Tech News

Calling all Google TV Owners Past and Present

Hey, are you an early and/or current Google TV adopter/user? Want to talk about it? Whether you love/loved/hate/hated it, we have some questions for you, so raise your virtual hand!

Check Out These Amazing North Korean Spy Weapons: A Killer Flashlight and Deadly Pens

North Korea hates Park Sang-hak, a former citizen and now South Korea resident and activist against the brutal regime of the Kim Jongs. They hate him so much that they sent a killer agent to eliminate him using these James Bond-ish weapons. Talking to CNN, a South Korea government official showed the apparently innocent objects…

Take That, Duct Tape: Scotch Tape Turned Into Tiny Robotic Claw

It’s not going to replace the claw that snatches prizes in the machine at your local arcade. But this tiny scotch tape gripper could one day provide a cheap and low-tech way for autonomous vehicles to snatch samples. And you thought duct tape was the king of adhesives. The claw was created by doctoral student…

Dealzmodo Presents The Top 6 Least Crappy Cyber Monday Sales

Today is the biggest online shopping day of the year, but not every deal is as good as it looks—in fact, most 50%-off-type deals are sporting inflated prices. So you don’t have to spend all day parsing lists of cheap electronics, here are five six deals on stuff you actually want for prices are actually…

You Can Download Your Whole Archive of Tweets By the End of the Year

From the first sandwich you ever described in 140-character form to the last joke you tweeted that disappointingly fell flat—by the end of 2012, you should be able to download every tweet you’ve ever twittered, according to CEO Dick Costolo. Costolo made the announcement at a recent talk at the University of Michigan, and it…

Facebook Took Down This Picture Because It Thinks Elbows Are Boobs

Elbows and boobs. Both are great in their own special ways, but they are definitely not the same thing. You and I might know that well enough, but it seems that Facebook has a little more trouble with the distinction. That’s why they took down this elbowlicious picture. The picture—which appears risque at a glance,…

Elon Musk Wants to Build a Town on Mars the Size of Phuket

Elon Musk is brilliant but also a pretty nuts. He has his eye on a piece of real estate on Mars for a colony that would accomodate around 80,000 people. Considering NASA just landed the Curiosity Rover, we might be putting the cart before the horse here. This colony is still pretty far off from…

Was the Bogus ICOA Press Release Actually a Clever Stock Scam?

Earlier today, a press release was floating around that claimed Google had bought Wi-Fi hotspot company ICOA for $400 million dollars. It was bogus but a lot of us bought it. So what gives? Why would someone do this? Probably to make a killing on stocks. https://gizmodo.com/google-just-bought-400-million-worth-of-public-wi-fi-h-5963272 Buzzfeed points out that ICOA stock was trading…

Facebook Will Always Own You

Bad news: the “copyright notice” you’ve been reading (and sharing, ugh) is completely bogus and a waste of everyone’s time. Facebook owns the photos, videos, and statuses you upload, and that’s not going to change just because you say so. https://gizmodo.com/that-facebook-copyright-notice-is-worthless-5963210 But here’s something you can do that might actually make a difference. When you…

Facebook Gifts finally adds something you actually want to give: iTunes digital gift cards. [CNET]

This Robo-Griller Can Flip 360 Burgers an Hour

The most expensive part of that flimsy burger from your local fast food joint isn’t what you put in your mouth; it’s the human hands that put it together. But this robotic burger-maker that preps, grills, and assembles your Royale with Cheese—automatically—may soon replace human line cooks altogether while saving the fast food industry billions.…

Why Not Just Feed Babies Like Gerbils?

Babies require a lot of attention, and odds are your social life has taken quite a hit since your new arrival. But why waste money on a baby sitter, or impose on family, when this crib-mounted bottle can take care of feedings while you’re having a night out on the town? The Crib Dribbler is…

Flashlight Revolver Guns Down Things That Go Bump In the Night

Presumably invented to deal with monsters like the Bogeyman before modern science proved they didn’t exist, this functional flashlight includes a .22 caliber seven-shot revolver on the business end. Perfect for peering under a dark bed and dealing with whatever’s hiding under there. Another more accurate theory is that it was produced in the early…

Saudi Arabian Men Now Get Text Alerts When Their Women Leave the Country

In Saudi Arabia, if a woman leaves the country, her husband or male “guardian” will receive a text message to let him know that, even if she’s traveling with him, ho boy! His woman is on the loose. Saudi Arabia: where technology and misogyny unite! In order to travel abroad in the first place, a…

Finally, Goatse Lands in the App Store

How the iTunes App Store approval process works is still a complete mystery to those on the outside. Seemingly innocuous apps get rejected all the time, while a game like Word of the Rings with an icon that pays tribute to the infamous Goatse image have no problem passing muster. http://gawker.com/5899787/ I have no idea…

Iris Gallery

The Iris Smart Hub The Keypad and Thermostat (which had to be mounted vertically due to space restrictions). The Iris security camea sitting atop the Smart Hub The Motion Sensor The Smart Plug The Day/Night Security Camera The Window/Door sensors (Note: These are mounted too far apart, yours should be spaced much more closely together)

Tasteful Gifts for the Scientific Gourmand

We all have foodie friends, but there’s a difference between those and the ones who treat the kitchen more like a laboratory. We’ve got some gifts for the ones who rely on science with their cooking, or are maybe even just dabbling in molecular gastronomy. And who knows, your stomach might even benefit in the…

For Your Next Business Trip, All You’ll Need Are Plane Tickets and join.me

These days, not everyone’s tied to an office. But if you’re working from the road, it doesn’t mean you can’t get as much done as you would if you were sitting at a desk. In this, the last of our Business Casual series written in conjunction with the join.me crew, we’ll look at the mobile…

Here’s the IDF’s Social Media Chief Wearing Blackface on Facebook

You’d think someone running one of the most sophisticated social media engagements in history would know better than to be super racist on Facebook. Or, you know, at all. https://gizmodo.com/heres-the-26-year-old-snowboarder-running-israels-socia-5962492 We missed this last time we scanned Sacha Dratwa’s Facebook profile—which he’s left public through all the scrutiny. But now that Israel and Hamas finally…

Google Just Bought $400 Million Worth of Public Wi-Fi Hotspots (Updated: Not Really)

Never content to be just the go-to search engine, Google’s been barking up some interesting trees recently. Now, Google has gobbled up ICOA for $400 million, and the thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots that come with it. Hotspot provider ICOA is no small fry; it owns Wi-Fi networks across 40 states and is partnered with names…