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With 26 directors, 80,000 video clips, and 4,500 hours of raw footage, it had so much potential to be a garbled mess. Instead, the crowdsourced this-is-our-planet hash of Life in a Day turned out every bit as profound, expansive, and inspiring as its terrifically ambitious subject. The Ridley Scott-produced film, a collection of short user-submitted…
Hello, this is your friendly government authority here. You may be concerned, frighted or even angered by news that you will now be under constant surveillance, even in your home. The advent of video cameras which transmit video signals over IP have made it possible to efficiently keep tabs on your behavior at all times.…
Did you see this great iPad halloween costume? It’s terrifying, because we’re afraid the iPad might fall. But we’re also sure there are a ton more clever techie Halloween costumes out there. We want to see yours! https://gizmodo.com/best-halloween-costume-ever-use-two-ipads-to-create-an-5854649 Got a good one? Post in the comments or hit us on Twitter with the #scarymodo hashtag.…
Charles Kinnane’s 11 year-old brother dressed as an iPhone. And a next-gen iPhone at that, it appears. Oh Hellz yeahs. I love this Minecraft Creeper costume from Nick Abbott. It’s creative, home-made, and totally cool. Plus it’s a creeper, so, kind of scary. Josh Brodfuehrer sent us this photo of himself and a pal as…
I used to be scared of dragonflies—they were big and buzzy and always zippin’ their damn wings. Plus, the dragon part of their name was intimidating! Turns out though, dragonflies are really just a bunch of wussies. They can be scared to death. A group of professors from the University of Toronto raised dragonfly larvae…
If you are an obsessive user interface jerk like me, you may have noticed the slight design changes in iOS 5. They are almost invisible but they are there, from two-pixel position adjustments to transparency changes in the badges’ shadows. https://gizmodo.com/why-the-f-ck-is-the-1-on-the-iphones-calendar-off-cente-5788166 Right: iOS 4. Left: iOS 5. See if you can spot more of them.…
If you’re still plugging your headphones and desktop speakers directily into your computer’s headphone jack, but are curious what lies on the other side of the audiophile divide—consider giving this little $39 USB sound card a try. The new Hifiman Express HM-101 Portable USB Sound Card has no frills, but according to one review, it…
You know that amazing Halloween costume you’ve been crafting for the past month? I’m sorry you wasted all that time because this Pure Smoke illusion—that magically conjures up puffs of vapor from your bare hands—has easily got you beat. https://gizmodo.com/working-dslr-costume-will-easily-win-every-contest-this-5853159 The smoke that’s produced comes from an emitter tucked away just inside your sleeve, which…
Like everyone else in the planet, I’m reading Steve Jobs’ biography. Finding the origin of his character and taste is truly fascinating. Like the influence of his very first home on his perception of what design for the masses should be. Jobs’ first home was a Joseph Eichler-built house. Like many people in California, Jobs’…
You know what? It sucks to be undead. People are always trying to bash your skull in. You’re hungry for brains, but can’t move fast enough to catch things with brains. You’re falling apart (literally). Ace Hardware understands you. A very clever marketing campaign for the Westlake Ace Hardware in Lenexa, Kansas has dedicated an…
This is the new Petman, by our friends at Boston Dynamics, the creators of Big Dog and BigDog 2. It’s like a robotic marine that never gets tired. You tell him to give you a thousand and he’ll do it. https://gizmodo.com/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-368651 It was created to test chemical protection clothing for the US Army. It moves…
When properly designed, explosives detection sensors are really expensive. But researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a cheap, ammonia-detecting sensor that can be manufactured with an inkjet printer and some paper. According to Gizmag, the key ingredient are silver nanopartibles, which are transformed into carbon nanotubes which attract ammonia (a component of explosives) in trace…
It’s easy to be jealous of some of the cool mobile-only apps and functions in iOS 5 that aren’t available on OS X. But rumors have two of the more desirable ones—AirPlay mirroring and iMessage—in development for a future OS X release. The iMessage rumor we’ve heard before, but now the word is that it’s…
So how does one park a 20,000-pound aircraft travelling 130 knots on the roiling deck of the USS Ronald Reagan? Very careful aim, and the incredible assistance of Mark 7 Mod 3 arresting gear. Simply, arresting gear is the mechanical system designed to quickly halt an aircraft as it lands. The US Navy’s current system—the…
The world’s 7 billionth person was a tiny little girl named Danica May Camacho who is born today in Manila, the Philipines, and weighed just 5.5 pounds (she was one month premature). Oh, wait! It was actually this other little girl named Nargis who was born today in Uttar Pradesh in India. Hold the phone!…
Nidar Singh is the last known master of shastar vidya, a form of Sikh martial arts that involves lots of spinning blades flying around at the same time. It’s seriously impressive—and seriously endangered, unless Singh gets help. Now living in England, the BBC reports, Singh has been traveling through India and Pakistan to find a…
The internet fairy just dropped this in our inboxes—an invitation from Barnes & Noble to check out a “very special announcement.” What could it be? Perhaps they’re carrying new stationary! Nook Nook Nook. New Nook Color. November 7th. https://gizmodo.com/new-nook-color-november-7th-bound-bound-get-it-book-5854261 We’ll be on the scene, of course. Until then, let the excitement begin to bubble.
The next time you drop by the Apple Store to pick up a spare charger, you might not need to talk to a single blue-shirted Apple peon. Several reports indicate that self-checkout is coming to the Apple Store app. According to one source, a November 3rd update to the Apple Store app will allow retail…
The wait is almost over: AT&T is bringing the LTE ruckus with two new Android smartphones: the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. They’re very similar, but hey, forget specs for a minute: LTE, finally. The Vivid (left) packs a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 4.5-inch 540×960 display, 8 MP camera, and 1080p…
The thrill of finding the perfect pair of jeans online usually lasts until just after they finally arrive, and you realize you chose the wrong size. But a Berlin-based startup called UPcload wants to make online shopping easier with a webcam, a CD, and your perfect fit. While you may think you know your exact…
