Andrew Couts, Author at Gizmodo

Uber Buys Uber for Booze

Uber is getting into the alcohol-delivery business by buying an alcohol-delivery business. On Tuesday, Uber announced its plan to purchase Drizly for $1.1 billion, expanding its grip on the gig worker-powered delivery ecosystem. Drizly’s booze-focused service will eventually be integrated into the Uber Eats app, according to the company. In a statement, Uber CEO Dara…

Tech News Andrew Couts

SEC Issues Vague Threats Against Everyone Involved in the GameStop Stock Saga

The Securities and Exchange Commission broke its silence Friday morning on the populist investor uprising that has sent the stock price of beleaguered retailer GameStop “to the moon,” warning everyone involved that they are watching… and, for the time being, not doing a whole lot else, it seems. “The Commission will closely review actions taken…

Tech News Andrew Couts

Robinhood Sued by Furious GameStop Stockholders

Stock-trading app Robinhood now faces a class-action lawsuit after it blocked stock purchases of GameStop and other companies favored by Reddit’s WallStreetBets community on Thursday morning. The complaint alleges Robinhood violated its customer agreement when it failed to disclose that it would “randomly pull a profitable stock from its platform.” It claims Robinhood’s explanation for…

Tech News Andrew Couts

‘Democratized Finance’ App Robinhood Halts Purchases Of GameStop, AMC, American Airlines

The lulz (and soaring financial gains) of Reddit’s insurgent investor community, WallStreetBets, are on hold Thursday morning as popular stock-trading app Robinhood halted key types of trades of its favorite stocks due to “significant market volatility.” Robinhood’s decision to halt trading on GameStop and other Reddit “YOLO” stocks is the latest bump in the ongoing…

Tech News Andrew Couts & Whitney Kimball

Error 404: The Internet Broke

A strange outage is impacting internet users in the Northeast U.S. It’s not entirely clear what is going on, but it sure is annoying. Around noon on Tuesday, outage reports began pouring in, according to DownDetector, which tracks online service outages. But it’s not limited to one company; users reported issues with Comcast, Google, Zoom,…

Tech News Andrew Couts

The Fate of Trump’s Facebook Account to be Decided by Facebook’s Supreme Court

Facebook has handed the keys locking Donald Trump off its platforms over to its Oversight Board, which will decide whether the former president can once again spew his thoughts on a major social network. The question of whether to restore Trump’s access to Facebook and Instagram, which the company blocked the day after Trump helped…

Tech News Andrew Couts

There Is Such a Thing as Too Late

No one needed to predict a frothing horde of Trump supporters would lay siege to the Capitol on Wednesday because they told us that was the plan all along. They told us not just on Twitter, TikTok, and TheDonald in the weeks leading up to the attack. They’ve been telling us for years from the…

Earther Andrew Couts

Facebook Blocks Trump ‘Indefinitely’

Facebook has blocked President Donald Trump from accessing his accounts “indefinitely,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a post on Thursday morning, just hours after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building seemingly at the president’s behest. The swift action against the president is a stark departure for Facebook, which has allowed…

Tech News Andrew Couts

190,000 Ceiling Fans Recalled After Blades Flew Off and Hit People

More than 190,000 fans sold at Home Depot in the United States and Canada have been recalled by the manufacturer because the blades can detach, fly through the air, and hit people. The recalled fan is the Hampton Bay 54 in. Mara Indoor/Outdoor ceiling fan, which was sold exclusively at Home Depot and via its…

Tech News Andrew Couts

Here’s How the Mysterious Twitter ‘Carp’ Meme Came to Be

For a brief moment on Friday night, spectacularly bored and homebound Twitter users marveled in delight at a strange phenomenon on the social network: Everyone was tweeting the word “carp.” Questions abounded. What? Why? Huh? I’m missing something, right? Now, hundreds of thousands of tweets and at least one dumb joke blog later, we have…

Tech News Andrew Couts & Shoshana Wodinsky

Carp

Carp. This is a developing story.

Tech News Andrew Couts

The Best Gifts for Chicken Nerds

This year, we have to find the silver linings wherever we can. One of those glimmering plus-sides is a sudden rise in chicken ownership—at least, I’d call that a silver lining. Chickens are great! (Salmonella outbreaks aside, of course.) And plenty of others seem to think so, too. According to My Pet Chicken, which sells…

Gadgets Andrew Couts

Drone Giant DJI Added to U.S. Blacklist

The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday added drone maker DJI to its “Entity List,” effectively banning U.S. companies from doing business with the China-based firm. The addition of DJI to the Entity List, first reported by Reuters, marks a last-minute acceleration in the Trump administration’s crackdown on Chinese firms and follows similar action against Huawei,…

Tech News Andrew Couts

Twitter Kills Periscope Because It Was a Broken Cash-Suck

Livestreaming app Periscope, beloved by far-right conspiracy theorists and child predators alike, will be put out of its misery by the end of this coming March, Twitter announced on Tuesday. Shutting down the app was apparently a no-brainer that was a long time coming. According to Twitter, which purchased Periscope in 2015, the app was…

Tech News Andrew Couts

Chuck Yeager, First Faster-Than-Sound Pilot, Dies at 97

America has lost one of its great daredevils of the sky. Chuck Yeager, the Air Force test pilot who made history by being the first person to break the sound barrier, died on Monday evening. He was 97. “It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed…

Tech News Andrew Couts

Nobody’s Gonna Miss You

Cartoonish internet supervillain Ajit Pai, the Donald Trump-appointed Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, announced Monday that he is leaving the agency on Jan. 20 before the incoming Biden administration shows him the door. Pai’s departure marks the end of an era at the FCC overshadowed by scandals, screw-overs, and screw-ups. Despite the list…

Tech News Andrew Couts

Brits Upset Apple Cart

Police in central England are asking for help catching thieves who made off with an estimated $6.6 million in Apple gadgets last Tuesday night. Between 7:45 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time on Nov. 10, thieves hijacked a truck carrying some 48 pallets of Apple products, including iPads, AirPods, and Apple Watches, police said. The…

Tech News Andrew Couts

These Are the Creepiest Gadgets of 2020, According to Mozilla

The weather outside is turning frightful, and that means it’s time for the Mozilla Foundation to scare the crap out of you with its annual “Privacy Not Included” buyer’s guide. Each year, the Mozilla Foundation judges a handful of gadgets based on their privacy chops, giving shoppers an easy way to judge whether a gift…

Privacy & Security Andrew Couts

The Biggest Climate Report in the U.S. Is Reportedly Being Led by a Climate Denier Now

The Trump administration has found yet another way to slow-release malignant stupidity into our future world. A climate-denying National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climatologist known for cheering global warming’s ability to create enormous crabs has reportedly been tapped to lead the creation of the most important climate study the U.S. government produces. According to the…

Climate Change Andrew Couts

Weber vs Traeger: A Backyard Brisket Smoke-off on Wifi Pellet Grills

A close look at the Weber’s Smokefire EX4 and the Traeger Timberline 850

Reviews Andrew Couts & John Biggs

Andrew Couts

Uber Buys Uber for Booze

SEC Issues Vague Threats Against Everyone Involved in the GameStop Stock Saga

Robinhood Sued by Furious GameStop Stockholders

‘Democratized Finance’ App Robinhood Halts Purchases Of GameStop, AMC, American Airlines

Error 404: The Internet Broke

The Fate of Trump’s Facebook Account to be Decided by Facebook’s Supreme Court

There Is Such a Thing as Too Late

Facebook Blocks Trump ‘Indefinitely’

190,000 Ceiling Fans Recalled After Blades Flew Off and Hit People

Here’s How the Mysterious Twitter ‘Carp’ Meme Came to Be

Carp

The Best Gifts for Chicken Nerds

Drone Giant DJI Added to U.S. Blacklist

Twitter Kills Periscope Because It Was a Broken Cash-Suck

Chuck Yeager, First Faster-Than-Sound Pilot, Dies at 97

Nobody’s Gonna Miss You

Brits Upset Apple Cart

These Are the Creepiest Gadgets of 2020, According to Mozilla

The Biggest Climate Report in the U.S. Is Reportedly Being Led by a Climate Denier Now

Weber vs Traeger: A Backyard Brisket Smoke-off on Wifi Pellet Grills

This Winter Fly Is Doing Something Scientists Didn’t Think Was Possible

Acer’s Mac Mini M4 Docking Station Drops to an All-Time Low, Supporting Up to 8TB Storage

Sony Is Hiking PS5 Prices for the Second Time in Less Than a Year

This Amazon Smart Plug Deal in the Spring Sale Makes Alexa Smart Home Setup Almost Too Easy and Cheap

Ryan Coogler’s ‘X-Files’ Reboot Has Found Its Other Big Star

Anker’s 100W Power Bank Hits Its Lowest Price of the Year on Amazon, Packing 25,000mAh and 3 Ports

Beats Solo 4 at 40% Off Is Now Apple’s Lowest-Cost Headphone Pick During Amazon’s Spring Sale

Now the Oscars Aren’t Just Moving to YouTube, They’re Moving Out of Hollywood

Fitbit Versa 4 Drops to a Record Low as Google Makes Another Push into Fitness Smartwatches Following the Pixel Watch

JBL Boombox 4 Speaker Didn’t Stay at Full Price for Long as Amazon’s Spring Sale Pushes It Close to Used Pricing

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees