Gizmodo Australia

Apple Censors ‘Jailbreak’ In iTunes

Mario Aguilar — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:30:18 +1000

Apple really doesn’t want you to jailbreak your iPhone. So much so that it has reportedly started filtering the term “jailbreak” in the US iTunes store. The search results still turn up, but most of them show up as “j*******k”. Not every single result for “jailbreak” has been censored as a bad word. Take for example Thin Lizzy’s classic record Ja ...

Reuters: Yep, iPhone 5 Will Be Bigger

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:00:47 +1000

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that it expects the next iPhone to pack a screen measuring at least four inches. Now, Reuters is joining the party, reporting that its own sources are confident that the phone’s screen will measure four inches diagonal exactly. Reuters also confirms the Journal‘s speculation that three manufacturers — LG Display, Sharp ...

New Forensics Tool Can Slurp A Phone’s Data Via The Cloud

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:30:13 +1000

The police don’t even need to touch your phone anymore to know how you’ve been using it. A new off-the-shelf forensics tool lets cops retrieve all the data they want from your iPhone by accessing its contents through iCloud. The software, developed by ElcomSoft, lets investigators retrieve user data associated with iPhones from Apple’s iCloud online backup service, reports Th ...

You Won’t Believe How Far The World’s Longest Photo Stretches

Andrew Liszewski — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:00:05 +1000

It seems like England’s Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones interested in setting world records this year. Photographer Clare Newton has just been awarded a Guinness World Record for the world’s longest photo that measures over a kilometre in length. Since no camera on Earth has that kind of insane aspect ratio, the record-setting photo was actually stitched together from 109,0 ...

Good Cholesterol Isn’t As Good As We Thought

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:30:23 +1000

Over the past few decades, scientists have suggested that high levels of HDL — which has come to be known as “good cholesterol” — can reduce the risk of heart attack. New evidence, however, suggests that might not be the case after all. The study, which appears in the The Lancet, challenges existing assumptions that high levels of HDL reduce the risk of heart disea ...

Amazon Reviews Are As Reliable As Media Critics, Says Study

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:00:35 +1000

While there are some dubious reviews floating around on Amazon, the system has one thing going for it: power in numbers. In fact, a new study from Harvard suggests that Amazon reviews are, taken together, just as trustworthy as those from professional critics. The study, carried out at Harvard Business School, analysed the top 100 non-fiction reviews from 40 media outlets, including the New Yo ...

Coffee Drinkers Live Longer

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:30:06 +1000

Millions of us start the morning with a coffee and think nothing of it. But new medical research suggests that it could be helping you live longer — if you drink enough of it. The large-scale study, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that men who drank six cups of coffee or more every day were 10 per cent less likely to die during the 14 years of the s ...

How To Fold An Origami Camera From A Note

Jamie Condliffe — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:00:26 +1000

If buying new kit is currently a little outside your budget, why not just learn how to fold a miniature camera using a note? It might not satisfy your photographic urges in the same way, but at least it will take your mind off being broke. Won Park has complied a set of instructions so you can learn how to fold one of these things yourself. There’s a PDF guide which depicts the 42 — ra ...

Internet Use Linked To Depression, Says Study

Molly Oswaks — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:30:00 +1000

A study forthcoming in IEEE Technology and Society Magazine offers new insight on how certain behavioural patterns can be indicative of depression, with particular attention given to the ways we use the internet. The study looked at 216 random university students, screening them for signs of depression before collecting data on their internet use. Of the group, about 30 per cent met the m ...

Should This Tentacle Porn Project Have Been Kickstopped?

Molly Oswaks — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 +1000

This isn’t a Kickstarter post. This is a post about Tentacle Bento, the card game that allows players to “assume the role of tentacle monsters disguised as buxom students at an all-girl’s school in Japan”. The object of the game: to befriend as many popular teen girls as possible, and to “get your slimy tentacles on as many of the students as you can before time runs ...

Please Buy This Space Shuttle Food Truck And Name It The Crepe Canaveral

Andrew Tarantola — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:30:07 +1000

Seriously, if you purchase this converted DC-3 from eBay for $US150,000, slap on some new lettering, maybe put a speaker on the roof that makes shuttle sounds when you leave a red light, and sell deliciously filled thin pancakes out of the back. People will be fighting to give you their money. As the truck’s product page describes: This kitchen is built inside the only road worthy DC3 aerop ...

Roll-Up Blanket Chair Gets Extra Cosy If You Can Figure Out How To Use It

Andrew Liszewski — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:00 +1000

Design is often described as a perfect balance of form and function, but sometimes the former can outweigh the latter. In chair mode, the Collerette has a built-in rolled-up blanket forming its arms and backrest. But how exactly you use it when the blanket is unfurled isn’t immediately obvious. The blanket is padded with polyurethane foam so it will most definitely keep you warm, but it seem ...

This Cute Cubicle Is The Ultimate Home Office

Molly Oswaks — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:00:00 +1000

This is the Kororodesku, a diorama-like workspace designed by Tokyo-based Torafu Architects. It’s one part desk, one part office cubicle, and entirely charming. Its plywood frame can be purchased with an interior polyester veneer in any one of over 1000 different colours, making the Kororo desk an irresistible addition to just about any home office decorating scheme. [Inhabitat] ...

Brain Tapeworms Are Real, And They’re Disgusting

Leslie Horn — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:30:00 +1000

You might think of tapeworms as awful parasites that find their way into your intestine, grow 15m long and cause horrible gastrointestinal issues. But that’s only one step of a larger infectious chain the tapeworm is a part of. The alien life-form doesn’t only cause crippling stomach pain; it could also debilitate mental capacities if they find their way to the brain. Warning: ...

More From ITP: Trying Out The Descriptive Camera

Molly Oswaks — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:00:00 +1000

Remember that post from a few weeks ago about the Descriptive Camera, the camera that spits out written descriptions of a scene rather than a photograph of the image itself? Yesterday, while I was at ITP, I had the chance to try out the Descriptive Camera for myself. Matt Richardson, its creator, supplied the props — a yarn moustache and a black clip-on bow tie — and snapped the shot. ...

Nokia Lumia 900, Lumia 610 Hit Australia In June

Danny Allen — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:45:20 +1000

So Giz hit up the Nokia preview event in Sydney tonight, and there’s lots of news to share. Alex will have more hands-on thoughts for you in the morning, but for the moment, here’s what we’ve learnt… The Lumia 900 arrives in June from Optus for $0 upfront on the $60 plan — but you’ll also be able to pick it up off contract for $699 from retailers. The prepaid entry-level Lumia ...

Anyone Using A Flip Phone Is Probably A Murderer Or A Drug Dealer

Michael Hession — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:30:39 +1000

Are we entering a new age where a flip phone is the mark of either drug trafficking or hired assassination? Are we there already? Maybe we’ve all just been watching too many episodes of The Wire. Stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress performed on Conan last night, where he voiced a suspicion regarding the illicit activities of flip phone users. What activities will the next def ...

These Photos Give New Meaning To Being Blown

Michael Hession — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:00:00 +1000

These gross distortions of cheek, lip and nose look can top the most hilarious images ever made with any Facetime warp effect — and these are real. Photographer Tadao Cern’s project Blow Job places his subjects in front of terrifyingly strong wind jets. Double entendre aside, there is a bizarre delight in Cern’s images. If you happen to be in Lithuania, you can even s ...

Report: Infamous Revenge-Porn Magnate Being Investigated By FBI

Mario Aguilar — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:30:00 +1000

When Hunter Moore shut down his notorious revenge-porn website, Is Anyone Up, and sold the domain to an anti-bullying website, the whole world was surprised. Altruism? Maybe not. The Village Voice says Moore is being investigated for internet crimes by the FBI. What’s more, he reportedly threatened to burn down the newspaper’s headquarters if it told anyone about the FBI’ ...

Sergey Brin And Larry Page Accept A Webby Before Google Was A Juggernaut

Mario Aguilar — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:30:00 +1000

Back in the year 2000, Google was a humble search startup with a killer algorithm. For that the company was awarded a Webby for Technical Achievement. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are positively adorable in this interview with Sam Donaldson. This meeting of minds is incredible: fresh-faced computer scientists in silver capes spewing unvarnished idealism at Sam Donaldson’s hair. Near the end, S ...