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Installing an off-shore gas platform can be a tricky proposition. Things can go very wrong. That’s exactly what happened with this $40 million Iranian platform was being installed in the Persian Gulf. For as terrifying as the footage is, there were no reported casualties; looks like everyone knew how to swim. Still, that’s a lot…
You can’t buy one just yet, but if you mosey on over to your neighborhood Microsoft store, there’s a chance you might be able to put your greasy paws all over a Microsoft Surface Pro, what the Surface should have been from the get-go. According to reports by Engadget, the new devices are already being…
If you’re at all up on the whole jailbreaking scene, you know that the long-awaited iPhone 5 jailbreak is probably maybe definitely coming today, finally. And even though there’s been a long wait, the exploit is definitely going to be a hell of a lot better than the first ones were. Jailbreaking used to take…
These days, part of watching anything on TV—sporting event or otherwise—is dicking around on your phone or tablet. For people attending the Super Bowl this year, it’ll be no different; the New Orleans Superdome will have a robust Wi-Fi network. Ars Technica has looked into the details, and it takes a lot of work to…
It’s a rumor that never dies: Apple is working on a cheaper, “budget” iPhone that will push for market-share in markets where the company’s typically premium are especially expensive. But in the absence of hard evidence, we have soft evidence. Like this patent for a plastic iPhone. Maybe this is that rumored budget iPhone? Maybe?…
If you thought that private, LEGO surveillance blimps were something from some kind of bizarre steampunk dystopia, you’d only be half-right. Two endeavoring LEGO tinkerers, Tyler Westmoreland and Chris Shepard, have brought such a thing into being using nothing but Mindstorms and a couple of balloons. It’s not the most menacing drone there ever was,…
The fastest microchips we have can only pass their data from side to side and front to back, no matter how close their components are squeezed together. A new chip developed by researchers at University of Cambridge, on the other hand, can pass data up and down too, making for the world’s first truly 3D…
It’s never not a good day to watch Groundhog Day, and today is even more not not a good day to watch it. Quite possibly one of the weirdest, most off-beat “holiday movies” out there, Groundhog Day is just begging to become a habit, something to recite sections of. I’m going to assume I don’t…
Remember Eve 6? Those were the days. No, I’m not talking about “Here’s To the Night” playing at some high school dance. I’m talking about “Inside Out,” or the under appreciated never-a-single “How Much Longer.” Turns out those guys are still kicking, and the relatively new single “Curtain” ain’t half bad. Off the 2012 album…
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner just can’t catch a break. After all of the planes were grounded following some seriously troubling melting batteries, the FAA has been taking a look into what exactly went wrong. They’ll take their time though; it could be years before the birds are back in the sky. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood…
Man-made life is a thing of fiction, relegated to things like Frankenstein. But scientists are coming close to something almost like it. New light-affected crystals developed by scientists at New York University are very close to being alive, so close it makes you question what “being alive” really means. The crystals are microscopic cubes of…
Netflix’s flagship original programming effort, House of Cards, dropped the other day, and chances are you’ve heard because a lot of people have been talking about it. The question is, will they keep talking? Netflix shoved the show out into the world all at once, just like it’s going to do with Arrested Development, so…
Finally, after what felt like years of lead-up, BlackBerry 10 launched this week to a little bit of applause. But that’s not all. We’ve got the first ever footage of thoughts being formed, porn stars as memes, why Facebook is destined to fall, a family that totally missed World War II, why there’s porn on…
Ain’t nobody in the US House of Representatives gonna be listening to no Spotify at work. Why? The House’s IT overlords don’t see fit. Not because Spotify is distracting and there’s real work that needs to be done or anything, no. It’s because Spotify has P2P guts and P2P is baaaaaaad, apparently. Yeah, even the…
Not to be left out, The Washington Post is saying it’s been a target of Chinese hack attacks too. [The Washington Post]
Technically, Thursday was the last day to pick up a Windows 8 upgrade for $40 before it jumped up to $200, but that’s not exactly the case if you know what you’re doing. There’s a loophole that will let you get that upgrade for a scant $15, and all you have to do is lie…
Today, millions of Americans waited with bated breath for a stupid rodent to see its shadow, all in hopes of figuring out how long winter will last. Silly? Sure. But not the weirdest winter predictor, not by a long shot. The following predictive methods are—or have been—practiced all around the world. If it seems like…
If you ever wondered how orange juice can always taste so damn perfect every time you have it, it’s because of an algorithm. Coca Cola, which makes Simply Orange and Minute Maid, has an algorithm called the “Black Book” which allows it to standardize Mother Nature. It’s crazy. We knew the odd process that orange…
Don’t let their gentle demeanor and calming stripes fool you. Zebras are unstoppable killing machines. They’ll bathe in the blood of your children just as soon as look at you. That’s why keepers at Tokyo’s Tama Zoo aren’t taking any chances and are prepping for the day these murderous equines overcome their paddock locks. But…
Because the Super Bowl brings out the sleaziest in GoDaddy (no small feat!), its commercial is always water cooler fodder the Monday after Super Bowl. So get this: supermodel Bar Refaeli making out with uber-nerd (and extraordinary extra) Jesse Heiman because that sells websites. Of course Danica Patrick makes an appearance in the commercial (she’s…
