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Matt Novak

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Still from 1897 film Gugusse et l'Automate (Gugusse and the automaton) of a clown in the streets.

First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

Created in 1897, a discovered film is over two decades older than the term "robot."
by Matt Novak via Gizmodo on February 28, 2026
A crowd of people holds a up red banner of the Cuban Revolution leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Remember When the U.S. Secretly Built a Social Network to Destabilize Cuba?

U.S.-funded social networks were launched in 2010 with ZunZuneo and Piramideo in 2013.
by Matt Novak via Gizmodo on March 15, 2024
Screen shot of early YouTube interface.

Here's What People Thought of YouTube When It First Launched in the Mid-2000s

It took a while for pundits and other observers to truly understand the power of the new platform.
by Matt Novak via Paleofuture on February 14, 2020
Disney animators on strike, 1941.

Animators Brought a Guillotine to the Disney Labor Strike in 1941

It wasn’t simply a static symbol – the “blade” actually moved.
by Matt Novak via Paleofuture on November 26, 2019
U.S. Patent Office

The Story of the American Inventor Denied a Patent Because He Was a Slave

What happens when the Patent Office doesn't recognize the inventor as a person at all?
by Matt Novak via Paleofuture on August 28, 2018
FBI piracy warning

How 1960s Film Pirates Sold Movies Before the FBI Came Knocking

The FBI storms a suspect's property, guns drawn. The crime? Film piracy.
by Matt Novak via Paleofuture on May 29, 2018
A man demonstrating television to another.

This Futuristic Color TV Set Concept From 1922 Was Way Ahead of Its Time

Back in the earliest days of imagining what TV looked like, the appliance was a magic technology.
by Matt Novak via Paleofuture on May 4, 2018
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