Turns Out the Dot-Com Bust’s Worst Flops Were Actually Fantastic Ideas


Turns Out the Dot-Com Bust’s Worst Flops Were Actually Fantastic Ideas
The lesson here is that innovation is built on the shoulders of failure, and sometimes, the line between the world’s biggest success and the world’s biggest flop is a matter of timing or logistics or tools or infrastructure or luck, or — and here’s the lesson that today’s high flying startups should take to heart — scope of ambition.

December 8, 2014 at 01:24PM
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A Competition That Pits Poorly Designed Robots Against Each Other


A Competition That Pits Poorly Designed Robots Against Each Other
The robots in this tournament are made by people who don’t have the technical skills to actually make robots. Entrants brag about their robot’s secret moves that don’t really exist and employ careful strategies that inevitably fail. This is the heated battle between crappy, but lovable robots. And at the risk of inciting the wrath of Roko’s Basilisk, we’re gonna say it’s really funny to watch these little dummies bop and flop all around.

December 8, 2014 at 12:28PM
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The Huge, Unseen Operation Behind the Accuracy of Google Maps


The Huge, Unseen Operation Behind the Accuracy of Google Maps
The maps we use to navigate have come a long way in a short time. Since the ’90s we’ve gone from glove boxes stuffed with paper maps to floorboards littered with Mapquest printouts to mindlessly obeying Siri or her nameless Google counterpart.

December 8, 2014 at 10:02AM
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In North Korea, Hackers Are a Handpicked, Pampered Elite


In North Korea, Hackers Are a Handpicked, Pampered Elite
Despite its poverty and isolation, North Korea has poured resources into a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell called Bureau 121, defectors from the secretive state said as Pyongyang came under the microscope for a crippling hack into computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

December 8, 2014 at 07:40AM
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Domestic gods: how a manservant could change your life


Domestic gods: how a manservant could change your life
In San Francisco, a city flush with disposable income and venture-capital-backed services to help people spend it, women who are grossed out by strippers and creeped out by escorts can now hire handsome, wholesome entertainment for their hen parties and girls’ nights out. I can’t decide if this is a triumph of feminism or the most retrograde thing I’ve ever heard. Matthieu is here so I can figure it out.

December 8, 2014 at 06:39AM
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