Star Wars Pulls In $1 Billion At Record Speed

New submitter henrydan798 writes to note that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set a new record for ticket sales, becoming the fastest movie ever to earn a billion dollars at the till. As the L.A. Times reports, The latest installment in the “Star Wars” franchise grossed an estimated $153.5 million in the U.S. and Canada in its second weekend, beating the lower end of analyst expectations of $140 million. This drives the J.J. Abrams-directed picture to a to-date domestic gross of $544.5 million. “The Force Awakens, ” which cost an estimated $200 million to produce, debuted last weekend to record domestic ticket sales of $248 million. It also grossed $281 million overseas for a global total of $529 million, topping the previous worldwide debut benchmark set in June by “Jurassic World” ($525 million). This week, with an international estimated gross of $546 million to date, the film became the fastest to surpass $1 billion globally. Were any of those dollars yours? If so, do you think they were well spent? Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Star Wars Pulls In $1 Billion At Record Speed

The Gruesome History of the Galapagos Islands’ Nietzsche-Fueled Homesteader Death Showdown

The Galapagos Islands are best known for their giant tortoises, but they’re also the site of one of the most bizarre homesteading misadventures ever, complete with proto-hippies, a polyamorous baroness, potentially poisoned boiled chicken, births in pirate caves, and unsolved deaths that look a lot like murder. Read more…

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The Gruesome History of the Galapagos Islands’ Nietzsche-Fueled Homesteader Death Showdown

Baltimore’s Stealthy Plan to Make Its Harbor Swimmable By 2020

If a friend told you he was off to take a dip in Baltimore’s Harbor, you’d probably be concerned for his health and sanity. But five years from now, swimming in Baltimore’s waterways might not sound so crazy—and there’s an innovative piece of technology to thank. Read more…

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Baltimore’s Stealthy Plan to Make Its Harbor Swimmable By 2020

Apple TV App Store Tops 1,000 Apps: Games And Video Apps Dominate, But Discovery Is A Challenge

 Developers have been digging into the Apple TV App Store data in the absence of category listings and a Top Charts section on Apple’s newly launched version of its media player device, which now, for the first time ever, has opened up to third-party applications. Apple had “hundreds” of applications live at the time of the TV App Store’s launch, though apparently not… Read More

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Apple TV App Store Tops 1,000 Apps: Games And Video Apps Dominate, But Discovery Is A Challenge

The Czur Scanner Can Build A Digital Library Five Minutes At A Time

 When the Visigoths burned Library Of Alexandria you can bet that old Ptolemy I Soter would have loved to have had a Czur (pronounced “Cesar”) scanner in his palatial marble-clad staterooms. The Czur is basically a book scanner on steroids that allows you to scan a 300-page book – or priceless scroll of ancient knowledge – in about five minutes. The Czur is a sort of… Read More

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The Czur Scanner Can Build A Digital Library Five Minutes At A Time

Western Digital To Aquire SanDisk For $19 Billion

 Western Digital just bought a bunch of memory cards. The storage giant just announced that it has agreed to buy SanDisk Corp for about $19 billion. This comes after speculation that SanDisk was shopping for a buyer. The deal values SanDisk at $86.50 a share, which is a 15% premium on the previous day’s closing price, giving the company a value of $15.4 billion. SanDisk is currently up… Read More

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Western Digital To Aquire SanDisk For $19 Billion

Voyo Connects Your Car To The Cloud

 Now that connected car startups are now thick on the ground, it takes a special amount of pizzaz to stand out. Thankfully Voyo has amped up the jazz hands and is producing a small device that can truly change the way we drive. What does this little dongle do? It can interface with your car’s computer system via the OBD-II as well as via your relay panel. By connecting these two port… Read More

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Voyo Connects Your Car To The Cloud

Facebook Is Testing Six New Reaction Emoji Instead of a Single "Dislike" Button

It was exciting when Mark Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook was building a “Dislike” button . So many things not to like! However, the social network just started testing a new emoji reactions feature that is probably the real future of disliking stuff on Facebook. Read more…

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Facebook Is Testing Six New Reaction Emoji Instead of a Single "Dislike" Button

Voodoo Manufacturing Taps The Power Of 3D Printing To Make Things On Demand

 Four ex-Makerbot employees, Max Friefled, Oliver Ortlieb, Patrick Deem, and Jonathan Schwartz, have come together to create a Brooklyn-based rapid manufacturing system using – what else? – Makerbots. The group, called Voodoo Manufacturing raised $300, 000 to build their 3D printing shop and are currently profitable, a testament to the power of making things quickly. The company has… Read More

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Voodoo Manufacturing Taps The Power Of 3D Printing To Make Things On Demand