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On Sunday, 29-year-old Russian national Maria Butina was arrested and charged with being an unregistered agent of the Russian government while trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. Ever since, people online have been combing through old photos of Butina posing with American politicians. But one photo has gotten a lot of attention today. It…
Apple has reportedly pulled QDrops, an app which sent alerts about the absolutely inane QAnon conspiracy theory, from its App Store after an NBC News inquiry into why the hell it and Google’s Play Store were profiting off of it. QAnon is an incredibly elaborate online conspiracist yarn that more or less boils down to…
Amazon’s malign power has grown to the point where for several years now, it has declared its own holiday, Prime Day, which is essentially centered around giving it huge amounts of money while ignoring that it is maybe evil. This year’s Prime Day is especially special, because the Bloomberg Billionaires Index has declared Amazon’s tyrant…
On Monday, flanked by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Helsinki, Donald Trump refused to concur with the conclusions of US intelligence agencies that Russia was behind intrusions into computer systems belonging to the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the 2016 elections. Those intelligence…
Netflix shares plummetted in after-hours trading following the release of its latest earnings report. The streaming giant missed the mark on several of its projections, and analysts are blaming its lackluster content. At the time of writing, Netflix shares were down around 14 percent, dropping from $400 per share to $343. CEO Reed Hastings called…
Earlier today, a basketball-sized chunk of molten rock slammed into a tour boat off the coast of Hawaii, injuring 23 people and sending at least four to the hospital. The incident happened near the Kilauea volcano, which has been erupting since early May. As USA Today reports, the Lava Ocean Tours boat was hit by…
Amazon, as you may know, is experiencing some technical issues during Prime Day. It appears similar snags have crippled the platforms Amazon uses to coordinate its last-mile contractor workforce, known as Amazon Flex. A tipster who verified their position as a Flex contractor wrote in to Gizmodo claiming they were completely unable to sign into…
For once, it seems like FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is doing his job. On Monday, Pai released a statement expressing “serious concerns” over a proposed merger of local TV news giants Sinclair and Tribune Media. Pushed to the ropes thanks to Pai’s move, the deal was seen as a potential disaster for an already beleaguered…
A small amount of plutonium and radioactive cesium went missing last year after two government security experts left the dangerous samples sitting in their SUV in a Marriott Hotel parking lot overnight. The specialists, officials from the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, were tasked with securely collecting nuclear material from a non-profit research lab…
Deals! Deals! Deals! It’s the time of year when an even larger-than-average group of people choose to spend money on shit they don’t need to enrich the single richest man on the planet. Except this year, in addition to warehouse workers and consumers themselves, Amazon’s own website seems to be protesting the grueling workload of…
I know what you’re thinking: Amazon’s got some hot deals for its made-up holiday, and even though you don’t exactly need an AmazonBasics portable air compressor, you would be foolish not to save $14 by buying it on Amazon Prime Day. Resist these thoughts, fellow consumer. Amazon Prime Day is bullshit. The first Amazon Prime…
You can mostly trust that health inspectors ensure the food you get from a restaurant was prepared properly and safely, but can the same be said of the meal at your friend’s next dinner party? Assuming that chicken wasn’t sliced and diced using a large kitchen knife crafted from your host’s old underwear is no…
Thousands of Amazon workers in Europe seeking better conditions and pay are engaged in a coordinated strike meant to coincide with Prime Day, the company’s invented shopping holiday. News of a strike began circulating last week, as workers at a San Fernando de Henares (MAD4, in Amazon parlance) facility prepared for a three-day action to…
The Herpetologists’ League rescinded its annual Distinguished Herpetologist award after winner Dick Vogt showed racy photos during his acceptance address. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports: According to several attendees, Vogt, a longtime researcher of Brazilian turtles, showed several pictures of “scantily clad female students” doing field research. The photographs were risqué enough that conference…
Two police officers in Georgia are on administrative leave after using a coin toss app to determine whether to arrest a woman for allegedly speeding. Body camera footage obtained by WXIA-TV shows officers Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson questioning, and ultimately detaining the woman. Brown admits in the recording that she doesn’t have equipment to…
On June 25, 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98. It didn’t come out with quite as much fanfare as Windows 95 did, so to commemorate the OS’ 20th anniversary, YouTuber Shelby Jueden built a gaming PC using brand new, in the box, 20-year old components, as well as an unused copy of Windows 98. If you…
Watching videos of people flipping and falling off of two-wheeled hoverboards like the Segway miniPro is endlessly fun, but actually riding one and risking your neck? Not so much. According to Abacus News, however, Ninebot has created a kit that converts the miniPro into a steerable go-kart, eliminating the risk of falling and increasing the…
BROOKLYN, NY—Imagine a place where all the offers are epic, the deals never end, and shipping is always free. A heavenly kingdom where you can click a button and—like magic—the shower head, butt plug, or off-brand iPhone cable of your dreams appears at your door. This is the sales pitch of the Church of Amazon,…
If you’ve ever sat down to watch your Roku-powered TV and thought, “Boy I wish I had some Roku-powered speakers to enhance this experience,” you are in luck. The set-top box maker just announced a new set of speakers that work exclusively with Roku TV televisions. It’s kind of a curious move for the company,…
The modern age has brought one of the most nightmarish inventions in all of human history—the atomic bomb. These weapons harness the power of physics, releasing an immense amount of energy from a relatively small amount of mass to generate unfathomable fire, disease, and death. They have the power to end the world as we…
