The Japanese government has issued a formal statement denying knowledge of rumors that the prime minister's official residence is haunted by ghosts. Shinzo Abe is yet to move into the dwelling five months after he assumed power in December, prompting lawmakers to question the new prime minister's...
Shinzo Abe ain't afraid of no ghost
Drawing from the recently published Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, philosopher and scientist Daniel Dennett breaks down the rhetorical signals that can indicate a shifty argument ("surely" and "rather" among them), the mental...
Reddit's r/gonewild community is a pretty good microcosm of the site as a whole, an illustration of the extreme positives and negatives that its huge userbase are capable of. The subreddit's description says its a "place for open-minded adult Redditors to exchange their nude bodies for karma; showing it off in a comfortable environment without pressure." In an in-depth report, Gaby Dunn at The...
Universal has announced a new Simpsons-themed area for its the Universal Orlando Resort is almost ready. Building on the 2008 launch of The Simpsons Ride and Kwik-E-Mart store, "Springfield" will feature a Kang & Kodos-themed ride, along with a number of the animated series' famous landmarks, including Krusty Burger, Moe's Tavern, Luigi's Pizza, and a Duff Brewery. Is The Simpsons still a big enough draw to justify its own area? We'll find out when Springfield opens this summer.
Ever wondered what a Krusty Burger tastes like?
Rumors have been flying around about a major visual redesign to Apple's iOS ever since Jony Ive took on an interface design role following the departure of senior VP and mobile software head Scott Forstall. Most of those rumors have focused on a new, "flat" design that would remove many of the skeuomorphic aspects of iOS that have cropped up over the years, and now 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman has...
A long-overdue new look for Apple's mobile OS
For some years now, the ubiquitous "handicapped" symbol — a blue and white logo of a person leaning back in a wheelchair known as the international symbol of access — has come under fire from disability activists who feel the logo paints disabled people as passive. Now, according to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education, a new logo might be gaining some traction. New York City has...
In Who Owns the Future?, Jaron Lanier, the computer scientist and musician who became the face of virtual reality in the 1990s, pins the devolution and ultimate destruction of the Western middle class on accelerating technological change, and on the internet in particular. He then suggests a way to re-engineer our networked world to recreate a middle class. His critique of the conditions that led to America’s economic crisis, while flawed, is mostly a sharp and enjoyable read. The last 150 pages (nearly half of the book) dedicated to the solution, however, get bogged down in the...
There's no doubt that the late night TV scene is a cutthroat one — we all still remember the epic Conan vs. Leno battle for the seat of The Tonight Show a few years ago. Jimmy Fallon's now giving us his own look at what goes on behind the scenes of his Late Night show with a new digital original entitled Game of Desks. It's a ridiculous and affectionate tribute to Game of Thrones that casts Fallon in several roles, including an Eddard Stark-esque protagonist — but Fallon also dons a blonde wig for his own disturbing take on dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen. Aside from the humor, it's also quite a high-production affair, with some...
A PhD student has created a remote control flying car, and he's looking to fund the project on Kickstarter. Called "B," the vehicle functions as a regular four-wheeled RC, but housed within its wheels are four propellers that with the flick of a switch can generate enough lift to turn the B into a quadrocopter. Able to fly for around 15 minutes on a single charge, the B also has a 720p camera and microSD card slot embedded in its body for...
Is this a blueprint for an actual flying car?
Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Each week, we'll bring you important articles from the previous weeks' original reports, features, and reviews on The Verge. Think of it as a collection of a few of our favorite pieces from the week gone by, which you may have missed, or which you...
Craigslist and eBay are great services when you're looking to sell unwanted items, but what about things strangers aren't likely to buy? On Bondsy, a new mobile app aimed at helping users barter and trade, several pounds of unwanted bacon were recently swapped for a bag of coffee beans, a...
Google's Buzz social network stands as one of the company's most high-profile missteps to date, but the search giant is taking the "last step" to put the failed service behind it. Past Buzz users received an email (discovered by Engadget) from...
Last month Zach Braff started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a new film entitled Wish I Was Here, and today the campaign wrapped — having surpassed its initial goal by over $1 million. Braff had initially sought $2 million, a figure he said would allow him to retain the...
Once upon a time, two wandering adventures found a third traveler and henceforth would meet to high five and spend sixpence for a lager about seven days a week. This isn't their story — but do join us for today's Vergecast as we toast an incredibly long a news-filled week. And stay tuned...
Yahoo is among the growing number of media companies that have bid to acquire Hulu, the streaming video service owned by NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney, according to a report by All Things D.
The news site reported that the other bidders include DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, William Morris Endeavor, and Guggenheim Digital. Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that Hulu employees are beginning to depart. The Post s...
In Michigan, you can smoke marijuana and still drive a car. That's what the Michigan Supreme Court ruled this Tuesday, albeit on a technicality. Though Michigan has a zero-tolerance policy for driving "under the influence" of marijuana, it also...
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times both report that recent cyber attacks against US oil, gas, and power companies have come from Iran. The hackers were targeting control systems and probing for the kind of access that would give them the ability to disrupt oil pipelines and other...
In what may be a first for the Federal Drug Administration, the agency has sent a letter to the makers of an iPhone medical app asking why its...
Chet Kanojia, CEO and founder of Aereo
The nation's largest television broadcasters filed a copyright lawsuit against FilmOn.TV and its Aereokiller service yesterday, alleging that the service...
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a reputation for taking on big, entrenched industries (see his prohibition on indoor smoking and attempted ban on large sodas, for two notable examples)....
Developers in Argentina have begun receiving letters from Google informing them that "Google Play will no longer be able to accept payments on behalf of developers registered in Argentina starting...
A few hours after we got a look at a potential Gmail for Android redesign, a new screenshot for Gmail on the web has apparently leaked to The Next Web. The new interface shows four tabs at the top...
A number of experimental features in Google Glass have been uncovered by the Android hacking community, including one that puts the headset in a...
Does the Xbox One actually require an internet connection? Will used game buyers or sellers have to pay an extra fee? Microsoft hasn't made it clear, but a report at Polygon now claims that the answers are "yes" and "no" respectively. According to the publication's sources, Xbox One games will phone home to Microsoft servers on a regular basis to verify that their users own the games. If you...
Yarn. Yoda. Youth. Yolk. Yuks. Yawn. Yowl. Yak. Yeah. Yells. Yacht. Yellow. Yogurt. Yoga. Yammer.
