Brian Lam, Author at Gizmodo

Bring Me Some Coffee, Bot

Before email, newspapers used intern runners to courier things between departments. Less than 50 years later, we have robots to do their jobs. Toyota’s delivery bot uses stereoscopic vision and laser rangefinders and speech recognition to find its way through a sea of cubicles. [Plastic Pals via UberGizmo]

Tech News Brian Lam

The Things Malcolm Ate

My perspective is that nature always beats technology. Waves eat ships, roaches beat RAID and earthquakes topple buildings. Every day, this conflict plays itself out in front of my eyes as Malcolm the puppy gnaws on gadgets. I’ve had Malcolm for a year now. He’s a little dog. He’s a good boy although kind of…

Tech News Brian Lam

The Michael Jackson Movie Is Kinda Good

I’m not going to admit I teared up a bit when Michael Jackson sung The Way You Make Me Feel in this movie. Let’s talk about the tech for a bit. I didn’t know this, because I live in a bubble, but Michael Jackson was only 8 days away from doing final rehearsals for a…

Movies Brian Lam

GoPro Hero HD Camera Review

The GoPro Hero is my favorite sports cam. Cheap, impossibly rugged, with endless mounts for cars, bikes, helmets, chests, surf and snowboards. The new HD version does HD, 60FPS and recharges. I love it even more now. Kinda Like the Old One The GoPro Hero HD is squarely based off the old model. It has…

Reviews Brian Lam

The Living Light Sculpture

The Living Light Sculpture looks like a giant metal flower, or a man made approximation of a jungle canopy with artificial sunlight coming down through its branches. It’s actually a digital map sculpture reporting air quality in Seoul, Korea. The design is a rough map of the city’s neighborhood as distinguished by “air boundaries”. The…

Tech News Brian Lam

This Looks Like You (Ha Ha Ha!)

My brothers live across the country. We used to stay in touch by killing enemies or each other on xbox. But the best was to play “looks like you”, which anyone with a cameraphone can play with their loved ones. The game is easy. You find an ugly clone of someone and send them a…

Tech News Brian Lam

Gizmodo Looking for Freelance Artists and Infographics Designers

Send us links to your portfolio at [email protected] and tell us why you want to help us beautify Gizmodo’s posts. (And your qualifications.) Please put “artist” or “designer” in the subject line. Do not email me directly.

Tech News Brian Lam

Why The SF Bridge Broke

SF’s Bay Bridge is still closed after a quick repair job fell apart. Terrifying, since my hometown is known for, you know, earthquakes, and this bridge is just falling apart even without them. Here’s a pretty good visual/text explanation of what is happening. [sci-experiments via TokyoMango]

Tech News Brian Lam

Bang Bang, Nokia n-Gage: You’re Dead

Bang, bang, n-Gage: you’re dead. Again. Maybe for the last time. Here’s a short look at your meaningless life. https://gizmodo.com/r-i-p-n-gage-139416 You were born but a hyped, sidetalking Taco. Then, after we had our laughs for several years, papa Nokia ditched your dedicated hardware and opened it up to phones of all kinds—as long as they…

Tech News Brian Lam

Corsair Flash Voyager 128GB USB Drive: As Big and Fast As a Small Fish

One day, 128GB flash drives will be common. We’ll lose em and only say “oops.” Today, you can have one if you don’t mind the size and price of this $400 Corsair. But F me, this thing is fast. https://gizmodo.com/corsairs-flash-voyager-gt-the-worlds-fastest-128gb-usb-5337035 Speed I’ve been happy with a 16GB Patriot Xporter, which Ars mentioned in their 2009…

Reviews Brian Lam

Remainders: Stuff We Didn’t Post (And Why)

I have a splitting headache. There was so much real news today, mostly Android-y, we happily skipped this junk: GM’s Wi-Fi, Apple Store POS, Virgin/Helio, Xbox Sky and a Blu-ray player only dumb people will buy. Dun dun DUN. GM’s offering in-car internet for $500 and +$29 a month. Great! This is a stupid thing…

Tech News Brian Lam

Google Maps Navigation: A Free, Ass-Kicking, Turn-by-Turn Mobile App

Google’s free turn-by-turn navigation for Maps is the news this morning, and even in Beta, they got a lot right. It has Google tech, like Street View and satellite imagery, and even voice-powered search. Here’s what you need to know. • What’s getting it: It’s Android OS 2.0 only for now. And will be available…

Tech News Brian Lam

google maps navigation gallery

A search for “burgers” along a route brings up results within a radius along the path you’d take. Gas stations and other layers can be added to maps. The bottom right label shows the street you’re on; the top shows your next step. The iconography in Google Navigator is strong Landscape view with satellite maps…

Tech News Brian Lam

Look Sharp: Gizmodo Comments Need Work

The comments have been fairly terrible lately. I’ve spent some time going through and handing out some stars to the good ones, but it’s not enough. I need you guys to stay on topic, on point, and star commenters, promote those comments you think contribute to the conversation. Also: Do not feed the trolls anything…

Tech News Brian Lam

Apologies: We Had Malware Running as Ads On Gizmodo

Guys, I’m really sorry but we had some malware running on our site in ad boxes for a little while last week on Suzuki ads. They somehow fooled our ad sales team through an elaborate scam. It’s taken care of now, and only a few people should have been affected, but this isn’t something we…

Tech News Brian Lam

Still Want a BlackBerry Storm 2 Review?

Hey guys and gals, we just got a BlackBerry Storm 2 loaner—and an explanation for the delay. Still interested in a review? Apparently, midway through pre-briefing reporters and handing out review units, there was a disagreement between Verizon Wireless and RIM over the readiness of the phone (which Verizon just “announced“). We can’t discuss details,…

Tech News Brian Lam

An Acoustic Hyperlens

This is the acoustic hyperlens developed by the Xiang Zhang research group. Think of it as a radar dish for sound waves. Put into practice, it can increase performance of ultrasound baby spotting and sonar submarine sighting by 8x. [EurekAlert]

Tech News Brian Lam

Facebook Status: Resting In Peace

Facebook is now letting users memorialize pages of friends who have passed away. The contact information of the person memorialized is privatized and the pages cannot be logged into anymore. You need to submit proof of death, but beyond that, I think this is going to make for some really tacky pranking. In the end,…

Tech News Brian Lam

Shrimp Eye Tech Could Improve Gadgets

Mantis Shrimp can see 100,000 colors, 10x the number we can, and are the only animals to see circular polarized light. Scientists think that mantis shrimp eye tech could lead to a new age of telecom and optical devices. Let me explain. The same biological structures used in the mantis shrimp—a strange creature with 500m…

Biology Brian Lam

On That NYTimes Editor’s Mention of the Apple Tablet

A lot of people are writing up this video of the NYTimes Editor "leaking" the Apple Tablet (see 8:20 in the video) in this supposedly off record talk. But this isn’t proof of anything. It could easily just be that Bill Keller reads rumors, too. But what if that was a whoopsie letting loose a…

Tech News Brian Lam

Brian Lam

Bring Me Some Coffee, Bot

The Things Malcolm Ate

The Michael Jackson Movie Is Kinda Good

GoPro Hero HD Camera Review

The Living Light Sculpture

This Looks Like You (Ha Ha Ha!)

Gizmodo Looking for Freelance Artists and Infographics Designers

Why The SF Bridge Broke

Bang Bang, Nokia n-Gage: You’re Dead

Corsair Flash Voyager 128GB USB Drive: As Big and Fast As a Small Fish

Remainders: Stuff We Didn’t Post (And Why)

Google Maps Navigation: A Free, Ass-Kicking, Turn-by-Turn Mobile App

google maps navigation gallery

Look Sharp: Gizmodo Comments Need Work

Apologies: We Had Malware Running as Ads On Gizmodo

Still Want a BlackBerry Storm 2 Review?

An Acoustic Hyperlens

Facebook Status: Resting In Peace

Shrimp Eye Tech Could Improve Gadgets

On That NYTimes Editor’s Mention of the Apple Tablet

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Travelers Experiencing the Longest Security Lines in TSA History

Could There Be a ‘Project Hail Mary’ Sequel?

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