While SSDs are blisteringly fast, they still can't offer the capacities that the humble hard disk provides. Especially this one, because with 1.5 TB squeezed into its tiny little frame, it's the most memory-dense drive you can buy right now.

The 2.5-inch Travelstar 5K1500 is just 9.5mm deep. Packing 1.5TB, that means the drive offers 694Gb per square inch—comfortably making it the densest HDD on the market. It draws just 1.8W, but there is one downside: it only spins at 5,400 rpm, so it's not the fastest drive you'll ever use.

Still, if your laptop's heaving under the weight of video, music and whatever else you choose to fill it up with, then this little guy could provide just the shot in the arm it needs. There's currently no pricing information, but it will be available in June. [Engagdet]

This version of London's iconic tube map looks just like the official PDF of the transport network—but in fact it is created entirely from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

That's a pretty insane feat. Its creator, freelance web developer John Galantini, has recreated every symbol, line, circle and piece of text using HTML and CSS. Each subway line is, in fact, an unordered list, with stations positioned in relation to each other using CSS. The map took 120 hours work over five weeks to complete. Pointless, perhaps—but nonetheless impressive. [John Galantini via Sidebar via Verge]

Since 2005 BC over 35,000 meteorites are known to have hit the Earth—but just 1,107 have actually been seen falling. This visualization shows how they pockmarked our planet over time.

Created by Carlo Zapponi, the animated visualization is based on data from the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society. It's quite fun to watch the animation, as the meteorites fall onto the graph, one at a time. [Bolid.es via Flowing Data]

It's hard to avoid the increasing prevalence of drones, but in case you were in any doubt this artwork—Under the Shadow of the Drone—serves as a stark reminder that they're increasingly filling our skies.

Conceived by James Bridle, this is a one-to-one representation of an MQ-9 reaper military drone, drawn on the tarmac of Brighton's seafront in the UK. He explains his choice of color:

"This green is the colour of the future; chromakey green; greenscreen; the colour onto which we project our hopes and fantasies. it is the colour of technologically-augmented vision; the bright green of digital cameras and machine vision; of laser targeting systems; of late evolution. This green is the least 'natural' of colours; or rather, it is the colour of another nature, verdant and elusive, that we live within and alongside, but have barely begun to notice."

Regardless of whether you buy into that, it's a crystal-clear reminder that drones are real, here and increasingly common. Quite how they'll shape our future, well, that remains to be seen. [James Bridle via Design Boom]

While extreme weather events seem to come and go more often than ever, our ability to forecast them does at least help us minimize risk to human life. But an impending weather satellite outage could make events like yesterday's devestating tornado even harder to predict—for up to three years.

The US relies on two types of satellites to help it predict the weather. One orbits the Earth's poles, providing a global snapshot of weather conditions every morning and afternoon. A second set—known as geostationary satellites—maintain a constant position above the planet to continuously monitor a single area. Combined, they work fantastically; alone, neither provide enough data to form truly accurate predictions.

The problem is, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have become aware that, soon, the United States' polar satellite is to reach the end of its life. No problem, right? Let's just launch another! But, sadly, its replacement has been severely delayed by cost increases, technical problems and—surprise, surprise—management challenges.

Thats leaves the US in a tricky situation, where it could be without a polar orbiting satellite—and all the useful data that comes from it—for a staggering 17 to 53 months. NOAA even admits that the gap will result in less accurate weather forecasts—and more difficulty in predicting extreme events like hurricanes. In turn, that doesn't just mean we need to carry a raincoat more often, but could place lives and property in danger.

So what to do? Well, fortunately the US Government Accountability Office is well aware of the problem, and has added it to its High Risk List in 2013. That should see the polar orbiting satellite project fast-tracked, and with any luck minimize the time we're without its data.

If that doesn't work out there are some other options—wave gliders that float on the ocean and monitor the weather, say, or perhaps even leveraging data from other satellites. But none of those options are as effective, and they'll also come at serious expense. So, for now, let's hope that satellite arrives sooner rather than later. [GAO via CTO Vision]

Image from NOAA under Creative Commons license

Bad news for those seeking or offering cheap accommodation over the internet: a New York judge has determined that Airbnb is illegal in the city.

Despite Airbnb's attempts to persuade officials otherwise, the service has been found to violate the illegal hotel law—a statute which stops property owners from renting out their own homes on a temporary basis. The ruling comes out of a case which saw Aribnb host Nigel Warren issued with a $7,000 demand after complaints of building and zoning code issues were made against him. Judge Clive Morrick threw out those latter issues—but decided he should be fined $2,400 for violating the illegal hotel law instead. The judge wrote:

"While breech of the condominium rules is not of itself a ground for sustaining this (notice), respondent was in breach (through Warren's acts) and the existence of the rule against rental for transient, hotel, or motel purposes is evidence that the unit owners were to restrict their use to permanent occupation."

Interestingly, the rulling doesn't make all Airbnb listings illegal—just ones for which a complaint is filed. So, if you're an Airbnb host in New York, it pays to tread carefully from this point forward. [CNET via Fast Company]

Update: Airbnb got in touch with us to give its view on the ruling:

This decision runs contrary to the stated intention and the plain text of New York law, so obviously we are disappointed. But more importantly, this decision makes it even more critical that New York law be clarified to make sure regular New Yorkers can occasionally rent out their own homes. There is universal agreement that occasional hosts like Nigel Warren were not the target of the 2010 law, but that agreement provides little comfort to the handful of people, like Nigel, who find themselves targeted by overzealous enforcement officials. It is time to fix this law and protect hosts who occasionally rent out their own homes. 87 percent of Airbnb hosts in New York list just a home they live in — they are average New Yorkers trying to make ends meet, not illegal hotels that should be subject to the 2010 law.

An old Mac G5 case, some scrap aluminum—and you have the perfect geek's grill. OK, so there may strictly be more efficient ways to cook outdoors, but this scores maximum nerd points. [Imgur via Macgasm via Ubergizmo]

Photography often produces incredibly intimate results, but these self portraits by Erno-Erik Raitanen offer a different take—showing off his bacteria in fine detail.

The pictures weren't created using a camera, but his own bacteria, cultivated on the gelatin surface of film negatives. He explains:

“I have gathered the bacteria samples from my own body. The bacteria consumed the film surface producing photographic images that are entirely created by a chance. I have been removed from the process but, at the same time, the images are a product of my body; self-portraits.”

In reality, these aren't microscopic views of bacteria, but records of their activity on the surface of the film. The results are certainly bright, bold and colorful—but do you think they count as self portraiture? [Erno-Erik Raitanen via Photo JoJo via Peta Pixel]

Spotify has decided to take on the likes of Billboard with its own charts, making available a list of the top-50 most-streamed and most-shared songs to the public.

Wall Street Journal reports that, in a push to broaden its user base, the music streaming service is sharing the data—and the music to match. The top-50 lists will be embeddable and entirely free to listen to, so even non-subscribers will be able to listen to the songs that are currently topping interent playlists around the world. The service—called Charts—is already live. [Spotify via Wall Street Journal]

Most people think of Skype as a secure means of communication, with messages kindly delivered using end-to-end encryption. But a new report by Ars Technica suggests that's far from the case—and Microsoft is often dipping into your communications.

Having teamed up with security researcher Ashkan Soltani, Ars sent fresh web links across Skype, and found that half of them were accessed by a machine with an IP address belonging to Microsoft as they traversed the internet. That means that Skype messages are sent across the web in such a way that allows Microsoft to study plaintext within them, and clearly its a technique it uses regularly. Matt Green, a professor specializing in encryption at Johns Hopkins University, told Ars:

"The problem right now is that there's a mismatch between the privacy people expect and what Microsoft is actually delivering. Even if Microsoft is only scanning links for 'good' purposes, say detecting malicious URLs, this indicates that they can intercept some of your text messages. And that means they could potentially intercept a lot more of them."

It's not clear how the text is scrutinized by Microsoft: whole messages could be being scanned on Microsoft servers, end-user Skype installs could send snippets to be checked, or something else entirely could be happening. What is clear, though, is that the ability to extract content is very, very real.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a massive surprise that Microsoft wants to keep tabs on what's being sent using its Skype service—it has a duty to make sure its services aren't being abused, after all. But it's important for end users to be aware that their communications aren't as private as they perhaps thought. Now you do. [Ars Technica]

Image by RoccoAlpha under Creative Commons license

Since it became clear that Yahoo was going to buy Tumblr, Wordpress saw the number of blog imports

• There's nothing better out there that offers a similar service. Not Wordpress, not Blogspot, not any of those other crappy blogs. Fact.
• Tumblr is just as much a social network as anything else. It works better with more users; if anything, Yahoo will bring in fresh (okay, maybe old) blood.
• Yahoo promises to let it carry on alone. Just like Facebook did with Instagram. At least give them a chance to stick to their word.
• Yahoo could actually make it better. You can expect it to inject its experience where it can be certain it will help—like adding some search powers for better discoverability, for instance.
• You won't be inundated with ads. Yahoo wants to bring ads to Tumblr, sure—but they'll be opt-in, so they won't be foisted on you if you hate them.
• Your porn's safe. Yahoo has been stressing that it's going to go out of its way to let people do whatever they damn well want on Tumblr.

• And your porn's definitely ad-free. Yahoo is—cautiously and sensibly—going to keep ads at arms length from controversial content. That means any risky (risqué?) content won't even be able to feature ads.

• The deal might not even happen. Just because Yahoo's board approved the acquisition doesn't mean Yahoo's shareholders will. Sure, it's likely to pass muster. But why freak out before there's actually something to freak out about?
• For the love of God, it's Tumblr. Where else on the web can you find Kim Jong Il looking at things and or texts from super heroes? Exactly.

After rumors spread during the weekend, it's now official: Yahoo is buying Tumblr. Yahoo has announced the takeover, aptly enough, on Tumblr, explaining that it "promises not to screw it up." That's a reference, obviously, to the complete mess it's made of pretty much every other company it's ever bought. In that Tumblr post Marissa Mayer explains:

Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going. We will operate Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain CEO. The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.

It is at least reassuring to hear that Mayer mindful of the fact that Tumblr is already a Good Thing that doesn't need interfering with too much. More comforting for the legions of Tumblr users will be David Karp's own announcement, in which he reassures everyone that the site "isn't turning purple." He continues:

Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing.

So what can we expect from the takeover? Well, both parties seem fairly certain that it'll be more of the same, only better. In Karp's words, "simply, Tumblr gets better faster." Mayer is a little more wordy and corporate:

"Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love... The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience."

Blah, blah, blah. We can, of course, also expect David Karp to become filthy, filthy rich. But that aside, we'll learn more in an announcement call at 9am EST. Check back then for more details.

If you have to explain a joke, that usually means it's not a very good joke. But, if you're telling a math joke, maybe it just means your audience never enjoyed algebra as much as you did. Either way, these videos help explain to the less able mathematicians out there why they're funny.

No really, they are funny. Promise. Maybe. Fortunately, the explanations—delivered dead-pan by stand-up comedian-come-mathematician Matt Parker—are equally amusing. Enjoy, both of 'em. [Numberphile]

When a band of engineers fled Nokia in 2012 to develop a MeeGo-derived OS called Sailfish, they needed a vehicle to carry the software. And this is it: the first Jolla phone, which is as quirky as the OS it runs.

Featuring a 4.5-inch display, dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, 4G, 16GB of onboard storage, and a microSD slot, its most obvious physical feature is the contrasting removable back cover. The phone recognizes which cover is attached and changes its colored theming to match, but the subtly different shaping of the two parts is what actually makes it interesting from a design perspective. (Check the picture above close-up to see what we mean.)

Jolla claims the handset will be "compliant" with Android apps, though the phone runs its own Sailfish OS. That's based on MeeGo, which originally powered the Nokia N9, and it's not clear how well the Android integration will work—how many apps will be supported, and how well they'll work, for instance—let alone where the apps will be downloaded from. But, hey, let's give 'em chance to prove themselves.

Initially launching in a handful of European countries, Jolla will roll out the handset more widely in the near future. It looks set to cost around $500. [Jolla via Verge]

Just three months after hacks by China’s People’s Liberation Army came to an abrupt halt, the country is once again attacking US targets reports the New York Times.

Hacks on organizations like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times ceased three months back when it came to light that the perpetrators had stolen data—from blueprints to clinical trial results—from American companies and government agencies. Now, though, according to security experts and American officials, attacks have started once more from Unit 61398, China's hacking HQ.

A report by Mandiant, a private security company, has revealed that "attacks had resumed", though the company was unwilling to name the affected parties because of privacy agreements. It did, however, admit that "the victims were many of the same ones the unit had attacked before". That doesn't really narrow it down much, and could suggest targets ranging from Coca-Cola Company to Lockheed Martin. What is clear, though, is that the Chinese certainly aren't holding back, as the Times points out:

[O]ver the past two months, they have gradually begun attacking the same victims from new servers and have reinserted many of the tools that enable them to seek out data without detection. They are now operating at 60 percent to 70 percent of the level they were working at before.

The news comes as a blow for the Obama administration, which recently took the bold step of naming and shaming China, for the first time officially fingering the company for hacking the US. Clearly, China has no intention of stopping the attacks, but it remains unclear what the best course of action is for the US government. Until that's decided, it's clearly something that big businesses are going to have to face up to. [New York Times]

Image by Shutterstock / Andersphoto

Think of bacteria, and you probably think of illness, infection, and other unpleasantries. But this picture shows that they have a beautiful side after all.

A contender in the Art of Science competition run by Princeton University, this picture depicts how the bacteria Myxococcus xanthus moves over time. To create it, Mingzhai Sun and Joshua Shaevitz recorded the paths that M. xanthus—social bacteria that move in packs to hunt prey—took over the course of four hours.

Each strand shows the journey of a particular pack of bacteria, and the color changes signify elapsed time—blue represents the start of the journey and red the end. You can see more competitiors in Princeton's Science as Art 2013 gallery. [Art of Science via New Scientist]

Image by Mingzhai Sun and Joshua Shaevitz/department of physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics/Princeton University Art of Science Competition