Tech News

Kindle’s X-Ray for Books feature is now available for iOS. [iTunes]

This Tiny Flash Drive Broadcasts Its Contents Over Wi-Fi

Besides greater capacities, faster transfer speeds, and novel designs, there hasn’t been much recent innovation with USB flash drives. Which is why the Paketta from King Jim is such a welcome break. With built-in Wi-Fi B, G, N hardware it can wirelessly broadcast its contents to PCs and mobile devices. There are a few caveats,…

The Best Lego Sets for the Holidays 2012

There’s one gift that every boy and girl, man or woman, can enjoy even for just a few minutes: Lego. No matter their background or education, the joy of building something with Lego bricks is irresistible. Here are some of the best sets of 2012, chosen to accommodate different budgets, ages and tastes. Click and…

Lego Creator Propeller Adventures: Great to Start Your Own Models

You really can’t beat the Creator series. For $20, the Propeller Adventures set gives you three models in one set, which you can build from the same pieces. A two-engine plane that transforms into a jet that transforms into a hovercraft—plus an extra model instruction booklet that you can download from Lego’s site. But their…

Lego Minimodulars Is Cute and Fun and a Must Have and CUTE AND FUN

My second favorite set in this gift guide, these Mini Modular buildings are ah-mazing. Maybe it’s because I’m a fan of micro scale Lego—in which you use tiny bricks to represent huge things, like buildings. But even if I weren’t a fan, they are really clever and a lot of fun to build. They include…

Lego Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2 Is a True Masterpiece

This thing is genius. The kind of stuff that will leave you amazed as you build it, as you go “hmmm, where is this going…” to “oooooh, I seeeee! CLEVER!” to “OMFG NO WAY.” The leg mechanism (you can fully retract it, like in the movies), the internal gadgets that R2-D2 has, how the design…

Lego Fun with Vehicles: For Kids Who Love Cars

This is the perfect set for little kids who like to play with little cars. But instead of little metal cars that are always the same, these can be made into anything they want. It includes two mini figures and a lot (525!) of really colorful pieces and a ton of tires for just $30.…

Lego Villa Savoye Is a Must Have for Architecture Lovers

I like most of the Lego Architecture series. I’m not a big fan of the monuments, like the Empire State Building, Big Ben or the Sidney Opera, but I can appreciate their value. The houses, however, are the most interesting because of the scale. And Villa Savoye—built in the outskirts of Paris in the 1920s—is…

Lego X-Wing: A Must-Have Star Wars Set

I still like this Lego fan model more than the latest official Lego rendition of the Rebel Alliance’s X-Wing, but I have to admit that I loved both to build and admire the final result. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-best-lego-x-wing-model-ever-5862041 The 560-piece, $60 Star Wars set uses some clever techniques and the final look is very good. The wings,…

Lego Master Builder Academy Is a Must Get If You Want to Get Serious About Lego

The Lego Master Builder Academy kits are great ways to get into serious Lego building. The first kit is $30, and then you can buy the next lessons in subscription packs, each of them showing how to build different kinds of things using many building techniques. It starts with the basics, but then it goes…

Lego Iron Man: It’s Not Really Lego, But Kids Love These

This is not real Lego. I mean, it is Lego and its pieces are Lego, but the large bulky surfaces that make this Iron Man are too large to be considered canon. But hey, kids love these big (7 inches, 18 centimeters) robotic things and it’s Iron Man. You can also buy Hulk and Captain…

What’s It Like to Write for NMA TV, that Wacky Taiwanese CGI Video Company

Just about every time there’s a wacky current event, you have a weird CGI video to explain it for you from the Taiwanese company Next Media Animation. The clips are in a lightning fast production process, as you see fleshed out in the explainer above. But how do they go from idea to hilarious video?…

Galaxy SIII owners, rejoice (if you’re on AT&T)! Today, your long-awaited Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update arrives. Enjoy.

Grandpa Jetson is Way Cooler Than Grandpa Simpson

This is the eleventh in a 24-part series looking at every episode of The Jetsons TV show from the original 1962-63 season. The 11th episode of The Jetsons opens with a police officer pulling over Montague Jetson — George’s grandfather and a man whose abundant energy and enthusiasm for life dominate the episode. The cop…

Why Don’t Pistols Come With Built-In Flasks Anymore?

These days it’s a little unsettling to see a firearm with a canteen attached, particularly because it’s probably safe to assume it was rarely filled with just water. But back in 1862 when this Colt Navy 4-Screw Revolver was originally manufactured, carrying a gun everywhere you went was commonplace, and a built-in flask just made…

How Tall Can a Lego Tower Be Before It Crushes Itself?

Every building material has a theoretical limit which it can’t be used beyond: at some point, the weight of material above is enough to crush what’s below. Now, a team of engineers has worked out that limit for Lego—and it’s surprisingly high. A team of researchers from the Open University in the UK decided to…

The 15 Most Overpriced Gadgets of All Time

There’s nothing wrong with charging a lot of money for your gadget. Some of the best things in life are the exact opposite of free; a truly superior product is definitely worth spending more. Unfortunately, sometimes tech companies think too much of their wares and too little of your intelligence. The result is a product…

Macy’s Lowers the Bar For Terrible Holiday Sweaters With an Embedded Video Screen

If you thought you’d seen the worst of tacky holiday sweaters, Macy’s and Sean John want you to know you ain’t seen nothing yet. The two have teamed up to create this monstrosity, which by itself isn’t actually so terrible. Until you notice the embedded OLED display on the sleeve letting you play videos or…

The Wicked and Beautiful Turbulence Problems of the Giant Airbus A380

This beautiful shot was made for the first episode of Richard Hammond’s: Engineering Connections, which was dedicated to the Airbus A380. Apparently, wind tunnels can look like the lair of the wicked witch in an old Disney animation movie. But, there’s no magic involved here. Just the two vortexes generated by the A380’s first set…

Would Some Specific Foods Affect the Flavor of My Sexual Juices?

We don’t know. In spite of people’s curiosity about the topic, there has never been an experimentally controlled study conducted to answer the question. Why not? Just imagine the study: It would likely require asking study participants to follow a prescribed diet while their partners – who would need to be blind to their significant…