What makes a better chess boxer, a boxer who can think strategically or a chess player who can throw a punch? According to Laura Pannack, a photographer who shot a series of chess boxer portraits at the London Chessboxing Championships last year, there’s no way to tell. “You never know what forms a chess boxer,” she says. “You can tell [the participants] come from lot of different backgrounds and I found that incredibly refreshing.” GUYS. CHESSBOXING IS A THING. SEE?

What makes a better chess boxer, a boxer who can think strategically or a chess player who can throw a punch?

According to Laura Pannack, a photographer who shot a series of chess boxer portraits at the London Chessboxing Championships last year, there’s no way to tell.

“You never know what forms a chess boxer,” she says. “You can tell [the participants] come from lot of different backgrounds and I found that incredibly refreshing.”

GUYS. CHESSBOXING IS A THING. SEE?

(Source: Wired)

  • March 22
  • , 2013

Each year the Super Bowl means two things: the ultimate face-off of the two best professional football teams of the season, and the ultimate chance for car companies, movie studios, tech companies, and snack entities to spend money to make money.

This year the Super Bowl face-off was between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, and the going rate for one of the prime commercial spots during football’s biggest night was between $3.7 million and $3.8 million, according to Advertising Age. While the massive flood of corporate sponsorship and over-the-top commercials might seem like capitalism gone wild, it’s also become an art unto itself, with each Volkswagen ad being just as primed for water-cooler conversation as each massive kickoff return.

Think of it this way: Do you know who won the Super Bowl in 1984? Maybe, maybe not. (It was the Los Angeles Raiders, but we had to Google it.) But have you ever heard of the “1984″ Apple commercial that introduced the Macintosh? Chances are that bit of pop culture awareness has long outlived the outcome of Super Bowl XVIII, or at least it has for culture wonks.

Read more about the cultural impact of Super Bowl commercials over @ Underwire!

(Source: Wired)

  • February 4
  • , 2013
LONDON — The beautiful game was exactly that as amputee footballers took to a pitch in the heart of the city to challenge the men who made their prosthetics. Players on both sides of the field share a deep passion for the game Americans call soccer, and a deep respect for what their opponents have done. Three of the men on the field lost limbs to the game they love, and feel a debt of gratitude to the prosthetists who helped them keep playing. James Catchpole, who organizes an amputee team based in north London and in this game played for the amputees’ “all-star” team the LA Spurs, sees the game against the Roehampton Prosthetists as a win-win. “In a way, it reflects badly on them if we lose,” he said. “It will mean they haven’t supplied us with good enough legs.” Amputee football is growing in the United Kingdom, with teams popping up from East Anglia to Sheffield to Cardiff. Dean Heffer, sports officer for the Limbless Association, wants to get the British game in line with the internationally recognized version of amputee football, then establish a British team. The goal is to see amputee football recognized as a Paralympic sport. Read more @ Playbook.

LONDON — The beautiful game was exactly that as amputee footballers took to a pitch in the heart of the city to challenge the men who made their prosthetics.

Players on both sides of the field share a deep passion for the game Americans call soccer, and a deep respect for what their opponents have done. Three of the men on the field lost limbs to the game they love, and feel a debt of gratitude to the prosthetists who helped them keep playing. James Catchpole, who organizes an amputee team based in north London and in this game played for the amputees’ “all-star” team the LA Spurs, sees the game against the Roehampton Prosthetists as a win-win.

“In a way, it reflects badly on them if we lose,” he said. “It will mean they haven’t supplied us with good enough legs.”

Amputee football is growing in the United Kingdom, with teams popping up from East Anglia to Sheffield to Cardiff. Dean Heffer, sports officer for the Limbless Association, wants to get the British game in line with the internationally recognized version of amputee football, then establish a British team. The goal is to see amputee football recognized as a Paralympic sport.

Read more @ Playbook.

  • February 4
  • , 2013
World record-holding surfer and known thrill-seeker Garrett McNamara is believed to have surfed the biggest wave ever, a 100-footer he rode off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. Word of the feat still has to be confirmed by the good folks at Guinness, but the 45-year-old Hawaiian is stoked by the accomplishment. “Thank you for all your support. It means the world to me,” McNamara tweeted yesterday. “Today was an awesome day and so fun to be out there.”

World record-holding surfer and known thrill-seeker Garrett McNamara is believed to have surfed the biggest wave ever, a 100-footer he rode off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal.

Word of the feat still has to be confirmed by the good folks at Guinness, but the 45-year-old Hawaiian is stoked by the accomplishment.

“Thank you for all your support. It means the world to me,” McNamara tweeted yesterday. “Today was an awesome day and so fun to be out there.”

(Source: Wired)

  • January 29
  • , 2013
Lance-o-Rama has broken out … again. But this time, we’re getting a confession. On air. On Oprah. Tonight. While many people speculate about this being his first step towards redemption, a comeback, a new chapter in the doping arms race, the one thing nobody seems to be discussing right now is what L’Affair de Lance means for you.

Lance-o-Rama has broken out … again. But this time, we’re getting a confession. On air. On Oprah. Tonight.

While many people speculate about this being his first step towards redemption, a comeback, a new chapter in the doping arms race, the one thing nobody seems to be discussing right now is what L’Affair de Lance means for you.

(Source: Wired)

  • January 17
  • , 2013
LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA — It’s a tough gig, but somebody’s gotta do it. For the last four days, the Wired products team has been up here at the Squaw Valley ski resort testing a mountain of snow sports gear: boards, skis, boots, goggles, helmets, outerwear, mid-layers, you name it. Just for you, we’ve put together a list of the standouts. In some cases, we’re showing you our favorites — the best-performing hard goods in our test. But we’ve also featured a few products that incorporate new technologies or test the limits by applying a new spin to a familiar formula. Read on to see our head-to-toe round-up of boarding and skiing gear. Maybe you’ll see something you need to make your next trip to the slopes a success. See what we picked out for y’all over @ Wired Reviews!  ::CHAKA BRAH SNOWBOARD EMOJI::

LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA — It’s a tough gig, but somebody’s gotta do it.

For the last four days, the Wired products team has been up here at the Squaw Valley ski resort testing a mountain of snow sports gear: boards, skis, boots, goggles, helmets, outerwear, mid-layers, you name it.

Just for you, we’ve put together a list of the standouts. In some cases, we’re showing you our favorites — the best-performing hard goods in our test. But we’ve also featured a few products that incorporate new technologies or test the limits by applying a new spin to a familiar formula. Read on to see our head-to-toe round-up of boarding and skiing gear. Maybe you’ll see something you need to make your next trip to the slopes a success.

See what we picked out for y’all over @ Wired Reviews!  ::CHAKA BRAH SNOWBOARD EMOJI::

(Source: Wired)

  • December 11
  • , 2012
LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA — Two things happen on the second day of a multi-day snow resort trip. First, the atrophied muscles you put through the paces on day one make their anger known, and second, you get more comfortable on the slopes. The muscles may be sore, but when you were putting them to work on your first runs of the season, they were gaining the memory that makes each run slightly better. Soon enough, you’re pulling off epic park jumps. Well, epic is a relative term. But you have to start somewhere, and most of the Wired Winter Camp crew started its Friday at Squaw Valley’s terrain park. Read more @ Playbook and follow along on our winter adventures!

LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA — Two things happen on the second day of a multi-day snow resort trip. First, the atrophied muscles you put through the paces on day one make their anger known, and second, you get more comfortable on the slopes.

The muscles may be sore, but when you were putting them to work on your first runs of the season, they were gaining the memory that makes each run slightly better. Soon enough, you’re pulling off epic park jumps. Well, epic is a relative term. But you have to start somewhere, and most of the Wired Winter Camp crew started its Friday at Squaw Valley’s terrain park.

Read more @ Playbook and follow along on our winter adventures!

  • December 9
  • , 2012
Turns out, women were the trending topic of this year’s Olympic games. Woot! Go ladies! Side note: Gabby Douglas saw the largest percentage increase in social media mentions during the Games. This word cloud from AddThis shows her hair was discussed about as frequently as her sport. (?!)

Turns out, women were the trending topic of this year’s Olympic games.

Woot! Go ladies!

Side note: Gabby Douglas saw the largest percentage increase in social media mentions during the Games. This word cloud from AddThis shows her hair was discussed about as frequently as her sport. (?!)

(Source: Wired)

  • August 16
  • , 2012
Ok ok ok… so we know the Olympics are over and that everyone’s still reeling from competitive-sports-induced excitement. So, to help you recover from your fish-and-chip withdrawls, the Raw File team has pulled together a gallery of some of our favorite photos from the 2-week extravaganza. They’re pretty, they’re intense, and no, Ryan Lochte doesn’t make a cameo. #jeah

Ok ok ok… so we know the Olympics are over and that everyone’s still reeling from competitive-sports-induced excitement. So, to help you recover from your fish-and-chip withdrawls, the Raw File team has pulled together a gallery of some of our favorite photos from the 2-week extravaganza.

They’re pretty, they’re intense, and no, Ryan Lochte doesn’t make a cameo. #jeah

(Source: Wired)

  • August 15
  • , 2012
Dan Chung, a staff photographer for The Guardian in England, shoots the Olys using nothing but three iPhones, a set of binoculars and some third-party iPhone lenses - and gives other pros a run for their money.

Dan Chung, a staff photographer for The Guardian in England, shoots the Olys using nothing but three iPhones, a set of binoculars and some third-party iPhone lenses - and gives other pros a run for their money.

(Source: Wired)

  • August 9
  • , 2012