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October 20, 2013

October 19, 2013

Microsoft Surface Pro 2 review

148

By Tom Warren

Reboot or die: a visual history of Hollywood's favorite fad

142

By Verge Staff

Ball Street: are pro athletes like Arian Foster really selling stock in themselves?

By Adrianne Jeffries

What to expect from Apple's October 22nd iPad event

170

By Chris Welch

Microsoft Surface 2 review

202

By David Pierce

The Weekender: selling clothes, filming chatrooms, and cleaning a city

By Jacob Kastrenakes

Selling gold: Apple debuts its first iPhone 5S TV spot

180

By Ellis Hamburger

Review: Microsoft Surface 2 Watch now

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Surface 2 review

Discuss at Verge Video

HTC CEO Chou hands chairwoman more responsibilities: 'I was too busy'

Sam Byford October 20, 2013 11:01 pm

HTC's co-founder and chairwoman Cher Wang has increased her operational role at the company to lighten the load on CEO Peter Chou. "I have become very focused in the past couple of months. Before that I was too busy," said Chou to the Financial Times. "I took on too many things. I need to be more...

"I need to be more focused on innovation." Peter Chou, HTC

Google's Quantum A.I. Lab adds quantum physics to Minecraft

Ellis Hamburger October 20, 2013 06:53 pm

There is seemingly no end to the number of things you can do in Minecraft — and the latest thing is experimenting with quantum physics. A new mod called qCraft, built by none other than Google's Quantum A.I. Lab Team, adds blocks that exhibit quantum entanglement, superposition, and...

Watch This

BBC's 'Doctor Who' 50th anniversary trailer is filled with hidden easter eggs

Ellis Hamburger October 20, 2013 08:41 pm

The BBC has just released a teaser trailer for its highly anticipated Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, which airs on November 23rd. The minute-long clip contains more than a dozen tiny homages to years past — many of which you might even miss the first time you watch the trailer. There are more than two dozen easter eggs in all, from a Roboform helmet to "The Most Important Leaf in the...

John Carmack says odds of Steam Machines being successful are 'a little bit dicey'

Chris Welch October 20, 2013 07:47 pm

As one of the most respected voices in gaming, John Carmack is quick to point out that he got it wrong when predicting the fate of Steam, Valve's now hugely-popular distribution platform for video games. But when asked for his thoughts on the company's SteamOS and Steam Machines, Carmack said he's not convinced Valve is destined for repeat success. "There's an interesting kind of retrospective on it," Carmack said during Nvidia’s Montreal conference, reflecting on days long ago when Valve approached his Id Software about adding Doom 3 to Steam's launch lineup. "We basically said, 'Are you crazy? This would be nuts to try to kind of tie yourselves to this little, notional digital distribution platform.' But clearly, Valve has played a good, strong, long game."

So why isn't Carmack convinced Valve can reproduce that success, this time in the living room? "I'm afraid that I may be at that same point right now where I'm like, 'Making your own sort of little console OS? Are you...

"If it was some other random company, I would be pseudo-scornful, but it's Valve, so I'm not." John Carmack

Eight miles of water: underground with Manhattan's new aquatic lifeline

By Dante D'Orazio

REUTERS/Mike Segar New York Water Tunnel

The Classics: Roland SP-808 Groove Sampler

By Trent Wolbe

BUY and OBEY this prop replica from 'They Live'

Dieter Bohn October 20, 2013 05:50 pm

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of John Carpenter's They Live, Piero Glina has created two magazines that pay homage to the cult classic. Called "THIS IS YOUR GOD," the two volume set faithfully recreates the prop from the film, each page displaying the hidden messages given unto us by our alien overlords. Glina says that the first volume is accurate down to the "iconic typography with all...

HONOR APATHY

Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt awards the designers 'shaping the world'

Chris Welch October 20, 2013 02:00 pm

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt museum recently handed out its 2013 National Design Awards. Intended to celebrate "design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world," the awards were first established in 2000 by the White House Millennium Council, and have gone on to become an annual tradition ever since. Leading the recipients this year is James Wines, who has earned a lifetime...

Obama administration promises 'tech surge' to fix ailing Healthcare.gov website

Dieter Bohn October 20, 2013 04:21 pm

Obamacare Healthcare.gov website (STOCK)

In a blog post today, the Department of Health and Human Services laid out many of the technical problems that have plagued the Healthcare.gov website. Although the code for the front-end of the site has been relatively stable, the back-end has had myriad issues with regard to account creation — including sending incorrect information to health insurance providers. To improve it all, HHS is promising a "tech surge" that will involved outside consultants joining the existing team to fix problems. The HHS also says it will "aggressively monitor and identify parts of HealthCare.gov where...

NSA hacked Mexican president's email, according to latest leaks

Chris Welch October 20, 2013 01:26 pm

129

The United States has for years carried out extensive surveillance and eavesdropping operations targeting Mexico's government, according to new evidence obtained by Spiegel Online. The German publication says its information comes directly from classified intelligence leaked by Edward Snowden. Chief among the allegations is that the NSA successfully infiltrated the public email account of Mexico's former president, Felipe Calderon.

Once the agency gained access, according to Spiegel, a top secret May 2010 report reveals that it monitored "diplomatic, economic and leadership communications which continue to provide insight into...

Watch This

New trailers: ‘Non-Stop,’ ‘Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones,’ ‘Devil’s Due,’ and ‘Black Angel’

Bryan Bishop October 18, 2013 11:50 am

It’s Halloween season, and if you’re feeling the holiday spirit Carrie is opening this weekend. To see what else is on the horizon, let’s take a look at some of the latest trailers to make the rounds.

Liam Neeson being awesome on a plane

Even More News

How the man who inspired 'Memento' changed our understanding of memory

October 19, 2013 11:50 am
by Amar Toor | 22 comments

Ray Kurzweil's journey towards the end of dying

October 18, 2013 12:15 pm
by Dann Berg | 49 comments

Owner doesn't know what to do about the Banksy on her New York building

October 18, 2013 11:54 am
by Dante D'Orazio | 88 comments

List of 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' Easter eggs explains why you'll find Nazis on Tatooine

October 18, 2013 04:22 am
by Rich McCormick | 20 comments

Front row seats at professional gaming's version of the Super Bowl

October 18, 2013 01:53 am
by Rich McCormick | 8 comments

The story behind the company contracted to make the buggy Healthcare.gov website

October 17, 2013 11:08 am
by Dante D'Orazio | 13 comments

Scientists want to annihilate asteroids using nuclear weapons

October 16, 2013 12:28 pm
by Katie Drummond | 28 comments

Could freeze-drying corpses make for greener graves?

October 16, 2013 01:42 am
by Sean Hollister | 9 comments

In China, cockroach farmers are cashing in on creepy critters

October 15, 2013 03:47 pm
by Katie Drummond | 59 comments

'Space Invaders' creator says he's 'terrible' at the game and wanted to make it easier

Nathan Ingraham October 20, 2013 11:00 am

If you trace video gaming back to its early origins, Space Invaders is recognized as one of the arcade genre's biggest and most enduring successes — but it's also a game that only just made it to the market. The New Yorker just published an in-depth interview with the game's creator Tomohiro...

Long Reads

The best writing of the week, October 20

Thomas Houston October 20, 2013 10:30 am

We all know the feeling. You're sleepless in the sad hours of the night or stumbling around early on a hazy weekend morning in need of something to read, and that pile of unread books just isn't...

Architecture

Handmade furniture uses nothing but cables and tension for support

Dante D'Orazio October 20, 2013 08:02 am

This furniture can hold itself together. A San Francisco-based designer named Robby Cuthbert has created architectural furniture made from wood and steel cables. The rows of cables in his chairs,...

Report

Should you go to jail for posting video of a real murder?

Adrianne Jeffries October 16, 2013 06:15 pm

347

BestGore.com is a vile website for videos of gang executions, women being tortured, body parts being maimed — anything to turn people’s stomachs. The content is revolting and a lot of it is real. But does Mark Marek, Best Gore’s...

"Without a doubt the sickest thing you will have ever seen in your entire life." Best Gore owner Mark Marek

Artist's 'suicide' machines are designed to slowly destroy themselves

Nathan Ingraham October 20, 2013 06:00 am

It might seem like a strange artistic effort to build a piece that meant to destroy itself, but that's what Thijs Rijker did with his industrial art series titled "Suicide Machines." So far, he's built two pieces eventually designed to destroy...

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Watch Anthony Howe's hypnotic 3D art go from conception to reality

Nathan Ingraham October 19, 2013 10:00 pm

"I was bored with everything being static in my visual world," artist Anthony Howe told The Creators Project about his new work — a series of so-called "kinetic sculptures." These kinetic sculptures are hardly static — thanks to the wind, they move in mesmerizing patterns...

Twitter 'strongly considering' shutting down #Music just six months after launch, says report

Dante D'Orazio October 19, 2013 04:53 pm

Twitter #Music may not be much longer for this world. All Things D's Mike Isaac reports that multiple sources say the company is "strongly considering" shutting down the music discovery service, which has seen little public interest. Those sources didn't reveal how long #Music could last, but the report says that the service's fate "is nearly...

Ill-performing service likely to get the axe

Playful theremins want to party like it's 1928

Amar Toor October 19, 2013 02:00 pm

Designer François Chambard has breathed new life into the theremin with a playful new collection on display in New York. Chambard, founder of the Brooklyn-based studio UM Project, created 12...

Not your grandfather's theremin

Two-way street: electric cars of the future could give power back to the grid

By Sean Hollister

NRG eVgo network ev charger stock press 1020

'Device 6' is a stylish mystery novel masquerading as a game

By Andrew Webster

'The Fifth Estate' review: truth is more interesting than fiction

By Bryan Bishop

The Fifth Estate publicity still (DREAMWORKS)

Windows 8.1 review

968

By Tom Warren

Bright eyes, clean brains: sleep might scrub away gray matter waste

By Katie Drummond

Windows RT 8.1 update taken offline due to installation issues

Dante D'Orazio October 19, 2013 01:05 pm

149

Microsoft is having trouble updating machines to Windows RT 8.1. The company has taken the update offline, preventing people from upgrading their RT devices. In a statement...

Breaking

Surface 2 on sale early in the UK

Tom Warren October 19, 2013 09:48 am

126

Microsoft's new Surface 2 tablet isn't supposed to go on sale until October 22nd, but one British retailer is selling it early to customers. Retail chain Argos listed the...

The Law of Urination: mammals take 21 seconds to pee

Amar Toor October 19, 2013 10:09 am

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new golden rule: every mammal takes about 21 seconds to urinate. Patricia Yang and her co-authors dubbed it the "Law of Orientation" in a paper published this week, and they say...

Features

Eight miles of water: underground with Man...

Reboot or die: a visual history of Hollywo...

Free will is overrated: the surreal, self-...

Fragments of time: the wild, messy state o...

The Classics: Roland SP-808 Groove Sampler

'Avatar Land' concept revealed for Disney ...

Anki Drive's tiny, iPhone-controlled toys ...

Gallery Photo: Michael Paul Smith's model car photo gallery

The model town: glorious photos of a vinta...

Cleaning up one of America's most polluted...

'The Fifth Estate' review: truth is more i...

Microsoft says Windows Phone Remote Desktop app will join iOS and Android counterparts

Nathan Ingraham October 19, 2013 05:00 am

124

Yesterday, Microsoft released Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android that let smartphone users control their Windows PCs on the go, but there was no Windows Phone version in sight. Fortunately,...

Twitter the latest tech company looking to play tax avoidance shell game

Jeff Blagdon October 19, 2013 01:30 am

Two weeks after Twitter filed the paperwork for a planned billion-dollar IPO, we learn that it's poised to take advantage of the same international tax loopholes as other large firms like Apple, Google, and Amazon. Citing Twitter Ireland documents, Valleywag reports that the company has all the requisite parts for the "Double Irish and Dutch...

National Security

Huawei issues definitive statement about espionage fears: 'we have never been asked to provide access to our technology'

Sean Hollister October 18, 2013 10:00 pm

Would Huawei spy for the Chinese government? That's a question that cost the telecom equipment provider plenty of money last year. After the US government said the company posed a national security risk, Huawei was forced to take its networking business elsewhere. Huawei has repeatedly denied the...

Spec Sheet

Spec Sheet: Sony's Alpha 7 and 7R try to shake up the full frame camera market

Jacob Kastrenakes October 18, 2013 08:30 pm

A lot of products come out each week — we don't highlight all of them, but all of them make it into The Verge Database. In Spec Sheet, a weekly series, we survey the latest product entries to keep track of the state of the art.

Why the government unpublished the source code for Healthcare.gov

Healthcare.gov is sending insurers wrong data, turning an automated process into a manual one

The story behind the company contracted to make the buggy Healthcare.gov website

Why did Healthcare.gov's source code mysteriously vanish from public view?

Why Obama's Healthcare.gov launch was doomed to fail

Healthcare.gov's technical problems frustrate Americans

View StoryStream »

Google's Nexus 5 leaks again in new press images

Redesigned Google Play Store for Android revealed in leaked images

Android 4.4 KitKat will let you choose your own default texting app

Google Play Store will be redesigned to showcase apps for Android tablets

Google Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat rumors: here's everything you need to know

Android KitKat and the Nexus 5: everything you need to know

View StoryStream »

Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes you left enough room for his fist in Reddit AMA

October 18, 2013 07:59 pm

Not every action film star can say they delivered enough one-liners to become a parody of themselves, but Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly can. Now, the former California governor is promoting his new film, Escape Plan, by offering to say any of...

Voice calling comes to Google Hangouts for iOS

October 18, 2013 07:45 pm

160

In July Google gave Hangouts on the desktop a significant feature bump by rolling in the ability to make phone calls, and now an update to the iOS app is bringing the same functionality to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Calls are free within...

NSA facility where Snowden worked was reportedly waiting on updated security software

October 18, 2013 07:19 pm

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has exposed numerous secret surveillance programs with new revelations coming on a regular basis, but it turns out it may have been easier for him to procure those documents than intended. Reuters reports that...

90 Seconds On The Verge

Nexus 5, PlayStation 3, and Elon Musk: 90 Seconds on The Verge

October 18, 2013 07:00 pm

Hoping to become the superhero we all need, Elon Musk has acquired a number of James Bond's gadgets, but he customized them with his own flavor. First up was the garrote watch. Musk purchased it for $1,200, but put another $18,000 in it so that the watch could shoot flames. Next were the dagger shoes. The shoes are traditional black leather and cost roughly $800, but Musk spent another $50,000 to make them shoot flames, plus another $30,000 on insurance. Lastly, Musk bought the original...

Ahead of Twitter IPO, NYSE will allow dry run of trading systems to avoid glitches

October 18, 2013 06:42 pm

Ahead of Twitter's IPO, the New York Stock Exchange is taking extra precautions to avoid the glitches Nasdaq suffered when Facebook went public. Facebook's debut on Wall Street in May was hampered by delays and order failures on the Nasdaq, which...

How Google's record stock high compares to other tech giants

October 18, 2013 06:05 pm

Google's stock price broke $1,000 for the first time today, as investors continue to be impressed by the company's steady growth in search advertising. The 13 percent stock surge, which came a day after a stronger-than-expected earnings report...

Windows Phone 8 'Update 3' adds top-requested features ahead of 1080p devices

Fragments of time: the wild, messy state of smartwatches

Reboot or die: a visual history of Hollywood's favorite fad

'The Fifth Estate' review: truth is more interesting than fiction

Is it easier to pirate movies or stream them? New website aims to find out

October 18, 2013 05:04 pm

148

Often times the most pirated movies each week can't streamed or rented online to begin with. That's according to piracydata.org, a new website that — simply by pointing out the lack of convenient viewing options — is trying to shift some responsibility for rampant internet piracy back to content rights holders. Each week, the list tracks the top 10 most pirated movies on BitTorrent (using data provided by TorrentFreak) and searches out where and how they can be watched digitally. At...

'X-Files' comic crossover will have agents investigating Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters

October 18, 2013 04:40 pm

When The X-Files went off the air in 2002 after nine seasons, fans were left with a lingering question: what role did Optimus Prime play in any of this? The answers may become clear in The X-Files: Conspiracy, a forthcoming comic book from IDW...

Apple recalls last year's MacBook Air due to faulty SSDs

October 18, 2013 04:30 pm

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Apple has just announced that it is recalling certain models of last year's MacBook Air lineup — if you have an Air with either a 64GB or 128GB SSD drive, your drive could be faulty and in need of replacement. The company has pushed a firmware update out to the Mac App Store which tests your drive — if your computer is affected, Apple recommends you back up your data and bring the machine to an Apple Store or an authorized retailer to have it replaced. Given that the 64GB and 128GB SSDs...

Virgin Galactic hopes its spacecrafts might someday be used for superfast flights across Earth

October 18, 2013 04:07 pm

Virgin Galactic may be closing in on launching its first-ever commercial space flight, but the company is also thinking about how its technology can help improve travel on Earth, as well. Speaking at the Wired 2013 event in London, Virgin...

See All News

Review: Microsoft Surface 2 Watch now

Surface 2 review

Surface Pro 2 review

Nexus 5, PlayStation 3, and Elon Musk: 90 Seconds on The Verge

The Vergecast 098 - Facebook teens, Windows 8.1, and iPad rumors

Cleaning up one of America's most polluted cities

Small Empires 006: OkCupid

THE BIG STORY

You Need To Read These Right Now

Trending Discussions

How the man who inspired 'Memento' changed our understanding of memory

Ray Kurzweil's journey towards the end of dying

Owner doesn't know what to do about the Banksy on her New York building

List of 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' Easter eggs explains why you'll find Nazis on Tatooine

Front row seats at professional gaming's version of the Super Bowl

The story behind the company contracted to make the buggy Healthcare.gov website

Scientists want to annihilate asteroids using nuclear weapons

Could freeze-drying corpses make for greener graves?

In China, cockroach farmers are cashing in on creepy critters

Eight miles of water: underground with Man...

Reboot or die: a visual history of Hollywo...

Free will is overrated: the surreal, self-...

Fragments of time: the wild, messy state o...

The Classics: Roland SP-808 Groove Sampler

'Avatar Land' concept revealed for Disney ...

Anki Drive's tiny, iPhone-controlled toys ...

The model town: glorious photos of a vinta...

Cleaning up one of America's most polluted...

'The Fifth Estate' review: truth is more i...

Obama administration promises 'tech surge' to fix ailing Healthcare.gov website

Why the government unpublished the source code for Healthcare.gov

Healthcare.gov is sending insurers wrong data, turning an automated process into a manual one

The story behind the company contracted to make the buggy Healthcare.gov website

Why did Healthcare.gov's source code mysteriously vanish from public view?

Why Obama's Healthcare.gov launch was doomed to fail

Healthcare.gov's technical problems frustrate Americans

Nexus 5 appears in Google Play store for $349

Google's Nexus 5 leaks again in new press images

Redesigned Google Play Store for Android revealed in leaked images

Android 4.4 KitKat will let you choose your own default texting app

Google Play Store will be redesigned to showcase apps for Android tablets

Google Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat rumors: here's everything you need to know

Android KitKat and the Nexus 5: everything you need to know

Popular Features

Windows Phone 8 'Update 3' adds top-requested features ahead of 1080p devices

Fragments of time: the wild, messy state of smartwatches

Reboot or die: a visual history of Hollywood's favorite fad

'The Fifth Estate' review: truth is more interesting than fiction

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