Gizmodo

Genius Mat by Sky Mats | $51 | Amazon | Promo code GENIUSMAT15Read more...

American politicians aren’t the only ones Facebook’s given free rein to lie in political ads on its platform. Per a CNN report, the company’s extending its widely panned policy across the pond as well, right in time for the UK’s general election. And here I thought I’d have to wait a whole year to see the fallout of…Read more...

The viral short-form video app TikTok has been staring down heightened scrutiny after several senators raised the alarm about possible cybersecurity concerns last month, and now it’s reportedly the subject of a national security review.

High school students in France may be among the first people in the world to actually understand how cryptocurrency works.Read more...

Letters to fuckwits: They’re all the rage! Just this week, we saw hundreds of Facebook employees co-sign a letter to Mark Zuckerberg condemning the site’s ad policies. But why should they have all the fun? With an open letter, you, too, can tell your company’s chief dipshit officer exactly how you feel.

You ever look around and notice that bears are notably absent from your newsfeed? That there are neither fat bears nor bears doing crimes anywhere to be found? Reader, there is a clear scarcity of bear blogs, and for that reason, I think it only fair we point you in the right direction.Read more...

Now-former Congresswoman Katie Hill bid a tragic goodbye Thursday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, leaving her apartment for the first time in the wake of a gruesome public shaming that she has vowed to combat. The tabloid publication of revenge porn, which caused her to resign on Sunday, calls into…Read more...

As Netflix faces increased competition with the release of two major streaming services this week, it appears Netflix is getting into the scripted podcasts game.Read more...

Netflix gave us another look at its take on the world of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels yesterday, and it dives deep into the monstrous beings and sinister humans that populate the Continent. It also gave us a rather infamous bathtub. Here’s all the cool throwbacks to both the books and the Witcher games we also…Read more...

Using some relatively inexpensive and readily available technology you can find at any well-stocked electronics store, Alaina Gassler, a 14-year-old inventor from West Grove, Pennsylvania, came up with a clever way to eliminate the blind spot created by the thick pillars on the side of a car’s windshield.Read more...

Smart devices are supposed to be better than dumb ones. By the nature of Bluetooth, wifi, or some kind of companion app, you’re theoretically getting something extra for all that money you’re plopping down. Smart lights are programmable, for instance. By that logic, the smart Oral-B Genius X should be more than just…Read more...

New fossil evidence suggests the Neanderthal practice of collecting eagle talons, which were likely worn as jewelry or used to create powerful symbols, was more extensive than previously thought. Remarkably, the dating of these artifacts suggests modern humans might have copied this practice.

If you have a Nintendo Switch, today’s a rare chance to grab those rarely-discounted first party games that are missing from your collection. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Maker 2, Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Mario Tennis Aces, Super Mario Party, Splatoon 2, and Pokemon…Read more...

In a season of flames and blackouts across California, yet another intense wildfire has broken out outside Los Angeles.Read more...

The ACLU and its Massachusetts chapter are suing the federal government for more information about how it uses facial recognition with regard to surveillance.Read more...

Those worried about the safety of autonomous vehicles might be surprised to hear that most commercial aircraft can already fly and even land themselves. To date, it’s a feature that’s only been available on larger aircraft, but Garmin is now bringing it to smaller private planes with its new Autoland system. Thing is,…Read more...

Fake classic games are everywhere: At the flea market, in your local game store, on eBay, and maybe even mixed in with your own collection. The bootleggers who make them are churning them out, meaning that the market will only become more saturated with them as the years go by. If you’re going to collect games, you’ll…Read more...

The vulture is often depicted as death’s maligned servant, circling ominously in the clouds in search of decay. We’ve come to associate these creatures with disgust—but I don’t think the stigma is warranted.

For a long time, it’s felt like Google has left the fate of its smartwatch and wearable platform—Wear OS—to third-party device makers like Fossil. But that’s all about to change now that Google has agreed to acquire wearable giant Fitbit.Read more...

Apple surprised its fans in September when it announced that anyone who bought an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or MacBook from September 10 onward (for a limited time) would get a free year of Apple TV+. But Apple says the offer is only good for the next three months. The company has also been a little bit…Read more...

We know that we’re all spending too much time glued to our phones, rather than looking at the person we’re talking to, the movie we’re watching, the sunset we’re missing, or the children we’re ignoring, and Google and Apple know it too. Google has pushed out six ‘experimental’ apps to try and curb our collective…Read more...

Sean Bean is heading to Snowpiercer, but not quite yet. Brannon Braga and Seth McFarlane are teaming up for a Clive Barker adaptation. Supergirl casts another recurring threat. Plus, Stranger Things is looking for some interesting characters to cast in season 4, Amazon sets its sights on more genre adaptations, and a…Read more...

The Battery Organizer Storage Case | $16 | AmazonRead more...

Twitter has thrown a lot at its rampant harassment problem over the years, from slapping on more abuse filters to purchasing an entire company to help them wrangle its online hellscape. But apparently abiding by that old adage “see something, say something” is one step too far for good ol’ Jack.

In a residence purportedly housing 140 other snakes, an Indiana woman was found dead Wednesday evening with an 8-foot-long python hanging around her neck.

WeWork and its chief investor, SoftBank, recently paid out WeWork co-founder and self-declared candidate for “President of the World” Adam Neumann to the tune of $1.7 billion just to get his ass out the door amid the company’s disastrous collapse. And he’s left quite a mess behind, with a proposed class-action…Read more...

In 1911, the San Francisco Examiner published a guide titled: “How to Make Really Funny Jokes.” According to author Professor Korski, a true joke is a “very pleasant absurdity contrasting with one’s habitual expectation.” A joke does not “merely cause laughter.” “Falling downstairs” is not a joke. A joke is not…Read more...

Halloween is the perfect time for horror, gore, and blood—but most of us are sadly limited to around five liters, which is not nearly enough supply to decorate a spooky party. That’s where the fake stuff comes in!Read more...

With the growing number of bumbling mistakes that Rudy Giuliani makes as Donald Trump’s attorney, it’s easy to forget that in early 2017 the President enlisted the maladroit fraudgoblin to be the White House cybersecurity czar.Read more...

Hey, do you have a creeping sense that some people are actually ruthless, homicidal androids merely posing as humans? I have some bad news. According to the documentary film Blade Runner, which takes place in November 2019, replicants have already arrived on Earth.

Games lend themselves surprisingly well to drinking, even though your hands are full most of the time. Drink while tweaking your settings. Drink during the opening cutscene (it’s always too long anyway.). Drink during load screens. Drink when characters on the screen drink. Drink before you even start playing. Come…Read more...

LAX is one of the busiest airports in the world, and anyone who’s passed through its terminals understands that waiting is a big part of your LAX adventure. But yesterday lines and delays were especially nightmarish for travelers using ride-sharing services as the airport officially started a new program requiring…Read more...

The United States Interior Department is grounding its fleet of more than 800 drones over concerns that the Chinese is using the devices to spy or facilitate cyberattacks, according to the Wall Street Journal.Read more...

President Donald Trump on Monday was running behind schedule, but the officers at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference were pleasantly occupied enjoying the music.Read more...

This has been a watershed year for tropical forests—and not in a good way. Massive fires have burned through hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforests in Indonesia and Brazil. The result is huge uptick in greenhouse gas emissions due to carbon being released from not only trees, but also degraded carbon-storing…Read more...

One of the most tantalizing smartphone rumors this year has been about Motorola’s reboot of the iconic Razr. And thanks to a recent slew leaked images, we might now have a better idea of what Moto will announce on November 13th.Read more...

Scientists have debuted a theory using the explosions seen in industrial accidents to understand supernovae in a new paper.

A new paper claiming that modern humans originated in northern Botswana some 200,000 years ago is being criticized by experts, who say the researchers relied on unproven and outdated techniques while also excluding competing lines of evidence. Alarmingly, the paper is also being criticized for its colonial undertones.Read more...

Have you heard the news about Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the company Fraud Guarantee? It’s even dumber than you can imagine.

With its dying breath, it looks like startup-turned-laughing-stock WeWork is investing in esports.

On Wednesday, Chile announced it would no longer host an international climate conference despite it being a little more than a month out. The move comes as protests over inequality roil the country. The only reason the conference was scheduled in Chile in the first place is that Brazil backed out of holding it after…Read more...

You know how it is in dark times—it’s not just the monsters that are capable of being monstrous.

Pipelines were made for transporting oil. But some, it appears, were made for leaking. The Keystone Pipeline System is one of those.Read more...

The hectic holidays are approaching, but according to a study shared in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, you shouldn’t waste your time immaculately wrapping the gifts you bought everyone—they’re more inclined to like what’s inside if the presents are wrapped poorly.Read more...

A huge LEGO sale, Cosori airfryers, and Anker truly wireless headphones lead off Halloween’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

In a crowded marketplace, the Amazon Fire TV sticks and boxes remain some of the simplest and least expensive ways to get music and movies up on your big-screen TV—especially if you’re invested in Amazon’s streaming services. If you own a Fire TV device, here are ten tricks to get more from it.Read more...

Two Amells are teaming up for an indie superhero showdown. Netflix has its fangs out for a new vampire series. Pennyworth, Another Life, and Creepshow will all return. Plus, Krypto rides into action in new Titans pictures and Riverdale gets way into genetics. Happy spoiloween, everybody!

It’s been an absolutely bonkers month for social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, with Facebook admitting that it allows politicians to lie in ads on the platform and Twitter opening the floodgates to show users more ads than ever. Just yesterday, Twitter even announced that it was banning all political ads,…Read more...

Twitter on Wednesday announced a blanket ban on all political and issue-based advertising across its site, with CEO Jack Dorsey stating in a series of tweets that the company had decided to do so because “paying for reach” forces “highly optimized and targeted political messages on people.”

At this point, no one should be surprised when a new cellphone plan branded with the word “unlimited” is anything but. And yet, AT&T’s three new plans have figured out a new way to abuse the definition of unlimited even further.Read more...