Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Drug Company That Makes OxyContin Files For Bankruptcy to Stop Lawsuits Over Opioid Crisis

Purdue Pharma, the drug company that makes the controversial pain medication OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy protection late Sunday night. The bankruptcy filing will temporarily halt thousands of lawsuits against Purdue alleging that it made billions of dollars while helping to create America’s opioid epidemic which has killed over 400,000 people since 1999. The bankruptcy news,…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 16

Body of Man Who Went Missing in 1997 Discovered in Pond on Google Maps

The body of William Moldt, a 40-year-old Florida man who was reported missing in November of 1997, has been found. And it’s all thanks to Google Maps, strangely enough. Barry Fay, a 50-year-old resident of Wellington, Florida, called the police after a neighbor told him there was a car in the pond behind his house…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 13

Travel Bloggers Arrested in Iran For Flying Drone Without a Permit

Two Australian travel bloggers have been arrested in Iran for flying a hobby drone without a permit. The bloggers often take photos with their drone and publish them to social media, but the couple disappeared from the internet in June after posting from Pakistan. The bloggers, Jolie King and Mark Firkin, operate the website The…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 13

France Vows to Block Facebook’s Libra Currency in Europe, Suggests ‘Public Digital Currency’ Instead

The French government is vowing to block Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency from being introduced in Europe, according to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who denounced the planned digital currency at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris today. “I want to be absolutely clear: in these conditions, we cannot…

Social Media Matt Novak Sep 12

Israel Allegedly Installed Stingray Devices Around D.C. to Spy on President Trump

Israel was allegedly behind the Stingray spy devices discovered around Washington, D.C. in 2017, according to an explosive new report from Politico, which notes that they were primarily intended to spy on President Donald Trump and his associates. The Israeli government denies the charge, but Politico’s sources include at least three unnamed former U.S. officials…

Privacy & Security Matt Novak Sep 12

Senator Mitt Romney Says FDA Should Consider Recalling E-Cigarettes in Wake of Vaping Deaths

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah has called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider recalling e-cigarettes in the wake of at least six deaths by people who used vaping products. Over 450 people in 33 states have fallen ill after vaping and Senator Romney tweeted his concern about the lack of federal action…

Health Matt Novak Sep 11

UK Government Plans to Collect ‘Targeted and Personalized’ Data on Internet Users to Prepare For Brexit: Report

The UK government is planning to collect “targeted and personalized information,” on anyone who visits the government’s various websites, according to a new report from BuzzFeed News. Politicians in the UK are being told that it’s a “top priority” and that the information is needed to prepare for Brexit, the UK’s departure from the European…

Privacy & Security Matt Novak Sep 10

George Soros Praises President Trump’s Action Against Huawei Which Will Definitely Confuse MAGAholes

George Soros praised President Donald Trump’s strong stance against China and the telecom giant Huawei late Monday in a new op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. And it’s a safe bet that this will confuse a lot of Trump supporters. Soros has traditionally been a boogeyman for the rightwing of the Republican Party, spawning conspiracy…

Privacy & Security Matt Novak Sep 10

Apple and Foxconn Accused of Breaking Labor Laws in China to Produce iPhones

Apple and Foxconn have been accused of violating labor laws at a factory where the tech giants are producing the new iPhone, according to a new report from China Labor Watch. Additionally, the nonprofit watchdog alleges that workers at the Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, the largest iPhone factory in the world, are working extreme overtime…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 9

Absolute Legend Catches iPhone in Midair While Riding Roller Coaster

Samuel Kempf was riding a roller coaster in Spain when he saw an iPhone hurtling through the air. Lesser men may have simply watched helplessly as the phone plummeted to Earth, no doubt getting destroyed in the process, but Kempf is not lesser men. He jumped into action, and like a figure from a Renaissance…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 6

Chinese Government Reportedly Hacks Telecoms and Smartphones to Track Uyghur Population

The Chinese government is employing hackers to crack both Asian telecommunications carriers and personal devices in an effort to track the Uyghur ethnic population in Asia, according to new reports from both Reuters and CNN. Hackers who work for the Chinese government have infiltrated telecom systems in India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Thailand according to…

Privacy & Security Matt Novak Sep 5

Here’s Every Project Being Delayed to Pay For President Trump’s Idiotic Border Wall

President Donald Trump is diverting $3.6 billion in U.S. military funding to build part of his wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, but where is the money actually coming from? So far we’ve only heard talk about a few million dollars here and a few million dollars there, but last night NPR finally obtained the complete…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 5

How Schools Are Being Designed to Minimize the Number of Deaths During a Mass Shooting

Lockdown drills have become the norm as schools across the U.S. are forced to grapple with the threat of potential mass shootings every single day. But these schools are also being designed in new ways to minimize the number of deaths during a mass shooting. And this segment from NBC News shows just how strange…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 4

Top Website For Organizing Hong Kong Protests Hit With DDoS Attack

LIHKG, one of the most important websites used to organize pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, has been hit with a DDoS attack that temporarily took the forum offline this past weekend. And while no one knows for sure who’s behind the attack, we can take an educated guess. The Chinese government is very unhappy, to…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 3

Texas Whataburger Location Reopens After Viral Video Shows Mouse Jumping Into Deep Fryer

A Whataburger location in Bastrop, Texas has reopened after a disturbing video went viral over the weekend. Facebook user Brushawn Lewis captured footage of a mouse in the food prep area of the restaurant on Saturday. But it gets so much worse than a mouse just waltzing through the burger joint. The mouse can be…

Tech News Matt Novak Sep 3

YouTube Bans Anti-Nazi Documentary From 1938 For Violating Hate Speech Policy [Updated]

“Inside Nazi Germany” is one of the most important anti-Nazi documentaries in history. First released on January 20, 1938, the 15-minute movie became one of the first explicitly anti-Nazi newsreels to play in U.S. theaters and provided an early glimpse into the Nazi atrocities that would only become fully known to Americans years later. The…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 30

This Interview With Uber’s CEO Should Be Placed in a Time Capsule For the Year 2029

Uber lost a mind-boggling $5.2 billion last quarter, but the company’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, is still optimistic that Uber will be able to make money one day. Khosrowshahi sat down with Bloomberg Technology reporter Emily Chang yesterday and kept insisting that Uber has the ability to turn a profit, despite widespread skepticism from people who…

Transportation Matt Novak Aug 30

Steve Wozniak Says Big Tech Companies Like Apple Should Be Broken Up

Steve Wozniak has always been a straight-shooter who speaks his mind. And the Apple cofounder is not shying away from some bold statements this week, telling Bloomberg News that he thinks the Big Tech companies should be broken up. And that includes Apple. “I am really against monopoly powers being used in unfair, antitrust manners—not opening…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 29

Why Does Darpa Need a Huge Underground Facility by Friday?

Darpa is often described as the “mad science” wing of the Defense Department. They’re the ones who have a history of working on cutting edge technology for the military like virtual fences, disaster relief robots, and the invention of the internet itself. They even tried to build Skynet in the 1980s. But Darpa sent out…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 28

President Trump Promises to Pardon Anyone Who Breaks the Law While Building Border Wall: Report

President Donald Trump is promising a pardon to people who break the law while building his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a new report from the Washington Post. But White House officials insist Trump is just “joking,” an increasingly common defense of the president’s immoral behavior. Government officials are reportedly concerned that current plans…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 28

Matt Novak

Drug Company That Makes OxyContin Files For Bankruptcy to Stop Lawsuits Over Opioid Crisis

Body of Man Who Went Missing in 1997 Discovered in Pond on Google Maps

Travel Bloggers Arrested in Iran For Flying Drone Without a Permit

France Vows to Block Facebook’s Libra Currency in Europe, Suggests ‘Public Digital Currency’ Instead

Israel Allegedly Installed Stingray Devices Around D.C. to Spy on President Trump

Senator Mitt Romney Says FDA Should Consider Recalling E-Cigarettes in Wake of Vaping Deaths

UK Government Plans to Collect ‘Targeted and Personalized’ Data on Internet Users to Prepare For Brexit: Report

George Soros Praises President Trump’s Action Against Huawei Which Will Definitely Confuse MAGAholes

Apple and Foxconn Accused of Breaking Labor Laws in China to Produce iPhones

Absolute Legend Catches iPhone in Midair While Riding Roller Coaster

Chinese Government Reportedly Hacks Telecoms and Smartphones to Track Uyghur Population

Here’s Every Project Being Delayed to Pay For President Trump’s Idiotic Border Wall

How Schools Are Being Designed to Minimize the Number of Deaths During a Mass Shooting

Top Website For Organizing Hong Kong Protests Hit With DDoS Attack

Texas Whataburger Location Reopens After Viral Video Shows Mouse Jumping Into Deep Fryer

YouTube Bans Anti-Nazi Documentary From 1938 For Violating Hate Speech Policy [Updated]

This Interview With Uber’s CEO Should Be Placed in a Time Capsule For the Year 2029

Steve Wozniak Says Big Tech Companies Like Apple Should Be Broken Up

Why Does Darpa Need a Huge Underground Facility by Friday?

President Trump Promises to Pardon Anyone Who Breaks the Law While Building Border Wall: Report

Seagate NVMe SSD 2TB Hits Record Low, Making It the Cheapest and Smartest Way to Expand Xbox Storage

‘Dune: Part Three’ Begins Like a Sci-Fi ‘Saving Private Ryan’

First Statewide Data Center Ban Passed by Maine Legislature

FCC Exempts Netgear from Foreign-Made Router Ban for Some Reason

Jamie Dornan Is Your New Aragorn in ‘The Hunt for Gollum’

Trump’s Fed Pick Is Knee Deep in Tech and Crypto Investments

The First Trailer for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Takes Terror Stateside

The Trump Phone Still Looks Like Total Trash

‘Masters of the Universe’ Really, Really Wants to Be the Next ‘Barbie’

Samsung’s Micro RGB TVs Provide So Much Color It May Be Too Much

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