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Which sequels were truly better than the originals? Finally! The answers! This chart graphs the Rotten Tomatoes scores of a hundred-some sequels against the scores of the originals which preceded them. Apparently the first Star Trek movie really did suck! Click to make bigger. Yup, that’s Wrath of Khan way up there above the “better-than-the-original”…
Starting now, you better pay pretty close attention to the dialog boxes that pop up when you try add third-party apps to Facebook. If you don’t, you might end up giving them your address and phone number. Facebook, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to allow third-party apps access to contact information (that is, whatever…
Photo Hanger is basically just a fancy paper clip being sold for an astronomical mark-up, but if you like to have your photos in physical form so you don’t lose everything in an electrical catastrophe this’ll display them in style. The significant downside is the cost—the seller would like $9.50 plus shipping in exchange for…
One of the many exciting bulletpoints illustrating LG’s forthcoming Optimus 2X dual-core Android phone is its ability to record video at the full HD resolution of 1080p. But how does it look? Is the sensor man enough? Let’s see… https://gizmodo.com/lgs-tegra-2-boasting-optimus-2x-phone-on-sale-next-mont-5716739 You’ll need to click through to the YouTube page, fullscreen the clip or pop out…
One of the latest projects to ask crowd-sourced funding site Kickstarter for cash is 3D printed iPad case maker Fresh Fiber—which wants your money to help start an e-commerce store where users can design bespoke 3D iPad cases. The company already makes a range of Apple cases, but with YOUR HELP AND GENEROSITY it could…
The Roomba has conquered the home. No more vacuuming! Now robots must tackle mail delivery and coffee-making tasks in the office. Enter the coldly-named humanoid bot HRP-4. It doesn’t surf the net. It doesn’t gossip. It simply serves. Starting January 28, the HRP-4 will begin to serve man by doing just that: Delivering mail, pouring…
This elegant evening gown, called “Herself,” is an experiment. By coating the dress with a special concrete mixture (yes, concrete!), designer Catalytic Clothing claims it can, allegedly (stress: allegedly), suck up nitrogen oxide and CO from the surrounding air. The air-purifying dress is a prototype—barely that, to be honest—but that hasn’t stopped its designers from…
Over at Yanko Design Jonathan Frey put on his thinking cap and created the Horodron. A concept for now, this simple e-ink watch will adorn wrists only if you ask really, really nicely. Hey, it’s happened before… https://gizmodo.com/tokyo-flash-is-making-this-watch-a-reality-thanks-to-y-5699090 As a watch guy I have to say the black and white metal/chrome styling complements the e-ink…
This nifty Kinect demo involving a robot mimic is all sorts of amazing, but after I viewed it I couldn’t help but wonder: When people talk about Kinect, do they ever mention the games anymore? Seems every Kinect story that surfaces on the net these days is about some glorious hack or modification involving the…
Carbon nanotubes do it all, don’t they? To date they’ve strengthened other materials, solved crimes in the Mystery Mobile and can claim they’ve taken part in creating the world’s lightest material. Well, at least two of those are true anyway. The latest accomplishment involves the “lightest material” mantle, which was previously held by an aerogel,…
The 11.6-inch MacBook Air: One well-traveled, veteran author labels it the “perfect writer’s machine.” As a 13-inch owner myself, I’m inclined to agree, somewhat, with one pretty substantial caveat: Let’s add “established” or something similar before “writer,” shall we? I say this because the poor man’s laptop this little collection of SSD and aluminum is…
Stuxnet, the complex computer worm that nearly crippled Iran’s still-functioning nuclear program, didn’t just sprout from the ether. It was created, by Man, and was probably tested in Israel at the massive (and oft-unacknowledged) Dimona nuclear facility. Previously, Dimona was the center of Israel’s super secret nuclear arms program. Located in the Negev desert, it…
Drivers need to be better about seeing cyclists and sharing the road, and vice versa. This is undeniable. The Tunnel Taxi, however, is not the solution to this problem. I mean, the thought is certainly there, isn’t? By giving cyclists a “path” through the taxi cab, this design allows them to stay in their lane…
Apparently patient HP trainees were rewarded with a tantalizing tidbit regarding WebOS tablets: They’re coming soon! This we had an inkling of, obviously, but now things are much more official! https://gizmodo.com/the-palm-webos-tablets-were-dying-to-see-are-a-month-aw-5724617 Admittedly, the wording is incredibly vague, but here’s the transcript in question, obnoxiously dated “that’s hot” meme and all: That’s hot. Love it. Why…
Washington State, no stranger to the environment or tourism in the Cascade Mountains, will soon install a number of EV charging stations in that region for the slew of electric vehicles that will inevitably vacation there alongside their green masters. The 480 V AC/DC EV charging stations, numbing just two or three over a 120-mile…
Are you sitting down? OK, good. Now, where are you sitting down? Maybe you should mosey on over to the throne room and perch that laptop on your knees. Mr. Toilet House, you see, is now an official Toilet Museum. https://gizmodo.com/toilet-shaped-house-now-thats-classy-309945 Back in 2007, we told you about Korean Sim Jae-duck, the ambitious chairman of…
So there’s a new iPad coming soon. Apparently. The speculation surrounding this mystery pad, with its new slots and slimmer profile, is pretty noisy, but Best Buy—bless their little blue and yellow hearts—just made it a bit louder. https://gizmodo.com/a-few-more-unconfirmed-ipad-2-details-5734173 Over at their web site last night there appeared no fewer than three new iPad listings,…
I just found out that it costs more than a penny to manufacture a penny. Specifically, it costs 1.62 cents to produce that 1 cent copper coin. And that’s been the case for a while now! What the hell? Why’s it cost so much? Apparently, the penny is made from 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc…
Ever wanted the text of your local newspaper BIGGER? Reading glasses don’t always cut it. But this reading magnifier can! It zooms in 2.2-3.4x without distorting the text. It’s like zooming in with a DSLR lens. Or using multitouch on print. It’s called the Menas Zoom and promises to not have the distortion that plagues…
Wikipedia turned 10 years old today and to celebrate the wonderful crowdsourced, potluck of information, here’s a look at their awkward (and sometimes, wild) past. Their first six weeks of existence, all 10,000 entries, are logged right here. Wikipedia had some pretty bumpy times back then, in the entry on American Football there was a…
