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io9This list shows all the anagrammatic names Lord Voldemort rejected
Fans of Harry Potter know that the phrase “I am Lord Voldemort” is an anagram for You-Know-Who’s given name. What we didn’t know was that it wasn’t the first anagram Voldemort settled on. Redditor redditthemusical posted this goofy list of the Dark Lord’s rejected names. There’s also a very interesting discussion in the Reddit comments … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsGoogle
Should Google Have Fired this Newly-Hired Redditor Simply for Posting Pictures of His Uniform? (Updated)
On Friday afternoon, an anonymous Redditor posted a follow-up to a thread he’d since deleted, explaining that Google had fired him for posting pictures of his company uniform. About the non-disclosure agreement, he writes: “I thought it applied to what we were doing during training. Which makes sense, because they gave it to us before … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
io9Books & Comics
Is San Diego Comic-Con still worthwhile for independent cartoonists?
Every year, we hear the complaint that San Diego Comic-Con is less about comics than it is about movies, television, and the spectacle of comics-adjacent media spilling through the San Diego Convention Center. And yet independent cartoonists still flock to San Diego each summer, setting up in Artist’s Alley, the small press area, and various … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
The Crab Nebula as a Crab, and More Zoological Space Porn
Since time immemorial, people have looked up into the night sky and imagined that they saw animals and mythological creatures traced in the constellations above. Christian Petersen’s Zoological Universe prints apply that idea to the cosmic images of modern space porn. Petersen’s series doesn’t take a literal approach to pairing animals with comic entities. Instead, … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Down-and-Out Lives of Homeless Robots
The robot in today’s Concept Art Writing Prompt has fallen on hard times and doesn’t have a place to call home. If you have a great idea for a story about a homeless robot, write it here in the comments. David Emmite, whose thoughtful and luminous photography we’ve featured in the past, has an entire … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
How an Electrical Storm in Virginia Brought Down a Large Chunk of the Internet
Late last night, a severe electrical storm struck over Northern Virginia, Maryland and DC, halting train traffic and felling trees. The Washington Post lived blogged the severe electrical storm, reporting at 11:27pm: “[W]ind gusts of nearly 80 mph have just blown through the D.C.-Baltimore region. We’re getting lots of reports of power outages and some … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
io9Watch the joyful playtime of Anakin the two-legged kitten
Unlike his similarly limited-limbed namesake, Anakin the kitten doesn’t spend his days brooding over his disappointments in life. Instead, he uses his two front legs to chase down his favorite toy. Anakin was born without a pelvis or hind legs, but fortunately he’s found a happy home with people who delight in his playfulness. His … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
Google Tablets, Android Jellybean, Facebook, Flashbangs and More…
Following along with Apple and Microsoft, this week was Google’s Turn to dominate the news. They had new hardware, new software, and skydivers. But there were plenty of other great stories like the death of Winamp and digital camo, a live Q&A with a bike thief, and the discovery that we can breathe without air. … Continued
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io9
What happened when a 7th grader asked Ronald Reagan to declare his bedroom a federal disaster area
In 1984, a young boy named Andy Smith came up with a clever scheme to get his room cleaned with minimal effort: he would convince President Ronald Reagan to have his room declared a federal disaster area and then clean his room with the resulting funds. But the president didn’t exactly send folks in biohazard … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
The Voltron political cartoon Ben Franklin never made
The fabulous Olly Moss has taken Benjamin Franklin’s classic “Join, or Die” political cartoon and added a little Voltron twist. If we could get it printed up on some flags, it would make a geeky addition to next week’s US Independence Day celebrations. [Olly Moss via Super Punch]
By Lauren Davis -
io9
The Physics of Toilets
You may be dealing with a plumbing issue. You may get sent back in time and realize you don’t have the strength to go on without indoor plumbing. You may get asked this by a small child who, up until that moment, was the one person who believed you had the answer to everything. Trust … Continued
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io9
Brazilian prison incentivizes prisoners to provide pedal-powered energy
Brazil’s Santa Rita do Sapucaí prison has found a new source of alternative energy: its own prisoners. The prison has offered to shave time off of prisoners’ sentences if they’ll charge batteries using special bikes and their own two legs. Jornal Nacional reports that city judge José Henrique Mallmann got the idea for his battery-charging … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsGoogle
Use Google+ Hang Outs to Create Your Own Personal Puppy Cam
A recent graduate of Northwestern University, Taylor Barrett felt nervous about leaving Walnut, her 11-week-old Chihuahua puppy, home alone while she was at the office all day. But instead of overpaying for a too-luxe doggie daycare, she turned to technology for the solution. She’d never before used Google+ Hang Outs, but believed it would be … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
io9
Crowdfund Daenerys Targaryen’s quest to claim the Iron Throne
Daenerys Targaryen had some funding woes in journey toward Westeros, but that’s because she never turned to the awesome crowdfunding powers of the Internet. Comedian Avery Edison has rectified that obvious oversight by helpfully setting up a concept design for the Khaleesi’s Kickstarter campaign. Daenerys isn’t unreasonable in her crowdfunding efforts; after all, for just … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
A webcomic superheroine questions whether superpowered crimefighting is the best way to be a Strong Female Protagonist
Alison Green used to be Mega Girl, one of the most powerful superhumans on the planet, until she was convinced to hang up her cape. Now she’s a super-strong college student who attends Occupy protests, volunteers at the local fire department, and is trying to figure out what it means to be a Strong Female … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
How To Find an Awesome Apartment On Craigslist
Looking for an apartment is horrible. But technology can help. If you’re smart, you can cut through the junk and beat the competition en route to a sweet pad. If you’re planning to rent in a city, your search is bound to go through good old Craigslist—especially now that its listings no longer appear on … Continued
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io9
Were Nick Fury’s actions in The Avengers legally justified?
James Daily is an attorney licensed in Missouri and one of the authors of Law and the Multiverse, a blog that investigates the intersection between genre fiction and the law. Here, he looks at the recent Avengers movie and asks whether the orders Nick Fury was given toward the end of the film were illegal, … Continued
James Daily - Law and the Multiverse -
io9
Congrats to the winners of the 2012 Theodore Sturgeon and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards!
The winners of the 2012 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and John W. Campbell Memorial Award have been announced, honoring some of the past year’s best works of short science fiction and science fiction novels, respectively. Three honorees for each award are selected each year by a committee of judges. This year’s committee for the Sturgeon … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Child actors face the giggle-inducing horrors of a sock puppet Chestburster
The folks at Kids Swede Movies put a group of pint-sized actors to work reenacting the famous Chestburster scene from Alien. But a sock puppet, a hair clip, and some blood-simulating pizza reduce the tiny sweders to fits of laughter rather than terror. [via Neatorama]
By Lauren Davis -
io9Captain America wields Mjolnir on The Avengers plus Jake & Finn save hostages on Adventure Time
We finally find out where Captain America has been hiding during this season of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Also this week, Gravity Falls begins its regular season run, Beck loses his identity on Tron: Uprising, and Iron Man: Armored Adventures hits its stride with a great Hulk appearance. As always, minor spoilers ahead! Avengers: Earth’s … Continued