A lot can happen in a week when it comes to tech. The constant onslaught of news makes it nigh impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of this week’s top tech stories, from the best products of 2017 to the biggest failures of the year — it’s all here.
The Best Products of 2017
If you need to buy a new tech product, we’re here to help. Digital Trends has dozens of reviewers and editors who evaluate hundreds of new devices to find the best products every year. Smartphones, laptops, cameras, cars, smart thermostats, appliances, headphones, televisions, speakers, monitors, drones, tablets, 3D printers, ebook readers, video games, fitness bands … these are just a few of our major review categories, and we’re adding more each year as tech evolves.
Read: Best Products
Rest in pieces: The biggest tech demises of 2017
It’s the holiday season — the happiest time of the year — so it’s only natural that our thoughts should turn to death and decay. Sadly, 2017 has given us a lot of fodder. While it’s been a great year for some tech companies and products, others have fared less well, succumbing to mismanagement or just plain sad old user indifference.
Well, light your candles and ready your handkerchiefs because here’s our list of the tech startups, products and (in one case) ideal that won’t make it to 2018.
Does eggnog actually get safer to drink the longer it ages?
Nothing divides a holiday party quite like the serving of eggnog. Some love it, others hate it. Let’s say you make a boozy batch for Christmas, but you inadvertently find yourself in a group of nog loathers. How long can you keep the dairy-laden brew around? It depends on how much alcohol you added, essentially.
In 2009, we heard a story on Science Friday about Rockefeller University microbiologists Vince Fischetti and Raymond Schuch testing the salmonella levels in eggnog from Dr. Rebecca Lancefield’s recipe, which had been chilling in the fridge since before Thanksgiving. They’d added a bunch of salmonella and tested it at one, two, and three weeks. The longer the eggnog sat, the fewer bacteria there were, until it was completely sterile by week three.
Read: Does eggnog actually get safer to drink the longer it ages?
Authentic content is in: 2018 photography trends fuse reality and creativity
Photography has long ditched the trend of business-suit perfection for images of people that could have come straight from our social media feeds, but 2018 could mix the trend toward authenticity with an opposite but equally dominant trend: creativity. As 2017 comes to a close, stock photography companies tally data from the previous year to predict what imaging styles are going to dominate in the next year. The reports help not just stock photographers but various photographers, videographers, and other creatives in a number of different disciplines pinpoint what will help their work make an impact on viewers.
Read: Authentic content is in: 2018 photography trends fuse reality and creativity
Gaming disorder is now officially a mental condition, according to the WHO
In what can only be described as a sign of the times, the World Health Organization has recognized a new kind of mental health condition. It’s a familiar ailment, though some of us may be slow to call it a medical condition. It’s called gaming disorder, and it’s characterized by “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior,” or more simply, an addiction to gaming.
Read: Gaming disorder is now officially a mental condition, according to the WHO
Samsung chairman’s derailed appeal means he faces 12 years in prison
In August 2017 Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s billionaire acting chairman, and the third-richest man in South Korea, was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to five years in prison. The court ruled he approved bribes from Samsung to secure government backing. The five-year sentence is lower than the 12 years sought by the prosecutors, and Lee’s lawyers appealed the verdict. Lee’s appeal hit problems in December, when president Park’s former secretary said on the stand that Lee had visited the president in 2014. During the trial Lee’s defense team claimed he had only met the president once and for a few minutes.
At least one further meeting, not revealed by Lee before, potentially strengthens the prosecutors’ case against him. Since then, prosecutors have pushed to increase Lee’s prison sentence to the original 12 years. Prosecutors told the court Lee’s control over Samsung and his massive wealth was, “none other than a result of bribery.” It’s also argued that the stricter sentence would, “establish the rule of law,” and deter similar actions in the future. The appeal is set to close at the end of this year, with a final decision is expected in January 2018.
Read: Samsung chairman’s derailed appeal means he faces 12 years in prison
With $40 million, you could book a trip to a luxury hotel on the ISS
For your next out-of-this-world vacation, you now have the option of literally going out of this world — but it’ll cost you $40 million. Then again, can you really put a price tag on having the time of your life? As per a new report from Popular Mechanics, Russia is looking to build a luxury hotel in outer space. Slated to be stationed on the International Space Station, this hotel, if it ever comes to fruition, is likely to offer some seriously breathtaking views. And if you have $40 million to spare, you might as well tack on an extra $20 million for the opportunity to go on a spacewalk with a professional (which is to say, a cosmonaut).
Read: With $40 million, you could book a trip to a luxury hotel on the ISS
Dash cam captures the dramatic moment a SpaceX rocket launch led to a car crash
Discussions about distracted driving usually focus on smartphones, a device that you can choose whether or not to use when you’re behind the wheel. Reach for your handset at 70 mph, and suddenly you’re no longer in control of that large chunk of metal motoring along the freeway, and pretty much anything can happen.
But there are other kinds of distractions that we have absolutely no control over, and one of them appeared to cause a nasty smash on a Southern Californian freeway on the night of Friday, December 22.
Read: Dash cam captures the dramatic moment a SpaceX rocket launch led to a car crash
10 huge movies with stars you totally missed
Sometimes, even when pondering a rather simple subject, you have an epiphany. And epiphanies, no matter how trivial the subject matter, are always refreshing. Our most recent example was seeing an incredible dramatic actor — let’s call him Michael Shannon — in a very famous movie — let’s call it Groundhog Day. This is a movie we’ve watched dozens of times — enough to almost feel we’ve lived old Phil Connors’ 72-plus years in Punxsutawney ourselves. But suddenly, there he was, in all his compelling, Michael Shannon glory.
That got us thinking: who else have we missed in huge films throughout the years? So, we crowdsourced. We asked around the office, dug around on IMDB, and mined up 10 epic moments of major stars you all but assuredly missed the first time.
