Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Honestly, I don’t know. I just feel like some nights you have to shake it up, and SHAD definitely agrees. The most incredible thing to me about “The Old Prince Still Lives At Home,” released in 2007 and rereleased in 2009, is how accurately the video recreates the Fresh Prince theme video. It’s pretty shot…
A few months ago Joerg (I feel like we’re on a first name basis with him at this point, right?) got the idea to try and shoot Oreos out of a pump-action slingshot. It was a fun time, but not as deadly as he would have liked. So round two of the Oreo challenge involves…
If your world is feeling overwhelmingly and counter-productively materialistic it may be time to downsize and move into a hut. That’s normal, right? And for all your sacrifice your minimalist hut can be built by celebrity architect Renzo Piano. Intrigued? https://gizmodo.com/beautiful-glass-shard-spire-set-to-dominate-london-skyl-5345826 Adding to the list of bomb diggity buildings on the Vitra Campus in Germany,…
Joe Doucet’s circular mirror isn’t water-logged for nothing. He designed it as a reminder of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in lower Manhattan (where his studio is) and generally on the east coast. The transition in the mirror from clear to blue is refracted slightly so part of whatever is being reflected repeats, mimicking…
There’s been a lot of talk about the NSA and its data-gathering policies. The news sounds kind of scary. But you might be thinking that the NSA can’t have literally every foreign and domestic call made in the U.S.. That would be a crazy amount of data right? Well, yes it would be, and it…
Game company Wicked Paradise claims that their incoming erotic game will be so realistic and immersive that it will be the closest thing to an actual sex experience. Their game uses the Oculus Rift, a high definition VR headset that is capable of fooling the brain into thinking you’re in an alternative world.
For 4.5 years I used a 15″ macbook pro from mid-2008. It had changeable batteries so twice I went to Apple and convinced them to give me a new one for free. The three batteries I used in that machine were very different. The first one was a champ. It would last for six hours…
When researchers needed an easier way to share data and resources, and generally collaborate they invented the internet. And then they all went home and let the memes and brunch photos take over. Which is weird. Sure, initiatives like CERN are able to coordinate thousands of scientists toward common goals as a result of the…
Update: CNET has since updated its story to reflect that the government does, in fact, need a warrant to listen to your phone calls. In a “secret briefing” to Congress the NSA confirmed that their analysts can listen to phone calls without a warrant and totally at their individual discretion. So . . . not…
University of Canterbury’s researcher Christopher Bartneck has discovered that Lego’s iconic figurines are not as happy now as they were 25 years ago, when all their cleanly designed faces were happy. Now there are plenty of angry, doubtful and fearful faces. A sign of the times, no doubt. https://gizmodo.com/this-secret-underground-facility-guards-all-lego-sets-e-5018990
University of Canterbury’s researcher Christopher Bartneck has made an obvious discovery: Lego Minifigs are not as happy today as they were 25 years ago, when all their iconic, cleanly designed faces were happy. Now they are mostly a mess—including facial expressions of anger, doubt, sadness or fear. https://gizmodo.com/this-secret-underground-facility-guards-all-lego-sets-e-5018990 I hate the minifigs with different expressions.…
The NSA’s high-tech, new school surveillance system has been getting a whole lot of attention lately, but their old-school digs are worth a look as well. The agency has been around since the 1950s, originally tasked with cracking wartime codes, the NSA’s gear has always been cutting edge, and the old stuff is amazing and…
Teams of scientists in the US and Europe have finally discovered the secret recipe for the legendary Roman concrete, which is capable of standing in good shape for thousands of years. Modern concrete can only survive an average of 75 years without repairs. The formula: “a specific mixture of lime and volcanic rock.”
The days are getting longer, the weather’s getting warmer. It’s this time of year that anyone and everyone could use some killer strollin’ music to strut to. Might I suggest the hidden Pavement not-exactly-a-classic-but-damn-well-should-be “The Sutcliffe Catering Song”? You just have to like it. The final track off the second disc of the enhanced version…
You’ve probably never used a fountain pen, or accidentally spilled a jar of refil ink and ruined your favorite pants. And for that, you have the ballpoint pen to thank. The handy gadget is having its 75th birthday today, so go sign away your rights to something to celebrate! Back in 1888, a guy by…
For the most part, we humans are better at things than we were thousands of years ago. But there are some things the ancients had down pat. Roman concrete, for instance, is just way better than anything we can whip up today. Finally, after some 2,000 years, modern-day scientists have figured it out. And it’s…
Great news: half our senators skipped out on a briefing about NSA snooping so they could get home sooner!
Well, tomorrow’s Father’s Day and while it’s almost too late to get a gift, it’s not late enough to brush it off entirely without at least spending a minute or two trying to come up with something quick. Whaddoya got? Last year we hit you with a list of last-minute winners, but we’re always game…
There are big weeks, and then there are huge weeks. This week was both, times two. WWDC brought us a new OS X, a new iOS, and a new Mac Pro, and E3 brought us all the details on the next generation of gaming. Between the two, we’ve got a lot to cover, but you’ll…
Forget trowels and tiny little brushes. The new must-have tool for archaeology is lasers. Just last month, researchers in the Honduran rainforest used them to find a lost city of gold, and now archaeologists in Cambodia have found a forgotten city that’s even older. Welcome to Mahendraparvata, a metropolis unknown for the past millenium. https://gizmodo.com/how-lasers-may-have-revealed-a-legendary-lost-city-of-g-507460219…