beyond-the-internet
Google Bought Photo App Snapseed, Continues to Take Over the World
Google just bought Nik Software, the guys who created photo editing and filter app Snapseed, for probably much less money than Facebook paid in its dramatic takeover of Instagram not even half a year ago. It’s an obvious move for Larry Page and...
Drones, Getaway Cars, and Saving the Planet: Louie Psihoyos Is the Real Life Steve Zissou
Yeah, we're about I'd say, 60% done with the new movie. You do your best to try to budget a documentary. But you zig and zag so much because, if you're doing a good job, you're not on script – (laughs) there really is no script.
The iPhone 5 Will Cause Millions to Junk Perfectly Good Phones But It Will Not Save the Economy
Apple is expected to announce the next generation iPhone 5 today, and as if the usual hype train that accompanies a new Apple release weren't already running off the rails, the "media is now reporting":http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp...
Cats on Parade: Did the Ca$hcats.biz Gallery Show Work?
"This is a .biz site, I remind you," Will Zweigart yelled last night over a pounding, over-modulated Kanye West track. "It's not .org! Tonight is about .biz!" Zweigart wasn't angry, but he seemed slightly -- _very_ slightly -- indignant. He was...
Tracking Students With RFID Chips Is Pretty Lucrative
Today in the department of bad ideas, we have a pair of San Antonio high schools that's decided to tag its students with RFID chips so that they can track their every move on campus. Starting this fall, the Northside Independent School District will be...
Watch 49 Technicolor Drones Fly-Dance In Unison
Look at the screenshot I shared above. That's what the end of the world will look like, when Skynet finally launches the missiles. The disco drone party is courtesy of a recent by German art collective Ars Electronica, and it may or may not be called...
Don't Take the Real Walking Tour of the Mysterious Jet Propulsion Lab
It'll take you nearly a day and a walking distance of over 50 miles. That's why.
How Technology Makes Patents Irrelevant: An IP Lawyer Discusses Apple v. Samsung
Samsung is a copycat, the jury ruled, after just three days of deliberation, awarding Apple over a billion dollars in damages. For the inventor of the iPhone, it was a convincing victory. In their eyes, it took Samsung just three months to steal...
Substitutional Reality Is the Acid Trip You Never Had
If a man in a white coat put a camera-equipped helmet on your head and told you to trust everything you saw as reality, wouldn't you feel a little funny? And then wouldn't you be a little tripped out when they took it off and try to distinguish what...
At Least Ten Shot Outside Empire State Building
Friday morning, at about 9 A.M., a hostile ex-employee (or so "it's been tweeted":https://twitter.com/NYScanner/status/238996649362456576 by police scanner eavesdroppers) started shooting at random, with at least 10 people injured (it's unclear how...
Google Street View Goes To the Weirdest Places
When your grandparents were young and curious and eager to see the world, they had to join the Navy. Today, you can just go to Google. Now five years old, Google Street View is an endless source of fun and adventure. Sure, there are the serendipitous...
Everyone's Quitting Facebook
On a day when Wall Street darling Apple hit new highs, making it the most valuable company ever ("not adjusted for inflation":http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/8/20/apple-just-became-the-most-valuable-company-in-history-update), ex-darling Facebook...