The old maxim “Leave it to the experts” is familiar because it’s usually good advice. We wouldn’t let anyone but highly trained doctors perform surgery on us. But sometimes even the most elite of experts must be called into question when they get carried away. Let’s say, a group of world-class physicists wanted to use a machine that would unlock the secrets of the universe, but it was also capable of destroying the planet. Some might think it’s time to take those experts down a few notches, right? More »

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter, in response to the oil shock, addressed the nation with maturity and insight. He said the good times were over, and it was time to grow up, put on a sweater, turn the thermostat down, and get on with your life. Carter proposed a national solar energy bank, and said that in twenty years, he wanted 20% of U.S. power to come from solar energy. Leading by example, he even installed solar panels on the roof of the White House.

He was practically impeached on the spot. More »

Surprise. It’s that time again—time to bear gifts!

This week, we’ve brought you two new pieces of functionality. First, we’ve introduced the “See Also” feature at the bottom of each post page. This addition provide depth to each article and helps readers explore other relevant posts they may have missed. Second, We’ve added a “Recent Comments” feature to the sidebar. More »

What up people,

You may not know me yet, but I know many of you from your posts and comments. I’m Johnny Haze and I’ve been working with TROUBL for a few months now, mostly behind the scenes. A lot of what we talk about is how we love the conversation here, but that we can do even better. It is with this in mind that we’re introducing “Threaded Comments.” In short, we’ve made it so you can now communicate directly with one another and reply directly to each others’ comments. More »

In 1984, “The Terminator” gave us a glimpse into the future, where humans wage battle against more advanced and more lethal cyborg rivals. A concept that seemed so futuristic at the time has actually been around for decades and is closer to actualization than most realize.

According to a 2003 US Joint Forces Command study titled “Unmanned Effects: Taking the Human Out of the Loop,” tactical autonomous combatants, as the report called them, could become the norm by 2025. More »

TROUBL in Spain is useless without a mode of transportation. As cabs are so damn expensive because of the weak dollar, our only option is to rent a car. When they delivered my rental, I was appalled. “What!, Ford makes small cars- outside of America,” I said. Let me hold my reservations until I get into it, I thought. “Woooow, it’s a manual—ok, let’s see what I got on my hands. More »

Pine nuts, the edible seed inside pine cones, have been eaten in Europe and Asia since humans lived in bands of 25 to 100 members. During this era the human population numbered around only one person per square mile. The era is characterized by the use of stone tools, cave paintings and humans living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

Fast forward as Dippold finds a new use for the ancient seed. See “PinHolo”, a tiny pinhole camera used to create microphotographies. Dope!!!

From the MAKE Flickr pool.

What we know as surveillance is changing everyday. More and more average citizens are being watched by public and private organizations. Take London for example, which has nearly 500,000 surveillance cameras around the city. Once the art of human observation, surveillance has now evolved into a technological discipline of spy drones and social network data mining. And although average citizens may not be able to compete with the CIA, we can still get our James Bond on with some of the top 10 barely-legal gadgets for the modern spy. See them here.

A bright light, …it’s the flash from the camera phone and countdown begins. 3,2,1… “Shit, I’m not showing the right side. Damn and I gotta go to work. Fuck it, I’ll be late.”

Warning: Myspace addiction is a serious issue! Symptoms include: not blinking while online, the inability to go the bathroom without a camera phone, changing your page design more than your underwear, Myspace drama, reading this while Myspace is open in another window… More »

Remember when you used to actually know people’s telephone numbers by heart? You know, back when having a pen and something to write on meant you were on your game, trying to get numbers. It’s funny when you remind people about those days; they start reminiscing like they were decades back. But really they weren’t even that long ago. More »