Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Alcohol clocks never caught on with consumers, so they were only marketed for a short time in 1945. Have a look at one in action, and see if you can figure out how it turns. You might be able to find an old alcohol clock in a museum, or in the home of a very…
Wow. A million wows, really. Here’s a truly spectacular image from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that shows Earth in all its glory from the perspective of being on the surface of the Moon. It’s an Earthrise and it’s just gorgeous and amazing to be able to “see” it. The image was “composed from a series…
This ultra-slow motion video of bubble gum balls getting slowly demolished by a blender is almost festive. Stressed out? Feeling the pressure of the holiday season? Make yourself a cup of tea, sit down, and watch this blender slowly demolish a bunch of gum balls. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be any more complicated than…
I am experiencing my own nightmare before Christmas right now because Jim Carrey has taken down his aggressively weird personal website. Now, instead of the hellish and surreal digital refraction of a famous man’s mind, the landing page simply says “Please come back later.” This is what you used to see when you clicked around…
It’s barely been 48 hours since the Federal Aviation Administration has opened mandatory registration for drone owners—and over 45,000 owners have already been registered. The FAA wants to know about your drones, so it opened up the registration period on Monday. The agency requires anyone operating an UAV weighing between 250 grams and 55 pounds…
Kim Kardashian released an app called Kimoji this week. The app gives people who pay $2 for it a set of illustrated references to the television personality’s life—a rounded, be-thonged thumbnail of her ass; her crying face; the word “BASIC.” But that’s not what this blog post is about. This blog post is about the…
The Fappening made headlines over a year ago, and Feds are still hunting down the hackers responsible for releasing hundreds of naked celebrity photos. Now there’s been a new celebrity hack, one that might be slightly more terrifying. This week, a 23-year-old was charged with breaking into 130 celebrities’ personal accounts by stealing passwords and…
In 2015, Apple made a series of flashy new introductions of both hardware and software. Several seemed amazing at first, but on closer inspection, they were all disappointing. Here is the year in Apple things that sucked. MacBook Apple’s latest vision for an overhauled laptop is a gorgeous piece of industrial design that borders on…
To make virtual reality truly popular, you have to make cheap and accessible. And HTC is zeroing in on a huge market: Chinese internet cafes. It’s the latest example of tech companies worldwide trying to get VR in the hands of massive groups of users, quickly and cheaply. At a VR conference in Beijing last…
How are those decorative little devils that are nutcrackers made? It involves a lot of wood, a bit a time on various lathes, a lot of glue, and a bit of artistry. Here’s the behind the scenes look of how those wooden dolls are put together. It’s actually pretty neat to see octagonal blocks of…
America’s favorite hipster chocolate brand was thrust into an uncomfortable spotlight last week, when several detailed investigations cast doubt on pretty much every aspect of the Mast Brothers’ Brooklyn-flavored, ingenuity-fueled origin story. But for chocolate lovers, the allegation that matters most is this one: the Mast Brothers sold $10 craft chocolate bars under the pretense…
How often have you let your imagination run wild and waived around the key to your car like a tiny sword? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Someone has actually produced an entire line of sword-shaped blank keys that they’re now trying to realize through Kickstarter. There are currently five different famous swords recreated…
Donating to a crowdfunding campaign is risky. You hand money to internet strangers who give you nothing but a promise in return. Sometimes it pays off and you get an Oculus Rift. Other times, you get a colossal dud, or worse, a complete scam. Kickstarter created an “Integrity Specialist” this year to crack down on…
Our eyes got fat in 2015. With all kinds of yummy GIFs and daring food porn and meals that looked so good we considered eating our laptops and monitors in hopes of tasting the visual deliciousness, it was a hunger inducing year for eyeballs. Here are some of the best food GIFs we made in…
Traditionally, wildlife photographers try to capture the majesty of their feral subjects. But even the most dignified wild animals get caught doing something downright silly every now and again. Tanzania-based wildlife photographer Paul Joynson-Hicks felt that the goofier moments in wildlife photography weren’t getting enough appreciation. So this year, he organized the first annual Comedy…
The task of competing with logistics giants Uber and Lyft seems more soul-crushing than ever. Uber’s valued at something like $70 billion. Lyft has those pink mustaches. How’s the everyman cab supposed to compete? Government support, of course. A recent ruling from the California Division of Measurement Standards will let a small startup called FlyWheel…
Of course you want to wish all of your social media followers a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, but what happens if you’re stuck in a snow drift? Or playing charades with your cousins? Or on a seasonal walk far from any kind of data connectivity? Here’s how to get your holiday greetings…
Purgatory Iron Works answers the inane internet argument about whether or not jet fuel can melt steel beams in this mic dropping video. The argument has always been that jet fuel burns at 1500 degrees and that steel only melts at 2700 degrees so therefore jet fuel cannot melt steel beams and 9/11 was a…
Amongst all the toys revealed on Force Friday back in September were some of the first flying Star Wars drones easy enough for kids to pilot. The same can’t be said about this impressive 15-foot long Star Destroyer, though. Even its creators had a hard time keeping it airborne. Made mostly of insulating foam panels…
Marigolds are popular plants among city planners and commercial landscapers. They’re bright and cheery, they’re easy to grow, and when the bugs come calling, they have a really nasty surprise hidden in their roots. Some companies use ozone as a decontaminant, and marigolds do as well. Ozone is an oxygen atom in triplicate; it is…
