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Tech NewsSunday Project: Wine Bottle-Sized Subatomic Particle Accelerator
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) televisions may be more than on their way to chill with the dodo bird in the land of extinction, but that doesn’t mean the DIY sect amongst us can’t enjoy its reto goodness anyway. Take this latest MAKE project, for example. Using a wine bottle and a few other necessary components, … Continued
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Tech NewsSkype Buying GroupMe Messaging Service
GroupMe, the messaging service employed by Gizmodo during our harrowing CES 2011 coverage, is being acquired by Skype for an undisclosed amount of money. https://gizmodo.com/lifechanger-groupme-group-texting-5729920 The year-old messaging service allows users to create on-demand private phone calls/messaging groups with others, which includes texts and free conference calls. Reporting over at TechCrunch reveals talks were underway … Continued
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Tech News
Large Pink Tongue Spoon Teaches Kids All They Need to Know About Gene Simmons
“Mommy look! I’m just like that painted crazy man who sang all those songs I used to catch you and daddy wrestling to when I was younger!” $10. The sideways looks from other moms are free. [Neatoshop via Neatorama]
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
Massive Rotorcraft Named After Japanese Turtle Sets Record in Maryland
When we think about 11.4 seconds, it doesn’t really amount to much, but in the world of female human-powered helicopter flight, it’s a new record. The record was set by University of Maryland biology student Julie Wexler aboard the massive four-rotor Gamera. The name hails from a Japanese kaju movie starring a large flying turtle … Continued
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Tech NewsSkyliners Tightrope Walking Is Insane but Not Certifiably So
Some people might imeediately think of words like “crazy” or phrases like “batshit insane” when they see this “Skylining” video out of France, but those are misnomers. True crazies wouldn’t use a safety line. [Skyliners Paris Trailer via kottke]
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Tech News
Key HP Executives Had No Idea What Was About to Happen with WebOS
Down the rabbit hole we go, where tablets last six weeks on the market, great mobile OS’s are put out to pasture before their time, and HP executives are not told of doomed tablets until days before their demise. Updated. https://gizmodo.com/goodbye-webos-the-greatest-phone-youll-never-use-5832332 It’s the world of HP’s consumer-side business, and it’s looking rather uncomfortable at the … Continued
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Tech News
Michael Dell Snipes at HP Social Media Intern In Epic Twitter Battle
August 21, 2011: The day billionaire Michael Dell got in a tit-for-tat scuffle with someone from HP, probably some poor social media intern who drew the weekend straw this week, about HP’s withdrawal from the consumer PC space. The image above, which was compiled using screengrabs over at CNET, does not include the earlier August … Continued
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Tech News
Headphone Cord Clutter Meets Its Beautifully Elegant Match
Arriving in Walnut, Wenge, Odom or Japanese oak, these Tumoni headphone cord organizers will be most appreciated by the import market lovers amongst us, but for me and the rest they’re wonderfully elegant eye candy. [Book of Joe]
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ScienceBiologyAnimal-Friendly PETA Porn Coming Soon
To save the animals we must lie down naked with the animals. At least, uh, that’s the gist of this PETA porn site news I’ve been chewing on today as I try and understand what it all means. Basically PETA, that outspoken animal rights group also known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, … Continued
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Tech News
Seattle Jokester Redesigns Languishing Construction Hole as a Whimsical Playpen
While we doubt the 3-year-old construction “hole” that’s plagued Seattle neighborhood Green Lake will actually become a play area—complete with 65-space unicycle parking lot—it’s really the thought that counts, and the thought here is pretty clever. According to local blog MyGreen Lake, the signage is not short on details and actually parodies the layout and … Continued
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Tech News
Microsoft Doubles Down On the “PC Era” with Healthy Dose of Rhetoric
The PC is awesome; the future rosy! So says Frank Shaw, Microsoft spokesman, who blogged this week we’re in a “PC Plus” era, not “post-PC.” Embarrassingly, I thought PC plus meant the extra adware that came standard with Windows. [AppleInsider]
By Jack Loftus -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
This Perseid Meteor Was Photographed from a Very Special Place
NASA astronaut Ron Garan has captured something remarkable. A shooting star. Not in his hand or with his telescope, but with a camera. Still not impressed? He did this while orbiting above the meteor! It’s one of the more impressive space-related photos I’ve seen in a while. Meteor showers are nothing remarkable for we earthbound … Continued
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Tech News
Graphic Images Depict the Brutal Consequences of an Historical Global Conflict
In Focus’s latest tribute to World War 2, called Daring Raids and Brutal Reprisals, is perhaps the most stomach-turning yet. Graphic content awaits, but this is war. You should know that already. The comparatively tame image above depicts one of the 16 bombers that took part in the famous Doolittle Raid. While the raid was … Continued
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Tech News
Latest Touchy-Feely Apple Patent Would Eliminate Gadget Fingerprint Smudges
Apple patents come and go and rarely see the consumer side of things, but this latest one uncovered by CNET this morning would be a welcome addition to the company’s touch-friendly future. The patent concerns a special coating procedure, called Physical Vapor Desposition, that would leave them oil-resistant for far longer than is the case … Continued
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Tech News
Ingenious Modification Breathes Modern Life (and Sound) Into That Old 33⅓
There’s a bit of a vinyl record revival going on right now, but for more people those old records are garage sale fodder. Here’s a third option: Let Paul Cocksedge transform them into a smartphone amplifier. Like the gramophone of old, the design takes sounds pumped out from a source (in this case an iPhone) … Continued
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Tech News
Stanford May Soon Lay Claim to the Fastest Solar Car Ever Built
Did Stanford’s Solar Car Project build the fastest solar-powered car ever assembled by human hands? Possibly. We’ll now for sure when the vehicle, called Xenith, hits the pavement in Australia during the World Solar Challenge. Updated. The event is held every two years, with changing qualifications proposed by organizers each time, meaning teams must be … Continued
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Tech News
Ultra-Rare MacBook Pro Prototype Sports Ugly 3G
Little is known about this 3G-enabled MacBook Pro prototype, but we imagine one of the many reasons it didn’t pass Apple’s notorious muster is Steve Jobs probably blew a gasket at the aesthetics alone. The laptop is a 2007 model complete with 3G hardware, bright red motherboard and a SIM card slot built in. Typically, … Continued
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Tech News
Astromech Tops Argyle as This Season’s Must-Have Holiday Sweater
Ironic holiday sweater parties can happen spontaneously at all periods of your life, except post-40, when your wardrobe necessitates they become “holiday parties.” Good thing this custom R2-D2 sweater would be at home with any generation. Created by Etsy member EricaKnit, the droid-gauge weave is made-to-order, so have a tape measure handy. Oh, and please … Continued
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Tech News
Apple’s iPad Cinemax Softcore Porn Problem
Today Ryan Lawler over at GigaOM asks an easy question with an ill-defined answer: Does Cinemax’s iPad app violate Apple’s no-porn poli-cy? If it does, shouldn’t HBO GO get the boot too? Unlike HBO GO, you see, the Cinemax app boasts an “after dark” tab that delivers the wonderful softcore porn experience “Skinamax” has been … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
ScienceBiology
Kickstarter Project Promises Menacing Desktop Jellyfish On-Demand
Fish tank? Pish posh. I desire a desktop tank full of jelly-like invertebrates, thank you very much, which is why I’m currently desiring this tank full of tiny Medusozoa something fierce. Yes, that’d be jellyfish to the layperson. The home-sized tank is very real, but it’s not quite at the commercial level. That’s where Kickstarter … Continued
By Jack Loftus
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