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Running on Ivy Bridge, loaded with Thunderbolt ports and costing under $1,000, Intel’s Ultrabook laptop segment is expected to be big news in late 2012—if you believe what Intel’s saying, anyway. Digitimes claims Intel’s attempting to lure 40 per cent of laptop manufacturers into creating Ultrabooks, but until Intel lowers the chip prices, it may…
Look at this young man! Look at how happy he is! Look at him stuffing his gullet with orange-flavored soda foam, waiting for the can to expire so he can whippit his way to sweet soda dreams. The future. The can, which retails for about $2.50 US, might remind you something of a Cheez Whiz…
In case you were wondering if you should sign up for yet another social network, there’s a compelling reason to use Google+ that you may not have thought of: Freedom. https://gizmodo.com/do-i-really-have-to-set-up-yet-another-social-network-5817117 Or at least, freedom of information. It turns out that Google+ is a pretty good way for journalists and activists to communicate, says the…
So you may not be out enjoying the fireworks and celebrations of July 4th. No biggie. Just pop some marshmallows into the $39 Old Fashioned S’Mores Maker, then slide them in between some crackers and chocolate, and eat. Then repeat. And repeat some more. [Amazon via RedFerret] https://gizmodo.com/how-to-coordinate-a-whole-bunch-of-explosions-in-the-sk-5817619
Huge fireworks shows don’t just happen. They’ve gotta be planned. By professional fireworks choreographers, as Slate explains: Fireworks by Grucci uses special forms that break the display into one-minute intervals. The form specifies exactly which type of shell should be fired at each moment. To time this properly, the choreographer has to know how long…
Which appliance would you rather be woken up by? The smell of fresh coffee? Bacon sizzling fragrantly? A blaring TV? All of these could be possible, with the Alternative Alarm Clock. It’s just a pity we can’t buy Ki Hyun Kim’s university project—yet. Designed for the Royal College of Art graduate’s project, the alarm clock…
For the second time in as many weeks, Dropbox has found itself in the headlines over privacy concerns. This time ’round, it’s due to Dropbox changing its terms of service, leading people to think they could do whatever they damn well pleased with their uploaded media. https://gizmodo.com/dropbox-passwords-were-optional-for-a-short-time-on-sun-5813847 Understandably, people panicked. This isn’t the case however,…
Choosing the wee hours of a national holiday to tweet out the news, Google today announced that they’re disabling their Realtime service after less than two years since it launched. Never fear, though—they’re looking into adding the functionality to Google+. Better hop to finding someone to invite you to the service, then. [@GoogleRealtime via @DarrenWaters]…
A prototype iPhone 4 similar to, ahem, a model that turned up last year has appeared on eBay, with the seller Jtmaxo claiming to be a licensed cellphone repairman who was sold the iPhone for parts. Given the iPhone won’t connect to a network nor appear in iTunes, it’s not looking like the best upgrade…
Next year, Nintendo is releasing a new home console, the Wii U. Taiwanese component makers tell tech site DigiTimes that Sony is readying a new home console for 2012. But that’s not the interesting part. These component manufacturer sources tell DigiTimes that the PlayStation 4 will feature body-movement controls like Microsoft’s Kinect. That’s the interesting,…
Needless to say, the President is very much alive and well, having not been “shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck” as the @FoxNewsPolitics Twitter account claims. The tweets began in the early hours of July 4th, and included obvious fallacies such as “@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead.…
Antisec, the marriage between similar-hearted outlaws at Anonymous and LulzSec, hit several companies—and police squads!—websites since teaming up, but yesterday a company closer to your heart was hacked: Apple. But don’t worry; customer data looks to be safe. https://gizmodo.com/antisec-slams-arizona-cops-again-with-super-personal-5816604 They probably thought they were invincible while scores of their competitors saw their websites fall down…
The beauty of this DIY hand-pumped fog horn lies in the fact that the parts are interchangeable—the annoying sounds one could create with it are literally endless! Sadly, the same can not be said of the device itself. Use it too much and it will most certainly end; if not by your hand then surely…
Cylon raider? A new Tron vehicle that we’ll see in an upcoming director’s cut? Definitive proof that we are not alone? Actually, it’s none of those things, but the dead silence it produces is amazing anyway. The object is representative of a metamaterial, the strange, almost magical substance that has the uncanny ability to bend…
HP has employed eccentric comedian Russell Brand to hawk its heart-breaking TouchPad because, really, what better way to target the enterprise than an ad featuring Russell Brand sitting on a set that’s modeled to look like someone’s home? https://gizmodo.com/hp-touchpad-review-unbreak-my-heart-5816916 Click to viewThat said, if humor and showing off an impossibly polished HP TouchPad feature set…
When’s the last time you gawked a room built from wood and obsolete computer parts that was set inside a Polish castle? Yesterday? BS. This is the first time you’ve seen such a thing so feast those peepers on this. It’s just a room, yes, but the walls are comprised of nothing but wood parts…
Fitbit users beware: The details of your sexual tryst last night—all vigorous, 15 minutes of it (21 calories burned!)—has probably been broadcast for all the Internet to see. But wait a moment. First of all, Fitbit‐what is it? Basically, it’s an online exercise and calorie tracking service that logs data via a transmitter device. When…
The ongoing patent lawsuit shenanigans between Apple and Samsung got a tad bit simpler this week after Samsung withdrew its coutersuit against Apple over some patents or something. The whole thing is—oh hey look new iPhones in October! [AppleInsider] https://gizmodo.com/samsung-wants-to-block-all-ipods-iphones-and-ipads-fr-5816756
When Apple, Microsoft, Google and others started bidding on a treasure trove of Nortel wireless patents this past week, the search giant from California made a series of, well, unconventional bids that had observers mystified. Pi. Brun’s constant. The Meissel-Mertens constant. An astronomical unit (93 million miles to the layperson). Are these the bids of…
Not Working Films has re-envisioned the arcade classic Pac-Man as a ride down a bleak stretch of highway. It’s like if Namco directed Vanishing Point — the only Pac-aphernalia more surreal than this is the 1982 Pac-Man Christmas Album. Hat tip to Precious Roy!
