You have problems. We are the solution. Join us RIGHT NOW for a very special "Ask Gizmodo," where the entire Gizmodo team is on hand to answer your questions and fix your problems. Live.
Send us your questions and your problems—anything— to askgiz@gizmodo.com.
Chernobyl asked in the comments: "Will there be back rubs?" I promise you personally that if you come to the Gawker office in the next hour I will make sure you get a back rub.
Q: Broken iPhone. How do I get it fixed?
A: If you've got a girlfriend or a friend who is girl, have her take it to the Apple Store. "Genius" is really codename for "nerd," and they probably don't know how to deal with girls. Caution: This does not work if your assigned Genius is also a girl. In that case, abort and try again. – Matt Buchanan
Matthew C. writes: "I'm in a bit of a watch quandary. I'm trying to find one for my girlfriend that is both analogue and digital and looks nice enough to wear to work (hospital) or out to a nice social event. She's in medical school so she would use it a lot to time pulses and what-have-you. Any suggestions?"
I've spent some time working in a jewelry store and found that medical students, nurses, and doctors have several very particular needs: A titanium or stainless steel watchband which won't react with any materials, a flat band which won't snag on gloves, and a second hand to make life easier when trying to time something.
There are many watches which fit that description, but a quick search led Joe Brown and I to settle on this particular model as something we'd recommend. If you stop into a jewelry store and list your needs though, someone should be able to recommend something equally fitting.
A general caution though: Don't take offense if your girlfriend doesn't like the watch or hints that she wants to exchange it. This is an item she'll wear daily and it's difficult to pick out something that'll perfectly suit her needs. – Rosa Gojilan
Question: Sam A. writes: I want a system that lets my toddlers access Dora the Explore on Netflix all by themselves, like they can on my iPad.
Answer: Don't. The American Academy of Pediatrics says children under two shouldn't be exposed to TV, as "these early years are crucial in a child's development." Take your kid outside for a few years before the Nickelodeon switch is flipped on. -Sam
Jarod G writes: So I just wanted to ask about tablets. Should I get one now? (if so, could I get a recommendation, possibly for a fat wallet and an empty one) Or should I wait for a while.
A: Wait! It won't take very long. If you're digging the iPad, you're likely no more than five months away from an update that could bring a front- and rear-facing camera and sharper display. If you'd prefer Android, we should see tablets that are actually, uh, usable once Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) hits sometime early next year. Your wallet will thank you for your patience.
- Barrett
Green Man writes:
"I will be in the upper east side for New Years Eve, can you recommend some good bars int he area that do the 100 bucks and open bar for a span of time that aren't too douchey, but not to dive-bar-ish..?"
A: Is that a trick question? If a forcefield is preventing you from leaving the UES, grab a case of Four Lokos and break into the Guggenheim. — Matt Buchanan
Rory A. asks: Will Jason Chen get a new door from Santa?
No. He's been a bad, bad boy this year. Santa's planning on bringing him coal and a Joojoo tablet. And the Kim Kardashian workout tape. —Kyle Vanhemert
Q. Charles G. asks "Haven't tried a 'Four Loko' yet, is it worth it?"
A. THE ONLY SHOT YOU MISS FOR SURE IS THE SHOT YOU DON'T TAKE. -Kyle VanHemert
RenRen writes in to ask how to maintain an anonymous online presence?
Simple RenRen. Stay offline. If you can't tear yourself away from the Internet, be sure to use a public proxy server like http://www.torproject.org/ to disguise your IP address. You'll also want to grab a Google voice number, create a bunch of throwaway email addresses, and always use pseudonyms, like RenRen.
—Bryan Gardiner
Dwight & Jane ask:
We have a cemetery we want to outfit with QR stickers for linking to online memorials via mobile phone.
How does one go about acquiring and linking bulk QR tags
Thanks guys, as everyone always says, GIZMODO rules!
You can print out your own fancy QR-tagged labels for free online. Check out www.qrstuff.com. You can embed all sorts of stuff in the tags—text, email addresses (to the dead?) Google Maps locations (!) and even a GOODBYE, CRUEL WORLD YouTube video. - Sam Biddle
Buffalo Dave asks: I am moving to France in February and I've realized that I can't access your US site's URL, only the french one. How do you access Gizmodo.com in other countries? Merci.?
Sorry Dave, we don't like France so we blocked the US site… JUST KIDDING! here's a little URL trick: US.gizmodo.com —Mascari
Jake L .writes: I must ask, dear Gizmodo. I've had an issue with my super conservative fuck of a dad for years now- he hates that I am gay and is convinced that I can be "cured"- and I need him to knock it the fuck off. We can talk civilly, but it's an issue that's always just under the surface. I love him, but don't really like him at the moment. Is there anything I can do? Other than move out; I am going up to school next summer.
Of course, there's no easy answer to this, and at the end of the day it depends on your dad's willingness to sit down and change his uber-conservative views in some way. That takes time. However, short of some kind of epiphanous 180 on his part, you could always do the following:
Sit him down sometime and tell him that gay is pretty much what it's about right now. Gay kind of runs shit, and even though he can't help that, he certainly doesn't want to be on the wrong side of history. Point him in the direction of people like Anderson Cooper and Mr. Sulu. Link him to various videos and news on the subject, like this one. And of course, let him know that your being gay doesn't impede your ability to be epic in any way. This last part can be done with a few arduinos and light effects, without being too specific. — Kwame O.
Joshua T. asks: Will there be another Gizmodo Gallery?
Yes, we've decided the next Gallery will be nothing but a small room with Volcanos and Pancake machines running nonstop. It will be called The Gizmodo Volcano Pancake Gallery Life Ruiner —Mascari
Daniel S. writes:
Will the combination of Kinect-style depth and motion sensing, plus the proliferation of cheap, high quality touch interfaces finally bring about the death of the keyboard and mouse?
A: Only when you can replace a keyboard with your cock. (Not anytime soon.)
Ben M asks:
Headphones for heavy bass djing that are stylish as hell? right now i got the beats but i feel like a tool using em' for djing and the bass is their only strong suit.
Ben,
You are a tool for using Beats for DJing—nothing against Dre (please don't kill me dude). His cans are not only sonically inadequate (as you pointed out), but they don't have enough impedance to jack into a soundboard. Crank up the volume too high, and they're gonna make any song sound like it's being drowned out by a fart party. My DJ phones of choice are the Shure SRH750 DJ. They have balanced sound with plenty of bass, a long detachable cord, swiveling earcups, and 32 ohms of resistance—that'll handle as much line-level audio goodness as you can throw at 'em.
Yongsoo asks: Can I get that Chrome netbook please?
Hey Yongsoo, you'll have tweet if you want it! Here's what you need to tweet: "Follow @gizmodo and tweet the #gizmodolovesyou hashtag to win a prototype Chrome OS notebook. More details: http://gizmo.do/hvIEt9" p.s. We might a few more of these Chormies to giveaway so stay tuned to Gizmodo over the next couple of days... —Mascari
Jacob S. writes: A friend and I will be biking from Shanghai to Qingdao to Beijing this summer and I want to set up a small camera on the front of my bicycle that will automatically take a picture every 30 seconds or so along the entire way. Any suggestions for a setup?
A. Buy a cheap Canon (one of these
supported models) and install the Canon Hack Development Kit
(aka CHDK). The custom, open-source firmware is full of great
features, including a timed-capture that's capable of making great
time-lapse movies. —SPECIAL GUEST STAR ADAM PASH EDITOR OF LIFEHACKER>COM
Santa asks: You're a tech site, can we see a portrait of you guys in 3D?
Hey Santa! Here you go:
—Mascari
Someone, who we forgot, asked the question: Christmas Tree, real for fake?
A. Proponents of the real christmas tree, from christmastree.org, believe that fake trees are filled with nasty chemicals and will never break down. Makers of fake trees say that killing a tree every year is uncool to the trees and mother earth! Most of Gizmodo believes that real trees are cooler/classier/whatever. But I think buying a fake Christmas tree used is a good answer. Adopt a plastic tree. Or plant two real trees for every Christmas tree you buy. Or buy a real Christmas tree and mummify it. Heirloom! —Blam