Tech News

Why the hell don’t all cars have this awesome spare tire parking system

The space tire is sitting useless most of the time in the trunk of all cars, but in the 50s a California inventor thought it could be put to good use to easily park cars in parallel. Why the hell didn’t this invention become standard in every single car? No wonder you went bankrupt, Detroit!…

Why Hasn’t Apple Fixed Its Massive Security Flaw Yet? (Update: Fixed!)

On Friday, Apple quietly released a patch of what turned out to be a serious iOS security flaw. Five days later, that bug is still very much present in OS X, meaning your MacBook is more at risk than ever. So why hasn’t Apple fixed it yet? https://gizmodo.com/why-apples-huge-security-flaw-is-so-scary-1529041062 Update: It’s fixed! Go to the App…

QPlay: A Spotify For Video That Streams to Your TV

While Google Chromecast, Apple TV, and Roku have shifted streaming content from our mobile devices to our televisions, they’re often incomplete solutions. There’s a whole Internet worth of video content—from news feeds to public broadcasting productions—that the Chromecast just won’t play. But the Qplay will. Conceived by TiVo founders Mike Ramsay and Jim Barton, the…

Watching 2500 rockets firing up at the same time is a lot of fun

Pyro Boy fired 2500 rockets simultaneously at the 2014 Western Winter Blast in Arizona, which apparently is a really challenging proposition and, obviously, a lot of goddamn fun too. With an effect like this, it’s really hard to get all of the rockets to launch at once. Some of them jam, some of them fall…

What Do You Think About Apple HQ’s Official Steve Jobs Statue?

Of the over 10,000 entries submitted, Apple has officially chosen this piece, created by Belgrade sculptor Dragan Radenović, to commemorate and remember Steve Jobs who lost his battle with cancer almost two and a half years ago. Given the sleek lines of the iPhone and other hardware created by Apple while Steve Jobs led the…

No, Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism

In 1998, there was a groundbreaking study telling parents that their children were at risk of getting autism from vaccines. Parents everywhere collectively gasped. After all, they had been told for years vaccines were the best way to prevent any number of unwanted diseases. Now they find out the very treatment they thought was making…

This Public Toilet Turns Pee Into Street Trees

Public toilets are notorious for unsavory behavior and even more unsavory smells. The PPlanter is both a public toilet and a planter, composting the pee it collects to nourish pots of bamboo. And it’s apparently odor-free. This user-friendly, eco-centric design by Hyphae Design Laboratory in Oakland could also help cities in another important way: The…

New iOS Security Flaw Lets Malicious Apps See All Your Keystrokes

Just days after patching a rampant security flaw in iOS, another one has popped up in its stead. According to network security company FireEye, there’s a bug in even the latest version of iOS that can let malicious apps track your every keystroke with ease. https://gizmodo.com/why-apples-huge-security-flaw-is-so-scary-1529041062 FireEye was able to push a proof-of-concept app through…

Spotify salvation is coming for Windows Phone 8 users in the form of an app update “this spring,” bringing overdue Radio, Browse and Discover features to WinPho. The current Spotify app for the platform is terrible, so this can’t happen soon enough.

New App Lets You Stream All the Disney Movies You Own In One Place

Fire your babysitter, because Disney just dropped a brand new app that lets you watch Disney, Pixar, and Marvel movies you bought on iTunes and ones you own on DVD from your iPhone or iPad. Eureka. You just need a Disney account to watch movies in the app, and from there you can link it…

What Counts As a Computer These Days?

There was a time when computers were easy to spot: They filled rooms, blinked lights and whirred with fans. But these days, computers are becoming harder and harder to see. In fact, you’ve got at least one in your pocket right now. Computers have become far, far more embedded in our everyday lives than ever…

Shazam isrolling out a huge update today foriOS, which includes a new look, a streamlined UI, support for 160 TV channels in the United States and what appears to be a new (!) wiggly animation when the app’s listening to the world and hunting for your jam.

Despite having no formal role in the review of mergers and acquisitions, Comcast’s deal with Time Warner Cablewill go in front of the Senate on March 26th. Folks are clearly taking this seriously.

The Most-Visited Countries in the World, Visualized

If you’ve ever wondered which country was the most popular tourist destination, wonder no longer—this map shows which countries get the most visitors every year. It might surprise you to find out that France is the most popular destination, welcoming in 81,400,000 visitors every years. That’s nearly 20 million more visitors annually than the U.S.…

Visa Is Experimenting With Biometric Payment Systems

Apple’s iPhone 5S has a fingerprint scanner, and now Samsung’s revealed a print-reading Galaxy S5. Each allows for payments to be verified using a swipe of your digits. Is this the possible future of all transactions? Perhaps, and Visa is now exploring the area too to ensure it will be ready for the possible sea-change.…

Is This the Geekiest Mural Ever?

The Google Maps pin is iconic: bold and simple, yet incredibly memorable. And emblazoned on the side of a Danish building in twinkling metallic form, it might just be the geekiest mural ever. Called Pin (55° 51′ 42″ N ; 9° 50′ 47″ E)—see what they did there?—this is part of the Public Art exhibition…

Inside the Special Effects That Made Gravity Look So Great

Gravity was a stunning piece of cinema, brought to life by some beautiful special effects. In this video show’n’tell, VFX company Framestore reveals how it achieved some of the most breathtaking scenes. https://gizmodo.com/gravity-review-all-blockbusters-should-be-this-intimat-1441097308 There are layers of complexity here that simply melt away when you’re actually watching the film. Indeed, as a viewer, it’s difficult…

Over at MWC in Barcelona, Blackberryannounced a new full touschscreen phone, called the Z3, that will launch in Indonesia for $200. CEO John Chen said would arrive in other countries “sometime before [he] die[s].” Inspirational! There’s also a device with a physical keyboard, called the classic, slated for release this year.

Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Disappears, Not Getting Help From Authorities

After concerns arose yesterday, it now appears that the bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has gone offline entirely—taking the bitcoin in its possession with it. http://valleywag.gawker.com/if-you-have-bitcoin-in-mt-gox-you-are-probably-fucked-1529946212 After halting customer withdrawals on February 7th, a number out outages yesterday, and the deletion of its entire Twitter feed, it now looks like Mt. Gox has gone properly dark.…

The Science of Sriracha

Lollipops, popcorn, hell, even lip balm—there is very little that isn’t made better with a shake of Sriracha. In this video, though, the American Chemical Society explains the science behind why the sauce is just so damn good. https://gizmodo.com/sriracha-lollipops-are-a-wonderful-invention-5904741 From the capsaicinoids that provides its fiery kick to the compounds that maintain its vibrant red…