Gizmodo

The Trump administration rejected plans for a controversial open-pit mining project in Alaska on Wednesday that, if approved, could have threatened a thriving ecosystem for wild sockeye salmon.Read more...

If you’ve been watching the crypto markets over the past few weeks you’ll have noticed something special: bitcoin, everyone’s favorite decentralized digital currency based on hype, lies, and general malfeasance, is about to hit $20,000—if it can break through what is known as a “resistance zone,” a financial term…Read more...

Covid-19 canceled Thanksgiving but that doesn’t mean you have to be alone. At the same time, there are probably a lot of you who are a bit relieved to not have to hang out with your weird family. But there’s still a communal-experience-shaped hole in your life. However you’re feeling, there’s a perfect way to waste…Read more...

The French Ministry of Economy and Finance has warned tech companies that it expects them to pay the nation’s new 3% digital service tax starting in December, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Who has ever written a letter to someone without the intention of ever giving it to them? How many of you also burned that letter? Felt nice, I bet, purging all those negative emotions. I’ve done this a lot. Burned a lot of pictures, too. Watched the glossy paper bubble up and split open as it was reduced to ash. Fire…Read more...

There are plenty of good reasons to skip the grocery store this Thanksgiving. With covid-19 cases on the rise, avoiding unnecessary shopping trips is a good idea, and so is refraining from big family gatherings. Somehow, even amid the pandemic, grocery lines are also super long.Read more...

After a summer of nationwide protests against unchecked state violence brutalizing Black people in America, Amazon’s ever-escalating push to make itself indispensable to daily police work is drawing fresh scrutiny from a host of leading civil rights advocates. The tech giant’s efforts to support and enhance police…Read more...

One of the better features of the new Chromecast with Google TV is missing support for some of Netflix’s best content.

Why not under, for one?

Ultraviolet lamps meant to kill viruses and bacteria seem to be causing unfortunate eye damage in some people. In a new paper this month, doctors report several cases where people developed inflamed corneas due to UV radiation exposure from “germicidal lamps” put in place during the covid-19 pandemic. Some of the…Read more...

Even with the expansion of corporate communication suites like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite), Slack remains one of the most popular enterprise communication tools. And despite a cursed collab with Cole Haan, Slack stock soared following rumors that the popular app might get acquired by…Read more...

The holidays are stressful enough during a normal year. Cooking a giant turkey plus what feels like a million sides. Traveling for hours in atrocious freeway traffic, or battling TSA lines at the airport. The CDC is recommending you cut the travel this year to prevent the spread of covid-19 and, well, if you break out…Read more...

A muscle-bound and joyful young man is cutting down the Charles River like a water strider. His chipper banter distracts you briefly from the whir of an internal flywheel and a constant stream of numbers—split times, speed, strokes per minute—helps keep up the momentum. With a little more push, a little more pull, you…Read more...

Amazon Web Services—or just AWS, for short—suffered a massive outage on Wednesday that left a ton of apps, sites, and connected devices relying on the hosting giant completely in the dark.Read more...

Keyhole wasps like to build their nests in tiny holes, including the openings of devices used to measure the speed of aircraft. A recent investigation shows the problem is worse than we realized.Read more...

In the latest example of Amazon buddying up with federal forces, the ecommerce giant announced a new partnership with the Department of Homeland and security and DHL dubbed “Operation Fulfilled Action,” aimed at cracking down on counterfeit products.Read more...

In terms of design, not much has changed with the Apple Watch. Since it was introduced in 2015, each subsequent watch has pretty much adhered to the same look. That might change starting next year. Apple prophet Ming-Chi Kuo noted in a report today that next year, we ought to expect both “innovative health management…Read more...

Researchers have uncovered what they’re calling a “bonanza” of ancient arrows and other hunting equipment, as well as signs of prey, on a remote Norwegian ice patch. The cache is a striking example of the burgeoning field of ice patch archaeology, which is unfortunately growing as the planet melts down. Global warming…Read more...

In the aftermath of Californian’s disastrous decision to avoid classifying gig workers as employees, the Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a rule change that would allow businesses focused on the gig economy to compensate workers with equity.Read more...

Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro | $110 | Amazon | Clip CouponRead more...

No matter who you are or where you are, 2020 has been a rough year. It’s been a year where things have gotten so bad, sometimes you just had to find joy in the most unexpected of places. Family, friends, a new book or video game. It’s different for everyone.

After successfully hacking Nintendo’s Game & Watch revival a day before the handheld was officially released, it didn’t lake long for Twitter user ‘stacksmashing’ to figure out how to get alternate games running on the device. They started with Doom, but have since succeeded in getting other retro classics like The…Read more...

Personally speaking, mustering the will to do pushups requires a lot of psyching myself up. A lot of walking around in circles, fiddling with my music, and wondering if maybe doing an extra few sets of overhead tricep extensions or holding a plank for two minutes would be a sufficient alternative to the dreaded…Read more...

The economic fallout of the covid-19 pandemic has hit the oil industry hard, and Exxon in particular is feeling it. Internal documents show the company’s not expecting to make a grand recovery any time soon despite putting on a good face for shareholders.

Thanks to phones like the Galaxy S20 Ultra, a new segment of devices with flexible screens, and lite versions of the Note 10 and Note 20, Samsung’s flagship phone portfolio has sort of ballooned out of control over the last couple of years. So in an effort to streamline its offering, a new rumor is claiming that…Read more...

A fascinating batch of new research papers are highlighting the various health risks associated with long-duration space missions, including troublesome observations having to do with the aging process and radiation-induced DNA damage.

As the owner of a substantial portion of the world’s most popular pieces of intellectual property, the Walt Disney Company is more than used to seeing its characters and branding pop up in unofficial, unlicensed places. In some instances, like when the family of a recently deceased child attempted to feature…Read more...

Do you remember the first electronic game you ever played? Maybe it was Super Mario Bros. on the NES? Pitfall on the Atari 2600? Pac-Man at the arcade? For me it was Tic-Tac-Toe played on what looked like a cordless phone called Merlin The Electronic Wizard featuring a ‘screen’ made up of just 11 glowing dots.Read more...

If you’re snapping a quick selfie for social media, the lower quality camera on the front of your smartphone is usually just fine. But what if you want to use the higher quality lenses and camera on the back to film yourself? It means you can’t see the screen and no longer have a live preview of yourself for framing.…Read more...

Unless you spend every year sheltering in place and worrying about a global pandemic, the upcoming holiday season is going to be different for a lot of us. Video calling apps like Zoom can keep us in touch with each other even while we’re apart, and these online and offline games will save you from having to make up…Read more...

The Walking Dead teases the arrival of Lucille. Mads Mikkelsen is still holding out hope that Hannibal could come back. Dead things don’t stay buried in the latest teaser for...whatever wild thing Riverdale will get up to this season. Plus, what’s to come on His Dark Materials. Spoilers away!

Jabra’s Elite lineup of Bluetooth earbuds have been a favorite of mine for years. But as the competition has become more intense and earbuds are packing in more features for less, Jabra was missing one big thing: active noise cancellation. The $230 Elite 85t with ANC is here, and after using these earbuds for a few…Read more...

Logitech G935 Gaming Headset | $120 | Amazon

Was it aliens or artists? Yesterday, the internet was enthralled by the discovery of an unexplained metallic monolith in the middle of nowhere by officers for Utah’s Department of Public Safety. Roughly 24 hours later, we have a lot more answers, all thanks to amateur sleuths online. And given the area’s long history…Read more...

SpaceX fired the engines on its Starship SN8 prototype on Tuesday evening, with billionaire CEO Elon Musk tweeting that the resultant “good static fire” produced during the final test had likely paved the way for the vehicle to take its first test flight sometime next week.

One of many things we’re missing during quarantine has been the kind high-profile, high-budget music video release we’ve come to expect from our pop stars in the 21st century. Sure, Cardi B brought out a live tiger and Kylie Jenner for her “WAP” music video in August, but social distancing requirements — and the…Read more...

An already cheap subscription just got cheaper.

Have you heard of Amazon Sidewalk? Probably not. But there is a good chance that you or someone you know has an Amazon Echo or Ring camera. And if you own one of those devices and live in the U.S. (or know someone who does), you need to tell them to opt-out of the service as soon as possible.Read more...

As Trump’s symbiotic relationship with Fox News has lost its shine, the President has taken to directing his followers to One America News Network, a low-rent cable news upstart with non-existent editorial standards. But no one gets a free ride on the Trump gravy train and OANN just found out that loyalty bordering on…Read more...

A leak in Tasmania is sparking fears of pollution. But it’s not an oil, gas, or chemicals; what leaked is at least 50,000 fish. Farmed salmon, to be exact.

Has Facebook learned jack shit from the past few nightmare years? Not really, per a report in the New York Times on Tuesday. Facebook only started giving more weight to reputable publishers in the News Feed days after the 2020 election and doesn’t plan on making that a long-term thing. Executives on its policy team…Read more...

Spotted earlier this year, asteroid 2020 CD3 is only the second temporary natural satellite, or minimoon, ever detected around Earth. It didn’t stick around for very long, but we learned some interesting things about our temporary companion and why a mission to intercept similar objects is a good idea.Read more...

Much of the news about the U.S.’s internet infrastructure is abysmal. Millions of urban and rural Americans either can’t afford or don’t have reliable access to high-speed internet. The financial reprieve so many ISPs offered customers at the start of the covid pandemic is long gone. A massive spike in covid cases is…Read more...

If you’re one of the troves of people who—for some bizarre reason—wants to be among the blue-checked elite on Twitter, then good news: everyone’s favorite app for posting bad takes will be bringing back its verification process early next year.Read more...

The Crock-Pot drama returns.Read more...

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen John Kerry to be his international climate czar. In the role, formally called the special presidential envoy on climate, Kerry will coordinate interagency programs in the White House. He’ll also be embedded in the National Securities Council—which advises the president on national…Read more...

Since March, the longest I’ve gone without running is six days. As temperatures rose this summer, my pace slowed from an average of about 10 minutes per mile to 11-12 minutes a mile. It’s not because I became a worse runner overnight. You can actually calculate by how much heat and humidity slow you down. You…Read more...

Finally, we are getting some FACTS out of the White House. Noted environmentalist and nepotistic grifter Ivanka Trump dropped some KNOWLEDGE on Twitter on Tuesday.Read more...

I know nothing about poetry, but I’m pretty sure Verse by Verse—Google’s new AI-powered poetry generator—is phoning it in.

It’s a given that Star Wars movies have great music. So when there’s a vinyl release of one of the soundtracks, the package better have artwork to match. Thankfully, Mondo has done just that for Solo: A Star Wars Story. The company recruited César Moreno to do brand new illustrations for an exclusive release, and it’s…Read more...