- Tech NewsGoogle
Google’s Voice Search Is Getting Way, Way Better
Google released its first neural network-powered voice recognition system in 2011 and it’s been slowly improving ever since. But now, it’s announced that the addition of recurrent neural networks will make far faster — and way more accurate. In a blog post, the Google Speech Team explains that it’s added what are known as Connectionist … Continued
- Tech NewsApple
iPhone 6S Teardown: Smaller Battery, Heavier Display, Kinda Repairable
With the arrival of the iPhone 6S in eager hands around the world today, iFixit has already torn the new phone apart. Here’s what’s inside. It’s not the first iPhone teardown, but it is certainly the prettiest and likely the most comprehensive. With glass and metal prised apart, the slightly thicker and marginally heavier phone … Continued
- Tech News
We’re Getting Closer to Brain-to-Brain Interfaces
Imagine being able to communicate with others through only your thoughts. No words, no signs are exchanged: only pure information travelling directly from one brain to another. Of course, that is the stuff of dreams and science-fiction flicks: in the real world, the closest that scientists have come to establishing direct communication between brains involves … Continued
Pierre Mégevand - PLOS Blogs - Tech NewsSamsung
The $100 Samsung Gear VR Is Going to Change Everything
Oculus announced a lot of cool stuff at its developer conference today, like a set of new streaming apps, including one for Netflix that’s available now. But there was a verifiable Oprah moment at the Dolby Theater in LA when it was announced that Samsung’s new Gear VR headset will be sold for $100 this … Continued
- Tech News
The Pentagon’s Research Arm is Putting Money Into DNA Manufacturing
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is the governmnet division that tries to take cutting-edge technology and turn it into something the military can use. The agency’s latest target? Genetic engineering. The Foundry is a facility which is part of the Broad Institute, a joint MIT-Harvard biomedical research institute. It started work on a … Continued
By Chris Mills - Reviews
Lenovo LaVie Z 360 Review: The Ultimate Adventure Travel Computer?
The LaVie Z is the newest ultrabook from Lenovo. At just 2 lbs, it’s the lightest in its class. Does that make it the perfect adventure-travel companion? We’ve been carrying it everywhere to find out. Update: As multiple readers have pointed out, Lenovo has a huge problem with spyware right now. Consider that before you … Continued
- Tech NewsApple
There’s Already an iPhone 6s Teardown
We’re still some hours away from the new iPhone launch here in the States, but over in Australia, the iFestivities are already underway. Thanks to iExperts, we also have our first peek at the new iPhone’s guts. According to them, there’s not a whole mountain of differences: the screen is now glued differently to the … Continued
By Chris Mills - Tech NewsApple
Verizon Becomes The Final Carrier to Offer an iPhone Upgrade Program
Contracts that get you a shiny new iPhone every year are the trendy thing in the world of smartphone financing. Just in time for the latest iPhone launch, Verizon has a new financing plan that will get you the latest iDevice every 12 months. The new plans start at $27/$31 a month, for the 16GB … Continued
By Chris Mills - io9
How Did This Long-Buried Dragon Skeleton Roar Back to Life … And What Will Happen Next?
Hidden for centuries, an ancient dragon bursts forth, with only the tree roots that’ve grown around its skeleton keeping it from taking flight. What brought this mighty mythical creature back to life? What will happen next? And what, exactly, are the reactions of those two human figures at the left? Artwork: “Entombed” by Jonas De … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy - io9
Why Do So Many Penguins Sound Just Like Donkeys? At Last We Know
African penguins have another name: “beach donkeys.” Early European explorers were said to have named them that after they followed the sound of donkey calls, only to find a coast full of birds. Now we know what these donkey calls mean. African penguins aren’t the only penguins that sound like donkeys. Several species from South … Continued
- Tech News
A Simple Map Shows Just How Shitty the NYC Subway System Is For People Using Wheelchairs
It’s hard enough for most of us to get to work on time using the subway—but imagine if you only had access to 25 percent of stations. That’s the reality for wheelchair users in New York, for whom getting around the city is sometimes a near-impossible task. [CORRECTION] The passage of the Americans With Disabilities … Continued
- io9Books
Kim Stanley Robinson Tells Us An Alien Contact Scenario That You’ve Probably Never Thought About
We’re excited to colonize space—but are we really prepared for what we may found out there? Author Kim Stanley Robinson talked with us about some of the things that may come up as we move out into the cosmos—and the big hurdle we still have yet to clear to get to that point in the … Continued
By Ria Misra - Tech News
What Was Your First Screen Name, and Why?
It has to have been better than Kaila1996. In my initial forays into America Online, I was hardly brilliant, in the screen-name creativity department. The worst part is that I kept updating the name, until “Kaila1999” stuck, and saw me through college. When I first joined Gawker Media a million years ago, everyone still used … Continued
- Tech NewsSploid
Here’s how one of the best steaks in America is made from the butcher to the table
Peter Luger’s Steakhouse in Brooklyn, New York serves one of the most delicious and iconic slabs of meat that you can get anywhere on the planet. Their Porterhouse is what you dream of when you imagine steak at a steakhouse. Eater shows how that fantastic deliciousness gets to the restaurant starting with the butcher and … Continued
By Casey Chan - Tech NewsDesign
Examining the Fascinating Typographic History Of Eye Charts
My graphic design students love to design posters using the classic eye chart composition, and they frequently ask “What typeface should I use for this?” Not having a definitive answer has always been frustrating, so I decided to investigate to find out what typeface is used on eye charts. I started my quest by asking … Continued
Lorrie Frear - io9Comics
Tell Us Your Most Inspirational Stories of Heroic Comic-Book Store Clerks!
Running a comic-book store is a tough, lonely job. You have to help people find the perfect comics for their individual taste, and also deal with a certain amount of obnoxious customers. So let’s salute some of the greatest heroes in comics: Tell us your story of a heroic comic-store worker! You don’t have to … Continued
- Tech News
Admit it: You’re Curious About Neil Armstrong’s Moon-Undies
A tiny museum in London has been hiding a surprising artifact: a Urine Collection Bag from Apollo 11 marked with the initials “NA.” That’s right: these are the undergarments Neil Armstrong wore when he first stepped on the moon. Fantastic! The exhibit in London is now closed, so it’s anyone’s guess as to where these … Continued
- io9
Men in Black Isn’t Getting a Sequel, So Now It’s Getting a Remake
Despite the ominous warnings that constantly churning out reboots and sequels might be producing diminishing returns, Sony has boldly announced that they’re rebooting the entire Men in Black trilogy for audiences who may have forgotten the first third movie came out a mere three years ago. Producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald told The Hollywood … Continued
By Rob Bricken - Tech NewsSploid
Fun video shows the real life versions of all the emojis
Something we can all agree on: emojis are endless amounts of fun. I mean, when you emoji-fy something in real life—like an eggplant, for example—the emoji suddenly carries so much more meaning than the original object ever did. It’s a whole new language. Even more fun, is pairing the emoji with its real life counterpart … Continued
By Casey Chan - io9Movies
I Watched Netflix In VR and Now Reality Seems Hollow and Pointless
“IT’S FOR GAMES” has been the oft-quoted cry of VR headset makers and gamers when talking about virtual reality, but the opportunity for movies is unquestionably huge. Today, Oculus VR released a Netflix app for the Gear VR (and eventually Oculus’ own headset.) And it makes watching Netflix in real life seem super lame. The … Continued
By Darren Orf