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Tech NewsGadgetsA Startup Demonstrated a Wirelessly Powered TV at CES 2021 and I Want to Believe
A big TV no longer needs an even bigger home entertainment center to support it thanks to hidden wall mounts, but you still have to deal with wires. You can either route them through the wall so they’re out of sight or cross your fingers that this completely wireless TV technology demonstrated at CES 2021 … Continued
- Earther
Rare Wolverine Spotted in Yellowstone for the First Time in Years
A camera trap set up to catch cougars prowling Yellowstone National Park has captured an even rarer creature. The park released footage this week showing a wolverine tearing through the forest, marking the first on-camera sighting since the camera traps were deployed in 2014. Wolverines are in many ways ghosts of the forests. They prefer … Continued
By Brian Kahn - Tech News
MagSafe Might Be Coming Back to MacBook Pros and the Touch Bar Might Be Going Bye Bye
If you’ve been missing MagSafe, good news—rumor has it that Apple’s magnetic power adaptor is set to make a return to two upgraded MacBook Pros later this year. The news comes via Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has a pretty good track record when it comes to Apple predictions. MagSafe was first introduced on the MacBook … Continued
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io9TelevisionThe CW’s Batwoman/Superman & Lois Crossover Scrapped Over Coronavirus Concerns
Doug Liman says it’s up to the stars if an Edge of Tomorrow sequel happens. Patrick Dempsey will be back for Enchanted 2. Swamp Thing won’t get a second chance on the CW, but its stars could on another of the network’s DC shows. Plus, even more Avatar sequel concept art, and what’s next for … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsIt’s Hard to Be Excited About New Laptops and GPUs When Supply is Scarce
If you believed the rumors, AMD and Nvidia were supposed to deliver a bunch of show-stopping CES announcements. Rumors that Nvidia was going to announce a RTX 3080 Ti or a RTX 3070 Super. Rumors that AMD was going to launch its RX 6700 by the end of this month. Even Intel was quiet about … Continued
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io9Books & ComicsWandaVision Opened With a Stylishly Old-Fashioned Web of Lies and Intrigue
The first of WandaVision’s many secrets is one that the new Disney+ series actually reveals to you in the premiere episode’s first moments. You watch as Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch) and her longtime beau, Vision, beeline straight from the altar to their new suburban home in the city of Westview. The Visions’ neighbors might … Continued
- Tech News
Pro-Trump Extremists Got $520,000 in Bitcoin a Month Before Capitol Coup Attempt: Report
At least 22 individuals and groups, most with extremist pro-Trump sympathies, received roughly $520,000 in bitcoin a month before the violent siege on the U.S. Capitol that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to a new report from Yahoo News. And while there’s no evidence that the Dec. 8 distribution of funds has … Continued
By Matt Novak - Tech NewsSocial Media
Twitter Refuses to Engage in the Peaceful Transfer of Posting
When President Barack Obama left office on January 20, 2017, all followers of the official @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts were transferred to newly elected President Donald Trump. But that’s not happening this year when Joe Biden takes the oath of office on Jan. 20. Instead, Biden will have to start from scratch, according to Biden’s … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityNYPD Announces How It Plans to Spy On You This Year
After being pushed to do so by new legislation, the New York City Police Department has publicized a full inventory of the myriad spying instruments it uses to surveil the public. For years, it’s been well-known that the NYPD has a healthy war chest when it comes to surveillance gear. Indeed, the city that endured … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsParler’s Suit Trying to Force Amazon to Host It Again Does Not Appear to Be Going Well
Parler, the social network for conservatives with more guns than friends, isn’t doing so hot in its quest for a federal court injunction forcing Amazon to restore its web hosting services, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. On Jan. 6, a horde of pro-Donald Trump rioters trying to overturn the 2020 election results stormed the U.S. Capitol, incited … Continued
By Tom McKay - Tech NewsCommerce
Consumer Groups Ask FTC to Investigate Amazon Prime’s Headache-Inducing Cancellation Process
It’s too goddamn hard to cancel your Amazon Prime account, a group of consumer advocacy organizations have told the Federal Trade Commission in a complaint letter. In the document, addressed to FTC chairman Joe Simons, groups led by the nonprofit Public Citizen asked that the agency investigate Amazon under Section 5 of the FTC Act, … Continued
By Tom McKay -
io9Disneyland Ending Its Annual Passport Program Makes So Much Sense
Disneyland just discontinued its Annual Passport program, and as an annual passholder myself, I must admit it’s a brilliant move. Did I love having the ability to go to Disneyland any day I wanted, at any time I wanted? Of course I did. That’s why myself and, reportedly, hundreds of thousands of other Southern California … Continued
- Tech NewsGadgets
These Are the Wearables That Stood Out at CES 2021
Usually, when people think of wearables, their mind conjures an image of a smartwatch. Fair! But at CES, wearables are a much, much broader category. They include everything from “hearables” and smart rings, to futuristic proof of concept devices that may never actually see the light of day. While CES 2021 was an all-digital experience, … Continued
- ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
After Two Years of Frustration, NASA Finally Nixes Its Martian Mole
NASA has given up on the mole—a device that was supposed to dig deep into the Martian surface—after repeated failed efforts to make the system work. It was meant to be a major part of the InSight lander mission, but unfortunately Mars had other ideas. “We’ve given it everything we’ve got, but Mars and our … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis Black Hole Is Really Taking Its Time Eating a Poor Star
On November 14, 2014, a telescope spotted a burst of light in a galaxy 570 million light-years away. It was thought to be a supernova, an arrestingly bright explosion that marks a star’s death. This week, astronomers revealed that the burst was not a supernova after all, but rather a black hole having dinner—one of … Continued
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io9TrailersDisney’s Squirrel Superhero Movie Is Here…No, Not That One
Disney just revealed the first trailer for a brand new superhero movie about a girl and her squirrel. But surprisingly, it’s not Marvel’s Squirrel Girl. It’s called Flora & Ulysses, based on the 2014 Newbery Award-winning book written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by K.G. Campbell. It follows a girl named Flora (Matilda Lawler) who … Continued
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EartherDonald Trump Confronts the Scourge of Efficient Hot Water Heaters and Furnaces
President Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House is ending the way it began, with a slapdash effort to make everything a little (or lot) worse than he found it while trying to burn down the planet in the name of conservative grievances. The lame-duck period has been a frenzy of environmental rollbacks that continued … Continued
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io9Books & ComicsJack Kirby’s Son to Insurrectionists: Your Nazi-Ass Captain America Merch Sucks
Captain America is, famously, a comic book character not too keen on far-right violence. Neal Kirby, the son of comics legend and Marvel’s Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby, released a public statement overnight. It was addressed to insurrectionists who took part in last week’s assaults on the U.S. Capitol during Congress’ official count of the … Continued
- Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
Ring’s Neighbors App Had Flaw That Revealed Users’ Home Addresses
Ring, the Amazon-owned friend to nosy police departments everywhere, has suffered another embarrassing security stumble. The surveillance company’s Neighbors app—which was launched in 2018 as a kind of “neighborhood watch” feature—apparently left users exact geographical data and home address information exposed to the internet. Neighbors is Ring’s online forum where users can share public safety … Continued
By Lucas Ropek
