Why not? Seriously, why is a short-range, shrapnel-based explosive weapon morally different from a rapid-fire semi-automatic? Both are very good at killing lots of people very quickly, and not good for much else. I don’t see why one should be legal and not the other.

While I appreciate Shep McAllister’s replies here, I wanted to concur that (a) these paid reviews are junk, and (b) the “received object in exchange for unbiased review” concept is not just terrible, it’s ruining Amazon’s second-most valuable product (after prime shipping) — its ratings. Currently Amazon reviews are…

While I appreciate Shep McAllister’s replies here, I wanted to concur that (a) these paid reviews are junk, and (b)…

What a wimp. Why accept the status quo when you should really be advocating for grenades, which offer a much more secure defense against large animals, and are much easier to carry. The fact that the NRA accepts bans on all sorts of useful weapons of war just shows their lack of ambition. There’s much more in the…

Alas, the writing on the wall had been clear for a while now. My only sadness at your fabulous literary successes has been knowing it meant that your io9 days were numbered. But you stayed on a lot longer than I expected! So thank you for that, and of course for all the previous years of wonderful work. Your essays…

A car is a necessity for work and life, though you’re right — they’re absurdly expensive as well. But all the things I listed are essentially luxuries — and apparently in the future, luxuries are for the rich. (Or, admittedly, the rest of us if we can wait 5 years : )

Thank you so much for the warning! I just wanted a quick recap of the previous season. I actively avoid the trailers because I enjoy surprises. I never even suspected that these three minutes, 2 hours before the show, would have undone all my work.

I suppose it makes sense to only compare them on the things they share in common, but given their similarity in that regard, a comparison that omits the room- and hand-tracking is kind of odd. It’s like comparing a unicycle to a bicycle and only talking about the rear wheel and pedals. I understand that the unicycle’s…

Welcome to the future! Virtual reality, space tourism, electric supercars, personal submarines, the works. The only catch is if you’re not in the 0.1%. Didn’t think the future would be for everyone, did you?

Expected to see Arcadia on this list, and expected to see the posts disputing that inclusion. And though one more voice isn’t needed, I wanted to chime in, that Arcadia is one of the best X-Files episodes out there. Many of us once-young fans are now well into our 30s and beyond, and Tibetan Garbage Monster has been a…

For me, it has nothing to do with truth. All that matters is that the world be internally consistent, and to some extent predictable (which is just consistency over time); or that if you are surprised, the new discovery is coherent or potentially predictable in retrospect (like a mystery story). That’s basically…

Reminds me of the bad old days, the Sculley interregnum.

Geez, folks, lighten up. It’s an oddly shaped lens cover that happened to look like it was intersecting with the armadillo, I’m aware of that. I think National Geographic’s reputation will survive both Murdoch and me.

What is going on in this photo? Taking photos is understandably more difficult if you insist on altering space-time to intersect solid objects.

I love how deeply unthrilled Patrick Stewart looks here. Like he hates this man with a burning passion (as well he should), and this was as far as he could curl his lips upward as he does his best to smile.

This doesn’t seem like that hard a question. Mostly, we lay people just want to know what it would look like if we were standing on the surface at the time the photo was taken looking through a clear glass visor. The scientists are free to do whatever pre- and post-processing they wish such that the photo, when…

Given that Taxi and 3rd Rock ran for 5 years, Big Bang Theory has run forever, and many other examples, it’s clearly possible for a know-nothing alien/outsider show to chug along far longer than M&M made it. This is a nicely written essay but is far too cagey — it’s clear that diving more deeply into the characters…

Please keep this Casey Chan crap on Sploid and off Gizmodo. Lots of us don’t want to see gun, bomb, tank, and animal killing gifs on our technology blog. Thanks!

Speaking as a big Adventure Time fan, I was disappointed in this miniseries. It told me that Marceline was learning and growing up — in so many words — and that its themes were change and stasis — in so many words — but I really didn’t see it happen. How will Marceline be different? I have no idea; I didn’t see her…

This is as good an illustration as any of how/why trypophobia evolved.

Flagged as hate. If Gawker wasn’t in complete chaos today, most of these comments would be down by now. Enjoy your hate-filled free day.