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Tech NewsNewsAir Force Launches First ICBM Test of the Year in Lead Up to Talks Between US and North Korea
The US Air Force conducted America’s first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test of the year, firing an unarmed Minuteman III from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California yesterday morning. The missile landed in the Pacific Ocean at an undisclosed location. The test comes in the wake of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un proclaiming … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsThe FDA Is Cracking Down on JUUL Sales Because Teen Vaping Is Out of Control
JUUL e-cigarettes have become incredibly popular with teens for their high levels of nicotine and sleek design. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the product in its sights, and today announced an aggressive new push to keep the faddish nicotine product away from kids. Last month, the FDA began age-compliance checks with retailers … Continued
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Tech News
Everyone Thought This Coin From the California Gold Rush Was Fake, But It’s Actually Worth Millions
In 1854, at the height of the California Gold Rush, the San Francisco Mint produced less than 300 special $5 coins. Only three were known to survive into modern times. Until today, that is. Now there are four. The owner of the fourth coin, who wishes to remain anonymous, really was convinced that the coin … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
President Trump’s EPA Says Burning Wood is Carbon Neutral, Like Wind and Solar Energy
The awkwardly named Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared that burning wood is carbon neutral. In the eyes of the Trump regime, burning wood for energy is now just as environmentally friendly as wind and solar power, despite the fact that burning biomass releases greenhouse gases. “Today’s announcement grants America’s foresters much-needed certainty and clarity … Continued
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Tech NewsNews
Tanzania Orders Bloggers to Pay $920 Fee to Register with the Government, Risk Jail for ‘Obscene’ Content
Tanzania issued a warning over the weekend that all online media creators, including everything from online radio providers to bloggers, have just two weeks to register with the government. Registration and license fees add up to about $920, roughly what the average Tanzanian earns in an entire year. The new law allows for punishments of … Continued
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Tech NewsAmazon
James Comey Scheduled to Speak at Amazon Employee Event on Monday
Former FBI director James Comey is scheduled to speak at Amazon headquarters in Seattle on Monday. And so far, President Trump hasn’t tweeted about it. That will probably change once Fox News gets the memo. First reported by The Intercept, Comey is scheduled to speak at 10am PT as part of a “fish bowl” event … Continued
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Tech News
Rare Concept Art for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Goes Up For Auction
Later this month, Van Eaton Galleries is holding an auction of art and memorabilia from designer Rolly Crump. The eccentric artist helped design some of Disney’s most iconic theme park rides, and some of the most fascinating items going up for sale come from Crump’s early days working on what would become the Haunted Mansion. … Continued
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Tech NewsThe BBC’s Day of the Triffids Foretold of the Tide-Eating Craze in 1981
Have you ever seen the 1981 BBC miniseries version of The Day of the Triffids? My wife was recently rewatching the classic scifi tale and she saw something that she’d never noticed before: Someone eating Tide laundry detergent. Or at least trying to eat it. The brief shot happens in the second episode of the … Continued
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Tech News
One Dead After Engine on Southwest Airlines Flight Explodes, Woman Almost Sucked Out Window [Updated]
Southwest Airlines flight 1380 from New York to Dallas had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia today. One of the plane’s engines reportedly exploded, breaking a window and causing a woman to nearly be sucked out. One person has been confirmed dead, and passengers are sharing photos and videos from the incident—including ones taken … Continued
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Tech News
Twitter Is Down (It’s Not Just You) [Update: Twitter Says It’s Back Up]
It’s not just you. Twitter is down. At least for a lot of people in the US, Europe, and Japan. Down Detector is showing heavy outages in the Northeastern United States, Britain, Spain and Japan. As I sit typing this from Western Australia I can confirm that I haven’t had Twitter working since 9:50am New … Continued
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Tech News
Every Blade of Grass Tainted by Novichok Nerve Agent to Be Incinerated in Massive Cleanup by UK
Officials from Britain and Russia are still fighting over who exactly poisoned former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. But whoever did it, one thing is certain: The cleanup is costing a lot of money and labor as the UK combs through every blade of grass that … Continued
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Tech News
Clinton Presidential Library Releases New Photos of Harvey Weinstein From the 1990s
Harvey Weinstein is a disgraced movie producer who will be remembered as one of the most vile sexual predators to ever emerge from Hollywood. But before the “open secret” of his crimes truly became open, Weinstein was hobnobbing with politicians nearly as often as he was making movies. One of those politicians was President Bill … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebook
Homicidal Asshole Rodrigo Duterte Claims Facebook Fact-Checkers Are Biased, Might Be Funded by the CIA
Rodrigo Duterte rode to the presidency of the Philippines through a wave of social media promotion. But the homicidal world leader, who has overseen the murder of over 20,000 people in a brutal crackdown on alleged drug dealers and users, isn’t too happy with Facebook these days. Duterte claims that Facebook’s newest initiative to smoke … Continued
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Tech News
Independent Experts Say Russian Spy and Daughter Poisoned by Nerve Agent Novichok
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an international watchdog group, has confirmed that Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned using a military-grade nerve agent called Novichok. The findings come as Russian officials continue to deny that Russia had anything to do with the poisoning of the former double agent. The … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebookMark Zuckerberg Says His Data Was Sold to Third Parties, Too
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo just asked Mark Zuckerberg a really great question. Was Zuck’s own personal data sold to third parties like Cambridge Analytica? The one word answer: Yes. You can watch a clip of the exchange below: Unfortunately, Eshoo didn’t ask a follow-up question about this shocking response. She was in the middle of a … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebookHow to Watch Day 2 of Mark Zuckerberg’s Capitol Hill Apology Tour on YouTube, Facebook, and More
Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg answered questions at the US Senate for over five hours about Facebook’s role in protecting user privacy. Today he faces the US House and if you’re looking for a livestream, we’ve got you covered. Today’s hearing, titled “Transparency and Use of Private Data,” is scheduled to start at 10am Eastern, 7am Pacific … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebook
Just 53 People Used the App That Let Cambridge Analytica Swipe Data From Up to 311,127 Australians
The vast majority of Facebook user data that was harvested by Cambridge Analytica came from Americans. But smaller countries are actually better at demonstrating just how big the problem got. Access to just 53 users in Australia reportedly allowed data firms to potentially capture information on over 310,000 people. According to data obtained by The … Continued
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Tech NewsFacebookHow to Watch Mark Zuckerberg’s Senate Testimony Live on YouTube, Facebook, and VR
Mark Zuckerberg is on the hot seat today. The billionaire CEO of Facebook will testify on Capitol Hill about the privacy scandals that have rocked his company, including the theft of data from over 87 million Facebook users by the political research firm Cambridge Analytica. [Update: If you’re looking for Day 2 of the testimony, … Continued
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Tech NewsFakes
That Viral Photo of Our Big Lumpy President Is Actually Photoshopped
Have you seen this photo of President Donald Trump bursting out of his jacket? The US president is a large man, but he’s not quite that lumpy. The photo has been photoshopped. The original photo, which you can see below, was taken by Tom Brenner for the New York Times. It shows President Trump arriving … Continued
By Matt Novak
Matt Novak
Matt Novak is a reporter at Gizmodo covering news and opinion, with a little history thrown in for good measure. Novak started at Gizmodo in 2013 and has been writing about past visions of the future at Paleofuture.com since 2007. Novak is fascinated with the history of technology and got his start writing professionally for Smithsonian magazine. Emails telling him to "stick to tech" can be sent to [email protected].
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