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Tech NewsBasement Jaxx Create Booty-Clapping (NSFW?) Twerk Bot
Basement Jaxx’s new video for their latest single “Never Say Never” explores in (possibly NSFW) detail the R&D process that would be necessary to create a bot that can twerk with the realistic butt jiggle of a human. There’s no evidence that anyone has actually set about making a bot that can twerk, but if … Continued
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Tech NewsAppleiOS 8 Comes With a New App That Teaches You How to Use Your iPhone
The newest build of iOS 8 just hit developers, and it includes, TADA, a new Apple app called Tips, which will help new users navigate the basics of Apple’s mobile OS. The screen shot above comes to us from 9To5Mac, which reports the details of Apple’s newest app. As the name implies, Tips will be … Continued
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Tech NewsHere’s Woz on a Segway, Filmed By a Drone
The punditry talks a lot about a concept called “convergence,” which can be neatly summarized in the GIF above: Woz, Segway, drone. All things tech and joy, all at once. The GIF is from a video produced by photographer, friend of Gizmodo, and Lexar marketing chief Jeff Cable. In the exquisitely conceived promotional video, reps … Continued
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Tech News
Elastic Bows Make Gift Wrapping Impossibly Easy
Few people dislike giving gifts, but most of us hate the expectation that they need to be properly wrapped first. It’s why gift bags must be a billion dollar industry at this point, and why these simple elastic ribbons could possibly be the greatest to happen to birthdays since cake and frosting. They do take … Continued
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Tech News
Swag, Vapes, and Econ: My Day at the North American Bitcoin Conference
Bitcoin may have emerged from a shadowy corner of the internet, but soon, it’ll have its own government affairs office in Washington. According to the crypto-currency’s biggest advocates, who assembled at the second North American Bitcoin Conference this weekend in Chicago, Bitcoin is all grown up. In reality, it’s entering adolescence—which is way more interesting. … Continued
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Tech News
President Harry S. Truman’s middle name is just the letter S
When Harry Truman was born in 1884 his parents couldn’t decide on a middle name, so they simply went with the letter S. Their goal was to honor both Truman’s paternal grandfather (Shippe) and his maternal grandfather (Solomon). Frustratingly for Truman, it actually led to some confusion during his lifetime — including when he took … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
The World Is Your Steam Room With a Material That Turns Sunshine Into Steam
Good news for vaporized water fans everywhere: MIT researchers have developed a disc-shaped material structure that generates steam using solar power. The structure is porous and sponge-like, and floats on water. It looks like the gross dish scrubber in the bottom of your sink, except instead of vaguely smelling like rotten asparagus, MIT’s steam-brewing material … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsGadgetsThis All-In-One Printer Churns Out Completely Functional Circuit Boards
Prototyping a new device without a factory at your disposal is as time consuming as it is expensive. Unless the crowd-funded Squink printer manages to become a reality. It lets hobbyists and aspiring Wozniaks print their own functional circuit boards using conductive ink and glue, for almost immediate turnarounds when they make revisions to a … Continued
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Tech News
Gum-Packing Coffee Cup Sleeves Prevent Burns and Bad Breath
If you think a fancy new lid is the only way you can upgrade a disposable coffee cup, you clearly haven’t seen what ad agency DDB came up with for a South African chain called the Seattle Coffee Co. For a limited time its paper sleeves that prevent burns (and lawsuits) were upgraded with a … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebookFacebook Adds a Save Button Since There’s Too Much Crap on Your News Feed
Over the years, Facebook has slowly morphed from a voyeur’s wet dream into what is now essentially a popularity-based RSS feed. And since there’s only so many listicles one can read in a day, Facebook just added a “Save” feature that compiles all your readables for viewing at your leisure. Just click the little arrow … Continued
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Tech NewsHere’s the First, Full-Length Trailer for the Alan Turing Biopic
Alan Turing, the venerated WWII Nazi Enigma cracker and creator of the modern AI standard (whether or not it actually works), is getting the biopic treatment. And today, we’re getting our first, full-length look at Benedict Cumberbatch as the father of computer science himself. And from what we can see so far, the movie seems … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidHow the United States can collapse and fall on a Black Friday
Our complex society is so fragile that a virus—spreading through cash and products sold during Black Friday—would bring it to its knees in a couple of days. That’s the premise of this impressive video by motion graphic designer Patrick Clair—the guy who created the awesome True Detective intro. The video was created as a teaser … Continued
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Tech News
Anti-Missile Tech Is Being Used to Find Malaria Before it Strikes
As it stands now, there’s no truly effective method of protecting against malaria. Vaccines are notoriously difficult to make, and it’s almost impossible to detect the infection in its early stage—until now, that is. And it’s all thanks to highly advanced, tank-fighting military hardware. The bit of tech pulling double duty is called Focal Plane … Continued
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Tech News
Deals: Acer Chromebook, Blue Microphones, Gift Cards, Tyrion Lannister
Sporting a Haswell processor and amazing battery life, the Acer C720 is the best value in the Chromebook world. We’ve featured a few deals on refurbs in the past, but today you can take $20 off a brand new one for the first time. [Acer C720 Chromebook, $179] If you aren’t turned off by a … Continued
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Tech NewsRobots with Digital Eyes Could Pick Your Next Peck of Peppers
The days of hand-picked fruits and vegetables—at least those picked by human hands—are quickly coming to a close as robotic farming technology continues its rapid advancement. A team of roboticists from the EU, for example, have just debuted an automated fruit and vegetable harvester that can spot ripe produce just by looking at it. The … Continued
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Tech News
About 200 Americans get leprosy each year. 1/3 get it from armadillos.
Leprosy is both incredibly rare and treatable in the United States. There are only about 150-250 cases of leprosy in the U.S. each year. Most of these people get it when they travel overseas. But what about people who haven’t traveled outside the country? The government believes those people most likely contract it from armadillos. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsGoogleWatch the Marines’ New Self-Driving Car Navigate a Battlefield
While we’ve all heard about Google’s silly-looking self-driving cars. But did you know that the military’s been working on own autonomous vehicles of its own? Honestly, it’s no huge surprise that soldiers would want this technology, too. It sure does look badass, though. The U.S. Marines recently uploaded a video of their new self-driving car, … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignNike’s Free 5.0 Are So Flexible They Can Fit In Extra Tiny Shoeboxes
The Nike Free 5.0 is billed as the most flexible shoe in the world. To show off the minimalist runners, Nike had a special new box designed, which uses one-third the material of other boxes. The above advertisement created by Uruguayan firm Publicis Impetu perfectly captures the conceptual thriftiness of the lightweight, ultra-flexible shoes: A … Continued
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Tech News
Some Naked™ juice contains more sugar than Pepsi
Have you ever looked at the nutrition facts on a bottle of Naked™ juice? If you haven’t, you might be surprised to learn just how much sugar is inside. For instance, a small 10 ounce bottle of Naked’s Green Machine has a whopping 35 grams of sugar. Compare that with 10 ounces of Pepsi, which … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Thousands of Lego Pieces Have Been Washing Up On This Beach Since 1997
On the quaint coast of Cornwall, near the town of Perranporth, there’s a beach that’s constantly covered in Lego. Tiny flippers, little plastic dragons, a brick here and there—these pieces have been washing ashore since a shipping accident in 1997 sent 4.8 million pieces into the sea nearby. And one-by-one, out they come. Funnily enough, … Continued