Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Another nail in Flash’s coffin: Google has announced that it’s going to stop supporting the plugin in its pervasive AdWords and DoubleClick advertizing services. Instead, companies will have to use HTML5. The ban comes into effect for ad uploads in June this year, and existing Flash ads will refuse to run from next January. For…
Sonos is billed as being the ultimate in-home music system, promising seamless streaming throughout your entire house. So it must’ve sucked to spend thousands of dollars and not be able to use Apple Music with it, which was the case until today. Apple Music and Sonos compatibility has been in beta for months now, but…
Politiwoops used to be the go-to place to read tweets that politicians thought were clever, before quickly deleting. Twitter cut off the service last year over alleged misuse of its developer platform, but now it’s back, and saving more deleted tweets than ever. In a blog post, the Sunlight Foundation has announced the return, “just…
Whether they’re selling tickets to orbit or making sure the science funding keeps flowing, rocket companies and space agencies alike have a vested interest in getting the public jazzed about the cosmic beyond. So it’s no surprise that we’re now entering a golden age of space tourism propaganda—one that’s bringing back the beloved, classic design…
Everyone had a good time watching the new Star Wars so let’s not get angry and accuse each other of not enjoying the very idea of fun. But still, as with every other movie, there were a few problems and mid-sized logic gaps that were ignored in the name of entertainment. HISHE fixes all those…
Today appeared to be a good day for President Obama and the environment, what with the unveiling of a moonshot budget, complete with billions to improve the environment (and humanity!). The Supreme Court, however, is not joining in on the fun. Earlier today, the Supreme Court put a temporary block on the Clean Power Plan,…
A giant rubber band ball? So much fun. Just slice the thing open and you’ll see it quickly grow and explode up and basically find the monster that wants to unleash itself from its rubber ball prison. Once its cut open, the sound is also interesting to listen to. You can hear the slow movement…
Want some more space for your documents? Of course you do. Well, you can grab 2GB of extra capacity on Google Drive for free today. Here’s how. All you need to to is head to Google and run through a very brief security update—checking that your backup email address is correct, renewing account permissions, that…
It’s well established that older men are more likely to pass on a genetic disorder to their offspring, but we’re learning more about why this happens: As men age, their sperm mutates more frequently. This is bad news for men who want to have children later in life. Researchers from Oxford University have discovered that…
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to see the world through the crazy eyes of very crazy Vincent Van Gogh, now you can. The Art Institute of Chicago built a life-size replica of his popular painting, Bedroom In Arles. The room is available for rent on Airbnb starting today, and judging by the photos,…
Since 1954, Kyoto University has been managing a population of fruit flies, living in total darkness. Now, after interbreeding some of these “dark flies” with regular flies, the researchers are learning more about the genetic adaptations taking place when fruit flies are kept entirely in the dark. Superficially, a dark fly does not look very…
Get enough dots together and your faulty eyeballs start seeing things. With random dot patterns, a simple move of the dots by a few degrees can create trippy concentric circles or wild swirls that move all around the paper. With a more uniform grid of dots, the pattern looks like you’re jumping through a portal…
TV time Time to watch TV Re-enter password? Okay fine. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap Fucked up that letter. tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap…
Movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Inception suggest it may eventually be possible to erase, modify, or even implant memories into your brain. An upcoming episode of NOVA introduces viewers to this futuristic possibility and the scientists who are trying to make it happen. Memory formation is still a poorly understood process,…
Last week people couldn’t get enough of the Garbage Pail Kids version of the presidential candidates. And now Topps has introduced nine brand new versions of their political cards, including Donald Dumpty, Batty Bernie, and “Texan” Ted. Donald appears to be building a wall on the Mexican border, while Bernie is locked in a padded…
If you’ve ever gone skinny-dipping and had the creepy feeling you were being watched, you were right. The green slime floating on the surface of the water and coating the rocks was watching you. And it was doing it using eyes similar to your own human ones. That’s according to new findings by a team…
Fights broke out today in New Hampshire between anti-Marco Rubio robots and pro-Rubio humans. It could not yet be confirmed whether the robot uprising has begun, but someone needs to tell that woman that you can’t strangle a robot. It only makes them stronger. https://gizmodo.com/are-chinas-robot-restaurants-a-threat-to-american-natio-1706036651 It’s believed that the robots oppose Marco Rubio because the…
Until today, there really wasn’t a good reason for any sane human to buy a consumer 3D printer. But thanks to animator Eran Amir, the tech has a raison d’etre: So that everyone can 3D print tiny baby sculptures and use them to shoot hilarious timelapse videos of an albino infant sprinting around the world.…
My existence hinges on three things, each interconnected: Food, laziness, and websites that bring food to me. Today, the third has been rendered null. Thus begins the domino effect that leads to me wasting away to death. And I didn’t even get to try that new sushi place down the street. Seamless is down, and…
Racing drones still isn’t considered as challenging as other vehicular sports given the pilots aren’t actually inside the vehicles they’re controlling. But watching the first-person footage of this drone absolutely tearing through a packed warehouse, you can’t argue there isn’t a ton of skill required. And remember, while you’re probably watching this footage on your…