Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
I did not think we could get worse after the Wesley Hoodie. Turns out we can. Is Think Geek taking the Human Race down a path it should not follow? All signs point to yes. Yes, now you can cosplay as David Tennant’s 10th Doctor in this new set of onesie PJs (or Pyjamas, or…
Most hackathons are where brilliant minds come together to try and invent something amazing that can maybe change the world. This is not one of those hackathons. This is the Stupid Shit No One Needs and Terrible Ideas Hackathon. Organized by Sam Lavigne and Amelia Winger-Bearskin, the dumb event went down in New York City…
Encryption is a vital tool in helping keep your messages tucked away from prying eyes. Trying to stay safe while texting, though, meant also being siloed into effective-yet-niche chat platforms such as Silent Circle. But today, WhatsApp will start bringing end-to-end encryption to its 600 million users. The new security feature is a default setting…
Artificial intelligence researchers have started looking to some of the simplest creatures for inspiration. Cyborgs who think like humans are still just a sci-fi dream, but scientists have had success recreating a less complicated brain. They’ve already created LEGO robot with the artificial mind of a worm. The OpenWorm project (which kind of sounds like…
An appeals court ruled today that the FAA can make all drone flights illegal. For drone pilots, this means a taking a flight could potentially set them back $10,000 if the FAA uses its powers for dumb. This new, sweeping power came as the result of a court case. In 2011, drone pilot Raphael “Trappy”…
In the months since Windows Phone 8.1 showed up complete with its voice assistant, Android Lollipop and iOS 8 have arrived, so it’s time to pit our phone-friends against each other again. Voice control is better than ever. For the most part, as you can see, Cortana, Siri, and Google Now are mostly on even…
Back in the ’80s there were some Transformers toys you could buy anywhere, and then there were some that seemingly only existed as rumors, spotted by a friend’s cousin’s neighbor at a distant out-of-state Toys”R”Us. Such was the case with Jetfire, a towering elusive Autobot that few kids actually owned, but all yearned for. Some…
The smart home market has exploded in the past year. This fairly futuristic development means that you can pretty easily program your house to do your bidding, but you’re also somewhat restricted by which hub and standard you buy. The littleBits Smart Home Kit promises to change that. The same company that set out to…
Have you had it with Uber yet? The company price-gouges customers, screws over its drivers, and now, an Uber exec just publicly outlined a cavalier plan to spy on journalists in retaliation for critical coverage. Good news! You don’t have to use it anymore. You can use these alternatives instead. Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith reports…
These sculptures by London-based artist Jonty Hurwitz are so small that are impossible to see with the naked eye. They are smaller than a hair and a bit bigger that a human sperm but, despite their size, the level of detail is just insane. [NSFW for tiny naked women] Hurwitz’s created his sculptures using a…
When most of us think of “rare blood,” we think of AB-positive or O-negative. But it turns out there are far, far rarer types than that. In Filton, England, there’s a lab that handles blood donations from across the UK—and identifies this super-rare blood. Photographer Greg White recently got a tour of the NHS Blood…
Apparently just having their own car at the age of four isn’t enough for some kids. It also needs to be utterly over-accessorized like this miniature Kia Soul that features more glowing lights and LEDs than a UFO, and a sound system that looks straight out of SEMA. The pint-sized Soul’s also got a combination…
Tuxedo Mask is getting a bit of a bad rap lately – but at least Tamashii Nations is giving us a good bit of Mamoru news with this delightful new figure. Look, he’s got a Rose and everything! https://gizmodo.com/10-reasons-why-everyone-but-sailor-moon-knows-tuxedo-ma-1659484664 Based on not the Manga or the most recent Anime adaptation Sailor Moon Crystal but the…
Google’s never approved its apps in the way Apple does, but it’s now planning to reviewAndroid TV apps “for usability… and other quality guidelines.” Clearly, it wants its TV system to work this time round.
Image recognition was already good—but it’s getting way, way better. A research collaboration between Google and Stanford University is producing software that increasingly describes the entire scene portrayed in a picture, not just individual objects. The New York Times reports that algorithms written by the team attempt to explain what’s happening in images—in language that…
The latest marketing stunt from the Dutch airline KLM gives you the chance to spend a night in this airplane refurbished into a gorgeous loft. At first I thought that sleeping next to the runaway of one of the busiest airports in Europe sounded like a bad idea, but then I saw the pictures and…
This mesmeric animation shows how CO2 travels around the surface of our planet, pushed by winds from its sources to travel around the globe. An ultra-high-resolution computational model by NASA, the animation “illustrates differences in carbon dioxide levels in the northern and southern hemispheres and distinct swings in global carbon dioxide concentrations as the growth…
Nokia may have relinquished control of the Lumia brand, but it’s far from giving up on hardware. It’s just announced the new N1: a $250 Android tablet. The 7.9-inch tablet has a frame, milled from a single lump of aluminum. Measuring 6.9 millimeters thick it weighs 318 grams. If you think it looks rather a…
According to a new US court ruling made in San Francisco, Google can list its search results in whatever order it pleases—and it has the First Amendment behind it, too. That’s according to a hearing which saw a site called CoastNews file a lawsuit against Google, saying that it was knowingly lowering its rankings in…
Earlier this year, Thom Yorke released his new album on BitTorrrent, selling it in a package that had to be paid for. Now, BitTorrent will let any artist release an album as a paid-for bundle. Just in case you’ve missed how bundles work on BitTorrent, here’s a refresher: Basically, a bundle is really just a…
