Brian Barrett

The Biggest Tech Screw-Ups of 2012

What a year for technology, what with all its tiny tablets and overhauled operating systems. But for every Nexus 7 triumph, a Nexus Q disaster reared its gruesome head. Here are the worst screw-ups the tech industry endured in 2012. Advanced warning: They’re not for the faint of heart. 9. SOPA The only reason SOPA’s…

Why America’s Money Is the Best Money

The next time you’re tempted with jealousy over the brightly colored currency of other countries, just take one peek at how ridiculous our beloved dollar bill would be in technicolor. It looks like what the Joker plays Monopoly with. Thank you, Redditor leroideschoux, for reminding us of that for which we should be most thankful…

Reminder: Companies Aren’t Your Friends

Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. All of them wonderful ways to bring together people you know, care about, or just want to stalk. But it’s easy to confuse connecting friends with friendship. Don’t. All social media companies want is to make money off of you. They’ll never stop trying to. And that’s okay. When Instagram changed its…

There’s a Class Action Lawsuit Against Instagram Because of Course There Is

Because it’s the holidays and people will sue anything and everything is horrible, a California Instagram user has filed a class action lawsuit over that terms of service kerfuffle last week. Needless to say, this is dumb. https://gizmodo.com/stop-whining-about-your-personal-data-on-instagram-you-5969221 While Instagram likely overreached by claiming it could receive compensation by selling your photos for companies who…

Here’s Enough iPad Christmas Magic To Warm Anybody’s Cockles

The unfortunately named iSimon has gracing us with iOS-inspired magic tricks for some time now, but there’s always room in our hearts for more digital prestidigitation. Especially when it’s so topical. Here’s a healthy dose of iPad Christmas magic to get you through the holidays. https://gizmodo.com/hang-out-with-these-cats-and-watch-a-little-ipad-magic-5932007 At the very least, it beats your uncle pulling…

Report: Nokia’s Windows RT Tablet Will Have a Surface-Like Keyboard Cover

According to a report from The Verge, Nokia’s going to out its own Windows RT tablet early next year. That’s fine; it would be weirder if they weren’t. But what’s a little less expected is that the company’s elves are hard at work on creating a keyboard cover of their very own. Rather than clopping…

You Won’t Be Able to Buy the First Decent $100 Tablet

According to the WSJ, Acer’s going to build the world’s first tablet that manages to break the $100 barrier without being a glorified cheese plate. That’s the good news. The bad news? You probably won’t get the chance to buy it. According to the WSJ report, Acer’s $100 Iconia B1 won’t be in the same…

Is This BlackBerry’s QWERTY Savior?

The hole RIM has found itself in is deep, dark, and doused in despair. And as much as the company’s gambling on its new BB10 platform to pull itself up, an operating system’s only as good as the phones running it. So take a good, hard look at this supposed BlackBerry N-Series device. It could…

Rumor: Next iPad Will Look Exactly Like You’d Expect

It was probably too much to ask that we make it to the end of the year without firing up the new [new (new)] iPad rumor mill, especially given that it’s barely been two months since the iPad 4 appeared. And yet! https://gizmodo.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-fourth-generation-i-5954217 There is, says Macotakara—a site that’s usually pretty good at this sort…

Amazon’s Amazing Free Overnight Shipping: The Best Gifts

Behind on your holiday shopping? No worries. Amazon’s got free overnight shipping on hundreds of products through tomorrow. Here’s the best of what can still get to you—for free—before Christmas. http://amazon.com/freeshipping?tag=gizmodo08c-20 Quick note: Everything below ordered by tomorrow (12/22) at 11:59 AM PST will get to your house by end of day Monday, with free…

5 Ways Ereaders Are Still Better Than Tablets

The Age of the Ereader is drawing to a close. That’s the drumbeat this week, after iSuppli pegged the year-over-year decline of reader sales at a staggering 36 percent. It makes sense; why get a fuddy little Kobo when there are cheap Kindle Fires aplenty to be had? Turns out, plenty of reasons. Tablets are…

With $2.7 billion of revenue and a loss of .22 dollars per share, RIM did slightly less bad than expected. Yay, RIM!

Kodak has finally sold off the last bits of patent meat from its carcass, for $525 million, to Apple and Google.

The 90s X-Men Intro in Stop Motion: Pure Nerd Bliss

Whatever you’re doing, just stop. The best cartoon of the early 90s—the X-Men, obviously—has gotten a stop-motion treatment that belongs in some sort of kitschy, bizarro-universe Louvre. This. Is. Awesome. It was also an overwhelming endeavor; it took director Kyle Roberts two months of rotoscoping and animating over 4,000 pictures to get the perfect facsimile.…

That Samsung Sex Tape Ad Is Way Creepier When It’s Santa

We all remember that time Samsung made a Galaxy S III ad that promoted the healthy exchange of sex tapes between mature adults, right? Like all good things, it’s received its mandatory holiday tie-in. One that manages to ruin your childhood. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-suggests-you-make-and-share-sex-tapes-in-latest-5954764 On the one hand, sure, I’m glad that Santa and Mrs. Claus still…

Of Course Today Is the Day to Talk About Gun Control

The entire point of technology is to work to our benefit, not against us. The entire point of being a responsible, reasoned human being is to face our failings head-on, not to hide from them. Those points seem inarguable. So why is it that the only time we’re not allowed to talk about guns as…

Today’s Awful Apple Rumor: Retina iPad Mini

There’s something in the air this week. Maybe it’s that the holidays are coming, or that it’s getting colder, or that there’s not much actual news to be had three weeks before the Consumer Electronics Show. But for some reason, the dumb Apple rumors are piling up like so many discarded MobileMe accounts. https://gizmodo.com/the-dumbest-apple-rumor-of-the-year-5967646 The…

You can download iTunes 11.0.1 now, which has all the usual bug fixes AND the ability to see duplicates in your library.

Here’s What Your Favorite App Really Thinks of You

Your favorite apps are there to cater to your every whim. At least until it’s time to cater to the whims of a monolith that wants to know your personal details, and is willing to pay top dollar for them. Here’s what you really mean to the photo sharing services—and basically everything else—of the world,…

9 Things I’ll Miss About Apple Maps

Did you hear? Google Maps is back in the App Store, which means we can finally officially pretend that whole Apple Maps disaster never happened. Still, there are a few things I’m going to miss about Apple’s misguided trainwreck. https://gizmodo.com/download-google-maps-for-ios-right-now-and-get-turn-by-5968065 1. That time it revealed a secret military base in Taiwan. 2. How it forced…