Culture

4625 articles on Culture

• Amazon's Bold Plan to Start a Last-Place TV Network
  Amazon is reportedly planning to launch a Hulu-like free streaming video service for its own shows, supported by ads. It sounds a lot like a traditional cable network, with one big difference: the Amazon Channel will probably stink.

• Google and Facebook Team Up to Modernize Old-School Databases
  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google have teamed up to create what they call WebScaleSQL, a custom version of MySQL designed just for large scale web companies. Their changes to the database will be open sourced, meaning they'll be freely shared with the world at large.

• Twitter #Music Died Because No One Even Knew It Existed
  Twitter's #Music app is going away -- pushed out amidst a plethora of other music services fighting for attention on your device.

• Review: Beautiful New HTC One Is Among 2014's Best Android Phones
  A solid, though relatively unexciting, upgrade to the previous One, this is instantly one of the two or three best Android handsets out there.

• Why Apple and Comcast Need Each Other to Reinvent TV
  Apple and Comcast are apparently in talks about how to win the future of television. They could really use each other's help.

• Go to This Concert and Prepare to Play With the Band
  When concert-goers show up to see Mike Gordon's new tour in support of his album, Overstep, they may just be expecting a standard rock gig. But Mike being Mike, he has surprises in store.

• How Much Does Captain America's Shield Weigh?
  In a clip for the next Captain America movie, Cap catches his shield and slides back. Physics can use this to estimate the mass of the shield.

• The Quirkiest QWERTY Keyboard Ever Is Made of Lego
  Despite being made of toy parts, the keyboard is deceptively complex.

• When Will I Get One Million Twitter Followers?
  It seems that the primary objective of the Lucretius, ver. 21c blog is to compile statistics on the twitter accounts of the top physicists, philosophers, and astronomers. Occasionally, there are posts that show the growth of different accounts. In particular, I like this short analysis. When I look at this, I have two thoughts (yes, just two). ...

• What Happens When You Zap Instant Film With 15,000 Volts
  For his latest project, Phillip Stearns zapped instant film with 15,000 volts of electricity.

• Angry Nerd: Enough With the Kickstarted Reunion Movies Already
  And while Angry Nerd is all for crowdfunding for a good cause, when it comes to fans calling the shots in return for financial backing, the money-making model might end up causing more harm than good.

• Call Out Comic Convention Jerks With These Penalty Cards
  Looking for a proactive way to respond to harassment at conventions? Referee your fellow con-goers social fouls with these soccer-style penalty cards from Oni Press.

• Why Twitter Can't Keep Crashing
  Twitter was down for quite some time yesterday. Once upon a time, that was an annoyance. But not anymore. Now, when Twitter goes down, it's a full-on problem. Twitter is no longer simply a place where people come to make jokes and drop quickie status updates. It's practically infrastructure.

• Vintage 35mm Film Cameras Get Old-School Makeover With Wood Paneling
  Retro-looking cameras are so in right now companies are even coming up with ways to make actual retro cameras look more retro. Anchors and Anvils is a camera-accessories manufacturer that refurbishes classic 35mm film cameras.

• Could Captain America Jump Without a Parachute?
  In a preview for the next Captain America movie, Cap jumps out of an aircraft without a parachute and lands in water. How plausible is this move?

• Meet the Dancing Droid Inspired by Swedish Pop Star Robyn
  A group of students in Sweden made a robot dedicated to pop star Robyn. Its primary mission? To dance on its own.

• How the RoboCop FX Wizards Built a Crime-Fighting Cyborg
  In the movies, RoboCop is half-man, half-machine; but in the real world, he's half-man, half CGI. For the new reboot of the sci-fi classic RoboCop, the filmmakers opted to use a real suit coupled with digital effects to achieve a realistic look. FXguide's Mike Seymour dives into the combination of costuming and computer magic that ...

• Twitter Pays $36 Million to Avoid IBM Patent Suit
  Twitter wants to reform the patent system. But for the moment, it's still paying big bucks to avoid the kind of software patent lawsuits that have become all too common in recent years.

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson Takes on the Cosmos
  After 34 years, Cosmos is back. Host and astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson spoke with Wired Science blogger Jeffrey Marlow about the show and the importance of a cosmic perspective.

• 9 Stunning Images From the First Two Episodes of Cosmos
  This Sunday, Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey debuts on Fox, and we've got an early look at the visual development of the new series.

• A Slick Lego Competitor Built for Tiny Kids and Infinite Creativity
  Unlike Duplo blocks which merely enlarge the exacting grid of the Lego system, Flexure is designed to accommodate the Pre-K crowd.

• Angry Nerd: Mr. Peabody and Other Idiotic Reboots of Classic Toons
  Pertinent question about the blockbuster Mr. Peabody & Sherman animated feature: Why?

• A Footstep to Mars - and Beyond
  For the past several weeks I have been sorting through my files. It's a voyage of rediscovery. Consider, for example, the image at the top of this post; I had completely forgotten it until I stumbled upon the hardcopy yesterday. Taken by an unidentified NASA photographer in 1997, it shows a space suit test subject ...

• The Drama of an Entire Film, Collapsed Into One Frame
  Employing hundreds of extras, full costumes and Hollywood sets, photographer Alex Prager creates elaborate, cinematic crowd scenes that occupy a noir style similar to Alfred Hitchcock or David Lynch.

• The Internet's 7 Favorite Moments From the Oscars
  As with any good awards show, the Oscars took over the internet. Here's the best stuff that made second-screen waves.

• Homicidal Portal AI Explains Nuclear Fusion in New NASA Video
  What's better than a NASA video explaining the difference between fusion and fission? A NASA video explaining the difference between fusion and fission--hosted by Portal villain GLaDOS.

• Angry Nerd: There's a Way to Make the Oscars Less Boring. With Science!
  And the winner of this year's award for Most Excruciatingly Dull Event in the Galaxy is...? The Oscars telecast!