Leaked from today's 404 episode:
- Amazon's Kindle Worlds will pay writers to write fan fiction.
- Hire your favorite musician to write you a song .
- And now a reading from the worst fan fiction I've ever read.
In the wake of the colossal tornado that rampaged through 17 miles of central Oklahoma, plans for storm-chasing UAVs are taking on new significance.
Students at Oklahoma State University have been working on "storm-penetrating air vehicles" that could help cope with deadly tornadoes.
The aircraft are "designed to penetrate thunderstorms, including the supercells that spawn tornadoes" to gather data used to predict storms and warn people about them, the university said in a release. … Read more
The first draft of the World Wide Web has gone missing, with perhaps one of the only copies of the very first Web site floating around the world's drawers or attics on a floppy disk somewhere.
Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first version of the very first Web page back in 1990 as a way for scientists to share information at CERN -- the European nuclear physics lab and particle accelerator site on the border of Switzerland and France. But it wasn't until 1992 that he actually saved a copy of that early CERN page.… Read more
You might think you're a Marvel super-fan, but little 4-year-old Mia Grace will crush you. She shows no mercy as she deftly handles Marvel trivia questions from her parents, all while calmly riding in a car seat on the way to the store.
Mia's dad posted a video of his daughter tossing off answers like "Loki" and "vibranium" as if they were answers to questions about her favorite color or what she likes to eat. The young comic book fan has managed to build up quite a store of superhero knowledge, no doubt thanks to some quality geek parenting.… Read more
Microsoft will finally deliver a Kinect sensor for Windows sometime next year.
The company announced Thursday that the Kinect for Windows sensor will use the same set of technologies key to the new Kinect sensor for the Xbox One, both of which will allow people to issue commands using voice and gestures.
The sensor will include a high-definition color camera and a noise-isolating multi-microphone array. Also part of the system will be a technology called Time-of-Flight, which measures how long it takes for photons to bounce off a person or object. Combined, these features promise greater accuracy and precision in … Read more
A 3D printer saved the life of a baby boy with a rare disease that kept him from breathing properly, doctors are reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The boy, Kaiba Gionfriddo of Ohio, had been diagnosed with severe tracheobronchomalacia, a rare respiratory condition that caused his airways to collapse, blocking the flow of air to his lungs daily.
About 1 in 2,200 babies are born with the condition, but only 10 percent of them have cases as severe as Kaiba's, according to his doctors. The boy's parents, April and Brian, learned something was wrong when he was 6 weeks old and the infant turned blue while the family was out to eat.
By the age of 2 months, Kaiba had to be intubated to breathe. Despite the breathing tube and a ventilator he also required, his breathing could not be maintained sufficiently. He needed to be resuscitated on a daily basis. … Read more
A picture depicting a girl's reunion with her father returning from war has won the top award in a Google Doodle contest.
On display Thursday at Google's home page, "Coming Home" is a simple but powerful piece of art that portrays a young girl holding an American flag and running to reunite with her father. The returning soldier appears. They exchange a glance. And finally they fall into a deep embrace as they treasure their moment together again.
Created by 12th grader Sabrina Brady of Sparta, Wisc., "Coming Home" faced great competition in being crowned the 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google national winner. Google received more than 130,000 submissions for the contest, which garnered millions of votes. But in the end, Sabrina's drawing clearly moved the voters.… Read more
Modders and ROMmers rejoice, almost as soon as it reached the hands of consumers, Verizon's Galaxy S4 has been rooted.
Instructions for rooting Big Red's S4 were posted on the xdadevelopers forum this week, allowing folks who want to take full control of all that sweet new hardware to do so and get the thrill of voiding their warranty at the same time.
Just a few short years ago, it seemed like a major milestone when each of these new Android devices were rooted for the first time. Now, directions for gaining root access comes almost automatically thanks … Read more
When Sony has a secret up its sleeve, the company loves to tease. If you missed last week's video enigma, Sony revealed very brief pictures of the mysterious PlayStation 4 hardware, leaving gamers in the dark about what the highly anticipated gaming console will look like.
Luckily, graphics guru Andy Gilleand has the imagination (and skills) to piece together Sony's puzzle, and created a general conceptual rendering of the PlayStation 4.
While Gilleand's interpretation will have most Sony purists crying foul, the render does align with the general shape and accents seen in the official teaser videos. It's widely expected that Sony will finally show off the PlayStation 4 during a company press event at E3 2013 on June 10.… Read more
Microsoft isn't bothering to merely flex its muscles these days.
It's opening fire in all directions, because what is there to lose? Oh, perhaps money. But apart from that.
It's gone after Google in a quite chilling manner. It's gone after the Apple-Samsung phone feud.
So, in a further escalation of hostilities, a new Windows 8 ad sees Microsoft take Siri hostage, tie her up in a chair, and make her tell the truth. … Read more
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Christina Milian and the gadgets she loves
