Gizmodo

There was plenty to like about how Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island and Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters spent ample time playing to the visual majesties of their respective kaiju. But both movies suffered dearly whenever their focuses turned toward the human characters, whose relatively…Read more...

In India, agriculture employs more than 50% of the country. It’s also in crisis due to climate change and groundwater loss. A new study shows how these two factors are putting the country’s farmers at risk.Read more...

Microsoft is officially getting into the website-building biz. On Wednesday, the company’s digital marketing wing rolled out a shiny new suite of tools which promise to give businesses a quick and easy way to set up their own landing pages. And unlike some of the other site builders on the market—like, say,…Read more...

HP is already one of the biggest computer makers in the world, complete with its own line of Omen gaming systems. But today HP’s gaming empire is about to get bigger with the acquisition of HyperX.Read more...

A newly compiled 3D map has revealed more than 1 million binary star pairs located within 3,000 light years of Earth, highlighting the ubiquity of these celestial objects.

It all started with some tweets.Read more...

Rep. Deb Haaland just finished a historic confirmation hearing to run the Department of Interior. If her nomination is pushed through committee, she will in all likelihood be confirmed as the first Indigenous person to ever serve on a presidential cabinet.Read more...

By now, hopefully you’re aware that HBO Max has a killer back catalog of films. While a lot of subscribers are going to enjoy all the big Warner Bros. movies in 2021 (like Mortal Kombat!) on the streaming service, there’s plenty more to watch in the meantime.Read more...

Texas has a utility market unlike any other in the U.S., and in the wake of last week’s grid failure there that left millions of people in the dark, it’s come under scrutiny. Ninety percent of Texas’ electricity is generated on its own grid, and that grid is very lightly regulated.Read more...

Virtual reality has come a long way, but tripping over your couch while mid-game is still one of the more annoying things about the format. But, good news for Oculus Quest owners. A new experimental update will now let you mark your actual couch as an object in your virtual space.Read more...

New government-funded research this week should offer some comfort to people who have survived covid-19. It suggests they have a low risk of reinfection from the coronavirus, at least around three months later.Read more...

Before Dave Filoni’s Clone Wars cartoon unknowingly kicked off a huge part of the new Star Wars prequel-era canon, our best look at the lives of the clone army came from 2005's Republic Commando, a semi-tactical first-person shooter now hailed as one of the best Star Wars video games ever made. Happily, the game is…Read more...

So far, it’s been much ado about nothing as One Plus co-founder Carl Pei’s new company has yet to release a single product. But today, Nothing is making a splash by announcing a founding partnership with Teenage Engineering that will put the Swedish design group in charge of Nothing’s future product design.

Samsung and Apple have been making cellular smartwatches for years. But this isn’t about them. This is about how Fossil, the biggest Wear OS wearables maker, has finally, finally released its first cellular smartwatch.Read more...

Right now, Texas is in the balmy mid-50s. Yet just a week ago, it was colder than Alaska, and we all know what happened next. Much of the state’s energy capacity got knocked offline, leaving millions of people without power, heat, and water for days.

Android finally has its own version of Apple’s AirDrop. It’s called Nearby Share, and it makes it easy to quickly send files to another Android device.

WD 18TB External Hard Drive | $330 | Best BuyRead more...

Officials at the U.S. Postal Service held a press conference on Tuesday to announce the agency has awarded a $482 million contract to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense for a new fleet of vehicles scheduled to be rolled out in 2023. But the design of the new vehicles has been polarizing to say the least, with some social…Read more...

Fry’s Electronics, a longtime computer retail chain headquartered on the west coast, will close its doors for good, according to a new report from TV station KRON 4 in San Francisco. The report seems to confirms rumors from Twitter that started appearing late Tuesday claiming Fry’s would be closed permanently.Read more...

Apparently not content with having penetrated the networks of such piddling federal agencies as the U.S. State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and that agency that maintains our nuclear stockpile, the hackers of the “SolarWinds” affair also went after NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration,…Read more...

A federal judge in California ruled on Tuesday that a first-in-the-nation net neutrality law passed in the state in 2018 can now be enforced, signaling a huge victory for proponents of a more egalitarian internet and paving the way for other states to begin introducing open internet rules of their own.Read more...

Mozilla beefed up Firefox’s already impressive arsenal of privacy-preserving tech on Tuesday with the addition of a new tool in its flagship browser: Total Cookie Protection. As the name suggests, the feature promises to put the lid on any creepy cookies or third-party tracking tech that might want to track your…Read more...

A fragment of 10,000-year-old dog bone found along the Alaskan coast could be the oldest evidence of domesticated dogs in North America, and potential evidence of a coastal route taken by the first people to cross into North America from Eurasia.

Apple has bought out just short of 100 small businesses over the last six years as part of its corporate acquisition spree, CEO Tim Cook told shareholders at a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

Stardew Valley — the beloved and deeply meditative farming RPG — is now a beloved and deeply meditative board game.Read more...

AT&T is said to be very close to a deal for a minority stake in DirecTV.

It’s been a mystery as to who is responsible for the disastrous pummeling of Accellion, the global cloud provider that, in December, suffered through a large cyberattack. This week, researchers announced that the responsible party may have ties to two prominent hacker groups.Read more...

The costs of the Texas blackouts is still mounting, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Texans could be saddled with energy bills they’ll be paying for decades absent government intervention.

I’ve got that deja vu feeling. In 2017, the price of bitcoin exploded, prompting a bunch of random companies to announce their business was pivoting to “blockchain” in some form or another before being forgotten when the mania subsided. Three years later, we’re seeing bitcoin’s price fall from another record high and…Read more...

Dave Filoni has created a vast swath of the Star Wars universe through his Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons, The Mandalorian, and whatever else he has in the works next. He’s been such a driving force in the franchise that it can be hard to remember he didn’t actually make the first modern Star Wars cartoon. That honor…Read more...

Where I live in Baltimore, utility bills can be a crushing burden. That’s especially true for the city’s low-income residents, most of whom are Black. A 2020 study found that a quarter of low-income households here spent more than 21.7% of their 2017 income on energy, which is more than seven times higher than the…Read more...

Tesla might be the beneficiary of the GameStonks effect, at least according to analysts for the British bank and investment firm Barclay’s.

The ocean may have less time than we thought before massive, irreversible shifts take place. A new study finds that a crucial ocean system may reach its “tipping point” sooner than predicted if the rate of climate change continues at a breakneck pace.Read more...

Apple’s iPhone 12 MagSafe technology not only makes charging easier, it also enables functional accessories that can be snapped magnetically to the smartphones without using a case. The most anticipated of these is a portable charger, and it looks like Anker’s going to get one out the door before Apple does.Read more...

For a while it seemed like Sony’s high-end digital filmmaking cameras were on a collision course with its Alpha mirrorless cameras as those shooters became more capable at capturing video. Today the inevitable was confirmed: Sony officially revealed its FX3 with features from both the company’s digital cinema and…Read more...

While we wait for Android 12 to officially go live later this year, Google has a bunch of tweaks and updates coming to Android this spring.Read more...

In a 5,000 word article detailing the complex tale of the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League, one sentence sent fans into a mild frenzy: “He has reshot the ending with a hero cameo that will blow hard-core fans’ minds.”Read more...

Doctors say that a Michigan woman’s untimely death last fall was caused by covid-19 unknowingly spread through a double lung transplant. It’s likely the first clear case of covid-19 linked to transplantation. Another doctor contracted the viral illness through the procedure, but survived.Read more...

Webcams are a hot commodity these days, and if your laptop’s built-in cam isn’t doing you any favors, Razer’s new Kiyo Pro promises to make you look good even in bad lighting.

Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman shot to viral fame this fall as a (often hilarious) voice of reason during former President Donald Trump’s lie-filled campaign to undermine election results in the state. Now, he’s gearing up for new challenge: running for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat…Read more...

Archaeologists have discovered a 17,300-year-old painting of a kangaroo at a rock shelter in Western Australia, making it the oldest known painted figure ever to be found on the continent.Read more...

Ravenloft is one of Dungeons & Dragons’ most iconic settings—its go-to source for all things spooky and horrifying. But, as iconic as figures like Strahd Von Zarovich and the gothic lands of Barovia are, they’re only one flavor of horror the plane has to offer. A new D&D campaign sourcebook wants to open up new…Read more...

In a research note, prominent Apple prognosticator Ming-Chi Kuo says that both HDMI port and SD card slot will be returning to the MacBook Pro in the second half of 2021. Halle-fucking-lujah.Read more...

The tantalizing promise of true wireless charging—not just plopping your phone down on a charging pad—feels even more real as companies like Xiaomi, and now Oppo, demonstrate prototypes of their respective approaches to the technology. Although if Oppo’s wireless charging ever reaches consumers, your phone might still…Read more...

Fans of Sony’s virtual reality efforts have been wondering what was to become of console-based VR with the launch of the PlayStation 5. Today the company announces that a next-generation virtual reality system is in the works for the PS5, but it’s not going to launch this year.

This past fall, Fitbit went hard on mental well-being with its Sense smartwatch, which introduced an electrodermal activity sensor (EDA) to help quantify your stress levels. It was a thoughtful addition that went above and beyond the typical breathing reminders you see on smartwatches. Now, the company is hoping to…Read more...

It seems like every tech company is working to launch some kind of augmented reality app or headset. Now Qualcomm is releasing a reference design for smart glasses to hopefully speed up development of future AR gadgets.

MSI is one of the best makers of powerful but still portable gaming laptops. And with this year’s Stealth 15M, aside from a couple minor quibbles, it really feels like MSI has honed its craft. Not only is the Stealth 15M the thinnest 15-inch gaming laptop you can get right now, it features a 144 Hz screen combined…Read more...

Eufy 2K Indoor Security Camera | $30 | Amazon | Clip coupon

Facebook will allow users in Australia to read and share news on the social media platform again following negotiations with the Australian government, according to Australia’s treasurer Josh Frydenberg and representatives from Facebook. Who blinked first? That’s a matter of interpretation, it would seem.Read more...