Tech News

Infrared Panorama of the Milky Way

NASA’s Spitzer space telescope spent a decade collecting high-resolution infrared photographs of the Milky Way. We already pointed you at the interactive map, but they’ve also put together a narrated video to guide you around the galaxy as seen by GLIMPSE. Tip via Ariel Waldman. For more on the utility of multiwavelength astrophotography, try this…

The Bizarre and Controversial World of Late-Night Lawyer Ads

When it’s three o’clock in the morning and everything is going wrong in your life, there’s a certain kind of ad you might see on basic cable. Lawyers–usually guys–promise to battle the heartless, tight-wad insurance companies on your behalf. There’s disaster footage and stiff readings off of cue cards. The ads look like they were…

Verizon just announced it’s matching AT&T’s mobile plan pricing with its More Everything Plan: unlimited talk, text, and 10GB of data shared between four lines will now cost $160 per month. Check out the new pricing here. [Verizon via BGR]

Google Maps Stays Neutral By Only Showing Your Side in Border Disputes

Border disputes are still going on in a bunch of places around the world. That makes life difficult for mapmakers, and especially difficult for the world’s favorite online map service, Google Maps. As The Washington Post points out, Google strives to not get stuck in the middle of a territorial struggle, by showing you the…

NASA Cuts All Non-ISS Ties with Russia Over Ukraine (Updated)

In an internal memo, NASA has stated that it will suspendall interaction with the Russian government, in response to Russia’s violations of Ukraine’s territorial independence (Update: official statement below). Fortunately for U.S. astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson, both currently orbiting on the International Space Station, the two agencies will still cooperate to transport supplies…

​Windows 8.1 Update Hands On: Terrific Tweaks For the Mouse Faithful

Windows 8.1 did a whole bunch to make Windows 8 feel more homey by tweaking tiny fit and finish issues. And it worked great. The next Windows 8.1 update (creatively called “Windows 8.1 Update”) is pretty much the same thing all over again, but this time with mouse-users specifically in mind. And after trying it…

Nokia Lumia 930: The First Flagship for Windows Phone 8.1

Nokia just announced the first phone for Windows Phone 8.1. Meet the Nokia Lumia 930. It’ll be available in starting in June for about $600 before carrier subsidies. Think of this as the Lumia Icon for the whole world—except the United States. The Lumia 930 has a 1080p 5-inch screen. It looks like a Lumia…

Windows is now free for devices with screens smaller than 9 inches. And when there’s a Windows for “internet of things” connected devices, that’ll be free too.

Samsung Galaxy Everything, Hangable Speakers, Bladder Backpack [Deals]

This awesome-looking speaker will feel right at home in front of your TV, or hanging on a wall, and can stream audio from Bluetooth, AirPlay, DLNA, or via a standard AUX port. It typically costs over $100, and carries great reviews. Panasonic SC-NE1 Compact Wireless Speaker | $70 If you’ve had your eye on Samsung’s…

Surprise: The Windows Start Menu Is Coming Back

Miss the Start Menu? Well it is coming back. Yes it still has live tiles, but it is back in a way you can recognize, and it roll out to users as an update. Oh and those universal apps Microsoft is going to start peddling? They’ll be available in windows.

Shipping Containers Lost at Sea and the Search for Flight 370

Just how many large mysterious objects can there be floating at sea? That’s what many of us have wondered after the search for debris from Malaysia Airlines 370 turned up piece after piece of ocean trash. The search for flight 370 has focused our attention on empty patches of ocean and, in the process, shed…

Amazon Fire TV Hands On: The Fastest Smart TV You’ve Ever Met

Amazon pitched its Fire TV as a streaming device to end all streaming devices. The company touted its simple and effective search, and its open ecosystem boasting enough apps to burn your eyes out. We spent some time messing with the Fire TV and found that for the most part, it makes good on those…

Windows 8.1’s new universal apps aren’t just coming to phones and desktops; they’ll also be coming to the Xbox One.

Tired of seeing those inscrutable little black rectangles where emoji should be every time you browse Twitter on the web? Well today’s your lucky day. Twitter’s browser version finally supports all the smiling poops you can handle (along with the rest of the emoji crew).

Mosquito Matchmaker: An Inside (Itchy) Look at Force-Mating Mosquitoes

The worst thing about feeding hundreds of mosquitoes on your own blood is not the itching – if you do it enough times, your body gets used to the bites. It’s not even the pain, although it is always painful since the mosquitoes will use their snouts to root about your flesh in search of…

Windows 8.1 Universal Apps Can Run On Desktop, Mobile, and Xbox

It’s a moment we’ve been waiting for for a long time. No, Microsoft’s various operating systems are not merging quite yet, but they’re about to get universal apps that work across all devices. Including the Xbox One. And best of all, you only have to buy each app once and it works everywhere. Universal Windows…

Amazon’s Fire TV Doesn’t Have HBO Go

Amazon debuted its $100 streaming TV box today. It’s impressive! It’s affordable! And it has a whole bunch of apps. It just doesn’t have HBO Go, which is probably the one app that so, so many folks were hoping for. And that could be problematic. To be fair, just because Fire TV doesn’t have HBO…

Windows 8.1 Update: The Return of the Mouse

At today’s Build conference keynote, Microsoft officially announced Windows 8.1 Update 1, which is basically a bunch of tweaks for people who want to forgo its touch optimization and use the OS primarily with a mouse and keyboard. Across the board, the Windows 8.1 interface has been reworked so that people who don’t have a…

The Most Sprawling Places in the U.S. Are Also the Unhealthiest

Sprawl is inconvenient, ugly, and permanently damaging to the environment. And it can also make you sick. A new study shows that sprawling metropolitan areas not only force residents to live farther from where they work and shop, but could also be causing them to lead shorter, unhealthier lives. An Index of Sprawl Smart Growth…

The daily schedules of the world’s greatest geniuses

How did Beethoven, Mozart, Freud, Dickens, Darwin, Le Corbusier or Benjamin Franklin managed to be so productive and create some of the most important work in the history of art and science? Check out this great visualization by Info We Trust and find solace in the fact that some of them didn’t actually work that…