Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Since its launch, Siri has met with some hefty criticism — not least from us. But recent rumours about future Apple products suggest it may just be start of something very, very big. The Wall Street Journal report that Apple executives have been busy over the past few weeks discussing their ideas for the future…
The holidays can drag after a while. If the constant festive cheer gets too much, here’s a project to take your mind off things: make your Christmas tree lights flash when you get new email. It is, after all, rude to spend the entire Christmas season with your laptop out or smartphone to hand. Some…
Poor RIM. Nothing’s going right for it: the PlayBook is killing it, its next generation of mobile phones is severely delayed, and now, someone’s run off with $1.7 million of its stock. Last Thursday, a truck carrying 22 pallets of BlackBerry PlayBooks — that’s about 5,000 units — was stolen from a truck stop in…
UK-based communications giant British Telecom has filed a law suit alleging that almost every Google product infringes at least one of six of their patents. But should we really care? I know what you’re thinking: I don’t give a crap about a UK firm suing Google. But there are two reasons why this is actually…
“Located on the 25th floor, the open air Terrace Lounge represents the height of urban elegance […] high above the canyons of Wall Street.” Reading the promotional captions of Manhattan’s newest luxury condominium—20 Pine Street—makes me want to puke. Watching the photos—a nauseating catalogue of design furniture seemingly designed to place Macbook Airs and iPads…
A weeping TV presenter has officially announced the death of long-time Gizmodo friend and dreadful nutcase Kim Jong Il. The cause: “fatigue caused by train ride.” What the hell is “fatigue caused by train ride”? Whatever. Let’s honor him by laughing at him once more. [WSJ and AP]
There has been an explosion at one of the factories of Pegatron Corp, one of Apple’s part suppliers. The explosion has injured 57 workers. 23 have been hospitalized with burns. The explosion, which happened at their factory in Shanghai’s Songjiang industrial park around 3:40pm local time, could also affect Apple’s iPad 2 production next quarter.…
Did you think that quantum physics is complicated? Try the quantum theory of pixels, as explained by 8-bit Professor Hawking. It may help you understand the former or make your brain explode forever but, if you are a nerd, it will make you smile. Read the whole cartoon at [Bouletcorp via Comics Alliance]
Nature has published a fascinating paper that solves a seemingly silly but very interesting question: why do Western and Asian foods taste so different? After analyzing 56,498 recipes the answer is in the way they pair 381 ingredients. Why do they taste different? According to the study, Western cuisines have a tendency to pair ingredients…
I love Poly. This iPad app allows you to draw points on any photograph, turning it into a colorful mosaic of polygons. The effect is really pretty. Sadly, it’s optimized for iPad 2 and runs slow on the first iPad. According to the author, it’s “inspired by the Triangulation invented by the mathematician Boris Delaunay…
Hyperrealist painting is nothing new. Derived from photorealism in the 70s, this early aughts art movement aims to turn actual photographs into paintings. These are extraordinary examples by a young Italian painter, Roberto Bernardi. His command of oil painting defies belief. Check his work out. [Roberto Bernardi via Bored Panda] This is a “work in…
An anonymous reader sent me this crazy video taken two weeks ago: a truck out of control almost smashes a car on a snowy road. Fortunately, these guys got extremely lucky and Death got distracted at the very last second. If I’m not mistaken this is a road in Poland Russia, but I may be…
This is the view from one of the suites at the Makanyane Safari Lodge, a hotel hidden in a private 1,800-hectare ground in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve, just under Botswana. It’s a perfect dream gift for nature lovers. I would rather get the gift of an amazing experience like this rather than another useless…
Oh these are clever. CLEVER I say, and pretty: a cocktail glass surrounded by a normal glass. The inside out Martini for the upside down Bond in you. The good: it keeps your drink cooler for a longer time. The bad: 58 dollars for a set of two. [Charles and Marie via The Fancy]
You love your girly girlfriend (friend, sister, cousin, who needs labels). But you do not at all understand the girly-girl accoutrements. They’re a glittery, flowery, long-eyelashed cloud trailing her like a shiny pink version of Pig Pen’s dirty shadow. Think you’re not equipped for the job of gifting such a creature? Never fear. Here’s a…
Powered by an AMD Radeon HD 6870 graphics card, Chad Smith’s five screen racing simulator looks like it provides almost the same thrills as the military’s simulators, without requiring the military’s budget. I’m sure his setup is powered by an above-average gaming PC, which when combined with his graphics card is able to push a…
Instead of relying on post-processing tools like Photoshop, photographer Li Wei uses tricks you’re more likely to find in a magician’s toolkit, including mirrors, wires, and talented acrobatic performers. All combined with the impeccable timing of his camera’s shutter. The photos in his 2011 best-of collection are the result of a keen eye and amazing…
Once mankind realized that electricity could save them from severe hot wax burns, they stopped using candles in chandeliers. So what possessed artist Takeshi Miyakawa to make an entire chandelier from wax that completely melts away when lit? Masochism? Vengeance? A fractured sense of nostalgia? Like with most creations that make you scratch your head…
Being a cyclist in a busy city is dangerous for many reasons, but someone in Russia has at least solved the problem of limited visibility with this transforming bike that can give the rider a high or low stance. It’s not like you have to stop to reconfigure the bike either. At the beginning of…
Touring the world in person is expensive, time-consuming, and often dangerous. And is it really that much different to playing with Google Earth on this gigantic 48 screen display that covers 40 square meters with almost 100 million pixels? Like an ultra-modern version of the Orient Express, this installation lets you travel in comfort. Except…
