Tag: artists

Why the User Interface in Hackers Hasn’t Aged That Badly

A lot of the stuff about the movie Hackers looks really dated now, especially some of the fashions and the way it depicts hacking. But the user interface still looks pretty good, compared to a lot of other stuff from the era. Paul Franklin, the Academy Award-winning special effects designer who’s worked on all Christopher Nolan’s recent movies, also worked on Hackers and holds it up as an example of a weird choice that panned out: More »

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Why the User Interface in Hackers Hasn’t Aged That Badly

Are You Getting Less Spam Mail?

The Economist has a chart from Kaspersky Lab , a security firm, that shows that spam mail is on a decline. Supposedly, it’s a combination of spam filters actually working, the authentication of senders and more police crackdowns on Nigerian princes. In fact, in the past year, junk mail has declined from around 80% to 67%. Do you guys agree with this study? Are you noticing less spam in your inboxes? More »

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Are You Getting Less Spam Mail?

How Keys Work Explained In One Perfect Animated GIF

Ever wondered how a key opens a lock? Wonder no more. If this is not one of the best animated GIFs I’ve ever seen, I don’t know what is. First, because it taught me something new. And then, because it’s so satisfying to see it work. Aaaaaah. Oh yes. [ soup — Thanks Karl! ] More »

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How Keys Work Explained In One Perfect Animated GIF

DARPA’s SeeMee Satellites Are a Soldier’s On-Demand Eye In the Sky

While UAVs have joined spy satellites as an indispensable part of America’s military operations—especially in delivering timely, accurate intel to troops on the ground—they are not the end-all-be-all perfect solution, even in coordination. That’s why DARPA plans to supplement these unmanned intelligence gathering platforms with jet-deployed constellations of micro-satellites. Soon, every grunt will have access to a real-time battlefield mini-map just in like video games. More »

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DARPA’s SeeMee Satellites Are a Soldier’s On-Demand Eye In the Sky

Stupid California Cost Itself $600 Million Over Stupid Facebook IPO

It’s generally a bad idea to base your budget on hypothetical money that may or may not end up in your pocket. It’s a much worse idea if you’re the state of California, and that money is wacky Facebook cash . More »

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Stupid California Cost Itself $600 Million Over Stupid Facebook IPO

The New Backbone of International Trade Is the Single Biggest Movable Thing We’ve Ever Built

You won’t have any trouble finding this Marco Polo in the pool—even with your eyes closed. Five Airbus a380s lined up nose-to-tail still wouldn’t match the length, much less the overwhelming mass, of the world’s largest container ship. More »

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The New Backbone of International Trade Is the Single Biggest Movable Thing We’ve Ever Built

Researchers create two different kinds of lava lamp… for science!

Okay, technically this isn’t a lava lamp, but you could have fooled me, given the mellow music and the drifting plumes of colored liquid. Researchers at Cambridge performed an experiment to find out more about fluid dynamics by coming up with two completely different ways that liquids can mix due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability, along with a video to watch if/when you’re stoned. More »

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Researchers create two different kinds of lava lamp… for science!

Why You’re Totally Justified in Hating Data Caps

Going over your mobile data cap limit costs more than a long distance phone call from a hotel room and for what? Crossing some invisible line in the sand drawn by your carrier? That’s some bullsh*t. Brian Boyko explains exactly why data caps don’t so much protect network infrastructure as generate revenue. [ Blogphilo ] More »

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Why You’re Totally Justified in Hating Data Caps

We’ve Known Texting Was Going to Destroy Conversation for Over a Century

If you’ve ever thought “man, texting is really ruining verbal communication” stop right now, before you start feeling like you’ve had an original thought. People were thinking the same thing about the telegraph in 1906 . Then again, depending on who you are, maybe it’s an improvement. [ Kip W via Buzzfeed ] More »

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We’ve Known Texting Was Going to Destroy Conversation for Over a Century

Tiny Pill-Shaped Cameras Make Endoscopy Easy To Swallow

There’s nothing quite like getting heavily sedated and having a big ol’ camera crammed down your throat so that doctors can take a look at your esophagus and cut out a little peice to study in the lab. A fun Friday night. Fortunately, endoscopy doesn’t have to be like that too much longer thanks to a small, easily-swallowable endoscope that requires no sedation at all, and returns a full 3D rendering. More »

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Tiny Pill-Shaped Cameras Make Endoscopy Easy To Swallow