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Aleksandra Mir has parked her giant inflatable airliner in front of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, but recently in Zurich it had the chance to pull up to the gate like the big boys. As Mark said, there’s something strangely anthropomorphic about a giant, slightly-cartoony helium aircraft balloon going up, seen here at Flughafen…
IBM has always hoarded patents like a dwarf and his gold. But this year, they’re the first company to ever win more than 4,000 in a single year, more than Microsoft and Intel combined. IBM picked up 4,186 U.S patents in 2008, while Microsoft won 2,030 and Intel earned a patriotic 1,776. The silver medal…
Apple’s shrunken version of DisplayPort will officially become part of the DisplayPort 1.2 spec, meaning there’s a better-than-ever chance we’ll actually see it in gadgets and computers from other people. Death to proprietary ports! [MacRumors] https://gizmodo.com/apples-mini-displayport-might-not-be-bs-proprietary-por-5100514
Celebrating the new House of Representatives’ YouTube channel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted this clip that included a surprise announcement by Rick Astley. We’re just happy she avoided recreating 2 Girls 1 Pelosi. [via TechCrunch]
The infamous Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was stirred to investigate this free ‘USB Fornication Optimiser’ after receiving complaints that, SURPRISE, it wasn’t a real offer. An offer on retailer boffer’s site, it’s tough to imagine that anyone might think the listing were legitimate given, if not the device itself, the accompanying text: “Here at boffer…
That sterile, beige mouse just isn’t getting the job done for you. How do we know? We just know. The USB Aircraft Mouse, packed with enough plastic, LEDs and USB-connectivity to only be made by our friends at Brando, will turn your mouse hand into the best fighter pilot in the office. If only the…
We know that Samsung makes a fine LCD, whether it be a computer display or an HDTV, and this new P2370L looks no different: LED backlight, 16.5mm-thin, 1080p resolution, all for $400. The only thing missing is HDMI, but in this package, that’s everything you can get in Apple’s notoriously overpriced displays and more for…
In the last day, Apple has started approving quite a few “new” browsers in the app store, seeming to contradict their long-standing “duplication of functionality” prohibition. The catch? They’re all Safari at heart. The chromeless Edge, vibration-countering Shaking Web, privacy-inclined Incognito and enhanced-tab WebMate browsers all claim functionality that you can’t get with Mobile Safari,…
Pioneer is ceasing production of their three remaining LaserDisc players, marking the end of major manufacture for players of the giant, shiny, long-obsolete format. Pioneer had continued to build players long after the format had been declared dead, largely because of the large LD collections that many Japanese customers had built during the years that…
Obama’s maneuvering to keep his beloved BlackBerry is far from over, but it’s worth noting one possible outcome: that the Prez may be stuck with one of the NSA’s approved WinMo handsets. https://gizmodo.com/should-obama-give-up-his-blackberry-5129391 CNET has found out which phones have been sealed up tightly enough to satisfy the NSA’s guidelines for devices that may transmit…
Steve Ballmer’s recent statements about the Zune seemed to imply that it didn’t have much of a future as a hardware product. Microsoft has responded to such suspicions: “Poppycock! Codswallop! FLAPDOODLE!” https://gizmodo.com/ballmer-interview-points-at-zunes-uncertain-future-5127306 Well, the actual response was a little less Victorian (as reported by Wired Epicenter): “Basically, what happened last week, Steve [Ballmer] said a…
Here’s one way to get hooked on video games—retro joystick controller coat hangers! The hangUP coat hooks are available in 3UP and 4UP versions and come with customizable ball-top colors. You can also request the board to be made of a different material, though the standard is black Walnut. So far no price, but they’re…
Of no surprise to any of you, the Beijing arm-swinging man turned out to be a viral ad. But turns out it wasn’t for the iPhone (which is still not officially allowed here)… https://gizmodo.com/beijing-man-shows-why-certain-iphone-games-shouldnt-be-5130009 In fact, it was about the Sony Ericsson F305 motion gaming phone. Apparently the F305 comes with some bowling game of…
I knew I had a full-blown music-purchasing problem when I went to “upgrade” my iTunes collection—raising the quality and stripping the pestilential DRM—and the grand total came to an all-or-nothing $250. That’s right. They won’t let you choose which stuff you can upgrade. This has been reported already, at least by this guy—and I suppose…
A New York court has dismissed Amazon’s lawsuit over a law that required the online retailer to collect taxes from New Yorkers even though it didn’t have a physical presence in the state. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-sues-new-york-to-stop-collecting-sales-tax-386395 The law, enacted back in April by Governor Patterson, forced Amazon to collect and remit sales and use taxes if they…
A 13-year-old girl in California racked up 14,528 text messages in just a month, which calculates out to 484 a day and 20 an hour. Dear Lord, it’s that damn Cingular commercial come to life. Reina Hardesty’s excuse for her a 440-page phone bill was, “I just like to talk.” Luckily, she had been signed…
Judging from his uber-dark, mech’d-out artwork, Kris Kuksi probably had a disturbing childhood (or dropped acid in graveyards). But it doesn’t make his pieces any less awesome. Kuksi’s sculptures and dioramas (bas-reliefs if you wanna get technical about it) tend to look at the tensions between the old world and the modern one, with heavy…
McRibs are back. They were back last year, but they’re back again. Problem is, I have no idea where to get one in the Bay Area. Help me. Go on the McRib locator site here where you can see McRib sightings in your local area. So far area around me is empty. EMPTY! There aren’t…
In what may seem like a late start to the iPod race, Haier America is updating their Rhapsody Ibiza line with 2 new MP3 players: the Mini and the Touch. Sound familiar? https://gizmodo.com/rhapsody-and-haier-go-pc-free-with-ibiza-wi-fi-music-pl-324855 Both the Ibiza Rhapsody Mini and Ibiza Rhapsody Touch are equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities for content browsing and instant downloading. While they…
This Baguni washing machine concept saves one step, the one where you empty your clothes basket into the washing machine, from your laundry cycle. Is this a huge problem for people? The only thing we can see is that you don’t need to repeatedly bend down and unload the washing machine when the cycle’s done,…