Politics

Tim Cook and Elon Musk Reportedly Holed Up With Senior Republicans to Stop Trump

Most of us can do little more than grumble about Donald Trump. But according to Huffington Post, the world’s tech elite have joined billionaires and senior Republicans at a secretive meeting to “stop [the] Republican front-runner.” The website claims that Tim Cook, Larry Page, Sean Parker, and Elon Musk all descended on a private island…

Chris Christie Addresses Becoming a Dead-Eyed Meme: ‘I Wasn’t Being Held Hostage’ 

“I wasn’t being held hostage,” Chris Christie said today, explaining why popular interpretations ofhis haunted expression on Super Tuesday are wrong. “All these arm chair psychiatrists should give it a break,” Christie continued. Sure, bud. “I’ve had a lot of fun with people on the internet too,” Christie said, acknowledging his moment as the internet’s…

Somehow Jeb’s URL Situation Got Even Sadder

Jeb Bush is no longer running for president, and even his trolls are abandoning him. Since last year, the owner of JebBush.com has redirected the site to Donald Trump’s campaign page. Now it seems Jeb is too irrelevant to be domain pranked. The forlorn Floridian dropped out of the presidential race this weekend, and now…

Google Is Totally Open to the Idea That Ted Cruz Is the Zodiac Killer

Have you typed “is Ted Cruz” into Google lately? You’ll get some interesting autocomplete suggestions. Is Ted Cruz American? Yes, but his eligibility to run for president depends on the interpretation of “natural born citizen.” Is Ted Cruz Hispanic? Depends on who you ask. Race is, after all, a social construct. Is Ted Cruz married?…

Ted Cruz Almost Had a Good Suggestion About Tweeting 

GOP presidential candidate and possible Kardashian Ted Cruz almost said something smart as he stumped today in South Carolina. “Never tweet” is a fantastic policy that we at Gizmodo endorse 1,000,000 percent, especially in regards to the unfortunate tweeting and posting habits of the State Department’s anti-ISIS social media accounts. Cruz was probably taking a…

A New Bill Could Stop State-Level Encryption Bans

Some very important people think encryption is a very bad thing, which could have serious ramifications at all political levels. But at least a pair of Representatives want to stop such rumblings from becoming a problem at the state level. The Verge reports that Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX) will today propose…

Once Again, You Can Read Politicians’ Deleted Tweets

Politiwoops used to be the go-to place to read tweets that politicians thought were clever, before quickly deleting. Twitter cut off the service last year over alleged misuse of its developer platform, but now it’s back, and saving more deleted tweets than ever. In a blog post, the Sunlight Foundation has announced the return, “just…

Obama’s Big Moonshot: Save Humanity

President Obama delivered a budget to Congress today. In the history of US policy, there has never been a more ambitious science-focused document to originate from the White House. This is Obama’s moonshot for Earth. And Congress is essentially ignoring it. The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 is very long and filled with plenty…

Obama Pledges To Double Spending On Renewable Energy Research By 2020

President Obama will be sending his budget to Congress this coming week, and in it, he’s announced that it will double the investment in research for clean and renewable energy sources. The announcement builds on the President’s final State of the Union address and his appearance at the Paris Climate Conference, in which pointed to…

Ben Carson Wants to Make a NASA for Cyberattacks

GOP presidential candidate and fart-pill shill Ben Carson guest-blogged on Recode to promote his new prescription for cybersecurity: “Heal + Inspire + Revive.” The plan is a mushy combination of buzzwords and contradictions. Carson’s “prescription” (GET IT??) is to start a whole new government agency for cyber-security, similar to NASA: Just as we established the…

Six Ignorant Senators Want To Slow Down High-Speed Internet

Last year the FCC had us all rejoicing when it upped the minimum requirements for broadband from 4Mbps to 25Mbps. It means that many internet service providers can no longer classify their service as broadband. So while it didn’t instantly improve speeds, it did shame ISPs and cost them in tax breaks and grants that…

A New AI Can Write Convincing Political Speeches

Truly rousing political speeches are, sadly, few and far between. But those that are a little less inspiring can, it turns out, be convincingly written by an artificial intelligence system. Yes, politicians may be a little like robots. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, have created an AI that they’ve trained using 4,000 political…

How to Watch Tonight’s Democratic Debate Anywhere

Tonight’s Democratic debate might be broadcast at the most inconvenient time of the week, but at least NBC’s made it easy for all three anxious viewers to watch. The debate is being streamed over-the-air on NBC’s network, and more conveniently, via YouTube. You don’t need any account or login to make it work—just hit play…

Obama Wants to End Coal Mining on Federal Land

In a symbolic kick in the pants to the coal industry, the Obama administration will announce today that it’s freezing new coal mining leases on public lands, the New York Times reports. It’s the latest in a series of strategic moves by the president to wean America off fossil fuels, something that leaders of 195…

Jeb Bush Shocked His Apple Watch Does More Than Tell Time

GOP presidential candidate and sweater ascetic Jeb Bush’s emotional register on the campaign trail hovers between “mildly deflated” to “moderately chagrined”—but LOOK at how his eyes light up as he realizes that the expensive and impractical gadget he’s been wearing can make phone calls. Finally, a ! moment for our favorite dour Floridian scion! “My watch…

Obama’s Wink at Cheap Oil Doesn’t Help the Planet

Saving planet Earth was a prominent feature of President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, which focused heavily on the need for America to transition off fossil fuels. But amidst all the glossy platitudes about slashing carbon pollution and solving the climate crisis, there was this odd little statement: “Gas under two bucks a…

The 2016 State of the Union Will Be Streamed by Amazon

The Obama administration has been remarkably proactive in using new technology to force people to pay attention to politics. Among other things, that’s meant a State of the Union livestreamed on YouTube for the last few years, and this time around, the digital options are even better. In a post on Medium, White House Chief…

The White House Is Meeting With Silicon Valley Execs Tomorrow to “Disrupt” ISIS Online 

Silicon Valley executives will meet with top government officials in a private meeting tomorrow to eke out better strategies to counter the Islamic State’s online influence. The meeting, first reported by Reuters, will put even more pressure on technology companies to crack down on ISIS’ social media recruiting and propaganda. According to The Guardian, executives…

Could a Society Develop Advanced Technology WithOUT Written Language?

It’s a fascinating question. Over at Charles Stross’ blog, he responds to a reader question: What would a technological society look like without written language? And could such a thing even happen? Stross’ answer: probably not. After a certain point, a lot of things that we think of as necessary for an advanced technological civilization…

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin was one of our favorite books of the past few years. And apparently a lot of influential people agree—it’s being read by President Obama on his vacation. Contact the author at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @CharlieJane