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Remember, You’re Not Only Naming Your Pet, You’re Also Securing Your Digital Future

Dan Piraro, the creator of Bizarro Comics, pretty much nails it on the head when it comes to choosing a name for your dog or cat these days. Because you’re not just naming your companion, you’re also choosing a security question or even a password that you hope will thwart would-be hackers. So maybe R0v3r,…

The Exact Moment When Last Resort Won Us Over

Last Resort reminded us of early Battlestar Galactica, in a good way. The good men and women of the U.S.S. Colorado are faced with an impossible choice, and they make a crazy decision. The whole thing is filled with insane tension and conflicts between duty and principle that feel real and unforced. But the scene…

The Massive Radio Telescope That Peers Into the Universe’s Darkest Corners

The 13,000 square-mile National Radio Quiet Zone is home to the Green Bank Telescope. The 2-acre, 16-million pound dish is the largest, fully steerable radio telescope in the world. And, as this gorgeous video by Motherboard highlights, it might be in danger. Researchers point the telescope at the sky to look for everything from black…

What monster would you consider having sex with?

There are a lot of monsters that we would have sex with — Santanico Pandemonium From Dusk Til Dawn, NEXT QUESTION. But the grey area of monsters we would “consider” having sex with is infinitely more interesting and absolutely worth debating. Would Hellboy be hot to the touch? Do you think the cat nurses from…

These Harry Potter Blu-rays Are Your Hogwarts-Is-Real Deal of the Day

Diagon Alley’s online storefront—which some call Amazon—is a wonderful place. The Flourish & Blotts section is an excellent way to browse through tomes of all sorts—even muggle books, like J. K. Rowling’s new decidedly adult book, The Casual Vacancy. And it’s real wizardry how you can download books onto your tablet, even if it doesn’t…

How the Kindle Paperwhite Got Its Shine

We know first-hand that the new Kindle Paperwhite is a stunning little device, but how did it get so good? The Amazon employee’s who developed the reader have gotten together to explain. Interestingly enough, they cite the ultimate goal as being able to make a device that sort of “disappears” as you use it. That’s…

Luna 1: The Greatest Failed Spaceship in History

Luna 1 was a Soviet-launched spacecraft that managed a lot of firsts. It was the first craft to achieve escape velocity. It was the first artificial comet. It was not the first failure of the space race, but it managed to be the first spacecraft whose failure was more impressive than its achievement. This is…

The Coffee Shop Isn’t Your Office Vol. 254: Don’t Complain. Ever.

We’ve been vocal before about how the coffee shop is not your office. But if you do happen to set up camp in one, you may absolutely never ever under any circumstances complain about the freaking music. https://gizmodo.com/coffee-shops-are-not-your-fucking-office-dickheads-5936954 Or anything, really. Seriously. [Twitter via Twitter]

The World is About to End: What Do You Do?

If you know Ben Winters’ name, it’s probably from his books like Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Android Karenina, or his supernatural thriller about bedbugs, Bedbugs. So you might not expect an insightfully drawn portrait about a police officer living in a world on the edge of the apocalypse. Or at least you might…

Why a Brand New, Billion-Dollar Aircraft Carrier Still Needs Old-Timey Wooden Ladders

So there you are, walking around on the world’s most advanced aircraft carrier. Everything around you is a multi-million dollar machine packed with advanced technology. Then something propped in the corner catches your eye. Is that an old wooden ladder? What the hell is that doing here? https://gizmodo.com/this-is-what-makes-the-uss-gerald-r-ford-the-best-airc-5944380 When Newport News Shipbuilding builds aircraft carriers…

What in the name of all that is holy is going on in this video?

The title of this YouTube video is “Wierdest [sic] Chemical Reaction I have Ever Freaking Seen!!” And while we’ve seen some pretty amazing reactions in our day, we’re inclined to agree with that description. Why? Because writhing, peduncled, apparating blahrf-fest, that’s why. Oh — and it’s also deadly. https://gizmodo.com/ten-amazing-and-occasionally-explosive-chemical-react-5886602 But let us not fear the…

Will one Iron Man 3 villain be cut out of the Chinese version?

Looper opens in the United States today, but Chinese audiences will be seeing a somewhat different cut of the film. Director Rian Johnson filmed a key sequence in Shanghai, because Looper is a U.S.-Chinese co-production — and Chinese audiences will see a lot more of that Shanghai footage than we will. (In a similar fashion,…

Scary New Malware Uses Your Smartphone To Map Your House for Robbers

If you aren’t careful, much of the tech you hold near and dear can be used against you. An app called PlaceRaider, for instance, can use your phone to build a full 3D map of your house, all without you suspecting a thing. Developed by Robert Templeman at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indiana…

Composite Fiber Pogo Stick Inspires a Whole New Generation to Break Their Necks

Like the hoop and stick or the ball and cup, the pogo stick is another children’s toy that just hasn’t been able to compete with video games and other electronic distractions. But you know what’s sure to get kids bouncing again? A pogo stick with a composite fiber bow spring capable of launching them up…

Posting erotic cartoons on your neighbors’ cars is not how you break into the comic industry

In today’s modern, hustle-and-bustle internet era, getting your comic book out there can be difficult. You must differentiate yourself from the legion of aspiring illustrators, and sometimes a rip-roaring marketing gimmick can do wonders for your career. This is not one of those rip-roaring marketing gimmicks. Starting last year in the Noda ward of the…

Apple Adds New Maps Section to App Store to Help You Replace the iOS 6 Horror Show

Buried within Tim Cook’s apology for the embarrassment that is Apple Maps was the candid suggestion that people go try the many other map applications and websites out there. Well, now Apple has gone one step further, adding a whole featured section to the App Store for maps from third party developers. That’s a big…

RHA SA950i Review: The Perfect Pair of Cheap Headphones

Life is better with great headphones, but some of us—especially those who tend to lose or break things—just need something that’s cheap and good enough. For those listeners, the RHA SA950i headphones deliver a level of quality, design and portability that’s way out of proportion to the product’s pricetag. What Is It? A $60 pair…

Is Bill and Ted the most realistic time travel movie of all time?

What are the dumbest tropes in time travel fiction? This week on the io9 show, we recount the temporal storylines that drive us nuts. And then we catch up with Caltech physicist Sean Carroll, who explains how time travel could happen in real life — and why Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure might be the…

Man Jailed for Accidentally Sexting His Whole Address Book (Including Some Tweens)

You know that episode of The Newsroom where the sassy British lady accidentally emails the whole staff from her BackBerry instead of her boss? A 24-year-old swimming coach did that, but with a fairly graphic sex message. And for extra credit, he had some underaged girls in his phone. That meant trouble. Craig Evans, a…

The NY Post reports that Apple’s music-streaming Pandora ripoff has hit a snag; Sony wants more cash. No rush, guys! https://gizmodo.com/apple-might-be-trying-to-launch-its-own-pandora-knock-o-5941217