Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
“Mommy look! I’m just like that painted crazy man who sang all those songs I used to catch you and daddy wrestling to when I was younger!” $10. The sideways looks from other moms are free. [Neatoshop via Neatorama]
When we think about 11.4 seconds, it doesn’t really amount to much, but in the world of female human-powered helicopter flight, it’s a new record. The record was set by University of Maryland biology student Julie Wexler aboard the massive four-rotor Gamera. The name hails from a Japanese kaju movie starring a large flying turtle…
Some people might imeediately think of words like “crazy” or phrases like “batshit insane” when they see this “Skylining” video out of France, but those are misnomers. True crazies wouldn’t use a safety line. [Skyliners Paris Trailer via kottke]
Down the rabbit hole we go, where tablets last six weeks on the market, great mobile OS’s are put out to pasture before their time, and HP executives are not told of doomed tablets until days before their demise. Updated. https://gizmodo.com/goodbye-webos-the-greatest-phone-youll-never-use-5832332 It’s the world of HP’s consumer-side business, and it’s looking rather uncomfortable at the…
August 21, 2011: The day billionaire Michael Dell got in a tit-for-tat scuffle with someone from HP, probably some poor social media intern who drew the weekend straw this week, about HP’s withdrawal from the consumer PC space. The image above, which was compiled using screengrabs over at CNET, does not include the earlier August…
Arriving in Walnut, Wenge, Odom or Japanese oak, these Tumoni headphone cord organizers will be most appreciated by the import market lovers amongst us, but for me and the rest they’re wonderfully elegant eye candy. [Book of Joe]
While we doubt the 3-year-old construction “hole” that’s plagued Seattle neighborhood Green Lake will actually become a play area—complete with 65-space unicycle parking lot—it’s really the thought that counts, and the thought here is pretty clever. According to local blog MyGreen Lake, the signage is not short on details and actually parodies the layout and…
The PC is awesome; the future rosy! So says Frank Shaw, Microsoft spokesman, who blogged this week we’re in a “PC Plus” era, not “post-PC.” Embarrassingly, I thought PC plus meant the extra adware that came standard with Windows. [AppleInsider]
This picture of the bucket-headed Willie Vocalite appeared in the September 6, 1931 San Antonio Light. Designed by Westinghouse engineer Joseph Barnett, Willie appears to have been programmed with a fondness for nictoine. Early 20th century inventors sure loved to make robots smoke, (when they weren’t shooting apples off their heads). So much so, that…
If “Jurassic Park” taught me anything, it’s that Velociraptors are terrifyingly awesome. So hearing Sam Neil give that classic speech brings me right back to that fascination. And the terror. Don’t forget the terror. [This Is Colossal]
Reports are coming in from the regions that Muammar Gaddafi and his sons have fled Libya. Al Jazeera reports that Pro-Gaddafi residents in Tripoli have gotten texts telling them to “eliminate agents with weapons.” Tweets from the region show that anti-Gaddafi fighters have answered the call to take to the streets. Explosions and gunfire have…
Driving fast is awesome. Getting tickets sucks. But at the end of the day, probably safer. One Englishman agreed. He noticed that speed cameras are a good deterrent for speeders. Only he didn’t need a camera. He used a bird feeder that looks like a camera. It’s really quite ingenious. 63-year-old Ian Magee of Williton,…
No, these never get old and this one is great. The end is particularly funny—if you’re aware that HP is considering quitting the PC business, that is. https://gizmodo.com/hey-pc-makers-dont-quit-fight-5832629
Many of you in the comments remarked that 13-year-old Aidan Dwyer’s breakthrough was nothing new. Fair enough. But it’d be different if someone totally disproved it. One blogger claims to have done it. Can I get an expert in here? https://gizmodo.com/genius-13-year-old-has-a-solar-power-breakthrough-5832557 The blogger’s entry has since been taken down (here’s the cached version), but the…
Because everyone loves bacon. St. Louis’s Iron Barley restaurant went after the biggest BLT world record this past week, and they owned it. What resulted was a behemoth of bacon perhaps too much even for Epic Meal Time. This BLT included: 600 pounds of bacon 440 pounds of bread 550 pounds of tomatoes 220 heads…
In the midst of all the news about the TouchPad fire sale, some people might feel left out in the lurch with their pre-downfall tablets. You’re covered; HP will reportedly refund you your money or pay back the difference on the sale prices. https://gizmodo.com/so-will-touchpad-buyers-get-full-refunds-update-yes-5832304 It’s funny that the TouchPad has been selling like mad all…
If you’re going to live in a house filled with clouds, balloons, and Spongebobs, you might as well live it up. Thank you, Chien-Wang Yang. Thank you. [Fubiz]
Those seas of red outside Verizon stores will soon dissolve. Enough progress was made in the negotations to allow Verizon’s 45,000 workers that took to picketing two weeks ago to return to work on Monday. https://gizmodo.com/45-000-verizon-workers-strike-as-last-minute-contract-n-5828474 Said workers won’t have new collective bargaining agreements, but the talks will continue. The big issues—presumably pay raises and…
https://gizmodo.com/why-the-cable-guy-cant-keep-an-appointment-like-the-res-5831536 Why the Cable Guy Can’t Keep an Appointment Like the Rest of the World Your new pad is ace. All it needs now is cable. Easy! You’ll be all set in no time; just take a vacation day and wait for some dude to show up and run a line to a box. What?…
Not that one should go around shaming seeing-eye dogs. But the Tacit haptic glove, designed by Steve Hoefer, is a little DIY project that fires sonar from the wrist, keeping a visually impaired individual aware of their surroundings. It’s basically an invisible cane. On steroids. [Technabob]
