Category : Technology

London museum is livestreaming a key 21st-century artifact—festering sewage

Enlarge / The last remaining piece of a monster fatberg that was discovered in Whitechapel sewers last September. (credit: David Parry/PA Wire) You can now feast your eyes on a festering chunk of solidified sewage as it ages, not-so-gracefully, in...

Netflix cancels its talk shows starring Michelle Wolf and Joel McHale

Netflix has canceled The Break With Michelle Wolf and The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale; neither of the talk shows will make it to a second season. Their brief runs are the latest example of Netflix’s struggle to deliver a show in th...

Who Goes There?: The Thing returns to the tabletop

Enlarge / The boardgame for the book is better crowd? (credit: Charlie Theel) Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage at cardboard.arstechnica.com. Few moments linger in my b...

Dealmaster: Some last minute back to school sales on laptops and more tech

Enlarge / The latest Dell XPS 13 in the new white and rose gold finish. (credit: Valentina Palladino) Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back this weekend with another round of deals to share. This time, we're putting our focus on back to schoo...

Dealmaster: Take $250 off a Google Pixelbook and more back to school sales

Enlarge / Google's Pixelbook. (credit: Valentina Palladino) Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back this weekend with another round of deals to share. This time, we're putting our focus on back to school sales; yes, the little Arsians are headi...

Paul Hansmeier finally cops to being a porn troll, after a years-long saga

Enlarge (credit: Aurich / Getty) Paul Hansmeier, the Minnesota lawyer who was head of the porn trolling operation known as Prenda Law, has finally pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. As Ars previously reported, co-defendant and f...

Google rolls back Android Messages to old design and removes dark mode

On Thursday, it looked as though Google was starting to roll out a redesigned version of its vital Android Messages app. The update featured some visual changes like getting rid of the blue bar at the top and switching over to the compan...

Cybersex toy industry heats up as infamous “teledildonics” patent climaxes

Enlarge (credit: Aurich / Getty) Sex toy innovators of America: we have good news for you! The so-called "teledildonics patent," owned by a company that many would deem a "patent troll," has just expired. Now US sex toy companies can create the In...

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Review - Successfully Landing On Stormy Shores

The last World of Warcraft expansion, Legion, played with huge stakes in terms of player advancement and changes to systems and mechanics. Battle for Azeroth stands in its shadow in some respects, gently finessing some of those systems and pro...

Discounted MacBook Pros, Amazon devices, and a GTX 1080 Ti bundle are this week’s best deals

This upcoming week feels like the last big back to school push from retailers. We’re seeing Amazon devices drop down to near-Prime Day 2018 prices. Bose noise-canceling headphones, which are excellent study buddies, have had enjoyed a we...

How Crazy Rich Asians turns a traditional Asian rom-com trope into a modern statement

Minor spoilers ahead for Crazy Rich Asians. With the new romantic dramedy Crazy Rich Asians, based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, Warner Bros. is making a rare venture into films with an all-Asian cast. But the Asian romantic co...

HBO has picked up its Watchman show for a full season

HBO’s adaptation of the classic graphic novel Watchmen is officially coming to small screens. After ordering a pilot episode last year, the network has picked up the show for a full first season, which will debut in 2019. Along with the...

HBO has picked up its Watchmen show for a full season

Hug your old Mac with these retro pillows

We all love our computers a lot (most of the time). But what if you could give your favorite gadget an actual hug? That’s where pillow company Throwboy comes in, with a Kickstarter for its lineup of “Iconic” gadget pillows that look oddl...

Google’s ambitions for China could trigger a crisis inside the company

On Thursday afternoon, a critical meeting at Google was derailed by a handful of tweets. Employees who had been pressing top executives for answers about the company’s plans to build a censored search engine and news app for the Chinese...