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Feb 7, 2017 • 2min

All Gaming PCs Should Look as Gorgeous as the Wooden Volta V

You know what gaming PCs look like, right? Big, LED-lit cubes that look ready to hatch tiny evil cyborgs. Lesser Doctor Who villains. Mean but tidy igneous rocks. You get the idea. The Volta V, from Computer Direct Outlet, disagrees. It thinks a gaming PC looks like a beautiful, handcrafted wooden box. Thank goodness. The Volta V, which ships this March, provides a high-powered option for people who equally value inner strength and outer tranquility. It’s a 5. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Feb 6, 2017 • 2min

WIRED Book Club: Loved Arrival? Check Out Ted Chiang’s ‘Story of Your Life’

Here at WIRED Book Club, we tend to read newer writers. Ted Chiang isn’t exactly that. Since publishing his first short story, “Tower of Babylon,” in 1990, he’s averaged less than a story a year, quietly cultivating a modest but devoted fan base that recognizes his work for what it is: sharp, spare, intensely thought-through science fiction. “Literary,” as some like to call it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Feb 3, 2017 • 11min

WIRED Book Club: Nnedi Okorafor Finds Inspiration Everywhere—Including Jellyfish

Binti: Home doesn’t pick up exactly where its Hugo-winning predecessor left off. In that novella, Binti—a brilliant Himba woman in what is possibly a future Namibia—jets off for the galaxy’s finest university. The trip goes horrifically wrong, but by the end, she’s there, has a new friend, and is ready to start learning. So you might expect the sequel, released yesterday, to cover Binti’s first year at school. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Feb 2, 2017 • 7min

You Can Fit $20M in a Mattress (And the Week’s Other Lessons)

Editor's note: We're proud to bring NextDraft-the most righteous, most essential newsletter on the web-to WIRED.com. Every Friday you'll get a roundup of the week's most popular must-read stories from around the internet, courtesy of mastermind Dave Pell. So dig in and geek out. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Feb 1, 2017 • 4min

Nerf’s Newest Blasters Include a 10-Barreled Mega Monster

Toy Fair is almost upon us, which makes this week basically Christmas Eve for Nerf fans. Here are three blasters you can unwrap early: the Raptorstrike, which uses Nerf’s most accurate darts yet; the Twinshock, the first blaster to shoot two Mega darts at once, and the Modulus Regulator, which… well, it’s dope. While these three aren’t the full extent of Nerf’s 2017 arsenal expansion, each adds a new dimension to what blasters can do. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 31, 2017 • 8min

Weekend Project: It’s Time to Clean Your Computer, Inside and Out

It’s a tedious task you’ve been putting off for what could be years. But this is finally the weekend you do it; you’re going to clean your computer inside and out. That means scrubbing down those keys, wiping the fossilized fingerprints off your screen and deleting all the files that secretly downloaded when you were trying to figure out how to make a GIF. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 30, 2017 • 2min

Elon Musk’s Plan to Tunnel Under LA Is Misguided Nonsense

Elon Musk is supes annoyed with LA's atrocious traffic and wants to dig a tunnel under it all. It's true that getting around Los Angeles is a pain, but this is a tremendously stupid idea. Not because tunnels are expensive (true), or because he'd need a pile of permits to start boring(also true), but because his harebrained scheme won't actually help. I am actually going to do this - Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016 Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 27, 2017 • 6min

The Gear You Need to Make Your iPad Your Only Computer

There are two types of people in the world: Thosewho just know they could never get away with using an iPad as their only computer, and everyone else. And the odds are you're one of those true believers. The truth is, you can (probably) totally do this. Unless youspend your days in Photoshop or Premiere, or you absolutely need some kind of esoteric accounting software, you don't need all the computer you have. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 26, 2017 • 5min

Google Voice Update Makes Google’s Messaging Strategy More Confusing

In the fall of 2016, when Nick Fox, Google's vice president in charge of messaging products, first showed me the new Allo messaging app, he started with a slide. "This is our overall approach and strategy to communications," he said, pointing at a bunch of app icons separated into three columns. On the left, consumer products-Allo and Duo. On the right, enterprise, which is where Hangouts is going. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Jan 25, 2017 • 7min

Let’s Geek Out on the Physics of Leyden Jars

In a recent episode of MacGyver, Angus (that's what his REALLY close friends call him) builds a Leyden jar with some very simple components. Of course there is some awesome physics here, so I will obviously go over this. Full disclosure-I'm currently the Technical Consult for the MacGyver show. What is a Leyden Jar? A long time ago, humans were just starting to figure out this whole electricity thing-in particular the study of electrostatics. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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