Thomas Germain
Gizmodo
New York, United States
Contact Thomas
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Thomas:
You Call That a Metaverse? Meta Brings Horizon Worlds to Mobile and Desktop.
Meta has opened its Horizon Worlds metaverse video game to people who don't have a VR headset. In other words, Meta is working on a metaverse that is no longer a metaverse. → Read More
'On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog:' The Web's Most Iconic Cartoon Is for Sale.
30 years later, people still can't tell if you're a dog on the internet. The New Yorker's 1993 classic is most-shared cartoon in the history of the magazine, and one of the best-known jokes about the internet. It's yours for about $50,000. → Read More
Want to See How Bad Twitter's Bot Problem Is? Ask for Crypto Help.
Twitter has a serious bot problem, and I’ll teach you the magic words that summon the machines. For the past year, dozens of bots come calling when you ask for crypto support. Some even write you a poem while they try to scam you. → Read More
A New Facebook Setting Tells Meta Not to Use Your Data for AI
Need a place to shout into the void about AI? There's a new form for you to fill out. Meta, the maker of Facebook and Instagram, introduced a new form that lets you ask, pretty please, for the company not to use your data to train its AI models. Sort of. → Read More
Legs Have Finally Come to Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse
Meta, the benevolent maker of Facebook, is solving the most important problem in the tech industry, one that every person on the internet definitely knows and cares about. At long last, the characters in Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse are getting legs. Sort of. → Read More
Zuck Mocks Musk as Threads Hits 100 Million Users
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg traded insults over the weekend as competition between the billionaires heated up in Zuck’s favor. Five days in, Threads reports 100 million user sign ups. Meanwhile, data suggests Twitter traffic is plummeting. → Read More
'Flaming Strawmen'? 10 Internet Rage Baiting Techniques You Need to Know About
There's an election coming up, and internet weirdos are going to try to upset you about it. Here's a guide to protect yourself. → Read More
The NYT Will A-N-N-O-Y Wordle Fans With Even More Ads
The New York Times will blast the eyes of rabid Wordle fans with new ad formats on the game's mobile app. When you hit “Play," you’ll now be treated to an “interstitial” ad, meaning the popups fill your entire screen. → Read More
Threads Hands-On: Instagram's New App Might Just Be Dull Enough to Beat Twitter
In the first hours of Threads, Meta's hotly anticipated Twitter copycat, banality reigned supreme. But on a chaotic and rage-fueled internet, that could be just what users and advertisers want. → Read More
Threads, Meta's Twitter-Killer, Is Now Available
After months of secretive work, Facebook owner Meta released Threads on Wednesday, a Twitter clone that could cause an upheaval in the world of social media. → Read More
How to Download Threads, Zuckerberg's New Twitter Competitor
Facebook owner Meta launches a Twitter competitor called Threads on Thursday. Here's how to get it, and how to find your Threads 'cheat code' on Instagram. → Read More
Google Says It'll Scrape Everything You Post Online for AI
An update to Google's privacy policy suggests that the entire public internet is fair game for it's AI projects. If Google can read your words, assume they belong to the company now, and expect that they’re nesting somewhere in the bowels of a chatbot. → Read More
3 Billion Chrome Users Are About to See This Privacy Sandbox Pop-Up
Welcome Privacy Sandbox: Google’s cookie killing spree hits the browser in July. Users will see a popup about "Enhanced ad privacy" in Chrome 115, initiating the first phase of Google’s plan to kill third-party cookies. → Read More
FTC Preps for Battle With Amazon. It's the Big One.
The FTC is set to launch an earth-shaking antitrust case against Amazon, according to a new report. If history is any indication, the FTC will try to break the company up. It's the biggest test for FTC chair Lina Khan. → Read More
Ad-Fraud Claims Could Force Google to Pay Billions. But Don't Hold Your Breath.
A research firm found Google's video ad system defrauds customers 80% of the time. Some advertisers want their money back, but don't hold your breath. Google denies the allegations, and there isn't much anyone can do about it — except the government. → Read More
Influencers Gas Up Shein After Sketchy Factory Tour: No Slave Labor Here!
Influencers are correcting the "misinformation" about Shein's alleged forced labor practices and dangerous products after a trip paid for by the company. → Read More
Lawyers Fined $5,000 After ChatGPT Wrote Their Bogus Legal Documents
ChatGPT made up quotes and citations that lawyers filed with the courts. Then they lied about it and pretended to be on vacation, the judge said. ChatGPT → Read More
Amazon Allegedly Tricked Users Into Prime Subscriptions and Sabotaged Their Attempts to Cancel
Amazon used dark patterns to force users into subscribing to Prime and then made it all but impossible to cancel, the FTC says. → Read More
Opera Debuts 'One' Browser With Built-in Generative AI
Opera One's innovative design makes AI an actually useful part of your web browser. Opera's Aria chatbot isn't just isn't running alongside your tabs, it works within them. A full redesign of the web browser is part of a broad new vision of the internet. → Read More
Website Owners Say Traffic Is Plummeting After a Facebook Algorithm Change
With no communication from the company, publishers relying on Facebook traffic are at the mercy of the inscrutable algorithm. Data shows an apparent change at Facebook in May caused website traffic to tank at some news sites. → Read More