Gizmodo

The birth control pill is about to become over-the-counter in the United States. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the daily tablet medication Opill for nonprescription use. The drug's makers expect the OTC version to be available in stores by early 2024, though its price is still unknown at this...Read more...

Tired of being stuck at home, Google's Bard AI chatbot is finally leaving its parent's basement and going abroad on a worldwide backpacking adventure. The AI system is now fully and officially available in several long-sought countries, including most of the European Union. To get access to some of those wary nations,...Read more...

At 11:59 PM PT on June 12, the SAG-AFTRA contract expired. After nearly four weeks of negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee agreed that they had not yet reached a satisfying successor contract, and did not allow for a second extension.

It's day four of Mattel's 12 Days of Fandom" leading up to a celebration of collectibles at San Diego Comic-Con 2023-and io9 has a spooky yet stylish Monster High doll to reveal today.Read more...

Internet drug sales have skyrocketed in recent years, allowing powerful narcotics to be peddled to American teenagers and adolescents. It's a trend that's led to an epidemic of overdoses and left countless young people dead. Now, a bill scheduled for a congressional vote seeks to tackle the problem, but it comes with...Read more...

Getting butts into movie theater seats is anassignment Tom Cruise has taken upon himself, one cinema-revitalizing blockbuster at a time. In partnership with director-writer Chris McQuarrie, the star is hitting the screens with the latest thrilling chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Dead Reckoning Part One.

We're switching formats! As I am incapable of saying no, this is an overstuffed edition. Soon I will start saying no. Or i'll go weekly with this. One or the other.Read more...

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Congress released a highly anticipated report on Wednesday detailing how major tax prep companies and big tech firms like Google and Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, recklessly" shared the sensitive tax data of tens of millions of Americans without proper safeguards. The senators cited evidence from their...Read more...

Once the go-to spot for teens wearing Doc Martens and suffering from a taste in alternative music, Tumblr is apparently seriously in the red: The platform's CEO claims that the company is losing $30 million annually.

The Archive of Our Own-the largest digital library for fanfiction currently operating, and one of the highest-trafficked sites in the world-was temporarily unavailable after it experienced a large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack from a hacker group calling itself Anonymous Sudan." Ao3 reported the...Read more...

This year promises to be a San Diego Comic-Con like no other, but maybe not in the best way. Over the past two decades or so, fans could count on Comic-Con to be one of the best places to find out the biggest news about all their favorite movies, TV shows, books, comics, video games, and more. This year though, while ...Read more...

You can always count on tentpole blockbusters to give bombastic spectacle and massive action. During the 2010s, audiences watched plenty of CG armies fall, crossovers happen, and superheroes rise to the challenge. But one niche that wasn't exactly being filled at the time (at least in the West) was the giant robot...Read more...

Elon Musk launched his newest venture, an artificial intelligence company called xAI, to compete with other AI developers including ChatGPT maker OpenAI (which he also founded) and Google's Bard. Musk announced the launch on Wednesday, saying on the company'swebsite: The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature...Read more...

A private space company in China made aerospace history by launching its methane-fueled rocket to orbit, ushering in a new era of cleaner, safer rocket fuel that's better suited for reusability.Read more...

Superman: Legacy is adding another superhero to its roster, and his name is Metamorpho.

While the rest of us were Venmo-ing our friends for the dinner check, an aide to conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was apparently receiving payments on the app from lawyers that appeared before the high court.

Researchers poring over imagery and data from the Perseverance rover on Mars have found evidence of organic molecules in the planet's Jezero Crater, potentially providing evidence of the planet's carbon cycles and its ability to host life.

As strike talk in Hollywood heats up, entertainment industry publications like Variety and Deadline are running multiple stories about the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, DGA, and the AMPTP every day. And, as a result of aggregating such articles, so are many other sites, including io9. But many of the trades' sources have their own...Read more...

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Farmers Insurance will stop offering insurance coverage in the state of Florida. This includes home insurance, auto, and policies that cover a combination of these. Apparently, the company made this decision in order to better manage its risk exposure in such a hurricane and natural disaster-prone state, CNN reported.Read more...

The long-rumored roller coaster for the Fast and Furious franchise has officially received the green light in the latest Universal Studios theme parks expansion.

In 1864, David Goodell revolutionized kitchen food prep with the invention of a hand-cranked device that could peel an apple in a matter of seconds. Fifty-nine years later, Chipotle is introducing the next innovation in automated fruit prep with Autocado: a robot that can halve, peel, and core a mountain of avocados...Read more...

It's been almost four years since Sony introduced a new model to its popular, affordable, A6000 series of APS-C digital cameras. While the new A6700 isn't a huge step-up over 2019's A6600, it arrives with more than enough new features and improvements for fans of the line to consider finally upgrading their gear.Read more...

We all love movies, but let's be honest: television is where most of the best storytelling is happening these days. And today, nominations for the 2023 Primetime Emmys were announced, showcasing what voters think are the best of the best. And those votersapparently love genre.Read more...

Google got smacked with a class-action lawsuit Tuesday accusing the search giant of stealing everything ever shared on the internet," including copyrighted works and millions of people's personal data. The law firm behind the case, Clarkson, said the case comes afterGoogle changed its AI privacy policy, an updated...Read more...

A man and his mouth got into a hairy situation, according to his doctors. The man developed a fuzzy and starkly green discoloration of his tongue. Thankfully, this condition is usually benign, and his tongue eventually returned to normal.

General Motors and Google parent Alphabet are silently pushing the city of San Francisco to expand the number of beta-testing self-driving vehicles allowed on the road. In protest, hoards of city denizens have figured out a way to combat the multi-billion dollar companies' high tech, AI-driven cars: the humble orange...Read more...

The Webb Space Telescope launched to space in December 2021 with an ambitious goal: providing scientists with a deeper, sharper view of the history of the universe.Read more...

Secret Invasion is back with the Worst Spies in the world! A reminder that Rhodes is very likely a Skrull, Skrulls are doing Super Skrullification, and G'iah has been shot but if she's dead I'll eat my backpack. Priscilla has a gun, is likely on Gravik's side, and Talos is still an idealistic dumbass. Also Fury? Is...Read more...

Acyberattack attack on Microsoft originating in China breached government email accounts, the company reported late Tuesday. The threat, labeled Storm-0558, has mainly targeted Western Europe government agencies using espionage to steal data and credentials access.Read more...

During a test firing in late June, a Blue Origin rocket engine exploded at the company's West Texas facility in what could be another major setback for the launch of the Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Three independent artists are now suing ultra-cheap online retailer Shein, alleging that the company has been deploying an algorithm to identify trending art-including the artists' own designs-and recreating it in sweatshops, all under the leadership of a mysterious tech tycoon.Read more...

I understand that very few people care as much about Interview With the Vampire as I do, but the new season is right around the corner and promo is already getting set up for San Diego Comic-Con-so nobody should expect me to be normal about it. There's also just... a lot of interesting discussion going on about what's...Read more...

Although mostly relegated to e-readers, e-notes, and price tags at your local grocery store, there are some other novel users for E Ink displays. Want to display art on your walls without committing to just a single artist? That's how Project E Ink is using the display technology, but instead of putting renaissance...Read more...

Nothing's Phone (2) has finally struggled out of the muck into the light of day. It's got a beefier processor, a better camera, more of Nothing's signature blinking lights, and it costs more than $100 more than its first iteration.

Apple has a controversial policy in its App Store, one that's drawn the ire of Elon Musk in the past. If you want to charge people to unlock a feature in your app, you need to use Apple's In-App Purchase" system. That routes the transaction through Apple's payment network, and the $3-trillion tech giant takes a 30%...Read more...

It's the dead of summer so we can safely say it's time for Halloween season to start ramping up. Home Depot-the ghouls who brought the 12-foot skeleton into the world-is fully aware, and is ready to unleash an absolutely gargantuan new Pumpkin King.

A 61-year-old Canadian man who acted as a mentor to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ulbricht's confidant, known publicly by his online pseudonyms Variety Jones" and Mongoose" advocated in favor of a hired hitman and reportedly helped Ulbricht see a larger vision" for the...Read more...

A top cybersecurity pro for Amazon appears to be in deep trouble. Federal prosecutors say Shakeeb Ahmed used his hacking skills to steal $9 million in assets from a cryptocurrency exchange last summer, then attempted to launder the stolen goods through a haze of online trickery.Read more...

With his Clark Kent and Lois Lane newly chosen, James Gunn's Superman: Legacy is starting to fill in supporting roles in what will presumably be a formidable ensemble cast. We now know Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) will be Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi (X-Men: First Class) is Mister Terrific, and Nathan...Read more...

Thus far, the big selling point for Deadpool 3 is that it's surprisingly managed to bring back (among others) Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Jackman hung up his claws rather decisively with Logan in 2017, but the upcoming Marvel Studios flick seems to be going with a different version of the character-not the one...Read more...

Instead of getting on a conference call to figure out how to give SAG-AFTRA a fair deal, Variety reports that bigwigs in the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers got on a conference call to discuss the urgent situation." Additionally, Variety says that the group, which included Bob Iger (Disney), David...Read more...

The chatbot Claude has been sitting in the back of the class while the other AI like ChatGPT have fielded teachers' questions, even if the bot's answers are often misconstrued or outright wrong. Now Claude is ready to speak up, sticking a 2" next to its name while adding an interface for anybody to use.Read more...

A Ford executive has been charged with two felony counts for an alleged assault against his wife. Franck Louis-Victor's wife claimed her husband hit her with a Google Nest Hub smart screen, slapped and headbutted" her, and threatened to burn two of her bags worth $20,000 with a lit butane torch."Read more...

A mighty wind satellite has been losing altitude at a steady pace of nearly one mile per day, falling towards the surface of Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) will attempt to guide the satellite on its way down to minimize risk of damage as its pieces hit the ground.Read more...

Discord, the go-to social network for notoriously level-headed and respectful gamers, wants to make its platform more kid friendly. The company unveiled the Family Center Tuesday, a new tool to help parents and guardians keep an eye on their child's activity on the app.

While Legendary's MonsterVerse rumbles forward with projects like Netflix animated series Skull Island and big-screen live-action crossover sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Toho would like to remind you that the OG King of the Monsters is still making movies, and still crushing Japan.

Bank of America was ordered to pay $150 million in fines for double-charging customers, withholding promised reward bonuses for credit card holders, and opening thousands of bank accounts under customers' names without their knowledge, a federal investigation revealed.Read more...

The first year of the covid-19 pandemic helped fuel a spike of boozy liver injuries in the U.S., recent research suggests. The study found a jump in reported hospitalizations from alcohol-related hepatitis across the U.S. in 2020-even above the steady increases seen in past years. Deaths from these injuries...Read more...