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I couldn’t paint someone’s portrait even if I had access to DaVinci’s brushes, paints, and other tools. So I’m completely mesmerized by Hong Yi’s ability to create this image of singer Jay Chou with nothing but spilled coffee and a mug. The piece took about 12 hours to complete, and besides being difficult for the…
If you have a Sony device that runs Google TV, congratulations: you’re very much an early adopter. You might also now want to try rooting your system, in order to bypass the content locks that many sites have for Google TV. Over at GTV Hacker, the process of rooting your Sony device—be it a Blu-ray…
If you’re so rugged you demand your technology is teamed with accessories that look like they should form part of an engine, this is definitely the iPad stand for you. It even has a manly name: this is the Rokstand. Hewn from raw blocks of 6061 T-6 Billet Aluminum, the Rokstand is—you might want to…
This is Apple’s new data center in Maiden, North Carolina. Unlike most power-hungry centers, this won’t be gobbling up energy from the grid: it’s going to be powered by the sun. If you can’t get your products made 100 per cent ethically, at least you can try and be eco-friendly, right? https://gizmodo.com/a-peek-inside-the-controversial-factory-that-builds-you-5886484 In fact, the…
As predicted, RIM’s attempt to salvage the PlayBook—an updated operating system—is available today. Now, basic tablet functionality can be had by PlayBook users: e-mail, calendar and contacts programs, as well as a scattering of ported Android apps. The update is available now, via the PlayBook’s Software Updates menu. [RIM via The Verge] https://gizmodo.com/if-blackberry-playbook-os2-drops-next-week-and-no-ones-5885198
Depending on what tactics you use, your passwords might be great or they might be awful. One thing is certain, though: if you reuse the same password across multiple websites, that is definitely a bad idea. Mozilla are keen to show you just how bad. https://gizmodo.com/how-the-gizmodo-crew-manages-their-passwords-5881219 If you use the same password across multiple websites,…
While Nvidia is no stranger to the mobile computing game, until now it’s only really been providing scraps of technology required to build mobile phones. ZTE, however, is about to launch the first entirely Nvidia-driven smartphone, and this is it. According to PC World, the handset will the dubbed the Mimosa X and will be…
Anonymous already has a diverse set of tactics, including showing up to awards ceremonies. But the NSA is worried that its cyberattacks could bring about power outages across the US. https://gizmodo.com/anonymous-invades-the-spanish-academy-awards-ceremony-f-5886437 The Wall Street Journal reports that Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the NSA, has described in private meetings how “Anonymous could have the ability…
I’ll admit it, it’s been nearly a month since I covered the Kisai Optical Illusion watch and I still can’t read the damn thing (it’s a schooner, I’m told). But Kisai’s latest user-submitted design is actually quite easy to interpret—hint: it isn’t Morse code. https://gizmodo.com/look-its-a-sailboat-wait-no-its-4-15-5879068 Dubbed the Stencil LCD Watch, it features a two-color LED…
Just a week after cutting off access to email and social networking sites, the Iranian government has blocked Virtual Private Networks, apparently to boost support for the ruling party in the upcoming election. Yes, because we saw how well that worked in Egypt. VPN is a system that encrypts communications within a public telecommunication infrastructure,…
American Sign Language may soon be obsolete if these motion-sensing gloves come to market. For now, a UBC team are the only ones to enjoy harmonizing with their own themselves. The gloves, designed by a team at the University of British Columbia led by Professor Sidney Fels, recognize their position in three-dimensional space and modulate…
American and Chinese scientists are flabbergasted after discovering a giant 298-million-year-old forest buried intact under a coal mine near Wuda, in Inner Mongolia, China. They are calling it the Pompeii of the Permian period because, like the ancient Roman city, it was covered and preserved by volcanic ash. Like Pompeii, this swamp forest is so…
This song earned Mastodon a Grammy nod. And, for those of you wondering, no. Snorting wood chips will not get you high. The other part about mushrooms giving you super strength and a lush Paul Bunyan beard—scientific FACT. Mastodon’s formed in late 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia. Its members include Troy Sanders on bass, Brent Hinds…
While the newly-generated variety of brewing yeast cooked up by boffins at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science doesn’t shoot laser beams or gain super-strength when you piss it off, it does apparently make a very tasty rice wine. By training its heavy ion beam at a batch of brewing yeast, yhe Radiation Biology…
Wasps like to invade fruit flies and take over their bodies, like some insect version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Scientists have now discovered that fruit flies have developed a way to defend themselves: alcohol. The Drosophila melanogaster, A.K.A. the fruit fly, has developed a resistance to alcohol. Since it thrives on yeasts that…
Just like Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead is a fake good show. All the style and swagger, none of the substance. It had its moment during season one but this season has been a snoozefest filled with yawns, farms and not enough walkers. But you know what’s still great? The special effects. https://gizmodo.com/the-amazing-special-effects-of-boardwalk-empire-are-wha-5878291 Zombies don’t…
Your mother, doctors and life lied to you. According to scientists (science, people!), combining a low-calorie diet that includes dessert for breakfast will help you lose weight. Sweets, cookies, creme brulee, cake. ALL OF IT will help you lose weight if you start your day off like that. I love breakfast now. This is amazing…
The Portuguese-language blog BlogdoiPhone has somehow gotten its hands on a Pre-GM build of the upcoming iOS 5.1 update. Here’s what could be in store for the expected March 9th-ish update. So far, it appears that the changes are relatively minor, the blog having only discovered two additions. First, the camera will be accessible from…
Quentin Tarantino makes really violent movies, but there are none quite as psychologically warped as his directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs. A crime boss hires a dream team of dapper operatives to perform a huge diamond heist. It goes wrong and we don’t know why or what happened. In fact, the movie is less about the…
Have you been following the Whitney Houston news for the past week? Did you catch her funeral today? Does that make you hungry for waffles? #wafflehouse! Ugh. Look, this isn’t about Whitney—that’s a whole other mess. It’s not even this specific tweet, which is dumb and shameless and oh god look how dumb it is.…
