Brian Barrett, Author at Gizmodo

Transformers Cupcakes, Penile Eels, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn’t worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case. Transformers-Themed Cupcakes: Exactly What Meets the Eye Not a gadget. Barely food. But the puns, my god,…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 15 '11

How RIM Could Save Itself

RIM just reported earnings that were even more miserable than expected. We’ve already said why the company is cooked. But is there any way it can be salvaged? Well, just maybe there is. https://gizmodo.com/ten-reasons-why-blackberry-is-screwed-5812832 You ready, RIM? It’s time we had a talk. Stop Leaning on Enterprise You know who made BlackBerry popular? Companies, who…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 15 '11

RIM Earnings Even Worse Than Expected

Oh dear. BlackBerry manufacturer RIM has coughed up its second fiscal quarter results, and they’re not pretty. In fact, they’re downright ugly. The company’s revenue was down 10% from last year, and it managed to ship only 200,000 PlayBooks. We’ll be listening in on RIM’s call to discuss earnings and will update as warranted. But…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 15 '11

AT&T Flips the 4G LTE Switch This Sunday

Those of you who’ve been lamenting your AT&T FauxG handsets are going to get a reprieve this weekend—the company’s finally activating its LTE network on the 18th. Well, in five markets anyway. The initial rollout will be limited to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, with plans for 15 markets to get fuel-injected speeds…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 15 '11

Apple Spats, Micrahoaol Ads, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn’t worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case. It’s Like a Theramin on Speed, Which Is Still Kinda Boring Look ma, no hands! Also no…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 14 '11

Your Internet Might Be Slow Because of Bears

The NY Times has an interesting article today about how abysmally slow download speeds are in Idaho. It’s pretty bad out there! And made even worse by the occasional vicious bear attack. The money quote: Barry Ramsay, who owns a small manufacturing company here between two mountains, remembers the day his Internet connection crashed for…

Biology Brian Barrett Sep 14 '11

Facebook Passwords, Sperm Counts, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn’t worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case. Rumor: Sprint Will Get iPhone 4, Won’t Get iPhone 5, Something Something iPad 4G Apparently Sprint has…

Social Media Brian Barrett Sep 13 '11

Why Can’t iPad Multitasking Work Like This?

We spent so long clamoring for any kind of iOS multitasking that maybe we forgot to specify what kind of multitasking we wanted. Or maybe we just never realized it could be as tidy and wonderful and yes as this mockup. The concept shown in the video above springs not from Apple’s R&D department, but…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 13 '11

Watch the Future of Windows, Live, Right Now

In case you were wondering when and where all was to be revealed about Windows 8, the answers “now” and “here,” respectively. You can—and should—tune in live to Microsoft’s Build conference keynote here: [Build]

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 13 '11

Manspresso Machines, Spotify Hacks, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn’t worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case. Hand-Pumping Espresso Machine for the Rageful Home Barista I didn’t know this until today, but apparently all…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 12 '11

The Slingshot Madman Embraces Portable Mayhem

Our appreciation for bald, vaguely Eastern European, totally insane slingshot purveyor Joerg Sprave is long-established and unbounded. And he apparently loves his fans right back, if this extremely dangerous, reasonably-sized death-by-wood-and-rubber contraption is any indication. The only problem with previous Joerg creations (read: machete crossbow) is that they were a bit unwieldy, hard to carry…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 12 '11

How Ikea Redesigned Its Bookshelves for a Bookless World

Books aren’t dead. Let’s not even say they’re dying, not yet. But physical books, the musty tomes you checked out from the library, are most certainly on the decline—to the point that Ikea has redesigned its products to accommodate a world without them. The Economist takes a terrifically interesting look at the changes digitization has…

Books & Comics Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

Kiwi Wi-Fi, German Beer Bikes, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn’t worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case. FCC Chairman Gives Sensible Advice to Kids FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a few prepared remarks at…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

Interactive Kindle Books Are My Kind of Nostalgia

I think we can all agree that if Shakespeare had been alive in the late-80s, he would’ve written Choose Your Own Adventure books. So thank you, Amazon, for bringing one of mankind’s greatest literary genre achievements to Kindle. The specific Choose Your Own Adventure franchise hasn’t come to Amazon’s ebook reader yet, but several “interactive”…

Commerce Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

IMPORTANT: BIG CATS VS. LASERS

All apologies to your domesticated furball, who I’m sure strikes adorably schizo poses chasing reflected light around your apartment, but come on. They can’t measure up against a freaking lioness versus a freaking laser. There’s just something so satisfying about biggie-sized feline frustration that doesn’t end in people getting torn to shreds by razor-sharp claws…

Biology Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

Aol and Yahoo Might Merge into One Giant Clusternut of Awful

In the best tie-up since that time I made myself a Vodka and skim milk out of sheer desperation, Aol and Yahoo may merge. It’d be just like Voltron, if Voltron were a rotten egg riding atop a ruptured spleen. As Bloomberg reports, the two companies are currently sniffing around each others’ hindquarters like two…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

How San Diego Looks With the Lights Turned off

Yesterday, a sweeping power outage left six million people without power in the Southwest—including a huge swath of San Diegans. The result? An Emerald City that shined in patches, not flares. And it’s actually kind of beautiful. Also fun: turns out that the outage was the fault of a single electrical worker for Arizona utility…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

Facebook’s Smart Lists Make Social Circles for You

If you like the idea of dividing up your friends into discrete groups like Google+ does but don’t have the energy for that much dragging and dropping—or for Google+, generally—Facebook’s new Smart Lists could be a tender mercy. The feature—which started rolling out recently to select users, and will presumably see broader deployment soon—automatically groups…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

This Idiot Casually Stole 250 Gallons of Gas from a Local Citgo

On the right, you’re looking at Yoenis Cristo Banos, who’s currently out on bail for a felony theft charge in Broward County, Florida. On the left? The silly gas-sucking system that got him there. There are some criminal plans that are deceptively simple, and others that are just plain simple. Barnos’s was the latter. From…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

Windows 8 Boots Up Faster Than a Bull Ride

What’s Microsoft got to compete with the MacBook Air’s near-instant on? According to this recent demonstration from its Building Windows 8 blog, the ability to take a machine from fully powered off to booted up in just under eight seconds. The key change behind the improvement? In Windows 7, all user sessions are closed, as…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9 '11

Brian Barrett

Transformers Cupcakes, Penile Eels, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

How RIM Could Save Itself

RIM Earnings Even Worse Than Expected

AT&T Flips the 4G LTE Switch This Sunday

Apple Spats, Micrahoaol Ads, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

Your Internet Might Be Slow Because of Bears

Facebook Passwords, Sperm Counts, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

Why Can’t iPad Multitasking Work Like This?

Watch the Future of Windows, Live, Right Now

Manspresso Machines, Spotify Hacks, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

The Slingshot Madman Embraces Portable Mayhem

How Ikea Redesigned Its Bookshelves for a Bookless World

Kiwi Wi-Fi, German Beer Bikes, and Other Stories We Didn’t Post

Interactive Kindle Books Are My Kind of Nostalgia

IMPORTANT: BIG CATS VS. LASERS

Aol and Yahoo Might Merge into One Giant Clusternut of Awful

How San Diego Looks With the Lights Turned off

Facebook’s Smart Lists Make Social Circles for You

This Idiot Casually Stole 250 Gallons of Gas from a Local Citgo

Windows 8 Boots Up Faster Than a Bull Ride

Why Humans Are Obsessed With Numbers Too Big to Understand

Forget Prime Day, Amazon Already Cut AirPods 4 to Near Their Lowest Price Ever

Forget Traveling With Four Chargers, This Tiny 100W GaN Block Replaces All of Them for Less Than a Basic Laptop Adapter

This Solar Security Camera Runs Forever on Sunlight, Amazon Just Cut It to a New Low

Amazon Cuts the Beats Studio Pro by More Than Half, Now 3x Cheaper Than Apple’s Rival

The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 Just Hit Its Lowest Price, Now Cheaper Than a Month at the Gym

This 15-Inch Portable Monitor Has 11,000 Five-Star Reviews and Amazon Just Cut It in Half

Bose QuietComfort Hits a New 90-Day Low on Amazon, Now Half the Price of AirPods Max

Art the Clown Will Haunt a New Holiday

Forget Apple’s Overpriced Charger, Anker’s 2-Pack With Cables Is Cheaper on Amazon

JBL Live 780NC Review: Solid Wireless Headphones You Can Live Without

Acer’s Swift 16 AI (2026) Gets a Lot Right, But I Can’t Get Past the Trackpad

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G Review: Not Worth It at Full Price

Logitech G G512 X Review: The Tasting Menu of a Pro Gaming Keyboard

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone Review: AI Can’t Save This Robot Vacuum

The Best Tech Gifts for Mother’s Day 2026

Asus’ Dual-Display Gaming Laptop Will Ruin Your Single-Screen Lifestyle

Steam Controller Review: Trackpads Change Everything for PC Gaming

Soundcore Space 2 Review: A Shockingly Stellar Value for Budget ANC Wireless Headphones

Anker’s UV Printer Can Handle Almost Anything… If You Know What You’re Doing