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Tech NewsWatch John Oliver Explain How Three Young Women Catfished ISIS
Three ladies from Chechnya scammed ISIS fighters online and got ‘em good. Let John Oliver tell the tale: The three young women persuaded ISIS fighters to send them money, promising they’d journey to Syria for marriage—only to block the accounts once payment was received. Stone cold—and a better smackdown of ISIS’ social media recruitment than … Continued
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Tech NewsLet’s Talk About Whatever You Want Right Now
It’s Friday, Planeteers. Let’s kick the weekend off right. What’s up, Gizmodo denizens? This was a big week in Techlandia, with the Windows 10 roll-out and shiny new mobile toys from Motorola. Cecil the lion’s hunter was hounded online, although he and his ilk actually help lion conservation. Dirty snow piles refuse to melt, kids … Continued
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Tech News
Buy Your Hard-Working Coworker A Beer, It’s #SysAdminDay
It’s Sysadmin appreciation day! What exactly are you appreciating? The primary duty of a system administrator is the upkeep and ongoing operation of computer systems, especially servers—and that job description means they are responsible for elements like uptime and security that are essential to the health and functionality of computers, networks and the ability of … Continued
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Tech News
What Technology of Yours Is About To Break?
My iPhone 5s is livin’ on a prayer. Technology, by its nature, can become obsolete as formats change and new inventions take the place of old. Some tech-oriented people love nothing more than being first in line for the shiniest new product, while others, out of cost, familiarity or skill in keeping parts chugging along, … Continued
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Tech News
A Religious Mystery Is Found Buried At Jamestown
A team of Smithsonian researchers has been studying the remains of four men discovered in Jamestown, Virginia, the site of England’s first successful colony. Two years of forensic detective work revealed their probable identities—but the biggest mystery is a sealed silver box found in one of the graves. The bodies’ burial at the Jamestown church … Continued
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Tech News
What Was The First Piece of Tech You Saved Up To Buy?
When I was a kid in the early ‘90s, laptops were insanely expensive and out of reach. Instead, I knew I had to have a Brother word processor. It was everything that I wanted. My lust for a portable writing machine bordered on obsession. I wrote away for catalogs, then would cut out pictures and … Continued
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Tech News
The Entire Internet Is Outraged Over the Hunting of Cecil the Lion
Every so often your faith in humanity is restored when the social world unites to excoriate an event deserving of its wrath. So it goes with Walter Palmer, the American dentist who killed a beloved, world-famous lion, Cecil, in Zimbabwe under cover of darkness and questionable legality. Palmer is not having a good day. Good. … Continued
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Tech News
Besides Cilantro, What Foods Do You Find Absolutely Disgusting?
Gizmodo staff got into a spirited debate about the most divisive of herbs, cilantro, sparked by the news that the U.S. imposed an import ban after human feces were found in cilantro fields outside Puebla, Mexico. Some of us despise cilantro; others would happily sprinkle it on most meals. Is there any other flavor that’s … Continued
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Tech News
Let’s Talk About Whatever You Want Right Now
Would you look at that, it’s the weekend again! Okay so most of us have a few more hours before we’re out of work, but depending on your timezone you may already be in the pub. If you have to work this weekend, Sad Dawson cries with you. Today on Gizmodo we looked at selfie … Continued
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Tech News
Game of Thrones Characters, Autocorrected
Artist James Chapman depicted Game of Thrones characters as the autocorrected versions of their fantastical names, and the results are funny and delightful. Chapman, a physics Phd student and the author of Soundimals: An Illustrated Guide to Animal Sounds in Other Languages, found that his phone’s autocorrect kept interfering when he messaged friends about GoT. … Continued
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Tech News
Have You Ever Had a Disastrous Butt-Dial?
A U.S. Appeals court just ruled that butt-dials (your phone calling a random contact due to, generally, contact with your butt) are not protected under federal wire-tapping law—which means that your inadvertent communications can be used against you. The case centered around a former Northern Kentucky airport board chairman who accidentally dialed the assistant of … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
Do You Buy Books Anymore?
We’re talking the old-fashioned kind. A “new” Dr. Seuss book, What Pet Should I Get? is cause for rejoicing, and likely the purchase of a paper copy, if you’re into Dr. Seuss. But do you really buy books these days? When digital books first came out, I was among the purists who turned my nose … Continued
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Tech News
Behold, The Most #UnexcitingVideoGames You Can Think Of
This hashtag is more magical than a mushroom. Currently trending on Twitter is the hashtag #UnexcitingVideoGames, which has fast become a goldmine of gaming whimsy. There are 20k Tweets and rising with tongue-in-cheek boring video games, and of course, brands are getting in on the fun—but the best Tweets are from users wielding mighty snarkhammers. … Continued
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io9Movies
What’s Your Favorite Movie About Technology?
There’s some great TV on at the moment that revolves around tech as a central principle, like Mr. Robot, Halt and Catch Fire, and Silicon Valley. But what big-screen production utilizes tech as its theme and stands the test of time? A movie very of its moment, like 1995’s Hackers, seems painfully out-of-date watched today. … Continued
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Tech News
Let’s Talk About Whatever You Want Right Now
Oh, hello there! It’s the weekend, just in the nick of time. I’m not gonna lie, guys — it’s been a weird week here. I went from highs (Breakfast at Pluto at the Natural History Museum with livestreaming Mission Control and Neil deGrasse Tyson) to…whatever’s happening around these parts today. So I’m gonna go chainsmoke … Continued
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Tech News
Ellen Pao Says the Trolls Are Winning
Reddit’s former CEO Ellen Pao wrote a melancholy op-ed about the harassment she faced and the overall state of Internet communities. Her outlook is pretty bleak. In the piece, Pao connects the treatment she received by Reddit mobs with overall statistics on internet bullying: Fully 40 percent of online users have experienced bullying, harassment and … Continued
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Tech News
What Is Your Favorite Fictional Spaceship?
Our pals at Sploid posted an incredible infographic about the speed of science fiction ships. While the speeds are fun to compare and speculate about, let’s get to the Heart of Gold of the matter: What is your fictional craft of choice? The ship I adore most didn’t make Fat Wallet’s cut. On the TV … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
#PrimeDayFail Is a Billion Times Better Than Amazon’s Prime Day
Disgruntled shoppers took to Twitter to lodge complaints under the hashtag #primedayfail while staring down sales of granny panties, shoe horns, and 55-gallon drums of lube. Amazon’s much-hyped Prime Day turned out to be just that—a lot of hype. Shoppers expecting sweet deals were disappointed by offers on a motley array of merchandise likened to … Continued
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Tech News
What’s the First Big Science Story You Remember?
NASA’s Pluto flyby is a truly international event, not limited by borders: the excitement and commentary span the planet. But this phenomenon isn’t new. What’s the first giant, global science story you remember? The internet has amplified the reach of scientific discoveries, letting us react in real time. As we’ve seen, this can be a … Continued
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Tech NewsPluto Memes Are Taking Over the Internet
When the New Horizons spacecraft sent back its first clear image of everyone’s favorite dwarf planet, Pluto became a perfect storm of a meme. Historians in the future will wonder what we were smoking. An endless assortment of related memes can be found under #pluto hashtags across the social web. Pluto’s image was destined to … Continued
Kaila Hale-Stern
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