Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
A bot on Twitter is sharing images of all 212 immigration detention centers along with the address and demographic information of each location, tossing cold, hard facts into the heated online debate over immigration in America. Artist Everest Pipkin created the bot, @Abolish_ICE_Now, on Friday, about two months after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the…
After publication, Airbnb told Gizmodo that August made a promotional video that violated Airbnb brand guidelines. Airbnb has had a partnership with August since 2015, but an Airbnb spokesperson said the company it was not aware of any new August features or products meant for Airbnb hosts and guests. August also contacted Gizmodo and said…
For more than 18 months, US diplomats have come down with similar illnesses that include mild brain damage and hearing loss after they claim to have heard unusual sounds. The incidents began in Cuba but reports have now spread to other countries. As authorities have ramped up efforts to treat any potential cases, almost 200…
As the value of precious metals fluctuates over time, the U.S. Mint has to constantly find new ways to keep currency manufacturing affordable. A five-cent nickel that costs as much as seven cents to make is a problem, but so is a coin that suddenly looks and feels different because its metallurgic ingredients were changed.…
You alright, Spain? In what is most certainly a contender for worst art restoration project, a 500-year-old wooden effigy of San Jorge de Estella in the Spanish city of Estella-Lizarra has been, uh, restored by a “handicrafts teacher,” according to the Guardian. The end result isn’t a pretty sight, and has left some people more…
My own personal Amazon Prime day is in two weeks. It’s not the day that Amazon puts a lot of random crap on sale. (That’s in approximately three weeks.) My day is when Amazon will charge me $120 for another year of membership. That’s $20 more than what the company charged me last year and…
With the massive success of Apple’s AirPods, reports about a new pair of premium, wireless earbuds and over-the-ear headphones arriving in 2019 already seem like a forgone conclusion. However, if a report from the Nikkei is true, the future of Apple’s AirPods might not be as obvious as we thought. That’s because, according to Nikkei’s…
Back in 2014, we were duly impressed with the inCharge, which made it easy to keep a tiny emergency USB charging cable on your keyring. Four years later, its creators have found a way to improve the inCharge with a new version featuring a connector that works with both Lightning and microUSB ports so you…
It’s rough out there for humans right now. But at least we have dogs to cheer us up. This police dog in Spain, a very good boy named Poncho, has gone viral after demonstrating his CPR skills. The video, which was originally posted to Twitter by Madrid Police, has been viewed over 2.3 million times…
Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s scandal-mired EPA chief and a man so committed to destroying his own agency that he’s willing to have dinner with accused child predators that also don’t believe in climate change, somehow managed to be even dumber and lazier about stacking the EPA with cronies and energy industry shills than one might…
Protests from within the technology industry continue as hundreds of employees at Salesforce have requested that the company’s leadership reassess its work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) following reports that authorities have separated thousands of children from their parents at the U.S–Mexico border. In a letter addressed to Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s co-founder and…
According to some under-the-radar news outlets, there’s a lot to look forward to when it comes to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S10 smartphone. The rumored device is expected to ship next year with a number of new features that would help it stand out in a world filled with iPhone X offspring and decent, low-cost phones.…
A man in Texas has really shown up the legion of shitposters online. He’s gone to prison not once, but twice for writing a number of damaging posts online about a financial firm. In 2016, William Stanley was sentenced to 37 months in prison after he threatened to post negative reviews online about Generational Equity…
The public beta for the next big release of iOS, announced by Apple at WWDC earlier this month, is finally live. That means if you’re willing to turn your iPhone into a buggy mess, you can get a taste of what’s to come with iOS 12 a good four to five months ahead of everyone…
It’s Monday afternoon and Google has given you a reason to waste some of your precious workday in Google Earth. The more Google improves its useful Maps service, the fewer excuses people have for screwing around on Google Earth, which they really should do more often. Today, the search giant announced a rare tweak to…
The Orlando Police Department announced today it has ended its pilot of Amazon’s Rekognition face recognition software. Last month, the ACLU released hundreds of pages of documents from the Orlando Police Department and Oregon’s Washington County Sheriff’s Office detailing their use of the software, prompting backlash from civil rights groups and Amazon employees. But while…
Unsatisfied with the sharpness in your new QHD monitor? Thanks to the power of economics, that display of yours might actually have a downscaled 4K panel, one that isn’t doing your image quality or refresh rate any favors. The worst part? You can’t even upscale them. A report from display review site PRAD ProAdviser claims…
A new report from Bloomberg claims that Apple, after the runaway success of its AirPods, is working on more than one addition to its line of headphones. A new pair of higher-end AirPods are rumored to debut in 2019, along with a pair of over-ear headphones. That’s a ways away, and Apple still owes us…
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, has filed a lawsuit against two of his children and a former business manager in an effort to retain control over his finances, business affairs, and legacy. Buzz Aldrin, 88, filed the Florida lawsuit on June 7, the details of which are now…
The rising popularity of smart home technology has given rise to something dangerous: internet-connected abuse. A new report from the New York Times reveals a disturbing trend in which smart home technology is being used as a tool for domestic abuse. While it’s not a revelation that connected devices can be exploited by bad actors,…