Brian Barrett

Train Derails at Chicago Airport, Makes It Halfway Up the Stairs

At just before 3 am CT this morning, a Blue Line train at Chicago’s O’Hare airport jumped the rails. And kept going. There were 32 reported injuries—everyone’s currently listed in “good” or “fair” condition, according to the Chicago Tribune—in the wake of the derailment, the cause of which is still not known. The effect, though,…

The One Thing Apple TV Needs to Take Over Your Living Room

Apple has already stopped calling Apple TV a “hobby.” It’s too important now to the company’s future, and too successful in its own right. But the thing that pushes Apple TV into your living room won’t be any one box redesign or killer app. It’ll be the remote. https://gizmodo.com/why-apple-tv-just-became-apples-most-important-product-5931185 You can find the full case…

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Costs Less Than a Kindle Paperwhite Today

While at this point the year-and-a-half old 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD might be showing its age a bit, it’s still one of the best tablets you can buy. Especially considering that you can get one today for just $130—less than an e-ink Kindle Paperwhite. https://gizmodo.com/kindle-fire-hd-8-9-review-good-news-and-bad-news-5962540 The Fire HD that Amazon’s offering as a Gold Box…

Project Morpheus: Sony’s Oculus Rift VR Competitor Looks Unbelievable

It was only a matter of time. The Oculus Rift has caught so much attention—deservedly so—that of course one of the big dogs was going to start honing in on its virtual reality territory. Tonight, that’s Sony. And its Project Morpheus VR headset sounds fantastic. This isn’t Sony’s first exploration into the world of faceputers;…

314 Videos to Celebrate Pi Day JUST KIDDING THAT WOULD TAKE HOURS

Exactly one year ago today, I set out to collect 314 pi-related YouTube videos in honor of Pi Day. I got to 22 before I gave up in disgust. Here is that post, untouched since March 14, 2013. Happy Pi Day Pi Day Song (Lose Yourself in the Digits) Friday Pi Day Pi Is (Still)…

Amazon Prime Is Still the Best Deal in Tech

Today, the fateful news came down that Amazon will finally increase the cost of an Amazon Prime membership. Horrors! Except, not really. Because even at $99 a year, Amazon Prime is still the single biggest bargain in tech. On the face of it, the increase from $79 to $99 seems dramatic. That’s a 25 percent…

As spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple will trim its iPhone return window from 30 days to 14 as of tomorrow. Carriers had previously offered 14 days, so now at least it’s consistent across the board. Still, for Apple Store customers, that’s less than half the time to decide if parallax effect is right for you. [9to5Mac]

Streaming TV Isn’t Ready for Prime Time

So you’ve done it. You’ve cut the cord. You’ve got your Netflix and your Hulu Plus and your Aereo and your cousin’s HBO GO password and a bag of popcorn. You’re comfortable with the sacrifices—honestly, mostly just ESPN—and prepared to embrace the glorious future of television. Only problem? The future of television’s not prepared for…

How LIVR Fooled the World (And Why the World Probably Deserved It)

One of the hottest new apps set to debut this week at SXSW, that annual intermingling of tenuous ideas and easy money, was LIVR, a social network exclusively for drunk people. Media and investors alike lined up to laud it. The only problem? As we first reported yesterday, LIVR was an elaborate hoax. Now it’s…

Here’s 4 Minutes of Captain America Kicking Ass in The Winter Soldier

A trailer’s one thing, but to get a feel for just how badass Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be, might we recommend this four minute scene? Why yes, yes we might! Captain America: The Winter Soldier debuts in the US on April 4th, which is plenty of time to write up your Robert Redford…

The LIVR Hoax: Everybody’s Favorite New Drunkbro App Is Fake

Yesterday, the developers of an app called LIVR began cold-calling tech writers. The pitch was fun! A social network you can only access when you’re drunk, thanks to a breathalyzer accessory. If it seems like the platonic ideal of SXSW catnip, that’s because it was engineered to be exactly that. LIVR is a hoax. We…

The Guy Who Invented Bitcoin Is a Reclusive Oddball (Surprise!)(Updated)

Bitcoin, like all great fantasies, has a compelling creation myth: one Satoshi Nakamoto existed on the internet just long enough to give birth to everyone’s favorite cryptocurrency before disappearing for six years. Theories abounded as to the man’s true identity. No one could track him down. That is, until Newsweek apparently did just now. It…

Why Hasn’t Apple Fixed Its Massive Security Flaw Yet? (Update: Fixed!)

On Friday, Apple quietly released a patch of what turned out to be a serious iOS security flaw. Five days later, that bug is still very much present in OS X, meaning your MacBook is more at risk than ever. So why hasn’t Apple fixed it yet? https://gizmodo.com/why-apples-huge-security-flaw-is-so-scary-1529041062 Update: It’s fixed! Go to the App…

Facebook is finally giving up on its email service, which is a great opportunity to remind you that Facebook has had an email service this whole time.

Our Samsung Galaxy S5 Liveblog Starts Right Now

Today, Samsung will deploy the Galaxy S5, the latest in its venerable line of Android smartphones. You can watch it live in the stream blow, or if you’re more into reading, we’ll be providing a delicate coat of analysis and sass in the liveblog even further down. To get caught up on everything we think…

The OS X Apps Affected by Apple’s Unpatched Security Flaw

While Apple recently patched a major security flaw for iOS, the same vulnerability continues to affect OS X. Until Apple releases a fix—which it says will come “very soon“—here are some of the apps you should avoid using on public Wi-Fi. https://gizmodo.com/why-apples-huge-security-flaw-is-so-scary-1529041062 Update, 2/25/14: Apple just released OS X 10.9.2, which patches the security flaw…

Why Apple’s Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary

On Friday, Apple quietly released iOS 7.0.6, explaining in a brief release note that it fixed a bug in which “an attacker with a privileged network position may capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS.” That’s the understated version. Another way to put it? Update your iPhone right now. Oh, and by the…

Samsung Gear 2 Smartwatch Ditches Android, Keeps the Rest

As expected, Samsung has released its follow-up to last fall’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The biggest change? That it’s left Android in favor of a Tizen, an open source operating system that gives Samsung a battery boost and, more importantly, a sense of independence. There are some internal upgrades here worth talking about as well; the…

​The Multi-Billion-Dollar Deals Transforming Tech, Visualized

Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp was very, very, very, (very) large. But it’s also just the latest in a string of mega-buyouts that’s been reshaping the tech landscape over the last three years or so. We thought we’d try to put all these billion-dollar acquisitions into perspective. https://gizmodo.com/why-facebook-spent-16-billion-on-whatsapp-1526383997 There are obviously some nuances at…

How Comcast-TWC Will End Your All-You-Can Internet Buffet

There are broad, sweeping implications for the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. This is not one of them. This is a very specific, fine print change. But for TWC customers—and, eventually, the rest of us—it’s going to be the single worst part of the deal. Welcome to broadband data caps! They’re here…