Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Normally, if a publisher has a problem with spam bots. it has something to do with dreaded promotional comments that don’t make any sense. But USA Today has another problem—the bots just love the colorful newspaper’s Facebook page. That’s led to the FBI getting involved. https://gizmodo.com/even-the-19th-century-had-needy-nigerian-prince-scams-1658969229 USA Today’s parent company, Gannett Co., reached out to…
After a last minute effort by hackers to interfere with the French election, centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron still handily defeated his far right adversary Marine Le Pen. How the French press will handle the campaign hacks following a mandated blackout on election reporting remains to be seen. https://gizmodo.com/french-presidential-campaign-claims-massive-hack-1794983679 The election in France has been seen…
Computer specs can be a baffling mix of acronyms and numbers at the best of times, but it’s worth learning something about them: It’ll help you choose a new computer, troubleshoot your old computer, and generally understand more about the relationship between the specs on the page and the experience you’re getting. Such is the…
It would be funny, if it weren’t so damn sad. As a protest against the House Republican decision to pass a healthcare bill that will cause millions of people to lose their insurance, one programmer has set up a website that helps you mail your ashes to the ghouls responsible for your death. https://gizmodo.com/ghouls-celebrate-blood-feast-1794930832 On…
It’s been a rough week in Mac security. First, Checkpoint warned users of a Trojan spreading in Europe that was the first of its kind. And now, one of the most prominent video transcoding apps for Mac has a malware problem. https://gizmodo.com/mac-bittorrent-client-transmission-gets-infected-with-m-1785957214 The developers of the transcoding software Handbrake have issued a statement that warns…
“Wildlife” is a very big jigsaw puzzle. Clocking in 33,600 pieces, it ranks among the largest manufactured jigsaw puzzles in the world and will set you back almost 400 bucks. But if you think it’s hard enough to do on its own, imagine turning it into a stop motion movie of classic video games while…
Facebook, which is definitely not a media company, is reportedly planning to launch around two dozen original “TV-like” programs in mid-June. Are you ready to catch the opening credits in your newsfeed, stop what you’re doing, and watch some prestige television? https://gizmodo.com/snap-ceos-supermodel-fiancee-is-sick-of-facebook-steali-1792190679 Back in December, rumors started flying that Facebook was looking to follow Amazon,…
Fears of a hacking campaign targeting centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron came to fruition in a last minute information dump Friday evening. The leaked memos and emails appeared online just hours before a legally-required midnight media blackout on election coverage. Voters will head to the polls on Sunday amidst confusion over what information the…
Nintendo’s questionable supply chain strategies mean there are still gamers trying to get their hands on a Switch, two months after its release. But why bother trying to hunt down another console when the smartphone in your pocket can already do almost everything the Switch can—with a few upgrades. https://gizmodo.com/nintendo-switch-review-plays-zelda-great-doesnt-do-mu-1792852009 You probably occasionally use your…
It has been nearly two years since Microsoft introduced a new Windows phone. Sure, HP is still making Windows phones and marketing them to businesses, but Microsoft has been basically silent on the subject of its flagging mobile platform since 2015. There have been zero flagship devices, despite the persistent rumors of a super Surface…
A Florida man whom the Federal Bureau of Investigation says created the “world’s largest child pornography website” has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Steven W. Chase, 58, was arrested in February 2015, after a search of his Naples, Florida, home turned up thousands of images depicting the sexual abuse of children, many of…
The state of Minnesota is dealing with its largest outbreak of measles in Minnesota in nearly 30 years, with 41 confirmed cases reported since April. And most of the cases have occurred among a community of Somali immigrants, which the state health department says have been “targeted” by members of the anti-vaccination movement. Minnesota’s measles outbreak…
Lab rats probably don’t have many deep thoughts. But one of these days, right as a scientist is transplanting a testicle onto a rats’s neck, one of those little furry guys is going to ask itself—what did I do to deserve this? And how will I get my revenge? Case-in-point, the little guy below. Entire…
It’s a sleepy Friday afternoon on the East Coast, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some weird stuff going on. This time, it’s coming out of a department at the Food and Drug Administration, where a group of employees allegedly received an email informing them that office TVs would now play Fox News due to…
Now in its eighteenth season (!), Law & Order: SVU is famous for storylines that are “ripped from the headlines.” This season alone, episodes have been inspired by the Apple vs. FBI battle, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and the Roger Ailes saga at Fox News. (An episode that seemed to be inspired by the sexual…
Sleep tight!
Deer are generally considered one of the more benign creatures of the forest, going about their herbivorous ways in peace. But as new research shows, there’s a dark side to these ungulates. Using camera traps, forensic scientists have captured unprecedented photos of deer munching on the skeletal remains of a human carcass. “Herein, we report…
Your WiFi router is probably sitting passively in some corner of your room, beaming out invisible light (and the internet). But it’s also sending information on all the stuff the light passes through and around. It’s essentially carrying a holographic image of the room with it. Researchers have tried using WiFi signals to make images…
In a speech at the CATO Institute in Washington DC on Friday, Senator Rand Paul intends to explain why he believes that he and other U.S. lawmakers may have been spied on by the Obama administration. Paul is a steadfast supporter of President Trump’s false claim that his campaign was “wiretapped” by the Obama White…
Despite what drone makers want you to think, you don’t need to buy an expensive camera-equipped quadcopter to capture awesome aerial footage of your adventures. GoPro sells an $800 drone just for this, but skier Nicolas Vuignier discovered he could get similarly impressive results by just chucking his GoPro camera in the air. https://gizmodo.com/swinging-an-iphone-around-your-head-produces-stunningly-1757316759 You…
