Tech News

This Beautifully Simple App Wants to Change How Public Transit Works

Public transit is a hard problem. Imagine how difficult it is for a city to meet the needs of millions, all of whom want to go different places at different times. And, inevitably, you’re left standing on the platform. Ototo wants to change all of that. This ambitious Israeli startup is founded upon a simple…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

The Untold History of Ugliness

We’ve all had that moment while perusing a flea market or junk store when you stumble across an item and have to yelp, “Good lord, that is ugly!” So ugly, in fact, you have to marvel that it even got made in the first place. But what is it exactly that makes an object ugly?…

Tech News Lisa Hix - Collectors Weekly

Watch a Japanese Pianist Battle a Holographic Version of Himself

Not since Donald Duck faced off against Daffy Duck in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? has there been such an epic piano battle as Japanese pianist Yoshiki squaring off against a holographic version of himself. The performance—staged to promote Yoshiki’s upcoming classical world tour—happened at the recent SXSW festival, and had the artist competing against, and…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

How Spielberg, Lucas, and Kasdan came up with Indiana Jones

How did a “scruffy,” “rough and tumble” “bounty hunter of antiquities” become one of the most beloved heroes in film history? Read this transcript from a 1978 meeting featuring Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan, as they workshop the concept of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The best parts are hearing them figure out…

Sploid Alissa Walker

China Offers Smog Insurance for Sight-Seeing Tourists Who Can’t See

China’s debilitating smog problem isn’t anything new at this point—at least for its residents. Tourists to Beijing, however, are still struggling with the fact that the sights they came for can often be virtually unseeable. To appease this growing group of angry travelers, China’s biggest online travel agency now offers smog insurance. https://gizmodo.com/chinas-smog-is-so-bad-that-hotels-now-give-guests-gas-1498515402 The agency,…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg

The Android Wear Smartwatch Apps We Want the Most

The main concept of Android Wear is simple; it’s a Google Now watch, which is awesome. But the right suite of compatible apps could make it even better, so long as they don’t get in the way of the simple Google Now-ness we all want and deserve. https://gizmodo.com/android-wear-is-just-a-google-now-watch-and-thats-grea-1546476502 Of course Android Wear won’t have its…

Tech News Eric Limer

These High-Flying Drones Almost Hit Satellite Status

Low earth orbit is becoming increasingly crowded with satellite traffic and, as Gravity showed us, increasingly treacherous. So rather than try to squeeze yet another spacecraft into the mix, a French consortium has begun development on a super-high altitude, autonomous dirigible that will skim along the edge of the stratosphere. The Stratobus, which is still…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

NASA’s prettiest spaceship yet will take actual photos of alien worlds

PlanetQuest is NASA’s effort to search for new Earths, exoplanets like ours that would probably contain life too. They’re doing some really cool stuff, like this sunflower-telescope combo spaceship—”a cutting-edge effort to take pictures of planets orbiting stars far from the sun.” Imagine that—seeing the actual planets! It’s a simple concept: In order to be…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

How To Donate Your Voice To Someone Who Can’t Speak

Here’s a good deed you can do without parting with a single thing. Synthetic voices for people who have lost the ability to speak only come in generic types—think of Stephen Hawking’s voice—but one fascinating project wants to build custom voices for each person. To do that they need your help: specifically, a recording of…

Tech News Sarah Zhang

Dinner with the greatest view of Earth

NASA and some of their astronauts played along during #LiveInSpace to give a behind-the-scenes look at how the vital necessities take place in the International Space Station. Food has changed a lot over the years, with current meals on the ISS looking a lot like what we eat here on Earth. But it’s not quite…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

You Can Finally Buy That Flying Fire-Breathing RC Dragon (For $60,000)

Thanks to Game of Thrones, dragons are en vogue again. And Hammacher Schlemmer is capitalizing on their renewed popularity by letting you buy one of Rick Hamel’s amazing flying RC dragons. In the air it can hit a top speed of around 70 mph, and on the ground it actually breathes fire. What more could…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

This has to be one of the coolest car pranks ever

Apart from Jeff Gordon’s insane prank on Jalopnik’s Travis Okulski, this has to be the coolest car prank ever: A car company convinces two guys that they are racing in a simulator, but they’re actually zooming through a real life obstacle course in a port. https://jalopnik.com/these-two-guys-think-theyre-in-a-simulator-theyre-1548662257

Sploid Jesus Diaz

These Eerily Accurate Mugshots Were Created From DNA Alone

Everyone knows that DNA can be invaluable when it comes to solving crimes. But now genetic analysis can be used to generate incredibly precise mugshots of criminals, too. https://gizmodo.com/controversial-dna-crime-fighting-technique-keeps-it-all-5595808 Researchers have developed a new technique which uses DNA analysis to determine how genes influence facial shape. In turn, New Scientist reports, that’s allowing them to…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

This Amazing 3D Render Lets You Dive Into a Heroic Battle

The Battle of Buda in 1686 was a significant victory over the Ottoman Empire, which threatened Europe, Asia, and Africa during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1896, Gyula Benczúr painted his gorgeous masterpiece titled “The Recapture of Buda Castle in 1686,” depicting the final moments of the Holy League victory, after 78 days of…

Tech News Attila Nagy

If You’re Going to Buy a Chromebook, Today’s the Day to Do It

If you’re like me, you’ve been thinking of picking up a Chromebook as a backup laptop for awhile, but $200-$300 is just a little more than you want to spend. If that’s the case for you, then today’s the time to strike, with Amazon offering a refurb of one of the best models out there…

Tech News Shep McAllister

This is how the world’s most iconic monuments look from far away

The world’s most famous buildings and monuments never look like you think they will in real life. Photographers create iconic postcards that are burned in our brains, most often to the landmark’s advantage—like Stonehenge, the Niagara Falls or the Great Pyramids. But others times zooming out reveals an even more impressive picture, like Mount Rushmore…

Sploid Adam Clark Estes

Amazing Aerogel: Eight Looks at the Ghostly Supermaterial in Action

Aerogel must be one of the strangest supermaterials to ever exist. Ghostly and shimmering in appearance, it’s insanely light, incredibly strong, and an amazing thermal insulator. And its tricks look absolutely impossible when you see them up close. Made for Fun Aerogel material—often referred to as frozen smoke, solid smoke, solid air or blue smoke—is…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Samyang Introduces New Lenses For Your Wide Angle Pleasure

Adding to its slew of affordable, manual-focus glass, Samyang announced some new options for super wide-angle shooting in both DSLR and mirrorless mounts. First up is a 10mm f/2.8 lens that will come in almost any popular mount including Canon, Nikon, and most mirrorless systems. It costs $529. Super-duper wide. Then there’s a 12mm f/2.0…

Tech News Michael Hession

Watch Fallon and Billy Joel Form a Doo-Wop Group With an iPad App

It’s Friday, and if there’s even an ounce of joy in your heart, drop everything and watch this delightful clip of Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel nailing a four-part harmony rendition of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” with an assist from an iPad app. You could make your own solo barbershop quartet using the same iPad…

Tech News Leslie Horn

What Bitcoin Would Have Been Like If It Existed in the 90s

Bitcoin! It’s wild! It’s crazy! It’s all the rage! But what if instead of bubbling up to the surface and making waves here in the twenty-teens it had gotten popular way back in the 90s? Well, it would have looked a little something like this. This mock-up by the ever-talented SquirrelMonkeyCom who has talked similar…

Tech News Eric Limer

This Beautifully Simple App Wants to Change How Public Transit Works

The Untold History of Ugliness

Watch a Japanese Pianist Battle a Holographic Version of Himself

How Spielberg, Lucas, and Kasdan came up with Indiana Jones

China Offers Smog Insurance for Sight-Seeing Tourists Who Can’t See

The Android Wear Smartwatch Apps We Want the Most

These High-Flying Drones Almost Hit Satellite Status

NASA’s prettiest spaceship yet will take actual photos of alien worlds

How To Donate Your Voice To Someone Who Can’t Speak

Dinner with the greatest view of Earth

You Can Finally Buy That Flying Fire-Breathing RC Dragon (For $60,000)

This has to be one of the coolest car pranks ever

These Eerily Accurate Mugshots Were Created From DNA Alone

This Amazing 3D Render Lets You Dive Into a Heroic Battle

If You’re Going to Buy a Chromebook, Today’s the Day to Do It

This is how the world’s most iconic monuments look from far away

Amazing Aerogel: Eight Looks at the Ghostly Supermaterial in Action

Samyang Introduces New Lenses For Your Wide Angle Pleasure

Watch Fallon and Billy Joel Form a Doo-Wop Group With an iPad App

What Bitcoin Would Have Been Like If It Existed in the 90s

Artemis 2 by the Numbers: Breaking Down NASA’s Big Return to the Moon

Apple Removes iPhone Vibe Coding App from App Store

China’s Biggest Social Media Celebrity Is… Kris Jenner?

Up to $1,550 Off on pCloud: Pay Once, Protect Data Forever for World Backup Day

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

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