Tech News

This Mega-Password Cracker Laughs at Your Puny Old Algorithms

It doesn’t matter what your super-unguessable password is. The arms race between the security and hacker communities has produced a devastating new device capable of tearing through lesser password encryption protocols in as little as six minutes. In the days before the AES and SHA-256 security protocols, Microsoft systems relied on the LM (LAN Manager)…

Green Gifts for the Urban Gardener

It doesn’t matter whether the gardener on your holiday shopping list has a green thumb or black, works a quarter-acre plot or a windowsill herb planter, these tools will help make their victory garden a winner. Hey there! You might notice our gift guides look a little different this year. That’s because we’re hoping to…

Here’s a New Yorker Cover Made With Nothing But Emoji

When you think of The New Yorker, chances are that legions of emoji aren’t the first thing that come to mind. They will be after you’ve seen this full rendition of the magazine’s entire cover composed of nothing but. Dubbed “Eustace Emoji” after the magazine’s signature dandy, the cover cover was whipped up for a…

Watch These Dogs Drive a Car Better Than Your Grandma

Attention: you are about to watch dogs—who mere months ago were roaming the streets of Auckland homeless—drive cars. My grandma isn’t even allowed to drive anymore, but these canine chauffeurs are completely street legal because they actually passed their drivers’ tests. Seriously, New Zealand, is everything okay down there? The pooches were trained by the…

Is This Nasa’s Next Lunar Lander, Or a Gorgeous Espresso Machine?

At first glance this beautiful espresso maker from CB Industries looks like a proposed NASA spacecraft design from the mid-1950s. But instead of dropping astronauts on the moon, it’s only designed to drip coffee into a cup, while looking sleek in the process. Polished stainless steel lets the Jules’ spherical body and pointy legs shine…

Get Intimate With a Ham Leg (Pillow)

Ham is so delicious maybe you actually want to make love to it. Medically, it’s not recommended, but you can curl up in pork’s warm embrace with the ham leg pillow. At $22 on Big Cartel, it actually is significantly cheaper than the same amount of fine, premium meat. The only problem is it looks…

Why Is the Sky Blue Isn’t the Right Question

Sure, you know why the sky is blue. You’re a learned man and/or woman of learning; you know your way around Wikipedia. But hey, sorry buddy. That’s still amateur hour. The question you should have been asking all along: Why isn’t the sky violet? Actually, on second thought, pretty sure Wikipedia’s going to have an…

Seems the Apple TV’s upcoming iOS update will bring Bluetooth keyboard control. Easy armchair navigation! [9to5mac]

Scientists Can Now Make Brain Cells From Urine

You can generate electricity from it, use it to heat your home, or even play video games with it. Urine is a versatile thing indeed—and now scientists can make brain cells from it. https://gizmodo.com/these-teenage-girls-from-africa-made-a-urine-powered-ge-5959396 Wait, what? It might seem difficult to believe, but scientists claims that they can persuade some of the cells that are…

Smart Store Displays Trigger Product Demos When You Pick Something Up

A Japanese clothing retailer has installed new display racks in its store outfitted with a device called the DLabHook which promises to make decision making a little easier. When a customer removes an item from a rack, a promotional video is played providing more info on the product while it’s demo’d by a model. The…

Why Aren’t We Afraid of a Tsunami Hitting San Francisco?

When a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s eastern coast early Friday morning, we all feared a tsunami. But San Francisco gets earthquakes all the time, and we’re not scared of a tsunami there. Why? When news broke of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan early this morning, our first reaction was to…

Why Not Build This Year’s Gingerbread House Using CAD and Lasers?

We’ve all seen our fair share of crooked gingerbread houses, daubed with frosting to the point where they look less like a building and more like a bomb site. Johan von Konow has a solution to that problem, though: design the building using CAD and manufacture it using laser cutters. Johan explains on his blog…

Google is chopping more dead wood: Motorola’s Korean operations are being brought to a close. [The Next Web]

How the US Air Force Wasted $1 Billion on a Failed Software Plan

The US Military makes its fair share of mistakes when it comes to technology—but over the weekend, the New York Times revealed that even upgrading a single software system can go horribly wrong for it. https://gizmodo.com/the-6-billion-military-software-project-that-came-to-n-5919824 The New York Times describes the situation: Last month, [the Air Force] canceled a six-year-old modernization effort that had…

Amazon’s Got $50 Off Every 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD Today (If You’re Quick)

Amazon’s Deal of the Day is a belter: its already competitively priced 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD can be had for $50 less than the usual selling price. Does that mean sales have been slower than expected? Who cares! It’s cheap tabletry for you and yours. The sale applies to all of Amazon’s larger Kindle Fires…

Syrian Rebels Built This Tank Using Old Cars and Games Consoles

Necessity, so they say, is the mother of invention—and if you need a tank but don’t have one to hand, it’s time to get creative. Like these Syrian rebels, who threw together this tank after a trip to a junk yard. Called the Sham Il, it’s built around an old car chassis but has some…

The White House has joined Pinterest. Now you can see how Obama would really like the Oval Office to look. [Digiphile]

Australian Police Warns the Public Not to Use iOS 6 Maps

It’s been official for a while now: iOS 6 Maps suck. Everyone from Tim Cook to my mother knows it, but now it’s getting scary. Victoria Police are advising people not to use iOS 6 Maps due to safety concerns. What are those safety concerns? Oh nothing, really, just people stranded deep inside a remote…

The Muppet Movie: It’s Time For a Road Trip

In 1979 Jim Henson brought the Muppets to the big screen with the aptly titled film “The Muppet Movie.” On December 5th, the Muppet Movie came to Netflix. Tonight, you should watch it. I probably don’t have to extol its virtues to most of you, but for the one of you out there who may…

These Photoshopped Instagrams of Dead Rock Stars Are Damn Good

Some of these fake, Photoshopped Instagrams of dead rock stars—created by Brazilian designer Butcher Billy—are really good. My favorite are these two, Cash and Mercury, but there are more. I’d like to think that Elvis, Cash, Mercury, Ramone, Cobain and all those glorious dead rock stars wouldn’t participate in the internet promotional circus that is…