens, Google Now, Search and Maps). Looks like they’re actually trying to sell it.

Bike racing is even cooler with anime effects

After watching the opening title for Sky Italia’s MotoGP 2014 races coverage, I really wish there was a button on my remote to add anime effects to every program out there. It’s so cool. The animation was created by Alessandro Durando, Daniele Gavatorta, Lorenzo Levrero, Eleonora Bertolucci, Fabio Ramiro Rossin, and Dylan Spears, from media…

What a Savages Concert Looks Like Through a Welder’s Mask (NSFW)

Between the light display, the gyrating performers, the overwhelming wall of sound, and that 1/8th of shrooms you just gobbled, sitting through a full concert without freaking out can be hard these days. But with director Giorgio Testi’s wickedly tight cropping, your eyes and mind stay focused right where they should be—on the master class…

Two skyscrapers joined by a bridge that is a swimming pool

Being a huge fan of pools I can’t believe I missed this 50-meter-long swimmable bridge between two condo towers in Singapore. Living at the 574-apartment, 38-story-tall Sky Habitat would be my idea of hell, but I’d love to have a friend there to enjoy that roof and swim through that bridge. The mixed-use building is…

What the human body looks like at 100 years old

Photographer Anastasia Pottinger has a powerful photo series called Centenarians that reveals what the human body looks like at 100 years old. It’s a remarkable achievement to live so long and the marks of age are well worn on the oldest people on the planet. The photos are taken of nude 100 year olds in…

There Are Mechs in These Mountains

Sometimes, if you climb high enough, you’ll find an old, wandering mech in the snowy folds of the mountains. They’re still vigilant, still watching the skies, still reliving those long-ago decades when the Klaag invaded Earth with their massive synthetic lifeforms. This lonely mech is the creation of Kelly Christophers, a visual effects artist at…

How to make a truly grilled grilled cheese sandwich

Grilled cheese sandwiches are usually a simple slapping combination of bread and cheese but the result is never as delicious as you imagine. Alton Brown has another way to make a grilled cheese sandwich that is truly grilled and looks absolutely fantastic. Watch him walk you through the process. He’s pretty much reinventing the wheel…

Santa Ana Winds, Fire Tornados, and the California Fires

After months of drought, summer is starting with fires in southern California. The fires are being amplified by adiabatic winds, with smoke cyclone and fire tornadoes spinning out of the flames. Here’s the atmospheric science to go along with the breaking-news coverage of evacuations and burned acreage. Wildfire approaching homes in San Marcos, California. Image…

That Time George W. Bush Lived in Compton

A 4-year-old boy recreating fashion poses is just adorable

I think we’ve met the cutest 4-year-old boy that has ever existed. Or, if not the cutest, at least the coolest. But, if not the coolest, then definitely the most stylish. His name is Ryker and he recreates fashion poses to adorable success. Just look at him, he looks like he belongs on the cover…

Man Gives Himself A Tattoo By Letting 1,000 Bed Bugs Feed On Him

Letting a swarm of hungry bed bugs feed on your arm sounds squirm-inducingly unpleasant, but this entomologist decided to have a little fun with it. He gave himself a temporary tattoo while giving his bed bugs a nice big meal. It’s making us itch just thinking about it, but when his lab had a jar…

Shooting Baboons With Africa’s Last Hunter-Gatherers

Africa’s last full-time hunter-gatherers live in Tanzania. Gareth Wishart spent a month living with them. This tale is drawn from that experience. — Ed. Never has the phrase “torn to pieces” been so relevant to me. We had woken up to the warm African sun heating our bones and headed straight into some of the…

This impressive space illustration was made with 100 aerial photos

Rio de Janeiro-based Lightfarm Brasil is producing some really amazing illustrations for advertising companies. This one, inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, is just a test to show off their impressive talent. This video shows how it was made: Thank you for sharing, Lightfarm. Obrigado! SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff.…

The sad, beautiful, and a bit scary tale of the Phantom Limb

Phantom Limb is a beautifully crafted short film written, directed and animated by Alex Grigg. “In the aftermath of an accident a young couple learn to deal with phantom pains,” the description reads. It’s a sad little tale selected for the Sundance Film Festival that is worth four minutes of your life. SPLOID is a…