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Facebook Now Responsible for 25% of Hooker Hookups

There was once a time when you actually had to leave your home to get a prostitute. And what a long, seedy walk to the docks or brothel or alley behind Denny’s it was. Now? Facebook does it for you! According to Columbia University sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh, of the 290 New York City prostitutes…

Social Media Sam Biddle Feb 4

Adapting My Pandora Preferences Based On My Completely Objective Opinions About Music

Don’t you just love how much Pandora knows about you and your taste in music, and the terrible memories from your past it conjures up based on a magical algorithm? So does McSweeney’s Sarah Rosenshine. “One (Is The Loneliest Number)” THREE DOG NIGHT Thanks, Pandora! But I’m going to have to say “No” on this…

Tech News Sarah Rosenshine - McSweeney's Feb 2

New Yorkers Could Be Fined $100 For Yapping on Cellphones While Street-Crossing

This isn’t the first time Senator Karl Kruger‘s proposed a ban on cellphone-use and listening to MP3 players when crossing the street. The motion didn’t get passed in 2007, so let’s hope the same happens again. [CBS via Gawker] https://gizmodo.com/ipod-and-cellphone-ban-coming-to-nyc-234615

Tech News Kat Hannaford Jan 27

The Internet Facts of Life as Explained by a 12-Year-Old

“Mom, I know you have a lot of questions, and I want us to be open with each other. So, I think it’s time you learned where blogs and tweets come from.” Mom, it’s gonna be a long ride to Grandma’s, and while we have some time alone together, I think it’d be good for…

Tech News Julia Young and Zachary Smilovitz Jan 21

Student wears same jeans every day for 15 months – for science!

A student in Canada wore the same pair of jeans for 15 months straight as an experiment to see if he or the jeans suffered any ill effects. Image by Franz Pfluegl/Shutterstock It looks like they survived, but of course there’s no word on what his dorm roommate suffered. Most people find they have to…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jan 21

Bear Trouble? There’s a $2,000 Taser for That…

Taser International, the Arizona based stungun maker, today launched a novel version of its often controversial nonlethal weapon: but it’s one geared for felling wild animals like grizzly bears, rather than police suspects or airport detainees. The purpose of the device is to give park rangers, hunters and hikers the ability to disable bears, elk…

Tech News Paul Marks - NewScientist Jan 18

Gamers Hack Medical Server to Host a Game of Call of Duty: Black Ops

New Hampshire-based Seacoast Radiology sent out an alert to its patients explaining that their private information may have been compromised. The reason? Some folks hacked into the medical group’s server to host a game of Call of Duty. According to a spokesperson from the security company brought in by the medical group, the breach was…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Jan 13

Your nose reveals when you’re going to die

Have you stopped being able to identify familiar smells? Then you may be about to die, according to a new study. A group of scientists studied a group of over 1,000 older people who weren’t sick or suffering dementia. They gave each person a test to see how well they could identify 12 familiar odors.…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 11

Science Proves Men Get Turned Off By a Woman’s Tears

According to researchers at the Weizmann Institute, chemicals in a woman’s tears decreases a man’s sexual arousal. Interestingly, there’s no smell—tears couldn’t be distinguished from saline. But the chemicals still lowered testosterone levels in test subjects. [Physorg.com]

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 6

If you want to live longer, then walk faster

Your walking speed can tell a lot about you – including your life expectancy. Amazingly, your walking speed is just as good an indicator of how long you’ll live as your health history, smoking habits, and blood pressure combined. It’s possible to do a basic life expectancy calculation based on a person’s age and gender,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 4

Only Woman to Ever Use a Neck Massager on a Neck Dies

Barely anyone would actually think to use an electric neck massager to massage his or her neck. And now there’s a damn good reason for that: It could kill you! Or at least you could die if you’re absent-minded and forget to take off your necklace before getting your rubdown like a woman in Florida:…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Dec 29

How can I be a more awesome crackpot?

Have you resolved this New Year to reveal your Theory of Everything to the scientific world, but aren’t sure how to do it in a maximally off-putting and confusing way? In this week’s “Ask a Physicist,” we’ll find out how. Top image: Vlue, via Shutterstock. Let me begin by saying that the vast, vast majority…

io9 Dr. Dave Goldberg Dec 29

So…What Did You Get?

Santa’s long gone and you’ve finished unwrapping all your gifts. Now we want to know: What did you get? Did you find everything your heart desired under the tree or were there only lumps of coal waiting? Personally, I had many pleasantly surprising gifts but most definitely did not get everything that I wanted—unless one…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Dec 25

The Santa Chronicles: A Look into the Shady Life of the Man in Red

You probably don’t give Santa a second look when you see him in a department store or on a street corner every December…but maybe you should. SANTA COPS By December 2001, Mafia fugitive Francesco Farina had been on the run from Sicilian police for more than five years. Holed up in what he thought was…

Tech News Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Dec 24

So You Want to Be a Computer Programmer…

For whatever reasons, you believe that computer programming is the obvious career path for you. Before you pursue that dream job though, let’s imagine how things would be after a few years. For as long as you can remember, computers and electronics fascinated you. Your future as a computer programmer seemed fated by the timing…

Tech News Scott C. Reynolds - McSweeney's Dec 24

The Worst Part of Coming Home for Christmas

I swear to fucking God, if I come home this Christmas and find out my parents are still unplugging their computer from the wall when they want to turn it off, I will fucking snap. Seriously, how fucking hard can it be? Click START, then click SHUT DOWN. That’s a TWO-step process that for the…

Tech News Jason M. Mustian - McSweeney's Dec 21

D Is for Design: The Anatomy of a Down Coat

It’s light. It’s flexible. It withstands frigid temperatures on top of a mountain. And in the entire history of humans staying warm, nobody’s been able to beat it. Here’s how you build the most powerfully simple jacket in the world. Why Are We Still Using Down? You probably don’t think much about down jackets. Maybe…

Tech News Sam Biddle Dec 17

Alastair Reynolds’ next trilogy: An optimistic saga that takes place after climate change

Everybody wants more optimistic science fiction, but the near future is full of nightmare scenarios like global climate change. How do we get around that? Alastair Reynolds has one idea: a 22nd century saga set after the climate’s already changed. In a way, it’s not too different than what Gene Roddenberry did with Star Trek:…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 6

Deeply Moving Postcards To A Daughter Who’s Gone Off To The Wars

Sometimes the best short stories are the ones which hint at a much larger picture, almost as if they’re a window onto one person’s experience of a grand saga. That’s what Sigrid Ellis’ “No Return Address” is like. “No Return Address,” posted at StrangeHorizons.com, is one of those fantasy stories that lets you sketch in…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 1

Man Steals $4.5 Million From Columbia University Using Simple Accounting Tweak

George Castro claims he doesn’t know how $4.5 million of Columbia University’s money wound up in his bank account, but an investigation is showing that he may have funneled the funds there with a simple little accounting tweak. While it’s unclear if Castro was at any point employed by Columbia University, he was apparently “familiar…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Nov 29

Facebook Now Responsible for 25% of Hooker Hookups

Adapting My Pandora Preferences Based On My Completely Objective Opinions About Music

New Yorkers Could Be Fined $100 For Yapping on Cellphones While Street-Crossing

The Internet Facts of Life as Explained by a 12-Year-Old

Student wears same jeans every day for 15 months – for science!

Bear Trouble? There’s a $2,000 Taser for That…

Gamers Hack Medical Server to Host a Game of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Your nose reveals when you’re going to die

Science Proves Men Get Turned Off By a Woman’s Tears

If you want to live longer, then walk faster

Only Woman to Ever Use a Neck Massager on a Neck Dies

How can I be a more awesome crackpot?

So…What Did You Get?

The Santa Chronicles: A Look into the Shady Life of the Man in Red

So You Want to Be a Computer Programmer…

The Worst Part of Coming Home for Christmas

D Is for Design: The Anatomy of a Down Coat

Alastair Reynolds’ next trilogy: An optimistic saga that takes place after climate change

Deeply Moving Postcards To A Daughter Who’s Gone Off To The Wars

Man Steals $4.5 Million From Columbia University Using Simple Accounting Tweak

Steven Soderbergh Wanted to Take ‘Bond’ Back to the ’60s

If You Make Fart Music, ChatGPT Will Be the Most Supportive Girlfriend You Could Ask For

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

VHS-Inspired ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Mod Takes Night City Back to the Future

Our Checkout Code Gives You 5 Years of ChatOn’s All-in-One AI Tools Experience for Less Than Half Price

How Should We Prepare for the Looming Quantum Encryption Apocalypse?

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Artemis 2 Day 10: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

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DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

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