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One of the most popular YouTube videos of 2020 was from former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Mark Rober who attempted to build a squirrel-proof obstacle course. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t, so a year later he’s trying again, and this time taking inspiration from movies like Mission Impossible and Ocean’s Eleven with laser rooms, trap…
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates appears to have hopelessly lost control of his efforts to do damage control on his once-budding bromance with fellow billionaire and notorious serial child abuser Jeffrey Epstein. Gates and his spokespeople have vehemently denied that he and the financier, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial…
As much as video-calling technologies like Facetime and Zoom have helped the world stay connected over the past year, they’ve also demonstrated their severe limitations, as it’s hard to feel emotionally connected to someone through a low-quality video feed. Today, Google revealed a technology that’s not quite ready for primetime but promises to make the other…
Well, folks, the rumors that Samsung is abandoning Tizen for Google’s Wear OS smartwatch platform turned out to be true. Sort of. At the Google I/O keynote today, Google revealed it’s partnering with Samsung to create a new unified platform that mashes together Wear OS and Tizen OS. This new OS isn’t the same thing…
Android 12 is the next major update to Google’s ubiquitous mobile OS, and at Google I/O 2021 we got a preview of all the big new features headed our way later this fall including a focused push for increased privacy, revamped notifications, an updated design language, and more. In Android 12, one of the biggest…
If you lose your Chromecast remote, there’s another way to control your TV. Google announced today that it’s it’s bundling a host of remote control features directly into Android. Once the new version of Android 12 rolls out, it should be as easy as dragging and tapping around your phone’s interface to change the channel.…
Google wants to replace the humble car key and make it easier to pair all of your gadgets together. The company announced expanded support for Fast Pair during its Google I/O keynote today. Fast Pair is Google’s way to speed up the process of pairing other Bluetooth devices with your phone. Originally, Fast Pair was…
Google’s Chrome browser already has the ability to detect when your passwords have been compromised, but now Chrome will be able to fix those vulnerable passwords with a single click. Previously, anytime Chrome’s built-in password manager detected that your credentials may have been exposed in a leak or hack, you’d get a little notification warning…
Now that Apple’s begun rolling out its M1 product lineup, it’s now reportedly gearing up for the next wave of computers powered by the chip’s multiple successors. And readers, we’re talking about a lot of computers and chips here. According to Bloomberg, Apple is readying new MacBook Pros, a low-end MacBook Air, a larger iMac,…
Tesla’s infamous Autopilot mode faced its latest reckoning this past weekend after it caused a driver to careen straight into a Washington state deputy’s vehicle that was parked at the side of the road. In a statement posted to the Facebook page for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, the department said that the Tesla did…
After launching the Quest 2 last fall, Oculus has returned to give its flagship VR headset some major upgrades for both work and gaming thanks to new support for 120Hz refresh rates, updates to Infinite Office, and wireless tethering for PCs. For both general use and gaming, the addition of support for 120Hz refresh rates…
Last month, Apple introduced the new Apple TV and with it, a new color calibration feature in tvOS 14.5 for its streaming boxes. The way it works is you hold a compatible iPhone against the screen as it flashes through a series of colors and then voila—you’re supposed to get a properly balanced TV in…
Like Sisyphus eternally rolling a boulder uphill, mowing the lawn is a chore that’s never really complete because grass always grows back. To make the task less of a slog, the next best thing to paving your lawn is to build a remote control lawnmower with a live-streaming camera that lets you cut the grass…
The Sakuu Corporation, a California-based company backed by Musashi Seimitsu, has announced a new 3D printing system that can print large electric vehicle batteries on demand. The system uses new techniques to create solid-state batteries that are lighter and smaller than traditional lithium-ion batteries. The system uses two types of printing to get the job…
The Google I/O developers conference is taking place this week, with the keynote kicking things off today at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. Grab yourself enough water and snacks to last you two hours, because it’s going to be a whopper of an opening number. The pandemic obviously prevented Google from hosting its annual developer conference…
Fox is jumping into the world of digital goods by launching a new company that will oversee a marketplace for NFTs, according to a report from the Hollywood Reporter. The marketplace will start by selling NFTs for a new Fox animated show called Krapopolis developed by Dan Harmon, the co-creator of Rick and Morty. And…
In lieu of allowing workers to take bathroom breaks, have reasonable productivity quotas or form a union, Amazon is reportedly seeking to boost morale and reduce workplace injuries in its warehouses by rolling out a new health and wellness program that taps into the ancient powers of deep breathing and positive visualization. WorkingWell, as the…
The city of Fullerton, California, has agreed to settle for $350,000 in a lawsuit brought by two bloggers it falsely accused of breaking into the municipal government’s Dropbox account. In reality, administrators just sent the intrepid journalists a public link that the city would have preferred they didn’t click. Ars Technica reported that Joshua Ferguson…
A recent leak from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. reveals ongoing surveillance of right-wing activists in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6th Capitol riot and the lead-up to President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The documents in question were stolen several weeks ago by the ransomware gang Babuk. According to leaked chats between police…
A Chinese real estate developer who is closely associated with Donald Trump’s far-right former strategist is behind a massive online network that traffics in conspiracy theories, disinformation, harassment campaigns, and propaganda, a new report has found. According to the Washington Post, the network is centered around Chinese businessman Guo Wengui—a billionaire who has become an…
