Geek culture

You may have seen this great collection of mugshots from 1920s Australia floating around the Internet. A couple of years ago, they were exhibited at the Sydney Justice & Police Museum, and they caused quite a stir thanks to the rather stylish look of the arrestees.

They caught the attention of Canadian CG artist Jason Mark, aka Jempix. Although Gotham is generally a little more '40s noir than 1920s Prohibition, Mark has done a fantastic job of blending the villains of Gotham with the slyly amused and sullen villains of those photographs. … Read more

Stephen Hawking's mind is reaching out into the far depths of space as he contemplates the survival of humanity over the very long term. He doesn't hold out much hope for us here on Earth. Instead, the famous physicist is looking to the stars for an answer.

"We must continue to go into space for humanity. We won't survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet," Hawking said in a recent lecture, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The delicate nature of Earth and humanity's propensity for steamrolling over the environment both spell doom as far as Hawking is concerned. He has been talking about the need to colonize space for years, but his latest comments have ramped up the discussion.… Read more

Many things can make a birthday special -- a nice dinner, a night out on the town, a long-lost friend decked in glitter popping out of a giant cake. Sometimes, however, a heartfelt geeky homemade gift can outshine them all.

Reddit user XsimonbelmontX went above and beyond for his wife's recent birthday by creating a highly customized version of Monopoly based on Fallout -- her favorite video game series.

The incredible attention to detail put into the game might astound you, as the creator, who identifies himself as Brandon, spared no mental expense at adding a Fallout touch to everything from the currency to the pieces.… Read more

Have you ever dreamed of being Tony Stark, with the ability to turn your body into a machine? Well, you now might just have the chance to be part robot, or at least the ability to create your own repulsor.

Advancer Technologies uses electromyography to help fans of the "Iron Man" movies have their very own hand armor. This type of science is typically used to test the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. The glove is controlled by the wearer simply flexing and relaxing their forearm muscles. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Hi-fi reviews based purely on the feel of the knob .

- Which celebrities can you pay to message on Facebook?

- Can you bully a celebrity? Short answer: no.

- How the hell do you pronounce GIF anyway?

- Follow Emily Dreyfuss on Twitter.… Read more

It's a sad occasion when a laptop is stolen. All that money, time, and personal data just disappear into the night. This is the Tumblr story of a boy and his stolen laptop. Dom Deltorto lives in London. In early February, he says, someone broke into his flat and made off with his MacBook Pro and his iPad.

Deltorto was prepared for just such an incident. He had installed Hidden App on his laptop, a program that tracks the laptop's location and sends back images of the thief. However, Hidden App still needs to be connected to the Internet to work. After more than a month of radio silence, Deltorto reports that his MacBook suddenly came online, but it wasn't in a place where he could just call the London police and have them recover it.… Read more

When it comes to make-believe, kids are pretty canny -- a simple refrigerator box can fly them to the moon. But inspired by physicists and educators Neil deGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan, one dad has gone above and beyond in getting his son into space.

Before Noah was born, Daniel Sherrouse was already planning the spaceship simulator he would build to instill in Noah a love of the stars. "When my wife told me she was pregnant, I slammed my fist down on the table and said 'Gosh darn it, my kid is going to have a better life than me!'" … Read more

When I pour a beer, I'm always aiming to minimize the mound of foam on top. Apparently, there are people who covet that foam, who can't get enough. Those are the same people who can't wait to buy the $40 Sonic Hour, a new gadget that ramps up the foam factor at the push of a button.

Sonic Hour appears to be the work of the same people who created the Professional Beer Foam Making Mug. They've just gone a little more high-tech this time. While the mug used a little hammer to physically excite the beer bubbles, Sonic Hour uses the power of ultrasonic oscillation.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- EA awarded "Worst Company in American History" for second consecutive year.

- Next Xbox won't be backward-compatible, report says.

- CNET How-to: How to make a video game patchbay.

- Warner Bros. Montreal developing Arkham City prequel starring "unrefined" Batman: Arkham Origins.

- 404 news: We're starting to break segments out into shorter clips that are easier to share. Help us blast these out to your friends, won't you? The first one is our report on the list of NSFW movies the Vatican is watching right now!… Read more