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Tech NewsPhotoshop Contest: Who Should Be the New Owners of the Country’s Only Basket-Building?
Life’s a picnic, or at least that’s what Ohio basket manufacturer Longaberger believed when it custom-built this headquarters for the company in the shape of its “Medium Market Basket.” Now the picnic’s over: The business is moving out, and the building is in danger of foreclosure. Completed in 1999, the Longaberger basket is not only … Continued
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Tech News
Zaha Hadid Was One of the Most Polarizing Architects of Our Time
Zaha Hadid has died suddenly at age 65 from a heart attack. As the first woman architect to achieve notable celebrity, Hadid’s prolific and geographically diverse commissions mean that she will likely remain the best-known woman architect on the planet for many years. But her work was also incredibly controversial— not just the design of … Continued
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Tech News
Building Highways Through Cities Was a Huge Mistake—But We Can Fix It
The US interstate highway system was once a marvel of modern engineering, allowing the movement of goods and ideas that ushered in an era of unprecedented prosperity. But when those highways reached the cities they connected, they plowed through the lowest-income areas, physically dividing neighborhoods and financially devastating communities. A new initiative announced by US … Continued
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Tech News
The People Moving Back Into Big American Cities Are Mostly Rich White People
We keep hearing that this is the age of rapid urbanization: By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. But in the United States, the people moving into those cities are largely rich, white, and childless. What’s more, not as many of them are moving as they were a few years … Continued
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Tech NewsDecorate Your Home With the Work of This Celebrated Wildlife Artist
You might not know the name Charley Harper, but it’s possible that the midcentury artist’s colorful work introduced you to many wonders of the natural world. Now many of his pieces are available as furniture to bring Harper’s flora and fauna into your living room. Harper’s beautiful illustrations of the animal kingdom appeared in a … Continued
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Tech News
How a Street Artist Secretly Painted an Urban-Scale Mural in Cairo
All over the world street artists have become famous by surreptitiously adding swabs of paint or wheatpaste to city walls. But the most remarkable thing about a new mural in Cairo is not only its size—it covers about 50 buildings—it’s that the artist managed to do it in a place that’s not known for encouraging … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
A CNBC Columnist Asked Readers For Their Passwords. That Was a Mistake.
I like a good strong password just as much as anyone else. But CNBC’s stunty idea for a tool that tested the strength of people’s passwords is one of the stupidest things I’ve seen in days—possibly weeks! A columnist for CNBC’s The Big Crunch tried to make a misguided point about the FBI’s iPhone situation … Continued
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io9Television
Blame Netflix for Making Friends the Most Popular Television Show of All Time
So no one told you life was gonna be this way. A stupid show you know has gotten lots of plays You thought it’d vanish like David Schwimmer’s career But then Netflix bought all 236 episodes at the beginning of last year, and Friends is there for you (On your Galaxy S4) Friends is there … Continued
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Tech News
Another Day, Another Burning Skyscraper in Dubai
Until yesterday, it had been almost three months since the last burning skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates. That all changed when a building went up in flames on Monday just outside of Dubai. Several residential high-rises were evacuated by fire in Ajman, a city in Dubai’s metropolitan area. According to the Gulf News, the … Continued
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Tech News
Saudi Arabia Is Outsourcing Its Drought to California
For the last few years, the drought-stricken nation of Saudi Arabia has been responsibly cracking down on thirsty crops to conserve water. But their cows still need alfalfa, one of the most water-intensive crops around. To solve the problem, Saudi Arabia wants to grow its alfalfa in a land that apparently has plenty of water: … Continued
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Tech News
A Massive Alaskan Volcano Eruption Could Throw the US Into Travel Chaos
A very active volcano erupted in Alaska yesterday afternoon, sending a giant ash cloud up 37,000 feet in the air. Although the eruption is diverting some flights in the area, it will likely only serve as the subject of some beautiful photos—unless a bunch of ash gets sucked into the jet stream. Located at the … Continued
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Tech News
It Really Sucks to Be Named Jennifer Null
Once upon a time, the worst names to be named were things like Hugh Jass and I.P. Freely. But that all changed when we started living our lives on the internet. A BBC story looks into some names that you don’t want to have in our hyperconnected world, and topping them all is the name … Continued
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Tech NewsPeeps Are Out of Control
When I was a child, Peeps were Daylight Saving for my soul. As the days grew warmer, the technicolor hues of the marshmallow candy began sprouting on drugstore shelves, the confectionery equivalent of daffodils and tulips. On Easter morning, spotting the sparkling pastel fluffs in my carefully hidden wicker basket was like a ray of … Continued
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Tech News
The Best Solution to Stop Skyscrapers From Casting Shadows on Central Park
Upper Manhattan-dwelling New Yorkers have been complaining for years that supertalls are going to ruin the views from their beloved Central Park. Here’s a very good solution: lower the elevation of the park. The annual eVolo Skyscraper Competition consistently delivers some of the wackiest concepts for tall buildings we’ve ever seen. I particularly love the … Continued
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Tech News
This Is the Scariest Future for Autonomous Vehicles I Can Imagine
The biggest promise of self-driving cars is that traffic will finally be democratized. All vehicles will flow smoothly through the city using optimized routes, getting everyone where they need to go safely and efficiently. But there’s a very good possibly that’s not how it will work at all. In a piece called “When All Is … Continued
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Tech NewsPapasan Convertible Is LA’s New Laid-Back Approach to Fighting Traffic
Angelenos stuck in gridlock have high hopes for the opening of the Expo Line, which will bring rail transit to the western half of the city for the first time in 50 years. But stealing all the LA transportation headlines is another solution for improving the commute—a car made from a papasan chair. Car is … Continued
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Tech News
Coal Plants Use As Much Water As One Billion People Every Year
Add this to the very long list of why burning coal for energy is a horrible idea. The world’s coal plants are using enough water to easily fulfill the needs of a billion people for a year. What’s more, they’re often located in places where water is already scarce. A report by Greenpeace out this … Continued
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Tech News
Martha Stewart, Techfluencer, Rides Her Hoverboard Barefoot
Martha Stewart has always been on the bleeding edge of domestic tech disruption: Using drones to survey her vegetable plots and 3D printers to squirt out funky custom napkin rings. Now she’s employing hoverboards to efficiently zip around mansions, as one does. On a visit to Qatar, where hoverboard imports are still legal, Stewart borrowed … Continued
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Tech News
Cities of the Future Could Look Like Burning Man
Once a tiny counter-culture gathering on a San Francisco beach, Burning Man has ballooned into what could be considered an impressive experiment in rapid urbanization. Last year, the population of Black Rock City, which is erected for the festival in the Nevada desert, swelled to over 70,000. Sure, those people are only there for a … Continued
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Tech NewsWatch How Terrifyingly High LA’s Skyslide Will Be
Last Saturday, Los Angeles was treated to the dramatic arrival of the Skyslide, a 45-foot glass tube that will soon allow civilization’s braver souls to peacefully glide along the exterior of the city’s US Bank Tower—1,000 feet in the air. After being trucked to downtown LA from the fabricator in nearby Orange County, the Skyslide … Continued
Alissa Walker
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