Tech News

A Step by Step Walkthrough of the World’s First Great Infographic

Data visualization is an amazing way to get a point across. That is, when you’re making infographics that aren’t just dumb. Charles Joseph Minard‘s famous visual telling of Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia is one of the first great examples, if a little intimidating at a glance. And this explanation by the folks at Numberphile…

A Camera-Filled Soccer Ball Gives Fans a Dizzying View Of the Game

As the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaches, its official sponsor Adidas has customized one of its new Brazuca soccer balls, turning it into “the Brazucam,” which provides 360-degree views of all the action on field—from the field. It might no longer be considered as suitable for regulation play, but it’s as close to participating in…

Would You Trust a 3D Printer to Give You a Tattoo?

Feeling brave? How about getting a tattoo? How about getting a tattoo from a 3D printer? That’s not as ridiculous as it sounds, as a group of students from the ENSCI-Les Ateliers design school in Paris has shown. Armed with some inspiration and a MakerBot 3D printer, they swapped the extruder for a pen to…

The U.S. Built a Bizarre “Cuban Twitter” To Help Undermine Castro

In one of the oddest reports of spy games we’ve heard in years—and that’s saying something—the AP has uncovered a United States plot to create a “Cuban Twitter” that would lure in users with soccer scores and music news before evolving its message into anti-Castro rhetoric. If any part of that made you say what,…

Apple’s WWDC Will Kick Off June 2 in San Francisco

There are still plenty of questions about what Apple will unveil at WWDC this year, but at least we know when it will: The company announced today that its Worldwide Developer Conference will take place June 2 to June 6 this year, at San Francisco’s Moscone West. More details are coming—but in the meantime it’s…

Report: “Android Silver” Could be Google’s New Premium User Experience

Online rumours claim Google is planning some sort of premium owner experience for future Android phone buyers, with the Android Silver scheme said to encourage networks to babysit owners of phones, guarantee the latest version of Android and show them how to buy stuff through Google Play. The news, which comes via documents seen by…

What’s Your Favorite Piece of Fitness Technology?

Often times, we only think of the technology that makes our lives more productive or entertaining. But what about the stuff that allows us to have the most fun outdoors? So, what’s your favorite piece of technology designed for sports, exercise or general fitness. It could be technical clothing, bullet-proof headphones, a GPS device or…

Canonical has announced that it’s going to axe its Dropbox competitor Ubuntu One and, as a result, its streaming music service. Subscribers can expect a refund.

Yahoo Is Finally Encrypting the Bulk of Its Data

We were thrilled to hear today that Yahoo is carrying through a concerted effort to protect users across its sites and services by rolling out routine encryption in several parts of its infrastructure. The company’s statement announced that, among other things, it now encrypts traffic between its data centers, makes secure HTTPS connections the default…

Nokia’s Adorable New Bluetooth Speaker Is Just $55

To match its new Lumias, Nokia has announced this cute little Bluetooth speaker, too—with 15 hours of playback and as asking price of just $55. Available in the same colorful palette as the new phones—including, obviously, this bright orange—the MD-12 (no idea either, sorry) measures about the size of a hockey puck. Nokia claims its…

There’s a woman in bodypaint hidden in this moth

A beautiful black and white rendering of a Pandora Sphinx moth. But look closer. Can you see her? There’s a woman hiding in it. Keep looking. It will appear to you soon and, when it does, it will you freak out. It’s a body paint demo video by Roustan Bodypaint. SPLOID is a new blog…

Watch a piece of aluminum levitate and melt at the same time

This is an induction heater, an electromagnetic thingamajig that can make metal to levitate and—with enough power—melt. In this case, the metal is a 2.6-gram piece of aluminum that reaches a temperature of 2192 F (1200 C) before the machine is turned off. You can learn more about this process (and how to build one…

Remixing the Weather

It’s arguable that the remix of my afternoon sounds more realistic than did the original. This week has seen some tremendous rainfall in San Francisco, where I live. I was sitting in my car on Monday, just after noon, when the power of the storm was so intense that it was remarkable — and by…

80 barehanded men lift and move an entire house into a new location

Some people move entire houses with cranes and trucks. Not the Mennonites. They just get 80 men inside a house, lift it off its original foundation, and move it into a new location. That’s how Mennonites roll, folks. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Look At What A Decade’s Done To New York City’s Classic Storefronts

Ten years after photographing countless storefronts for their popular book, Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, James and Karla Murray are returning to the same addresses for an update. The contrast in the pairs of images, each a decade apart, is striking. Looking at the photos side-by-side feels like stepping into a time…

Just Don’t Call Them Alpacas

In a world without peace, where everybody is a llama, nowhere is safe. But one crack team of special agents is mad as spit and not going to take it anymore. This summer, get ready, for LlamaLAN XX Part Five FINALE: The Inglourious Llamas.

Angkor Wat Might Be the Prettiest Street View Yet

Fresh outta Cambodia, Angkor Wat is the latest addition to Google Maps’ already considerable portfolio of beautiful places you can explore using Street View. It’s one of the most stunning places on the entire planet, and Google stepped up its game accordingly. It’s got digital rendering of over 100 temples, and more than 90,000 new…

The Left Coast Lifter sits docked in Hudson Harbor after its trip through the Panama Canal, coming to New York from San Francisco. Nearly 30 stories tall and able to lift up to 1,900 tons, the Left Coast Lifter now waits for construction work on The New NY Bridge to begin. [Photo by Nicholas Stango]

Good guy cop pranks people by pulling them over to give them $100

There are few things that make your stomach drop faster than seeing a police car siren in your rearview mirror. Those flashing lights almost always mean you’re in for a reaming, a possible court date, a hefty fine and maybe even weekends lost to traffic school. It’s the worst feeling ever. Unless the cop pulling…

Spooky Art Installation Puts Mesmerizing Video on Moving Sculpture

Artist Robert Seidel loves to play at the fuzzy border between sculpture, still images, and art in motion. He’s at it again with “grapheme,” projecting piercingly bizarre video images on delicate suspended shapes that defy the conventions of a stationary, rectangular screen. Starting with sketches drawn from memories and associations, Seidel created a kinetic video…