Jack Loftus, Author at Gizmodo

SageTV Acquisition Could Aid Fledgling Google TV with Potential DVR-Style Devices

Google’s not saying much about it, but one can’t help but think the company’s late-week acquisition of open-source home theater and DVR software developer SageTV is related to its struggling Google TV offering. The announcement arrived Saturday, via a letter to users on Sage TV’s web site, and read as follows: Since 2002, we’ve worked…

Tech News Jack Loftus

The “Barefoot Bandit” Pleads Guilty

Colton Harris-Moore, the 20-year-old “Barefoot Bandit” who managed to steal airplanes and elude capture for two years in the great American Northwest (and eventually the Bahamas), has plead guilty to seven federal charges. https://gizmodo.com/barefoot-bandits-discarded-apple-gear-could-betray-th-5607465 Beyond the federal charges, which could result in more than 5-years of jail time, Harris-Moore also agreed to forfeit any profit…

Tech News Jack Loftus

The New York Post Blocks Mobile Safari Vistors from Accessing Their Web Site

“You shall not pass!” booms Gandalf the Grey as mobile Safari visitors arrive at the New York Post web site this weekend. Sorry, correction: That’s how it played out in my head. Reality is more mundane and mostly annoying. Instead of a web site, mobile Safari visitors are greeted with a landing page that displays…

Tech News Jack Loftus

RIM Can’t Win These Days

Just when you thought RIM’s fortunes couldn’t get any worse, along comes Dolby Laboratories to knock the beleaguered company a little bit lower. https://gizmodo.com/ten-reasons-why-blackberry-is-screwed-5812832 What is Dolby’s deal? Patent infringement. It’s seemingly the soup de jour of lawsuits these days, if lawsuits were soup and the legal system some kind of uber-litigious diner. Anyway, quoth…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Mac OS X Lion Apes Chrome OS After Recent “Restart to Safari” Mode

While it’s not the 1:1 comparison an initial glance would have you believe, MacRumors has discovered buried within Mac OS X Lion a “Restart to Safari” mode that’s very similar to that browser-based OS from Google. Indeed, on the Mac OS X Lion user lock screen, MacRumors has found an alternative log-in option that allows…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Magnetic Silly Putty “Hack” Creates Freakish Magnet-Devouring Blob

This automagically morphing blob of Silly Putty is based in science, silly, not witchcraft. But how does one go about creating a freaky blob of magnet-devouring goodness? Instructables member Michael Saurus lays out a parts list: Tools: – disposable gloves (latex or other) – disposable face mask – disposable work area (paper plate) Materials: –…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Apple Retail Store Employee Works to Form Union

A part-time employee at a San Francisco-based Apple store has started a process that could see a first-of-its-kind union formed at one of the company’s iconic retail locations. Cory Moll, a part-timer in San Francisco, said he’s forming the union as part of an attempt to secure better wages and benefits for Apple’s 30,000 retail…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Le Mans Driver Walks Away from Terrifying 200 M.P.H. Crash

When an Audi clips a Ferrari at a 200 m.p.h. clip during a pass at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this happens. The Audi driver, Alan McNish (seen above, mid-air), walked away from the crash. [The Daily]

Tech News Jack Loftus

Bill Gates Opens Up On Anything, Everything In Latest Interview

Teasing in the Bill Gates household doesn’t unfold as it does in many homes around the U.S. Case in point, Bill’s kids routinely tease the Microsoft co-founder with—what else?—Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars’s top 40 hit, Billionaire. “The Billionaire song is what my kids tease me with,” Gates said in a widely circulated interview with…

Tech News Jack Loftus

MIDI Hats Purport to Create Something Called “Music”

These MIDI Music Hats, seemingly spawned during a drunken three-way between a snowman, the Smurfs and something sprung from the mind of the late Dr. Seuss, are allegedly an art project cooked up by Sunny Oh and Anna Obikane. Worn on the head, as hats are wont to be, they include a variety of soft…

Tech News Jack Loftus

This Suitcase Is Packed Full of Wireless Regime Change

Using Facebook or Twitter to overthrow an oppressive government is one thing, but to see true effectiveness one should probably deploy the case of goodies seen above. Unofficially called an “Internet in a suitcase,” the kit is just one of the many tools currently being employed by the Obama Administration to craft “shadow” networks in…

Tech News Jack Loftus

ISS Lamp Illuminates When the Space Station Is “Near”

Nathan Bergey wanted to know when that manmade wonder, the International Space Station, was shooting by above his head in orbit, so he did what any skilled tinkerer would do: He built a lamp that lights up whenever it’s overhead. Bergrev provides the full source code for this project as well as this brief, inspirational…

Space & Spaceflight Jack Loftus

Start Your Rudimentary 3D Home Printing Business for Less Than $500

One day in the distant theoretical future, we will want for nothing, as the Great American Dream will forgo a chicken in every pot for a 3D printer in every home. In the present day, however, things are a bit more mundane, with 3D printing still very much relegated to the extremes. Immense manufacturing facilities…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Of Body Hacking, Ben Franklin and Your Data-Driven Future

In colonial times, Benjamin Franklin was fond of keeping a list of “13 virtues.” If he violeted one, he would check it off, and use it as motivation to improve his moral standing. He was an original body hacker. Today, body hacking is a much more elaborate, much more technical affair. Practitioners graph and plot…

Health Jack Loftus

Nuance Voice Control Spied Alongside MacBook Air Refresh In Latest Apple Leak

Long gone are the days of the airtight Apple ship. In its place, in the past and today, especially, are leaks like these: Advanced Nuance voice recognition could be included in iOS 5 after all, and…new MacBook Airs, oh my! The MacBook Air refresh is the simpler leaks of the two, with oft-sought out and…

Tech News Jack Loftus

One-Man Mini-Rocket Has Shaky Second Launch

As the one-man Heat-1X rocket started to veer off course and outside the designated launch area, mission controllers cut the engine and ended the test flight well short of the 15-kilometer goal. Also, the parachute did not fully open. Success! Indeed, the test was considered a success by designers at Copenhagen Suborbitals, who assembled the…

Space & Spaceflight Jack Loftus

The Ghosts of Saturn

Designer Chris Abbas collected a ton of Cassini photography from the Saturn mission and made this video. It is at times simultaneously eerie and awe-inspiring. This is not your father’s NASA highlight reel. Nine Inch Nails provides the soundtrack because that’s exactly what you’d expect of a ghostly Saturn fly-by video. Which reminds me: If…

Space & Spaceflight Jack Loftus

Take Note: MacDefender Malware Now Calls Itself Mac Shield

New name, same headache. The MacDefender malware we’ve told you about in the past has morphed into a similarly fake anti-virus application that is still attempting to trick unsuspecting users into a download. Be wary, but don’t panic. [MSNBC] http://gizmodo.com/5805232/apple-explains-how-to-get-rid-of-macdefender-malware

Tech News Jack Loftus

Your Baby Is Not Safe Until Its Butt Is Planted In Baby Bjorn’s New $300 Miracle Chair

Baby Bjorn has gone and done it. They’ve managed to create a baby high chair that’s so full of itself and overpriced that I actually find myself hating something as innocent as a baby high chair this afternoon. For $300 one receives this ultra-compact, ultra-portable high chair with which helicopter parents can coddle their undoubtedly…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Hassell High-Speed Concept Train Serves Australian Luxury at Ludicrous Speed

With its double-decker design and posh interior perks, this concept train from Australian firm Hassell could one day zip the denizens of the land down under across the outskirts of their island continent at hundreds of miles per hour. A concept for now, the train’s design is nevertheless sexy, sleek and akin to something I’d…

Tech News Jack Loftus

Jack Loftus

SageTV Acquisition Could Aid Fledgling Google TV with Potential DVR-Style Devices

The “Barefoot Bandit” Pleads Guilty

The New York Post Blocks Mobile Safari Vistors from Accessing Their Web Site

RIM Can’t Win These Days

Mac OS X Lion Apes Chrome OS After Recent “Restart to Safari” Mode

Magnetic Silly Putty “Hack” Creates Freakish Magnet-Devouring Blob

Apple Retail Store Employee Works to Form Union

Le Mans Driver Walks Away from Terrifying 200 M.P.H. Crash

Bill Gates Opens Up On Anything, Everything In Latest Interview

MIDI Hats Purport to Create Something Called “Music”

This Suitcase Is Packed Full of Wireless Regime Change

ISS Lamp Illuminates When the Space Station Is “Near”

Start Your Rudimentary 3D Home Printing Business for Less Than $500

Of Body Hacking, Ben Franklin and Your Data-Driven Future

Nuance Voice Control Spied Alongside MacBook Air Refresh In Latest Apple Leak

One-Man Mini-Rocket Has Shaky Second Launch

The Ghosts of Saturn

Take Note: MacDefender Malware Now Calls Itself Mac Shield

Your Baby Is Not Safe Until Its Butt Is Planted In Baby Bjorn’s New $300 Miracle Chair

Hassell High-Speed Concept Train Serves Australian Luxury at Ludicrous Speed

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

How to Watch the F1 Japanese GP 2026 on a Free Channel

Ranking 2016’s Superhero Debuts, 10 Years Later

Fourth Most Populous Country in the World Bans Most Social Media for Kids

How to watch UFC Fight Night Adesanya vs Pyfer live this Saturday

‘Steel Ball Run’ Will Return This Year…Eventually

‘The Mummy 4’ Is Getting the Family Back Together

JD Vance Says UFOs Are Actually Demons

Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine Hits Its Lowest Price of the Year for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, Cut Your Daily Coffee Costs at Home

Amazon Clears Out Govee LED Smart Light Bulbs (2-Pack) at a Record Low, Each Bulb Costs Just a Few Dollars

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