The Hunchback of Alpha Centauri... Daft Punk's bodyguard... Tron... a Krogan disco... an acid-trip sequel to Prometheus... if Buzz Lightyear was attacked by a neon symbiote... the future.
The US is one of only a handful of countries that still carries out the death penalty on criminals. The US Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, so for many years, the preferred method of executing people in this country has been a lethal injection, delivered in the form of a cocktail of drugs.
But the past decade has seen a series of high-profile botched executions due to new experimental compounds. Coupled with a supply shortage of reliable execution drugs, anti-death penalty advocates are calling for an immediate halt to the practice. Follow here for the latest news in the intensifying national debate over the morality of lethal injections and the lives of violent criminals.
In a press conference today, White House spokesman Jay Carney condemned the recent execution of Oklahoma prisoner Clayton Lockett, in which an unorthodox lethal injection cocktail resulted in violent convulsions and a ruptured vein for the prisoner. Carney said the execution was clearly inhumane, raising questions over whether it violated the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Human muscle can repair itself on its own, so long as it doesn't suffer severe damage. But researchers now say that a new surgical technique can enable the regeneration of some muscle after large amounts are lost in accidents or war injuries, offering a much improved path to recovery. The technique involves implanting a small biological scaffolding at the injury site and then entering patients into an aggressive physical therapy regimen, and researchers say that the initial results have led to quality of life improvements for all patients of the procedure.
Boop boop beep boop — *snap* — boop boop. You stare at the decaying paint chips on your bedroom ceiling while that stupid jingle loops again. It’s the only ringtone that comes free with your AT&T phone, and you hear it everywhere. You hear it when you wake up. You hear it when you’re walking down the street. You hear it on TV. It’s the strongest signal in the universe, reminding you that you’re never alone. You’ve always got AT&T, and it’s always got you.
Welcome to AT&T’s internet ghetto.
Microsoft is bringing two of its Windows 8.1 apps to Windows Phone 8.1 today: Movie Moments and Reading List. Movie Moments is a simple video editing app designed to create shareable 60-second clips, and the Windows Phone 8.1 version is very similar to the full Windows 8.1 app. Trimming, captions, and background music are all supported, alongside sharing options to OneDrive, email, Facebook, and more.
Reading List is perhaps the more interesting app released today for those who use both a Windows 8.1 PC and a Windows Phone 8.1 handset. Reading List is Microsoft’s own version of Instapaper or Pocket, allowing Windows users to store links or app content that’s synced between devices. Until today it was a feature only supported on...
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 and grow-room licenses in time for Tuesday’s deadline.
If the last decade saw superhero movies edging towards the overwrought and self-important, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may go too far in returning them to their silly, comic-bookish origins. While an improvement over its 2012 predecessor, director Marc Webb’s follow-up is populated with fan service and franchise bait, but leaves its actors — and the audience — foraging for anything resembling a human connection. The result is camp without conviction; a Batman & Robin-style scenery chewer in a B...
When I was a kid, video games didn't end the moment I turned off the NES. If I wasn’t holding a controller, I had a pencil in my hand, furiously scribbling out maps of Hyrule or alien caves for Samus to explore in Metroid. But since I didn't know how to code and wasn't much of an artist, those ideas stayed in my notebook, and I never got to explore them on my television.
For kids growing up today, though, that could be different. Last year a project called Pixel Press raised more than $100,000...
In The Washington Post this week, reporter Jim Tankersley follows a team of doctors as they install one of the world's first electronic spine replacements, dubbed the Neurobridge. The patient is paralyzed from the chest down, but researchers hope the Neurobridge can restore control of his hands. A chip in the man's brain will pick up motor signals, transmit them to a computer for decoding, and then beam those instructions to a strip of electrodes on the man's forearm, effectively bypassing the broken spine. It hasn't worked yet, but Tankersley follows the team step by step as they install the system and aim for their first successful human trial. It will be weeks before we know if the trial worked, but the Post has promised followups as...
Those who don't subscribe to Hulu will be able to watch it on more devices starting this summer. At an event in New York this morning, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced that the streaming service would begin allowing viewers to watch a selection of TV shows on mobile devices, rather than only allowing free viewing on the desktop. Hulu began to open up on mobile last year, but even today it still limits viewers to watching select clips, and not full episodes. A redesigned iPhone app will be also be launching later this summer.
Hopkins also reiterated that Hulu is still in talks with pay-TV providers to begin integrating Hulu with their cable boxes. It's an integration that would be a big coup for Hulu, but Hopkins had nothing to say about...
Twitter reported its first-quarter results today, posting $250 million in revenue and no profit, with a net loss of $132 million for the period. While that's more than double the revenue it posted for the same quarter last year, investors were more concerned with its user growth. It added 14 million new people, more than last quarter, for a total of 255 million active users. Engagement was also up, an improvement over last quarter's decline. But total timeline views still remain below their 2013 peak, a troubling sign.
The Supreme Court thinks that if you bring a bad enough patent suit, you should have to pay for it. In a pair of rulings handed down today, the court loosened restrictions on patent lawsuit fee-shifting, in which the losing party must pay the winner's attorney's fees. It's a move that could make it harder for so-called "patent trolls" to bring frivolous lawsuits, as well as the first of a number of major patent cases expected this year.
Because of the frequency and increasing visibility of patent lawsuits, particularly those involving big names like Apple and Samsung or patent holding companies like Intellectual Ventures, the past few years have been spent debating whether the standards for issuing patents should be tightened, and...
Imagine yourself, back in 2001, playing the spectacular Xbox space shooter Halo. Now, imagine swooshing forward in time, to here, to 2014, playing Destiny.
Disney and Lucasfilm announced that a new Star Wars trilogy was on the way back in October of 2012, but details have been slow in coming. Today, however, director J.J. Abrams and the rest of the production announced the key cast members of Star Wars: Episode VII.
The biggest news is the return of the trio of actors that defined Star Wars for a generation: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa. However, all three were relative unknowns back...
The all-new Spotify experience that launched on iPhone and desktop earlier this month is now arriving on Android. The app now looks essentially identical across both mobile platforms, sharing the same dark theme, new typeface, and subtle translucency effects. Spotify's "Your Music" — which lets users save their own music collection in a library structure not unlike iTunes — is a key part of the new update. That feature allows Android users to finally move away from the playlist-based system that, combined with the star button (also removed in this update), was previously the best way to "save" albums and tracks on the streaming service.
The FDA last week approved a DNA-based HPV test manufactured by Roche Molecular Systems as a primary screening option for cervical cancer. Called the "cobas HPV test," the method detects DNA from high-risk HPV subtypes, and is already recommended for use alongside the traditional pap smear.
But the FDA's new approval changes two distinct features of how the test is used and promoted: it permits the use of an algorithm that enables the HPV test to be used on its own, and allows Roche to market its HPV test directly to consumers. Combined, those factors could spell the end of the pap smear as we know it — a move that opponents say adds unnecessary confusion to an already complicated screening process, and jeopardizes women's health.
From the moment you boot up, your computer leaves footprints. Websites leave tracking cookies, following you from page to page and session to session, alongside the usual traces left by your IP address. Persistent logins from Google and Facebook tie each site visit to your offline identity. If anyone really wants to go after you, they can also make a direct attack, targeting malware to track your movements in the background. With the right tools, a computer is an open book.
Not this...
Apple wrapped up its side of a wide-ranging case against Samsung in court today, accusing it one last time of copying five features that it says ended up in millions of phones sold to US consumers.
After months of speculation, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford have all confirmed they will reprise their classic roles in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII. The announcement comes after multiple alleged sightings in London this week.
In a statement, director JJ Abrams said, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud." Along with the original trio, previously confirmed actors Peter Mayhew and Adam Driver have joined, portraying Chewbacca and...
Civilization is setting its sights on the stars. After years of building epic strategy games that follow the course of human history, developer Firaxis Games is taking the next entry in the series into the future with Civilization: Beyond Earth, slated to launch later this year. It's a game that follows a similar path to its predecessors, putting you in charge of a budding society and expanding into new areas and discovering new technologies. The difference is that this time, you'll be doing this in the distant future with a new settlement on a strange alien world.
"Civilization's always been a game about progress; about getting stronger and stronger and making the lives of your people better and better," lead designers Will Miller and...
"Hello, thank you for vaping," the man working the door says as I walk into Play, the purple-and-red-lit lounge attached to Manhattan’s Museum of Sex, at around 9PM on Monday night.
Inside, a diverse crowd of punks, 9-to-5-types, white hairs, 20-somethings, Army veterans, and artists puffed on nicotine vaporizers, the all-metallic devices that look like part of a vacuum cleaner, and "cigalikes," the smaller, cheaper sticks that look like cigarettes and probably have glowing tips. The smell of...
In the Vietnam War, Bob Walker had been a helicopter mechanic, and he’d watched as his best friend was decapitated by an incoming helicopter’s propeller blade. Ever since then the 69-year-old Paradise, CA vet has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder — a psychological condition that afflicts 7–8 percent of the population. It hits people who have been exposed to highly stressful situations in which their “fight or flight” response has been activated. Rape survivors. War veterans....
Acer just announced the Aspire Switch 10, a new device the company describes as a "four-position 2-in-1 laptop." The Switch 10 can convert or "switch" (thus the name) between laptop mode and tablet mode with the help of its snap hinge, which features magnets that help guide the 10.1-inch, zero-gap IPS display back into the keyboard dock. Easily the standout of Acer's back to school lineup, the Switch 10 features a solid construction with an aluminum chassis and and dual front-facing speakers on the display portion. It runs Windows 8.1 (powered by an Intel Atom Z3745 processor) and includes Acer's new "Bring Your Own Cloud" technology which helps users access files stored locally at home or at the office from other devices. Aside from...
A club at MIT wants to see what will happen when an entire community has access to a digital currency, and to find out, it plans to give every undergraduate student on campus $100 worth of bitcoin this fall. The MIT Bitcoin Club says that it's raised a half million dollars from alumni and the bitcoin community, which it plans to use to cover the cost of bitcoin for the campus' more than 4,500 undergrads and to finance informational programs about bitcoin. The group also plans to work with researchers on campus to study how students are using the new currency.
"Giving students access to cryptocurrencies is analogous to providing them with internet access at the dawn of the internet era," Jeremy Rubin, a sophomore computer science student...
Mozilla today released the latest version of Firefox, revamping the browser's overall look and feel in the process. Based on roughly two years of work, version 29 emphasizes customizability and ease-of-use in a way that radically departs from previous iterations — and puts it more in line with browsers like Chrome than ever before.
In a blog post announcing the release, the company states that changes really come to bear in the updated tabs and menus. The chrome is much sleeker at a glance, and resembles its Google competitor right away. Menus, meanwhile, have been updated to be fully customizable, allowing the user to surface specific features and plugins to the browser bar on the fly. Bookmarks can also be added with just a click.
T...
The Supreme Court is one step closer to resolving a long-running civil liberties debate: do police need a warrant to search your cellphone? This morning, the court is hearing arguments on two cases, both of which involve evidence gathered from mobile phones after an arrest. They were contentious enough to reach the Supreme Court because of the quickly changing nature of phones, which have gone from a simple communication tool to a centralized hub for our daily lives. And the final decisions, expected early this summer, will determine how much weight these technological changes are given when interpreting the Fourth Amendment's proscription of unreasonable searches.
Alright we have over three million copies of 'E.T: The Extra Terrestrial' left in our warehouse. I think we need to accept the fact that the game just didn't play well. Screw it, let's just be honest with ourselves and say that the game sucked. It might even be one of the worst games I've ever played. You know what? It IS the the worst game I've ever played. I mean, how did we make something like that? It's atrocious! It's an embarrassment to Atari, Mr. Steven Spielberg, and all of your families! You should be ashamed! I'm sorry about that. I overreacted. Anyway, let's just fill a landfill in New Mexico with the rest of the copies and call it a night. Anyone want to get dinner?
Yahoo wants to be the next big music venue. Through a partnership with Live Nation, the concert ticketing company, Yahoo plans to stream a live concert every day for an entire year, featuring what Yahoo marketing chief Kathy Savitt describes as the "world's hottest bands and musicians." Yahoo says that it'll also keep 1,200 of its live song recordings around after the shows airs for "months and months" so that listeners can continue to stream them.
"Together, we're going to feed the daily habit of music fans everywhere," Savitt said. Yahoo and Live Nation didn't announce when the concerts would start, where they would be held, or who specifically we can expect to see — but Live Nation's CEO says that the deal between his company and...
Last week, Motorola invited media to see its new headquarters in Chicago's Merchandise Mart, an iconic building in the heart of the city that spans two full city blocks. The move downtown comes at a unique time for this company: it's in the midst of being sold from Google to Lenovo. And at the same time, it's trying to break into a new product category with the stunning Moto 360 smartwatch that's expected to launch this summer.
Motorola's chief designer Jim Wicks spent time with us going...
A few months ago, this meeting would’ve taken place at a sprawling campus of anonymous office buildings in Libertyville, Illinois, about an hour’s drive north of Chicago.
But I’m in the heart of downtown Chicago at the Merchandise Mart, an imposing stone structure two city blocks long that has rested on the banks of the Chicago River for the better part of a century. Once owned by the Kennedy family, this architectural landmark is best known as the mecca of interior design: much of the...
Japanese role-playing games aren't what they used to be. Once upon a time games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII were system-selling blockbusters, fusing together epic narratives with tight, strategic gameplay. But like much of the Japanese video game industry, the genre has seen a steady decline, both in terms of popularity and creative output. There are still great games like Bravely Default that evoke the feeling of a classic Final Fantasy adventure, but they're relatively niche...
Long after his experience in the Vietnam War, Bob Walker, like many veterans, still experiences the harsh effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He had little luck in dulling the pain — until discovering MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. Though it has a notorious reputation as a party drug, Walker and others are convinced that MDMA’s unique qualities have the potential to treat the debilitating symptoms of PTSD that other approaches can’t.
But Walker and other advocates are running into roadblocks: federal regulators have imposed ongoing challenges to getting trials off the ground, and medical experts caution that using this unproven remedy is reckless at best. Can MDMA supporters see their cause through? Or will regulations...
The history of science is one chock-full of mice and men. Historically, biological and medical research has largely depended on rodents, which provide scientists with everything from cells and organs to behavioral data. That's why a new study in which researchers found that mice actually fear men, but not women, has the potential to be so disruptive. It might mean that a number of researchers have published mouse studies in which their results reflect this male-induced stress effect — and they know nothing about it.
While rival services like Google Hangouts have long offered free group video calling, Microsoft is catching up to the competition and finally making Skype group video calling free. Skype users have been requesting free group video calling for years, and starting today Windows, Windows Phone, Android, and iOS users will all be able to use the feature at no extra cost.
Microsoft previously offered the feature as part of its Skype Premium service, a $8.99 monthly subscription that includes some free calls as part of a larger package. An individual day pass to access Skype Premium and group video calling cost $4.99 alone. Skype group video calling allows users to participate in video chats with up to 10 people using PCs or Macs. Microsoft’s...
Microsoft has been teasing a number of original television projects for months, and with the first shows ready to premiere this June the company’s Xbox Entertainment Studios has revealed its full slate of projects. Dubbed Xbox Originals, the content push will begin this June 13th with the previously-announced interactive live broadcast of the Bonnaroo music festival.
Streaming music festivals online isn’t anything new, but Xbox owners will be able to go beyond simply watching a video feed, with the ability to switch stages, vantage points, and to partake in Skype chats with various artists backstage. According to Xbox Entertainment Studios head Nancy Tellem — a television industry veteran that was previously president of CBS —...
We all know the feeling. You're sleepless in the sad hours of the night or stumbling around early on a hazy weekend morning in need of something to read, and that pile of unread books just isn't cutting it. Why not take a break from the fire hose of Twitter and RSS and check out our weekly roundup of essential writing from around the web about technology, culture, media, and the future? Sure, it's one more thing you can feel guilty about sitting in your Instapaper queue, but it's better than pulling in vain on your Twitter list again.
Grab the entire list as a Readlist.
It's about to get a bit more difficult to buy comic books from a mobile device. Comixology is replacing its iOS app today with a new version that removes the ability to purchase comics. The new app is solely a comic book reader, which means that you'll have to visit the company's website to purchase new comics. You can browse comics in the new app and download free comics directly, but paid comics can only be added to your wish list for later purchase online. As with the old app, previously purchased comics can be downloaded and synced directly from the app.
The change certainly isn't an improvement for iOS users, but it's clear why the change has been made: Apple's App Store policies demand that it receive a 30 percent cut of all...
Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Every Saturday, we'll bring you some of the best and most important reads of the past seven days, from original reports, to in-depth features, to reviews and interviews. Think of it as a collection of some of our favorite pieces that you may have missed — or that you may just want to read again. You can follow along below, or keep up to date on Flipboard.
Apple and Samsung will get a little more time in court than originally planned, after a California judge said both sides should be able to present additional evidence clarifying the wording associated with one of Apple's patents.
A lot of products come out each week — we don't highlight all of them, but all of them make it into The Verge Database. In Spec Sheet, a weekly series, we survey the latest product entries to keep track of the state of the art.
Jim Golden takes pictures of products, sometimes all by themselves. Other times he assembles incredible collections of everyday objects and antiquated technologies into stunning spreads, like this painstakingly placed array of retro video game systems.
Golden's latest project is called Relics of Technology, and it's a bit of both. Collecting bits and pieces of obsolete technology like floppy disks and Betamax tapes, he's assembled some into pleasing patterns like his previous work. But he's...
Verizon Wireless customers got a surprising message this week, as the company announced ambitious new changes to its Relevant Mobile Advertising program. The carrier already tracks its customers' locations as a way of generating valuable advertising data, but the new program goes further, following users' browsing habits so as to track them from their phones to their computers. It's a bold new step in the company's data collection efforts, allowing Verizon to build comprehensive profiles of each user while still technically avoiding any personally identifiable information.
Apple and Samsung got their last chance to get testimony in, just days before a jury will begin deciding a case where billions of dollars potentially hang in the balance. The evidence portion of the month-long trial between the two companies wrapped up today with just a single witness from each company. As soon as Monday next week, both sides then get two hours each for their final arguments, which will be one last time to try and sway the jury. One wrinkle in that plan: a new decision from a Federal Appeals court in a related case between Apple and Motorola that could mean more testimony.
Scott Croyle, the man responsible for the stellar designs of HTC's One smartphone line, is leaving the Taiwanese company. Having led HTC's industrial design and user experience teams since his One & Co studio was acquired in 2008, Croyle is now departing to work on his own projects. HTC confirmed Croyle's plans to The Verge, though the company describes the move as a "long-term transition" where he will remain involved with HTC product development in a consultancy role for a few months to come.
The Samsung Galaxy S5's 16-megapixel camera is one of its best assets, but it's also turned into something of a liability for the company just weeks after launch. Complaints across internet forums have documented a major flaw with the camera on some devices — particularly the Verizon Wireless model — that renders the shooter useless. According to reports, a "camera failure" error has been randomly popping up for some new owners. There's no obvious cause behind the bug, but once the error is received, the camera hardware becomes permanently disabled. Users have taken afflicted S5 phones back to carrier stores and Samsung's own specialty sections at Best Buy in hopes of bringing the camera back to life, but only a physical exchange for a...
Last week, Saudi Arabia bought its first drone fleet, according to a dispatch from Tactical Reports. Saudi Crown Prince Salman met with Chinese General Wang Guanzhong to sign a contract for a shipment of Chinese Wing Loong drones, also known as Pterodactyls. The drones that make up the shipment are designed to mimic America's Predator drone, with surveillance capabilities and enough lift to carry two matched ground-to-air missiles.
Verge staffers aren't just people who love technology. They're people who love stuff. We spend as much time talking and thinking about our favorite books, music, and movies as we do debating the best smartphone to buy or what point-and-shoot has the tightest macro. We thought it would make sense to share our latest obsessions with Verge readers, and we hope you're encouraged to share your favorites with us. Thus a long, healthy debate will ensue where we all end up with new things to read, listen to, or try on.
Already seen the most exciting films in theaters? There's still plenty to look forward to down the road. Come take a look with us at some of the latest trailers to hit the web.
Famous landmarks like the Taj Mahal and Mount Rushmore look startlingly different outside of travelogues. PolicyMic's photo compilation shows zoomed-out portraits of 15 iconic tourist attractions and their postcard shots. The collection shows how small the Forbidden City, once the political center of ancient China, appears when juxtaposed against modern Beijing. Similarly, the white-walled homes of Santorini look even more majestic from a bird's eye view.
Third Eye Crime opens with a familiar scene: a young woman walks into a dimly lit office, while a trench coat-clad man sits behind a desk. Slow, jazzy music plays in the background. She has a problem with her husband, and needs some help. But in this case, the man isn't a private detective — he's a thief with the uncanny ability to predict where people will move moments before they actually do. It's a useful tool when you're trying to nab a priceless painting from a museum, and it also makes for some great touchscreen puzzles.
"The great revolution in the internet is how it empowers individuals to both consume and create... and to do so requires an accessible and open internet. And we will fight to preserve that capability." — FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, January 16th, 2014.
The FCC has had a rough couple days. Controversy exploded yesterday when a Wall Street Journal report warned that the commission is considering new rules that would tear down the core principles of net neutrality and allow already-powerful internet service providers to act as the internet's greedy gatekeepers. Since then, the FCC has made several attempts to reverse the panic and outrage that quickly set in after the report that Chairman Tom Wheeler blasted as "flat out wrong."
But thanks in no small part to overly vague and mixed messages, it hasn't made much progress. In the meantime, politicians, advocacy groups, and others continue to relentlessly berate the FCC over a spineless approach that could allow massive corporate entities...
