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New Zealand Police Blamed for Kim Dotcom’s Illegal Surveillance

The case of Megaupload’s founder Kim Dotcom gets odder by the day, with the latest official documents revealing that the police simply didn’t know, or didn’t bother checking, if Kim Dotcom was a New Zealand citizen or not. The newest twist reveals that the Government Communications Security Bureau, New Zealand’s monitoring/spying department, asked the Organized…

Do Phones Need to Come With Chargers These Days?

UK carrier O2 is taking a pretty bold step: an as-yet-unannounced new HTC handset that it’s selling will come without a charger in the box. O2 claims it’s an attempt to be more environmentally friendly, but maybe it’s just the future. Gone are the days of dedicated, all-in-one chargers. These days all you really need…

The Font on Your Car’s Dash Might Increase Your Risk of Crashing

Drivers beware: new research from MIT’s Age Lab suggests that a badly chosen typeface for your dashboard can worsen distraction and increase your chance of crashing. The researchers have been trying to work out which commonly used dashboard fonts are easiest to read at a glance, and how they affect driver distraction. Turns out that…

Etsy’s ponied up $250,000 to give free Google Shopping advertising to its US sellers. Can’t make that at home. [Etsy]

Nook HD Hands On: Is Having the Best Display Enough?

Here’s Barnes and Noble’s rebuttal to the Kindle Fire HD: The 7-inch Nook HD and the 9-inch Nook HD+. This is B&N’s frontline offensive against Amazon, as well as the rush of smaller tablets muscling in on the turf it tried to stake out. Does it have a chance? After spending a little time with…

What Happens When You Add Color to Iconic Black and White Photos?

It’s a little disorienting, to say the least. The best way I can describe the addition of color to famous black and white photos is that it looks more like a frame from a movie scene, than snapshot of real life. A little unreal. It’s obviously not as hilarious as uncropped iconic photos but adding…

NYT: Google Will Release Google Maps for iOS By the End of the Year

Corroborating an earlier report, the New York Times is reporting that Google is currently developing Google Maps for iOS and hopes to finish it by the end of the year. So iPhone owners running iOS 6, get used to the mixed up world of Apple Maps for the next couple of months. https://gizmodo.com/apple-didnt-have-to-make-apple-maps-yet-it-still-had-a-5946435 Why the…

Apple Can’t Trademark Its Music Icon Because Of… MySpace

In a hilarious court ruling, Apple got denied a trademark on its orange music icon (the one that’s on iOS devices) because trademark judges said consumers might confuse the logo with one owned by MySpace. Hah! Yes, My_____ or ____space or whatever it’s going to be these days, is screwing with Apple’s plans. Take a…

Google Maps Has Freaking Amazing Underwater Street View Now

While we point and laugh at Apple Maps for being subpar and screwed up, Google just announced underwater Street View. Well, sort of announced. TechCrunch reports that the new underwater Street View—which is beautiful—is now available for taking a peek of the Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii and the Philippines. Google partnered with The Catlin Seaview…

The Best Way to See If the iPhone 5 Scratches Is to Scratch the Hell Out of It Inside the Apple Store

I’m totally not suggesting that you do this yourself but if you’re so very worried about scratching the iPhone 5 and/or a close follower of scuffgate, or whatever they call it these days, know this: stuff scratches. Especially stuff made from aluminum. The iPhone 5 is no different. Does it suck to have scratches on…

Madness is worse than magic when it comes to distorting reality, on Warehouse 13

Last night’s Warehouse 13 episode featured something like five different storylines running concurrently, culminating in a single terrible — but not entirely surprising — revelation. And a shocking denouement. For all the artifacts on Warehouse 13 have the power to transform people and reshape the fabric of reality, the worst thing that can happen to…

This Hat Will Never Lose Its Shape Because It Cannot Be Crushed

The Crushable Baseball Cap is designed to hold its shape no matter where you put it, cram it, fold it, crush it and so forth. Any amount of abuse and it’s still going to look like a baseball cap. If you’ve tried to pack your hats before, you’d know how deformed, dented and even demented…

What Did You Do with Your Old iPhone?

Now that you’ve spent a lustful weekend filled with heavy breathing, groping, and maybe even licking the iPhone 5, you can’t go back to your old iPhone anymore. So what do you guys usually do with it? Sell it to some poor sap on Craigslist? Use it as an iPod? Hand it down to relatives?…

The Remarkably Detailed Art of Taxidermy

The Hall of North American Mammals is one of the American Museum of Natural History’s most iconic exhibits, thanks to its stunningly presented animal models. In this brief but informative video, senior museum artist Stephen C. Quinn describes some of the lesser-known methods that taxidermists use in preparing these specimens for display. For instance: stuffing…

This is the greatest Star Wars-related magazine cover of all time

This honor goes to the October 1977 issue of Dirt Bike magazine, which had an authoritative Darth Vader looming large over his trusty dirt bike, “Droid.” The fact that such a pairing never made it to The Empire Strikes Back just reeks of wasted potential. This image comes to us courtesy of the Star Wars…

Apple Didn’t Have to Make Apple Maps Yet—It Still Had a Year Left on Its Google Maps Contract

Why did Apple kill Google Maps from iOS and make its own maps? The logical thinking was some combination of getting Google off iOS and Apple and Google’s Google Maps contract agreement being over. That’s only half true. Apple still could’ve used Google maps for another year under their current agreement, Apple just decided to…

How should healthcare providers respond when their patients say they’re waiting for a miracle?

Back in 2007, a survey found that 79% of Americans still believe in miracles. Of those surveyed, 60% of the public and 20% of trauma professionals believed patients in a permanent coma can be saved by a miracle. Taking these surprising figures into account, what are healthcare providers supposed to do when patients and families…

Book-Shelf or Reading Chair? The Choice Is Yours.

Everyone loves the aesthetic of an unorganized pile of books. The Once Upon a Time bookshelf, by Fabio Vinella, is just that, but certainly much better looking. Once Upon a Time, a beautifully built walnut bookshelf, features a useful platform that can be home to a reading lamp, or made into a seat if you…

Andy Serkis goes full-on Gollum while reading The Hobbit out loud

In celebration The Hobbit’s75 anniversary, Peter Jackson’s Gollum (and The Hobbit’s Second Unit Director) Andy Serkis popped by to terrify a bunch of children while reading from J.R.R.Tolkien’s works. It’s adorable and horrifying — but mostly super sweet to see such a massive actor commit 100% to such a crazy character for a bunch of…

For $1,200, two handguns sculpted out of dead cats’ bones

Who remembers that disgusting bone pistol from David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ ? If you’re in the market for something similar, New Zealand artist Bruce Mahalski and jeweler Vaune Mason are offering a duo of bone pistols for the starting price of $1,500 New Zealand Dollars (a smidge over $1,200 American dollars): Two bone dueling pistols (with spare…