Innehållsförteckning för July 2016 från WIRED

RON JOHNSON’S superstar status was unassailable. By 2011, after more than a decade at Apple, the senior vice president of retail had built a wildly lucrative network of retail stores. Credited with innovations like the Genius Bar, Johnson turned the Apple Store into an iconic destination and a money-making machine. His success didn’t go unnoticed: JCPenney soon came knocking with a CEO offer, and Johnson jumped. ¶ He did not stick the landing. Within 17 months of being hired, Johnson was axed. His attempt to transform JCPenney into something hip ignored the retailer’s history and customers, driving the company’s stock down 50 percent and alienating its core shoppers in a little more than one year. His time running the discount chain was described by columnist Jeff Macke as “one of…

Textalyzer n. / 'tek-st -'lī-z r / A device that would let cops test your phone to see if you were texting before a car crash. The ACLU is in a tizzy, but the only “private” information it gathers is whether or not you were willfully endangering lives. genetic superheroes n. pl. / je-'ne-tik 'sü-p r-'hir-ōz / People who remain healthy despite having genetic mutations associated with serious disorders. Uncovering the secret to their resilience may suggest new ways of preventing and treating diseases. teslaphoresis n. / 'tes-l -f -'rē-s s / A method of using a Tesla coil, ray-gun style, to manipulate matter from a distance. By projecting a high-voltage electric field, researchers have induced carbon nanotubes to self-assemble into tiny circuits.…

ACOUSTIC GUITARS ARE FUSSY. Without proper babying, they can waip or crack, and fluctuations in humidity cause the guitar to go deeply out of tune. But we keep I making them out of wood because nothing sings as prettily as old trees. Blackbird's El Capitán has the warm sound and timeless looks of wood, minus the fragility. The six-string is crafted from Ekoa, a composite made of flax and industrial waste bioresin. It's lighter than carbon fiber and has a higher stiffness-to-weight ratio than old-growth Sitka Spruce, the preferred material for high-end soundboards. Bonus: It doesn't warp. "We like to say it's old-growth wood without the worry," company founder Joe Luttwak says. To build the guitars in Blackbird's San Francisco factory, Luttwak and his team lay more than 100 tiny…

BRAD PLUNKETT didn't set out to invent the sound of his generation. In 1965, his overlords at Thomas Organ Company asked him to shave four bucks off the price of an amp by replacing its expensive equalizer switch with a cheap potentiometer—a knob that varies voltage by changing resistance. The sound of Plunkett's hack closely resembled the wah-wah of a muted trumpet. His bosses were unexpectedly pleased. Plunkett mounted his invention in a hands-free organ pedal so players could make their instrument emote by rocking their foot back and forth. Mad genius Frank Zappa got one, then he told Jimi Hendrix about it. Hendrix used it on ElectricLadyland's "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," making the wah-wah pedal synonymous with psychedelia. Five decades later, the wah-wah is sold by dozens of…

IMAGINE YOU ARE LITTLE STEVEN SPIELBERG. It’s the early 1950s. You are 7, maybe 8. You are very small in an enormous world. You feel things strongly, as all children do, and seemingly all at once. Awe, dread, wonder, joy, vulnerability, sadness—often these come crashing over you together as a single phenomenon. Later, when people recognize your gift for re-creating the sensations of childhood—when a critic describes your work as going “so deep into the special alertness, loyalty, and ardor of children that it makes you see things you had forgotten or blotted out and feel things you were embarrassed to feel”—it’s this sensitivity they’re often talking about. You are exquisitely uncomfortable with yourself. You are pimpled, wimpy, and Jewish, and you are bullied for all of it. Nickname: the…

A COUPLE MONTHS AGO I learned that two of my best friends are having a baby. Of course I told them how happy I was, they’re going to be great parents, etc. But … I’m terrified. I have a niece, a nephew, and friends with children. I want to be the cool uncle, buddy, and counsel to 6-year-olds. But I’ve never really been able to abide the disorder, the mood swings, the messes, the volatility. That sparking mesh of neurons coming online? Look. Out. I mean, I work with writers and editors for a living, so I know what it’s like to deal with children. But actual juvenile Homo sapiens? Forget it. They scare the hell out of me. I am cliché levels of clueless. ¶ But then it struck…

EVER SINCE PENNING Sky Ferreira’s critically acclaimed “Everything Is Embarrassing” in 2012, Dev Hynes has been in high demand for his melancholy synth-pop. He’s got writing and producing credits on everything from film scores to Carly Rae Jepsen’s latest. But the British polymath—known by his alias, Blood Orange—isn’t afraid to turn people down. “I can’t tell you how many offers I’ve said no to, because I asked if we could talk or hang out first and they said no,” he says. Instead he holes up in his New York apartment, recording “tons and tons of stuff”— some of which became the 17 tracks on July’s Freetown Sound, Blood Orange’s highly anticipated third album. The project grew out of work so personal that Hynes wasn’t sure he wanted to release it,…

THE WORD “MASSAGE” glowing in a dark alley. That buzzing “pabst” sign hanging in your favorite dive bar. For decades, neon signs have lit up every corner of urban life. And although commercial uses have dwindled—blame LEDs—the craft of making these signs is still alive. Neon makers, known as benders, are now just as likely to be designing signs for art galleries as they are for businesses. “It’s a new contemporary sculpture,” LA artist Patrick Martinez says. “I love the pulsing, hypnotizing saturated colors neon has to offer.” We asked him to illuminate the process. 1. Design After sketching a basic concept, Martinez refines the design in Photoshop. When it’s ready, his pattern maker, Sylvia Duarte, prints out a full-scale version on a sheet of white paper. 2. Bend Managing…

We’re all lazy online shoppers, and not just with those one-click Buy buttons. We want what we want, now, even when it will probably go on sale next week. You could apply for a refund, but who has time for that? The bots at Paribus want to help. If you’re willing to hand over access to your email and credit card info—a big if—they’ll bug retailers on your behalf. The app is part of an emerging class of do-it-for-me services that turn life’s little inconveniences into extra savings. There’s Trim, which cancels paid subscriptions you no longer use, and Slice, which is similar to Paribus but also stores your receipts and tracks shipping. Other apps route spare change into your investment accounts (Acorns), optimize budgets (Mint, Level Money, Digit), suggest…

1 Sony RX10 111 Festivals don't allow "professional" cameras inside. Their blanket definition? Anything with a detachable lens. The one-piece RX10 shoots rocking 20.1-megapixel stills but will still clear security. Extend the massive 25X zoom to get front-row shots from the back s of the mosh pit. $1,500 2 Patagonia Houdini Jacket When the headliner and the storm are both raging at once, you need a zip-up that keeps you dry without boiling you alive. Patagonia's windbreaker is paper thin but treated with "• a DWR coating to block the wet. When the sky clears, it balls up small enough to fit in its own pocket. $99 3 Here Active 1 Listening These wireless ear-buds do more than protect your hearing. They also let you control the show by tweaking…

A WEIRD THING HAPPENED to me a few year's ago. John Cale, the legendary musician, producer, and Velvet Underground cofounder, was on a press tour promoting a new album and, in interviews with several different magazines, mentioned being a fan of a rap song I'd made. Uh, what? I couldn't believe it. (In fact, I just now had to go back and look in Artforum and Interview to confirm that I didn't dream it up.) John Cale, one of my musical idols, somehow came across my track. I'd put it out on a small record label without a publicist. No video, no live shows, no review on Pitchfork. It often feels impossible to get your music in front of people who might actually care about it. So how the hell…

Jaws Dinner table copycat Consumed by the attacks, Dad is snapped back to his family by his son’s mimicry. It’s innocence in the face of horror, and Dad needs the comic relief as much as we do. E.T. Ride in the sky Elliott’s eyes go wide, then squeeze shut as he realizes he and his bike basket cargo are toast—just before they lift off. The emotion plays out on his face, making us worry and then grin. Hook Grown-up Peter Pan The Lost Boys don’t recognize a now aged Peter, so they pull back his wrinkles to analyze his face. It’s a kid’s version of determining identity—and it reminds Peter who he is. Jurassic Park Velociraptors in the kitchen The power of this scene comes from an older sister’s bravery,…

WHEN KEVIN KELLY,wired’s founding executive editor, put on his first VR headset in 1989, “it felt unbelievably real,” he wrote in May’s cover story (“Hypervision”). But that nascent technology doesn’t hold a virtual candle to what Kelly experienced earlier this year at the Florida headquarters of Magic Leap, the ultrasecretive, ultrafunded startup toiling away on so-called mixed reality. Between Magic Leap and the dozens of other companies building AR and VR systems, Kelly is ready to declare this the true age of artificial reality—once and for all. Re: “Hypervision” “IF I CAN EXPERIENCE THE OASIS FROM READY PLAYER YER ONE, JUST SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.” Kurt Mbanje (@ckurtm) on Twitter “Where does the term ‘mixed reality’ suddenly spring from? Why is it a better descriptor for the experience…

Avobenzone The two main types of skin-damaging UV radiation are UVA and UVB. Avobenzone absorbs the former, which accounts for about 95 percent of the UV radiation that reaches Earth and also penetrates the skin more deeply (yikes, wrinkles!). Trouble is, once this stuff gets hit by sunlight, it changes into a form that’s powerless against UVA. But octocrylene comes to the rescue. Octocrylene This oily liquid is a stabilizer, helping keep avobenzone in a form that can continue leading the fight against UVA. Tocopheryl Acetate As UVA rays penetrate the skin, they can cause oxidative stress: The light beam forces bonds between molecules to break unevenly, sending atoms with unpaired electrons careening into the body. To stop these unstable free radicals from stealing electrons from other molecules, which could…

THE FIRST TV show Mary Elizabeth Winstead starred in—playing a half-human, half-werewolf teenage girl—was shot in Vancouver. Though CBS canceled Wolf Lake after one season, Winstead fell in love with the coastal Canadian town and has worked there on and off ever since. Over time, the actress has graduated from her scream-queen origins to leading roles in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and this year’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, the J.J. Abrams– produced thriller in which she’s abducted by a terrifying prepper played by John Goodman. (In June, Winstead returns to TV on CBS’ Brain-Dead, a show about zombie politicians by the creators of The Good Wife.) But despite Winstead’s onscreen flair for the eerie and bizarre, her real life is more about chic eats and outdoor adventure. Like Vancouver itself,…

1 Bowers & Wilkins P7 Headphones This decadently appointed headset hails from the UK, where Bowers & Wilkins has been gilding the eardrums of posh audiophiles for 50 years. The leather cups form a seal around your ears, stifling ambient noise and keeping your Radiohead private. Rich-sounding 40-mm drivers put you right in the studio with Thorn and Co. $400 2 Master & Dynamic Headphone Stand Don't just plunk all this fine gear on your desk in an unaes-thetic heap. Arrange your components with core, and perch . your headphones \ on a proper stand. The heavy steel construction on this one stabilizes your cans, and a rubber foot keeps that Knoll desk scratch-free. $59 3 Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies A dedicated headphone amp sweetens up your audio, adding drama…

STICK TO IT Over time, people in exercise programs tend to start slacking off. SAN FRANCISCO’S Fort Mason park is empty in the early morning darkness, every surface the color of a used castiron pan. It’s pouring rain, and I’ve been wandering around since just after 6, trying to find … well, I’m not exactly sure. All I know is that, according to a Facebook post, members of one of the strangest fitness groups in the country are supposed to be meeting here right about now. But the Google Maps screenshot I pulled from the website seems to have directed me to a parking lot. Or the front door of the high-end vegetarian restaurant Greens. It’s hard to tell. I check Facebook again. What are you planning to do for…

WIRED: Why did you want to make An Inconvenient Truth? Gore: I have to admit to you that initially I did not want to do a documentary. What? Why not? It’s a dumb reason. I didn’t think a slideshow could translate into a movie. I thought back to my days in school, when I tried to take a shortcut studying Shakespeare by watching filmed versions of the plays, where they just set up a camera and filmed the stage. It didn’t translate. Participant Media and Davis Guggenheim had to convince me it was a good idea, and I’m so glad they found ways to reveal to me the depths of my ignorance about moviemaking. It’s a message that has to be heard. Sorry to risk sounding grandiose, but the future…