Wikipedia’s looking for donations again, which means co-founder Jimmy Wales’ “personal appeal”–and face–is back at the top of every Wikipedia page. The Jimmy Wales Mugshot Method (that’s what I’m calling it, at least) was …
Apps & Web
Is Skyrim’s User Interface Really So Bad?
For better or worse, Skyrim’s intrepid radial hub and text-heavy menus were designed with gamepads in mind. That’s just the way it is. Blame…I don’t know, probably the world, for buying over 100 million Xbox 360s and …
Helmet Automatically Cools You Down After Eating Spicy Food
We’ve all been there, stranded after chowing down on a plate of tacos topped with tongue-scalding salsa without a glass of water or milk in sight. Luckily the altLab in Lisbon has found a solution to all of humanity’s spicy food-related problems: the Nuclear Taco Sensor Helmet Gameshow.
That’s the name of the project the team …
Nintendo Builds Real-Life Mario Karts for LA Auto Show
Scared Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS won’t be 3D enough? Worry not, because Nintendo recently teamed up with West Coast Customs to create the most real-life Mario Kart experience ever—they actually built physical karts from the game for the 2011 LA Auto Show.
West Coast Customs, who first became famous for pimping various …
Apparently, Congress Needs Two iPad Apps to Help It Get Things Done
For everyone who feels as if there are times when Congress doesn’t seem to collectively know how to do their jobs, take some comfort in the fact that this week saw the announcement of not one, but two iPad apps created …
New Skype Beta Lets You Call Facebook Friends, Doesn’t Fix Interface
No, it doesn’t remedy Skype’s kludgy, five-steps-backward Mac interface, but the new Skype beta for OS X (and standard version for Windows) will allow you to call Facebook friends if you so desire. It’s available now, and …
‘Occupy Flash’ Wants Adobe’s Plugin to Die Now, Not Later
It wasn’t enough for Adobe to put the kibosh on the mobile version of its Flash media plugin—a group riffing on the Occupy Wall Street movement wants to see Flash buried six feet under.
Occupy Flash describes itself as “the …
The Best Holiday Shopping Apps for Black Friday and Beyond
It’s every man for himself on Black Friday, so why not call on some smartphone apps to give you a hand? Armed with a smartphone and these holiday shopping apps, you might actually stand a chance against frenzied shoppers and …
Giant Robot Snake Meets Walking Mechanical Spider
Titanoboa meets Mondo Spider! It sounds like the premise for a bad B-movie, but no, it’s all terrifyingly real, thanks to the artists and designers over at eatART.
In one corner, Titanoboa, the 35-foot electro-mechanic snake that uses its 20 aluminum vertebrae to crawl just like its flesh and blood cousins. In the other, Mondo Spider, …
AOL’s Thoroughly Modern AIM
I use my AIM instant-messaging account every day, but I can’t remember the last time I used the AIM software. Instead, I use iChat, Meebo, Imo.IM, and other third-party clients that work on AIM’s network. AIM’s app itself …
Google Music Store Launched with Free Track Sharing, Exclusive Content
Google Music is now open to everyone in the U.S. It’s a free service that you can use to store up to 20,000 of your songs on Google’s servers and stream those songs to compatible devices.
Songs can now be purchased directly …
Crazy 360-Degree Battlefield 3 Simulator Uses Infrared Cameras and Paintball Guns
Battlefield 3 the way it was meant to be played—in a 30-foot igloo full of projectors.