Sam Biddle, Author at Gizmodo

Nobody Has Any Idea What the Hell This Mysterious Crashed Drone Is

An (allegedly) American drone just crashed in Pakistan. That’s not altogether surprising—we fly drones over them all the time to hunt militants. But this one’s different. It’s tiny. And, uh, it’s shaped like a bird. What is it? Danger Room’s Spencer Ackerman points out the ornithological similarities between the mystery UAV and the SmallBird drone—but…

Tech News Sam Biddle

The Republican Party Hates Science

Michele Bachmann’s easily one of the GOP’s most prominent candidates. She also has scientific views from the 15th century, claiming both earthquake ’11 and Irene were divine warnings. That’s insane. She’s not alone. And that’s absolutely terrifying. Let me be clear up front. To be a Republican is not to be a philistine, or against…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Chinese General Accuses Country’s Nuclear Chief of Selling Tech Secrets

The only thing more embarrassing than discovering an atomic traitor high up on your government? Revealing the news by accident via a mysteriously leaked internet video. China’s newest (accused) spy is in radioactively hot water. Nobody knows how the leaked video—apparently from an internal government briefing—made its way onto YouTube. But the damage is done:…

Tech News Sam Biddle

A Brief History of HP Killing Itself

“Let’s say you were given a year to kill Hewlett-Packard. Here’s how you do it,” says financial columnist Al Lewis. What follows is a list of everything HP’s done in a year. The truth hurts. A lot. [WSJ]

Tech News Sam Biddle

Two Chatbots Face Off to Discuss God, Unicorns and Experience Sexual Tension

The sick bastards at Cornell’s Creative Machines Lab thought it’d be a hoot to force two chatbot AI programs to talk to one another. The result is deranged, extremely uncomfortable, a fraught with hostility. Much like real human interaction! The little experiment used Cornell’s Cleverbot AI, allowing two programs—a grey-headed guy who looks like he…

Artificial Intelligence Sam Biddle

TomTom’s Newest GPS Creepily Auto-Tweets Your Location for No Reason

Fret not—Hurricane Irene didn’t blow all the stupid out of the world. The TomTom Go Live 1535 M packs apps! The coolest one? A neutered Twitter program that only lets you broadcast your location to the internet. Vroom! Yep, the Twitter app can’t actually read or write tweets. But if you want your followers (and…

Tech News Sam Biddle

F-22 Jets Allowed to Fly Just to Escape Irene

Like its more expensive cousin, the F-35, America’s F-22 fighter fleet at Langley Air Force Base has been grounded due to malfunctioning parts. Surprise! Not at all. But they’re taking to the skies again!—just to avoid a hurricane. https://gizmodo.com/the-f-35-is-cleared-to-fly-again-and-still-not-fixed-5832176 That the Air Force will only give the thumbs up on the F-22 in order for…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Make Phone Calls During the Hurricane

Want to know why cell networks got clogged and choked during the earthquake? A one minute phone call is 460,800% larger than a single text. So with our next natural disaster this week, use SMS. For everyone’s sake. Simple math: its 720 KB for a minute of calling, and 0.15625 KB for a text. MAJOR…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Apple Kills iTunes TV Rentals

Due to a distinct lack of interest, a totally new video strategy, both, or neither, Apple’s axed the ability to rent TV shows. Now, you can only buy them or a season pass for a big bundle. [All Things D] https://gizmodo.com/wsj-says-apples-trying-to-kill-the-cable-industry-5834698

Tech News Sam Biddle

Facebook Making Photos Bigger and Faster

Some welcome Facebook news, for a change! The AP reports Facebook’s finally bumping up the resolution on photo uploads—no word on how much—and halving the upload time. Nifty! All the better for the deluge of filtered horror. [Yahoo!] https://gizmodo.com/facebook-will-kill-photo-filters-for-everyone-5834133

Social Media Sam Biddle

FCC Restarts Checking AT&T/T-Mobile Takeover

After spending months reviewing AT&T’s attempt to swallow T-Mobile, the FCC had hit the pause button—but now it’s back to the review, the NYT reports. [NYT]

Tech News Sam Biddle

Hurricane Irene Is Shutting Down the Entire NYC Subway Tomorrow

New York Governor Cuomo says the entire NYC subway system will be shuttered at noon tomorrow in preparation for Hurricane Irene’s splish-splashy fists of Hades. God damn you, Irene. How are we supposed to go to pilates now? [Breaking News] https://gizmodo.com/new-yorks-subway-may-not-survive-nicole-irene-5834510

Tech News Sam Biddle

Fukushima Has Leaked 168 Hiroshima Blasts of Radiation

We’ve known Fukushima’s been hemorrhaging radiation steadily since the disaster began in March. But now we’ve got a horrid new way to quantify it: the amount of terribly dangerous cesium-137 released by the plant is equal to 168 nuclear bombings. The Guardian reports that the Japanese government’s own calculations put the release of cesium-137—a particularly…

Tech News Sam Biddle

WSJ Says Apple’s Trying to Kill the Cable Industry

Here’s something mysterious: amid the WSJ’s report on Tim Cook’s ascension, they say Apple’s “working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service.” That could be huge. The claim is tied to ye olde “people familiar with the matter,” but this particular…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Panasonic’s New X Lens Takes Micro Four Thirds Closer to Murdering the Point and Shoot

We love Micro Four Thirds cameras. We use them almost daily. But as nifty as high quality interchangeable lenses are, the big eye on a small body can be awkward. Not anymore. The Lumix’s newest lens retracts like magic. Available as a $750 set (badged the Lumix GF3X) paired with the stellar GF3, the 14-42…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Panasonic’s New Lumix FZ150 Is a Super-Zoom Killer for Only $500

As much as Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds lineup has our attention, the non-interchangeable gear out there is looking pretty good. Case in point: the brand new FZ150, which packs a 12MP sensor, lens-mounted controls, and 24x optical zoom for $500. https://gizmodo.com/panasonics-new-x-lens-takes-micro-four-thirds-closer-to-5834620 That’s a hell of a good deal for a great lens (25 mm ultra…

Tech News Sam Biddle

The Last Footage of DARPA’s Hypersonic Aircraft before It Vanished into Oblivion

DARPA’s several hundred million dollar quest to build an airplane that can nuke anything within an hour isn’t going so well. It’s lost both launched prototypes, mysteriously disappearing (and presumably burning up and crashing into the ocean). Here’s video. https://gizmodo.com/air-forces-experimental-hypersonic-aircraft-disappears-5830061 The footage here, released by DARPA, shows the ill-fated HTV-2 Falcon’s last moments before the…

Tech News Sam Biddle

A Happy Birthday Linux Post Written by a Linux Script

Our birthday tribute to Linux might have been a little lacking. So we turned the mic over to a custom-written Linux script running on Ubuntu to let the OS to talk a little about itself on this special day. https://gizmodo.com/linux-turns-20-today-and-shut-up-yes-it-still-matters-5834436 ^ a b Linux 3.0-rc1, Linus Torvalds, 30 May 2011, accessed 31 May 2011 Previously…

Tech News Sam Biddle & Chris Beidelman

A List of Things That Aren’t Available in Pantone Colors But Should Be, in No Particular Order

I saw these baseball bats, and though, Wow, Pantone baseball bats, I’d love to smash something up real good with something so sophisticated. But it turns out they’re not. Well screw that to hell. They should be, along with these: Phone chargers HDMI cables Roombas Skittles Morning after pills Asthma inhalers Toupees Merkins Braces Senator…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Linux Turns 20 Today—And Shut Up, Yes, It Still Matters

We get it. Linux is just for nerds. Not mere nerds—we’re all nerds—Linux nerds. It’s a hobbyist OS for contrarians. It’s an antique. An oddity. Pointless. Right? Very, very wrong. Happy birthday, Linux—let’s celebrate you like we should Linux started off humbly enough—just some guy, some programmer’s side project. A blip on a niche usenet…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Sam Biddle

Nobody Has Any Idea What the Hell This Mysterious Crashed Drone Is

The Republican Party Hates Science

Chinese General Accuses Country’s Nuclear Chief of Selling Tech Secrets

A Brief History of HP Killing Itself

Two Chatbots Face Off to Discuss God, Unicorns and Experience Sexual Tension

TomTom’s Newest GPS Creepily Auto-Tweets Your Location for No Reason

F-22 Jets Allowed to Fly Just to Escape Irene

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Make Phone Calls During the Hurricane

Apple Kills iTunes TV Rentals

Facebook Making Photos Bigger and Faster

FCC Restarts Checking AT&T/T-Mobile Takeover

Hurricane Irene Is Shutting Down the Entire NYC Subway Tomorrow

Fukushima Has Leaked 168 Hiroshima Blasts of Radiation

WSJ Says Apple’s Trying to Kill the Cable Industry

Panasonic’s New X Lens Takes Micro Four Thirds Closer to Murdering the Point and Shoot

Panasonic’s New Lumix FZ150 Is a Super-Zoom Killer for Only $500

The Last Footage of DARPA’s Hypersonic Aircraft before It Vanished into Oblivion

A Happy Birthday Linux Post Written by a Linux Script

A List of Things That Aren’t Available in Pantone Colors But Should Be, in No Particular Order

Linux Turns 20 Today—And Shut Up, Yes, It Still Matters

Artemis 2 Astronaut Offers Powerful Perspective on Going to the Moon Amid War

Anker Nano Travel Adapter Now Under $20 After a Sudden Price Drop, 5 Ports With Smart Temperature Control

Now Even A24 Is Clowning on Netflix’s Handling of ‘Steel Ball Run’

RAM Prices Are Killing Small Gaming Devices

An Embarrassing Mistake May Have Skewed Microplastics Research All Along

Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ Drops to All-Time Low as Amazon Shifts Into Clearance Mode After Spring Sale

You Can Watch the Two Recovered Missing Episodes of ‘Doctor Who’ Right Now

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 Holds a Record Low Price as Bone Conduction Headphones Stock Quietly Clears Out on Amazon

Avast Premium Isn’t Flashy — But It Might Be the Smartest Cheap Antivirus Right Now

Data Centers Create Heat Islands Stretching 6 Miles, Study Finds

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

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