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io9This Account of an Imaginary 9.0 Earthquake in Portland Is Beyond Terrifying
Remember that New Yorker story about a potential earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone that scared the shit out of us? Well, Motherboard just published a series of heavily reported sci-fi stories about what might actually happen to Portland during such a disaster. And they’re way, way scarier. “After the Big One” by Adam Rothstein … Continued
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Tech News
An Architectural Tour of Donald Trump’s Gaudy Ass Skyscrapers
Before Donald Trump signed up for the presidential race, he signed his name to buildings. Lots of buildings. Sure, presidential candidates have owned real estate before. But no other candidate has been such an ostentatious developer of a real estate empire, with so many gilded phallic structures built in his likeness. Let’s look at Trump’s … Continued
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Tech News
Marimekko Is Bringing Its Colorful, Cult-Favorite Textiles to Target
It was really only a matter of time before the Finnish brand known for popularizing playful, accessible, well-designed products for good living made its way into the American retailer that epitomizes those values. Over 200 Marimekko for Target products will be in US stores next month and include summer-centric goods like swimwear, beach gear, and … Continued
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Tech News
San Francisco Just Raised Its Smoking Age to 21
In a big win for public health advocates, the city of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved raising the legal smoking age to 21. That includes not only cigarettes, but e-cigs as well. The law is likely a very targeted attack on e-cigarettes, which have doubled in popularity with teens over the last few … Continued
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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 News
Manhattan Just Quietly Decriminalized Public Drinking, And That’s a Good Thing
It’s summer. You’re hot. You’re thirsty. You surreptitiously crack open a Miller High Life tall boy in Central Park—right in front of a cop. Don’t worry. Thanks to new borough-wide policy, you probably won’t get arrested. Cheers! Welcome to Gizmodo’s Happy Hour. Substance abuse for nerds. Today, Manhattan’s district attorney announced that the borough won’t … Continued
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Tech News
Horrifying Skyslide Will Be 1,000 Feet in the Air on the Outside of a Building
With LA’s Wilshire Grand to be crowned as the new tallest building west of the Mississippi, you might expect the former tallest building west of the Mississippi to just sulk into oblivion. No way! The US Bank Tower is one-upping every observation deck on the planet with a soon-to-be-vomit-covered slide. ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE … Continued
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Tech NewsLook Inside the Most Expensive Train Station Ever Built With This 360-Degree Video
The steel ribs arching over New York City’s newest transit station have already become a familiar sight for the city’s residents and tourists. Now, after seven years of delays, the striking new World Trade Center Transportation Hub will finally open this month in Lower Manhattan. When the Twin Towers fell during the 9/11 attacks, the … Continued
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Tech NewsHyperloop Is the Perfect Way to Move Goods—Not People
The Hyperloop may prove to be a wondrous and radical technology that will change everything we know about travel. But there are several major challenges it needs to overcome, and those challenges suggest that Hyperloop might be better suited for transporting goods—not people. Speaking at the Los Angeles Times transportation event The Road Ahead on … Continued
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Tech News
A Google Self-Driving Car Got Into a Crash With a Bus (And That’s Okay)
Well, it finally happened. One of Google’s autonomous vehicles might have caused a minor fender-bender. (Luckily, it appears nobody was hurt.) And guess what—it’s probably going to happen again. And that’s fine. In a California DMV report discovered by Mark Harris, one of Google’s autonomous Lexus cars was stopped at a Mountain View intersection on … Continued
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Tech News
Piers Morgan Doesn’t Really Seem to Understand How iPhones Work
There have been a ton of melodramatic statements made about Apple’s current disagreement with the FBI—many of them from Apple itself! But a tweetstorm from Piers Morgan this evening might take the cake. Morgan’s willfully ignorant and often inflammatory comments managed to engage the tech community and got some folks pretty riled up. Reading his … Continued
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Tech News
The US Landed on the Moon In Less Time Than It Took to Build DC’s Two-Mile Streetcar
In 1961, John F. Kennedy proclaimed that America would go to the moon. Eight years later, a human walked on the moon. In 2007, Washington DC began construction on a 2.2-mile streetcar. Eight years later… well, it still wasn’t finished. Finally, after almost a decade of delays, mismanagement, and shattered dreams, DC’s streetcar will open … Continued
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Tech News
MacBook Selfie Stick Is an Innovation the World Desperately Needs
Tourists, man. They’re the worst. Before you get all snooty about the fact that you only take selfies with your own arm and your ass-sized iPhone 6 Plus: This is not real. Well, I mean, it’s like wink-wink real. MacBook Selfie Stick is the project of artists Moises (Art404), Yuyi John, and Tom Galle, who … Continued
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Tech News
How Self-Driving Cars Could Make Traffic Worse
Self-driving cars bring many promises like fewer deaths, smarter navigation, and no more ugly parking lots. But a new study highlights a critical disclaimer: Unless these vehicles are shared, we’ll probably see a dramatic increase of the number of cars on our streets. The study published in Transportation Research Part A today by the University … Continued
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Tech News
Airbnb Finally Admits to Purging Listings to Make It Look Less Commercialized
After being accused of tweaking data to make it seem like a larger percentage of its New York City hosts were innocently renting out their personal homes, Airbnb admitted yesterday that it did indeed remove “roughly 1,500” listings from its site before making the information public. In a letter to the New York State Assembly … Continued
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Tech News
Why Self-Driving Cars Should Never Have Steering Wheels
The head of Google’s self-driving car division made headlines recently for asking federal regulators to allow a vehicle without human-facing features like a steering wheel. Now he’s made a very good case for why no autonomous vehicle on the road should have these things at all. In an interview with NPR that aired today, Google’s … Continued
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Tech News
Tim Cook Won’t Budge on the FBI’s Demands, Says It Would Be ‘Bad for America’
In his first major interview since taking a stand against the FBI, Tim Cook will be on ABC News this evening, making the case for encryption and the importance of protecting Apple users’ privacy. Cook was interviewed by ABC’s David Muir in what looks like his office at Apple’s HQ. In the short clip posted … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial Media
The Six Stages of Facebook Reaction Grief
Facebook now has reactions. (“Yay” is not one of them.) And I have feelings about these new Like button alternatives. (“Yay” is not one of them.) 1. Like Oh, okay, that’s cool. More ways to react. If I just hover over the old Like button, I’ve got a range of options. But if I don’t … Continued
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Tech News
Look How Much Better a City Can Be When It Designs for People Not Cars
It’s a common argument when a city wants to take away space for cars: “This isn’t Amsterdam.” But guess what, Amsterdam—where half the traffic movement in the city center is by bike—wasn’t always Amsterdam, either. The image above serves as proof that better street design can improve daily life, not just for people on bikes, … Continued
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Tech NewsThe Future of Energy Looks Beautiful in These New Deal-Style Posters
Evoking the famous imagery created for the Works Progress Administration, a lovely series of posters created by the US government depict the country’s ongoing renewable energy revolution. And it’s definitely a place I want to live. The set of posters from the US Department of Energy, specifically the Loan Programs Office, accompanies a report on … Continued
Alissa Walker
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