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Why does it matter that Apple only has a sliver of the smart phone market? After all, it's earning the majority of the market's profits, right? So, what's the big deal?

Well, the reason smart phone market share matters is that in technology, profits tend to accrue over time to the dominant platform. What happens is one platform becomes the standard, and developers focus their attention on that platform. As they focus on that platform, they abandon the other platform, and it becomes a second tier player. When that happens, consumers become less interested. 

So far, the iPhone, even with a small share of the market has been the most popular for developers. That may be about to change. This chart from BI Intelligence shows that developers around the world are switching their focus to Android.

If this pattern continues, then the big fears about market share could be realized and Apple could turn into a second tier platform as developers work on iOS second.

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Can you imagine a world without frozen TV dinners or bubble wrap? (And more importantly, who would want to?)

Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein are probably the first names that come to mind when you think of "inventors." But beyond the big names, there are plenty of inventors whose creativity and ingenuity changed the way we live, even if they never became household names

To pay homage to these under-the-radar innovators, we've put together a shortlist of influential inventors who you (most likely) never learned about in school

1Clarence Birdseye — Frozen Food

If you're a TV dinner aficionado, you can thank Clarence Birdseye for the technology used in frozen food. Birdseye discovered a new way to flash-freeze foods that produced much fresher and better tasting results than the earlier, slower methods of freezing. His inventions marked the beginning of the frozen food industry as we know it today, and Birds Eye is still a popular brand of frozen food. Read more...

E-waste is an environmental nightmare. What if the overflow of outdated tech junk could be put to better use than landfill fodder?

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(paulcjones)

If you’re like me, you have no muscle memories of the apartment you’ve lived in for five years and thus find your body banging itself up against a corner like it popped out of nowhere. Sigh, bruises. But you don’t have to live like that — your home should be a place of rest and relaxation, not a horror house of accidents waiting to happen.

I have no advice for the MBQs of the world beyond trying to watch where you’re walking, goshdarnit, this is your own home. But LifeHacker does have a pretty nice roundup of a bunch of things you can do to guard against accidents in the home. We’ve collected a bunch of our favorites below and you can check out LifeHacker for more safety lessons.

Cooking Accidents
1. Keep your knives sharp (and your wits sharper!), because a dull knife is way more dangerous than one that’s slicing, dicing and cutting properly. Make sure you know how to use them an aren’t just hacking at a pork roast with say, a cerrated bread knife.
2. A cutting board will stay put better with a damp towel, shelf liner or other non-slippy material under it.
3. Make sure pan handles on the stove face inward to keep them from little hands and also so you don’t bump it accidentally and knock it over.
4. Know how to put out a kitchen fire — hint: Don’t throw water on it.
5. MBQ’s own tip: Wear shoes when you’re cooking — it’s a lot more protection against any falling knives or splashy hot liquids. Once you dump a pot of boiling water on your bare feet you’ll never forget this rule.

Falls 
6. Secure electrical and phone cords out of traffic areas lest you snag one and trip.
7. Small throw rugs are basically lying in wait for you to stumble over them. Ditch’em all or use non-skid mats. Remove small throw rugs or use non-skid mats to keep them from slipping
8. Once you’re done joking about Captain Obvious, don’t stand on a chair, table or anything with wheels. Wheels have a tendency to roll.

Poisoning
9. The CDC says poisoning is among the top 10 leading causes of ER visits for nonfatal injuries, and it isn’t just kids accidentally chugging cough syrup. Some prescription meds and over-the-counter meds can negatively interact with other medicines or foods, so check with your pharmacist before combining anything. And keep everything clearly labeled in their original containers — that handful of mismatched pills you found in the sock drawer could be just about anything. Post this somewhere you can see it:  U.S. Poison Control Center — 800-222-1222.

Moving Heavy Stuff
10. How many times have you heard to lift with your knees and not your back? It’s true. Shimmy up to whatever you’re moving, as close as you can, and flex your knees to lift it. Keep your back straight and move your feet instead of wiggling all around with your back if you need to turn.
11. Slip and slide that thing somewhere easily by turning a bit of carpet remnant upside down on hard floors. That way you can move your heavy thing over the floors without scratching them. Blankets and newspapers work as well.
12. Find a friend if something’s too heavy — if you can’t lift a corner very easily, you need a buddy.

DIY and Landscaping
13. Above all else, don’t start on something if it’s high risk, including electrical work or doing stuff around gas pipes.
14. Even if the engine is off, do not stick your hand in to get something out of a blade. The blade could be under tension and snap forward anyway, and there goes your favorite right hand.
15. Just like knives, keep your tools sharp for maximum effectiveness and minimum ouchiness.
16. Don’t use power tools in the rain. Water and electricity do not mix.

How to Avoid Injuring Yourself During Everyday Activities [LifeHacker]

Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the government would ease back on its "one child" policy, and also begin closing labor reeducation camps. This could transform Chinese society, and lead to some major population growth.

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In related news: Did you know books can get herpes?

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The absolute best part of the original Jeepers Creepers was that it starred Justin Long as some sort of fratty, navel tatted hero, who [SPOILER ALERT] ends up as a creepy human skinsuit in the monster's lair. And now they are making a Jeepers Creepers 3, fingers crossed they get some use out of the old Long corpse.

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My client works for an iPad and iPhone development software company. I often work on-site.

Client: I am having problems with my mouse. Can you come over and check it out?

I move the mouse back and forth. It functions as it should.

Me: There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. 

About 5 minutes later…

Client: It’s still not working. Come over and look.

I move the mouse and, again, saw nothing wrong.

Me: Show me exactly what you are doing.

He placed his finger on his computer screen and movies it back and forth.

Client: See, it’s not working.

Me: It’s not a touch screen.

Beautiful light!..(Read...)

Alberta, Canada artist Sarah Seymour has created a cute collection of lacy Pokémon..(Read...)

Sure, 4K hasn't even arrived in the States, remains woefully over-priced for most of us mere mortals, and offers improvements that may not even be noticeable to Joe consumer. That doesn't mean it's too early to hype 8K, right? Filmmaker Magazine notes that Japanese broadcaster NHK has started preliminary 8K broadcast experiments, and have commissioned filmmakers to make short films showcasing the ultra-ultra-high def technology.

Some of NHK's floral marketing language used to describe the standard gets fairly amusing. For example:

quote:

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8K (Super Hi-Vision) is a system that considers the particular characteristics of human vision to make audience experience an effective and efficient sense of both immediacy and reality it s as if the audience is viewing real objects, thus it is said to be the ultimate 2D TV. The 8K resolution covers almost the entire range of vision (induced visual field) which influences the human grasp of spatial coordinates.

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Not the milkshake in question. Just a milkshake. (Morton Fox)

Money is so heavy and awful to carry around, isn’t it? If you just can’t stand the annoying weight of all those Benjamins in your pocket, there’s a boozy milkshake for sale at a Hollywood cocktail bar (where else?) starting Nov. 22. What does a half grand get ya?: Edible gold leaf, “the finest Belgian chocolates,” a bunch of unspecified booze and a $190 Swarovski Nirvana Mountain Ring. [Thrillist]