Month: April 2021

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  This is a Hyundai Veloster N, and it's one of the few hot hatches you can buy in the US right now. It's also really good. [credit: Hyundai ]

When it comes to sporty hatchbacks here in the US, it has often been a case of "the grass is greener." For the longest time, Honda wouldn't bring the Civic Type-R to these shores. And the affordable "it car" du jour is the Toyota GR Yaris, a three-cylinder fun machine that wins over everyone who drives it. Everyone in Europe and Japan that is, because Americans will need to wait a quarter-century to find out how the Yaris handles the Cherahola Skyway, Mount Palomar, or Angeles Crest Highway—assuming you can still buy gasoline to run it.

Well, not this time. Say hello to the $32,250 Hyundai Veloster N, a bonkers little thing with asymmetric doors and handling tuned on the mighty Nürburgring Nordschleife. Shockingly, not only is it on sale here in the US, but it's not available to our cousins on the other side of the Atlantic.

In 2020, I finally tried out one of Hyundai's Velosters, in this case, the Turbo model. My conclusion at the time was that the fully loaded Veloster Turbo was let down by its dual-clutch transmission and that I suspected the similarly priced Veloster N would be better. As it turns out, I was correct.

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Chemical traces of 3,500-year-old beeswax on central Nigerian potsherds shed light on an often invisible aspect of ancient diets—and a bit about what fueled the culture that launched Africa’s Iron Age.

These farmers were super into metal

Terms like “Iron Age” only have meaning if you’re talking about a particular place, since periods of technological innovation didn’t begin at the same moment everywhere in the world. People in several regions discovered, at different times, how to turn iron ore into workable metal. Some cultures worked it out on their own, while others learned the new technology from neighbors, trading partners, or conquerors.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the Iron Age began sometime between 1000 and 550 BCE, and it began with the Nok people, a culture that sculpted elaborate terracotta figurines, farmed millet, and developed iron smelting. The first traces of Nok culture appear in Nigeria’s archaeological record around 1500 BCE, and they don't vanish until 2,000 years later, around 500 CE. Archaeologists still aren’t sure whether the Nok culture arose in Nigeria or whether the Nok people moved south from someplace like modern Mauritania, Mali, Niger, or Chad, where millet is an indigenous crop.

Enlarge / The new Roku Express with its remote. (credit: Roku)

YouTube TV is supposed to bring the best parts of cable TV to streaming, but it's also bringing one of the most annoying parts: carriage disputes.

Roku and Google are apparently fighting over the terms of carrying YouTube TV on Roku's streaming platform. Roku has sent out an email blast to customers with a subject line saying, "Google may remove your access to YouTube TV." If you can't already tell, we're getting a very one-sided take on the story right now. Google has yet to offer a response to Roku's first salvo, though we've asked for comment and will update this article if Google responds. Update: Google has responded, see below.

Roku's email says, "Recent negotiations with Google to carry YouTube TV have broken down because Roku cannot accept Google’s unfair terms, as we believe they could harm our users." Roku's email only vaguely alludes to what it is claiming Google wants, saying, "We cannot accept Google's unfair and anticompetitive requirements to manipulate your search results, impact the usage of your data, and ultimately cost you more."

Enlarge / One of many artful scenes of everyday "Big Shell" life shared by @TheTomOlsen on Twitter. (credit: TheTomOlsen / Twitter)

Weeks ago, a mysterious Twitter account popped up to tell the story of Tom Olsen, an unassuming maintenance technician at the fictional "Big Shell" facility that served as the main setting for Metal Gear Solid 2. The unique first-person photos and videos Olsen posted from "inside" Big Shell—and the account's interaction with the official Metal Gear Solid Twitter account—have led many to assume that "Tom Olsen" is a viral marketing campaign for an as-yet-unannounced Metal Gear Solid 2 remake.

No such luck. Instead, the account is the creation of a lone fan and self-described "Metal Gear Solid historian" who seems to be reveling a bit in the rumors and speculation he's driving.

How rumors get started

Tom Olsen's Twitter account describes him as a "born and bred NYer. Maintenance Technician at the Big Shell. Married 10 years to my wonderful wife Karen. Recovering Mets fan." So far, the account has amassed nearly 4,000 followers despite only following four accounts: three related to Konami and MGS and one for the New York Mets.