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The Justice Department’s antitrust case opposing the merger of media giants Time Warner and AT&T is in its final stages. And on Thursday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson took the witness stand to argue that the deal couldn’t hurt competition because the company will launch a new skinny bundle for just $15-per-month! According to CNN, the…
Whether you’re sharing photos on Instagram or working on an art project, the quality of the final image matters. Even if you don’t have something like Photoshop installed, you can get your pictures looking their best with the help of some free, simple-to-use web apps—and we’ve picked out seven of the best for your needs…
One of the many inconveniences that doomed wearable products like Google Glass and Snap’s Spectacles was the need to charge them every night. Streaming video and data requires a lot of power, and that takes a tremendous toll on a tiny battery. But engineers at the University of Washington say they’ve found a way to…
Former FBI director James Comey is scheduled to speak at Amazon headquarters in Seattle on Monday. And so far, President Trump hasn’t tweeted about it. That will probably change once Fox News gets the memo. First reported by The Intercept, Comey is scheduled to speak at 10am PT as part of a “fish bowl” event…
Google employees have spent the past few months pushing back against their company’s involvement in Project Maven, a Department of Defense initiative to enhance image processing of drone footage using artificial intelligence. As Gizmodo first reported, Google is contracted with the DoD to provide artificial intelligence for Project Maven—a decision that many employees opposed because…
When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress last week, several lawmakers grilled him on Facebook’s failures to comply with a 2012 consent decree that required the social media company to submit routine privacy audits to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC’s privacy audits are widely viewed as one of the strongest enforcement mechanisms for keeping tech…
A Phoenix news station reports a bizarre incident involving a $500,000 check mistakenly deposited into the bank account of a recent law school graduate. The deposit was made in the name of Michael Lacey—the name of the co-founder of Backpage, whom the FBI recently accused of money laundering and facilitating prostitution. Parker Fox, the recent…
EarthNow is a new company looking to provide satellite imagery and live video in virtually real-time. Its unsettling pitch describes a network of satellites that can see any corner of the globe and provide live video with a latency of about a second. And a look at the startup’s top investors gives a lot of…
Netflix wants to get into the movie theater business, according to a new report from The Los Angeles Times. Anonymous sources told the paper that the Los Gatos-based entertainment giant pursued a deal to buy the Mark Cuban-owned Landmark Theaters but ultimately backed out due to a high sale price. While it might sound wild…
Admit it, you dun goofed. You hemmed and hawed and reasoned that no one else would buy them, but now they’re gone. The last of the remaining Windows Phones are finally out of stock, and you can be pretty damn sure they aren’t coming back. Going out with the weakest of whimpers, the last available…
In 2012, a ruling by Britain’s High Court found that keeping the mugshots of innocent people in police databases was unlawful. But almost six years later, the country’s Home Office has defended the continued retention of such images, saying, basically, the problem is too expensive to fix. According to a report presented to Parliament, at…
There is some confusion around New York City’s “trafficking hotline.” But the mess isn’t as dumb and bad as a recent report makes it seem. Essentially, the hotline was touted by the New York City Police Department as dedicated to helping victims of trafficking. Thing is, it isn’t just dedicated to victims of trafficking. It…
Are you a billionaire suffering from wrist cramps brought on by the endless stacks of checks you need to endorse? A two-dollar rubber stamp is one solution, but more befitting of your fiduciary status could be Jaquet Droz’s Signing Machine, which uses sophisticated clockwork mechanisms to flawlessly recreate your signature. Jaquet Droz, named after the…
Amazon bills itself as a creator of jobs. Look no further than the ludicrous subsidy packages offered by cities in competition to host its second headquarters. But according to public records requests obtained by the Intercept, Amazon can drain public coffers in other ways, with five states listing Bezos’s empire as a top beneficiary of…
The Bajau people of Malaysia and the Philippines are renowned for their free-diving abilities, often working eight-hour shifts in search of fish and other sea critters. Underwater sessions can last upwards of two minutes, with accumulated daily totals of breath-holding often reaching five hours. New research suggests these impressive feats aren’t the result of training,…
A Canadian woman who was caught smuggling a fuck-ton of cocaine after posting ritzy photos of herself on Instagram was just sentenced to minimum four years and nine months in prison. Melina Roberge, 24, acted as a front for the massive illegal drug trade by posting photos of her two-month vacation aboard the cruise ship…
If there’s one thing I know about human males, it’s that they love ejaculating. It can sometimes seem like their entire existence is motivated by a need to shoot sperm and seminal fluid from their genitalia. But have you ever wondered from where they acquired such a desire? A team of scientists, led by graduate…
If you’re a gamer who doesn’t want to haul a PC with you on vacation, you could book your next trip to Panama City where the local Hilton has packed a ridiculously customized hotel room full of high-end gaming gear and accessories. The beanbag chairs, VR goggles, and racing seat all make sense to me,…
The term “Asperger’s syndrome” will never be heard the same way again, owing to new research showing that Hans Asperger—the Austrian pediatrician for whom the disorder was named—was an active participant in the Nazi eugenics program, recommending that patients deemed “not fit for life” be sent to a notorious children’s “euthanasia” clinic. New research published…
I’ve been waiting for this to happen for a long time, and I’m actually a little surprised it’s only happening now. But with the launch of the Nubia’s Red Magic, there’s finally a gaming phone with built-in RGB lighting. For years, desktop and console gamers have enjoyed a wealth of gadgets and accessories with customizable…
