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Tech News
It Is Finally Officially Not OK to Vape on a Plane
The Department of Transportation has finally (really this time, you guys!) had it with those motherfucking e-cigarettes on America’s motherfucking planes. On Wednesday, the government agency announced that e-cigarette use is now explicitly banned on all commercial flights going into, out of, and within the United States. Seriously! Just now this is a rule. The … Continued
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Tech NewsGoogle
Android Nerds Are Freaking Out Over Rumors That Google Is Killing the App Drawer
On February 26 at 7:10am Google Maps published a tweet seen ‘round the world—or at least in fanatic Android circles. The tweet included a purported leak that shows a build of Android missing a critical feature: the app drawer. For the unfamiliar, the app drawer is a uniquely Android feature that keeps all the software … Continued
By Darren Orf -
Tech NewsSploid
Watch a Tunnel Boring Machine Shred Open a Giant Hole
All the satisfaction in the world exists through a tunnel boring machine that finally cracks the surface and shreds open the crap that was in its way. Here is the tunnel boring machine Alice digging through a 1.5-mile giant tunnel in New Zealand. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Disney Is Marketing Zootopia to Furries, Which Is Genius
Do you know what a furry is? Disney sure does—and it’s trying to boost box office sales to its zoo-themed film, Zootopia, by marketing directly to people who like to roleplay as animals for sex reasons. BuzzFeed’s Katie Notopoulos uncovered proof that at least one marketing agency hired by Disney to promote the film is … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech News
That Working Lego Marble Maze Is Now an Official Set, Ready to Completely Frustrate You
Gunning your way through hordes of alien invaders in a video game’s got nothing on the challenge of navigating a marble around an old-school Labyrinth. But now that the Lego Ideas Marble Maze is finally available, you can swap in pieces to make it easier, or even more frustrating. First revealed way back in May … Continued
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Tech NewsGoogle
I Don’t Need More Ways to Pay For Shit
Google announced in a blog post today that it would start testing out its new payment service, Hands Free, in the South Bay region outside San Francisco. The author, senior director of product management Pali Bhat, sounds predictably thrilled about the news, imagining a future in which “you could rush through a drive-thru without reaching … Continued
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Tech NewsApple
Kill Voicemail By Ignoring It Completely Using This App
What’s the use of voicemail? It’s a hotly contested topic. Some love it. Some loathe it. For those of you in the latter group, there’s No More Voicemail. The app is simple. When your phone would usually intercede and record a voicemail, No More Voicemail takes over, redirecting the call to another number that just … Continued
By Darren Orf -
Tech NewsSploid
Goodyear’s Spherical Concept Tires Are Like Cheat Codes for Driving
In this version of driving in the future, cars use magnetic levitation and roll around on big spheres. Please put me in cryostasis until this actually exists. The Goodyear Eagle-360 concept includes a few unusual features, like a spongey substance in the tire grooves that would soften and provide greater traction during rain. Does such … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Over Half of the Data From the Pluto Flyby Is Still On the Spacecraft
When New Horizons zipped past Pluto on July 14th, 2015, it collected a lot of data. Couple that with the spacecraft’s agonizing, 1-2 Kbps transfer speed, and you arrive at a rather amazing fact: More than half of the data from the historic Pluto flyby is still on the spacecraft. Sailing a probe into the … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsSploid
It’s Impossible to Fall Off the Optimus Prime of Wheelchairs
The iBOT mobility system was a stair-climbing wheelchair that could also turn into a Segway. And sadly, it no longer exists. As of 2009 the iBOT was no longer available for sale, and support for existing units was dropped about three years ago, mainly because these things cost $25,000 each and Medicare only chipped in … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploid
All the F1 Constructors’ Champions in History
Formula One racing mixes man with machine so much that both are essentially responsible for victory. That’s why F1 gives out awards to both drivers (F1 World Drivers’ Champions) and the constructors of the cars (F1 World Constructors’ Champions). The constructor is basically the automobile maker of the vehicle (think Ferrari and Mercedes and so … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Photos of America’s Most Toxic City Are an Ominous Warning
In 2006, the EPA issued mandatory evacuations to residents of the town of Picher, Oklahoma. This winter, photographer Seph Lawless traveled to Picher to access a previously restricted area. And he brought back what look like apocalyptic visions of the future. For decades, Picher was one of the most productive mining fields in the state, … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
This Kitchen Tool Turns Sticks of Butter Into Sprayable Deliciousness
Everything is better with butter on it, but to make sure you’re not overdoing it and putting yourself on the road to a heart attack, the Biēm Butter Sprayer lets you lightly dole out a stick of that golden deliciousness by almost instantly turning it into a spray. Sprayable versions of margarine have existed for … Continued
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Tech News
New Photos From Fukushima Paint a Dire Picture of the Clean Up
Five years ago, a 9.0 undersea earthquake shook Japan. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the country, and it was followed by devastating tsunami waves, killing 15,894 people. The tsunami caused level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, resulting in the … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech NewsSploid
Blossoming Flower Is Actually a Gross Turtle Esophagus
Those aren’t the pedals of a particularly exotic flower, they’re the papillae inside a Loggerhead turtle’s throat. The inward-pointing papillae are covered in a thick mucus that helps filter out pieces of inedible material a Loggerhead might encounter—whether its invertebrate shells or actual trash—sort of like a miniature Sarlacc. Besides how genuinely weird their insides … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Retro Gaming Console Coleco Chameleon’s Launch Date Is Being Delayed Indefinitely
The Coleco Chameleon is a video game console promising to take a stand against downloadable content (DLC) by shipping non-upgradeable cartridge games just like systems from the 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, the Chameleon may never see the light of day. Following its public debut at the New York Toy Fair, the Chameleon was set to … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
Up-Close Aerial Footage of a B-2 Stealth Bomber Is So Serene
In this rare aerial footage, the coolest aircraft ever created looks even cooler. Aerospace company Northrop Grumman posted a video of its B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, and it’s nuts. Only twenty of these things are around, so this kind of aerial footage of one in action is pretty rare. With a wingspan of 172 feet, … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
If the IRS Actually Cares About Not Getting Hacked, It Has a Funny Way of Showing It
Hackers stole sensitive records fromover 700,000 people by breaching the Internal Revenue Service in 2015. You’d think that kind of horrific security breach would prompt some soul-searching, but [insert joke about soulless taxman here] nope. The IRS continues to use an impressively bad PIN authentication process to protect people from fraud. People who were hacked … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsApple
Has Donald Trump Ever Used a Computer?
The personal computer revolutionized the American home in the 1980s and 90s. And by the mid-90s mainstream America was getting online. But with Donald Trump now the presumptive nominee of the Republican party, there’s an interesting question that must be asked: Has Trump ever used a computer? We already know that Donald Trump doesn’t tweet. … Continued
By Matt Novak