Gizmodo

Thank you, contemporary designers, for lifting our spirits with wearable bubbles, dining table sneeze guards, and hug tunnels during these trying times. No thank-you for these four pieces of lumber behind which we can contain our sadness and paper towel wads, aka, a minimal home office from Panasonic, available soon…Read more...

The strange configuration of material in the outer reaches of our solar system has led a team of scientists to speculate that the Sun had a companion during its early days. Intriguingly, this scenario could explain the presence of the hypothesized Planet Nine, should it actually exist.

Louis DeJoy was nothing but a private equity ghoul and fundraiser for President Trump before he became Postmaster General in May. In his short tenure, the constitutionally mandated U.S. Postal Service has begun to “overhaul” its operations in a way that has slowed service and caused it to warn most states it may not…Read more...

“Guess,” says my boyfriend, as he now does every morning, before turning on the coffee kettle. “Fifteen,” I reply without looking up from my laptop. “You owe me ten bucks,” he beams. “Way over fifty.” He means fruit flies, of course.

California’s rideshare behemoths Uber and Lyft are still grasping for ways to get around the state’s attempts to classify their drivers as full-time employees, and the long-play at this point very much appears to be a November ballot measure. But the two companies have reportedly explored alternative workarounds as…Read more...

Most of us might think of Facebook as the social network of choice for suburban moms and conspiracy theorists, but the company hasn’t been shy about branching out to become much more than an app on our phones, even if that’s the last thing we want. Here’s an example: earlier today, Facebook put out a company blog post…Read more...

In a future world, leafy vegetables may not be grown in rows of crops under the sun. Instead, they may be grown indoors beneath tinted semi-transparent solar panels that will allow farmers to grow food and produce energy. That’s the future imagined in a recent study that shows how the use of this technology can…Read more...

The iconic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was damaged last week when a large cable fell onto the radio telescope’s main reflector dish. We’re now learning more about this unfortunate incident, including how long it might take until the beleaguered observatory is back online.

In case your smartphone tracking your travels, web browsing, dating history, job changes, diet changes, shopping habits, and general content consumption wasn’t enough for you, there’s good news. Soon, the little snitch in all of our pockets might be able to tell us when we’re plastered just by measuring a few of our…Read more...

One of the biggest advantages iPhones have over their Android counterparts is the number of years Apple devices receive regular software updates. However, while it isn’t quite the five years of support iPhones typically enjoy, Samsung is now committing to supporting many of its recent Galaxy devices with at least…Read more...

In the hierarchy of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, The Legend of Korra often gets slighted. But Korra is just as good, if not better than, The Last Airbender. Here are three reasons why our pal Max thinks the follow-up series deserves more credit.Read more...

An HP Envy Photo printer, a Fibit Inspire HR fitness tracker, a Razer gaming mouse and keyboard, an Outer Worlds price drop, a Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 air fryer, a Eufy Smart Lock Touch, a Bellesa Boutique 1-day sex supply sale, and a discount on Huckberry swimwear lead Tuesday’s best deals.Read more...

There are arguably two vital components to making a new Space Jam. One is that the almighty clash of animated Looney Tunes enmeshes with the real-world stuff as well as our brains remember the original doing. The other is the Tune Squad must be decked out in an iconic look, and Space Jam: A New Legacy is already…Read more...

Back in 2005, before the iPhone, Apple purportedly helped a U.S. Department of Energy contractor modify a 5th-generation iPod to secretly record and store data. The exact reason why remains a mystery, but an ex-Apple engineer involved in the project thinks it could have been a surreptitious Geiger counter.Read more...

I thought that I hated Mister Softee.Read more...

When Samsung released the Galaxy S20 Ultra at $1,400, it felt like Samsung was trying to push its super-premium phones into a whole new tier, a tier that would justify its obscene $1,400 price tag. However, even though the S20 Ultra had a giant 6.9-inch screen and a huge 10x lossless zoom, it lacked some of Samsung’s…Read more...

Early this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the “Clean Network” plan, a trade war offensive aiming to cut Chinese tech companies off from United States consumers. Before a numb and beleaguered public could wrap its head around such a plan, Trump dispatched a pair of chaotic executive orders effectively…Read more...

There are many reasons to avoid wanting a social media digital paper trail of your entire life. Maybe there are posts there you think your new employer won’t like, or that your new partner’s parents won’t like, or even ones that you don’t believe in anymore. But wiping the slate clean and starting again is only one of…Read more...

Scream 5 adds another mystery character to its ranks. Get a tiny look at the next Candyman. James Wan teases some horror touches to Aquaman 2. The co-directors of Atlantis say Disney has no plans to remake it. Plus, just when Supernatural begins its final end, and a new look at Disney+’s puppet talk show. Spoilers now!

Nvidia’s cloud gaming service, GeForce Now, officially hit beta on ChromeOS today and it’s helping to make the gaming PC obsolete faster than you’d expect. Just a good internet connection and a Chromebook, and off you go! Visit play.geforcenow.com and log into your GeForce Now account. That’s it. You don’t need to…Read more...

Razer Viper Gaming Mouse | $60 | AmazonRead more...

Oracle has expressed interest in buying TikTok from Chinese-based tech company Bytedance according to a new report from the Financial Times. The move comes after President Donald Trump’s threat to ban the popular video app.

Tardigrades’ rights to be kickass water bears hardcore enough to survive in space’s vacuum just got defended by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second City Circuit. Oh, and that Star Trek: Discovery’s use of one of the creatures didn’t infringe copyright, ending a legal battle that’s been brewing since the…Read more...

Apple is expanding support for its independent repair provider program to include its Mac computers. That means more options for consumers, but it’s important to remember Apple’s independent repair support is still very much on Apple’s conditions.

The Accutron—the world’s first electronic watch—is back. Sort of. The new Spaceview 2020 relies on a similar movement and that original 1960s design, but packs in a few welcome modern features.Read more...

In all the talk about TikTok collecting the data of Americans and sending it to the Chinese government, we’ve often overlooked the broader issue of data brokers collecting the data of Americans and sending it god-knows-where. Case in point: A newly released document shows the U.S. Secret Service went through a…Read more...

Because this is the year when things continually go from bad to worse to even worse, the Trump administration approved an oil leasing program for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).Read more...

According to an announcement via the Epic Games Newsroom Twitter account, Apple will terminate all of Epic’s developer accounts and cut the company off from iOS and Mac development tools, effective Friday August 28, 2020. In response, Epic has updated its court filing against Apple. Epic is calling this latest move by…Read more...

Preliminary research out this week found that patients taking opioids for chronic pain can produce antibodies to the drugs, which could help explain some of the side-effects of long-term opioid use; these antibodies may also hamper efforts to create opioid vaccines, which scientists hope could treat opioid use…Read more...

If your child’s school is lucky enough to have the funding, they probably have enough laptops to give one to every student as long as remote learning is the new normal. If not, you might have had one hell of a time trying to find a Chromebook for your child back in March, or are still trying to get them their own…Read more...

Joining the multiple parties currently investigating Amazon and its shady marketplace behavior, authorities in Germany and Canada are now launching their own respective probes.Read more...

Absurdism, as a philosophy and artistic movement, is about humanity’s inability to find meaning in our strange, chaotic universe. Instead, we seek to embrace the bizarre, finding comfort in the things that exist outside of our reality. Given the state of the world right now, is it any wonder we might need that?

We finally have a woman of color on a major party ticket. Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice president is historic and something to celebrate, but she still deserves scrutiny. This coupling makes some important climate battles especially hard if Biden wins the White House. But Harris’ past…Read more...

In what could possibly be described as a brilliant antitrust set-up, Epic Games is suing Apple and Google for removing its Fortnite game from the iOS App Store and Google Play store, respectively.

Jake Johnson may have to duck out of Jurassic World: Dominion. Amazon and Blumhouse are teaming up for a series of special horror films. Peacock has landed itself a mystical martial arts series based on Fonda Lee’s Green Bone saga. Plus, the CW has more comic book shows to give comic book posters to, and what’s to…Read more...

As soon as you place one digital foot on the internet, chances are that you’re being tracked—and exactly who is doing the tracking and why is often far from obvious. The good news for your user privacy is that there are a growing number of browser extensions that can shed some light on who’s following you around the…Read more...

Midea Dehumidifier | $165 | Amazon Gold BoxRead more...

The U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government-run news company that traces its roots to the first Cold War, has hired far-right commentator and conspiracy theorist Frank Wuco, according to a new report from Politico. It’s just the latest sign that President Donald Trump is attempting to build his own media empire…Read more...

iHome Desk Lamp With Clock and Wireless Charging | $39 | MorningSaveRead more...

On Thursday, a California judge denied motions by Uber and Lyft to delay a previous injunction ordering the ridesharing companies to reclassify their contractors as full-time employees. That ruling goes into effect on August 20, to which the companies had requested a 10-day extension in order to attempt an appeal.Read more...

Google kicked Fortnite off its Play Store on Thursday following the unparalleled theatrics of its removal from Apple’s app store earlier today.

Following damning allegations of gender discrimination that surfaced in a lawsuit filed earlier this week by the company’s former chief operating officer, Françoise Brougher, it appears Pinterest employees are organizing a walkout tomorrow, Aug. 14.Read more...

Two Senate Democrats late Thursday announced plans to introduce a bill they say would halt any “abrupt operational changes” at the U.S. Postal Service amid rising concerns the Trump administration is trying to interfere with the delivery of mail-in ballots.

There’s been a ton of pressure on Facebook to prevent the sorts of, uh, political shenanigans that ran rampant across its platform in the run-up to the 2016 election. The company’s latest tool in this fight is its long-awaited voter information center that’s set to roll out nationwide by the end of today. The online…Read more...

Facebook has boldly face-planted right into one of the few remaining types of fuckups it hasn’t before: quietly abandoning a pile of drilling equipment under the ocean.

The billionaires are fighting. But it’s not a Twitter slap fight between VC goons this time. Nope: The biggest company in the world is getting slapped with a lawsuit filed by an absolute goliath of the video game world. And because we’re all cooped up in our homes worrying about surviving the new school year and …Read more...

Is Donald Trump deliberately undermining the U.S. Postal Service to sabotage the transit of mail-in ballots on Election Day? Abso-fucking-lutely, Trump said in an interview with Fox Business News on Thursday.Read more...

With a seemingly ever-increasing number of cable and streaming services, simply figuring out where to watch that one live event or show has become its own challenge. So in an effort to help cut down on the noise, Google is upgrading Google Search with some new features to help you find live sports, shows, and movies.

What happens when you mix esoteric financial instruments with poor coding practices? You get decentralized finance (DeFi), a new buzzword popular with crypto fans who see it as a way to invest in new startups or put money to work by lending out dormant crypto to eager customers.Read more...

Palantir—a data crunching firm best known for its ties to Peter Thiel, the Pentagon, and police forces across the country—is apparently looking to finally go public, as people “familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg yesterday. Earlier today, the plans were confirmed by finance execs at Akita Michinoku Capital, a…Read more...