2012
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As we have mentioned previously , Hollywood just doesn't seem to have a very firm grasp on how technology works. So when it comes to depicting computer hacking onscreen, it's no surprise that the implausible scenarios Hollywood's tech-challenged screenwriters manage to pull out of their asses don't even come close to resembling the real thing. Except it turns out that, every once in a while, they inadvertently get it right on the money.
5 Computer Hacks from Movies You Won't Believe Are Possible
It may seem like the Internet is a Wild Wild West of hackers, spammers and document leakers, but it's actually harder to get away with things in the computer age than you might think. Hidden in each and every computer file you create is another layer of data that even a mildly knowledgeable computer user can dig up. Documents and photos reveal more about you than you think, and data you think you deleted, don't stay gone. You are leaving digital fingerprints all over everything you do on a computer and, unfortunately for the bad guys, it doesn't exactly take a CSI team to find them ... #5. Word Document Reveals That the Iraq Invasion Was Based on Plagiarized College Essays
5 Clues Hidden in Computer Files That Can Get You Busted
Humans are the only species that seems to regard "privacy" as a thing. If a chimpanzee wants to start jerking off, the rest of his family just sits around and watches, bored. But humans?
5 Ways the Modern World Makes You Extremely Easy to Stalk
6 Car Myths That Cost You Money Every Year
Most of us view our vehicles as something between an immutable feature of daily life and a rabid, suicidal dragon that gorges on explosions until it inevitably explodes itself. That's because we all know it's only a matter of time until something goes horribly wrong with our cars, and then we're epically, mythically screwed. As a result, various rules of thumb for regular car maintenance have been passed down through the generations -- precious wisdom handed to us by our ancestors in order to stave off, for a spell, the ruinous, virgin-eating car repair monster. But many of these rules are, at best, wildly outdated and, at worst, a total waste of money. Note: I work as a mechanical engineer on diesel engines for locomotives. I can back up how a car engine works and the science behind these myths, but I don't want to give the impression that I'm a professional mechanic.
Nobody was ever more batshit crazy than old-timey inventors. The same semi-diseased minds that gave us the light bulb also dreamed up vehicles so bafflingly ludicrous that it seems their inventors learned the fundamental principles of physics and engineering from a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. That's why, if you crack open an issue of Popular Science from 80 or so years ago ( they're all online, for free ), you see that every issue featured a bizarre transportation gadget seemingly designed to murder you and everyone you love. Like ...
The 12 Most Ridiculous Old-Timey Transportation Innovations
The 9 Most Insane Vehicles That Are Street Legal
Even if you're not really into cars, everyone has a dream vehicle. If it's not the standard answer like "classic Mustang" or "Bugatti Veyron," then maybe it's, say, the Batmobile, or a car that flies. Of course, the problem with getting too fanciful with your automotive dreams is that the really crazy stuff would never be street legal. Or would it?
8 Insane Vehicles You Won't Believe Are Street Legal
We've shown you the most unbelievable, badass and just plain stupid street-legal vehicles once before, but while the list was impressive, it was far from exhaustive. As long as there are wheels to spin and jet engines to slap on things that should not have jet engines, mankind's irrepressible need to go ungodly speeds while looking completely ludicrous shall not be sated. #8. The World's Smallest Car Rex Features, via Daily Mail That adorable little fella up there is Wind Up , a micro-machine that, yes, is somehow street legal, despite looking like a nervous cough would explode it into shrapnel.In the name of making all of us appreciate what we have in life, we have in the past looked at some of the most terrifying commutes in the world , proving that none of nature's obstacles can keep man from going where he wants to go. For further (even more insane) evidence, you only need to look at where we've chosen to build our highways, oblivious to all obstacles, elements and mortal danger. #6.
6 Insane Roads You Won't Believe People Actually Drive On
7 Awesomely Insane Guns People Actually Used
Once we invented the gun, that was pretty much it, right? Sure, all technology advances, new features are added and the design gets tweaked a little over time, but it usually stays more or less the same. Cars always have four wheels, a couple of pedals and some seats, no matter how much we end up fussing with them. So guns consist of one handle, one trigger, one barrel and then the bit that kills people.There's a pretty big difference between what works in a cartoon and what works in real life. But military generals and weapons designers both have an inner child who still likes to draw super awesome weapons on the back of a notebook. And these are people who have the power to make those cartoonish ideas come to life, at taxpayer expense.
5 Military Weapons Clearly Designed by a 5-Year-Old
The 9 Most Hilariously Irresponsible Old-Timey Weapons
In the early days of crime fighting, people didn't quite know how to act. Westerns and gangster movies suggest that cops and robbers have always just pointed their guns and shouted "Freeze!" But it turns out that fighting real-life crime back in the day was more like a James Bond movie, if Q designed the weapons while drunk. For instance ...Cellphones define our times in the way that cars defined the early 20th century: They're the clearest, most tangible sign that we truly live in the Future. Impressive new cellphone technologies are being developed each week, and there's no telling what wonderful procrastination possibilities our portable speak-boxes will have in a few years. Because we're telling you right now, some of this stuff borders on magic ... #6. Touchscreens With the Texture of Fur, Sand or Anything Else
6 Sci-Fi Technologies You'll Soon Have on Your Phone
The 5 Most Baffling Things About Pinterest: Explained
Chances are you've heard someone, probably your girlfriend, mother, sister or lady probation officer, breathlessly praise the glories of Pinterest . "It changed my life!" they say, followed by a gurgled orgasm noise and a swift, moist exit. With 20 million monthly visitors to the site, Pinterest is now the fastest growing social media site ever -- faster than Facebook, faster than Twitter. Maybe you've moseyed over to Pinterest to see what the hubbub was about, only to be crushed under a tidal wave of random thumbnails of cookies, clothes and crafts made from repurposed toilet paper rolls.Video games will turn our kids violent. The Internet will ruin our attention spans. Texting will ruin the art of coherent typing -- yeah, yeah, Grandpa, we get it.