Tech News

Take a Tour of Rancho Obi-Wan, The Largest Star Wars Collection in the Galaxy

Steve Sansweet is a bit of a rebel among hardcore Star Wars collectors. While many afficianados will specialize a single type of memorabilia—Rob Foster’s 2,000-piece set only includes figurines for example—Sansweet will pick up anything from the series for curation in his massive, 300,000-piece museum, Rancho Obi-Wan. https://gizmodo.com/the-biggest-star-wars-collection-in-the-galaxy-357908 Rancho Obi-Wan is located in Northern California…

Brooklyn Nets Now Stream Their Games Live for Free—While You’re at the Arena

Starting with last night’s game against the Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets enabled a new feature to the already pretty impressive Barclays Center app. You can now watch a live stream of the game while on the arena’s Wi-Fi network. This is either brilliant or deeply depressing. The benefit of the stream, obviously, is you can…

Your Brain at Work Looks Like Pyrotechnics Exploding In the Sky

In the future, when doctors read your mind they won’t see repressed scenes from your childhood—they’ll see neurons exploding like chains of firecrackers. Scientists at Stanford have developed a method for observing real-time activity in the brains of mice. You can see the stunning results of the work in the video above. One day, scientists…

ProxToMe App Lets You Send Files to Anyone Nearby Because The World Needs More Lawsuits

The newest app just begging to be hijacked by sexting tweens and exhibitionists alike has come to us in the form of ProxToMe, a file-sharing app that lets you send anything you want directly to any stranger’s phone in your proximity. Surely, nothing could go wrong. ProxToMe, thankfully, only allows you to send your file…

The Best Google Glasses Analogy Yet

Google Glasses might be a neat version of the future, but they’re also awkward and unnecessary. You know, kind of like a Segway? From what we can see from the new video of the UI Google just released, they could be really cool. But ultimately, it’s hard to envision a future where Google Glasses are…

SwiftKey 4 Adds Flow So You Never Have to Stop Typing

SwiftKey 4 is the latest version of one of the best Android replacement keyboards. The update introduces “Flow,” or swipe to type, new gestures, and word prediction for 60 languages. Flow is a that feature lets you slide your finger to the space bar, rather than lifting it and pausing while you’re typing a sentence.…

The Secret to Doing Dallas Right is a Ton of Bourbon and Meat, Glorious Meat

What goes best with a Knob Creek® cocktail? That’s what Andrew Steinthal and Chris Stang from Immaculate Infatuation set out to find. They’ve already crushed San Francisco and ate their way through Seattle. For this, their final stop, they discovered that, yes, everything is bigger in Texas, especially in Dallas/Ft. Worth. https://gizmodo.com/heres-how-you-turn-san-francisco-into-a-bourbon-fueled-5969028 When we first…

Italian Jet Company Converts Passenger Plane Into the World’s Most Stylish UAV

Dubbed the P.1HH HammerHead, this UAV is the result of a collaboration between Piaggio Aero and Selex ES based on the P-180 Avanti II, a twin-engine turboprop. The Avanti II is primarily utilized as a business jet with a 1400 NM range, though a “Special Mission” piloted derivative is also available for both emergency response…

Emoji Dick, A Novel Translated into Emoji, Accepted by Library of Congress

Emoji Dick, the oh-man-how-did-this-actually-work-out emoji translation of Moby Dick, is now in the Library of Congress. Why wouldn’t it be. Emoji Dick originated in 2009, on Kickstarter. The book was compiled by Fred Benenson, who contracted thousands of people to translate one sentence of the book into emoji—each sentence of the book three times—and had…

Police Informed a Mother About Her Son’s Death Over Facebook

On January 24th, Ricky Lamb was hit by a car and killed. His body sat in the morgue until Valentine’s Day, though, because the incompetent local police only contacted the family over Facebook. It took a month for Lamb’s mother to find the message. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the ordeal of Anna Lamb-Creasey, who had…

Square’s Business in a Box Is a One-Stop Startup Kit

Square’s quest for small business domination continues in the form of Business in a Box, a convenient, all-in-one package that intends to get small businesses up, running, and using as many Square products as possible. One box comes with two Square Readers, an iPad stand, a cash drawer, and an (optional because who uses paper…

Starting today, links you include in your tweets will get you two fewer characters to work with. Choose wisely, friends.

Is This Redesign Enough to Make You Care About Yahoo Again?

We’ve been hearing rumors of a big, game-changing Yahoo redesign since Marissa Mayer came on board as CEO, so hold onto your butts because it’s finally here. The new Yahoo has an customizable infinite scroll newsfeed! It has Facebook integration! And more! But is it enough to make you give a hoot about Yahoo again?…

Audiobooks from Audible is now optimized for your iPad so you don’t need to read any more. Hurray for listening.

Historic View: Controlling Rocket Engine Test

Interesting shot from 1957: Historic view of Building 100 control room, showing television monitoring of tests and personnel operating rocket engine test controls. May 27, 1957. On file at NASA Plumbrook Research Facility, Sandusky, Ohio. NASA photo number C-45021. – Rocket Engine Testing Facility, GRC Building No. 100, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County,…

This Is What It Will Look Like When You Wear Project Glass

Google has just released a video which shows off the UI for its Glass project—and it looks kinda neat. We’ve seen some similar videos before, but this one shows off far more about the device’s functionality. On-lens directions (including ski runs!), voice-controlled messages, web searches, notifications, and even on-the-fly translation. This all looks kinda fun—and…

This Jackknife-Inspired Lamps Is Simple But Beautiful

This beautiful lamp, designed by Elia Mangia for Foundry, is subtly inspired by a jackknife’s folding blade—but don’t let that put you off, because its simplicity is too alluring to resist. Called Tuca-Tuca, the lamp’s main structure is made from a carved and turned stick of maple, on which a painted metal shade is mounted.…

Historic View: Roaring Saturn I From Above

Just found this cool aerial photo about a Saturn I static test from the Sixties. AERIAL VIEW OF THE EAST TEST AREA DURING A SATURN I STATIC TEST. THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN IN 1960 JUST PRIOR TO THE CHANGE OVER OF LAND, FACILITIES AND MISSION FROM ARMY/MICOM (MISSILE COMMAND) TO NASA/MSFC (MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER).…

Do You Want Real-Life News Injected Into Your Computer Games?

Seen it in the news? Now play it: a mobile-game programming system allows 3D depictions of news events to be introduced into the action. It’s been developed by MultiPlay.io, a British start-up that says the technology could make gameplay more current and provide new ways for designers and coders to make cash – perhaps selling…

Report: Spotify Wants to Extend Its Free Service to Phones

The Verge is reporting that Spotify is in talks with major music labels to negotiate substantial reductions in the royalty fees it pays—as well as extending rights so that it can roll out its free pricing tier to mobile devices. According to “several music industry sources”, Spotify is already in negotiations with Warner Music about…