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Tech NewsCheck the History of Any NYC Address Through Its 311 Complaint Record
Chrome extensions can do so much more than transform presidential candidates into people with tiny hands. Take this brilliant Chrome extension that uses public 311 data to give you the often-frightening full story on any New York City property. Simply install the Renter Be Aware app and your Chrome browser becomes a window into the … 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
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 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
Google’s New AI Can Tell Where Your Photo Was Taken Without Using Geotags
In case you didn’t already feel like Google was a creepy stalker, its artificial intelligence tools are rapidly crossing over into uncanny. The latest one is PlaNet, a new deep-learning machine that specializes in figuring out where a photo was taken—using nothing but the image’s pixels. Today, MIT Tech Review reports on a new effort … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
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 NewsChina’s Ban on ‘Weird’ Architecture Is a Damn Shame
China’s become known for some of the zaniest, prettiest, most daring architecture of the 21st century. Sadly, that’s all coming to a halt, as the government is now banning any new buildings that are dubbed “oversized,” “xenocentric,” or “weird.” The government’s State Council made the announcement on Sunday. From here on out, it wants cityscapes … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsMore Evidence Streetcars Are Lame
How hard can it be to ride a streetcar? Apparently DC thinks its residents need help understanding how its newest transportation mode works. In advance of the city’s streetcar opening later this month, the District of Columbia’s Department of Transportation has produced a video to teach people how to ride it. The first thing you … Continued
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Tech News
Smartphones Don’t Kill Pedestrians, Cars Do
Every few months we get to read the same misinformed story about “distracted walking”—how pedestrians are too busy looking at their phones to safely walk across the street. But sidewalk Facebook updates aren’t the real problem here. The latest story in the narrative that puts walkers at fault for getting killed by cars is an … Continued
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Tech News
Things Uber CEO Travis Kalanick May Have Said In His TED Talk Today
Today in Vancouver, the annual mind orgy TED welcomed Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to the stage. Did he talk about the logo? Did he talk about how cities are bringing him down? What did he say? You could wait a few months for the video—or you could take these people’s words for it. Now keep … Continued
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Tech NewsStreetcars Are the Great Urban Gimmick of Our Time
I want to love streetcars. I really do. Who doesn’t want to go rolling through your neighborhood, bells dinging and clanging, like you’re living in a Rice-A-Roni ad? But just when you thought these antiquated relics of the Victorian Era were dead, now Streetcars: The New Batch are coming to your city. Or that’s what … Continued
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Tech News
How Long Before Dubai’s New Observation Tower Is Engulfed in Flames?
A new observation tower will be built in Dubai, and it’s already being billed as an “architectural wonder that will be as great as Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower.” That’s great, but what I really want to know is this: Will it catch on fire? The new tower’s design, a contemporary take on traditional Islamic … Continued
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Tech News
Ford Is Finally Thinking Beyond Cars
Cars were a great idea until they started to destroy civilization. Now the inventor of that technology is busy working on the next big transportation idea, one that might not kill us all. Yes, the American automaker is spending big bucks to help you get around—even if it’s not in a Ford. In addition to … Continued
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EartherClimate ChangeAir Pollution Kills 5.5 Million People Every Year Worldwide
The smog hovering over many major cities is not just an unhealthy inconvenience. Breathing that air is killing millions of people. A recent study in Nature estimated three million people died annually due to air quality. That number may be closer to 5.5 million premature deaths per year, according to a new study being presented … Continued
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EartherClimate ChangeHoboken Residents Are Fighting a Seawall That Would Protect Their Homes From Total Devastation
In 2012 Hoboken, New Jersey suffered the brunt of Superstorm Sandy when most of the city was flooded. Now a piece of infrastructure has been designed to prevent this from ever happening again, but some people who live there don’t want it built. Because they think it will look ugly. After the storm, a Department … Continued
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Tech News
The LA Gas Leak Has Been Temporarily Plugged
The gas leak hemorrhaging methane all over the LA suburbs has been temporarily plugged, Southern California Gas Company announced today. It’s an important milestone, but residents aren’t celebrating just yet. If all continues to go well, the leak could be permanently sealed within a few more days. As we reported earlier this week, SoCalGas has … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
The UN’s Proposed Airline Emissions Standards Are a Joke
As humanity’s first space colonists are getting ready to ship off to Mars in 2030, the citizens of Earth may have just implemented the first-ever carbon emissions standards for airlines. And they’re weak as hell. On Monday, the United Nation’s aviation agency took an unprecedented step of recommending binding limits on CO2 emissions that will … Continued
By Maddie Stone