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Now that campfires in California (and many other western states and provinces) are a thing of the past, it’s looking like camp and backpacking stoves are going to be the sole means we have to fry bacon and boil water for coffee. Here’s how to find the right one for you. Which Fuel Is Right…
Facebook just announced its latest plan to fix Newsfeed, promising to show more timely content. Out with the old, in with the relevant and new. It looks like the change was spurred by everyone complaining when old crap kept popping to the top of their Newsfeeds: We’ve heard feedback that there are some instances where…
At some point when you were a wee child, your parents or teachers probably gave you a simple—but incomplete—explanation of why leaves change color in the fall: green chlorophyll fades to reveal the yellows and oranges that have been there all along. That’s true, but that’s not the whole chemical story. Over at Compound Interest,…
The OnePlus One is a fantastic phone for a fantastic price. It’s borderline unbelievable. It’s also damn near impossible to get your hands on. Up until now, you’ve needed an invite to buy a OnePlus One but that’s about to end. Starting in October, you’ll be able to straight-up buy one, if you’re fast. https://gizmodo.com/oneplus-one-review-an-unbelievably-fantastic-smartphon-1598476240…
Whether you’ve already caught onto the juice craze, or you just want to give it a try, few blenders make it as easy to pulverize your leftover fruits, vegetable, seeds, and even coffee beans as the NutriBullet. You’ve probably seen this thing on cheesy infomercials, but it actually has a four star average on 3,000…
It might be hard to believe now, but when it first came out in 1989, some people didn’t really like Back to the Future: Part II. Recognized today as perhaps the greatest film ever made for the silver screen, critics like Gene Siskel called it “very gadget-filled and really noisy in an unpleasant way.” Hard…
You are butt-naked in total darkness. Sopping wet and totally alone, the space you’re in is so small that you can’t stand. The only sound is the thud of your heart. You are a mewling human baby in a mechanical womb. This might sound like scary nightmare torture, but I’m describing “floating,” an increasingly popular…
It’s not what Apple’s most recent transparency reports say that has activists concerned—rather, it’s what’s missing. Because the sudden omission of a mere two sentences essentially translates to Apple saying that yes, they’ve now been subjected to the Patriot Act’s demands. The missing phrasing, which is commonly known as a “warrant canary,” did in fact…
Moshi Studio‘s excellent take on Game of Thrones fan art wowed us last year – but this set of Cosplayers at the last two Dragon Cons have taken the excellent idea from that art and made it real, and the results are smashing. https://gizmodo.com/the-game-of-thrones-cast-has-an-80s-theme-party-in-thi-636239689 The pictures come from Adam J Albert – who also cosplayed…
Convinced you’re handsomer than Tony Stark? Or look better in blue than Captain America? Marvel (Disney), Hasbro, and a 3D printing company called 3DPlusMe have joined forces to give comic book fans a brief opportunity to turn themselves into an action figure—as long as their favorite characters are either Iron Man or Captain America. Starting…
Load up iOS 8 and you might not notice the difference straight away, but there are plenty of little tweaks and changes behind the scenes. Here are 25 different things you can do on your device that you couldn’t do yesterday. 1. Install another keyboard That’s right—it’s finally possible to install third-party keyboards on iOS…
The internet keeps a close eye on what companies like Apple, Samsung, and Sony import out of Southeast Asia, since those components hint at products coming down the pipeline. The Department of Labor keeps a close watch too, but for a very different reason: Uncovering “modern-day slavery” by the factories that make electronics. This year,…
Following in the grand tradition of that woman who always asks you for money and that guy with the pamphlets about how the Apocalypse cometh, the NYPD is begging for new followers for its L-train-specific Twitter account the only way it knows how: By shoving fliers in the faces of passersby on their way to…
U.S. Border Patrol will begin wearing cameras in training, according to the AP. The move comes as the border patrol has come under fire for killings by agents. This is just the latest sign that movement to strap cameras to law enforcement is picking up steam. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/14/border-deaths-agents-transparency/15629919/ According to the AP, Border Patrol chief R.…
A few years ago, you’d probably never heard of Shenzhen. Now the tiny Chinese fishing village has grown into a certified megalopolis, with 10 million residents, a thriving tech industry, and a gorgeous world-class airport. To cement its rising status in the world economy, Shenzhen has announced its most ambitious project yet: A green “super…
The Axis war effort throughout the first half of the 1940s led to some incredible advances in submarine technology. That includes the anaerobic Walter turbine—a newfangled engine that didn’t need oxygen to work. Even more incredible, these discoveries were not entirely new, but in fact more than 60 years old—the fruits of a Victorian-era engineer’s…
Not long ago Lockheed Martin posted on its Instagram account the most badass aviation photograph ever. Just look at it: The caption says: This unaltered image was captured at Beale Air Force Base, CA, in the late 1980’s. All of the subjects wearing pressurized flight suits are actual pilots or back-seat reconnaissance systems officers. Not…
The dancing lights of an aurora can be awe-inspiring down here on Earth, but when seen from the International Space Station they take on a magical quality. Astronaut Alex Gerst describes it as swimming through a living ocean of glow; I’m just happy they send us photographs. Top image: A green glow flickers across impossibly…
It seems like those of us on the American side of the Pacific ocean are missing out on some fantastic innovations in air conditioning. In Japan, Hitachi is introducing a new wall-mounted unit packed with cameras and sensors that’s able to redirect its chilly blasts towards people, parts of a room that are too warm,…
A great short shot by Fantavious Fritz in Brooklyn, New York, using 35mm film. Mixed with footage from the 2000 IMAX film Michael Jordan To The Max, it uses an edited version of Allen Iverson’s famous practice rant as the soundtrack. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook
