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In a desperate attempt to stop that crazy Nigerian Prince communicating with rogue congressional staffers, the House IT department has banned Yahoo Mail! Seems ransomware attacks are on the rise, and the Government has responded.

Via Computerworld:

The House’s IT department told staffers that it “will be blocking access to Yahoo Mail on the House Network until further notice. We are making every effort to put other mitigating protections in place so that we can restore full access as soon as possible.”

One day before the House sent the email, the FBI posted a warning about ransomware, which has targeted a wide variety of victims ranging from “hospitals, school districts, state and local governments, law enforcement agencies,” as well as large and small businesses.

Despite that ransomware is becoming an “epidemic,” too many people are blissfully unaware of the threat. Using a small town in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley as an example, James Scott, a senior fellow at the Institute of Critical Infrastructure Technology, told Newsweek, “I can go to a public computer right now and take down a local hospital in a day.”

 Instagram’s new icon is pink. Well, it’s pink and purple and yellow and orange. It’s definitely different. And that’s not all the company has changed today. Instagram this morning is rolling out a radical redesign of its mobile application, which not only includes this new, brightly colored app icon but also a revamped user interface that does away with color in favor of… Read More

The next Civilization is on its way. Today developer Firaxis announced that Civilization VI will be launching on PC on October 21st, making it the first main entry in the series since Civilization V in 2010. That game was a huge success, which means that there won’t be any drastic changes to the formula for this latest release; the core will remain largely the same, with new features on top. "Everything that Civilization players have loved in Civilization V, we’re bringing forward, in addition to putting on the new gameplay from Civilization VI," says lead producer Dennis Shirk. "It’ll be like a warm blanket."

While Firaxis isn’t talking about all of the new features coming to Civilization VI, the studio has highlighted a few key...

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Google's Camera app isn't the most advanced tool for taking photos. It completely avoids manual controls and generally lags behind OEMs for most major features. Where it's lacking in advanced features, the Camera app tries to make up for with a simple interface and clever techniques to intelligently deliver better photos without putting the burden on users. This means it works pretty well for simple point-and-shoot purposes, but skilled and professional photographers aren't likely to give it a second look.

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Google Camera v3.2 Prepares To Support Shooting In RAW+JPEG On Nexus Devices [APK Teardown] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

About 16 months after making its messaging service available on the web, Facebook-owned WhatsApp is coming to the desktop. The company said today that its apps are now available for Windows 8 and above, and for Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and above. That's in addition to the existing apps for Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phone, among others. "Like WhatsApp Web, our desktop app is simply an extension of your phone: the app mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device," the company said. Put another way: you need the mobile app running on your phone, close to your desktop computer, for it to work.

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Google first started selling its Cardboard VR viewer for $15 in February, but it was limited to the US. If you still haven't managed to pick one up from a third-party, trade show, or some type of promotion, you can now buy one direct from Google in the UK, France, Germany, and Canada. Google is selling its original Cardboard design, but not the updated C1 Glass viewer or the Mattel View-Master edition.

Pricing in Canada is $20 or $35 for a pair, or 20 Euro in France and Germany and 30 Euro for two, and in the UK it's £15 each or £25 for two. That's a little pricier than the US currency equivalent, but Google selling them directly outside of the US is one of only a few ways that you'll be able to secure a unit. Google's Cardboard VR...

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The European Commission has blocked Hutchison Whampoa's planned acquisition of O2, Britain's second-biggest wireless carrier. A proposed deal was announced in January last year, reportedly worth more than $15 billion. "The Commission has blocked the proposed acquisition of O2 by Hutchison under the EU Merger Regulation," says a European Commission spokesperson. "It had strong concerns that UK mobile customers would have had less choice and paid higher prices as a result of the takeover that would also have harmed innovation in the important mobile sector."

Hutchison Whampoa operates Three in the UK, and the commission notes that the mobile network operator entered the market and immediately created competitive pricing for other networks...

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Why go anywhere? That's the question some people find themselves asking as Google Street View comes to more places. Google lets you explore Machu Picchu, view the inside of sports arenas, visit historic locations all across Thailand, and check out the Batcave. Now the service is ready to show you some of the most stunning corners of Argentina.

Yes, I'm following up Batman's lair with a South American country.

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Google Street View Shows Off Some Of Argentina's Most Beautiful National Parks was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google Now on Tap was arguably the highlight feature of Android Marshmallow. With the press of a finger, your phone or tablet would attempt to predict what you wanted to do with information available on screen. That's the glowy, abstract description anyway. What does it actually do? Well this new ad recently published to Google's YouTube channel gives a pretty clear idea.

In short, Google Now on Tap saves you from copying and pasting information from one window into another.

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Google Releases A Google Now On Tap Ad That's Actually Good And Informative was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

 Yahoo-owned blogging platform Tumblr quietly launched a new program today called Tumblr Labs that will allow users to opt-in to testing out new and experimental features on the site. Some of the initial experiments are of a more frivolous nature – like being about to change the color of a post on your Dashboard, for example. Meanwhile, other experiments may appeal to those who use the… Read More

Good news: not only is Popcap Games announcing a new Bejeweled, but the game is also out right now on both iOS and Android. Called Bejeweled Stars, the new game is an iterative take on the iconic match-three puzzle game, adding just enough new stuff to make the age-old formula fresh. And don’t worry: even though this latest entry is free-to-play, you won’t find yourself frustrated if you don’t spend any cash.

Even if you haven’t played Bejeweled before, it’ll be familiar to anyone with at least a passing knowledge of mobile games like Candy Crush Saga. It’s a puzzle game in which you’re presented with a board full of colorful jewels, and your goal is to constantly match up three or more of the same color in order to rack up a high score....

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 After rolling out to its Fire tablets, Amazon is ready to bring VoiceView functionality to its line of devoted e-readers. The accessibility feature, targeted at visually impaired users, will be hitting the Paperwhite first, shipping as a bundle with the reader. “Like VoiceView on our Fire tablets, VoiceView for Kindle supports linear and touch navigation, and the same broad range of… Read More

Fuman Musicoloco performing in Zaragoza, Spain.

Creative is not a name you hear as often in consumer electronics these days. The Singapore-based firm is known for making audio products, including the Zen line of media players. Creative has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that basically every maker of Android phones is infringing its Zen patents by displaying your music. It wants them all banned, but what it really wants is money.

The complaint targets ZTE, Sony, Samsung, LG, Lenovo, Motorola, HTC, and BlackBerry.

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Creative Wants To Ban Most Android Phones From US Over Alleged Patent Infringement was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

 Facebook announced this morning that its private photo-sharing application, Facebook Moments, is now available in all countries worldwide, thanks the launch of a new, modified version in the EU and Canada. While the U.S. and other international versions of the application take advantage of facial recognition technology to suggest which friends to share with by identifying who appears in… Read More

A Utah-based maker of electric vehicles by the name of Nikola Motor Company (can't call it "Nikola Tesla Motor Company" for obvious reasons) just announced its first two products today. First is a utilitarian four-wheeler called the Nikola Zero with a claimed range of 125 miles; it's cool, I guess. But the real action is the Nikola One, which I think may be the coolest looking big rig I've ever seen.

You can only do so much with a truck that's designed to haul trailers — it's misshapen by necessity, because you have to attach something to the back of it. But this Nikola One looks legitimately awesome. The claimed specs sound like science fiction: it uses a turbine to keep the 320 kWh battery pack charged, offering 1,200 miles of range...

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Amazon is launching its new Amazon Video Direct service today to let video creators share any content and receive a cut of the revenue. Amazon is offering a variety of ways for creators to earn money, including royalties through streaming by Prime members, and revenue sharing through rentals, purchases, subscriptions, and ad impressions. Amazon appears to be moving towards a more user-generated model, and Amazon members will be able to stream certain videos free of charge as a result.

It's clear Amazon is targeting YouTube's partner efforts with Video Direct, and the company is also planning to offer a share of $1,000,000 per month as a bonus to the top 100 titles on Amazon Video Direct. Creators will need to opt-in to share their...

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The act of getting rid of clutter isn’t difficult. You just carry it outside of your home. Determining what counts as clutter is harder. If you’re not sure if you can part with something, ask “Is this beautiful or useful?”

As minimalist lifestyle site The Art of Simple explains, this handy phrase gives you two options for keeping something. Obviously, if something is useful then you have a pressing need to keep it. However, most of us have things that we keep around for personal reasons as well. They may not be practical, but we find them beautiful. If your junk can fit into one of these two categories, that’s enough reason to keep it. For the rest? Chuck it.

Get rid of absolutely everything that doesn’t give life to your life. I ask myself this question about everything with my four walls: “Is this thing beautiful or useful?” If it is, I keep it, guilt-free. If it’s not beautiful or useful (to me or to someone who lives with me), I ask: Why am I keeping this? Do I feel guilty at the thought of letting go? Am I holding on “just in case?”

Of course, even then you’ll have to use some judgment on what really matters. If you try hard enough, you can probably find the beauty in that fourth pair of toenail clippers in the bathroom, but you know deep down you’re fooling yourself. As long as you approach this mindset with a bit of moderation, you have a handy way to get rid of your junk while keeping the stuff that matters.

Three truths about decluttering: an invitation | The Art of Simple

Photo by ashton.

The older you get, the more complicated it seems that your finances become. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take it one step at a time by answering these ten questions about your finances.

Personal finance site How Do I Money explains that, for most of us, our finances aren’t as overwhelming as they seem as long as you cover the basics. To get your financial life in order, ask yourself the following ten questions:

1. What is 2 + 2? (That’s a warm up question.)
2. How much money do you have?
3. How much do you earn each month?
4. How much debt do you have?
5. How much money do you spend each month?
6. How much do you spend each month on debt payments only?
7. How much money are you saving each month?
8. How much is in your emergency fund?
9. What is your net worth?
10. What’s your plan?
11. Bonus question to make up for question #1: How many months until you are debt free?

If you’ve already got a budget and financial plan in place, you can probably answer most of these without even checking anything (personally, I could pull off eight out of ten without logging into an account). If you don’t know the answers, then work on each question one at a time. They may not be the most comfortable questions to answer, but each one is a bite-sized piece of your financial life that you could knock out in a few hours at most.

Can you answer the ten easiest money questions ever? | How Do I Money via Rockstar Finance

Photo by 401(k) Calculator.

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

Games

Pathfinder Adventures

Android Police coverage: Pathfinder Adventures, A Collectible Card Game Based On The Popular RPG Universe, Lands In The Play Store For Free

The Pathfinder universe has become one of the most popular tabletop RPGs in the world - popular enough that it's spilling over into other media.

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29 New And Notable Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (4/26/16 - 5/9/16) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

 People love their smartphones but hate poor battery life. We love having access to the world’s information at our fingertips but tire of the need to constantly plug in to the world’s electricity grid. The recharging model of batteries fails us — the marketplace is ready for a new approach to portable power. Read More

A robin made its nest under our deck, giving us a wonderful birds' eye view of the nest through the boards. Today we noticed one of her three eggs had hatched! Here is footage of the new level 1 robin that emerged.

There's this thing Google does with app updates. Or rather, maybe I should say doesn't do. And that's tell us what has actually changed.

You see, Google likes to roll updates out in stages. This makes sense. If there's a problem with an update, the company can halt the rollout without impacting as many people.

Thing is, Google doesn't typically update the changelog until the rollout is complete and everyone has received the latest version.

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Google, This Should Be The Gold Standard Of Changelogs—Please Do It More was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

 Practically everyone who has ever considered a tattoo knows the old parental refrain of “you’ll have it forever.” It’s a fairly stark warning tinged with the regret of a generation covered in inked relics of disco and popular culture past. Some temporary solutions do exist, including the relatively recent phenomenon of the two-week tattoo (along with some other… Read More

Kaplamino made this delightful Rube Goldberg-esque demo using magnets and steel balls.

US Federal Magistrate judge Stephen William Smith sounds the alarm about the skyrocketing trend of US courts operating in secret, with their findings (or even the fact that they're hearing a case at all) sealed to scrutiny, and an ever-increasing portion of judicial action taking place in off-record arbitration. (more…)