News

Manspresso Machines, Spotify Hacks, And Other Stories We Didn’t Post

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn’t worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case.


September 10, 2011
Computing

Opinion: How Can Android Tablets Thrive?

Gizmodo AU

Leaving aside patent issues, Android tablets are struggling to make a real dent in the iPad’s armour. How can Android succeed in the wider market?


September 8, 2011
Geek Out

Rant: Companies, Please Stop Calling Things ‘HD’

HD is our decade’s extreme. People know the two letters well — and they like them! — because of HDTV. That’s fine, because HDTV actually means something: certain, set lines of resolution. But “Swiffer HD Clean”? I feel like screaming blood.


August 23, 2011
Geek Out

Cornell’s Fake Review Detector Is A+++ Would Use Again

My friends and I gave Cornell’s fake-review-tracking algorithm a spin, and I have to say, we absolutely loved it! Fake and inflated reviews can be such a pain, so it’s really great that an awesome university like Cornell is figuring them out!


July 11, 2011
Geek Out

French Man Gets Interactive QR Code Tattoo

Real, fake or enhanced, this “animated tattoo” marketing video out of France appears to have worked as advertised: A tattooed lad with a desire for a QR code on his chest has received said body art, and it started moving.


June 28, 2011
Geek Out

It’s Only Worth Advertising To The Rich Now

Even though poor people like you don’t have much money, all of the poor people put together have plenty of money. That’s why corporations from Nike to Walmart still deign to advertise to you, the poors: because you have to survive, and you also have to use consumer goods to appear as if you’re not poor, and you’ll spend every last cent doing so. Which adds up to a lot of cents!


June 21, 2011
Gaming

Great Ads, If Not Great Games, Coming To Xbox 360 Kinect

Soon Xbox 360 gamers will be able to get some use out of their Kinect: Interacting with a new suite of multimedia advertising set to hit the console and its $199 peripheral next year.


June 17, 2011
Geek Out

If Your Favourite Clothing Store Doesn’t Spend $15,000 On A Custom Mannequin, Take Your Business Elsewhere

According to the New York Times, clothing retailers think that the best way to overcome THIS SLUGGISH ECONOMY is to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a custom mannequin to display fancy threads on.


May 26, 2011
Science

How Skillful Advertisers Can Word-Jack Your Brain

It’s long been established that the mighty brain is nothing but a mound of putty. We don’t see what we think we do, we don’t remember what we think we do, and we don’t like what we think we do. If we did, advertisers would be out of business. As it is, they’re literally putting false thoughts inside our heads.


May 17, 2011
Computing

Why Does Asus Want Us To Hate Its New Eee Pad?

Gizmodo AU

Asus is going to be launching its transforming tablet/laptop in Australia in the near future. I know this because they send us an invite to a briefing of the product yesterday afternoon. Included in the invite was this video, a piece of marketing so bad it tarnishes every single thing mentioned within its two minute and 58 second runtime.