For 4.5 years I used a 15" macbook pro from mid-2008. It had changeable batteries so twice I went to Apple and convinced them to give me a new one for free. The three batteries I used in that machine were very different. The first one was a champ. It would last for six hours at its peak. It degraded slowly and…

Humans haven't even been off-planet for a century and we're already leaving trash everywhere. The moon. Mars. Our atmosphere. It's gross. And honestly it was only a matter of time before a similar digital barrage began.

When researchers needed an easier way to share data and resources, and generally collaborate they invented the internet. And then they all went home and let the memes and brunch photos take over. Which is weird. Sure, initiatives like CERN are able to coordinate thousands of scientists toward common goals as a result…

In a "secret briefing" to Congress the NSA confirmed that their analysts can listen to phone calls without a warrant and totally at their individual discretion. So . . . not just metadata. You know things have gotten weird because at this point it's not even that surprising.

Rejoice fellow space and brick nutters, because Lego is going to release an official Mars Curiosity set! The original model was designed by Stephen Pakbaz, an actual NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's mechanical engineer who worked in the mission. Pakbaz entered his creation in Lego Cuusoo, a web site that allows fans…

The NSA's high-tech, new school surveillance system has been getting a whole lot of attention lately, but their old-school digs are worth a look as well. The agency has been around since the 1950s, originally tasked with cracking wartime codes, the NSA's gear has always been cutting edge, and the old stuff is amazing…

The days are getting longer, the weather's getting warmer. It's this time of year that anyone and everyone could use some killer strollin' music to strut to. Might I suggest the hidden Pavement not-exactly-a-classic-but-damn-well-should-be "The Sutcliffe Catering Song"? You just have to like it.

You've probably never used a fountain pen, or accidentally spilled a jar of refil ink and ruined your favorite pants. And for that, you have the ballpoint pen to thank. The handy gadget is having its 75th birthday today, so go sign away your rights to something to celebrate!

Anyone looking for a full breakdown and comparison of the entire MacBook lineup: I've put together a pretty comprehensive comparison between every model, every option, specs, etc. with information from Apple and around the internet. Screenshot shown and public Google doc linked here:

For the most part, we humans are better at things than we were thousands of years ago. But there are some things the ancients had down pat. Roman concrete, for instance, is just way better than anything we can whip up today. Finally, after some 2,000 years, modern-day scientists have figured it out. And it's a secret…