Tech News

Another Ten Bets You’ll Never Lose

There’s no better time than the holidays—when everyone’s all together—to scam, grift, and alienate your friends and family. So Richard Wiseman has returned with another series of unloseable bets that guarantee you victory thanks to basic science and physics. Some of them you’ve probably known since you were a kid, like adding pennies to an…

Could A Twinkie-Stuffed Turkey Replace the Turducken?

When it comes to preparing a Thanksgiving turkey, the focus these days seems to be on what ridiculous things you can stuff inside. And the Turducken, which sees the bird stuffed with a duck-stuffed chicken, might have met its match with the Turtwinkie. Stuffing a turkey with cream-filled cakes might sound a little disgusting, but…

Forceful Gifts for the Star Wars Fanatic

Though divided by the infamous prequels, it’s hard for any Star Wars fan not to get excited for the holiday season. Thanks to Lucas’ marketing efforts, there are more Star Wars gift ideas than there are stars…in that galaxy far, far away. Here are some of the best ways to put a Wookiee-sized smile on…

Microsoft Has Plans For Its Own Project Glass

A patent application published yesterday reveals that Microsoft is sitting on plans for its own version of Google’s Project Glass. Unlike Google’s glasses, which seem to be intended for general all-day wear—if you like that kind of thing—Microsoft’s patent appears to describe more specific scenarios for use. Indeed, images in the patent depict how the…

Will.i.am Plans to Turn Your iPhone Into a 14-Megapixel Super Camera

Black Eyed Pea Will.i.am is panning to “turn your smartphone into a genius-phone”. He’s about to launch a new accessory and app for iPhone, under the monicker i.am+, that will turn the handset’s humble 8-megapixel camera into a 14-megapixel beast. The Telegraph reports that the new hardware will “dramatically enhance the clarity and definition of…

You Can Buy a Fake New iMac Before Apple’s Has Even Gone on Sale

Apple’s new iMac is taking its time to arrive in stores. But if you’re bored of waiting, you can already get a dodgy Chinese fake of the sleek new computer—before anyone has managed to get their hands on the official product. https://gizmodo.com/new-apple-imac-2012-meta-hands-on-shocker-people-ar-5954255 Truth be told it’s actually not too bad, if you can get past…

Developers Show the Nexus 4 Can Handle LTE, Kinda

A bunch of developers over on the XDA forums have been tinkering with the Nexus 4 to see if they can persuade it to play nice with LTE. Turns out that, despite a lack of signal amplifier and filter, it can handle the high-speed connection. Kind of. The developers have shown that LG’s phone can…

Apple’s Black Friday Deals are Live

Whether you want $40 off a new iPad, $30 off an iPod touch, or a respectable $100 off a new MacBook, Apple’s Black Friday deals have landed. Go check ’em out. [Apple]

Sorry if you use the 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows: Mozilla has announced that it’s being scrapped. [Mozilla]

The Most Loyal: Shrinking Violet

You know what goes well with a full belly, an empty house, and that warm feeling you get after spending the day with friends and family? More pumpkin pie? That, and a little folk rock. While the Americans are distracted with their drunken turkey-induced comas, let me introduce you to a group of talented Torontonians…

Happy Thanksgiving from Gizmodo

We’re full. Maybe we’re watching football. Maybe we’re having another glass of wine. Maybe we’re struggling to take our pants off. But one thing’s for sure: we’ve got a lot to be glad about this year. Joe Brown I just keep coming back to fire, the first great technological advancement—and the one that I get…

It’s Too Bad This Insanely Light Dining Table Is Also Insanely Expensive

One of the few non-kitchen related tasks on Thanksgiving involves prepping the dining room table with inserts or expansions to accomodate extra guests. But why wrestle with heavy slabs of lumber when this lightweight table made from carbon fiber, kevlar, and titanium can be set up and lifted by a single person? Oh, that’s right,…

Jimmy Kimmel’s Sneak Peek At Charlie Brown’s New Black Friday Special

What would the holidays be without a Charlie Brown special? Every year you can count on the Peanuts gang showing up at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. But what about corporate America’s newest and most profitable holiday? Like it or not, Black Friday is here to stay, and Jimmy Kimmel has decided that it finally deserves…

The Police Raided a 9-Year-Old to Confiscate Her Winnie the Pooh Laptop

It was just another typical weekday morning in a normal Finnish family home. It was only 8am, and parents and children were going through their usual routine. Then there was a knock at the door: it was the police, come to seize the Winnie the Pooh laptop of the resident 9-year-old pirate. Torrent Freak reports…

A Self-Heating Dinner In a Can Is a Depressing Way To Spend a Holiday

It won’t arrive in time if you find yourself lacking company and a hot meal today, but you can ensure the same thing doesn’t happen at Christmas with this mildly depressing self-heating Dinner in a Can. For just under $10 it doesn’t quite come with all the trimmings, but you’re guaranteed an edible turkey casserole…

Using Science For Optimal Gravy Coverage

There are those who like to drown their Thanksgiving dinner in gravy, and those who like to keep it sequestered to their mashed potatoes. And if you find yourself in that latter group, Vihart has put together a fantastic tutorial on how you can maximize your gravy coverage with the optimal potato arrangement. Not surprisingly,…

Space-Saving Gifts for People with Tiny Homes

The basic essentials for living under a roof with four adjacent walls are a constant. But it you live in a shoebox apartment, a dorm room, or a tiny studio, you have to make every little item count. Here are a handful of compact gifts that make a solid contribution to a happy home—and don’t…

What Tech Problems are You Fixing for Your Family Today?

One of the problems of heading home for Thanksgiving is that you’re invariably asked to fix all kinds of technological problems. What projects are you working on today, beside chomping on turkey and swigging liquor? Perhaps you’re setting up the family home cinema system so that it actually, y’know, works. Or teaching your aunt how…

How Did This Tiny South Pacific Island Disappear? (Hint: It Never Really Existed)

It shows up on Google Maps, coastal databases, and marine charts, but when scientists from the University of Sydney went to visit Sandy Island, it was no where to be found. Did the island, supposedly located between Australia and New Caledonia, suddenly disappear like a confusing LOST plot twist? Unfortunately no, that wasn’t the case.…

High-Octane Gifts for the Grease Monkey

You can take great pride in your vehicle even if you don’t have a clue how to fix it. And if you do know what you’re doing under the hood, that intimate bond borders on spiritual. There’s always some kind of tool connecting a human to a machine, whether it’s a simple wrench, a complex…