Kat Hannaford, Author at Gizmodo

The Bright Lights of Border Control Scare the Astronomers’ Stars Away

There’s a reason you can’t see stars in the city—lights. Lights everywhere! They drown the sky’s bounty out, and apparently it’s even affecting Arizona astronomers, who are unfortunately situated right by the border…and the border patrol’s spotlights. Border-jumpers and smugglers targeted by border patrol’s bright helicopter lights are actually ruining the chances of the state’s…

Space & Spaceflight Kat Hannaford

Apparently Porcelain and Wooden Doweling are the Perfect Materials For Speaker Quality

Who knows; the perfect speaker could be created from a roll of loo-paper and a few components—but if it doesn’t look good, it’ll hardly do well. Apparently porcelain and wooden dowel has been discovered as the perfect mix. Thankfully both form and function seems to have played equally-crucial roles in Joon and Jung’s design, as…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Help Archive New York City’s Neon Lights

Consider Kickstarter a selfish form of charity, as you always get something back—even if it’s just the knowledge you’ve helped invest in a product’s future. Today, an app creator needs your help—or $10—setting Project Neon free. All of New York’s neon signs have been photographed for the upcoming Project Neon app, with 100 of the…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

If Filming in 3D is “Tough as Hell,” Michael Bay, Maybe You Should Give Up Now?

I mean, who’s really looking forward to Transformers 3? Really? Really?! Anyway, turns out James Cameron is to blame, with Bay saying “years ago, Jim Cameron called me and told me I needed to do 3D. I told him no!” Telling Empire magazine that filming in 3D was “tough as hell,” Bay described the turning…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Can You Believe This is a Piece of Ikea Furniture?

Ikea serves a purpose, sure, but I hate buying furniture out of necessity. More thought should go into your surroundings—but if you really can’t part with the Scandinavian furniture, at least consider Mykea’s fun decals. The custom-design service has been going for a while now, but they’ve added a whole bunch of fun new decals…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Yes, a Cat-Food Brand Really Has Created Three iPad Games For Cats

All I will say about this is that if you consider lending your iPad to your feline for some browser-based cat-game fun, please oh please wear a screen protector. Won’t someone think of the chiiiiildren! [Games For Cats]

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Every House Should Come Equipped With a Towel-Folding Robot

Handy robots are like the cute puppies of the world. No-one wants a stationery ‘bot, as much as they don’t want one of these. *shudder* Surely the golden retriever of the robot world is one that actually does household chores. https://gizmodo.com/if-fonts-were-dogs-comic-sans-would-be-a-whateverthef-5801666 This Japanese robot can fold towels—albeit very small towels—faster than it takes to dirty…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Sprint Knows the Way to Our Hearts is Through Cats and the Internet

I loathe giving time to adverts (especially when they’re not paying for it!) but sometimes, they’re just too bang-on not to show you. This Sprint ad for the Nexus S is one of those ads. [IntoMobile via Phandroid -Thanks, Richard!]

Tech News Kat Hannaford

MacBook Airs on Track For June/July Launch, With Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt Upgrades?

Apple does like to keep to schedule, so it’s not entirely surprising to read they’re planning two new MacBook Air models for this June/July. It’s also unsurprising that they’re to run on Sandy Bridge chipsets, and have Thunderbolt connectivity. But it’s always nice to hear whispers of it originating from Taiwan, which of course is…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Cables Don’t Have to be Hidden Away When They’re This Pretty

This is just another thing to add to the list of “if I lived in Japan, I would buy one for every room.” [Iida via Blstrawberry via SwissMiss]

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Yale University’s Digitizing of all its Museum-Worthy Artifacts, For Free and Open Access

All sorts of rare and unusual artifacts in Yale’s collection are being photographed/digitized for the web, so everyone around the world can check out a handwritten Mozart sonata or William Blake watercolor, even if they don’t actually attend Yale. Going one step further than many other similar schemes, Yale isn’t forcing a license or limits…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Streuth! Aussie Robots are Being Taught Their Very Own Spoken Language

And I don’t just mean a particularly-bogan strain of Orrstrayan, either. Researchers at two Queensland universities are creating a robot lexicon for a new language spoken purely by the shiny metal-bummed ‘bots, which have been dubbed the Lingodroids. Makes sense. The Lingodroids are all outfitted with cameras, laser range finders and sonar-mapping, but also microphones…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Android’s Personal Data Leakage Problem

I own an Android. You own an Android. Heaps of people own Androids. But apparently 99 per cent of them can be easily attacked, every time we log into a website on an unsecured network. This is according to researchers at the University of Ulm, in Germany, who found that any phones running a version…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Pizza Boxes Are Probably More Attractive to Thieves Than Laptop Bags

People—boring people!—suggest carrying your laptop in a scuffed duffle bag, because laptop bags are so obviously full of goodies worth nicking. To a hungry thief, a pizza box carried under-arm would prove even more tantalising. I wonder whether they’d be disappointed to open it and find (a working) computer inside, though? [Reddit via DailyWhat]

Tech News Kat Hannaford

HP’s Not Adopting Thunderbolt Anytime Soon

Apple and Canon may’ve thrown their weight behind Intel’s Thunderbolt, but HP’s playing it safe for the meantime, as they “haven’t found a value proposition yet,” and that “everybody seems to be content with the expansion of USB 3.0.” [MacWorld] https://gizmodo.com/apples-new-imacs-add-thunderbolt-more-graphics-muscle-5798012

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Slacker Premium Radio Costs $10 a Month For On-Demand Music-Streaming

If you’re willing to cough up $10 a month, you’ll find yourself with 8 million songs at your disposal on Slacker’s new Premium Radio service, which we previewed the other month. https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-first-look-at-slackers-excellent-on-demand-m-5500674 It joins the entirely-free Slacker Basic Radio, which doesn’t let you choose songs on-demand, and Slacker Radio Plus, which costs $4 a month…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

A Skinned Leica M6 Still Looks Hot to Me

I don’t know what possessed photographer Duncan Meeder to strip a Leica M6 rangefinder camera of its skin, but here you have it, naked. Doesn’t it chill you to your core, just like with the hacksawed Leica lenses? [PetaPixel] https://gizmodo.com/dont-cry-for-this-hacksawed-leica-lens-5802249/#comments

Tech News Kat Hannaford

You’ll be Able to Grab Motorola’s Droid X2 From Verizon on May 26th

Pretty much everything about the Droid X2 has leaked already, save for the date of launch. Internal Verizon documents are claiming it’ll be May 26th, though it’ll start showing up around May 19th via direct fulfillment. https://gizmodo.com/leak-motorolas-droid-x2-will-have-a-4-3-inch-qhd-scree-5801511/#comments Meanwhile, both Motorola and Verizon’s websites are showing mention of the X2, along with confirmation of the specs.…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Specs Leak Out For HTC’s Singing Songstress “Puccini” Tablet

You can’t codename a tablet “Puccini” without setting tongues wagging that it’ll be a media workhorse. But until now, little else was known about HTC’s rumored 10-inch tablet. Today, a leak points at a dual-core Snapdragon chipset and WXGA resolution. https://gizmodo.com/will-this-10-inch-4g-htc-puccini-tablet-be-offered-soon-5800307/#comments That’s 800 x 1280 fact-finders, the very same as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1-incher.…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Toshiba’s Got a 4-Inch LCD to Rival Apple’s Retina Display

Sure enough, there have been several displays edging out Apple’s potent Retina Display. Toshiba’s 4-incher is the latest, with the cellphone LCD having 367 pixels per inch (as opposed to the iPhone’s 326.) https://gizmodo.com/what-is-the-iphones-retina-display-5557210 They also have some other high-resolution displays ranging from 3.3-inches to 4-inches, though none top out the ppi quite like the…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Kat Hannaford

The Bright Lights of Border Control Scare the Astronomers’ Stars Away

Apparently Porcelain and Wooden Doweling are the Perfect Materials For Speaker Quality

Help Archive New York City’s Neon Lights

If Filming in 3D is “Tough as Hell,” Michael Bay, Maybe You Should Give Up Now?

Can You Believe This is a Piece of Ikea Furniture?

Yes, a Cat-Food Brand Really Has Created Three iPad Games For Cats

Every House Should Come Equipped With a Towel-Folding Robot

Sprint Knows the Way to Our Hearts is Through Cats and the Internet

MacBook Airs on Track For June/July Launch, With Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt Upgrades?

Cables Don’t Have to be Hidden Away When They’re This Pretty

Yale University’s Digitizing of all its Museum-Worthy Artifacts, For Free and Open Access

Streuth! Aussie Robots are Being Taught Their Very Own Spoken Language

Android’s Personal Data Leakage Problem

Pizza Boxes Are Probably More Attractive to Thieves Than Laptop Bags

HP’s Not Adopting Thunderbolt Anytime Soon

Slacker Premium Radio Costs $10 a Month For On-Demand Music-Streaming

A Skinned Leica M6 Still Looks Hot to Me

You’ll be Able to Grab Motorola’s Droid X2 From Verizon on May 26th

Specs Leak Out For HTC’s Singing Songstress “Puccini” Tablet

Toshiba’s Got a 4-Inch LCD to Rival Apple’s Retina Display

Getting Stuck Inside a Glitching Robotaxi Is a Whole New Thing to Be Scared of

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Humanity’s Epic Return to the Moon 🔴

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission Blasts Off

Disney’s Robot Olaf Dying Is the Funniest Thing to Happen in 2026

Kia’s EV3 Is Headed to the US This Year With Up to 320 Miles of Range

This Is the Way to Lego’s April Releases

Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI

Amazon Facilities in Bahrain Hit Again as Iran Follows Through on Threat, Report Says

Why the PS6 Handheld Will Matter More Than the PS6

DNA Study Casts Even More Doubt on Shroud of Turin’s True Origin

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

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?