Tech News

7 Ways the World Really Could End Tomorrow

There’s no shortage of Doomsday naysayers. And sure, it’s easy to ignore the prophecies of ancient Mayans. But you know what? The world could end any time—including tomorrow. https://gizmodo.com/be-afraid-the-government-denies-the-world-is-ending-on-5965909 Here’s a rundown of the seven most likely ways our world could crumble right on schedule. Asteroid impact What did for the dinosaurs could do for…

Here’s the Exact Part of Your Brain That Thinks About Sex (And Cars, And Baseball…)

If you’ve ever wondered which part of your brain thinks about a particular object, activity or concept, worry no longer—this interactive brain is about to answer all your questions. This online app lets your peer into a wealth of fMRI data, which has been organized to show information about how thousands of objects and actions…

Arthur C. Clarke‘s novels are now available as ebooks in the US. Sling ’em to sci-fi fans for Christmas. [NYT]

Tumblr Finally Launches Its iPad App

It’s been a long time coming, but Tumblr has announced an update to its iOS app that finally makes it compatible with iPad and iPad mini. Built for the big screen, the app uses a sidebar for navigation—something you’ll be used to from Facebook—and a new radial menu for selecting post types. There’re other features,…

Foursquare now shows recommendations from Facebook friends: likes and photos will appear on its map, if you want ’em to.

The FTC Is Overhauling Online Child Privacy Law

The FTC has announced that it is broadening—now incredibly outdated—laws surrounding online child privacy. The changes will, in particular, make the regulations applicable to the mobile and social digital world we now inhabit. The changes will be made to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which was originally put together all the way back…

Tim Cook Is the Runner-Up in Time‘s Person of the Year

A surprising number of nerds made it on to the shortlist for this year’s Time person of the year award. More than the others, though, Tim Cook has clearly made a lasting impression outside the tech community—demonstrated by him nabbing second place. https://gizmodo.com/the-tech-nerds-who-are-up-for-time-person-of-the-year-5969377 Time has named Cook runner-up in this year’s award. In fairness, he…

Internet Explorer Says the Mayans Were Right Because IE10 Is Actually Good Now

In another excellent ad for Internet Explorer 10, IE pokes fun of itself saying that the sign of apocalypse is here because Internet Explorer 10 is actually good now. This follows up their hilarious video ad which showed Internet trolls saying IE10 sucked… less. What a hot streak of hilarious self deprecating humor! https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-looks-deep-in-the-heart-of-internet-explorer-5964250 This…

The SC: Jimmy Carter on Weed, The Science of Color, and How to Copy Cannabis

Former President Jimmy Carter Joins in Growing Chorus of Support for Legal Weed During a recent CNN panel event in Georgia, the 39th President delivered this rousing endorsement of the Pro-Pot movement, I’m in favor of it. I think it’s OK, I don’t think it’s going to happen in Georgia yet, but I think we…

Squeezing Boobs Can Stop Breast Cancer

If you need another excuse to show some love to the mammaries, scientists have found that squeezing breasts can actually prevent malignant breast cells from triggering cancer. Yes, squeezing. Guys and gals, do your part in stopping cancer, please. Gautham Venugopalan, a lead member on the research team from the University of California in Berkeley,…

This Guy Proposed to His Girlfriend with a Magic Trick

We’ve seen a marriage proposal that was filled with memes. We’ve seen a proposal that started from a plane crash. This proposal was done with a magic trick. Watch it. Sean Emory, an actual illusionist, pulled off the trick of a lifetime: he got a girl to marry him. Emory had his girlfriend Andrea film…

Why Does the Idea of Seeing My Partner Having Sex With Another Person Excite Me?

Do you find your partner attractive? And are you turned on by watching sex? And, in your fantasy world where you have this idea, you get to decide who the person is so you can choose someone who’s not threatening to you and/or your partner isn’t running off and leaving you for that person? Then…

A Wireless Connection To Your PC Makes This Ancient Calculator Still Useful

Unless you hang around accountants all day, you probably haven’t seen a desktop calculator like this in ages. But amongst number crunchers they’re still popular, and this model might even stave off extinction for a while longer thanks to the addition of a wireless connection to a PC. An included USB dongle and a dedicated…

I Wish I’d Had This Mini Fridge in College

College kids may subsist on a diet of beer, gummy vitamins, and pencil shavings, but their mini fridge doesn’t need to reflect that. Frescolino’s 1950s style fridge comes in a glossy red or silver, but fortunately, the retro vibe doesn’t extend to performance. In addition to keeping your days-old pizza ice cold, there’s an option…

These Wires Can Stretch 800 Percent Thanks to Conductive Metal Goo

It never fails. No matter where you’re sitting in relation to the last open wall outlet at the cafe, your computer’s charging cord is always just a bit too short. Luckily, a new prototype cable developed at North Carolina State University will let you plug in, even if the outlet’s in the next room. The…

Google finally offed Motorola’s set top box business and sold it for $2.35 billion to the Arris Group.

Apple’s Pinch to Zoom Patent Has Been Tentatively Invalidated

Even though Apple scored a big victory against Samsung inside the court, it looks like Apple is losing its stronghold on its patents. After tentatively invalidating the ‘Steve Jobs Patent’ on multitouch, the USPTO has invalidated Apple’s ‘pinch to zoom’ patent. The ‘pinch to zoom’ patent was crucial in scoring a billion dollars off of…

Non-Lethal “Pain Rays” Recommended for US Embassies

A commission looking into the Benghazi embassy incident has levied its opinion: Everyone’s incompetent, and to counteract this, high tech “non-lethal” crowd control like heat rays should be put into place. Well then. Here are the paragraphs detailing suggested tech improvements: 19. There have been technological advancements in non-lethal deterrents, and the State Department should…

Become an Ominipresent Photo Critic With This Rule-of-Thirds Bookmarklet

Maybe you are a novice photographer looking to get a better sense of composition. Or maybe you just get your kicks by constantly judging images on the web! Either way, this simple tool will make either goal easy to achieve. For those who don’t know, the rule-of-thirds is a simple basis for achieving balanced composition…

Amazon Has Another Huge Security Hole

You may recall that Amazon was implicated as the weak link in the Mat Honan iCloud hack, wherein a gadget blogger had his entire online identity nuked from orbit because Amazon gave up the secondary identifying information necessary to issue a password reset over at Apple. (The last four of your credit card, incidentally.) I’m…