See The World In ASCII
This low-tech spin on Google Street View turns the world into a mid-80s computer printout.
Yes, You Could Go To Jail For Admitting To A Rape On Reddit
A few days ago, a Redditor confessed to multiple rapes. Could he get thrown in jail for that? The case is stronger than you might think.
A History Of High-Performance Olympic Uniforms
We've come a long way from t-shirts and shorts.
A Bubbly Map Of The Internet
A Russian developer plotted the 350,000 biggest sites on the web, by traffic, links and nationality. It's full of stars!
The Story Of The World's First Free-Range Computer Virus
How two Pakistani brothers and one piece of runaway code created the anti-virus industry.
16 Magical Pieces Of Tech That Need To Stop
They were supposed to make everything better. And maybe they did, a little. But it's time for them to go away now. Sorry, QR codes. It's been real.
The 8 Kinds Of People You Meet On Quora
It's Yahoo! Answers for people with MBAs. So, completely insane.
A Complete Guide To Avoiding Batman Spoilers On Twitter
Until I get to a theater, I'm blocking out any tweets with the word "Batman" in them. Here's how. (Also works for #YOLO.)
Jon Daly Is Trolling Google Images
The comedian is impersonating a famous golfer for the world's most ambitious Google Images prank. (Think Santorum, but funnier.)
What Should The Perfect 7-Inch Tablet Feel Like?
The Big Thing in tablets is the tiny tablet — a thing that's about 7 inches, give or take. So far, they've mostly felt like giant phones. But here's what a 7-inch (or so) tablet should be like, according to some of the industry's best interface designers.
Yes, There Is A Clippy Slashfic
Microsoft just unveiled a big update to its Office suite of programs — but their beloved paper-clip mascot Clippy was nowhere to be found. Is it because Microsoft was worried about this graphic inter-species slashfic with Sam the Search Dog?
Will Twitter Ever Be Able To Predict The Stock Market?
A hedge fund just found out the hard way, we can't predict the stock market with Twitter just yet. But that doesn't mean we can't try.
The Judge in Apple v. Motorola Says the Patent System Is Broken
Which, of course. But this time it's coming from one of the most influential judges in the country, so it's worth taking note. Aside from the usual patent troll complaints, Judge Posner singles out an understaffed patent office (currently on a three-year backlog) and the difficulty of searching patent records. This won't fix anything, but it's a step towards the kind of reform techies have been pushing for years.
Bitcoin is Down to 15,000 Users
That's down from 60,000 in September — and if you're running a web service (or a currency!), you usually expect the numbers to go the other way. If we had to guess, we'd chalk it up to the wild swings in value, the high profile security breaches, and the nagging feeling that everything could evaporate at any time. It was fun to write about while it lasted.
The Horse Clones Are Coming
This Texas company has been cloning champion horses for six years. Now they're headed to the Olympics, and on the cusp of changing equine sports forever.
Why Computers Are So Bad At Talking To People
Talking is really hard, it turns out! Here's a rundown of all the reasons we don't have human-sounding computers yet, with help from Google, Wikipedia and Amazon. It's going to be a long time before we get the Fassbender-looking android servants we were promised.
This Is What A Facebook Bank Looks Like
Thanks to Lenddo, Colombians can use their Facebook friends as collateral for a loan. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to social banking.
What Does Your Social Graph Really Look Like?
What do all those Facebook friendships and retweets look like when they're all mapped out? Either a plinko board, a chandelier or a jellyfish, depending on who you ask.
Facebook Is Testing A "Want" Button
Inside Facebook stumbled onto a new addition to Facebook's toolkit: a "want" tag to work alongside the "like" and "share" buttons. No word on when or if it'll roll out, but it's definitely a step in the direction of Pinterest.
7 Best Facebook Easter Eggs
On the way to becoming an unstoppable social media behemoth, Facebook slipped a lot of wacky stuff onto its website. These are the best tricks Facebook has pulled, past and present.