Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

Milwaukee Police Deny Cutting Off Internet Access During Protests

Milwaukee is currently struggling with unrest following the fatal shooting of an armed black man by a Milwaukee police officer on Saturday night. There have been protests every night since, some of which have turned violent. Amidst all the unrest, internet streams have been one of the few unfiltered sources of news. But some activists…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 16

LA Library Cards Get You Free Digital Access to the New York Times From Anywhere

Do you live in Los Angeles and pay for online access to the New York Times? Have I got a cheapskate lifehack for you. If you live in LA, you have access to one of the greatest public library systems in the world. But the library isn’t just books and magazines and amazing VHS tapes.…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 16

The US Considered Hiding Nuclear Weapons In Iceland (And Not Telling Iceland)

New documents obtained by the National Security Archive reveal that the US government considered establishing a nuclear weapons storage site in Iceland during the 1950s. The really interesting part? The United States wasn’t going to tell Iceland. To be clear, there’s no evidence that the US has ever housed nuclear weapons in Iceland, with or…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 15

What the Hell Is Going on in This Complaint About DraftKings to the FTC?

Last week we looked at some of the consumer complaints filed with the FTC about daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel. We noticed a pattern of complaints about weak cybersecurity and reported on it. But there were other complaints that we didn’t publish. Many are run-of-the-mill complaints that you’d expect about any online business.…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 15

There’s a Harambe Market at Disney World

I haven’t been to Walt Disney World in many years, but the next time I go my first stop is going to be the Animal Kingdom park. Disney opened a delightful market in 2015 that serves ribs, curry sausages, and an assortment of other grilled foods. The name? The Harambe Market. Lunch sounds especially delicious…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 12

How Fish Sticks Became the Food of the Future That Nobody Asked For

As a society, our relationship with food is in constant flux. Sometimes we value efficiency in the name of feeding as many people as possible. Other times we value quality ingredients in the name of nurturing the body or soul. When the modern fish stick was invented in the 1950s, it was definitely for efficiency.…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 12

Why Do People Want Thousands of Dollars For Disney VHS Tapes on eBay?

If you do a search for “Disney VHS” on eBay, you’ll find plenty of 1990s Disney movies to choose from. You’ll also notice something strange: a lot of people are asking for a ton of money. Literally hundreds of people are asking for more than $1,000 per tape for everything from Beauty and the Beast…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 11

Hillary Clinton Says Every American Should Have High Speed Internet by 2020

Hillary Clinton just announced at a rally in Warren, Michigan that she wants to connect every American household to broadband internet by the year 2020. It’s a nice thought. But with 2020 just a little over three years away, how realistic is the idea? Not very. According to the FCC’s 2016 Broadband Progress Report, one…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 11

Donald Trump Now Just Holds Up Signs He Printed From the Internet

Donald Trump has said before that all he knows is what he sees on the internet. And that became crystal clear at a rally in Florida yesterday when he held up a sign that had clearly been printed from the web. The sign Trump is holding purports to show how much money the Clinton Foundation…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 11

Consumers Say DraftKings and FanDuel Aren’t Keeping Their Data Secure

States are still scrambling to figure out how to regulate fantasy sports websites like DraftKings and FanDuel. And while much of the attention has been focused on whether fantasy sports should be classified as gambling and whether these websites are being upfront about the risks, some consumers are more worried about data security. Documents obtained…

Privacy & Security Matt Novak Aug 10

This Keebler Elf Twitter Account Is Terrifying When You Finally Realize He’s Talking to Someone Tied to a Chair and That Someone Is You

Ernie Keebler just likes to make elf cookies in his elf tree with his elf friends. But a look at old Ernie’s Twitter account seems to reveal something much darker. Why is he looking directly at me? Honestly, just scroll through Ernie’s Twitter and tell me you don’t notice something strange. For one thing, I…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 10

Church Plans to Drop Electronic Bibles on ISIS With Drones

A Christian church in Sweden plans to deploy drones in parts of Iraq that are currently controlled by the Islamic terrorist group ISIS. But unlike the American military, they won’t be dropping bombs. The church plans to drop electronic Bibles. “The Bibles are the size of pill boxes and have a display. They require no…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 9

This, Um, Unfortunate Supergirl Ad Is Totally Fake

Do you notice anything weird about this ad for the new season of Supergirl that’s coming out in October on the CW network? Look closer… Yeah, that’s unfortunate. Too bad the dozens of people at CW didn’t catch that, right? Well, as Buzzfeed points out, the ad is completely fake. The original ad simply reads…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 8

National Reconnaissance Office Redacts Paper That Was Public Four Years Ago

If you’re one of the country’s most important spy agencies, you’d probably have a pretty strict list of what documents to keep secret, right? Well, judging from my latest FOIA request, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) might just be winging it. Back in April, I filed a Freedom of Information request for a list of…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 8

LA’s Futuristic Torpedo Cars Were Supposed to Fix The Traffic Problem

According to the LA Times in 1923, it took streetcars 30 minutes to move just six blocks in downtown LA that summer. The automobile had invaded the city, and the streetcars were owned by private companies that didn’t want to spend any money on improvements. The dream? Elevating mass transit, like in the 1923 model…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 8

FBI Releases 18 Hours of Spy Plane Video From the Freddie Gray Protests

The FBI has just released over 18 hours of surveillance video from the protests in Baltimore that followed the death of Freddie Gray in 2015. The release comes in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the ACLU and gives a sense of how much visual surveillance the FBI uses during high-profile protests.…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 4

Consumers Allege Venmo Swiped $3,000, Even Though They Never Had Accounts

The PayPal-owned app Venmo has grown tremendously in the past couple of years as a way to share money between friends. But as with all financial services, consumers have had a few complaints, according to documents recently obtained by Gizmodo. I received the complaints through a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Federal…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 4

People Are Trademarking the Shit Out of Donald Trump Merchandise

Donald Trump might be the worst thing that’s happened to modern America, but at least he made some T-shirt manufacturers a few bucks along the way. Enterprising folks have rushed to the patent and trademark office with their Trump slogans (both pro and con), and they’re plastering them on every knick-knack, coffee mug, and tchotchke…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 4

Carpet Cleaner Sues For Its Right to Tweet About the Olympics

A small business in Minnesota is suing over the US Olympic Committee’s ban on tweeting about the Olympic games. The Committee announced last month that non-sponsors are banned from even using hashtags like #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA. Zerorez, a carpet cleaning business in Minnesota, will file suit in U.S. District Court on Thursday. So why is…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 3

The ‘This Is Fine’ Dog Is Now a Stuffed Animal You Can Buy

Everybody knows the “This is Fine” dog. It’s the meme of our generation. Because this is fine. It really is. Well, now you can buy a real life version of your favorite internet-famous cartoon dog. The creator of the comic has started a Kickstarter campaign to sell 13-inch plush dolls of the firey pooch. The…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 3

Matt Novak

Milwaukee Police Deny Cutting Off Internet Access During Protests

LA Library Cards Get You Free Digital Access to the New York Times From Anywhere

The US Considered Hiding Nuclear Weapons In Iceland (And Not Telling Iceland)

What the Hell Is Going on in This Complaint About DraftKings to the FTC?

There’s a Harambe Market at Disney World

How Fish Sticks Became the Food of the Future That Nobody Asked For

Why Do People Want Thousands of Dollars For Disney VHS Tapes on eBay?

Hillary Clinton Says Every American Should Have High Speed Internet by 2020

Donald Trump Now Just Holds Up Signs He Printed From the Internet

Consumers Say DraftKings and FanDuel Aren’t Keeping Their Data Secure

This Keebler Elf Twitter Account Is Terrifying When You Finally Realize He’s Talking to Someone Tied to a Chair and That Someone Is You

Church Plans to Drop Electronic Bibles on ISIS With Drones

This, Um, Unfortunate Supergirl Ad Is Totally Fake

National Reconnaissance Office Redacts Paper That Was Public Four Years Ago

LA’s Futuristic Torpedo Cars Were Supposed to Fix The Traffic Problem

FBI Releases 18 Hours of Spy Plane Video From the Freddie Gray Protests

Consumers Allege Venmo Swiped $3,000, Even Though They Never Had Accounts

People Are Trademarking the Shit Out of Donald Trump Merchandise

Carpet Cleaner Sues For Its Right to Tweet About the Olympics

The ‘This Is Fine’ Dog Is Now a Stuffed Animal You Can Buy

‘You Can’t Miss What Our Values Are’: Before Its Pivot to AI, Allbirds Sounded Very Different

The First ‘Clayface’ Footage Was Wonderfully Disgusting

Scientists Found Literal Ink From Ballpoint Pens in Martian Meteorites

The ‘Galaxy’s Edge’ Han Solo Proves You Really Can’t Replace Harrison Ford

BYD Is Rolling Out 5-Minute Charging on Several Popular EVs

Jury Does What Trump’s DOJ Wouldn’t, Deems Ticketmaster a Monopoly

Govee RGBIC TV Smart Light Bars Go on Clearance, Bringing Each Down to Under $25 on Amazon

EU Is Rolling Out an Online Age Verification App That Could Become the Global Blueprint

16 Underrated Anime That Deserve Your Love

The West Finally Got Some Snow, but It’s Too Little, Too Late

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

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?

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