Gizmodo

Where technology was concerned, my dad liked things that were cheap. He liked things that did what they supposed to do. And he didn’t like being hassled. Anything else, and he’d excommunicate an entire company it forever, even if the quality improved down the road. His victims were marked by derisive nicknames:…Read more...

Earlier this summer, OnePlus pulled a big tease when it released the mid-range OnePlus Nord and then announced that it wouldn’t be available in the U.S. But now it appears OnePlus is working on an even cheaper phone with a massive battery and most importantly, an actual stateside release.Read more...

If you bought a pair of Powerbeats 2, you may be entitled to some sweet, sweet cash, as Apple has agreed to settle for $9.75 million.

Right now, Big Freedia is at the top of her career. In the past five years, the bounce music artist has been sampled on Beyoncé’s banger, “Formation” (she’s the one saying, “I came to slay, bitch”), and Drake’s “Nice for What” (aka the song of summer 2018). But 15 years ago, she was holed up in a duplex with several…Read more...

An update launched this week lets you turn your waterproof GoPro action camera into a working webcam. The update, which is compatible with the with the HERO8 Black, allows you to connect the camera via a USB-C cable and have it appear as a camera in apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

PowerPoint offers plenty of features for whipping up presentations, but it’s also the same software that everyone’s been using for the past three decades. On top of that, it’ll set you back $7 a month, or $70 a year, as part of Microsoft 365. These alternative programs are fresher, more straightforward, and free to…Read more...

Tony Todd is very excited for Candyman’s return. The King’s Man is moving all the way into February 2021. Star Trek: Discovery returns...to CBS. Plus, get a look at The Haunting of Bly Manor’s titular terrifying estate, what’s to come on Lovecraft Country, and Simon Kinberg and David Weil’s alien invasion series hires…Read more...

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Jim Gaffigan, arguably America’s most wholesome comedian, has finally had enough of Donald Trump’s shit. And he’s here to tell you that Trump and his minions are destroying America.

CEO Elon Musk called a thwarted cyberattack against Tesla “serious” on Thursday after a Russian national reportedly tried to recruit and bribe an employee to install ransomware on the company’s network at its Gigafactory in northern Nevada.

The Democratic Party sent out an email blast to staffers on Wednesday urging them to “swipe carefully” on dating apps because undercover political opponents could be trying to slide into their DMs to gather dirt for the campaign, according to a CNN report.Read more...

One of Portland’s most beloved bookworm attractions, Powell’s Books, will stop selling books on Amazon this weekend, Aug. 29, Oregon Live reports. Aug. 29 is also Independent Bookstore Day. Fitting, no?

We’ve been talking about The New Mutants for so long they’re more like “The Old Mutants” at this point. The first trailer came out way back in 2017 and ever since, rumors and speculation about its release became so abundant it truly felt like the movie would never happen. Well, it’s happening. This weekend. And a new…Read more...

It’s been months since HBO Max and Peacock officially launched, and still, neither streaming service currently appears on the Roku platform (or Amazon, for that matter). The companies have said discussions about support were ongoing, but now we know why they’re still absent: Roku’s support fees are expensive as hell.Read more...

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its guidance this week to say that people who have been exposed to the coronavirus but don’t have symptoms don’t necessarily need to be tested for it, the health agency’s director issued a statement that “testing may be considered for all close contacts of…Read more...

It’s clear that Apple is banking big on its streaming service TV+. The tech giant has made the service free for a year with new Apple devices; it’s introduced streaming bundles exclusively available to TV+ subscribers; it’s paying unfathomable sums of money to acquire visionary directors and talent; and now, it may…Read more...

Last month’s marathon tech antitrust hearing was half the circus that some of us were anticipating, and half cogent arguments that solidified just how desperately the tech giants need to be reigned in. But the one thing that both parties seemed to agree on was that tech CEO’s are terrible liars that have created some…Read more...

The uncool bidders for extremely cool video app TikTok now reportedly include, uh, Walmart.

Climbing Mount Everest is one of the hardest athletic feats a person can do. But new research out this week suggests that it has gotten easier to pull off in recent years. The study found the success rate of climbing the highest mountain on Earth has doubled in the last decade relative to years past, while the…Read more...

This morning began as any other Thursday morning would have. I was hungry, in need of coffee, and in Slack, sifting through the garbage fire news cycle for a morning blog. Like magic, a coworker shared a link to a blog titled “Optimal Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches.”Read more...

At Earther, we’ve been following the historic extent of ice melt in the Arctic this summer pretty closely. But not as closely as Gunnar Spreen and his research team, who are literally following the ice.Read more...

Yes, you read that correctly. Sony announced yesterday that some lucky individuals who pre-register on the PlayStation website will be the first to pre-order one PS5 Console or one PS5 Digital Edition at some undisclosed date in the future. Sony has yet to announce the price of the PS5, and hopefully, it will before…Read more...

There are bad ideas, and then there is Amazon’s attempt to get into the health tracker market with a new health subscription service and accompanying tracker, Amazon Halo and Amazon Halo Band.Read more...

Hurricane Laura’s devastation is becoming clear as light spreads over Gulf Coast. The storm made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane in Louisiana early Thursday with “catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center. When it made landfall, Laura tied the…Read more...

Hurricane Laura made landfall over Louisiana last night, causing hundreds of thousands to lose power and severe damage to infrastructure like chemical plants even as the storm weakened over time. But from the safety of the virtual clouds, Microsoft Flight Simulator players spent the last day exploring the storm from a…Read more...

Revel—the moped-sharing company which has blessed major cities with fleets of lightweight, cheap, zero-emissions minibikes but also cursed them with a brigade of untrained scooter jockeys—has returned to New York City’s streets this morning after three fatal crashes halted service in July. Whereas people over 21 with…Read more...

Many, many things about The New Mutants make it stand apart from the rest of the superhero movies out there. Its many delays are one. The fact it’s being released in the middle of a pandemic is another. But inside the story, it’s also one of the first Marvel movies to have an honest, open, LGBTQ relationship.Read more...

A rare egg fossil containing an unhatched dinosaur suggests baby sauropods were not miniaturized versions of the four-legged, long-necked behemoths we all know and love, exhibiting a unique set of physical characteristics that included a little rhino-like horn.Read more...

A Samsung 82" 4K smart TV, an Insignia soundbar + subwoofer combo, a Samsung 256GB microSD card, a LEGO Architecture NYC replica, a Keen Footwear Labor Day sale, a discount on patterned reusable masks, and a cooling mattress topper lead Thursday’s best deals.Read more...

Not everything you share on social media needs a reply. Most sites and apps let you limit who can comment on your posts, which is for the best. Here’s how you can restrict the feedback loop on some of the biggest social platforms.Read more...

Four months ago, Kevin Mayer was running Disney+ and only had to worry about cashing checks. But in May he decided to take a giant leap and become the CEO of social media behemoth TikTok. In his short tenure, all hell broke loose at the company, and on Wednesday, Mayer informed employees that he’d be stepping down.Read more...

Ikea and Lego, two companies known for selling products that customers have to build themselves, have finally revealed the fruits of their collaborative labor first teased two years ago. Confusingly, though, it’s not furniture assembled from giant modular bricks, but a collection of plastic storage boxes adorned with…Read more...

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Earlier this month, Samsung announced a full refresh of its mobile portfolio. However, there were some important details that didn’t get announced—especially at it pertains to Samsung’s next flagship foldable phone—so Samsung has decided to finish the job by hosting a second event next week.Read more...

The duo behind Host are teaming up for a new horror adventure. Bill and Ted meet Death again in a new Face the Music clip. Peacock sets its eyes on a killer short film about drones for a new series. Plus, The Haunting of Bly Manor sets up a spooky tease, and go behind-the-scenes on Tenet. To me, my spoilers!

Researchers say they may have found a way to create more useful fat cells using the gene-editing technique CRISPR. In a new study out Wednesday, they found evidence—in mice—that these engineered cells can possibly help the body burn calories quicker, as well as prevent obesity and other metabolic problems, compared to…Read more...

Up until about two years ago I was convinced that electronic paper was an outdated technology that no one really needed. What completely changed my mind was the original reMarkable, an E Ink tablet that so perfectly recreated the pen on paper writing experience that I haven’t used a real notebook since. The reMarkable…Read more...

Senate Democrats joined the summer of climate plans on Tuesday. For policy nerds, it’s a time of great rejoicing. But just as important as the documents and their contents is the process behind them—and in this process, Democrats seem to finally be willing to go it alone, crafting a plan and executing it by any means…Read more...

LG unveiled its new PuriCare™ Wearable Air Purifier on Thursday, essentially putting one of LG’s home air purifiers on your face. The device looks like something George Jetson might wear if he got stuck in the bad timeline—with climate change-fueled wildfires, militarized police tear-gassing peaceful protesters, and a…Read more...

Get excited, repair nerds: Fairphone is rolling out a new 3+ model with two new camera modules. And yes, they’re compatible with the company’s current Fairphone 3 model.Read more...

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday that he wasn’t present in the room when other members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force decided to change its covid-19 testing guidelines. In fact, he was zonked out to high heaven on general anesthesia in an operating room.

Facebook received reports in advance about the Kenosha Guard, a self-proclaimed militia that urged gun owners to “defend” Kenosha, Wisconsin against Black Lives Matter protesters on Tuesday. It chose not to do anything, according to a report by the Verge, until nine hours after one of the armed vigilantes that swarmed…Read more...

I guess calling it House Haunters would’ve been too on the nose?

Quibi, a company that tried to force people stuck at home during a pandemic to watch movies on the smallest possible screens, is now evidently pivoting to drive-in theaters—a move that is confounding if for no other reason that it defies the entire point of Quibi.

Marvel Girl. Phoenix. Dark Phoenix. Sometimes just regular ol’ Jean. Over the decades, Jean Grey has adopted many looks and identities as one of the X-Men’s most iconic heroines. But try as she might, Jean will never escape the legendary Phoenix saga and its impact on her—and as this gorgeous poster shows, the iconic…Read more...

The Xbox Series X comes out in November, probably around the same time as the PS5 if Sony ever gets around to announcing its release date. But they don’t need to come out then. In fact, maybe it would be for the best if they were just delayed until some time next year.Read more...

Microsoft just added an extremely useful feature to Word on the web: transcription! Sure, Google Docs and apps like Otter.ai are free and let you type with your voice, like Word’s Dictation feature. However, Word on the web now allows you to upload entire audio files in addition to live transcription, merging the best…Read more...

In early August, Belarus—sometimes called Europe’s last dictatorship—went almost entirely offline for 72 hours. On Wednesday August 26, for approximately one hour, Belarus shut down key parts of the capital’s internet once again; allegedly, the order had come directly from official state bodies.Read more...

Rising seas have created an unprecedented flood risk that could have severe economic impacts. And with federal data far underestimating the scope of flood risk on properties in the U.S., it could put homeowners in a precarious position, particularly those already living in regions prone to flooding. A new project from…Read more...

Monkeys recovered from an ancient Egyptian pet cemetery have been traced back to India. The compassionate burials, in which the monkeys were laid down in the fetal position and surrounded with grave goods, suggests the primates were kept as pets, in what is a unique archaeological discovery.