Brian Barrett

It Now Only Costs $100 To Know Everything About Your DNA

Mapping out your genome is the 21st Century equivalent of staring deep inside your soul; it’s tempting to look, but terrifying what you might find. The DNA divers at 23andMe are hoping that slashing the price of their home-testing service—from $300 down to $100—will be enough to tilt the scales towards discovery. Are they right?…

Report: Google Maps Is Coming Back to iOS Tonight!

iPhone owners, rejoice, for your long national maps nightmare is almost over. According to AllThingsD, a standalone Google Maps app is going to hit the App Store sometime tonight. So long, Apple Maps. It’s been… something. Hard as it may be to believe, it’s been nearly three months since Tim Cook & Co. jettisoned Google…

The Onion Reveals Facebook’s Secret History

The Onion’s Extremely Accurate History of the Internet rolls on, this time shining a light on social networks, YouTube, and Hitler. Yep, that sounds like the internet! https://gizmodo.com/the-onion-tackles-its-most-important-topic-ever-the-hi-5960466 Here’s one of the latest entries, which takes a look at Facebook’s creepy stalker origins. Thank goodness the site’s matured into the creepy stalker dynasty it is…

The Pope Didn’t Technically Send That First Tweet Himself

When the Pope tweets, people listen. And watch, apparently. And… applaud? Sure, why not! Here’s Benedict XVI, in all his divine glory, sending out his first 140-character missive to the massive. https://gizmodo.com/heres-the-popes-first-tweet-5967776 Well, okay, technically the hovering Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli hit send. And someone else maybe probably typed it into the iPad for him,…

Reason #5,482 That Smart TVs Are Dumb: They Can Get Hacked

Televisions with apps are already a little superfluous; the updates are slow, the interfaces are borish, they think you actually want to tweet from a 55-inch screen. But now it turns out that they’re also vulnerable to hackers. Great. In the video above, security consultants demonstrate just how deep into a Samsung TV they can…

Every Kindle Fire Is on Sale Today—If You’re a Mom

On Monday, Amazon slashed prices on its 8.9-inch Kindle Fire tablets. If you missed that sale, you’re in luck; it’s back today, and this time applies to all Kindle Fire models. Oh, except this time you’ve got to be a mom. https://gizmodo.com/amazons-got-50-off-every-8-9-inch-kindle-fire-hd-today-5967084 The sale, limited to Amazon Mom members who also have Amazon Prime, includes…

The Dumbest Apple Rumor of the Year

There are all kinds of Apple rumors out there; big ones, small ones, smart ones, dumb ones. God knows we run enough of them ourselves. But there’s a genus of the species that we never post, ever, because it’s so obviously and insidiously dumb and wrong and bad. And here is, without exaggeration, the very…

Is Amazon’s 8.9-Inch Kindle Fire HD a Flop?

You’ve probably heard by now that Amazon’s offering fifty bucks off every 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD. But while that’s great news for you, it hints at disappointing early days for Amazon’s big-boy tablet. Is the 8.9-inch Fire HD dying on the vine? https://gizmodo.com/amazons-got-50-off-every-8-9-inch-kindle-fire-hd-today-5967084 It would seem unlikely at first; Amazon recently crowed that it had…

GMAIL APPEARS TO BE BACK EVERYBODY STOP PANICKING.

GMAIL APPEARS TO BE DOWN EVERYBODY PANIC.

Why Is the Sky Blue Isn’t the Right Question

Sure, you know why the sky is blue. You’re a learned man and/or woman of learning; you know your way around Wikipedia. But hey, sorry buddy. That’s still amateur hour. The question you should have been asking all along: Why isn’t the sky violet? Actually, on second thought, pretty sure Wikipedia’s going to have an…

Hey You Big Idiots, Now Can I Use My Phone on Planes?

I’ve traveled 18,054 miles on airplanes this year. That’s 27 flights. And on each of those 27 takeoffs and 27 landings, a hungover flight attendant has asked me and my fellow travelers to turn off our phones. I didn’t, not once. And you know what? I didn’t die. All 27 planes found the runway, none…

Starting in February, Twitter’s knocking you down to 120 characters (from 122 today) when you share a link. NOOOOOOOOOO.

A Round-Trip Ticket to the Moon Will Cost You a Mere $750 Million

Let’s face it; you’re never going to be an astronaut. And even if you were, there’s no chance NASA would send you anywhere but the ISS. Lucky for you, a company called Golden Spike is officially offering moon rides. All it takes are some very, very deep pockets. As the Washington Post reports, what Golden…

Apple Maps, Android Jabs, and More: Apple CEO Tim Cook Speaks

Bloomberg BusinessWeek has scored a gigundo, 11-page interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. It covers a ton of ground—much of which has been covered before—but offers some new insights as well. Here’s the highlight reel, before you dive into the whole thing: On the recently fired Scott Forstall being a lousy team player: The key…

The House of Representatives voted unanimously today that the UN should keep out of innanet regulation. Which, duh.

What’s the Most Popular Element?

Sure, we can’t breathe without H or make squeaky chipmunk voices without He, and Ne is the king of strip-club signage. But being important—or even just in ample supply—has nothing on being popular. And this brilliantly reimagined periodic table shows us just how much we really care about the elements. The results in Anders Sandberg’s…

Time to gird your Android loins; Google I/O has been set for May 15-17th of next year.

Apple has scored trademarks for “retina” and “game center,” which means cruise ships and your eyeballs ARE IN VIOLATION.

Galaxy SIII owners, rejoice (if you’re on AT&T)! Today, your long-awaited Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update arrives. Enjoy.