Tech News

Yes, I can’t have enough of these futuristic spaceships and city scenes

I can’t have enough futuristic spaceships and cities—and Dmitry Vishnevsky is pretty good at creating these postcards from places that never were or haven’t been yet. Dmitry Vishnevsky is a concept artist and illustrator based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. You can follow his work on Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and ArtStation. This is part of a…

Why Military Tech (Sometimes) Doesn’t Evolve

Consider the SR-71 Blackbird. It was meant to be used as a high altitude, high velocity recon aircraft. It was, and still is, one of the Air Force’s greatest accomplishments, technologically speaking. Military technology, like any other technology, becomes outdated when newer systems improve upon them greatly, either in capability or in resource requirements to…

Why Apple Didn’t Use Sapphire Screens In The New iPhones

In the run-up to the iPhone 6 announcement, the rumor-mill had basically decided that we were getting a strengthened sapphire screen — something that ultimately proved to be completely false. TIME has an excellent breakdown of why Apple didn’t go the sapphire path. http://time.com/3377972/why-apple-didnt-use-sapphire-iphone-screens/ According to the author, the likely reason that Apple didn’t go…

Distressing words assemble into deadly weapons in this PSA

Adolescent delinquency is directly linked to verbal child abuse. That’s why the Center for Psychological Research in Shenyang, China, made this PSA to raise awareness about this problem, transforming distressing words into deadly weapons. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Beartooth Radio Turns Your Smartphone Into a Walkie-Talkie

Smartphones are becoming increasingly popular amongst backcountry types, as a decent option for communication when the shit hits the fan. However, if you just want to chat to your partner a mile away, you still need a two-way radio – or, you did. That’s the problem Beartooth Radio is trying to solve with their snazzy…

If Phone Batteries Were Like Black Holes

…then we really would be screwed. As Randall Munroe points out in today’s xkcd, sometimes we get a little over-dramatic about our phones ‘dying’ — although yes, it would be neat if, when your phone died, it turned into a worn-out Palm Pilot. [xkcd]

The Top 100 Billboard Songs of All Time, Graphed

You might’ve thought that music is one thing that can escape the current ‘big data’ trend of mapping, charting and quantifying everything; but that’s where you’re so, so wrong — at least according to Flowing Data’s Nathan Yau. He’s put together a series of graphs that try to explain the best songs of all time…

Dropbox Suspends Auto-Upload Feature Because iOS 8

Uh-oh: iOS 8 has only-barely-kinda-sorta rolled out, and it’s already breaking things. Dropbox has ‘temporarily suspended’ the auto-upload feature on its iOS app because of compatibility issues with iOS 8. If you’re already in the process of upgrading, Dropbox warns in a blog post that you should double-check that photos have uploaded before deleting them…

Upgrading to iOS 8 today? Two good third-party keyboards are already available: Swype (which will run you 99 cents) and Swiftkey, which will be just as free as U2’s latest album (but hopefully a little more welcome).

Airbus Patents VR Headsets to Make Flying Suck Less

Flying coach sucks — a fact that no quantity of overpriced Wi-Fi or hilariously tiny cans of Coke can change. So Airbus, one of the biggest manufacturers of commercial aircraft, is thinking about using VR to take you out of the experience entirely. A patent filing from Airbus reveals a line of passengers wearing some…

Tiny hamster eats tiny hot dogs faster than any human can

It’s kind of funny how our favorite tiny hamster looks exactly like Kobayashi, the famous competitive eater, while mowing down hot dogs. They’re using the same method! The hamster looks much cuter though. Much cuter. Don’t worry, the tiny hamster was fed healthy mini dogs made out of grapes, dates and carrots. Kobayashi had to…

Skateboarding through 5000 balloons looks like a whole lot of fun

If you think about it, ball pits are gross cesspools that hide violent bits of static charges and virulent diseases that smell like melting plastic. They are not fun. But that’s because adults are not fun. For kids, there are few places better. This 5000 balloon pit is like a ball pit for kids, but…

Researchers Use Drones and Lasers to Map Out Ancient Maya Sites

Most people think that archaeology technology peaked with spades and Indiana Jones’s whip; but a team of researchers has categorically disproved that idea (and, by the way, mapped out some Maya temples in the process). The team, using a few remote-controlled quadrotors, managed to get enough aerial imagery to stitch together a 3-D rendering of…

A Flash Flood In The Balkans Tears Through A Neighbourhood

The Balkans are flooding again. While flash floods are already nasty, flooding in areas with landmines have their own horrific twist, amplifying the disaster. A video is making the rounds of social media showing a flash flood in the region, although it’s unclear if it’s current or from a previous event. https://gizmodo.com/flooding-in-the-balkans-with-a-chance-of-explosives-1579149506 http://thevane.gawker.com/intense-video-shows-flash-flood-surging-through-neighbo-1635500174

AirVR Wants to Shut Off All Human Contact With an iPad Mini Face-Holder

Would you trade quite literally all of your friends (and $49 shiny Canadian dollars) for a shot at a probably-mediocre virtual reality experience? AirVR, a Canadian company with an entire Kickstarter page all to itself, is thinking yes. Simply put, the AirVR helps you strap your iPad Mini (or iPhone 6 Plus) to your face,…

Good news for Adobe! Another half-a-million people have been converted to their Creative Cloud subscription, making the new total 2.81 million. Bad news for Adobe! This isn’t enough new customers for investors, and shares in the software giant fell 5 per cent following the announcement (sad face emoji). [Reuters]

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Meta-Review: Bigger and Better (And Bigger)

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus stretch Apple’s winning formula to much greater sizes than ever before, while bringing a potentially game-changing mobile payments option alongside typical upgrades like processors and cameras. They’ve got a slick new design, and boast the latest version of iOS as well. What do critics with advance access think…

Report: Android’s Material Design Will Take a Rolling Pin to Play Store

When Google introduced its Material Design manifesto to the world at I/O, it was made clear that it was only a matter of time before flat design took over the entire Googleverse — starting, it would seem, with the Play Store. https://gizmodo.com/what-material-design-means-for-the-future-of-android-1595976211 Android Police has got an early look at the 5.0 update to the…

All of Harry Potter summed up in one giant comic strip

If you somehow missed the Harry Potter boat and wanted to read all the books now, you’d have to flip through 4109 pages spread across 7 books. Or if you just want to catch up with the Harry Potter movies instead, you’d have to sit and stare for 19 hours and 38 minutes for all…

ZTE Brings Its Phablet-Sized ZMax to T-Mobile

ZTE is a smartphone company that probably exists on the periphery of your consciousness. They’re as well known as any other Chinese mobile brand, which is to say not very much at all. But the company wants to change things up by bringing its affordable phablet to the United States. The ZTE ZMax is coming…