Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Concrete takes 28 days to fully cure, which is no good in an emergency. Now, a new “CO2 Structure” could revolutionize post-disaster rebuilding. DigInfo TV is reporting that the Japanese company TIS & Partners LTD has announced a new type of building material. They found that by blowing CO2 into silica they could make a…
For some reason, beach volleyball isn’t taken all that seriously in the UK. Why? It’s a legitimate sport. It’s not all about the sex. So how are these athletes battling the stigma? With QR codes on their asses. You’re welcome. First, let me just say that I respect the sport of beach volleyball insofar as…
Well this sure happened sooner than expected: just a couple of weeks after they flipped on the lights for the first time, China’s refitted Soviet hulk has made its ocean debut. This is their first claim to serious naval power. https://gizmodo.com/chinas-first-ever-aircraft-carrier-its-aliiiiiiive-5825960 Although the movement of the enormous Shi Lang is likely to captivate (and unsettle)…
So Sony’s got a brand new TFT LCD. Big whoop. But here’s something to write home to your grandmother about: the 3-inch screen has a switch for “outdoor mode” and “low-power mode,” letting you save battery-life for when it’s needed. As you know, it’s harder to see screens outdoors, which is why some laptop companies…
Lots of Verizon technicians are very angry at their employer—around 45,000 of them. And it appears some of them are pissed enough to sabotage Verizon’s fiber optic network, the Boston Globe reports—they’re slashing cables. Verizon’s claimed twelve intentional acts of telecom destruction, from Massachusetts to Maryland. In some cases, equipment’s been pilfered, while other areas…
It’s too bad they aren’t selling this Smart Phone Note case for iPhone 4 outside South Korea, because it’s an excellent idea—especially if you’re into the whole taking-notes-on-paper thing. The protective foam design of the cover is neat. The window to the world is good, so is the way it holds your iPhone 4 in…
Sanjay Jha, Motorola’s CEO, has commented that he wishes Motorola could get a similar deal to Nokia’s with Microsoft, which sounds funny as the general opinion is that since they adopted Android, Motorola’s got their shit together in recent years. You can hardly say they’re still in that same rut that they fell into a…
If you were wondering how Amazon was going to get around Apple’s new rule banning developers from linking to their own stores from within an iOS app, here’s your answer: an optimized web-browser Kindle reader, for iPads. It’s not just for iPads though—Amazon’s stated it will work on both Chrome and Safari, meaning you could…
Boy, if you ever want to know what Facebook’s planning next, just take a peek in its code. That’s what one chap did yesterday when Facebook released its Messenger app, and discovered that video-chat will be added soon. https://gizmodo.com/facebooks-ipad-app-is-buried-in-its-iphone-app-5824351 According to what the discoverer found, the video-conference feature will be available for both iPhone and…
If you don’t have a Lady and a Tramp to keep your wires tidy, this fork organizer should do the trick, and you don’t have the downside of smelly doggies creeping out your internetting. Just $13. [LufDesign via Fancy via BookOfJoe]
Nokia’s Australian ad-team’s been caught out in a hilarious accident where they passed off a Stockphoto image of a woman using an iPhone (see left pic) as a Nokia phone in a recent advert (right pics). Whoopsie? [Giz AU]
Tokyo Flash has turned another watch from concept to reality, and this one’s 3D! Well, kind of. Using an optical illusion rather than the kind of 3D we normally see on Giz’s pages, the time appears to leap out in a 3D cube. It comes in seven different color combos with a stainless steel strap,…
You know that Starbuck’s pay-it-forward idea hatched by Jonathan Stark? The one where you buy a coffee with a card and add money for the next person. Well, it may be a viral marketing campaign, not some feel-good social experiment. The Jonathan’s Starbucks Card hit the tech blogs earlier this week with the story of…
The fifth of November: the day Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the English Parliament in 1605, and the day Anonymous threatens to destroy Facebook in 2011. A video press release from a purported member of the hacker group claims there will be an all-out assault that day that will bring down your favorite social…
Google hinted its educational tool, App Inventor for Android, may become an open source project for classroom teachers. App Inventor was part of Google Labs, a group of research projects recently shut down by the search giant. Some of these projects will be moved into Google’s mainstream projects, but most will be shuttered. Because of…
Wal-Mart confirmed it will close its online MP3 store on August 28th. The retail giant will abandon digital sales and concentrate on physical media sales in its stores. If you own DRM-free tracks from Wal-Mart, be sure to download those files soon. All content in the MP3 store will go offline and downloads will no…
There are other Super 8 apps on the App Store but Levi’s iSupr8 Film app probably does the best at capture the finicky flickery flippity of those Super 8 cams of yore. Best of all, it’s free with new features. Just updated to include some Levi’s-specific features like a denim-esque camera case and other more…
DARPA has a plan called Prompt Global Strike that’ll knock out any terrorist target within an hour using a remote aircraft. Sounds great, except the first trial of this advanced weapon failed miserably. The defense agency now has one more try to get it right or the project will be canceled. The idea behind the…
YouTube will soon be home to 20,000 licensed movie clips now that it has signed a deal with MovieClips.com. The startup will provide the clips which can be found at MovieClips YouTube channel and via search. The partnership will let YouTube users watch a licensed version of a movie clip instead of a user-uploaded version…
Is there anything with a reputation as bad as boxed wine? I think toe jam and Rebecca Black score higher with gen pop. But oh you silly judgmental soul who spat on boxed wine! Turns out, boxed wine doesn’t suck anymore. Wait, what? When did this happen? According to the NY Times (which reviewed 12…