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This is what happens when a drone interrupts your Christmas date

As reported on Engadget. by Aaron Souppouris You’re on a date at TGI Friday’s, casually sipping your discount cocktail, trying to ignore the disappointed look on your partner’s face as they attempt to cut into their overcooked steak. As if this situation wasn’t awkward enough, the smooth sounds of the Billboard 100 playlist are interrupted by a high-pitched whining. A lone quadrocopter hovers above, dangling a collection of stale mistletoe leaves. Looking to make the…

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Random Tech

IBM’s Watson computer makes a delicious BBQ sauce

As reported on Engadget. BY JON FINGAS We know through first-hand experience that IBM’s Watson supercomputer can make a fine meal, but it’s apparently an ace at condiments, too. Fast Company has tried Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce, a recipe chosen by Watson to maximize flavor through complimentary (and fairly uncommon) ingredients. The result is a “delicious” concoction unlike what you’d normally throw on your food — butternut and white wine give it a sweet taste, while tamarind and Thai chiles…

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Business Culture Random

High rollers: Las Vegas is poised to become the Disneyland of weed

As reported on The Verge. By Lessley Anderson Cannabis entrepreneurs fight to stake their pot leaf in the world’s biggest tourist destination They won’t have neon signs, drive-thru windows, or 24-hour wedding chapels attached to them. But Las Vegas marijuana dispensaries will be massively profitable tourist attractions that could deepen the entire nation’s relationship with weed. At least that’s the hope of the 109 applicants who entered the heated competition for Vegas’ first medical marijuana dispensary…

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Oral history: the sexual misadventures of the dental dam

As reported on The Verge. By Arielle Duhaime-Ross How the surgical tool tried (and failed) to become the face of oral intimacy Were it not for the three queer women who accosted him at a sexual health conference in Canberra, Australia, Clive Woodworth likely wouldn’t remember the 1993 conference at all. As the founder and CEO of Glyde Health, Woodworth attended these events to promote the company’s safe-sex products; because this conference was geared toward empowering women,…

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Random Science Tech

Some drones can kill you, this one could save your life

As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris An Iranian research lab has created a drone to save people drowning at sea. Developed by Tehran-based RTS Lab, Pars is a multirotor drone that is designed to carry and drop floatation aids to people in trouble. First conceptualized only a year ago, Pars is now a functioning prototype that recently underwent testing in the Caspian Sea. Located around 100 miles from Tehran, the Caspian has bore witness to a…

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Dick Cheney had the wireless disabled on his pacemaker to avoid risk of terrorist tampering

As reported on The Verge. By Carl Franzen Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has for years warned that America needs to be on guard against terrorist threats. As it turns out, he took that warning to heart quite literally. In a recent interview with medical journalist Sanjay Gupta on CBS News’s 60 Minutes, Cheney and one of his doctor’s revealed for the first time that the Vice President’s pacemaker had its wireless feature disabled in 2007,…

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Larry Ellison says ‘we already know’ Apple is doomed without Steve Jobs

As reported on The Verge. By Sean Hollister An Apple without Steve Jobs? Larry Ellison dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. On tomorrow’s episode of CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose asks the Oracle CEO how he thought the computer company would fare without his friend Steve Jobs, and his answer was that history will repeat itself again. “Well, we already know,” Ellison told Rose. “We conducted the experiment. It’s been done,” he continued. “We saw Apple…

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Random SmartPhone Social Networking

Sex, lies, and subtweets: Ohio high school tormented by Twitter gossip

As reported on The Verge. By Casey Newton An anonymous account bullies teens, foils administrators School’s out for summer in Hudson, Ohio, but students haven’t left campus behind completely. They couldn’t if they tried: an unsettling source of gossip has agitated the student body, broadcasting classmates’ confessions about their crushes, enemies, and sexual escapades. It’s anonymous, unregulated, and occasionally veers into bullying. And it’s all happening on Twitter, powered by a controversial Q&A service calledAsk.fm. At…

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Complete Idiocy Makes for Pretty Amazing Fireworks Photos

As reported on Wired. BY PETE BROOK View as gallery Chances are you enjoyed some fireworks earlier this month for July 4th. But we’re sorry to tell you that Mexico does explosions better than the United States. The proof is in Thomas Prior‘s heart-racing photographs from the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec. The annual nine-day festival attracts more than 100,000 people to bathe in the glow of pyrotechnicians’ expert displays. The main event is the Pamplonada — a seven-hour running of…

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How do fireworks work?

As reported on The Verge. By Adrianne Jeffries Centuries-old technology with a modern twist The first firework was pretty basic. A Chinese monk named Li Tian took a piece of bamboo, stuffed it with gunpowder, and threw it into a fire, producing a bang loud enough to scare away ghosts. That was more than 1,000 years ago, but fireworks today are much the same: a shell, an explosive, and a fuse. The biggest changes in modern firework technology…

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