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Despite what all the holiday specials try to tell you, it’s pointless to pretend that Christmas has become anything other than commercialism’s annual time to shine. So why not just embrace the spirit of spending completely, and build yourself a tiny working television Christmas tree ornament that streams ‘90s commercials from YouTube? This DIY project…
This morning, Facebook announced that it’s going to start scanning all the photos uploaded to the social network looking for your face, unless you opt out—or unless you are a European or Canadian, where privacy law actually limits what Facebook can do with people’s faces. The purpose of the scanning, according to Facebook, is to…
As Apple waits for its billion-dollar push into original programming to bear fruit, the company has been bulking up its overall offering with the recent addition of the Amazon Prime Video app on the Apple TV. But one app we thought would land on both Apple’s and Roku’s streaming boxes this year is now coming…
Not all bad breath comes from ketchup-and-onion sundaes. Around 0.5% to 3% of people get bad breath from places outside the mouth, like the sinuses, esophagus, lungs, or blood. These causes aren’t fully understood. An international team of researchers found another potential cause of this “extra-oral” bad breath: genetics. They researched a protein called “SELENBP1”…
A video of a cockatiel singing a famous ringtone melody has us wondering why these birds are so good at mimicking sounds they wouldn’t normally hear in their natural environment. Come to think of it, why are these feathered impersonators such copycats in the first place? “My friend’s family has a cockatiel named Lucky,” writes…
Facebook just got one step closer to becoming the literal embodiment of its name. On Tuesday, the company announced it’s rolling out several new facial recognition features on its platforms. Once you agree to let Facebook use your face data, you gain access to new tools the company says will help protect your privacy and…
Days before a series of phone calls in late-2016 between Michael Flynn and Russia’s then-ambassador to the United States, members of the presidential transition team began inquiring about ways to encrypt Flynn’s conversations, discussing with the director of national intelligence’s office by email a range of technologies that would enable secure communications. Among the recommendations…
Today SquattyPotty, the company responsible for a variety of squat-centric toilet stools, recalled a portion of the SquattyPottymus, a toilet step stool for children resembling a hippopotamus. According to the Consumer Safety Product Commission: The top removable step (hat) on the recalled children’s toilet step stools can detach while a child is standing on it,…
People who experience harassment on social media know that it’s often not enough to simply block the person bothering them and move on. Harassers will often set up another account or switch accounts to evade the block, and go right on harassing their target. That’s why Facebook is rolling out new features intended to make…
Nobody likes it when a bird poops on their car. But the residents of a wealthy neighborhood in Bristol, England seem to have taken this dislike to another level. They’ve installed anti-bird spikes on local trees. Humans really are the worst. Anti-bird spikes aren’t new. The spikes prevent birds from landing and you can see…
We The People, the petition section of the White House’s website, is shutting down for a promised January relaunch. Summarily ignored since Donald Trump took office, its a wonder anyone in the current administration is expending the effort to turn off the lights. First launched in 2011 under then-President Obama, We The People pledged to…
Almost 15 years ago, I bought an issue of Wired in an airport and read it on an airplane bound for San Francisco. In the magazine, a bright-eyed Chris Anderson described an emerging technology called wireless fidelity (or wi-fi, for short), and I simply didn’t believe it. The internet, in the air? Maybe in 15…
Every year, SplashData compiles a list of the most popular passwords based on millions of stolen logins made public in the last year. And each time, we own ourselves. Hard. 2017 is no exception. You probably already know the top two choices: Based on more than five million leaked passwords, they are “123456” and “password.”…
At a time when the movie theater business is struggling to make it, the Alamo Drafthouse chain has thrived by doing things a little differently. Now, it’s trying to bring back the video store. Not only will it offer DVDs, Blu-rays, and VHS, but if you need a VCR it’ll rent you one of those,…
If 2016 was the year of “Uber for X,” 2017 was the year of Silicon Valley “inventing” things. The tech industry officially ran out of ideas this year. Rather than tacking on some tech element to things that already exist, it edged closer to just renaming the things that already exist. To be fair to…
Addressing the nation this morning, Department of Homeland Security advisor Tom Bossert restated—in some cases word-for-word—the assertions in an op-ed he penned for the Wall Street Journal last night squarely blaming North Korea for the widespread ransomware attack known as WannaCry. Today he revealed DHS’s plan to combat further attacks, which seems limited to asking…
Whether you like it or not, self-driving cars are coming, and depending on where you live, they might already be here. Google’s parent company Alphabet has had fully autonomous cars on the road for over a month, while Uber has its own self-driving fleet cruising the streets of Pittsburgh, with a deal to buy as…
Sexual misconduct allegations have rocked Silicon Valley’s world this year. An outpouring of accusations have shone an unavoidable spotlight on the industry’s systemic issues, and yet before Susan Fowler opened the floodgates, it was rare to witness a public claim filed against a company. That’s largely because most major tech companies force their employees into…
My mom’s hard to shop for before the holidays. A lot of parents are, I’m sure. But with mom, you get no clues beyond the classic, “Oh I have plenty of stuff.” When pressed, she might offer, “I liked that candle you got me for my birthday that one time.” Any other suggestions are met…
If you’re like me, lifting your hands above your head for extended periods is an activity solely reserved for roller coasters, really good concerts, or imitating the flailing arm man outside of car dealerships. If you’re more like these assembly workers, building cars for a living, your hands are above your head for hours at…
