Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge
When I was a kid, I was entranced by commercials for the Talkboy Tape Recorder. They promised you a life of pranks and trickery, a perfect tool for being optimally annoying to siblings and loved ones — as seen in Home Alone 2!
The world has changed a lot since then — and for better or worse, annoying gadgets have become a lot more powerful. For instance, they’re now able to kick someone off of Wi-Fi repeatedly, at will, for as long as you like.
What is it?
The Dstike Deauther Watch (now in version 3) is both utilitarian and simple. At its core, it is just an ESP8266, a cheap simple Wi-Fi chip that is in tons of tech. If you have Wi-Fi light bulbs, you probably have several of these chips in your home right now.
On top of the chip, there…