A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Friday, October 7th

As we’ve reported before, our good friends over at Google are starting up a daily puzzle challenge. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. And much to our enjoyment, they’ve decided to share the puzzles with us at GeekDad (hmm… Google a Day? GD? GeekDad?), [...]

Gallery: Artists Pay Tribute to Steve Jobs

Creative types use the very tools the Apple co-founder devoted his life to inventing to create their own tributes to technology's great innovator.

Solve Different: A Puzzling Tribute to Steve Jobs

In the last 24 hours, the internet has been bombarded with tributes to the late Apple Inc. titan Steve Jobs. The puzzle world, enable in its work by Jobs's creations, was no exception. Here is puzzlemaker Andrew Marc Greene's "Think Different" puzzle, posted on Facebook this morning.

Congress Grills FBI Chief About Anti-Islam Training

At a congressional hearing on Thursday, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the Bureau was through with training sessions that equated “mainstream” Muslims with terrorists — and besides, briefings like those were mere “isolated incidents.” But Mueller’s description of the extent of the training doesn’t square with a large body of evidence that Danger Room [...]

It Has Robots, But Is Real Steel Real Science Fiction?

Ask any two fans of science fiction and/or fantasy to define the line that separates the two genres, and it’s pretty likely you’ll get two notably different answers. There are those who argue that anything that has space ships, or ray guns, or robots, is automatically science fiction no matter how wildly fantastical the rest [...]

Judge Refuses to Sanction CIA for Destroying Torture Tapes

A federal judge won’t hold the CIA in contempt for destroying videotapes of detainee interrogations that included the use of a torture technique known as waterboarding, ruling instead Wednesday that the spy agency merely committed “transgressions” for its failure to abide by his court order. Punishing the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein [...]

Guest Column: Steve Jobs as Frank Lloyd Wright

In 1983, my little software company was lucky to be invited to work on Apple’s new computer in development, the Macintosh. Back then Apple wasn’t as secretive as it is today. Everyone knew something was coming. We knew what it was called, but no one was saying what it was. I gladly signed the agreement, [...]

Google Maps Fuels Scavenger Hunt for Noah Wall’s New Album, Hèloïse

Electronic musician Noah Wall wanted to do something creative to commemorate the release of his new album, Hèloïse. His novel solution: Hide copies of the record around New York City and kick off a Google Maps-fueled scavenger hunt.

Altered States: A Preview of Intercoastal Altercations 5

After an eight-year hiatus, Intercoastal Altercations, America's longest-running and most anagrammatically-titled online puzzle hunt, opens a new chapter starting tomorrow.

Guest Column: Steve Jobs, For The Love of Technology

Why has the death of Steve Jobs caused such a huge outpouring of grief? Mainly, I think, because Jobs had an ability to make very human connections with people. He could do it in a commencement speech which barely mentions technology — but his greatest achievement was to do it with technology itself. In [...]

The DIY-Drone of the Future Is … a Flying Pogo Stick

Darpa is holding a contest to design the military's next spy mini-drone. So far the entrants include a flying pogo stick, a sail that lands on mosques, and an unmanned laser shooter.

Director Calls In Time ‘Bastard Child of Gattaca’

The filmmaker who created Gattaca sees a direct link between his 1997 sci-fi cult classic and his upcoming gene-themed mind-melter, In Time. “I think of it as the bastard child of Gattaca because at the time I thought the holy grail of genetic engineering, of course, is to find the aging gene and switch it off,” [...]

Remembering Steve Jobs Across the Web

People of all types came out to celebrate, mourn and honor Steve Jobs after learning of his death yesterday. Some converged on local Apple Stores or flocked to Apple's Cupertino campus, while others paid their respects online.

What 300 Sea Otters Can Tell Us About the Ocean

Scientists from the U.S. Geological survey have been capturing and studying sea otters as part of a new project to study the nearshore environment in the Pacific Northwest. The blood and whiskers of otters and ear bones of fish provide a new view of this difficult-to-understand environment and may help researchers understand why sea otter populations have been declining.

The Contortionist Combat of Max Payne 3

In another life, ex-cop Max Payne might have been an acrobat. A depressed, alcoholic, trigger-happy acrobat with a gift for gratuitous violence.

Volcanoes Seen From Space and the Eruption Update for October 6, 2011

From Guatemala to Mediterranean, volcanologist and blogger Erik Klemetti provides an update on seven notable volcanic regions from around the world.

Army Shows Off Soldier Smartphone Beta

It wasn't one of those epic Steve Jobs product roll-outs. Not even close. But in an obscure warren of the Pentagon, the Army took a major step towards embracing the smartphone revolution that Jobs did so much to promote.

World’s Oldest Car On The Auction Block

There are antique cars and then there is the 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout. At 127 years of age, the company auctioning the vehicle claims it to be the “oldest running motor car in the world.” The steam powered car can hit 38 miles per hour and is expected to fetch [...]

Guest Post: Sir Richard Branson on Steve Jobs

So many people drew courage from Steve and related to his life story: adoptees, college drop-outs, struggling entrepreneurs, ousted business leaders figuring out how to make a difference in the world, and people fighting debilitating illness. We have all been there in some way and can see a bit of ourselves in his personal and professional successes and struggles.

‘This Stuff Doesn’t Change the World’: Disability and Steve Jobs’ Legacy

When I heard that Steve Jobs had passed away, I was boarding a train from New York to Philadelphia to visit my son. A friend phoned and then text-messaged me the news before I could read it on Twitter. It felt, I said later, as if someone had torn the hair out of my head.

Dork Tower Thursday

Read all the Dork Towers that have run on GeekDad. Find the Dork Tower webcomic archives, DT printed collections, more cool comics, awesome games and a whole lot more at the Dork Tower Website.

Saying Hello to Apple After 26 Years — And Goodbye to Steve Jobs

In 1984, my dad told my brother and me to climb into the car with him for a special trip. We drove to whatever computer store in Gulf Breeze, Florida it was that sold Apple computers, and came home with the very first Macintosh. It was probably the family purchase that had the biggest impact [...]

Jobs

It’s impossible to imagine the web as it is today without Steve Jobs in the story. Even something as seemingly simple as proportional width fonts might not exist were it not for Jobs and Apple, to say nothing of the WebKit project and dozens of other contributions. Through it all Jobs and Apple always managed to [...]

Steve Jobs and His Legacy of Inspiration

You’ve probably already read a lot of posts like this one today and will no doubt read many more. I haven’t read any yet, as I wanted to collect my thoughts on the sad death of Steve Jobs before reading any others. Like many of us, I was shocked at the news I read when [...]

WDTV Live Set-Top Box With Built-In Spotify

It’s hard to believe that you don’t already have a device in your home (or your pocket) that’s capable of connecting to Spotify, but should your kids be getting sick of you stealing their iPod Touches to stream your Dad Rock, then you might want to spring for Western Digital’s new WDTV Live Streaming [...]

GeekGirlCon is This Weekend???See You There?

Be still my heart! There is actually a convention for us girls now! It’s in Seattle, so those of you on the East Coast have a ways to trek it (haha, I made a geek funny), but there is indeed a convention made “just for her” and it’s called GeekGirlCon! That said, I’m dragging my husband [...]

Guest Post: Sir James Dyson’s ‘Apple Moment’

The wonderful thing about Apple technology is just how intuitive it is. Far too few designers put any thought into usability, ending up with a great product that???s completely inaccessible. You read about all the amazing things it can do but when you try to use it you???re just frustrated.

Reminder: Skylanders Give-Away

This is a friendly reminder that you still have time to enter and win one of five Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures games. Click through and use the form to tell us about your coolest Do-It-Yourself Halloween costume. Be sure to include a link to photos or a build journal for extra entries. We’ve gotten quite a few [...]

Beautiful Table Future-Proofed With Digital DNA

Supermechanical brings craftsmanship into the computer age. Instead of churning out endlessly dull and ever-lower quality MDF rubbish, Supermechanical instead uses computer-controlled tools to do the same work as a human craftsman. This means high-quality, long-lasting furniture at reasonable prices. And as you’d expect from an MIT startup, it comes with a geeky twist. The man behind [...]

Run, Zombies, Run!

You know you should be getting more exercise, but you just can’t motivate yourself to run. Well, thankfully there are some zombies who are happy to help you out. The Zombie Apocalypse Run will be held the Saturday before Halloween at Lee Farms in Tualatin, Oregon (a bit south of Portland). Basically, here’s how it works: [...]

New Book Details 100 Years of Scouting Memorabilia

The Boy Scouts have been around for more than a hundred years and over the past century a lot has changed for the organization. From patches and uniforms to first aid kits and camping gear, the BSA has evolved in lots of ways, if not others. To celebrate a centennial’s worth of Scout supplies and [...]

Wordstock Sneak Peek

I’m really getting excited about Wordstock, the book festival that culminates in a big book fair this coming weekend, filled with publishers and books and activities and author readings. It’s especially exciting that this year I’ll be attending as press, and I’ll get to interview authors and artists about their books. But if you don’t live [...]

Stan Lee Visits The Guild’s “Costume Contest” — Watch It Here!

If there are still any doubters out there that The Guild, created and helmed by modern geek icon Felicia Day, has truly hit the big time, this should silence them: The new episode, titled “Costume Contest,” features a guest appearance by none other than all-time geek icon Stan Lee. Lee makes a lot of cameos, of [...]

Four-Way, Big-Screen Multiplayer Coming to Real Racing

This is pretty awesome. The already great Real Racing is about to get “Party Play.” Party Play lets up to four people play the game on their iOS device, and all four of their views can be combined in a split-screen view on your TV via AirPlay. Party Play is the next step on from AirPlay [...]

Another World Arrives on iOS, 20 Years Later

In 1991, a puzzling platformer game was released for the Amiga (and soon ported to many other platforms, including the SNES, where I first encountered it). Another World (or Out of This World) featured a red-headed young physicist named Lester, conducting some experiments on a particle accelerator. One freak lightning strike later, Lester finds himself [...]

Bots High — A Documentary on High School Combat Robots

Today is the day: Bots High — A Documentary on High School Combat Robots screens today on the net and around the country. Check out their free screening page for more information about screenings, and to see if one is scheduled near you. I’ve received an advanced copy of the DVD for review and have watched [...]

Lightsaber Candlestick Brings Light to the Dark Side

What better way to say “I love you” to the nerd in your life than a romantic candlelit dinner. A romantic candlelit dinner with a Star Wars Lightsaber Candlestick. The metal candlestick comes from — who else? — ThinkGeek, and the pack contains three red candles to get you started. The holder itself is a replica [...]

Kickstarter Alert: Super Showdown

Overview: Hero and villain battle it out in a struggle of brawn, speed, and wits. Super Showdown is a compact game set in the Golden Age of comics, but don’t be fooled by its small stature, because it packs a punch! This is an abbreviated review, because the game is raising funds on Kickstarter and [...]

Quirky’s ‘Ray,’ a Solar-Charging Suction Cup

How do you make sure your solar panel is always pointing at the sun? Well, sticking it in the window would be a good start, and that’s just what Quirky’s new Ray does — literally. Ray is a combined solar charger and suction cup, meaning you can stick it to the windshield of your car or [...]

Gadgets the Pentagon Made — From the Microwave to the New iPhone

Listen to the Light App Is a Musical Exploration of New York’s Central Park

Bluebrain, the musicians behind The National Mall, have put together another location-aware album. This one works in New York City's popular Central Park.

Is Alan Wake 2 a Next-Gen Xbox Launch Game?

Alan Wake 2, although a certainty, remains the subject of speculation. As we get closer to another generation of hardware, the idea of it being developed for the next Xbox is one that gains credibility. Alan Wake was something of a phenomenon before it was even released. Happily, once the game finally [...]

Oct. 6, 1956: Sabin Polio Vaccine Ready to Test

1956: Dr. Albert Sabin announces that his live-virus oral polio vaccine is ready for mass testing. It will soon supplant the Salk vaccine.

It Had to Happen: iPhone Radiation Detectors

In Japan, it’s probably safe to say there’s a gadget for everything. And given a somewhat disastrous year, safety gadgets are likely getting more popular. Nope, there’s still nothing that can reliably predict an earthquake, but at least careful (and paranoid) Japanese can watch out for errant radiation — using their iPhones. Two new detectors have [...]

Dear Steve, Thanks.

I will be the first to admit, I’m not an Apple fanboy, yet others that know me may see things differently. Yes, I obsess over the new product-launch feeds. I have a fairly deep understanding of Apple’s product line. I’ve sold my friends and family on the merits of the Mac and their ecosystem. But [...]

“It’s Just a F**king Little 16th Note. But You Have to Play It.”

The fine writer Steve Silberman has posted a collective homage to good teachers at his blog NeuroTribes. The loveliest is his tribute to his husband Keith, who holds a PhD from Berkeley and teaches science in a high school. Lucky be his students. Steve asked several writers to answer the question, What’s the most important lesson [...]

A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Thursday, October 6th

As we’ve reported before, our good friends over at Google are starting up a daily puzzle challenge. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. And much to our enjoyment, they’ve decided to share the puzzles with us at GeekDad (hmm… Google a Day? GD? GeekDad?), [...]

We All Called Him Steve …

I was a very late comer to the Apple party. My first taste was a G4 laptop, $1,100 from Amazon.com. Prior to that, my close friend and colleague Samer Farha, the Apple evangelist in my life (we all had one) gently prodded me in the direction of Cupertino, with little success until I finally, and [...]

A World Without Steve Jobs

(Originally published on Aug. 27, 2011) In a way, Steve Jobs might have saved the best “One Last Thing” for last: The legendary and now former Apple CEO has left his company in fine hands and on a path of prospects as great as his final years at the helm have provided. There is no question that [...]

R.I.P. Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011

Like everyone else on the Internet, all of us at GeekDad are shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs. The outpouring of grief and fond remembrances on the various social media shows far better than any poor words we could write the effect his life’s work had on the world, and the [...]

Steve Jobs’ Greatest Achievements

With Steve Jobs' passing, we have lost one of the greatest technological innovators of our time.

Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011

Steven Paul Jobs, 56, died earlier today at his home with his family. The co-founder and, until last August, the CEO of Apple, Inc., was the most celebrated person in technology and business on the planet. No one will take issue with the official Apple statement that ???the world is immeasurably better because of Steve.???

Steve Jobs Through the Years

To try and understand what made Steve Jobs a visionary, Wired.com takes a look back on the life of Steve Jobs, the man.

Insightful Video Breaks Down The Matrix’s Inspirations

The Matrix took its influences from a host of movies that came before it. In just a little over six minutes, this video breaks down many of the films that came before the Wachowskis' sci-fi classic.

Sprint Confirms Unlimited Data Plans for New iPhone 4S Owners

Like it or not, unlimited smartphone data plans are quickly becoming a thing of the past. But if you’re jonesing for the new iPhone 4S and need uncapped, unlimited bandwidth, there’s still one carrier left that will deliver. Sprint spokeswoman Michelle Leff Mermelstein confirmed to AllThingsD that the carrier would offer unlimited data plans for [...]

Vinyl Gets Sliced, Reassembled in Analog Sampling Technique

Designer Ishac Bertran has developed an analog music-sampling technique by physically cutting and pasting pieces of vinyl together to create new tracks.

Biofuels, Speculation Blamed for Global Food Market Weirdness

A new analysis of rapid, volatile rises in global food prices puts the blame on biofuel policy and mortgage meltdown-style speculation, which may have fundamentally changed how food markets function.

What Do Your Games Say About You?

After you’ve found the final treasure with Nathan Drake, helped Solid Snake sneak past the last enemy soldier, or zapped another gang member with Cole MacGrath, you may have felt an emotional bond with these??characters??that you’ve controlled for countless hours. It makes sense, you’ve spent a lot of time with them and been through some [...]

HP, Apple Buildings Locked Down in Cupertino Multiple Homicide Manhunt

Hewlett-Packard’s Cupertino campus was shut down on Wednesday while local police searched for a suspect of a multiple homicide still on the run who shot and wounded one of the company’s employees. At least three of Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. campus office buildings were also locked down in the wake of the shooting, Wired.com has learned. After [...]

Stop-Motion Ninja Fight Slays With Awesomeness

Ninja brings together the ninja action of Kill Bill with the stop-motion animation stylings of Fantastic Mr. Fox for one truly impressive video short.

Monkeys Control Virtual Limbs With Their Minds

Although real-life brain-controlled prosthetics that enable a person to, say, pick up a pencil continue to improve for amputees, limbs that can actually feel touch sensations have remained a challenge. Now, by implanting electrodes into both the motor and the sensory areas of the brain, researchers have created a virtual prosthetic hand that monkeys control using only their minds, and that enables them to feel virtual textures.

Less Flash, More World Domination: Apple’s Tim Cook Era Begins

The key moment in Tim Cook’s first keynote as Apple CEO didn’t concern the new iPhone at all. Instead, it came near the end of his roundup of Apple’s business across its product lines. If you’re a professional or amateur Apple Kremlinologist looking for clues as to how Cook will run the company, or even [...]

How the M00p Malware Gang Was Brought Down

How a years-long investigation by law enforcement agents and an anti-virus firm brought down the M00p malware gang.

Review: Arty American Horror Story Spikes Fright Formula With Kinky Sex

The bloody new soap opera respects its genre roots, hitting viewers with a full complement of creaky doors, squeaking stairs and whistling wind. But it freshens up the scare tactics with three-dimensional characters that have a lot more than ghosts to worry about as they settle into a mansion brimming with bad vibes.

Software Makers Win Big in Supreme Court Copyright Fight

The Supreme Court is refusing to review a federal appellate panel’s decision that software makers may use shrink-wrap and click-wrap licenses to forbid the transfer or resale of their wares. Without comment, the justices on Monday let stand a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that is another erosion of the so-called “first-sale” doctrine, which [...]

Video: The Navy’s New Robo-Copter Heads to Afghanistan

Afghanistan's a dangerous place to drive a convoy and a really dangerous place to send a helicopter crew. That's why the Navy's shipping two robotic choppers to the warzone, ready to haul up to 6,000 pounds of cargo a day. This video shows the new K-MAX drone at work.

Nobel Awarded to Researcher Who Redefined Crystalline

The Nobel Prize in chemistry has gone to a lone researcher who illuminated something even more basic than the universe's structure: His discovery of what's now termed a quasicrystal actually redefined what a crystalline solid is.

iPhone 4S Introduces 4-Player Split-Screen Racing

I’m a sucker for new ways to play local multi-player games. In fact my favorite version of Driver San Francisco was on the Wii because of its multi-player mode that let a DS player join in. It’s no surprise then, that the AirPlay feature is the part of the iPhone 4S announcement that got me [...]

Xfinity, FiOS and More TV Headed to Xbox 360 This Year

Comcast Xfinity, Verizon FiOS, HBO and many more television services are on their way to Xbox 360 this holiday season, Microsoft said on Wednesday.

Tame Your CSS With ‘SMACSS’

Woolly, the CSS sheep. CSS is notoriously difficult to organize. The complexity of CSS selectors coupled with ever-changing project requirements and redesigns can quickly turn even the simplest of stylesheets into a snarled, tangled mess of code. Ugly code can be perfectly functional code (if it couldn’t the entire web would have collapsed in on itself [...]

Kratos, Sackboy Collide in PlayStation TV Campaign

Ever wanted to see Uncharted’s Nathan Drake chat up Final Fantasy XIII protagonist Lightning? Sony’s newest TV advertisement, released on Wednesday, lets you watch all your favorite PlayStation all-stars interact. The commercial, which features CG versions of classic PlayStation characters from God of War’s always-angry anti-hero Kratos to the cute and cuddly Sackboy of LittleBigPlanet, is [...]

Can Better Bathroom Design Combat Infections?

Are wash room door handles, hot-air blowers and bathroom design increasing our chances of infection? Superbug's Maryn McKenna takes a look at the research on the germiest hazards in public places, and a little on better design.

How to Model Newton’s Cradle

You know about Newton’s Cradle. Either you have seen it as an office desk toy, or as a physics demo. It goes: click, click, click, click. So let me show you how it works. What better way to show this than to make a model of it. Oh, maybe you guessed it. [...]

The iPhone 4S’ Talking Assistant Is a Military Veteran

The premiere feature of the new phone has its roots in a decade-old Darpa program -- one that drew scorn and fear when it was first launched.

A Stellar Puzzle Solution from ARGFest 2011

Stitch Media created a puzzle slipped into the programs at ARGFest 2011 that required puzzlers to apply their familiarity with mythology to a poem, pictured below. The handful of attendees who solved the puzzle were rewarded with candy-filled puzzle boxes in the mail. Read on for a detailed description of the solution process. By Michael [...]

Nissan Builds a Post-Fukushima Neighborhood Around the Leaf

If you're worried about natural disasters and energy dependence, Nissan's got a car and a house to sell you in the most exclusive of communities.

Hello Kitty World, the Secret Nintendo Game

The forgotten classic Hello Kitty World isn't a crappy licensed game, it's a Nintendo-developed action game based on Balloon Fight.

Earthquake Swarm Keeps Iceland’s Katla Rocking

A swarm of small earthquakes below Katla volcano in Iceland could indicate movement of magma.

Lost Worlds Survive in Living Fossils

The ancient world lives on in these plants and animals that have remained nearly unchanged for millions of years.

The Plan to Bring an Asteroid to Earth

Scientists and engineers met last week at Caltech to discuss the possibility of capturing an asteroid and placing it in orbit near Earth to use as a base for manned space missions further into the solar system.

Oct. 5, 1986: Israel’s Secret Nuke Arsenal Exposed

A former technician blows the whistle to The Times of London, and Israel's nuclear capability is revealed to the world. The whistleblower becomes a hero to the peace movement and a traitor to Israel.

Arcade Brawlers Slug It Out on iPhone

The three classic "brawler" games -- Final Fight, Streets of Rage and Double Dragon -- are now available on iPhone. Which is best?

Justice Department Official: Muslim ‘Juries’ Threaten ‘Our Values’

FBI intelligence analysts weren't the only ones teaching their colleagues that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic religion. Justice Department officials -- and even teachers at the Army's top intellectual center -- are delivering similar messages.

Hayden Urges Congress to Let NSA Monitor Public Networks for Threats

Former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden revived a controversial meme on Tuesday when he urged Congress to allow his former agency to monitor public networks in order to defend against malicious activity coming from nation states and others.

Win Obsessed With Star Trek Talking Trivia Book

Calling all Trekkies: A new book embedded with an audio module poses 2,500 trivia challenges designed to test even the most devoted Star Trek know-it-all. Compiled by Chip Carter, the 320-page Obsessed With Star Trek organizes minutiae gleaned from Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry’s sci-fi television and movie empire. To answer multiple-choice questions printed on [...]

Supreme Court Declines Music Download Case

The Supreme Court is declining to decide whether downloading a song is a public performance requiring artists to get paid additional royalties.

Super Small: Top 20 Microscope Photos of the Year

We're never disappointed with the photos from the Nikon Small World contest, and the top 20 judges picks contained in this gallery suggest that the photographers just keep getting better. This year's winners include images of a dinosaur bone, a microchip, a mouse nerve and HeLa cells.

GPS Inventor Urges Supreme Court to Reject Warrantless Tracking

The principal inventor of the Global Positioning System is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to renounce the Obama administration’s position that it may affix GPS devices to vehicles and track their every move without a court warrant. Roger L. Easton, awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2006, joined the Center for Democracy & Technology, the [...]

Infinity Blade 2 Will Stab iPhone This December

Developer Epic Games will release a sequel to popular iOS game Infinity Blade on December 1, it said Tuesday at an Apple press conference.

Free MP3s: Cool Kid Mikey Rocks’ Solo Mixtape

The mixtape Premier Politics is credited to “Sir Michael Rocks,” but those familiar with Chicago hip-hop know its auteur as Mikey Rocks — one half of the duo Cool Kids. Mr. Rocks, who the Underwire has been following since catching the Cool Kids at South by Southwest in 2008, goes in deep on this solo [...]

Twitter Fans Decide Paranormal Activity 3 Premiere

Behold the power of Twitter. The studio behind Paranormal Activity 3 is choosing the cities that will be the first to see the latest installment of the spooky franchise based on how many tweets each city can muster. Between now and Oct. 13, Paramount Pictures will be logging which cities churn out the most [...]

Iraq Militants Brag: We’ve Got Robotic Weapons, Too

U.S. forces used a combination of spy drones and bomb-handling robots to help beat back Iraq's insurgents. Now, those militants have a warning for those American troops still remaining in Iraq: We've got robots, too.

Electric Airplane Wins $1.35 Million Prize From NASA

NASA announced this week it has awarded the $1.35 million prize for its CAFE Green Flight Challenge to the team from Pipistrel-USA.com. The twin-fuselage, four-seat electric airplane beat out the eGenius team from Germany during two competition days held last week at the Sonoma County Airport in California.

Body May Use Cannabinoids to Make Placebos Work

New evidence suggests part of the placebo effect -- treatment of a symptom using a benign stand-in for a real drug or procedure -- results from the cannabinoid pathway.

Slide Show Time: Building a Future-Friendly Web

Embedded above is an excellent presentation by Brad Frost. Below you can find a video that goes along with the slides. Frost’s slides and talk revolve around the idea that the web is changing too rapidly to claim we can create future-proof websites or webapps. Instead we need to think in terms of future-friendly sites. In [...]

Robin Williams Loses Beard In Zelda: Four Swords Commercial

Actor Robin Williams goes all in during this commercial for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords.

Adobe Acquires Typekit Web-Font Service

Adobe has purchased Typekit, one of the driving forces behind the growth of creative web typography.

Climate Shifts Sparked 17th-Century Conflicts

A controversial new study suggests that most of humankind's maladies -- from wars to epidemics to economic downturns -- can be traced to climate fluctuations.

Watch: ‘Invisibility Cloak’ Uses Mirages to Make Objects Vanish

Researchers from the University of Dallas have hijacked one of nature's most intriguing phenomena -- the mirage -- to make an invisibility cloak. It can hide objects from view, works best underwater and even has a near-instant on/off switch.

Why Do Some People Learn Faster?

Do we ignore mistakes, brushing them aside for the sake of our self-confidence? Or do we investigate the errors, seeking to learn from the snafus? The latter approach, suggests a series of studies, could make you learn faster.