Brian Lam, Author at Gizmodo

The Rise and Fall of Raj Rajaratnam, the “King of Kings” in Silicon Valley

The WSJ just published this excellent and colorful profile of Raj Rajaratnam, hedge fund manager being investigated for insider trading. They interviewed over 75 sources and looked over his handwritten notes to write the story. [WSJ]

Tech News Brian Lam

A Second Presidential Pardon for Samsung’s Former Chairman

Lady Justice weeps today. Samsung’s ex Chairman, Lee Kun-hee, was found guilty of breach-of-trust and tax evasion in August to fines of $88.7m. Today? He’s walking free because the president needed his help to plan the 2018 Olympic games bid. It’s his second pardon! The first time, he was convicted of bribing a previous president…

Gadgets Brian Lam

In These Solar Eye Circuits, Light is the Power and Signal

Researchers have been tinkering with contact and implanted eye sensors and electronics for some while, but here’s a way around the problem of powering that gear: use the same light entering the eye to power it. https://gizmodo.com/reality-augmenting-terminator-vision-contact-lenses-nea-5350458 Stanford scientists have figured out that near infrared light works to send not only data to circuits embedded…

Tech News Brian Lam

Peek Sort of Getting Facebook

The Peek will get Facebook updates via email soon. That makes it somewhat more useful, I think, than twitterpeek. But how about a peek that does the full web so you can check out twitter and facebook and email and all the links there? Oh wait, that’s a smartphone. [Peek via Engadget]

Social Media Brian Lam

From the Dept. of Seriously?: The Pentagon’s Flying Car Program is Called “Transformer”

Huh. Last Thursday, DARPA announced a workshop for Transformer. That is, their flying car program. “The objective of the Transformer (TX) program is to demonstrate a one- to four-person transportation vehicle that can drive and fly, thus enabling the warfighter to avoid water, difficult terrain, and road obstructions as well as IED and ambush threats”…

Tech News Brian Lam

Lenovo’s Multimedia Remote with Keyboard

This Lenovo palm sized keyboard/trackpad (with the charming model name of 57Y6336) is a gem of a home theater PC controller. $60. [Lenovo via Engadget]

Tech News Brian Lam

Rumor: Digitimes Claims Apple Tablet Will Have a 10-Inch Foxconn Screen

Digitimes, purveyor of sometimes not true rumors, says that Foxconn’s screen division Innolux will supply the Apple Tablet with a 10-inch screen. G-Tech Optoelectronics, also a Foxconn company, is rumored to be strength treating the panels, too. Fits with previous rumors, which all say between 7 to 10.6 inches. [Digitimes] https://gizmodo.com/the-exhaustive-guide-to-apple-tablet-rumors-5434566

Tech News Brian Lam

Panasonic’s Largest Plasma Plant Complete: More 150-Inch and 3D Sets To Come

Panasonic’s largest and third plasma plant, in Amagasaki, was just completed. The factory will be capable of churning out more of those 150-inch sets (like Dorothy), or nine 50-inchers out of the same glass. https://gizmodo.com/panasonic-to-mass-produce-150-inch-tv-requires-your-ow-5043776 The new factory will also host a process to reduce afterglow and improve 3D performance. It’ll eventually output 1 million…

Tech News Brian Lam

In Iran, Cameras Held High

From Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish, a reader writes in to remark on the continued place of youtube, twitter and the camera phone in Iran’s struggle: Watching your continuing coverage of the people of Iran continuing their fight for freedom I was struck, and touched, by the presence, in every picture, in every piece of footage,…

Tech News Brian Lam

This Camera Sees Color as Well As You Can

Japan’s PaPaLaB made the first practical camera capable of seeing color as well as the human eye by attaching a special filter to a recalibrated $140k industrial camera. Uses: Archives of fine art and telemedical imaging. [Tech On via Engadget]

Tech News Brian Lam

Four Must-Read Guides For Your New Xmas Mac, PC, Smartphone or Gadget

Happy holidays, gear heads! In case you missed them, here are some helpful guides to get you and your new gift gadgets off to the right start. • The Complete Guide to Setting Up Your New Xmas Smartphone • 10 Things You Must Do With Your New Mac • 10 Things You Must Do With…

Tech News Brian Lam

The Place Where Cameras Are Reincarnated

Do you believe in gadget heaven? How about reincarnation? The Precision Camera repair facility brings a good part of a million smashed, malfunctioning and dead shooters back to life every year. They get almost 3000 broken cameras a day—from warranties, users and extended warranties. Technicians focus their expertise on a particular brand and fix them…

Tech News Brian Lam

Antique Steam Engine Rescues Passengers After Electric Trains Fail in the Bitter Cold

When a UK electric rail was disabled by the snow and cold, 100 passengers were left stranded. Until a Tornado came and whisked them home. That is, the steam engine named Tornado, built with 1940s tech. Speed isn’t everything. [BBC] https://gizmodo.com/the-fastest-train-in-the-world-5434582

Tech News Brian Lam

Panasonic’s Future High Power Lithium Ion Batteries Will Kick 20-30% Harder

Great news: Panasonic not only started mass producing laptop type battery with a record setting rating of 3.1 amp hours this December, but in the next few years, will make these cells with up to 4.0 amps in 2013. Yowzer. Part of the secret is to use nickel instead of carbon for the positive terminal…

Tech News Brian Lam

What a RC Plane Sees When You Try to Kill It With Fireworks

Giz reader BushmanLA sent in a video of his kids trying to shoot down his flying R/C drone with fireworks. From the perspective of the UAV. Some of the shots look like they’re close, but all I can think about is how fucked we are when the Terminator thing goes down and all we have…

Tech News Brian Lam

Comcast’s Net Neutrality Case Settlement a Win For the Internet

Comcast, the largest ISP in the US, settled their $16m data discrimination lawsuit Wednesday. They didn’t admit wrongdoing and customers are only eligible for a $16 award. But, importantly, they set a precedent for other ISPs: Throttle at peril! [Yahoo]

Tech News Brian Lam

To Catch Santa With Spycams

Actor Peter Facinelli says his daughter setup a spy cam to catch Santa. Instead, he placed this video on the device. Kids have always been smart enough to bust Santa if they wanted to. Now that video tools are easy, faith in the jolly fat bastard ends when kids are old enough and curious enough…

Tech News Brian Lam

Asus’s E-Clean Robo Vacuum Has an Antibacterial Ultra Violet Beam

Asus’s subsidiary is coming out with this colorful robot vacuum called the E-Clean. It includes a bacterial killing UV light, a fragrance sprayer and remote control. It’s set for China and Taiwan only for a mere $150. [Wired]

Tech News Brian Lam

Walt Mosspuppet’s Gift Guide is SHUT UP

[FSJ]

Tech News Brian Lam

The USB Hourglass

An optical sensor checks this mini hourglass eventually triggering the rotating mechanism to flip the thing 180 degrees. It also can send the optical sensor’s values to a PC by USB, providing random numbers. I just think it looks cool. There are some good non-deterministic random sources disclosed on the Internet. They make use of…

Tech News Brian Lam

Brian Lam

The Rise and Fall of Raj Rajaratnam, the “King of Kings” in Silicon Valley

A Second Presidential Pardon for Samsung’s Former Chairman

In These Solar Eye Circuits, Light is the Power and Signal

Peek Sort of Getting Facebook

From the Dept. of Seriously?: The Pentagon’s Flying Car Program is Called “Transformer”

Lenovo’s Multimedia Remote with Keyboard

Rumor: Digitimes Claims Apple Tablet Will Have a 10-Inch Foxconn Screen

Panasonic’s Largest Plasma Plant Complete: More 150-Inch and 3D Sets To Come

In Iran, Cameras Held High

This Camera Sees Color as Well As You Can

Four Must-Read Guides For Your New Xmas Mac, PC, Smartphone or Gadget

The Place Where Cameras Are Reincarnated

Antique Steam Engine Rescues Passengers After Electric Trains Fail in the Bitter Cold

Panasonic’s Future High Power Lithium Ion Batteries Will Kick 20-30% Harder

What a RC Plane Sees When You Try to Kill It With Fireworks

Comcast’s Net Neutrality Case Settlement a Win For the Internet

To Catch Santa With Spycams

Asus’s E-Clean Robo Vacuum Has an Antibacterial Ultra Violet Beam

Walt Mosspuppet’s Gift Guide is SHUT UP

The USB Hourglass

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?

Meta Has More Smart Glasses Coming Whether You Want Them or Not

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