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Tech NewsThese People Were Dumb Enough to Threaten the Life of a Presidential Candidate on Twitter
“Someone really ought to assassinate [candidate]” “Can somebody take one for the team and assassinate [candidate]?” “If they get elected, [candidate] is going to get assassinated” Tweets like these, and unimaginative variations thereof, exist for both Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and her opponent Republican Donald Trump. And they’ve only gotten more frequent in the past … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsTerrifying Apartment Fire Breaks Out in Houston
A 2-alarm fire broke out this afternoon in Houston’s Museum District, engulfing an apartment complex called The Hampstead, according to a local news site. So far its unclear if there have been any injuries, but smoke is visible across much of the city. We’ll update as details become available. Update 11/8/16 6:09EST: According to CW39, … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Trump’s Troll Army Is Having a Hard Time Voting
Today, America will decide whether it wants to preserve the semblance of a democracy we live in or burn the whole thing to the ground. And Trump’s loudest supporters have been making some rookie mistakes. Trump’s internet army has spent this election gleefully propping up a woefully unprepared demagogue—some earnestly, most as a long-running joke. … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Swedish Prosecutors Are Going to London for a Friendly Chat With Julian Assange
Ecuador is officially fed up with Julian Assange. The Chicago Tribune reported that Swedish prosecutors will be paying Ecuador’s four-year houseguest a visit a week from today. To recap: Sweden is the country from which the Wikileaks founder and “editor” fled in order to avoid rape charges. Those outstanding charges and the fear of extradition … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidSloths Are Amazingly Fast Swimmers When They’re Chasing Sex
Last night was the first episode of Planet Earth II, hosted by universally beloved nonagenarian David Attenborough. The six-episode series was filmed in 40 countries over three years, and whatever it cost, it was worth every god damn penny. In the first few minutes, Attenborough blew the minds of views across the UK (and those … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidBlink and You’ll Miss the World’s Fastest Rubik’s Cube Solve [Update]
Speedsolvers, your new time to beat is 4.74 seconds. Rubik’s cube records are like Mario speedruns. We know they’re going to happen, but because clutching the title involves shaving off fractions of a second they’re still so impressive. But the new record-holder, Mats Valk, had a secret weapon. Many speedsolvers attempt record with custom cubes. … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAn Internet Dog Chef Goes to Heaven
For nearly a decade, the best thing on YouTube has been Cooking With Dog. Its conceit was strange and delightful. Chef (a middle-aged Japanese woman whose name is never revealed) cooked beautiful, intricate food, while her trusty dog sidekick Francis sat on the counter, “narrating” the recipes in English. Yesterday afternoon, Francis passed away at … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidWhy Do Water Droplets Bounce?
When a droplet of water impacts a larger body of water it has a tendency to bead up and bounce. It happens constantly, but you might not have focused closely enough to consider its strangeness—and it is very strange, especially when viewed on a high-speed camera. As Destin from Smarter Every Day discovered with some … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsIt’s 2016 and Crazy Frog Is Skyrocketing on YouTube [Update]
A mounting body of evidence from this colossally sickening year suggests we are living in the end-times. For the skeptics, the willfully naive, the hopeful souls holding out for a better tomorrow, may I present the return of Crazy Frog. Let us set the scene. On YouTube, statistics like engagement over time, watch time, and … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
io9A Brief Examination of Just How Amazing Anthony Hopkins Is in Westworld
While Westworld has mainly captivated its viewers with its seemingly limitless mysteries (although the occasional orgy scene hasn’t hurt), the show’s real strength is in its characters, and the fabulous actors portraying them. And no one the show is more captivating than Sir Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Robert Ford. To demonstrate this, Nerdwriter dissects a … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsHere’s What Chicago Sounded Like After the Cubs Won the World Series
As native son Bill Murray predicted, the Cubs’ 108-year curse was broken last night after taking the World Series title against the Cleveland Indians. It was some damn fine baseball to behold. So implausible was the idea of a Cubs win that the mere suggestion of it was a joke. Back to the Future II … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Netflix Might Finally Add Offline Playback—But Not For You
Streaming giant Netflix has been teasing offline playback for years—and delivering hollow excuses as to why the feature hasn’t been implemented yet. Most egregiously, the company said that it would add an undesirable level of complexity to the product. But based on an executive’s comments, it seems more likely than ever that offline playback is … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
ScienceBiology
Dumbass Surfs a Turtle
Ricky Rogers is a complete idiot. Or at least that’s how he was described by Royal Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty spokesperson Michael Beatty after he posted a picture of him and a friend “surfing” a beached sea turtle on Facebook. Australia man truly is the new Florida man. The Frasier Coast Chronicle … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Nintendo Pulls the Plug on Wii U
Nintendo, once drunk on the promise of touch screens and motion controls, has come to its senses. Four years later, the Japanese gaming giant is quietly taking its biggest mistake since the Virtual Boy off of life support. As Ars Technica learned, the very last Wii U will roll off the line later this week, … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
You’re Going to Want to Play With This Goopy Modular Instrument
The surfaces of ROLI products practically beg you to touch them. Unlike the slappy, clicky keys or gorilla glass surfaces on most new tech, they’re coated in a responsive, almost fleshlike silicon rubber that’s at once alien and intuitive. So what are you waiting for? For the first time in the company’s history, the it’s … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsDJI Accidentally Gives Customer a Tour of Its Drone Factory
Here’s how the flying sausage gets made. DJI—the drone company famous for the Phantom series—does what most manufacturers do: it tests its products before sending them to customers. (The process must be a rigorous one after the Mavic Pro failed to ship on time.) Checking to make sure the camera and bundled-in SD card work … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidElaborate Domino Setup Wishes You a Happy Halloween
Did you know today was a holiday? After a weekend of low-effort costumed drunks fighting, fucking, and puking in front of my apartment—sometimes simultaneously—I thought we were done this year’s glorified national Santacon. But no. Halloween is today. Let us breathe the heavy sigh of the defeated. Adulthood may have jaded me to the once … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsEntire Town Leveled As Yet Another Massive Earthquake Hits Italy
Just a few months after central Italy was battered by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, the region has been struck again, and harder. A magnitude 6.6 quake—the strongest in the country since 1980—caused widespread damage to many of the same towns that were most severely affected by August’s incident, like Amatrice, Sunday morning. Over 200 aftershocks … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidRC Stunt Chopper Defies the Laws of Physics
When ancient humans looked to the skies, they dreamed of flight. When modern birds look with jealousy and annoyance to see who’s making them look like a bunch of chumps, they see RC helicopter stunt pilot Alan Szabo Jr. The footage from this flight appears to be sped up. It isn’t. The illusion is testament … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
What We Know About Bizarre Crime Filming App Vigilante [Update]
“Can injustice survive transparency?” is the tagline of a new app called Vigilante, that purports to empower its users to stop crimes in progress, turning each of us into Daredevil or Luke Cage. In practice, though, Vigilante could end up being the best way to waste your time, annoy the NYPD, or just maybe get … Continued
By Avery Ellis
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