When Peter Graham noticed that people were going nuts for Pokémon cards again—that grown men were sweeping packs into their shopping trolleys and pulling out guns to fend off Weedle-crazed muggers; that Logan Paul had paid $150,000 for a single Charizard card, the one he wore around his neck before fighting Floyd Mayweather—he thought of… Continue reading Pokémon Cards Are Surging. So Is Hate Toward Graders
Author: Wired Magazine
What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?
Quantum computers, you might have heard, are magical uber-machines that will soon cure cancer and global warming by trying all possible answers in different parallel universes. For 15 years, on my blog and elsewhere, I’ve railed against this cartoonish vision, trying to explain what I see as the subtler but ironically even more fascinating truth.… Continue reading What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?
Google Won’t Kill the URL After All
This week marked the arrival of Amazon Sidewalk, a mesh network that enlists your Echo and Ring devices to share bandwidth with others in the vicinity. Since the company opted everyone in without asking, here’s a quick guide to how you can turn off Amazon Sidewalk, and why you might want to do so. One… Continue reading Google Won’t Kill the URL After All
We Asked Giant Robot Experts to Critique Video Game Mecha
In games, mech pilots often have the job perk of dying in their seats. With mech windshields spiderwebbed with bullets, arm-guns overheated, energy cores depleted of uranium, and bipedal legs leaking hydraulic fluid across whatever near-future landscape they’re fighting in, oftentimes these mechs just blow up and players respawn across the map. Overwatch, Titanfall, and… Continue reading We Asked Giant Robot Experts to Critique Video Game Mecha
When the Bison Come Back, Will the Ecosystem Follow?
Eisenberg, who has spent her career studying wolves and bison, applies a combination of western science and traditional ecological knowledge, a field of environmental study based on ancient Indigenous knowledge. The field is particularly important for bison restoration efforts, she said, given that the Plains Indians—a term used to describe a number of Indigenous tribes… Continue reading When the Bison Come Back, Will the Ecosystem Follow?
Our Favorite Cheap Earbuds Are an Unbelievable $16 Right Now
When Apple removed the headphone jack in the iPhone, it sparked an upsurge in wireless Bluetooth earbuds. There are zillions of choices out there right now (check out our favorites here) but it’s very, very hard to find any that are worth listening to that cost less than $100. We’ve loved JLab Audio’s offerings for… Continue reading Our Favorite Cheap Earbuds Are an Unbelievable $16 Right Now
All the Top Features Coming to Your iPhone This Fall
Safari is now easier to use with one hand. The URL bar is now situated on the bottom, and it hides away when you scroll to maximize your screen’s real estate. You’ll notice Safari looks a lot more similar to the interface on macOS or your iPad on the new tab page—there’s your favorite websites,… Continue reading All the Top Features Coming to Your iPhone This Fall
Ransomware Hit Another Pipeline Firm—and 70GB of Data Leaked
When ransomware hackers hit Colonial Pipeline last month and shut off the distribution of gas along much of the East Coast of the United States, the world woke up to the danger of digital disruption of the petrochemical pipeline industry. Now it appears another pipeline-focused business was also hit by a ransomware crew around the… Continue reading Ransomware Hit Another Pipeline Firm—and 70GB of Data Leaked
China Has Triggered a Bitcoin Mining Exodus
Alex Brammer, vice president of business development at US cryptocurrency company Luxor Tech, recounts being bombarded by calls coming from Chinese miners within hours of the May 21 speech. “We were fielding calls from very large miners trying to find collocation space power throughout North America,” he says. “We were having calls and the questions… Continue reading China Has Triggered a Bitcoin Mining Exodus
RevAir’s Hair Dryer Is a One-Stop Blow Out Shop
Straightening my curly, poofy hair is an arduous, two-day affair. I would do almost anything to make the process faster and easier, but I never quite pictured myself loading locks of my hair into the nozzle of a vacuum-like device in my bathroom. There was no way this would work. But it did. The RevAir,… Continue reading RevAir’s Hair Dryer Is a One-Stop Blow Out Shop