Barista's edition for Thu 28 August 2014
Mobile phone "kill switches" to be law in California, but critics worry about misuse
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A A The governor of California signed a law on Monday that will require all mobile phones sold in the state to include an activated " kill switch " as of July 2015, which will ensure the owner of a stolen phone can freeze the device and wipe its contents from a remote location.
Netflix asks FCC to stop Comcast/TWC merger citing 'serious' public harm
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As it promised, Netflix has filed a petition to the FCC demanding that it deny the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner. The 256-page document claims that it would result in "serious public interest harm," and no discernible public benefit -- two red flags for regulatory bodies.
Let's be clear about this: Russia is invading Ukraine right now
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There are two things happening between Ukraine and Russia right now. First, Russian and Ukrainian leaders are meeting in Belarus to negotiate a peace deal in the Ukrainian conflict that Russia insists it has nothing to do with. Second, Russian military forces are crossing the border into Ukraine in what is clearly a hostile invasion and act of war.
Gizmodo on Twitter: Frantic video shows Israel's Iron Dome intercepting 15 rockets at once: http://t.co/9jb7XG2vxY http://t.co/ECyZbRikzw
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Frantic video shows Israel's Iron Dome intercepting 15 rockets at once: http://gizmo.do/Ws6j4q1 http://twitter.com/Gizmodo/status/504447814194462720/photo/1pic.twitter.com/ECyZbRikzw
Today's college freshmen were kindergarteners on 9/11, and other signs that this generation is different from yours
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The 18-year-olds arriving on college campuses this fall grew up in an entirely different world than the professors who are going to educate them for the next four years; they were in kindergarten when 9/11 happened, and wire-rimmed glasses remind them not of John Lennon, but of Harry Potter.
Severed snake heads can bite up to an hour after decapitation
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This vicious-looking sunnovabitch here just lost a fight against the sharp end of a shovel--but you think that lack of a body is going to slow him down? Not a chance. Turns out, a wide range of predatory snakes are capable of reacting to stimuli and lashing out at potential threats for up to an hour after being relieved of the rest of their mortal coils.
This Man 3D Printed An Entire Freaking Castle
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A Minnesota architect has built a 3D printed castle in just under 4 months. Whether he used the world's largest MakerBot or something else to print it is unclear. All we know is that whatever he used was capable of extruding layer upon layer of smooth concrete.
Watch this: A robot traverses the English countryside on a hoverbike
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Oh, that? It's just a robot riding across the English countryside on a 1/3-scale model of a hoverbike. The folks at Malloy Aeronautics are hard at work on a similar full-sized vehicle for humans, but as part of its Kickstarter effort to raise funds for the project, a smaller version is offered to backers.
8TB hard drives have arrived
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We're sorry to break the bad news, but that 5TB hard drive you bought last week? Yeah, it's already obsolete. Seagate has started shipping the first-ever 8TB desktop hard disk, doubling the 4TB capacities that seemed huge just a couple of years ago.
Video: Israel's Iron Dome intercepting 15 rockets at once
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Here's Israel's Iron Dome chasing down 15 rockets in the air at one time and well, it's crazy. Recent footage of the Iron Dome shows the defense system working and it's like a firework show mixed with an air chase sequence that eerily resembles smokey tentacles reaching out to the sky.
Scientists raised these fish to walk on land
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Raising fish on land seems like the sort of idea you'd get while recovering from general anesthesia. But for three McGill University researchers, it made perfect sense. How else would you find out what behavioral and physiological changes might have taken place when fish first made the move from sea to land over 400 million years ago?
Google Glass emotion detection makes wearable empath
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The idea of Glass doing face-recognition may not sit well with Google, but how about if the wearable could just give you a little more insight into how the person you're talking to is feeling? Fraunhofer IIS has loaded its SHORE emotion, age, and gender detection system straight onto Google's headset, giving real-time feedback on those around you.
How Many People See Your Tweets? Twitter Opens Its Nifty Analytics Dashboard To Everyone
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Back in July, Twitter launched a really nifty analytics dashboard. A bit like Google Analytics for tweets, it allows you to gauge the performance of each and every tweet you sent. How many people saw it? How many of those actually clicked your links?