Kate Knibbs, Author at Gizmodo

Hell Yeah, OnePlus One Is Now Available for Everyone

When the OnePlus One came out last year, it was a killer deal: a $300 off-contract smartphone so beautiful, it made Google look like poop for charging so much for the Nexus. The only problem was that, aside from special promotions, you needed to be invited to buy it. But that exclusivity is now over:…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 20

Oops: Google Accidentally Tore Itself a Security Hole on April Fool’s

April Fool’s Day comes but once a year, and that’s probably a good thing for Google. Everyone’s favorite search giant and proprietor of quirky holiday-related graphics accidentally broke its site security this April 1. This year, Google’s “prank” was turning its home page display around, so when you visited the homepage, everything looked backwards. But…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 17

Good News! The DOJ Might Kill the Comcast-Time Warner Merger

The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger has been in the works for so long, it’s starting to feel like the impending monopolistic telecom Frankenbaby was inevitable. But the Justice Department may kibosh the deal for violating antitrust laws, according to a report from Bloomberg. Attorneys who are investigating Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposal to create a nationwide…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 17

Fanboys Stab Each Other Over Android vs Apple

The ever-heated battle over mobile ecosystems left two wounded fanboys today: In Tulsa, Oklahoma, two roommates were hospitalized after a drunken fight about the relative benefits of Android and Apple phones. “When police arrived at the apartment complex, they learned that the roommates had been drinking and arguing over their mobile phones,” KTUL Tulsa reports.…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 17

This Taut, Cruel Horror Flick Is Shot Through a Teen’s Laptop Screen

There are certain films that are so obviously meant to be projected on a big screen it feels wrong to watch them for the first time at home—grandiose, SFX-heavy space sagas like Gravity only feel right splayed across an IMAX canvass. Unfriended, in its scale, has the reverse affect. It’s best watched on a laptop,…

Movies Kate Knibbs Apr 17

Google vs. the EU: A Fight for the Right to Screw With Search Results

Google is the most popular search engine in the world, to the point where I feel dumb typing “Google is the most popular search engine in the world” because holy shit, you already know. But ubiquity is not synonymous with benevolence. The EU’s new lawsuit against the search giant brings up larger issues. The European…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 16

Most Government Whistleblower Hotlines Don’t Even Use HTTPS

The government is failing to adequately protect its whistleblowers, with dozens of its agencies’ whistleblowing channels—including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice—leaving sensitive information vulnerable to attacks. According to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union, at least 29 inspectors general hotlines fail to use HTTPS, the secure hypertext protocol…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs Apr 16

CSI: Cyber’s Nonsense Phishing Hotel Passion Murder Hack

Our episode begins with Special Agent Avery Ryan (played, as always, by Oscar Winner™ Patricia Arquette) trapping and releasing a giant spider/metaphor in her office, to reiterate to viewers that she is both capable of catching devious creatures and ~compassionate~ enough to release them. Reformed black hat hacker and known vest enthusiast Nelson is not…

Television Kate Knibbs Apr 16

The DEA Is Buying Off-the-Shelf Spyware From a Sketchy Company

The Drug Enforcement Agency has been quietly spending millions on off-the-shelf spyware for the past few years. Motherboard’s Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai traced the DEA’s $2.4 million in purchases of malware for snooping called Remote Control System. It’s a comprehensive spying tool that lets users track their targets’ emails, phone calls, Facebook, Twitter, and even turn on…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs Apr 15

PSA: Netflix Has a Show About Diseased Dicks Called Scrotal Recall

This week, Netflix has apparently quietly launched the Classic Balls Puns Based on the Collected Works of Arnold Schwarzenegger segment of its Original Programming*. This is my way of telling you that you can now watch a show called Scrotal Recall. The concept of Scrotal Recall is basically the same as that episode of The…

Television Kate Knibbs Apr 15

What’s the Blockchain, and Why Does Bitcoin Depend On It?

It’s going to unshackle us from the oppressive dungeon of fiat currency! But also criminals and rogue cops use it to do nefarious drug stuff! Digital currency is often defined by its volatile hype cycle. And yet its most promising feature is incredibly mundane-sounding: a bookkeeping system called “the blockchain.” So what the heck is…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 15

Apple Accused of Making the Russian Version of Siri Homophobic

Was Siri programmed to be a Russian homophobe? A Russian-language speaker living in London recorded some rude responses to questions about being gay from Apple’s digital assistant. “Is gay marriage normal?” Alex asks. “I believe this emotion should be considered negative,” Siri responds. BBC Russia tested Siri and received similar responses to Alex, publishing a…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 15

Online Extortionists Are Using Encryption as a Ransom Weapon

Most of the time we discuss encryption as a way to protect ourselves online , but an increasingly popular form of digital attack uses it as an extortion tool. Criminals are stealing personal files, encrypting them, and hold them hostage until their targets pay for the decryption key. A report from security firm Symantec details…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs Apr 14

A Photographer Made This Beautiful Mirrored Skyline with Plexiglas

To create the perfect Sports Illustrated spread for Houston Rockets star James “The Beard” Harden, photographer Robert Seale decided to double the beauty of the NBA player’s home-team skyline by using a huge piece of Plexiglas to create a mirrored effect. After all, why have a portrait with one excellent beard in it when you…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 14

Jennicam: Why the First Lifecaster Disappeared from the Internet

Exactly 19 years ago today, a 19-year-old woman name Jennifer Ringley started streaming photos taken from her dorm room and inadvertently invented lifecasting. Then she disappeared from the internet. As an experiment, the college student rigged her webcam to broadcast a snapshot of whatever she was doing at the moment every 15 minutes: browsing the…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 14

Apple’s WWDC Will Kick Off June 8, Here’s What to Expect

Apple’s annual World Wide Developers Conference will run June 8-12 at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco. Apple is always vague about what it’ll cover at its largest developers conference, but this year it’s teasing “the future of iOS and iOS 8.” We don’t know much for sure about WWDC 2015, but here’s one…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 14

(Almost) All of CSI:Cyber’s Cringeworthy Tech Buzzwords in One Video

CSI:Cyber is Gizmodo’s new favorite terrible tech-tinged procedural that may or may not be written by people who have never actually seen a computer. It’s great! This compilation of buzzwords from the fourth and fifth episodes of this season is a nonsense cacophony. I’ve watched every single episode of this show so far, but seeing…

Television Kate Knibbs Apr 13

Silicon Valley Season Premiere: Negging Three-Foot Cocks

HBO’s second-most-popular returning show about shifting alliances and desperate, bold power plays in an unpredictable and vicious world on the brink of howling collapse came back last night. The second season premiere of Silicon Valley had 4000% fewer dragons than Game of Thrones and exactly two (2) fewer bare butt shots. It was also about…

Television Kate Knibbs Apr 13

Anyone Can Buy the Malware Used to Hack Sony

The Sony hack was the worst corporate cyberattack ever, and now anyone with $30,000 in Bitcoin and the ability to use Tor can buy the type of exploit used to hack Sony on underground cyberweapon websites, according to ex-hacker Jon Miller. The malware used to carry out the Sony hack wasn’t custom-made, Miller pointed out…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Apr 13

The “Great Cannon”: How China Turns Its Websites Into Cyberweapons

When anti-Chinese censorship services got hit with a crippling distributed-denial-of-service attack last month, researchers quickly pegged China as the culprit. Now, Citizen Lab has pinpointed the Chinese tool that made this attack happen. They’re calling it the Great Cannon. Separate from but located within China’s Great Firewall, this “Great Cannon” injects malicious codeas a way…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs Apr 10

Kate Knibbs

Hell Yeah, OnePlus One Is Now Available for Everyone

Oops: Google Accidentally Tore Itself a Security Hole on April Fool’s

Good News! The DOJ Might Kill the Comcast-Time Warner Merger

Fanboys Stab Each Other Over Android vs Apple

This Taut, Cruel Horror Flick Is Shot Through a Teen’s Laptop Screen

Google vs. the EU: A Fight for the Right to Screw With Search Results

Most Government Whistleblower Hotlines Don’t Even Use HTTPS

CSI: Cyber’s Nonsense Phishing Hotel Passion Murder Hack

The DEA Is Buying Off-the-Shelf Spyware From a Sketchy Company

PSA: Netflix Has a Show About Diseased Dicks Called Scrotal Recall

What’s the Blockchain, and Why Does Bitcoin Depend On It?

Apple Accused of Making the Russian Version of Siri Homophobic

Online Extortionists Are Using Encryption as a Ransom Weapon

A Photographer Made This Beautiful Mirrored Skyline with Plexiglas

Jennicam: Why the First Lifecaster Disappeared from the Internet

Apple’s WWDC Will Kick Off June 8, Here’s What to Expect

(Almost) All of CSI:Cyber’s Cringeworthy Tech Buzzwords in One Video

Silicon Valley Season Premiere: Negging Three-Foot Cocks

Anyone Can Buy the Malware Used to Hack Sony

The “Great Cannon”: How China Turns Its Websites Into Cyberweapons

Bose SoundLink Max Bluetooth Speaker Quietly Drops to Its Lowest Price, Now Cheaper Than Last Week’s Low

The Wicked Stepmother of ‘The Testaments’ Is So Much Fun to Hate

Apple’s Smart Glasses Are Stepping Into a Privacy Minefield

Allbirds Is Getting Out of the Shoe Business and Pivoting to AI Infrastructure

Anker Nebula P1i Portable Projector Debuted at CES 2026 and Now Hits Record Low Just Weeks After Launch

There’s No Saving Windows 11. It’s Time for Windows 12

Axiom Space Is Ready to Test Its Next-Generation Spacesuit in 2027

Astronomers Just Dropped the Largest High-Res 3D Map of the Universe

Samsung 27″ Monitor Now Cheaper Than 24″ After Quiet Price Drop, Basically a Free Upgrade to a Bigger Screen

The ‘Good Omens’ Finale Trailer Wants You to Think About the End and Nothing Else

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

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