Eric Limer

Why Making Mavericks Free Makes Perfect Sense

Yesterday, Apple not only released its OS X Mavericks operating system, it also announced that it would be free. That’s great! For you, for Apple, and for the future of computing. https://gizmodo.com/os-x-mavericks-arrives-with-understated-elegance-plus-1449518276 Releasing Mavericks for free seems like a simple idea. And in theory, it is. But in practice, the logistics are a bit more…

WSJ: Microsoft Is Working on Its Own Version of Google Glass

Microsoft may have not hopped on the smartphone bandwagon especially early, but they aren’t about to be left behind again. According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is already working on its own smartglasses. Yup. Unnamed sources told the Wall Street Journal that prototypes exist, and are actively being tested, but beyond that specifics are…

WSJ: The New iPad Mini Will Be Retina After All

With Apple’s big iPad event a day away, it’s the last second to get in any predictions, and the Wall Street Journal has a good one. According to their sources, there is definitely a retina iPad Mini in the works. https://gizmodo.com/our-new-ipad-liveblog-starts-right-here-on-10-22-at-12p-1446693465 The Wall Street Journal doesn’t pin down a release time or price for the…

Surface 2 Review: One Step Forward, Two Steps Behind

The Surface RT was Microsoft’s brassy if ultimately flawed attempt to do a cannonball into the placid, iPad and Kindle-dominated tablet pool. It didn’t quite work out. With the Surface 2, Microsoft is taking the opportunity to say “No guys, but really,” with a blistering, scary sort of confidence. What Is It? The Surface RT…

Surface Pro 2 Review: A Little Bit Better, But So Much the Same

The original Surface Pro was many things, but chief among them was strange. Not only did it deftly—if not quite perfectly—straddle the line between tablet and laptop, but it also straddled the line between futurist ideal and problematic product. This time around the Surface Pro 2 is packing plenty of practical improvements, but as a…

Vitamin C: Graduation (Friends Forever)

“What?” you say. “This isn’t my middle school graduation! Why is Vitamin C playing? What’s going on around here!” Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is my graduation from Saturdays to not-Saturdays, and I would be honored if you would take a moment to celebrate with me. I have been your trusty Saturday Gizmodo-pilot for nigh…

How an Illegal Streaming Kingpin Makes a Living Off Piracy

If/When you download a torrent full of juicy copyrighted content (shame on you!), you’re not paying anyone; that’s part of the appeal. But there’s money to be made off sharing stuff for free, otherwise why would anyone do it? Torrentfreak sat down with a professional pirate to hear his story. It’s fascinating. Naturally the pirate’s…

Use a Laser Pointer to Turn Your iPhone Into a Microscope

We’ve seen ways to turn your iPhone into a DIY microscope before, but they always require buying something kind of exotic, like a ball lens, or an actual microscope. This new take from Yoshinok on Instructables just requires $10 bucks, a shitty laser pointer, and little bit of makin’. https://gizmodo.com/view-small-things-on-your-iphone-with-this-30-microsco-5848468 The end result isn’t the…

A Poster of Every Star Wars Character from Just the Good Movies

So you want a Star Wars poster featuring all the characters, but Jar Jar Binks and kid-Anakin keep polluting the scene? I feel your pain. But a new print by artist Max Dalton and put out by Spoke Art has you covered. It has all your favorite heroes…from episodes IV-VI and nothing else. The 18…

Report: Twitter Music Is Already on Its Deathbed

Hey remember Twitter Music? Hadn’t thought about it in a while? Well apparently that’s a common problem, and according to a report by AllThingsD, Twitter is very seriously considering putting the service out of its misery. https://gizmodo.com/twitter-music-hands-on-a-celeb-stalking-music-discov-5994969 Multiple unnamed sources are telling AllThingsD that Twitter Music is not long for this world thanks to “abysmal”…

What Is Your Computer’s Name?

You’ve probably developed a pretty serious relationship with your computer, we all do. And whether you’re one to name inanimate objects or not, your computer needs one to identify itself on networks. A perfect excuse! If you leave it as just “Steve’s Computer” you are lame and boring. So interesting/insane people: what is that things…

These Literal Suicide Machines Exist Only To Destroy Themselves

It’s one thing to build the most useless machine, but artist Thijs Rijkers takes things one big step further; his machines actively destroy themselves. https://gizmodo.com/the-most-useless-machine-gets-even-more-useless-5970912 Thijs has built two different death-seeking models so far. The sand machine pours sand into its own churning gearbox, causing its cogs to wear away into total uselessness. The saw…

Windows 8.1, One-Handed Future Zippers, Cheating at Physics, And More

Who’d have thought one of the awesomest things we’d see this week would be a zipper. But that’s not all! Join us for a tour of the cave beneath Central Park, at look at Windows 8.1, an explanation of the iPhone 5s acceleromter problems and more. In An Artificial Cave 200′ Beneath Central Park with…

Having trouble trying to update to Windows 8.1 RT right now? That’s because Microsofthad to temporarily pull it thanks to an installation “situation.” It should be back soon.

What’s Actually Inside the Antennas of Google’s Wild Internet Balloons

When Google first announced Project Loon, its plan to cover the world in a blanket of Wi-Fi using internet balloons, it was sort of hard to believe. It still is, but now Google’s taking us inside the antenna. https://gizmodo.com/google-wants-to-use-balloons-to-cover-the-world-in-wi-f-513537918 We know how they’ll Google’s Loon balloons will flock together like cyborg birds, but the challenge…

The Megaupload Takedown Killed At Least 10 Million Innocent Files

When Megaupload got taken down two years ago, it took a whole hell of a lot of data with it. And eventually it got obliterated. Some of it was pirate data, sure, but some was legit too. And new research shows that, at the very least, ten million innocent files got the axe. https://gizmodo.com/a-whole-ton-of-megaupload-data-just-got-obliterated-514277088 Researchers…

What’s Fox News Do With Its Absurd, Giant iPads? Play Candy Crush, Duh

When Fox News first introduced its new news room full of ridiculously giant iPad-lookin’ Windows tablets, our first question was “why?!” but now that the team has done a little journalism on Candy Crush, it’s all suddenly crystal clear. We know first hand that Candy Crush can be addicting, but Shepard Smith took the opportunity…

The 9 Dumbest Theories About When Android KitKat’s Coming Out

Android 4.4 Kit Kat and the new Nexus 5 are just around the corner. We’ve got all the leaks in the world to prove it. But we don’t know when, and so of course, people have been speculating. Like lunatics. https://gizmodo.com/nexus-5-rumor-roundup-everything-we-think-we-know-1429423506 There’s speculation all over the place, but the best—read: craziest—theories come from Kit Kat’s…

Windows 8.1: The Complete Video Walkthrough

Windows 8.1 is a bunch of small changes that make for a big improvement over Windows 8. You can read our full review here, but Windows 8.1 doesn’t really hit home until you use it, or at least see it in action. https://gizmodo.com/windows-8-1-review-little-changes-make-a-big-differenc-1446625571 We did a quick little run-through of our favorite changes for your…

Windows 8.1 Review: Little Changes Make a Big Difference

Hey remember Windows 8? How could you forget? It was the biggest upheaval in desktop computing in recent memory, and even if you’re not a user, its big colorful tiles are on your radar. Now, with Windows 8.1, Microsoft is giving its flashy new OS a first facelift. The changes are minor, but they’re more…