Matt Novak, Author at Gizmodo

UberFacts Isn’t Steaming Hot Garbage Anymore

We fact-checked UberFacts on three separate occasions in 2014. And every time, the Twitter-based trivia robot got a failing grade. But today we’re happy to report some good news: UberFacts is more accurate these days! Way back in March of 2014 UberFacts got a grade of just 59 percent true. Then in June it was…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 7

Why Does the Edward Snowden “Hologram” Look Nothing Like Snowden?

When you look at the photo above, what do you see? Famed NSA document leaker Edward Snowden? Or do you see a 1930s boxer who needs to win just one last fight before he can finally retire? Last night in New York an art collective named The Illuminator projected an image of Edward Snowden in…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 7

Why Even Our Most Radical Visions of the Future Include Pizza

According to futurists of the 20th century, food of the future was supposed to be calorie-dense, inexpensive, and ready in a flash. And in many ways that future has arrived. But we’re still waiting on one high-tech food prediction from the 1980s: The rehydrated pizza of the film Back to the Future: Part II. The…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 2

The Horrific April Fools’ Pranks of the 19th Century

Here in the 21st century, April Fools’ Day is a pretty harmless holiday. Brands trot out their fake products and news organizations make silly claims and then we all go about our day. But back in the 19th century, April Fools’ Day could be pretty brutal. In fact, it could be downright dangerous. I looked…

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 1

The Pentagon Can’t Account for $45 Billion It Spent in Afghanistan

The Department of Defense has spent $66 billion since 2002 rebuilding Afghanistan. But amazingly, it can’t account for $45 billion of that money. That’s billion with a B. The auditing office in charge of overseeing the reconstruction of Afghanistan has asked the Pentagon for a full account of where those funds have been spent. Twice.…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 31

For Sale on eBay: Military Vehicle To Start Your Robot Army

Ever had a burning desire to start your own robot army? Well, now might be your chance, provided you have $55,000 to spare. Someone is selling an experimental unmanned military vehicle on eBay. (Death ray not included.) In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the U.S. military had a renewed push to develop unmanned vehicles.…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 31

‘Optimistic’ Predictions From 1950 That Warned of the Coming Dystopia

It’s so easy for us to look back at old predictions for the future and see them as quaint or overly optimistic. But when we take a closer look—when we stop to really process what’s going on in these predictions—we often find that they weren’t merely silly or naive. They were warning of the horrific,…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 30

DoD security clearances are down 15 percent since the Snowden leaks

The number of security clearances issued by the U.S. Department of Defense has plummeted in the past two years. The big question: Is it because of the Snowden leaks or just because U.S. military spending is down? Yeah, you read that right. Military spending is down. During fiscal year 2013, there were 4.6 million DoD…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 27

A Custody Battle Is Raging Over the Contents of This 1894 Time Capsule

This past Sunday workers demolishing a former telescope factory in Pittsburgh were surprised to find a 19th century time capsule in the cornerstone. Now the demolition company is claiming that it has every right to keep the capsule — along with the incredibly cool telescope artifacts that they found inside. Image courtesy of Al Paslow…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 26

American Cheese Was Invented By a Canadian

It’s like learning that French fries aren’t from France. Or that apple pie isn’t from the United States. Well, here’s another food origin story that might shock you: American cheese was invented by a Canadian. That’s right, the most American of possible food products, American cheese actually owes its existence to a canuck. James Lewis…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 26

Grumpy Americans of the 1970s Wanted to Rewrite the Constitution

The 1970s was a rough time for most Americans. The economy was tanking, inflation was out of control, and thanks to the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal, few people had anything good to say about their government. Which is why predictions about the future from this era are so fascinating. No matter what your political…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 25

RadioShack Selling Customer Data In Bankruptcy Auction

RadioShack’s recent bankruptcy filing means that it has to close nearly 2,000 stores and sell off many of its assets. Some of those assets are to be expected, like trademarks and store leases. But other assets might come as a shock to consumers — assets like personal customer information and email addresses. As Bloomberg reports,…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 24

Professor from 1910: White Babies Will Be Extinct by 2015

Have you seen a baby recently? Then consider yourself lucky. They were supposed to be extinct by the year 2015. At least that’s according to the first two paragraphs of a newspaper article in the December 31, 1910 edition of the Asheville Citizen in North Carolina. But keep reading the article and you’ll notice they’re…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 24

Was This the Plexiglass Car of the Future in 1952?

If you’re a fan of olde-timey futuristic cars you may have seen the photo above pulsating through your streams this weekend. Is it really what people of 1952 thought cars of the future would look like? Not exactly. But it’s still really cool! This plexiglass Plymouth from the 1952 Chicago Auto Show was actually just…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 23

Google Wants to Change TV Advertising Forever

Google Fiber is about to change the way TV ads look for subscribers in Kansas City. And it has the potential to upend the entire TV industry in the very near future. In the next few weeks Google will roll out a small but revolutionary TV ad-tracking program, tipped early today at Adweek. The program…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 20

New Board Game Pits Tesla Against Edison, History’s Greatest Underdog

Everybody knows that Nikola Tesla was a genius. But with all the attention being paid to Tesla here in the 21st century, many kids today must wonder what happened to his rival, Thomas Edison. Well, soon everybody will have a chance to tinker with technology history by putting their (fake) money behind inventors like Tesla…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 20

8 Walt Disney Quotes That Are Actually Fake

Sometimes it feels like the internet is 90 percent inspirational quotes. Albert Einstein, Gandhi, and Walt Disney are all popular sources for bite-sized nuggets of inspiration. But sometimes the quotes attributed to these people are just wrong. Like these quotes from Disney — a man who didn’t actually say, “If you can dream it, you…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 19

That Time Hackers Changed the CIA Website to ‘Central Stupidity Agency’

On September 16, 1996 Swedish hackers changed the CIA’s website to read “Central Stupidity Agency” instead of “Central Intelligence Agency.” Experts believe it to be one of the sickest burns delivered to the agency in all of 1996. Hacker magazine 2600 has a cache of the site from after it was hacked: The hackers, calling…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 18

Museum Giving Away Back to the Future Car (If Cubs Win World Series)

We’re still waiting on many of the futuristic technologies from Back to the Future: Part II. We don’t have Marty’s hoverboard, Doc’s electronic technology that puts you to sleep, or the government’s total weather control. But you might have a chance to win Doc Brown’s DeLorean — provided the Cubs win the World Series. In…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 18

Hear Bucky Fuller Talk About Life, Airplanes, and the Future

There’s something jarring about hearing old interviews of legendary futurist Buckminster Fuller. He speaks at a rapid pace, like each word is racing to get out before the next. But both Fuller’s style and his self-assuredness make it hard not to get swept up in his unbridled optimism about the future of technology — especially…

Tech News Matt Novak Mar 17

Matt Novak

UberFacts Isn’t Steaming Hot Garbage Anymore

Why Does the Edward Snowden “Hologram” Look Nothing Like Snowden?

Why Even Our Most Radical Visions of the Future Include Pizza

The Horrific April Fools’ Pranks of the 19th Century

The Pentagon Can’t Account for $45 Billion It Spent in Afghanistan

For Sale on eBay: Military Vehicle To Start Your Robot Army

‘Optimistic’ Predictions From 1950 That Warned of the Coming Dystopia

DoD security clearances are down 15 percent since the Snowden leaks

A Custody Battle Is Raging Over the Contents of This 1894 Time Capsule

American Cheese Was Invented By a Canadian

Grumpy Americans of the 1970s Wanted to Rewrite the Constitution

RadioShack Selling Customer Data In Bankruptcy Auction

Professor from 1910: White Babies Will Be Extinct by 2015

Was This the Plexiglass Car of the Future in 1952?

Google Wants to Change TV Advertising Forever

New Board Game Pits Tesla Against Edison, History’s Greatest Underdog

8 Walt Disney Quotes That Are Actually Fake

That Time Hackers Changed the CIA Website to ‘Central Stupidity Agency’

Museum Giving Away Back to the Future Car (If Cubs Win World Series)

Hear Bucky Fuller Talk About Life, Airplanes, and the Future

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

The Crypto Bros Want to Get Their Hands on Anthropic’s ‘Super Dangerous’ Model

This Is What a Music Industry ‘Plant’ Looks Like in 2026

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