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In 1992, mere days after Windows 3.1 was released, it was revealed that typing the letters NYC in Wingdings—Microsoft’s all-symbols font—produced the following antisemitic and/or Jewish conspiracy-backed text, depending on who you asked: Microsoft insisted the arrangement of glyphs was wholly random, which only ended up encouraging the Wingdings truth-seekers. Because of course that’s what…
Sure,it’s not the real thing from the show, but hey, when it comes to getting the fancy-ass crown of several Westerosi kings, take what you can get – like this still pretty fancy replica coming from Factory Entertainment. Factory will be revealing the crown – described as a ‘museum replica’ which usually just means ‘super…
Everything looks cooler when made from carbon fiber, and that even applies to a deck of playing cards. But Sly Kly wants to take things one step further by engineering decks of cards made from both carbon fiber and kevlar—the same magical material that helps make vests bullet-proof. So the next time you decide to…
The speed of light is fast, but the solar system is very, very big. This video explores the intersection of scales by travelling through an idealized version of our solar system at the speed of light, starting at the surface of the sun and heading to Jupiter over 45 minutes. It’s a common factoid that…
China absolutely dominates the rest of the world when it comes to the number of patents it produces. This is partly due to a government that encourages inventors with everything from cash gifts, tenured jobs at universities, and early release from prison. Wait, what? The unusual policy came to light last month when the Beijing…
This new Pornburger has some unexpected ingredients: The bun is an upside down pineapple cake and the patty is made with beef and ground Spam. Add crispy jalapeño-rubbed bacon and sharp cheddar Riesling cheese and I’m ready to stuff my mouth with it. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
When Keurig’s K-Cup patent expired back in 2012, instead of embracing the hundreds of companies producing instant beverages for the popular pod-based coffee brewing machine (who helped boost its popularity), it introduced a form of coffee DRM on its new Keurig 2.0 machines. Not cool, but fortunately, the digital locks can be easily circumvented with…
The glorious Rainbow Batmen of Detective Comics #241 might have narrowly missed out on DC Collectibles’ poll about bringing back scrapped figures, but you can’t keep a good multicoloured Batsuit collection down – it looks like the Bat-Rainbow is coming to Funko’s Pop! Vinyl collection. Beginning with the Yellow Batman exclusively at Entertainment Earth, Funko…
Welcome to BitStream, a new(ish) news roundup about all the awesome bits of information that may have slipped your radar. Here’s what you missed this weekend. Technology’s Super Bowl soothsayers So, the Super Bowl was yesterday (Did you hear?) and though the ads were flowing and amazing catches and stupid play calls were happening on…
A surreal video shot by director Julie Gautier featuring free diver Guillaume Néry running under the waterat an impossible speed thanks to the powerful currents of the Tiputa Pass, near Tahiti. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
When you throw a coin in the air to make a decision, you’d expect the outcome of the toss to be 50-50 whether you catch it or let it land on the ground. But, according to randomness expert Persi Diaconis, that’s simply not true. It’s worth noting that Diaconis used to be a magician, so…
Apart from the razor-sharp dialogues, Tarantino’s movies are famous for their glossy visuals. But those visuals wouldn’t be so impressive without good sound design. Editor Jacob T. Swinney put together this mashup showcasing the importance of sound effects in Tarantino’s films. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Bone cancer can cause the human body to mutate in strange and dramatic ways. These images are an artistic interpretation of how a skeleton can change over time when affected by the disease—and they form the basis of the design of a new building. Created by Irene Cheng from University of Lincoln, UK, the project…
Photographer Mike Hollingshead takes beautiful pictures of supercell thunderstorms, transforming some of them into animated GIFsthat show this powerful weather in perpetual motion. These are his best. Mike Hollingshead loved watching storms since he was a kid. He didn’t start chasing them until 1999. In 2002 he bought his first still camera an he has…
Earlier today, Raspberry Pi announced a new, powerful version of its Pi 2 Model B+ that still costs $35. Now, Microsoft has also announced that a free version of Windows 10 will be available for Raspberry Pi devices. A long time coming—and perhaps spurred by the newly powerful hardware—the operating system will be freely available…
The Raspberry Pi has always been a geek’s delight, but the new Pi 2 Model B+ takes the palm-sized computers to a whole new level. With a 900MHz quad-core system-on-chip, bolstered with 1GB of RAM, the new Pi is now a real computer. And it still only costs $35. Previously, the Model B+ Raspberry Pi…
Happy Super Bowl day, everyone! I hear the Seahawks of Seattle are about to battle it out with the Patriots of New England. Should be a fun one, but is it really as fun (or as safe) as it could be. Sure, football has tons of history and we can have arguments about the integrity…
As we get closer to Apple Watch’s official launch, more details are becoming clearer and clearer. For one, we’re pretty certain they’ll be shipping in April and may not have the greatest battery life. However, one piece of info that’s remained frustratingly elusive is how much its pricier option, the Apple Watch Edition, will cost.…
Welcome to Reading List, a collection of cool tech and science reads from around the web. You’ll find nothing about football and/or football commercials here. Think of it as a safe haven from all the Grid Iron madness, so take some time and enjoy amazing long form and analysis from our friends at Motherboard, The…
Holograms are here. At least that’s what Microsoft wants you to think with its HoloLens headset and Windows Holographic software. But holograms are no new thing, especially if you consider the mountains of science fiction fodder that has been dedicated to the subject. I asked you all last week what was your favorite hologram, fictional…
