Technology is neutral: cops and robbers both benefit from BlackBerries

Social networking and mobile phones have been blamed by some for fuelling last week’s riots in the United Kingdom. But now police say they were able to use the technology to head off attacks at high-profile targets. While some of the less academically gifted rioters published their intentions on Twitter or Facebook, some ringleaders communicated […]



Wil Wheaton Reads READY PLAYER ONE Audiobook [Video]

Ernest Cline’s reportedly awesome Ready Player One released today, and geeks of a particular variety will be happy to learn that Wil Wheaton–Evil Wil Wheaton himself–is reading the audiobook version. If you haven’t heard about Ready Player One yet, here’s a brief description and the book trailer: At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible […]



8-Bit Fashion Plates Bring the Hauteness [Gallery]

Those 8-bit reworks are so hot right now.* These posters are from fashionary, where you can purchase any of these (plus several others shown on the site) printed on heavy-weight matte paper, which is presumably quite fabulous. When I see 8-bit figures that are elongated like this, I’m reminded of Interplay’s “Out of This World.” […]

Zoomable Apollo Lunar Landing Panoramas

Apollo Surface Panoramas houses the photographic panoramas taken by the Apollo astronauts while hanging out on the Moon. The imagess are stitched together from individual 70mm Hasselblad frames, which you can also find in the Lunar and Planetary Institute’s online catalog. To explore the 32-megapixel images, just use the pan and zoom controls at the […]

Death Star Cake Made of Win, LEDs [Gallery]

This almost-entirely edible Death Star was created by Rachel Linhart for a friend’s 7-year-old son, a project that took several days and about 24 hours of baking and artistry. So naturally something horrible happened to it, right? This Death Star was destroyed not by Luke and Han but a New York City taxi ride. It’s […]