Tech News

10 Tricks to Make Yourself a Google Maps Master

The Maps Wars are on in earnest—with Apple Maps now finding its feet after a shaky start, and Bing Maps forming an integral part of Windows Phone, Google Maps can’t afford to stand still. A recent overhaul brought bringing more customization options, extra features and a brand new look. Here are 10 useful tips and…

The National Guard Accidentally Practice-Bombed a Bar Parking Lot

Forget secret NSA spying, the National Guard up and dropped an inert practice bomb into a Maryland bar parking lot Thursday night. At around 9 pm, patrons of Darlene’s Tavern in Sudlersville were treated to a loud and inexplicable bang outside. When they went to check it out, they were greeted by a large, smoking…

You might want to hold off on buying that Moto X. According to the often reliable Evleaks, its price is going to drop to $100 on contract later this year. And apparently it’ll have four new wood-back options too. If you’re into that.

How to Make E-Cigarettes Look Even Dumber

Cigarettes are bad for you. No one—not even the guy smoking on the street corner right now—will argue that. But e-cigarettes are just ridiculous looking. It looks like you’re playing with a dumb toy that lights up and annoys people because you get to smoke vapor indoors. Heck, James Dean couldn’t even make e-cigs look…

8 Ways to Make People Hate You on the Internet

The Internet is not that hard. We all know that, right? But some people out there (probably duckface selfie-ing on Facebook right now) just aren’t very good at the Internet. They just don’t get it. They don’t know that Google answers any question, they can’t spell, they take too many selfies, they obliterate your feed…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Tits. (NSFW)

Boobs, tatas, naughty pillows, fun bags—we’ve got so many nicknames and objectifications for the human breast that the fact that they’re still attached to people is often ignored. NYC-based artist and animator, Louisa Bertman recounts her own youthful obsession with obtaining the “perfect” set in this frenetic, sometimes explicit but ultimately touching and thought-provoking animated…

Leaked Documents Detail the Cyber Operations of US Spy Agencies

The Washington Post has some more documents that reveal the offensive cyber-operations of US spy agencies. The cyber campaign is even broader and more aggressive than we first thought and uses movie-appropriate code names like GENIE, TAO, TURBINE and The ROC. Apparently, US spy agencies launched 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011. Under GENIE, the US…

This Week’s Top Comedy Video: The Shocker

Moms are the coolest. Not because they birthed you into this world, not because they raised you, not because they can never stop taking care of you but because there was a point in time where she wasn’t a mom yet. And she gave that all up to create another human. So never doubt that…

Seeing Random Things Cut in Half Is the Best Thing

Here’s your #FollowFriday or #ff or whatever the cool tweet birds called it back when Twitter launched years ago and people had no idea what it was for so they made their followers create a giant circle: @HalfPics. It’s a simple Twitter account that shows random things chopped in half. How random? There are grenades,…

What’s Your Favorite Cookbook App?

I’ve got a stack of loose paper recipe cards 18 inches tall, dozens of cookbooks, a bookmark folder jam-packed with links to Food Beast, Sunset, Bon Appetit, and enough canning ratios rattling around in my head to fill a 21-quart pot. What I don’t have is a single mobile resource to digitize, organize, and store…

Most Beautiful Items: August 24 – 30, 2013

Sadly, Labor Day weekend marks the spiritual end of summer. But don’t fall into the dumps yet, friends. What lies between you and the colder months are both a day off and a some of the best things we found from the realms of art, architecture, and design this week. A Creepy Tour of Russia’s…

Would You Trust a Helium-Filled Floating Venue On Your Wedding Day?

If you like the idea of an outdoor wedding, but not the idea of setting up a tent which can be a hassle, you might want to reach out to design studio Qastic. As part of the Connecticut-based firm’s research into the feasibility of using floating structures in its architecture, it created this inflatable helium-filled…

iPad Apps of the Week: The Converted, Blackbar, ReadQuick, And More

The best weekend of the end of summer is nearly here! Or already here, if you’re the kind of person who knocked off work before 6pm. Or not here at all if you work weekends. Anyway, in honor of Labor Day, we labored all week to find you the best iPad apps. Dig in! The…

iPhone Apps of the Week: The Converted, Flickr, Blackbar, and More

It’s Friday night, and you know what that means: we’ve got a fistful of apps for you and your iPhone. Which is a lot like a fistful of dynamite, without the explosions. A fistful of dynamite apps! Yeah! The Converted: This is a highly visual conversion app that actually gives you a sense of the…

Android Apps of the Week: Digg Reader, Dynamic Notifications and More

It’s Friday, it’s the weekend, it’s Labor Day weekend — it’s a good day to be alive. And for Android users who’ve been dying to get their hands on some sweet new apps all week, it’s an especially good day. Check out the best of what’s out there this week! Digg Reader: This is a…

This Video Explains the History of Color Film Technology in 21 Minutes

From the early experiments using 2-color processes to the color movies we know today, this fascinating 21-minute video from FilmmakerIQ breaks down the history and technology behind color motion pictures. https://gizmodo.com/an-enlightening-look-at-the-history-and-science-of-colo-1227167778

An Enlightening Look at the History and Science of Color Film

If you’re a history buff, or a cinema buff, or a science buff—any kind of buff, really—you will love this comprehensive tour of the evolution of color film and photography. FilmmakerIQ hosts this informative account of how we got from black-and-white to the rich naturalistic colors of today. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t one sudden breakthrough.…

Should you return long-forgotten property that you have by mistake?

What would you do if your friend asks you to return something of hers that you have had by mistake for many years? Invoke the statue of limitations, kick her out of your house, and never talk to her again? That seems reasonable, but this may be a better solution. http://gawker.com/thatz-not-okay-the-gold-medal-in-silver-theft-ugly-bu-1221991835

Google Bought a Smartwatch Company

According to GigaOM, Google bought WIMM Labs last year to help develop its upcoming Android smartwatch. WIMM Labs was the maker of the WIMM One, a smart watch released a few years ago that ran a modified version of Android. https://gizmodo.com/report-google-is-making-a-smart-watch-too-5991834 Makes sense for the company behind Android to snatch up an Android smart watch…

An IT Flaw Has Let Unauthorized Users Exploit Army PCs for Years

Earlier this week, Buzzfeed reported that a computer security flaw in has left Army computers vulnerable for at least two years; today, the Army confirmed to Buzzfeed that this was, in fact the case. And that they have no plans to do anything to fix it. While the specifics of the flaw haven’t yet been…