Gizmodo: Oops

Bloomberg News Accidentally Publishes Draft of Steve Jobs's Obituary

John Mahoney — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:07:22 EDT

Note to Bloomberg News employees: when you're in the system updating your draft of Steve Jobs's obituary, do NOT press publish. That, though, is exactly what happened late last night, as sleuthed by our buddies over at Gawker. Now, pre-writing obits for prominent figures such as the Steve, in good health and in bad, is totally S.O.P. in the media—so this should not be viewed as yet another non-statement on Jobs's personal health. But unfortunately, we're all going to die (but not all of us will come back more powerful than you can possibly imagine), so reading this and imagining a world without Steve is more an entertaining mind fuck than anything else. And that's just for us—imagine what it must be like to read your own obituary. Read on for an excerpt, with more over at Gawker.

I imagine they're ducking eye-laser beams over in the Bloomberg newsroom, being volleyed all the way from Cupertino. More at: [Gawker]

Question of the Day: What's Your Most Expensive, Dumbest Gadget Oops?

John Herrman — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:00:00 EDT

To many of us, our gadgets are like our babies: we bring them everywhere, they're expensive, and we would go to great lengths to protect them. But just like babies, sometimes gadgets get dropped. The results are often tragic, and the guilt crippling. Maybe you haven't drenched your new $1600 keyboard in coffee, but have you accidentally plunked your BlackBerry in a urinal? Put your iPod through the wash? Has your adorable puppy destroyed your new laptop in a territorial gesture? What's your worst, your most embarrassing, your most expensive or just your most ridiculous "oh, shit" gadget moment?

Amazon Knows Something About My Wife That I Sure Don't

Mark Wilson — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:45:00 EDT

My wife—who has never browsed for power tools in her life—was greeted with this page on Amazon this morning. So does a store know my wife's hobbies and interests better than I do? Meh, wouldn't be the first time. Won't be the last.

We Can't Wait for the New iPhone G3

Mark Wilson — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:30:00 EDT

"It's even faster than the old iPhone G3."

Found on Time. Think you can do better? You probably can. Hit the comments and give it your best shot. [Time via BGR]

Wired Editor Drops, Destroys RAZR on Live TV

Adam Frucci — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:38:06 EDT

Wired Senior Editor Nick Thompson was on the Today Show this morning talking about why the N95 and iPhone are the best high-end phones and the RAZR is the best cheap phone. OK, fair enough. Unfortunately for Nick, when he dropped the RAZR to the floor to demonstrate its durability, it ended up getting destroyed in the process. It's a sound and sight I'm sure many of you former RAZR owners are familiar with. Well, I guess it proved your point, Nick: the RAZR is cheap. Very cheap. [Boing Boing Gadgets]

Fournier's Skydiving Record Attempt Fails When His Balloon Floats Away

Adam Frucci — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Bad news for wannabe record breaker Michel Fournier. While he was foiled by weather yesterday in his attempt to freefall from 25 miles up, today he was foiled by what appears to be ineptitude. The weather was fine. The problem? His fancy balloon that was supposed to take him up so high wasn't attached properly while they were filling it and floated away. Uh, oops? No word on whether or not he's going to try again or slink away with his tail between his legs in embarrassment. When even the news broadcasters are making fun of you for failing, you know it's been a bad day. [BBC]

Legal Snafu Makes Thousands of Patent Rulings Since 2000 Invalid

Adam Frucci — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:50:00 EDT

Oops! According to a law professor at George Washington University, all patent judges appointed after the year 2000 have been done so unconstitutionally, making thousands of patent rulings made by said judges null and void. This will have ramifications on patents worth billions and billions of dollars, and it's not clear exactly what's going to happen.

But the Justice Department has already all but conceded that Professor Duffy is right. Given the opportunity to dispute him in a December appeals court filing, government lawyers said only that they were at work on a legislative solution.
They did warn that the impact of Professor Duffy's discovery could be cataclysmic for the patent world, casting "a cloud over many thousands of board decisions" and "unsettling the expectations of patent holders and licensees across the nation." But they did not say Professor Duffy was wrong.

If it was a legislative mistake, it may turn out to be a big one. The patent court hears appeals from people and companies whose patent applications were turned down by patent examiners, and it decides disputes over who invented something first. There is often a lot of money involved.

The problem Professor Duffy identified at least arguably invalidates every decision of the patent court decided by a three-judge panel that included at least one judge appointed after March 2000.

Yikes! The Supreme Court will probably take this issue on in the not too distant future, but before that, lemme just put this in writing now: I came up with the idea for the iPod and iPhone way before Apple, and I deserve all of the revenue from both of those products. See you in court, Jobs. [NY Times via Boing Boing]

Man Uses Gun to Blow Hole in Wall for Satellite Dish, Kills Wife by Accident

Adam Frucci — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:30:00 EDT

This is what tools are for, my friends. Ronald Long of Deepwater, MO, was trying to install a satellite dish in his bedroom. He was having trouble putting the necessary hole in the wall and, thinking himself quite clever, decided to use his gun to get the job done quickly. Unfortunately, his wife was outside and caught the bullet in the chest. She was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. On the upside, Ronald now has DirecTV. Silver linings, people. [KCTV via Boing Boing]

Harry Potter Blu-ray Includes Unintended HD DVD

Mark Wilson — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:54:11 EST

The hi def DVD industry never fails to disappoint. Because now even the consumers who are versed in the differences between Blu-ray and HD DVD—those who can tell a blue box from a red one with ease—are also getting shat on by a mixed up industry. Numerous reports have surfaced that a new $100+ Harry Potter box set has a fourth disc in HD DVD format—that's Goblet of Fire for those interested. It looks like even Warner Bros' conservative route of supporting both formats has its risks. [tgdaily]

Britney Spears Shows Off Her Plastic Hot Pocket

Sean Fallon — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:00:19 EST

If you think that you saw the last of Britney's finely shorn beef garage —think again. Fortunately for us, we only have to endure a tiny plastic version this time around. Indeed, someone had the good taste to develop an action figure immortalizing Britney's recent underwear mishaps for posterity. If you would like to add this fine product to your collection (and I know you do), it can be had for a mere $39.95. [Product Page]

TrekStor Renames iBeat Blaxx After a Bit of Self-Flagellation

AddyDugdale — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:28:46 EDT

Following yesterday's letter to TrekStor, purveyors of the dubiously-monikered iBeat Blaxx MP3 player, we received an email from Gil Szmigiel, Vice President of TrekStor, effecting an immediate name-change to something a little less offensive. See the email after the jump.

Dear Gizmodo, TrekStor is shocked by the way our new MP3 player's name "TrekStor i.Beat blaxx" is perceived. Of course the word "Beat" is not meant as a verb, but refers to the beats of the music you are listening to. More than 4 years ago, TrekStor introduced the i.Beat MP3 player series that today consists of more than 25 different players - all named individually. "blaxx" was chosen, because the player is designed with an elegant black piano finish. As a reaction to the bad connotation of the name, TrekStor decided to rename the product "TrekStor blaxx" - effective immediately. We sincerely apologize to everybody whom we offended by the initial name of this product and want to emphasize that TrekStor condemns violence and any form of racism.
Mit freundlichen Gr en,
Best regards,

Gil Szmigiel
Vice President / CTO

$1.5 Million Yacht Plunges Nose-First Into the Ocean

Adam Frucci — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:45:00 EDT

Yes, this picture is real. It's of a $1.5 million yacht falling off its sling while being loaded into a cargo ship for delivery in Dubai. If you didn't notice, yes, there's a dude going "oh shit" on the back of the boat as it goes down, to give you a sense of the size of the 55-foot vessel (he was fine). Hit the jump for a sad view of the aftermath.

[Mad Mariner via Spulch]

"Baby Einstein" Turns Your Baby Into "Baby Stares at Mirrors for Hours"

Matt Buchanan — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:20:26 EDT

In a serious blow to the convenience model of parenting, a new study found that 8-to-16-month-old infants who are plopped in front of "Baby Einstein" videos understand on average six to eight fewer words per hour watched than kids who didn't watch Einstein.

Chalk up another win for real parenting over virtual babysitting—at least until they're 24 months old, according to the American Association of Pediatrics. Then Sesame Street makes a lovely foster family. Just don't let them sit too close to the TV—it's bad for their eyes. [Machinist]