Tech News

The Hidden History of the MLB Playoff Team Logos

This afternoon, postseason baseball will commence as the Cardinals take the mound against the Pirates. But in a different time, it would have been the Brown Stockings versus the Alleghenys. Here’s how they—and the other six playoff teams—got where they are today, as told by their ever-evolving logos. In the early days, a team’s logo…

Who Needs AAA When You’ve Got R2-D2 On Your Car?

If that spunky little astromech droid can help whiny Luke Skywalker lead the Rebellion to defeating the Empire, surely R2-D2 can help you when your radiator’s on the fritz, or you’ve got a flat tire. In fact, who needs to pay for AAA when you’ve got what is arguably the real hero of the Star…

Autumn Yardwork’s a Breeze With This Leaf Smooshing Rake

You might think the cheap plastic rake you grabbed at the hardware store is more than adequate given you really only use it for about one month out of the year. But that’s only because you haven’t been introduced to Quirky’s wonderful new Rake ‘n’ Tamp which not only wrangles leaves, it also tamps them…

Actually, the Alleged Silk Road Kingpin Hired a Hitman TWICE

There was already a lot of evidence that alleged Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht (a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts) was not the world’s greatest guy, and the condemning information just keeps rolling in. Newly surfaced legal documents say that the 29-year-old ordered not one but two hits on former associates. The new court documents come from…

Sinéad O’Connor Begs Miley Cyrus to Stop “Prostituting” Herself

Sinéad O’Connor recently wrote Miley Cyrus begging the ex-Disney star to stop allowing herself to be pimped out by the music industry. Cyrus recently said that her Wrecking Ball video was inspired by the Irish songstress’s Nothing Compares 2 U. So, Sinéad’s basically your Jameson-chugging, slut-shaming, older sister.

The Next Revolution In Farming Is a Decent Internet Connection

The beeps and clicks of dial-up web service are (mercifully) a long-gone memory for most city-dwellers, but for many rural residents that aural static is still a regular part of the ritual of logging on. The service remains incredibly slow—and that tedious pace is becoming a major problem for farmers bringing their businesses into the…

It’s Amazing These Perfectly Synced Gears Don’t Shred Each Other

If you’ve ever shuddered at the sound of the gears grinding on your car’s manual transmission, you might have a hard time watching this video. But don’t dismay, as these three gears spinning at 4,500 RPM come in and out of sync with each other, at no point do they ever interfere or grind against…

Samsung Shape M7 Wireless Speaker: A Sonos by Any Other Name…

This is the Samsung Shape M7 wireless speaker, a $400 streaming device that lets you play music all over your home or office. It looks like a Sonos, smells like a Sonos, is priced like a Sonos. All that’s left is to find out if it sounds like one, too. The Shape—which features a foam-core…

In Japan TV they can show nipples on breasts as long as they are blue

Everyone knows that in Taiwan—or the United States—people don’t have nipples until they are 18 years old—because body parts are dirty. Which is why TV channels censor them in the most ridiculous ways. Fortunately, in Japan they make an exception for blue tits.

Uh Oh, Chrome’s Incognito Mode Is Broken on iOS 7

Better be careful what you search for on your iPhone. Chrome’s incognito mode on iOS 7 is leaky, and your embarrassing searches might not be as safe as you thought. The bug wasdiscovered by Tom Faller at Parall.ax and it’s pretty straight forward. If you search for something in incognito mode—say, for big sexy farts—that…

16 Classic Toys That Trace More Than a Century of Playtime

History is told through objects as much as words and documents. Few objects carry more emotional heft than the toys we played with as kids. This series of photographs by Andy Brown elegantly show us iconic playthings from the last 140 years. The toys date from the 1870s to the 2000s. They were borrowed from…

The Most Popular Websites in the World, Country-by-Country

If you’ve ever wondered what the go-to web page was around the rest of planet, wonder no longer. This map shows the most visited websites around the world, broken down country-by-country. Assembled by Mark Graham and Stefano De Sabbata for Information Geographies, the map—based on Alexa data—depicts countries sized by Internet population. Perhaps understandably, there…

Rdio’s New Free Mobile Radio Service Is Available From Today

Rdio’s rumored free radio service is now real: from today, it’s offering free, personalized radio to non-paying users on iOS and Android. Time to get listenin’. The new service, called Stations, will be available in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In the past, users who had reached the end of Rdio’s 14-day free trial…

The History of Knives, Forks and Spoons

You use them every day. They’re some of the most simple, but useful, devices in existence. They’re used the world over. But who, exactly, invented knives, forks and spoons? Spoons Spoons are one of the oldest eating utensils on the planet. This isn’t particularly surprising if one considers that nearly as long as humans have…

Fukushima Has Been Leaking Radioactive Water into the Pacific (Again)

Officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have announced that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been leaking radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean again. Speaking to Reuters, TEPCO admitted that it found a leak late on Wednesday, which had likely spilled into the Pacific Ocean. The authorities explained that the contaminated water was…

Snapchat Now Has a 24-Hour Self-Destruct Timeline

Snapchat’s unique selling point has always been the fact that images and videos could be shared with one other person before—poof!—they went up in smoke. Now, though, the app is branching out, to provide a 24-hour timeline to share with friends. Called Stories, it’s Snapchat’s attempt at making its service both more social and a…

Just How Advanced Is the NSA’s Decryption Tech?

There have been no end of reports about the NSA’s mind-blowing decrytion techniques. But just how much of it is super-smart computer science, and how much is brute force? In this video, Richard Mortier from the University of Nottingham, UK, describes the mathematics—and other, less sophisticated techniques—that the NSA is using to snoop on us…

Netflix had updated its iOS 7 app, providing it with HD streaming and AirPlay functionality.

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Otto l’Automate

Tomatoes are an opiate for the masses. And who’s to say that isn’t a soylent tomato canning plant? The cyber-proletariat will remain ironically indentured to their own class of robot overlords.

Wow, This Beautiful Time Lapse Was Incredibly Created in GTA V

It’s official. Living in the world of GTA is way better than living in real life. Hell, the only thing real life had on being a criminal in Los Santos was gaspingly beautiful time lapse videos that would pop up every and now again to capture your attention and make you wonder why you can’t…