Gizmodo

GPS

Long Overdue GPS Upgrade Could Save Airlines $10 Billion a Year

Technically speaking, you have better navigational capability in your car than the entire airline industry. Why? Because they are still relying on an antiquated WWII era traffic network that often takes aircraft on zigzagging routes towards radar beacons—costing carriers billions of dollars in wasted fuel each year. To make matters worse, the plan to upgrade the system has been stuck in the planning stages for more than a decade thanks to funding issues an the complexity of such a switchover. More »

3:10 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Sean Fallon
418 views, 3 comments

Latest by Maxxofor: Sooo.. the planes are flying like a kid with ADHD in a candy. . . OHHH SHINY!!! more »

Retromodo

Remember This? Looking Back at the First PowerBook

With new Macbooks seemingly imminent, I thought it'd be a good time to look back in time to the first Apple laptop that changed portable computing forever: the original PowerBook. More »

Feature

2:40 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Adam Frucci
1,833 views, 36 comments

thumbs up

iLIMB Bionic Hand Comes Closer to Emulating the Real Thing

We've written about the amazing iLIMB bionic hand before, but the newest version of it was showed off on the Today Show this morning, and it looks pretty incredible. More »

2:20 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Adam Frucci
2,341 views, 20 comments

space junk

Robotic Repair System Could Rescue Us From Falling Satellites

As you probably already know, space is full of crap. It's not something the average Joe thinks about, but when the government starts blowing dead satellites out of the sky, it may be time to start worrying whether or not the gadget that brings soft-core pornography to your TV will end up crushing you as you mow the lawn. Researchers at Queen’s University are jumping in to help with the problem by developing a robotic repair system that will service the approx. 8000 satellites currently orbiting the Earth. Keep in mind that about only around 800 of those satellites are currently operational. More »

2:00 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Sean Fallon
506 views, 12 comments

Latest by Reilaos: Reading Comprehension is your friend!: We're making orbital WALL-E's! more »

Audiophiles

$900 Contraption Trims Your CDs to Make Them Rounder, You Poorer

We've certainly seen our fair share of insane, overpriced equipment aimed at overmonied audiophiles (usually from Furutech), but this is a new one to me. The Audio Desk Systeme from Germany takes your CD, spins it at a super-high speed, and uses a blade to cut it down to a more perfect circle. Apparently, this prevents very slight wobbling as it spins, which can create a jitter in the digital stream that affects the sound, according to idiots. It's a mere $900, which, in these circles, is a total bargain. [Ultra System via Dvice]

1:40 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Adam Frucci
2,978 views, 58 comments

Latest by Con Seannery: You need to put it on $900 wood blocks to reduce the quantum vibrations... more »

New macbook

Apple's BrickBook MacBook Event: 10 AM PST, October 14

Apple's 2008 MacBook Event is less than 24 hours away, and you can count on us to be liveblogging it here, as we always do. Bookmark now and check in early tomorrow morning to see our pregame coverage, which people have been known to say is as enjoyable as the Apple event itself. [Gizmodo Liveblog]

1:39 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Mark Wilson
2,121 views, 14 comments

Latest by aural: It better be an epically good press conference or we will get to see Apple's stock price plummet before Steve more »

Free tv

Internet TV Remote: Quick Links to Free Streaming Shows

You already know about all of the different ways to watch TV online. Now you just want links to your favorite shows (plus all those new ones) as quickly as possible so you can ditch your TiVo and TV once and for all. Our Internet TV remote has the best links to every prime-time show currently streaming online at full length. Bookmark it and check back often, we'll update it as new shows come out... *Note: Many of these streams will not work outside of the US, but if you're out of the country and need your fix, you know where to go without any help from us.

More »

Feature

1:02 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Benny Goldman
8,823 views, 47 comments

Latest by goodhorse: Who that's reading Gizmodo is watching the Hills? Seriously. more »

Dealzmodo

Dealzmodo: Buy One Wii Game Get the Second Half Price

Circuit City isn't planning on going gently into that good night. First they offered a more aggressive price match guarantee and now they are offering a buy one get one 50% off sale on all $50 Wii games. If you are still playing the Wii, you might want to jump on this deal before the ship sinks under the water. [Circuit City via Wiifanboy via Crunchgear]

1:01 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Sean Fallon
1,933 views, 3 comments

Latest by Spoony: One thing to note other then this sale. On every major release almost this holy they seem to be giving 10 more »

America's next top president

Geeks Support Obama

If you weren't already convinced that Obama is the candidate of choice for geeks, there's now an entire website dedicated to preaching his tech merits to nerds everywhere. Yeah, essentially Tech for Obama is a bunch of techie talking heads—the CEOs of Craigslist and Real Networks, Googlers, former Wired editors, among others—explaining why you should vote Obama. (Which we already did.) More »

12:50 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By matt buchanan
1,779 views, 130 comments

Latest by MichaelBrazell: Obama is the candidate for geeks because geeks are completely devoid of real political knowledge for 3 years and 6 more »

T-mobile g1

T-Mobile Sells 1.5 Million G1 Pre-Orders

Haters can step back, it looks like the G1 is already a bona fide success: Accounting for that tripled production run, T-Mobile has apparently sold 1.5 million pre-orders for the G1. Pretty amazing, considering the vast, vast majority of those people have never seen or touched the G1—or any other Android phone—in person. They're still taking pre-orders through the Oct. 22 launch date, but you're probably better off hitting up a store on G-Day. [Fool via Android Community]

12:45 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By matt buchanan
858 views, 15 comments

Latest by ShironR: 1.5 Million upgrades. Cause remember Everyeone else(Non T-Mobile Customers) have to wait until Oct. 22 to buy one so. Picture more »

Brando

Brando Silicone HDD Case Prevents Bareback Docking

Mainly for use with their hard disk dock that accepts HDDs like SNES carts, these silicone rubbers, complete with removable end caps, will keep your disks from slipping around too much and add a modicum of extra protection for $17. If only anti-virus defense was this easy. [Brando]

12:40 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By John Mahoney
924 views, 12 comments

Latest by m-p{3}: Finally, an HDD condom! Too bad this one does not protect against viruses. more »

Art

16 Drawing Contraptions That Are More Artistic Than You

Drawing doesn't come easy to all of us. I worked as a professional artist on and off for years and God knows I have seen some horrible stuff. Like someone put a pencil between their butt-cheeks horrible. Like other tasks, we have turned to robotics in an effort to make the process a little easier. OObject has compiled 16 of these contraptions—everything from devices that draw intricate geometric patterns to a crazy boot contraption that pushes around dirt from a nuclear test site. It may not technically be drawing, but I am partial to the 1100 barrel paintball gun built by the Mythbusters that paints the Mona Lisa instantly. [OObject]

12:20 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Sean Fallon
5,337 views, 5 comments

Latest by guiscard: if you think gadgets can make art you're really missing the point... more »

Jump Start

Coffee Cup Powers Your Morning...and Your Gadgets

Without that cup of coffee in the morning most of us would be completely useless. Now our gadgets can get the same jump start thanks to this coffee cup charger from PowerLine. It features 2 AC outlets and one USB charging port with 200 watts of continuous power (400 watt peak). That's enough to power up some TVs and laptops. Because of its coffee cup shape, the charger fits snugly into most cup holders so it would be ideal for long trips. Just make sure that you don't reach for the PowerLine when you are looking for a sip of Starbucks. Sticking your tongue in this thing would be seriously unpleasant. Available for $27. [Amazon via GadgetGrid via Coolbuzz]

12:00 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Sean Fallon
1,967 views, 8 comments

Latest by LastAndLeast: Most car 12v outlets can only provide ~150 watts. This sounds like a good way to blow a fuse more »

Featured Windows Download

Norton User Account Control Makes UAC Less Annoying

FROM LIFEHACKER.COM: Windows Vista only: Free utility Norton User Account Control replaces Vista's default UAC with a more user-friendly and more secure UAC. The administrator password-prompting User Account Control quickly annoyed most Windows users when they made the upgrade to Vista—so much so that many of you... More »

12:00 PM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Adam Pash
5,550 views, 42 comments

Apple

Supposed Best Buy Listings for New MacBooks Show No Price Drop

We just got these printouts that supposedly show the fresh SKUs in Best Buy's inventory for the MacBooks that'll be unveiled tomorrow (which we'll be bringing to you live). Besides using colors for codenames, much of the info, like dimensions and stock dates are placeholders, according to the tipster. The real point of interest is the model/pricing breakdown—it's exactly the same as the current lineup, so if true, it means there won't be any price drops at all, much less an $800 dollar MacBook running around. Update: Turns out we were right to be skeptical of how solid it is. More »

11:43 AM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By matt buchanan
9,993 views, 32 comments

Latest by andthepickles: Even if the prices don't drop, hey. They might be giving you more for the money, you know? Like the more »

Drinking

Beer Phone Essentially Ensures Drunk Dialing

The beer phone isn't the most full-featured phone available, what with its lack of a screen making everything from texting to emailing to web surfing impossible, but it is shaped like a beer bottle. And that's more than you can say for your precious Blackberry or iPhone. Also, it's only $12 because it's actually just a landline phone. So if you've still got a landline for some reason and also like to have normal household objects remind you of your dependence on alcohol, you really can't go wrong. [SourcingMap via ShinyShiny]

11:40 AM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Adam Frucci
1,899 views, 7 comments

Latest by yungjerry703: if you still have a land line cool but its 2008 get a cordless. more »

Japan

Japan Goes Big Brother with Vending Machines with CCTV Cameras

Following in Britain's footsteps, it looks like the Japanese government is looking to install CCTV cameras in every conceivable public place in order to keep an eye on the populous. But since it's Japan, they're doing it in a uniquely Japanese way: via their ubiquitous vending machines. More »

11:20 AM on Mon Oct 13 2008
By Adam Frucci
3,138 views, 25 comments

Latest by CountryDevil: Um... translation please??? more »

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