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The race to make the most capable camera in the smallest possible package is a death-match of features versus size. Panasonic has a notable new gladiator in the LX100, which combines a large(ish) micro-four-thirds sensor with 4K video and a lens to be reckoned with. The LX100 is a palm-sized and utterly gorgeous 12.8 megapixel…
Here’s a fascinating graphic comparisonof the mirrors of optical telescopes since the Yerkes Observatory—a 1893 40-inch refractor in Williams Bay,Wisconsin—to the largest of them all, the 128-foot (39-meter) European Extremely Large Telescope at Cerro Armazones in the Atacama Desert, Chile. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook
As it releases closer and closer photos of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency has announced the landing site for Philae, the little spaceship that will be launched from the Rosetta mothership to touch down on the surface of this object—the first comet landing in history. Here’s the primary landing site: Site J is…
The new NX1 is the first Samsung interchangeable-lens camera that’s truly compelling enough to consider alongside the competition. Its billboard feature: 4K video in a tiny package. But more than just trotting out of a glitzy, buzzy feature, the NX1 is loaded with advanced tech, including an industry-leading image sensor. Despite building some reasonably good…
I started watching the music video of Give It Up—the fourth track of Kutiman’s first album Thru You Too—with skepticism. After all, how good can a song be if it’s made from samples taken from random, unconnected YouTube music clips? Well, apparently, it can be amazingly good. Just watch and listen. Kutiman’s real name is…
I want this for breakfast today, tomorrow, and everyday for the rest of my life: A coffee rubbed beef patty, covered in creamy pumpkin aioli, caramelized onion, pumpkin spice duck bacon, tomato, and cilantro and baby arugula salad. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook
This blurry abstract painting is the mashup of 100 of the most popular Hubble Space Telescope images, made by Michael West of the Maria Mitchell Observatory. [The] Hubble’s top 100 images were downloaded and resized to identical pixel dimensions. At each point the 100 pixel values were arranged from lowest to highest, and the middle…
As a part of its awesome Android One initiative, Google just launched three Android phones running a stock version of Kit Kat, the company’s latest smartphone operating system, in India. The devices were launched in partnership with local brands and cost a ridiculously cheap $105. The three new handsets — the Spice Android One Dream…
This is the MacArtney 11kV, 400 amp wet mate connector, a plug “eliminates the need to bring cables to the surface by wet mating and de-mating cable infrastructure, wave energy converters, tidal energy converters and floating wind turbines.” I just find it fun because it kind of looks like a regular 120v plug. MacArtney’s wet…
In the next few weeks, YouTube users in India will be able to save videos offline and watch them anywhere, any time, without a data connection. The announcement was made at an event in Gurgaon, India, immediately after Google launched its low-cost Android One initiative in the country. “YouTube is popular here. You watch some…
Voice calling is definitely, definitely coming to WhatsApp and what’s more, it’s round the corner. A reference to the feature was spotted in the latest iOS update to the app by NDTV Gadgets, an Indian news portal. There’s no mention of the feature in the app’s release notes, presumably because it’s not active yet, but…
There are plenty of great things about the XBOX One, but not being able to stuff it into a backpack and take it with you on a road trip is definitely a downer. If you’ve got $1,500 to spare, however, you might just be able to snag an Xbook One: a portable chassis with the…
Bonjour! Netflix has finally arrived in France as a part of its ambitious European expansion program. Local rivals are having sleepless nights. [Engadget]
We already knew, thanks to leaked internal documents, that Microsoft was ditching the Windows Phone branding for a simple “Windows” on devices that run its mobile operating system. Now, we have our first look at an actual phone that uses the branding. British brand My Go has displayed the Windows branding on an unlinked micrsosite…
Tod Browning’s Freaks is an interesting film both on and off the screen. For one, this 80-minute story of a collection of characters in a freakshow raised lots of controversy when it originally premiered in 1932, primarily because its actors were actual circus “freaks.” The film was so widely panned and controversial (needing extensive edits…
Earlier this summer, Bob Boilen posted a Tiny Desk Concert that absolutely blew me away. Not so much for it being the best music I’ve ever heard, but by the makeup of the band. One drummer, and two sax players. That’s it. Oh, and one sax had a giant traffic cone sticking out of it.…
The fog of San Francisco is epic, a distinct character as iconic as Golden Gate Bridge. This is a visual ode to a single night of thick, flowing fog unlike anywhere else, and an undeniable reminder of the fluidity of air. We’ve previously covered a timelapse of two years of fog ebbing and flowing through…
Musician and YouTuber Kutiman is a mashup master of sorts. However, he doesn’t deal with the common music fodder that most Frankenstein-type musicians use. Instead of stitching together popular verses and choruses from mainstream music, Kutiman pulls from an entirely different source—amateur YouTube videos. Now, please don’t mistake “amateur” for “bad.” Most of these self-uploaded…
Earlier in August, it was reported that 8.5 percent of Twitter users, or 23 million accounts, were not actually people but bots, autonomous accounts that post without any human interaction. Twitter refuted this claim saying it was much closer to 5 percent, but that’s still a big chunk of users. So now I’m wondering, should…
Another week down, and we’re half way through Month One on Toybox – here’s a round-up of our best material from the past 7 days. After a strong first week, it’s with amazing surprise that I can say that half way to October, Toybox has seen a fantastic 255k US Uniques so far, 153k of…
