Avery Ellis, Author at Gizmodo

Jaybird X3 Review: A Wireless Earbud Grows Up

I am listening to music at all times. Always. I’ve missed whole memos of verbal information and dodged countless potentially life-changing conversations. I’ve been the guy in a bar with headphones on. And carrying me through this blissful solitude was a pair of indestructible $10 corded earbuds that I knew to sound only kind of…

Reviews Avery Ellis Oct 27

Hot Rumor: The iPhone 8 Will Not Be All Glass

The iPhone 7 and 7s came out just under two months ago, so you know what that means: It’s time to start speculating on next year’s iteration. According to a source who spoke with the Nikkei Asian Review, the upcoming iPhone 8 will sport glass covers and backs, similar to the iPhone 4, with both…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 26

This Is the Most Expensive Surface Studio You Can Buy

Microsoft’s answer to the traditional desktop computer is coming. And it’s expensive. The convertible screen 28-inch is touch sensitive, 12.5 millimeters thick, and boasts a retina-scorching 13.5 million pixels. It’s undoubtedly gorgeous—so much so that Surface chief Panos Panay was practically fondling the thing on stage. So how much would you expect such a luxurious…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 26

Only the Coolest Stuff From Microsoft’s October Live Event

Microsoft just wrapped up its October event, and as we expected, it wasn’t wall-to-wall hardware announcements like last year. Nothing from Lumia land. Radio silence on the Band front. What Microsoft did announce for the coming months were a few incremental software and hardware updates as well as one big gadget bombshell. The Surface Studio…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 26

Microsoft Paint Gets a Huge 3D Overhaul

At today’s new product event, Microsoft’s rallying cry has been “3D for everyone.” The unlikely standard bearer? An overhauled version of MS Paint, its legendary digital art tool. https://gizmodo.com/our-microsoft-event-liveblog-is-right-here-1788229500 The new, 3D-focused Paint will give users the ability to work in three axes using a variety of new tools. There’s a “magic select” tool, which…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 26

This Drunk-Looking RC Plane Is Made Entirely Out of LEGO

LEGO have many creative uses outside their intended hobby kits, but aeronautics isn’t one of them. Until now, that is. YouTuber PeterSripol took it upon himself to build what he believes is the first LEGO radio-controlled plane. And with good reason: the thing flies like its being piloted by a college freshman stumbling back from…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 26

Justin Timberlake Could Go to Jail for Taking a Voting Selfie [Update]

Singer, dancer, icon, and Trolls cast member Justin Timberlake participated in the great democratic experiment we call these United States of America yesterday, documenting his personal contribution in his hometown of Memphis. What the critically-acclaimed artist behind FutureSex/LoveSounds didn’t realize, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, is that Tennessee is one of the many states…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 25

Icelandic Baker Uses a Hot Spring to Cook Bread

In Laugarvatn, Iceland, the ground itself is an oven. Throughout the town, which lies within the country’s Golden Circle, hot springs bubble up through the sand at up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. While tourists soak away their cares in those same springs, old-fashioned bakers bury pots of simple rye dough in the earth to cook.…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 25

The Actor Who Made a Career of Playing a Disembodied Hand

Even in the dingy, often thankless role of character actor, Christopher Hart holds a special position of anonymity. Originally (and still) a magician, Hart developed amazing dexterity in his hands, which led him to play Thing in the Addams Family movies. While a single hand might not seem expressive in concept, Hart brought playfulness and…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 24

Is Bing Maps Hosting Images of a Homicide Victim? [Update]

In Bing Maps, a street view at the corner of Pennington Avenue and Hazel Street in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood shows a single police car, two officers, and what appears to be a man in the middle of the street bleeding from the skull. According to the caption, these images were taken April 29th of…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 24

John Oliver Explains How Drug Companies Helped Cause Our Opiate Epidemic

We’re in the midst of an opiate epidemic, and it’s killing Americans at an alarming rate. In John Oliver’s latest report, he unpacks the alarming history of the epidemic, and how the drug companies we entrust with our health helped create it. The current epidemic isn’t exactly a new development, but as Oliver points out,…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 24

The Internet’s Best Conspiracy Theories About Julian Assange’s Meltdown [Update]

Suppression by “powerful states and organizations” is, according to Julian Assange in his 2012 book Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet, “one of the hardships WikiLeaks was built to endure.” That claim must reek of false bluster now that his whistleblowing organization has since been compromised by the US government, according to the…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 21

Jeff Bezos Still Wants to Send Trump to Space

Jeff Bezos reaffirmed his desire to send Donald Trump into space today. Speaking at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit this afternoon, the billionaire half-joked, “I have a rocket company, so the capability is there.” But Bezos is serious about not liking Trump. His solution of launching The Loud Man into space was referencing a Twitter…

Commerce Avery Ellis Oct 20

All the Ways You Can Play the Nintendo Switch in Gifs

We’ve known for some time now that Nintendo’s upcoming console would have portability baked in. The new product trailer for the Switch (formerly known by its project name NX) reveals that living room-to-pocket is just one of the options afforded to future owners of Nintendo’s ambitious product. In the beginning, we see the Switch hooked…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 20

Samsung Doesn’t Think That GTA Mod Is Very Funny

The only good to come out of the Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 nightmare was a clever Grand Theft Auto mod which replaced the game’s sticky bomb with The Phone That Explodes. Our blog on the initial video ended with a challenge: Your move, Samsung. We didn’t expect them to take that literally. As indicated by the…

Gadgets Avery Ellis Oct 19

Guy Drinks Cyanide, Lives to Tell the Tale

Soluble cyanide salts are some of the deadliest poisons known to man. Potassium cyanide is better known as the stuff in World War II-era suicide pills. Hydrogen cyanide was the major component in Zyklon B, a pesticide that the Nazis used to gas millions of innocents. And all the soluble cyanide salts do roughly the…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 19

Netflix Has Lost Its Damn Mind With This ‘Barb-Inspired’ Stranger Things Soup

Remember Barb from Stranger Things, the fan-favorite Velma-meets-Molly Ringwald wet blanket who isn’t coming back? Remember when Winona Ryder and David Harbour found her lifeless, goo-covered body in the Upside Down? Now… remember how it made you hungry? Seeing as how A) Stranger Things is an effective horror show B) cannibalism is taught to humans…

io9 Avery Ellis Oct 18

Insane Man Stings Himself With the Second Most Painful Insect on Earth

The tarantula hawk is neither a tarantula nor a hawk—it’s a very big, very mean desert wasp. And of course someone on the internet decided to get stung by one. Oddly, the tarantula hawk isn’t a particularly aggressive insect. Generally they buzz around, eating nectar and avoiding humans or other animals. It’s even the state…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 18

How Hackers Stole a Slew of Republican Donors’ Credit Card Info

Did you buy something from the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the past six months? If yes, there’s a good chance that your credit card information is being sold online by Russian hackers right now. Security researcher Willem de Groot discovered that customer information hackers skimmed customer information from nearly 6,000 sites, including the NRSC…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 17

This Tiny Drum Set Sounds Amazingly Good

Who needs a set of fully-tunable miniature drums? A guy who does most of his drumming with a bearded, bandana-wearing puppet. Ricky Syers may not be a household name, but you might recognize the video of his puppet Chops expertly bashing his way through Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.” Back then Chops’ kit was repurposed aluminum cans,…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 17

Avery Ellis

Jaybird X3 Review: A Wireless Earbud Grows Up

Hot Rumor: The iPhone 8 Will Not Be All Glass

This Is the Most Expensive Surface Studio You Can Buy

Only the Coolest Stuff From Microsoft’s October Live Event

Microsoft Paint Gets a Huge 3D Overhaul

This Drunk-Looking RC Plane Is Made Entirely Out of LEGO

Justin Timberlake Could Go to Jail for Taking a Voting Selfie [Update]

Icelandic Baker Uses a Hot Spring to Cook Bread

The Actor Who Made a Career of Playing a Disembodied Hand

Is Bing Maps Hosting Images of a Homicide Victim? [Update]

John Oliver Explains How Drug Companies Helped Cause Our Opiate Epidemic

The Internet’s Best Conspiracy Theories About Julian Assange’s Meltdown [Update]

Jeff Bezos Still Wants to Send Trump to Space

All the Ways You Can Play the Nintendo Switch in Gifs

Samsung Doesn’t Think That GTA Mod Is Very Funny

Guy Drinks Cyanide, Lives to Tell the Tale

Netflix Has Lost Its Damn Mind With This ‘Barb-Inspired’ Stranger Things Soup

Insane Man Stings Himself With the Second Most Painful Insect on Earth

How Hackers Stole a Slew of Republican Donors’ Credit Card Info

This Tiny Drum Set Sounds Amazingly Good

Two Songs We Really Wish Were the Anime Outros for ‘Steel Ball Run’

AI Training Data Giant Mercor Is Reportedly Looking to Buy the Work You Did at Your Old Job

Utah Is Giving Dr. AI the Power to Renew Drug Prescriptions

Here’s the Perfect Excuse to See ‘Project Hail Mary’ Again

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

Artemis 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Researchers Discover How to Add Psilocybin, DMT, and Other Psychedelics to Tobacco

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

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