Tech News

Hacker Turns an NES Console Into an 8-Bit Gaming Laptop

Forget dropping thousands of dollars on the monstrously spec’d gaming laptops sold by the likes of Alienware. As long as you’re not itching to play the latest titles, you can look to the hacker who created this brilliant working NES laptop for some money-saving DIY inspiration. When closed it looks like a perfectly unmodified NES…

The Papasan Chair Didn’t Look This Good at Grandma’s House

Back when your grandparents weren’t your grandparents and they were smoking when smoking was still a cool thing and they were traveling to Palm Springs on vacation, they had a chair like the Acapulco Chair. Made by CB2, it’s an update to the old papasan seat, but it ditches the tired old cushion and bamboo…

DNA Finally Gets a Beautiful Explainer Befitting Its Mystifying Elegance

If you’ve made your way through high school biology, you’re probably familiar with the basics of DNA. It’s the blueprint for your being, man. Well, if you don’t know a thing about the double-helix, et al, this beautifully animated explainer is a succinct way to get caught up. But even if you’re amongst the learned,…

Shooting Challenge: Black & White, Night

Call it noir, or just call it what it is: Black and white at night. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, ditch the cheesy detective hats, but keep the beautiful juxtaposition of whites, blacks, and the gradient grey in between. The Challenge Take a black and white photo at night. The Technique Night is an amazing…

It’s Too Bad This Zebrawood Wallet In Your Pocket Will Lead To Many Terrible Jokes

A wooden wallet sounds like just about the most uncomfortable thing you could slip into your pocket. But Slim Timber uses thin pieces of zebra and walnut woods as accents for its leather wallets, so they’ve still got some flex and bend to them. Available for just $45 each, the wallets can hold up to…

The Android Facebook app got an update. It’s a little faster now, and opening photos is easier. Not bad. [Facebook]

Starbucks Typewriter Guy Is Here to Answer All Your Burning Questions

As you may remember, yesterday, we put up a post poking fun at this then-stranger who’d been photographed using a typewriter in Starbucks by one of his fellow students. Cries of rage soon followed from both sympathizers and opponents alike. This man’s typewriter and our mocking tone struck a chord. For some of you, a…

This Immersion Blender Is Your Chunky-Then-Smooth Deal of the Day

While there are a plethora of almost-pointless, single use kitchen gadgets that would make Alton Brown shudder, the humble immersion blender is not one of them. It’s genuinely useful. There are a lot of dishes that need to have a consistent texture — like soups, hummus, and salad dressings — that don’t totally work in…

Build This Lego Leica M9-P Hermes and Save Yourself $49,962

Lego master builder Chris McVeigh has cooked up a playful alternative to Leica’s obscenely and pointlessly expensive $50,000 M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’. The Lego version doesn’t actually take photos, but you’ll also pay only $38 for a kit if you can’t scrounge all the parts needed to assemble it. Or, if your Lego stocks already have…

You Might Not Need Time Travel To See a Real Wooden Skyscraper

While a skyscraper made of wood might sound like a piece of architectural history, it also makes for an interesting idea for a sustainable, modern building. Big Wood is a striking prototype for one that shows it might not be outside of the realm of possibility. The sophomorically named Big Wood would be a large,…

HTC One UltraPixel Camera Versus the Competition

When HTC first showed the world the One last month, it touted the merits of the camera’s larger “UltraPixels”. Theory says that larger pixels could produce better images than the competition. In practice? We’re pretty damned impressed. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-an-ultrapixel-5985348 We compared the HTC One’s camera to the cameras on the Nokia Lumia 920 and Apple iPhone…

Report: Twitter Is Working on Its Own Music App

Acquisitions usually aren’t for nothing, and CNET is reporting that Twitter’s purchase of music discovery app We Are Hunted last year means its own standalone music app is allegedly on the way very soon. Called Twitter Music, the app would debut on iOS, supposedly as early as the end of the month. Apparently it will…

New Balance Adopts 3D Printing To Create Hyper-Customized Track Shoes

As 3D printing technology matures, it’s becoming useful for more than just making plastic weapons and trinkets. New Balance is the latest shoe manufacturer to use 3D printers to create footwear for professional athletes, highly customized to their specific needs and—more importantly—their feet. https://gizmodo.com/this-one-piece-3d-printed-mini-crossbow-is-adorably-dan-5990115 Using a printing process known as selective laser sintering—where plastic powder…

Your Facebook Profile Just Changed Again

If you’re not the embrace change type, you’re going to throw another mini-fit today: Facebook is switching up the look of your profile. Again. Again, again. https://gizmodo.com/facebooks-new-news-feed-the-biggest-change-in-years-5989228 Slide the arrows in the image above left to right to compare the old profile with the new one. There are two main changes: apps are getting plugged…

Google Has To Teach America How to Use Passwords as Part of Its Settlement

Remember a few years ago when Google got itself in that whole little Street-View-cars-collecting-personal-Wi-Fi-network-data debacle? Well, it looks like the case is finally being settled, and it’s not just the people who had their privacy stripped before their very eyes that are benefitting—everyone gets a piece of the pie! Because in addition to being fined…

Amazon has lowered the price of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire to $270 for the Wi-Fi model and $400 for the 4G model.

What Happens When a Drone Hits a Plane?

There’s still a mysterious black drone in Brooklyn, and the FBI can’t find it. Last week it appeared just 200 feet away from a passenger jet—that’s too close. What if it’d hit it? Bad things. Bad, dangerous things. https://gizmodo.com/plane-passenger-spots-mystery-drone-over-brooklyn-upda-5988643 Planes are big, heavy, and mighty looking. But they’re essentially fragile machines that require a lot…

Breaking: Andy Rubin Is Out at Android

Google has announced that Android chief Andy Rubin is stepping down, and will be replaced by Sundar Pichai. Pichai is currently VP of Chrome and Apps. This is a pretty monumental shakeup. Rubin had been with Google since Android was acquired in 2005. We don’t know what Rubin’s going to be up to, but Google’s…

V-Moda Vamp Verza: The Fanciest Audio Accessory for Your Phone

Last Year, V-Moda made a specially designed headphone amp/DAC case for the iPhone. It was awesome, but way too expensive for what it did. V-Moda’s new Vamp Verza is an infinitely more flexible product you can use with iPhones and Android phones and even your computer—but it might fall flat for exactly the same reason…

Hey, good news. The HTC One will be on Verizon, too. [ATD]