Jelly Bean Checks You’re Actually Alive Before Unlocking Your Phone [Android]

Google’s clever little Face Unlock security feature, which lets you use your phone’s camera to pull your Android mobile out of standby mode by having it recognise its master, has been updated, with the Jelly Bean version of the tool allowing users to blink at it to prove they’re not a photograph. More »

Can Stereomood, the Emotion-Based Playlister, Make Me Angry? [Video]

The details often vary, but most streaming radio apps function in the same general way – cue up an artist station, start giving feedback in the form of “likes” and “dislikes,” and let the app respond by giving you music that fits the profile of what you’ve told it you’re into. The technology behind the scenes varies from app to app, but that’s the basic idea. More »

How to Host a Dinner Party In Space [Space]

Like any other person, Don Pettit tweets, uploads YouTube videos, and maintains a blog. But unlike the rest of us, Don is doing it from the International Space Station. Blogging for Smithsonian’s Air and Space magazine, Pettit tells us how to host dinner guests in Space. More »

iPhone Hands On Review, Five Years Later [Humor]

It’s been about five years since I bought an iPhone, and after giving myself some time to get a feel for the device, I think I’m ready to say that a smartphone is something everyone should consider owning. More »

What It’s Like to Judge the Turing Test [Turing Test]

“What are your favourite Sci Fi movies?” “I like Star Wars and The Matrix,” comes the typed reply. More »

Inside the Project to Immortalize John Peel’s Record Collection [Music]

Before even cassettes became kitsch, we had the vinyl record. One legendary Englishman, John Peel, had more vinyl than just about anyone else. And, as one of the most influential disc jockeys ever to grace the airwaves, he often had them before everyone else. More »

All DJs Are Glorified Button Pushers [Music]

We all hit play. It’s no secret.  When it comes to “live” performance of EDM (ED: electronic dance music)… that’s about the most it seems you can do anyway. It’s not about performance art, it’s not about talent either (really it’s not). In fact, let me do you and the rest of the EDM world button pushers who fuckin hate me for telling you how it is, a favor and let you all know how it is. More »