Elon Musk’s Monkey Tests, Dating Site Hell, and Alexa Nightmares: The Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

As Elon Musk ’s ongoingcampaign to piss off every journalistcontinued to make headlines , you may have missed a cardinal routine of news : His secretive troupe Neuralink isfunding high priest research at the University of Californiaas it act on its seeking to make learning ability - computer interface . So when , at some point in our uncanny inevitable futurity , you ’re blasting around through burrow on Mars in your judgment - controlled Tesla , just remember how you got there .

Pray for the Souls of the People Sucked Into This Dating Site Hell

in the first place this year , the media pose very excited about Trump.dating , a web site for the pro - Donald set that promised to “ make dating great again . ” Much of the media reporting was critical : The site only allowed users to conductheterosexual searches ; the male person - half of the span originally featured on the homepage hada tiddler sex article of faith ; and its creatordidn’t seem to actually exist .

Despite all this , the web site attracted over 250,000 member , harmonize to its media affair , Sean McGrossler . He severalise me over e-mail that 15 percent of those members paid for accounts , starting at $ 24.99 per calendar month , which would think the site has made a not immodest $ 1 million over the last few calendar month .

Perhaps it ’s no surprise , then , that NeverTrump.dating plunge workweek afterwards . It got itsown roundofnews articles , despite being founded by a “ political startup ” send for the “ American Liberal Council ” that only seems to existon Facebook , where it mostly post liberal meme in the vogue of a Russian misinformation account . ( The account has n’t post since March and did not react to messages . )

Photo: (Getty) / Photo: (AP) / Photo: (Getty) / Image: (Gizmodo)

The Movement to Break Up Facebook Has Begun

Privacy and anti - monopoly advocacy groups set in motion theFreedom from Facebookcampaign on Monday , ask that the Federal Trade Commission force the social media giant to break up into four separate companies . Sensing a consequence of weakness , activists hope to establish stronger privacy protections and cross - platform communicating .

The Pentagon’s Controversial Drone AI-Imaging Project Extends Beyond Google

Google has press forrad with its effort toprovide artificial intelligence solutionsto the Department of Defense , despite an internal employee petition against the companionship ’s amour in a pilot program that analyzes laggard footage using AI and theresignationsof around a dozen employee who objected to the program .

But Google is n’t the only company partnering with the Department of Defense on Project Maven — the hokey intelligence pilot light political program at the heart of the controversy — and the Pentagon has explore the possibility of work with other major technical school firms on Project Maven .

This New PS4 Controller Is Riffing Hard on Microsoft’s Super Customizable Controller In a Very Good Way

One of the best controller you may get for your PC or Xbox is the super customizable Microsoft Elite , but if you ’re a PS4 fan you ’ll have to go to third political party peripheral makerScufto get any kind of customization . We’ve liked Scufs PS4 controllersin the past quite a bit , but its latest PS4 controller , the Vantage , throws out the PS4 design to produce a hybrid even Microsoft would be proud of .

A Recent Hurricane Shot a Bolt of Antimatter Toward Earth

When you imagine of an alien world , you might cerebrate of a unknown , tempestuous position with an inhospitable surroundings , frequent lightning strikes , and utmost radiation . But who needs an imagination when the storms here on Earth already beam radiation sickness , including antimatter , down toward the background ?

Everything You Need to Know About Solo: A Star Wars Story

There ’s a novel Star Wars motion-picture show out this week ! The Last Jedi might still feel fresh in your intellect , but Solo : A Star Wars Story hit theater in just two days . Not been stick with all the word and disclose from the youthful Han Solo biopic ? We ’ve compiled all of the formally released information ( no spoilers ! ) so you ’re fully prepped to visit the seedier side of a galaxy far , far away .

Neuralink Is Funding Primate Research at the University of California

Neuralink , Elon Musk ’s secretive startup dedicated to the evolution of brain - reckoner user interface that could make it possible for people to communicate with computing machine using only their thoughts , is fund primate research at a California university , according to public record obtained by Gizmodo .

Senators Demand FCC Answer for Fake Comments After Realizing Their Identities Were Stolen

Your Worst Alexa Nightmares Are Coming True

What ’s the most terrific matter you may opine an Amazon Echo doing ? Think realistically . Would it be something simple-minded but minatory , like the artificially well-informed verbaliser record a conversation between you and a loved one and then sending that recording to an acquaintance ? That seems pretty defective to me . And guess what : it ’s hap .

Pretty Much All Tech Demos Are Fake as Hell

At Google I / O originally this month , CEO Sundar Pichaishowcasedan experimental Google Assistant feature called Duplex which can make routine phone call on your behalf . In one happen upon demonstration , the digital assistant send for a hair salon and schedule an appointment with an employee at the other end in a voice punctuate with the vocal tic of a real human .

The crowd roar . It seemed like an incredible display of Google ’s art with AI . It was so futurist , it was almost unbelievable . Yet it change by reversal out there are some thing so strange about the demonstration that several critics , cheer by report by word blogAxios , have adorn considerable energy into taste to deduce whether the telling demonstration was doctor , or worse , wholly wangle .

Bug-Sprayed Clothing Really Does Keep Ticks Away

A new CDC - ledstudyjust issue in the Journal of Medical Entomology suggests it might be a great time to put in a Modern fashion trend : microbe nebulizer - laced clothing . The survey found that habiliment treated with permethrin was able to stop several species of disease - causing tick in their tracks , either paralyzing them or making them fall off the clothes .

How to Buy a Good Smartwatch if You’re Not into Apple

If you bear around an iPhone as your smartphone of choice then theApple Watchis custody - down the skillful option for a smartwatch , for the unseamed desegregation if nothing else . But what about the respite of us ? You ’ve pose more alternative than you might realize for a companion wearable , and we ’re going to get into the pros and cons of each .

Our 10 Favorite Surprises in Deadpool 2, Ranked

Deadpool 2 is so packed with references and jape about every single genre and property imaginable ( and some out of the question , too ) , trying to cover them all comprehensively is basically unimaginable . So we ’re move with quality over quantity instead : These are our preferred surprises — the grapheme , references , one - liners , and more — in a pic chock full of truly wonderful batshit insanity .

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 13 Could Be the Most Well-Rounded Chrome OS Laptop On the Market

At Acer ’s annual spherical press league today , the company denote its usual classification of fresh computers ranging fromhumble tablets built for educationto the wild screen background rigs with three-fold Xeon C.P.U. . But among Acer ’s avalanche of alloy and silicon , there was one twist that matte up like an anchor for the caller ’s growth and success : the unexampled Chromebook Spin 13 .

New PGP Encryption Exploits Are Being Discovered Almost Every Other Day

For more than a workweek , PGP developers have been apace working to patch up critical flaws in the bequest encoding protocol used for sending and meet secure email ; a tool that ’s wide relied upon by attorney , journalists , protester , and human rights advocates , many of whom operate at the highest levels of risk in shadows cast by repressive and relentless regimen .

Progress is slow and as Gizmodo has learn , a issue of exploits remain participating , impacting at least two of the most popular PGP programs .

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Illustration: Angelica Alzona