 It's official: Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is coming in early 2016
May 6th 2015, 11:46
The first virtual reality headset to make waves finally has a full release date.
The Oculus Rift headset will be available as a full product at retail during the first quarter of 2016, its maker Oculus VR announced Wednesday morning.
Oculus VR hasn't released a price or exact release date for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift, only promising it will ship with "compelling content, a full ecosystem, and a fully-integrated hardware/software tech stack designed specifically for virtual reality."
The Oculus Rift was first revealed as a Kickstarter project in August 2012, raising more than $2.4 million dollars by offering $300 kits directly to developers interested in virtual reality. Creator Palmer Luckey, a few months before, wrote on an online message board: "Really excited about this, I think it could be the kind of thing that jumpstarts a bigger VR community." Read more... More about Entertainment, Gaming, Tech, Virtual Reality, and Gadgets
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 How much space the average rent gets you across the U.S.
May 6th 2015, 11:06
If you think your apartment is the size of a closet, raise your hand
We see you, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since the median rental price for a studio or one-bedroom in the United States is $769, according to Apartment Guide, some high-demand cities can only offer meek square footage. But for others, like Portland, that gives you (or a dog!) lots of space to run around
Software company AppFolio visualized 13 possible apartments in different cities, all correlating with that same price tag. And in case you were probably wondering, it also traced what happens to your rent check once you hand it over to your landlord — and surprise, one of the major expenses is taxes. About 59.7% is left for the property manager to profit from, on average Read more... More about Features, Home, Living, Infographics, and Travel Leisure
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Photography Website Concept
May 6th 2015, 10:44
View demo Download source
Today we’d like to share an idea for a photography website layout with you. The concept is based on a slider of several photo stacks using Flickity and once a stack is opened, it slides up and reveals its content. The background image will react to the mouse movement, creating a tilt-like motion illusion inspired by the effect seen on The DNA project, the interactive album site by j.viewz. Once a stack is opened, the background image will transform into a small, logo-like circle and move up. This effect is inspired by Alexey Oksanchenko’s animated Dribbble shot of a profile image animation.
Please note that this is very experimental and made to work with modern browsers. IE does not deal well with viewport units which we are using in some transforms, so you might not see the sliding effect of the content.
We are using Flickity by David DeSandro under the terms of the GNU GPL license v3.
Please note that if you want to use Flickity to develop commercial sites, themes, projects, and applications, the Commercial license is the appropriate license. With this option, your source code is kept proprietary. Purchase a Flickity Commercial License at flickity.metafizzy.co.
If you are creating an open source application under a license compatible with the GNU GPL license v3, you may use Flickity under the terms of the GPLv3. Read more about Flickity’s license.
The camera icons are made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com and they are licensed under CC BY 3.0
Have look at some screenshots. This is the initial view with the photo stacks shown as a slider. The slider will be shown after all images are loaded.
When moving the mouse, a semi-transparent copy of the background image will tilt according to the mouse position, creating a fun effect:
When a stack is opened, the content shows by sliding up all items with a subtle transition:
The main background image is by Paweł Kadysz from tookapic.
We really hope you enjoy this layout and find it inspiring.
View demo Download source
Photography Website Concept was written by Mary Lou and published on Codrops.
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 Australians hunt down crashed NASA balloon in the outback
May 6th 2015, 10:38
A NASA balloon that crashed to the ground in remote Queensland, Australia last week has been discovered in remote Queensland, Australia.
Cattle station workers discovered the broke-up super pressure balloon in a field, according to ABC News. The flight was terminated on April 27 after controllers detected a leak developing in the balloon. It had been 32 days since the balloon launched from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand
Marianne McCarthy, from Bulloo Downs station near Thargomindah, was one of a group of workers who went looking for the balloon after hearing it had landed nearby. She said the group came across a big white box, cameras, an orange-and-white parachute-type object, material and cables in the middle of nowhere Read more... More about Nasa, Australia, Us World, Space, and Nasa Balloon
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 The Who confirmed as final Glastonbury festival headliners
May 6th 2015, 09:59
LONDON — The Who have been confirmed as the Sunday night headliners for this year's Glastonbury Festival.
Roger Daltrey will be chucking microphones in the air while Pete Townshend windmills his way through their greatest hits on June 28, closing the mammoth weekender. Paul Weller has been added to the bill as the penultimate act before the band.
Punters who head to the famous Pyramid Stage can expect a number of hits; the band's 50th anniversary tour, which is rolling across the U.S. having hit London this spring, sees them tackle "Substitute", "I Can See For Miles", "My Generation" and "I Can't Explain." Read more... More about Entertainment, Music, and Travel Leisure
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 Germanwings co-pilot practised rapid descent on previous flight, report claims
May 6th 2015, 09:47
Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight which crashed in the French Alps in March, may have practised the crash on an earlier flight, according to a report by the French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority (BEA), who's investigating the incident
Lubitz is suspected of crashing the Germanwings' Airbus A320 into a mountain deliberately, after locking the pilot out of the cockpit. Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf crashed on March 24; all 150 people on board were killed
According to German newspaper Bild, which quotes sources close to the investigation, Lubitz tried something similar on a different flight that same day, from Dusseldorf to Barcelona. He put the flight into a "controlled descent" for which there was "no aeronautical reason," the BBC reports Read more... More about Us World, Germanwings, and Germanwings Crash
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 Here's how UK newspapers think people should vote in the election
May 6th 2015, 09:12
LONDON — We're less than 24 hours away from the polls opening but the verdict is in on where most of the British newspapers stand.
The main papers are split on what people should do on Thursday — some are pushing for another five years for David Cameron as Prime Minister, while others have thrown their weight behind Labour's Ed Miliband, calling for change
The only common ground between the red-tops and broadsheets: dramatic headlines and awkward photos
BONUS: The Game of Thrones guide to UK elections (with the real Jon Snow)
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Read more... More about Uk, Us World, Politics, and General Election
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 Van Gogh work fetches over $66 million at New York auction
May 6th 2015, 08:38
NEW YORK — A painting Vincent van Gogh created while briefly working side by side with his friend Paul Gauguin in the south of France brought in $66.3 million at auction Tuesday.
"The Allee of Alyscamps" was offered at Sotheby's impressionist and modern art sale. The autumnal scene was painted in 1888 during a two-month period when van Gogh and Gauguin worked together in Arles, France.
#AuctionUpdate: Vincent van Gogh’s ‘L'Allée des Alyscamps’ fetches $66.3m, highest price for the artist since 1998 pic.twitter.com/Zxz0BzktCV
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 5, 2015
The painting, which had a presale estimate of more than $40 million, was sold to an Asian private collector, Sotheby's said. The auction record for a van Gogh, who died in 1890, is $82.5 million. Read more... More about Auction, Us World, Us, and Vincent Van Gogh
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 This solar-powered race car will be street-legal by July
May 6th 2015, 08:26
With the goal of having their solar-powered race car on the streets of Sydney by July this year, a student team from Australia's University of New South Wales is hard at work.
Sunswift eVe, as the car is called, will have to be completely redesigned to comply with the Australian Design Rules' official car reliability and safety standards
To make it the first road-legal solar car in the Southern Hemisphere, the team of volunteers are taking a second look at everything from the suspension to the windscreen and headlights. Read more... More about Cars, Australia, Solar Power, Tech, and Dev Design
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 Bollywood star Salman Khan found guilty of fatal hit-and-run
May 6th 2015, 07:40
One of India's biggest and most popular movie stars, Salman Khan, has been found guilty of running over five men sleeping on a sidewalk, killing one in a hit-and-run case that has dragged through the courts for more than 12 years.
A Mumbai court on Wednesday convicted Khan of culpable homicide, saying all charges against him had been proved, Press Trust of India said.
Khan, who faces up to 10 years in prison, was expected to appeal. The court was expected to announce the sentence later Wednesday. The 49-year-old actor also faces charges of negligent driving and causing grievous harm to the victims. Read more... More about India, Bollywood, Us World, and Salman Khan
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 5 TEDx speakers who are changing the world with technology
May 6th 2015, 07:10
TEDx Sydney, an offshoot from the world famous TED Talks, is taking over the Sydney Opera House on May 21. As has come to be expected with the ideas incubator, the festival is bringing with it a bunch of innovative characters — who are taking a creative axe to the tech scene and helping to reshape the world.
Mashable Australia got in touch with a selection of the human disruptors that plan on spreading some insightful ideas around technology at this year's TEDx conference in Sydney.
Daniel Pauly, Marine Biologist
French-born Pauly is well known for his work studying the human impact on marine ecosystems and global fisheries. The use for technology in marine science has changed over the years — initially it was used to find and catch fish, but now it is being used for good by identifying and tracking vessels operating illegally in the waters of developing countries Read more... More about Australia, Us World, Australia Tedx, and Tedxsydney
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 18 random facts and figures about the UK election
May 6th 2015, 06:54
LONDON — The UK general election is but hours away, and across the country schools, village halls and some more unusual venues are being converted into temporary polling stations ahead of the big vote.
Over 40,000 stations will record the votes of millions of people on Thursday as the country decides who they want in power for the next five years.
If you're unsure of whose name deserves your X, our voter's guide should help.
In the meantime, here are some facts and figures about the general election. Read more...
BONUS: The Game of Thrones guide to UK elections (with the real Jon Snow)More about Uk, London, Us World, Politics, and General Election
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 6 reasons why everyone wants to buy this little Aussie Internet company
May 6th 2015, 04:30
It is not often a telecommunications merger gets much attention — but customer concern over the bidding war to acquire the Perth-based Internet service provider (ISP), iiNet, has made the potential deal one of the most high profile in Australia in recent years.
To recap the story so far: Two Australian Internet companies are vying to buy iiNet — TPG Telecom and M2 Group. In an indication of how much it wants the company, TPG put A$1.4 billion cash on the table. M2 Group, in an attempt to outbid TPG, laid down a share-based offer of A$1.6 billion (on Tuesday evening, this had decreased to $1.57 billion due to fluctuations in the share price). Read more... More about Australia, Us World, Iinet, Tpg, and M2
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 Hurricane drought in U.S. is ‘a matter of luck,’ new research says
May 6th 2015, 03:37
From water to your dating life, most droughts are tough. But in the case of major hurricanes, a dry spell can be a good thing. And the U.S. has been in one for nine years.
Every day that passes without a major hurricane hitting the U.S. stretches the current record-setting hurricane drought just a bit further. The last major hurricane — defined as a Category 3 or greater — to strike the U.S. was Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall in Florida in October 2005.
Just how odd is that? According to new research, a drought of this length would occur on average only once every 177 years. Prior to the current stretch, the longest period without a major storm making landfall in the U.S. spanned 8 years from 1861-68. Read more... More about Hurricane, Drought, Us World, Us, and Climate
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 Get ready to see more ads in mobile Google searches
May 6th 2015, 03:09
Google searches on mobile browsers will soon look a little different.
The company introduced a new lineup of mobile ads Tuesday, which include specialized ads for cars, hotels and home mortgages. One of the driving factors behind the new mobile-focused ads is the increasing dominance of smartphones, Google said.
Speaking at an AdWords event Tuesday, Google's VP of product management for Adwords, Jerry Dischler, noted that Google searches on mobile devices have surpassed those on the desktop in more than 10 countries, including the United States, Canada and Japan. Read more... More about Google, Tech, Google Search, Adwords, and Apps Software
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 Malcolm Turnbull praises Airbnb, Uber and the sharing economy
May 6th 2015, 02:36
Australia's Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, had nothing but appreciation for one of the sharing economy's shining stars, Airbnb, on Wednesday at the CeBIT technology conference in Sydney.
Airbnb has "added more than 10,000 rooms to Sydney's holiday rental market, without a single brick being laid and planning permit being approved," he said
"In seven years, Airbnb has added more than one million rooms globally compared to the century-old Hilton chain's 700,000 hotel rooms."
Airbnb — a platform that lets users rent out rooms in their own home — has been controversial in Sydney and across Australia, with some accusing the U.S. company of evading regulations like residential neighbourhood zoning Read more... More about Australia, Airbnb, Uber, Us World, and Malcolm Turnbull
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