Tech News

Facebook Ditched a Fancy Redesign Because Your Computer Sucks

Last year Facebook debuted a nice redesign that featured big, beautiful pictures, seen above. But Facebook never rolled it out. Why? Because most people have crappy old computers. Entrepreneur Dustin Curtis had claimed that the reason for the redesign abandonment was because it didn’t drive enough advertising dollars. But Facebook product designer Julie Zhuo said…

What It’s Like to Taste Frozen Food for a Living

Understandably, there is some point in life where getting paid to stuff your face with french fries might sound like a desirable thing. For most people, this point quickly passes. A former professional frozen food taster tells all in a gross and engrossing interview at The Billfold. Matthew is a 24-year-old freelance illustrator who picked…

That Time the Whac-A-Mole Inventor Accidentally Blew Up His Warehouse

It was lunch time on a muggy late September day in 2013 when an explosion shook downtown Orlando, Florida. A warehouse on west Jefferson street was the casualty. Police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks were already on their way by the time Tim Roth, a good Samaritan, was on the scene. As he searched through…

I can’t believe how fast this amazing two-legged dog runs

Technology is great but, when it comes to awesome, nothing can beat nature. Just look at Duncan Lou Who, the famous boxer who got his two back legs amputated because of a genetic malformation. He learned to walk with his two arms—and this video shows he’s now running faster than ever. None of this video…

Sydney looks like the perfect city in this beautiful miniature video

I have to confess I know little about Sydney but—judging by this tilt-shift time-lapse short by Filippo Rivetti—it looks like a perfect city with nice architecture and beautiful beaches. I wish I were there right now. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

This Week’s Top Comedy Video: Pin It

Pinterest is great! You just hop on, search through fun pictures, and pin the images, recipes, and projects you love! And keep scrolling and pinning. And scrolling. And pinning. Until you just can’t stop. Check out the rest of this week’s top comedy videos over on Splitsider. Now for the week’s comedy news! We reviewed…

Hearing Trick Convinces People Their Arms Are Made of Stone

If your arm falls asleep for a while, it can sort of feel like it’s made of rubber. But how do you make your arm feel like it’s made of marble? According to Italian researchers, all you need is the sound of a hammer tapping stone. And some psychological trickery. You may be familiar with…

Earth Hour: a perfect time to stargaze!

As cities shut down their lights for Earth Hour at 8:30 to 9:30 pm local time tonight, you will have a brief respite from light pollution. Join the hour. Flip off your lights, head outside, and look up. Even if not everyone goes dark, you’ll see something. As a whole lot of you pointed out…

Amazing Martin Luther King, Jr. Portrait Made From 4,200 Rubik’s Cubes

This project is from 2010, but it’s such an amazing and unusual achievement it’s still worth sharing today. Artist Pete Fecteau created a huge mural commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. out of more than 4,000 individual Rubik’s cubes, with each square on each cube hand-arranged to create the detailed image you see above. On…

Darth Vader Will Run For President of Ukraine

In perhaps the most unexpected turn of events in Ukrainian politics, RT News says that Darth Vader, Sith Lord of the Galactic Empire, has declared himself a candidate in the Ukrainian presidential election. The political force is strong with this one. While the Sith lord generally resides in a galaxy far, far away, he seems…

This week in Tech Reads: emoji, stolen passports, and what happens to our digital avatars when we die. And more! Caroline Porter examines the strange and wonderful new language that is emoji, through the lens of people like Laura Ustick, who’s launching a campaign to add a hot dog icon to the texting and Twitter…

Shake, Rattle, and Roll in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California has experienced a recent bout of earthquakes. It’s time to delve into the science of what they are, when they happen, and how to prepare before the Big One shakes the state without freaking out. Storekeeper cleans up merchandise knocked off shelves by an earthquake in the Los Angeles region on Friday…

How’s your Emergency Response plan looking?

A disaster anywhere but where you live is nature’s way of asking you how that emergency response plan is coming along. With the landslide in Washington, a severe storm in eastern Canada, and an earthquake in Los Angeles last night, it’s about time to consider your local hazards and prepare appropriately. https://gizmodo.com/hazard-risk-and-the-steelhead-landslide-in-washington-1551357211 http://thevane.gawker.com/textbook-noreaster-looks-gorgeous-on-satellite-and-ana-1552148252 https://gizmodo.com/shake-rattle-and-roll-in-los-angeles-1554426115 The…

Freeways, Wu Tang, Oculus Rift, and More

Between newly-revealed smartphones and surprise virtual reality purchases by Facebook, this was a pretty wild week for tech news. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have plenty of other stuff to write about, though. Here’s the best stuff we did this week. 6 Freeway Removals That Changed Their Cities Forever It seems counterintuitive, right? Rip out…

The Insane History of Rockets at Jet Propulsion Laboratories

Everyone loves a gorgeous rocket launch, but the story of getting from the first sputtering attempts to the modern day marvels is completely unreal. The Jet Propulsion Laboratories took it up a notch, giving mad scientists their epic reputation. https://gizmodo.com/today-in-1926-robert-goddard-launched-the-worlds-first-1544960019 The Rocket Boys In the late 1930s, a group of Caltech graduate students were booted…

Samsung Galaxy S5 Is a Baby Monitor That Reports to Your Smartwatch

Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, has a surprising hidden feature that tech bloggers have just discovered: the phone can double as a baby monitor—provided you’ve got it paired to a Galaxy Gear smartwatch. And y’know, you don’t mind leaving your baby and your phone behind while you’re in another room. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-hands-on-a-tiny-dimpled-step-into-th-1529955527 Yes, this…

How to Make Your Very Own Supercut

Along with memes and animated GIFs, the video supercut constitutes one of the three most fundamental formats of Internet cultural reference. But with a bit of dedication and imagination, you could create the next Christopher Walken Dancing. Pick a Theme, Any Theme Stringing together clips for comedic effect has been going for years, but the…

That’s no illusion, that’s the Super Guppy!

NASA sees my space-time design examples, and raises the stakes with a time-space curvy-illusion that isn’t an illusion because those are actual curves. https://gizmodo.com/the-space-time-continuum-in-carpet-format-1534291830 https://gizmodo.com/a-tree-so-mighty-it-deforms-space-itself-1544370825 This is the inside of the Super Guppy, a wide-bodied cargo aircraft that most recently transported a composite rocket fuel tank. The Super Guppy has a hinged nose that opens…

Morning Music for Spacecraft

Waking up a spacecraft is no simple task. For recent the awakening of comet-chaser Rosetta, the European Space Agency recruited an entire contest of wake-up videos. The entries ranged from an anime robotica dance video by Canadian Gerald Darroles: to a black-and-white hand-sketched stop-action animation by Bruno Correia Da Costa of Portugal: and a lot…

One World Trade Security Official Resigns After Daredevil Break-Ins

NY1 news is saying that Daniel Vasquez, assistant security director at One World Trade Center, is resigning after two separate events where thrill-seekers were able to break in to the building. The move comes after video was released this week showing three BASE jumpers parachuting from the very top of One World Trade. The video,…