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Photo: Spencer Higgins

The power-fighting ghetto blaster of yore is reborn. A glossy acrylic face replaces the Reagan-era plastic of old-school jam boxes, while stylishly illuminated touch-sensitive controls, an OLED display, and oversize aluminum knobs add a dose of pragmatic futurism. The dual 10-watt drivers produce surprisingly rich audio, and the relentlessly thumpy 15-watt subwoofer is a noise violation waiting to happen. Still, we would have liked some Obama-era amenities like a remote or Bluetooth.

WIRED USB,...

The tanklike endurance of the horror movie bad guy was a plot staple long before Scream made it a running joke. As the unmasked killer lies on the floor at the end—having been stabbed, shot, and even speared with an umbrella tip—video store clerk Randy cautions survivors huddling close to the body: “Careful, this is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare.” (Spoiler alert: He does.) It’s funny, as they say, because it’s true. Since serial murder became a form of celluloid entertainment—somewhere between 1960?s Peeping Tom and...