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Tech News
Behind the Scenes of Blood Manor, One of NYC’s Scariest Haunted Houses
Walk through New York City’s Blood Manor in the dark, and you might have a heart attack. Explore it with the lights up and you’ll see a series of simple tech tricks designed to scare the pants off you. We got a look inside the haunted house last October with co-owner Jim Faro, who got … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
An Actual Mathematical Explanation of Silicon Valley‘s Epic Dick Joke
Remember that epic dick joke from the season finale of HBO’s Silicon Valley? Well, Stanford researchers have run the numbers. And if you’ll pardon the pun, it stands up. Says math! Below is the full explanation of the joke. It’s totally mathematically sound, and it includes further explanations and drawings, in case you were chuckling … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Rich Gang: Lifestyle
I like to listen to this at many different times in my life because it makes me feel fly. Next time you’re in an airport, try popping “Lifestyle” in your headphones and pop on your sunglasses as you walk to the baggage claim. Everyone around you is going to feel a lot less cool by … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
io9Movies
What Blackhat Gets Right: A Chat With Former Hacker Kevin Poulsen
Back in Kevin Poulsen’s hacker days, before he became writer and Wired editor, he pulled stunts like taking over the phone lines in a radio contest to win himself a Porsche, or breaking into the FBI’s computer system when he ended up on the agency’s Most Wanted list to change his physical description. He served … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
io9Movies
New Chappie Trailer Shows the World Terrified By a Teen Robot
Here we have the latest trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s AI flick, Chappie, which follows the travails of a teen robot learning How To Be. And even though the kind young bot we’ve seen in the last few trailers looks harmless, the preview shows a world where people just don’t know what to do with thinking, … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
io9Television
Parks and Rec’s Vision of 2017 Is Hologram Tablets and a New Facebook
Parks and Recreation’s seventh and final season premiered last night and it’s set in the future. So far, Pawnee’s version of 2017 isn’t all that different from now, except Facebook’s been replaced with Gryzzlebook, people have see-through tablets that talk to you. You see some of Pawnee’s idea of future tech in the clip above, … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
The Weekend Wikipedia Went “Brainfuck” Crazy
Quartz has put together a neat interactive chart that shows the most popular Wikipedia entry on each day of 2014. Most of them make sense, with articles corresponding with current events like the World Cup in June, or Joan Rivers when she died in early September. But there are some outliers. Like on August 29 … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Dr. Dre and Eminem: Forgot About Dre
Today I fell down a Vine rabbithole that led me to this goodness: A guy who forgot about Dre. Don’t be that guy! Go listen to Chronic 2001. Happy Wednesday, and don’t forget about Apple VP Andre Young. [Spotify, iTunes, Amazon] Welcome to Soundtrack, what Gizmodo’s staff is listening to every night.
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
You’re Wrong About Voicemail
My mother is untrainable. At least, as far as voicemail is concerned. We’d repeat the same song and dance over and over. Me: Stop leaving me voicemails. Her: I don’t understand. This went on for years, until I figured out she was right all along. You can hear the author of this post read it … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
There’s a Netflix For Vinyl Records Now
Digital music sales have taken a dive, and meanwhile, vinyl is in the midst of a huge swell that probably won’t let up anytime soon. So what has 2015’s vinyl surge wrought? VYNL, or Netflix for records. The service is pretty straightforward, although rather than picking particular albums you want to rent, a la Netflix, … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
The-Dream feat. T.I. – That’s My Shit
New year, new you, new music. Leading with a new party-ready track from The-Dream, “That’s My Shit.” It very much is my shit. If we had been discussing this track a few days ago, it would have been perfect for your New Year’s Eve soirée. The-Dream—the master hitmaker behind “Umbrella,” “Single Ladies,” and dozens upon … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
io9Movies
Charlie Brown Will Still Miss that Place Kick in the CGI Peanuts Movie
Perhaps eventually all your childhood favorites will come back CGI’d, and that’s okay! At least as far as the upcoming Peanuts movie is concerned. Because as you can see in the latest trailer for the November 2015 movie, the look is a little different, but Charlie Brown’s probably still gonna wuff a punt, and adults … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
You Can Soon Stream ESPN on the Web for $20 a Month
Sports has been one of the last great hold-outs of cord cutting, but now a little progress is being made in the right direction—soon, you’ll be able to get live sports without a cable subscription, too. Dish’s new web TV service will let you stream ESPN for 20 bucks a month. Re/code reports that Dish’s … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Vinyl’s Surge Hasn’t Slowed One Bit
2014: bad for digital music sales, great for vinyl. Like, really great. According to Nielsen SoundScan, vinyl sales hit 9.2 million, a 52 percent jump from 2013 figures, and an all-time high for vinyl on SoundScan, which began tracking sales in 1991. Damn. No hipster jokes to be had here; this is good news for … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Christmas Vacation: How a Perfect Family Holiday Goes Horribly Wrong
Clark Griswold’s only crime is that he wants a perfect family Christmas. He just wants a little too much of it. What could go wrong? The answer is everything. Christmas Vacationis hands down my favorite Christmas movie of all time. It’s 25 years old this year, and this week, Rolling Stone has an excellent oral … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
The Most Popular Christmas Gifts of the Last Decade: Elmo, Apple, Elmo
The most popular Christmas gifts over the past 10 years speak volumes about what people like. Which apparently is Elmo and iPods (but mostly Elmo). But if we look a little closely, it also says a whole lot about just how far tech has progressed. Let’s take a look. Before we entered into the new … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Here’s Your Christmas Eve Spotify Playlist
While you’re chatting up your weird uncle over egg nog tonight, you need a holiday-themed playlist. It is Christmas Eve, after all. Here’s your soundtrack for the evening. It’s got some new favorites and some stalwart classics. Joyeux Noel, y’all! [Spotify]
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
How to Wrap Any Gift
Some people wake up spewing Pinterest out their fingertips. For the rest of us, thank god for YouTube. Wrapping presents doesn’t exactly come easy, so we dug up a couple of solid tutorials for how to wrap your Christmas gifts like you’re Martha. For a straightforward how-to, Real Simple’s YouTube channel has you covered: Need … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
A Brief List of People Who Are Not Santa But Got Stuck in Chimneys
The best laid plans often go awry. The worst too; like diving down a real chimney as if you were Santa. It’s almost definitely bound to go wrong. Don’t believe me? Take the following stories as warning. There is an urban legend about a man whose attempt to surprise his family dressed as Santa coming … Continued
By Leslie Horn