Darren Orf

Reviews

Best Travel Gadgets That Will Only Wreck Your Budget a Little

In late August I spent to weeks traipsing through Europe—on very important work assignments in London, and taking in the local culture of Amsterdam. Being a gadget blogger, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to completely load up my European adventure with every conceivable gadget I could possibly need. I wanted to travel like a … Continued

Tech News

How Can You Not Love This Adorable Little Arcade Machine?

It’s practical? No. Functional? Hardly. Do I want one? Yes, yes I do. This little Raspberry Pi Zero project from Adafruit is the world’s smallest machine running the multiple arcade machine emulator (MAME) emulator with the help of an RGB OLED display and audio amplifier. It quite literally is an arcade machine you can fit … Continued

Tech NewsSamsung

How to Exchange Your Samsung Galaxy Note 7

Samsung’s faulty Galaxy Note 7 is an unprecedented screw-up. First reports of exploding Note 7s started popping up in late August, and it’s taken Samsung a long time to announce an official recall with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Now the Galaxy Note 7 is finally in full recall mode. Here’s what happens next. … Continued

Tech NewsGoogle

Chipotle Is Charging a $6 Fee for Burritos Delivered by Drone

For the past week, we’ve been waiting for Alphabet’s Project Wing to begin its bold burrito initiative: delivering tortilla-wrapped goodness by drone. Now, Alphabet and Chipotle have started testing the service at Virginia Tech and onsite reporters are tweeting their impressions. Most of it is as you’d expected. There’s a drone, and it’s delivering burritos. … Continued

Tech News

Diego the Loverboy Sires Over 800 Baby Tortoises, Saves His Species

Some acquire greatness through intellect or unbridled creativity. But Diego the tortoise sexed his way into legend. Diego, 100, is a rare breed of tortoise called Chelonoidis hoodensis. These animals are so rare that they only exist on one of the oldest islands in the Galápagos. In 1976, when Diego was living at the San … Continued

io9

Why H.R. Giger’s Alien Is a Movie Monster Masterpiece

It goes without saying that Alien’s xenomorph is just plain cool. But why exactly do we love this grotesque monster so much? YouTube’s kaptainkristian explores that exact question, delving into the delightfully creepy mind of Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger and exploring the nuanced cinematic genius behind this otherworldly parasite. Really, it’s a brief archived … Continued

Tech NewsSploid

What Happens When You Melt a PS3

As a console gamer, I’m constantly in a struggle to figure out what to do with my old busted systems. I guess there’s always the store credit route, or maybe a quick resell online. But I like this YouTube channel’s way of thinking—just melt the bastard. Let’s Melt This recently worked its magic on a … Continued

Tech NewsSamsung

Samsung Is Limiting Note 7 Batteries to 60 Percent to Avoid More Explosions

As of September 20, Samsung will issue an update to South Korean Note 7 users that will seriously hamstring their batteries, according to the AP. With this update, remaining, non-recalled Note 7s will only be able to charge to 60 percent capacity, a move that will help save those recall holdouts from explosive consequences. AP’s … Continued

Tech News

Adblock Plus Is Now Going To Sell Ads

Adblock Plus, one of the web’s most popular ad-blocking services, will soon begin selling its own ads—and taking a little bit of the cut as well. Seems counterintuitive, huh? But it’s not entirely surprising. Adblock Plus has been positioning itself for a long time as a kind of online advertising firm. The company is now … Continued

Tech News

Netflix Wants the FCC to Get Rid of Data Caps

Broadband data caps have long been the enemy of net neutrality advocates who see the blatant cash-grab disguised as “network management” as a hinderance. Now, Netflix is joining the fray—for obvious reasons—as it stands the most to lose if Americans increasingly find themselves lashed to restrictive data caps. In a comment to the FCC, Netflix … Continued

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I Traveled to London Just to See Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and I Regret Nothing

For nearly 20 years, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter has been an earth-shattering literary phenomenon—not just for young adult fiction, not just for the entire fantasy genre, but for me. I love Harry Potter (ask me about my Wizard Wrock band in the comments). So when J.K. Rowling announced Harry’s eighth and last story would be … Continued

Tech NewsApple

This Is the iPhone 7 You Should Buy

Apple’s newest iPhone is here, and you’ve got just a few short hours (12:01am PT) to figure out which one is the absolute best deal. Although Apple didn’t change up design much, the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 7’s have more points of contrast than just size this time around. So, which one is the best … Continued

Tech NewsApple

The iPhone 7 Is Here: Everything You Need to Know

After more than a year of speculation, Apple’s new iPhones are finally here. Predictably named the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple’s twin gadgets are glass-and-aluminum reflections of what has come before. But in the few places where Apple does makes some changes, it makes them count. https://gizmodo.com/everything-apple-announced-today-1786299295 For the first time ever, the new … Continued

Tech NewsApple

The Apple Watch Series 2 Is ‘Swimproof’ 

The Apple Watch was destined to be a disappointment when it launched in 2015. Many prophesied that it’d usher in a golden age of wearables, much like the iPhone did for smartphones. But that didn’t really happen. Maybe the Apple Watch Series 2 can change the narrative. To kick things off, Tim Cook spent tons … Continued

Tech News

How to Add a Button to Netflix That Serves Up Random Videos

We’ve all been there. Endlessly searching, and searching, and searching for something to watch on Netflix. Ugh, do I really want to watch Stranger Things a third time? That’s why AllFlix created a simple solution—just leave it to chance. The Chrome extension keeps things simple by letting you choose whether to include movies, TV shows, … Continued

Tech News

HP Put a PC Into a 360-Degree Speaker

The days of the traditional box-y desktop are numbered. Apple’s Mac Pro and Cyberpower’s Fang Trinity proved that desktops could come in strange shapes. Now HP is grabbing a piece of the new funky shaped pie with the HP Pavilion Wave and Elite Slice. The HP Pavilion Wave looks more like a speaker than a … Continued

Reviews

Make Any Bike Electric With This Add-On Wheel

Sometimes I feel like my entire life is spent commuting—by train, cab, or on foot. But biking is by far my favorite way to get around in NYC, except for those minutes I spend huffing over the Manhattan bridge. That’s where Evelo’s Omni Wheel comes in. The after-market add-on can transform most bikes into an … Continued

Tech News

This Year’s Best Photo App Just Got Even Better

Let’s just say it: Prisma is the best photo app in recent memory. Now, it’s getting even better with offline support, so you can add artistic photo filters whenever and wherever you want. https://gizmodo.com/prisma-is-a-ludicrous-photo-filter-app-i-never-knew-i-w-1783513294 With Version 2.4, launching today, Prisma goes completely offline for iOS (and soon for Android). This doesn’t just sever your reliance … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Take One Last Tour of Tekserve, New York’s ‘Original Apple Store’

Tekserve has been in New York City, on 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenue, for nearly thirty years. Today will be its last. This morning, Tekserve began a live auction selling off everything in its store, including the private collection of its co-founder, Dick Demenus. Demenus describes his store as the “original Apple Store,” … Continued

Tech News

A Superstitious Fisherman Kept This $100 Million Pearl Under His Bed

According to city government officials in Puerto Princesa City, Philippines, a local fisher just dropped off this monster of a pearl to a local tourism office. If legit, it would far surpass the current Guinness record holder, the Pearl of Lao Tzu, at a comparatively measly 14 pounds, which also came from the Philippines. The … Continued