Eric Limer

Eric Schmidt’s New Book Rails Against China As Being the “Most Sophisticated and Prolific” Hacker

In addition to giving North Korea a what-for, Eric Schmidt has also been working on some other projects. He’s got a book coming out about China, for instance, and after getting some time with the preliminary drafts, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that it’s taking some serious shots at the superpower. The book—The New…

How Thoughts Form, The Family That Never Heard of WWII, The BlackBerry 10 Launch Run-Down, And More

Finally, after what felt like years of lead-up, BlackBerry 10 launched this week to a little bit of applause. But that’s not all. We’ve got the first ever footage of thoughts being formed, porn stars as memes, why Facebook is destined to fall, a family that totally missed World War II, why there’s porn on…

The House of Representatives Blocks Spotify Because It’s Scared of P2P and Even the RIAA Thinks That’s Dumb

Ain’t nobody in the US House of Representatives gonna be listening to no Spotify at work. Why? The House’s IT overlords don’t see fit. Not because Spotify is distracting and there’s real work that needs to be done or anything, no. It’s because Spotify has P2P guts and P2P is baaaaaaad, apparently. Yeah, even the…

Don’t Worry, Astronauts on the ISS Will Get to Watch the Super Bowl Too

There are plenty of things you don’t get to have when you’re in space. Like gravity, for instance. Or normal food. But Super Bowl parties aren’t on that list. Astronauts on the ISS will get the chance to watch the big game with the rest of us come Sunday. “Yes they are going to watch…

Not to be left out, The Washington Post is saying it’s been a target of Chinese hack attacks too. [The Washington Post]

Windows 8 Pro Is Still Only $15 If You Don’t Mind Being a Liar (Update: Not Any More)

Technically, Thursday was the last day to pick up a Windows 8 upgrade for $40 before it jumped up to $200, but that’s not exactly the case if you know what you’re doing. There’s a loophole that will let you get that upgrade for a scant $15, and all you have to do is lie…

Will We Ever Get the Chance to Visit Other Stars?

Traveling beyond our own solar neighborhood has been an aspiration of high-minded explorers ever since we knew such a thing was possible. Well, technically possible. Will we ever actually be able to do it? It all depends on how optimistic you are, but the downside is you’ll probably definitely never live to find out whether…

These Are All the Cables That Carry the Internet Under the Sea

The Internet connects us all, but it’s easy to take for granted what a crazy accomplishment that is. After all, plenty of us live on different land-masses. We’ve got to get that sweet, sweet Internet across the deep blue sea somehow, and these are the underwater ‘net pipes that get the job done. TeleGeography has…

Watch HTC’s CEO Rally The Troops With a Bizarre “M7” Chant

That rumored M7 phone? The new HTC flagship? It definitely exists, and “M7” is definitely it’s name. That is, if HTC’s super-enthusiastic, chant-leading CEO has anything to say about it. https://gizmodo.com/are-these-the-first-pictures-of-htcs-new-flagship-phone-5977560 The little cheering session went down at the end of HTC’s year end party in Taipei today. HTC CEO Peter Chou went up on…

Report: Leaked Documents Confirm Totally Obvious Non-Surprise Android Key Lime Pie Launch This Spring

Could it be that Google will announce the brand new 5.0 version of its Android operating system this spring? Considering that Google I/O-the event where it tends to make announcements like that-is in May, yes. And if that wasn’t a sure enough bet just based on the “well duh” factor, some leaked Qualcomm documents are…

Take Instant Photospheres With This One-Shot Omnidirectional Camera

Sometimes you want to take a picture of a thing, but there are times when you just want everything. So far, your options for comprehensive photospheres involve taking a whole crapton of pictures, or throwing some kind of crazy ball or something. This upcoming camera from Ricoh makes it a hell of a lot easier.…

What Kind of Maniac Watches Live-Streaming Super Bowl Ads Online?

There are plenty of people who claim to watch the Super Bowl “for the ads.” Well you can force those people to put their money where their mouths are. Once again Hulu is streaming the Super Bowl ads, and only the ads. God save us all. The whole thing is part of Hulu’s AdZone. Excuse…

Kim Dotcom’s Offering a Cash Reward If You Can Smash Mega’s Encryption

A few weeks into its existence, Mega is holding up pretty well. It’s fended off its first round of takedown requests and is still crouched safely behind its wall of protective encryption. In fact, Dotcom is so confident in that encryption, he’s offering free money to anyone who can break it. https://gizmodo.com/mega-passed-its-first-copyright-takedown-test-5979336 The €10,000 ($13,850)…

Old-Fashioned Lighting Meets Modern Style in These Stocky Stone Candle Holderns

Lucky for you a well-lit night is just a lightswitch away, but it wasn’t always that easy. The “Weight Here” family of candle-holders by Menu harkens back to a more fiery time, with a flourish of sleek minimalist design. The collection contains single candle-holders and three-pronged candelabras in thin models for normal candles, and thicker…

An iOS 6.1 Jailbreak for iPhone 5 Is Definitely Probably Maybe Coming This Sunday

iPhone 5 users have been waiting a long, long time for a jailbreak. Sure, the current versions of iOS have been opened, but unlucky kids with A6 chips and the fancy new Apple devices they come in have been out of luck. But no longer! Probably. With today’s release of iOS 6.1, jailbreak release rumors…

This Is What It Looks Like to Have a World-Class Memory

You probably juggle a phone number or two around in that skull of yours just out of necessity, but there are memorization experts out there who would put you to shame. At this year’s World Memory Championships, champion Johannes Mallow memorized a 2,245 digit number and the order of 1144 playing cards each in just…

Go Get iOS 6.1 Right Now

iOS 6.1 is out now and ready for your downloading pleasure. It’s a relatively minor update, including LTE support for more carriers, Fandango ticket purchasing through Siri in the U.S., and the ability for iTunes Match subscribers to download individual songs from iCloud. Apple is also adding improved iOS 6.1 APIs for developers, making it…

Keep Your Beer Cold and Your Hand Warm With This Koozie-Like Thing Made of 100 Percent Patriotism

Nothing says ‘Merica quite like a cold domestic beer. And nothing screams ‘Merica!!!! at the top of its lungs quite like a cold domestic beer sitting in a koozie thing adorned with the stars and stripes of Old Glory herself, complete with an attached fingerless glove so you don’t drop it amid drunken stumbles and…

Twitter Is the One Place the Number of Copyright Notices Is Actually Down

Last June, Twitter hopped on the transparency train and released its first report indexing information requests, copyright takedown notices, and removal requests from governments around the globe. Now the second report is out, with its own site and some new details on what the U.S. government in particular is doing. And weirdly enough, copyright takedown…

A New Anonymous Hack Lets You Shoot Up Government Sites with a Nyan Cat Spaceship

In the wake of Aaron Swartz’s suicide, your friendly neighborhood cyber-vigilantes Anonymous have been lashing out. It’s mostly been DDOSes and cyber-vandalism, but their most recent project is a bit more fun, and lets you play Asteroids with a Nyan Cat spaceship that blasts up sites. https://gizmodo.com/former-reddit-co-owner-and-internet-activist-aaron-swar-5975426 Over the weekend, Anonymous attacked the United States…