Keen to kickstart a community project or back the latest invention on the Internet? Take note: PayPal has updated its terms of service, removing purchase protection for payments made on crowdfunding platforms. The new policy comes into effect as of June 25, and it also drops protections for users paying for gambling and gaming (or …

You’re probably asleep at 4:30 a.m. Not Tommy Gibson. He’s already awake for 40 minutes of military-style cross-training. Six days a week he pulls a car while wearing a harness, carries 75-pound sandbags, flips 400-pound tractor tires and whips thick “battle ropes” that work his entire body. But Gibson, 36, wanted to push himself even more. He decided to try …

Are there toothmarks on all your pencils? Are your fingernails gnawed to the quick? I’ll take “things we chew on that we shouldn’t for $200,” Alex. Ever wonder why some ballpoint-pen caps have holes in the top? Weekend factoid: Apparently it’s to prevent people from choking on them while chewing on them. Science Alert this week pointed out that the …

Virtual-reality surround sound — also known as 3D audio, binaural, 5.1 or whatever you want to call it — never caught on for music. Surround sound that goes hand-in-hand with video has taken off, and now nearly all new movies, concerts, games and TV shows have multichannel audio. But new music on LP, CD, SACD, download or streaming is still …

Audeze is a Costa Mesa, California-based manufacturer of high-end headphones. The top model, the LCD-4, runs a cool $4,000 (£3,299 and AU$6,399 in the UK and Australia, respectively), but the latest Audeze, the Sine ($449, £399, AU$699) is their most affordable ‘phone yet. Frankly, I was more than a little surprised that Audeze could make headphones as beautifully built as …

Celebrate your love for the Avengers, Doctor Who, Suicide Squad, Hellboy, Archie, the Simpsons, Grumpy Cat and others by picking up free comics from your local comic book store this Saturday, May 7, for Free Comic Book Day. On the first Saturday each May, comic shops around the world open their doors to fans and readers. Many of the stores …

Are the two Leica lenses of the new P9 phone really boastworthy? My colleague Andrew Hoyle thought so when he tested the phone in London for CNET’s full P9 review. (He should know; he takes excellent photos.) But I’m still on the fence about how well the P9 captured my recent 19-day trip in Asia, where I met with companies …

Now playing: Watch this: Facebook in trouble for storing information about your… 1:11 Facebook knows you so well these days that it can recognize you just by seeing your face. You may not have a problem with this, but that doesn’t mean it’s all good in the eyes of the law. The social network lost the first round of a …

Congratulations to Stephanie M. of Bridgeport, Michigan, for winning a ThinkGeek May the Fourth bundle last week. Were you blown away by the Merc with the Mouth earlier this year? Well, here’s your chance to own a piece of “Deadpool” cinema history. Along with a copy of “Deadpool” on Blu-ray, this week’s winner gets an actual prop from the movie: …

Now playing: Watch this: Oculus Rift vs. HTC Vive 6:02 Sure, you can play around with VR on your phone, or wait for the PlayStation VR to hit later this year. But for the best stuff, the jaw-dropping, bleeding-edge VR stuff, you’ll need one of the big rigs. You’ll need a good PC, with some serious graphics and a major-league …