Tech News

Great, Now Robots Can Outsmart Tripwires

Until now, quadraped robots have been a bit like terrifying mechanical sprinters: They go and go and go, but if they run into an obstacle, they’re gonna fall like a tangle-legged AT-AT. So because the prospect of bots that can throw cinderblocks and climb buildings wasn’t terrifying enough, Italian researchers are teaching robots how not…

What Would Happen If the Whole World Peed in the Ocean at Once?

I don’t really remember the first time I peed in the ocean. But it must’ve been when I was a girl, during one of my family’s numerous summer vacations to the Jersey shore. We rented the same property in Wildwood Crest year in and year out: a modest 3-bedroom apartment just blocks from the beach.…

This Weird Portable Shower Sprays Water Up Instead of Down

The Viteo Shower is a portable outdoor shower that sprays water from below. It’s not just a fancy name for a hose, either. At least we think. Gravity exists, so you have to wonder how this contraption works. Created by Belgian-Australian designer Danny Venlet, it’s a simple disc that’s activated by your body weight. When…

Facebook’s New Timehop-Like Feature Shows You What You Did a Year Ago

You may have thought Facebook couldn’t become any more of an artificial orgy of nostalgia than it already is, but if today’s new test feature takes hold, get ready to wallow like you’ve never wallowed before. Very much in the vein of Timehop, Facebook now wants to remind you of everything you and your thousand…

These Wild Hidden Pictures Could Protect the Money of the Future

We’d all be printing money if it were easy, and that’s why government folks try so hard to make it hard. This crazy visual effect could be the latest trick up their anti-counterfeiting sleeves. And man is it awesome to watch. The measure demonstrated in the video above is something called a moiré pattern, the…

Next-generation game consoles will pretty much feel the same

Theoretically, the next Playstation will be 50% faster than the next Xbox. But according to this simulated graphics comparison test, you shouldn’t care. At the end of the day, games will pretty much feel the same, says Sam Gibbs at Gizmodo: “whichever next-gen console you buy at launch you’ll probably be fine.” https://gizmodo.com/in-theory-this-is-how-the-xbox-one-compares-to-the-ps4-974197622

These Super Geeks Created a Virtual Reality Version of Paperboy

The only thing nerdier than keeping an old NES hooked up to your TV to play your favorite old games is recreating your favorite old games using virtual reality equipment. That’s exactly what this crew of programmers did recently with Paperboy. A team of supernerds from the custom video game studio Globacore recently built a…

Samsung Denies Trying to Artificially Inflate Its Benchmark Scores

Yesterday, it was reported that Samsung had rigged the Galaxy S4 to perform better in benchmarks. Today comes Samsung’s terse response, which answers some questions, but leaves others flapping in the wind. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-rigged-the-s4-to-unnaturally-perform-better-in-971577921 In part, the reason reporters thought that Samsung was goosing the benchmarks was because the phone’s GPU operates at 533MHz in tests…

How to be more productive according to the brilliant Alan Turing

Want to be as productive as Alan Turing, the genius who actually made the first computer happen and help beat the Nazis breaking their encryption codes? Follow his three productivity tricks. https://lifehacker.com/alan-turings-best-productivity-tricks-966630884

Crazy device could launch stuff to space at 1/100 the price of rockets

It sounds as crazy as the space elevator, but the physics work: a group of engineers want to build a slingshot-like machine to launch payloads to space at 1/100 the cost of rockets. The acceleration would be so high that it could only launch fuel and building materials, which is crucial for interplanetary travel. https://gizmodo.com/japan-will-have-a-space-elevator-by-2050-5887210…

Street Artist Replaces Erased Work With Stencil of Guy Who Erased It

The work of a street artist is perhaps by definition impermanent; you create, it’s found out, it’s erased, you move on. Or, if you’re a young man who goes by the name of DS, you spot the guy who’s erasing your work, photograph him, and come back later to immortalize him as a stencil in…

Hey, Microsoft Office is out for Android now, too. Now you can work even more. It’s not optimized for tablets, though, so stick to the Office web apps if some deranged kidnapper is forcing you to work on a tablet. [Google Play]

20 Iconic Weapons From the Most Legendary Gunslingers in Film

Even for people who are vehemently anti-gun, there’s something fun about seeing how filmmakers and writers imagine weapons of the future, regardless of how unrealistic they are. Federico Mauro, an Italian art director, has taken it upon himself to make them real. Mauro is an award-winning commercial director, but in his free time, he hones…

Here’s Proof That Your Perception of Time Is Awful

Do you think Cleopatra lived at a time closer to the Great Pyramid being built or Neil Armstrong landing on the moon? You might be surprised by the answer. In fact, you’ll probably be surprised by the whole of this BuzzFeed video, which does an amazing job of making you realize that your conception of…

In Theory, This Is How Xbox One and PS4 Graphics Compare

There’s no doubt that on paper, the way Sony’s designed the PS4 and the AMD components it’s selected offer 50 per cent more power in the GPU department over the Xbox One. But does it really make any difference when you get down to playing a game? That’s the question Eurogamer and Digital Foundry set…

Rumor has it that Motorola’s new Moto X smartphone will be one of the first Android handsets to use a nano-SIM—currently used by the iPhone 5.

Federal Court: Cell Phone Tracking Without a Warrant Is A-OK

A Federal Appeals court has ruled that search warrants are not required by law enforcement agencies if they wish to seize cellphone records. The ruling, from the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, claims that collection of such data doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment—and doesn’t need to pass the probable cause test. The decision overturns…

Canon’s New Tiny Video Camera Is For Filming Yourself Doing…Whatever

Canon’s new Vixia Mini is a Wi-Fi enabled camcorder designed to help you document your everyday life in more detail than ordinary folk ever thought possible. No other people required. The slim-bodied pocket camera from Canon’s camcorder team is different from a rugged GoPro or that old Flip camera you’ve got tucked away in a…

The 7 Companies Microsoft Won’t Let Its Ex-Windows Chief Work For

Late last year, Microsoft booted out booted out its head of Windows, Steve Sinofsky. Now, a few more details have come out about his departure—including who Microsoft have banned him from working for. https://gizmodo.com/the-president-of-windows-steven-sinofsky-is-leaving-mic-5959997 In a 10-K filing, it’s revealed that Microsoft has said Sinofsky “cannot accept direct or indirect employment” with Amazon, Apple, EMC,…

This Smart Wearable Vibrator Will Get Women Off Intelligently

Vibrators are typically strong, powerful, dumb pipes. Which is mostly fine! But sometimes you’d like something more… nuanced. Vibease, which is supposedly the world’s first wearable “smart” vibrator, claims to have the sort of sexy thoughtfulness that can get any woman off. It’s basically a read along vibrator for erotica. The Bluetooth-enabled vibrator syncs up…