Sam Biddle, Author at Gizmodo

Bin Laden Was Daydreaming about Train-Derailing Terror Plot

What do you do when you’re a terrorist pent up in a huge, rundown compound with no phone or internet? Write down “vague, aspirational” terror plots in your notebook, the NYT reports. Like derailing a train on Christmas. The semi-plot, seized in a cache of documents when Bin Laden’s house was raided, hadn’t been put…

Tech News Sam Biddle

God Took His Bike Chain and Made His Favorite Mortal a Coffee Table

Coffee tables. I’m going to SMASH your coffee table. It deserves to be smashed—it’s pitiful. It sits there, reflecting light, collecting dust, insulting me with its presence. Why? Why? Your coffee table is not a gigantic bicycle chain. Beware—should you get this Olympian magazine podium, the Flexible Elos—its very name sounds like something from Jupiter’s…

Tech News Sam Biddle and Kyle VanHemert

Android’s Google Earth Gets Buildings in Three Deez

For the first time anywhere outside of the desktop version, Google Earth for Android has those snazzy 3D buildings. They’re still mostly eye candy, but that’s not always a bad thing! Available for 2.1 and Honeycomb tablets. [Google Mobile Blog]

Tech News Sam Biddle

3D-Printed Cufflinks for Teeny Tiny Bikes Are Cooler than the Alternative

Do you enjoy cycling? Do you enjoy wearing fancy shirts? Then perhaps you need some cufflinks, and perhaps you want some cufflinks that look like little cranks and pedals, yes? They’re not subtle, but damn it, you love your bike. The 3D-printed miniatures are available in either bronze or powdered steel for $60. It would…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Is This the Navy’s Secret Helicopter?

Ever since SEAL Team 6 blew up its downed, stealth Black Hawk, aviation geeks around the globe have been trying to figure out what the hell it was. One flight expert has gathered the clues and created this detailed rendering. https://jalopnik.com/that-downed-us-aircraft-was-a-secret-stealth-helicopter-5798199 David Cenciotti, the brain behind the sketch, has serious credentials: he’s a former member…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Getting Cell Reception in War Zone Afghanistan Is a Bitch

The next time you complain about your cell service, keep this photo in mind: two Afghan National Army soldiers, perched atop a blast wall, struggling to get a signal. The reason? The Taliban often scares telecoms into shutting off service. [In Focus] Photo by Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Tech News Sam Biddle

Poke Your head Inside Local Spots with Google Business Photos

“Google Business Photos” sounds immensely boring, but, to the contrary, it’ll be incredibly cool, once implemented next week. The idea: Street View for building interiors. So you can see just how divey that gross dive bar across the street is. This makes sense—Bing’s already beat Google to interior-peeking with Photosynth, which allows panoramic interior uploads…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Wanna Wear an $8,000 Tank on Your Wrist?

The Azimuth SP-1 Landship watch is… conspicuous. In fact, it’s built to resemble a primitive WWI tank! So, it may not be a fancy golden Cartier affair, but if you’re into the tough-as-nails look, (and are rich!), it may tempt. It’s not the easier watch to read—the minutes and hours are separated into two slivery…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Fifty Years Ago, We (Tensely) Put the Second Man in Space

This week’s situation room photo will likely be marked as one of history’s most famous—fraught with anxiety. But there’ve been other American rooms filled with tension. When the US put Alan Shepard into space, it was serious business. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-obama-and-his-team-watching-operation-kill-bin-5797874 Russia had already beat the US outside of the atmosphere. The Cold War stakes were high.…

Space & Spaceflight Sam Biddle

KEE Desk Phone Dock: Hang Up

A handsome, sturdy phone on your desk is undeniably cool. You can slam it down in rage! And having an old fashioned, weighty telephone against your face just feels good. KEE wants to lend this sensibility to your iPhone—and it fails. Plusses The KEE Desk Phone Dock looks terrific. The KEE feels terrific. The brushed…

Reviews Sam Biddle

Humans Enter Fukushima Reactor for First Time Since Quake Disaster

Not since an enormous quake (and subsequent explosions) crippled the Fukushima plant has anyone stepped foot inside—the radiation has been too thick for humans, leaving robots to do the job. But not today, as workers braved the millisieverts. After the robot squad reported lowered radiation levels, a team of twelve, working on quick shifts to…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Helicopter Crashes into Kid’s Bedroom While Filming Campus PD Episode (Updated)

I love Campus PD! It reminds me of all the best parts of college—moronic guys drinking themselves into stupors, girls sobbing, and classes on Kant. But apparently, the show’s creators are jerks: they wrecked someone’s home, sans compensation. Reddit user strawberryjams says the incident went down thusly: the Campus PD camera crew was following the…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Kiddie Porn Computer Pervert Is Also Enormous Idiot

If you’re going to try to get away with something as reprehensible as child porn, you should at least be discreet. But Virginian horror-being Ian Hartney is not. Hint: don’t ask the computer repair shop where your kiddie porn is. Hartney, disgusting moron that he is, brought his child porn-laden laptop to an area repair…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Forward This to Your Parents, for the Love of God

Moms. We love you. We adore you. But just… ugh… just listen to us… just… ugh… (Click image to expand)

Social Media Sam Biddle

Best Buy Employee Canned for Tackling Laptop Thief

At most big retailers, shoplifters are allowed to run free, because any attempt to touch them brings up the terrifying prospect of a lawsuit. But a Montana Best Buy employee wasn’t having that, taking down a thief. Now he’s fired. The newly-unemployed computer department here, 51-year-old Roger Kline, sprang into action as the thief was…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Apple Really Did Delay the White iPhone for a Reason

All that talk of complications and difficulties building a white iPhone 4? Apple wasn’t BSing. NYT’s Nick Bilton compared the newly released pearly model to a first draft, bought directly from Apple’s Chinese factory. The difference? The old one’s grungy. Yellow discoloration and fading is evident when compared to the white version now on shelves—so…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Hyperspectral Imaging Helped Kill Osama bin Laden. But What the Hell Is It?

Killing ol’ OBL wasn’t just the work of SEAL Team 6—the beyond-badasses had a cadre of support staff backing them up behind the scenes, including classified hyperspectral imaging device experts. So, uh, what does that mean? https://gizmodo.com/meet-seal-team-6-the-bad-asses-who-killed-osama-bin-la-5797701 It’s a way of seeing what the naked eye can’t… Hyperspectral means above or beyond the spectrum—in this…

Tech News Sam Biddle

This Electric Superbike Packs Enough Juice for 185 Miles of Cruising

When you think electric vehicle, you might think of some piddling, golf cart-like geezer, humming its way along gently. Not a futuristic, 125 mph super-cycle. The Lito Sora motorcycle hardly looks like what it is—100% electric and fierce. The Canadian-made Sora not only looks like it drove out of Blade Runner, but has some real…

Tech News Sam Biddle

This Is How You Play Chess in a Warzone

Can anything trump chess, the ultimate game of warfare? Yes, warfare, in which actual bullets fly around and kill people in horrible ways. But someone in Afghanistan felt like getting meta, crafting this nifty chess board for more abstract combat. Seems fitting that the king and queen are .50 cal giants, with the rooks being…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Here’s More Proof that Navy SEALs Are Unbelievable Supermen

If the perfectly executed killing of Osama bin Laden didn’t convince you that SEALs are walking nuclear bombs with bear claws and the tail of a velociraptor, consider the above photo. We don’t know what the hell kind of bullety beam of death he was shooting (anyone know?), or what the advanced night targeting system…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Sam Biddle

Bin Laden Was Daydreaming about Train-Derailing Terror Plot

God Took His Bike Chain and Made His Favorite Mortal a Coffee Table

Android’s Google Earth Gets Buildings in Three Deez

3D-Printed Cufflinks for Teeny Tiny Bikes Are Cooler than the Alternative

Is This the Navy’s Secret Helicopter?

Getting Cell Reception in War Zone Afghanistan Is a Bitch

Poke Your head Inside Local Spots with Google Business Photos

Wanna Wear an $8,000 Tank on Your Wrist?

Fifty Years Ago, We (Tensely) Put the Second Man in Space

KEE Desk Phone Dock: Hang Up

Humans Enter Fukushima Reactor for First Time Since Quake Disaster

Helicopter Crashes into Kid’s Bedroom While Filming Campus PD Episode (Updated)

Kiddie Porn Computer Pervert Is Also Enormous Idiot

Forward This to Your Parents, for the Love of God

Best Buy Employee Canned for Tackling Laptop Thief

Apple Really Did Delay the White iPhone for a Reason

Hyperspectral Imaging Helped Kill Osama bin Laden. But What the Hell Is It?

This Electric Superbike Packs Enough Juice for 185 Miles of Cruising

This Is How You Play Chess in a Warzone

Here’s More Proof that Navy SEALs Are Unbelievable Supermen

Labubus Might Be Labu-Bust After Pop Mart Posts Record Share Loss

Cursor’s New Tool Lets Users Delegate to a Team of Coding Agents

Nvidia Needs to Remind Itself What PC Gamers Actually Want

Iran Says It Hit Oracle Facilities in UAE

‘Invincible’ Season 4 Is Doing Right By Debbie

Artemis 2 Day 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

New Theory Says We’ve Been Overcomplicating the Big Bang

Marvel Might Have Finally Dealt With One of the Most Hated ‘Spider-Man’ Characters Around

China Is Trying to Grow New Forests in This Notorious Mega-Desert. It’s Working

RAM Prices Are Threatening the Viability of the Raspberry Pi and Single-Board Computing

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?