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Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is teasing a London event for a new handset. The teaser comes just days after a new OnePlus smartphone was spotted in filings with the Federal Communications Commission. OnePlus simply teases an event for October 29th with a giant X sign, but the recent FCC filings revealed a new OnePlus model with a 5.5-inch display.

A photo included with the filings shows that the new OnePlus could strongly resemble an iPhone 4 with metal edging, a camera situated on the back corner, and a micro-USB port. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei previously revealed that the company would release a second phone before the end of the year, so we're likely to hear all about what's new on October 29th.

See you October 29, London. #...

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Under TPP, signatories are required to give their judges the power to "order the destruction of devices and products found to be involved in" breaking digital locks, such as those detailed in this year's US Copyright Office Triennial DMCA Hearing docket, which were used to identify critical vulnerabilities in vehicles, surveillance devices, voting machines, medical implants, and many other devices in our world. (more…)

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

Ski Safari 2

Android Police coverage: Have A Blast Sliding Until You Die – Ski Safari 2 Is Now Available On The Play Store

The original Ski Safari was well-received thanks to high production values and a laser focus on the basics of the runner genre.

28 New And Notable Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (9/29/15 - 10/12/15) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Household clutter can be overwhelming, but the longer you put it off, the worse it gets. Tackle it a little at a time with the “Pick Up 5” method.

Gradually decluttering your home a few items at a time can help you put a dent in what seems like an impossible mess. Over at Organizing Junkie, writer Laurie Wittmann shares her slowly-but-surely technique:

After some thought, I came up with the “Pick Up 5” way of organizing daily. I walk into a particular room, look around, and choose five things to immediately pick up and put away. If I pick those things up and put them away, then I can do something more fun for a little bit. Then, I will come back a little later and repeat the process.

I have found that looking at a major organizing project as a whole makes it look unmanageable. Sometimes, I feel like a failure before I even begin. But, if I take it a little bit at a time, it doesn’t leave me nearly as stressed.

You can adjust the number based on your own mess and combine it with the Server’s Technique, in which you always leave a room with your hands full. It’s a simple way to make organization part of your everyday routine so you can get clutter under control. For more info, check out the post at the link below.

An Easy Daily Decluttering Technique | I’m an Organizing Junkie

Photo by Eric Molina.

In 2003, the TSA fined Mary Hostein of Michigan for trying to take a a jar of apple butter through airport security.

When an agent told Hostein that the spread was a liquid, and therefore subject to the TSA's 3-ounce limit, she went to another line to see if the TSA agent stationed there was just as stupid as the first. He was, and Hostein was issued a $2,000 fine. She doesn't think she should pay it. The TSA says they are going to sue her.

Online streaming continues to gain in popularity, both from authorized and pirate sources.

Unlike traditional forms of downloading, however, in many countries the legality of viewing unauthorized streams remains unclear.

In the European Union this may change in the near future. Earlier this month a Dutch court referred several streaming related questions to the EU Court of Justice.

The questions were raised in a case between Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN and the Filmspeler.nl shop, which sells “piracy configured” media players. While these devices don’t host any infringing content, they ship with add-ons that make it very easy to watch infringing content.

While BREIN argues that this is illegal a local court is not yet convinced that it’s an offense under current law and wants Europe’s highest court to decide.

The first set of questions is closely tied to the case and asks whether selling pre-programmed media-players with links to pirate sources is permitted, and whether it matters if the add-ons are freely available, among other things.

These are important questions as pre-loaded boxes are commonly sold in the EU. Despite the legal uncertainty, this has already resulted in a raid and arrest by UK police earlier this year.

The second set of questions is even more crucial since it relates to streaming in general, which affects millions of users and large multinationals such as Google. Broadly translated, the court first asks the following question:

“Is it lawful under EU law to temporarily reproduce content through streaming if the content originates from a third-party website where it’s made available without permission?”

If this is not the case, then the EU Court of Justice is asked to clarify whether it violates the “three-step-test” of the EU Copyright Directive.

The answers will be of interest to many stakeholders including Google who have a significant interest in streaming related issues because of YouTube, and members of the general public since streaming is so common now.

BREIN is happy with the court’s referral and hopes that the EU Court’s ruling will bring more clarity on the streaming issue. But for now, it doesn’t plan to stop going after sellers of pirate boxes.

“BREIN is pleased that more clarity will be given through these fundamental questions which in the current case law of the CJEU stay unanswered. Meanwhile BREIN persists in its approach towards traders of similar media-players with illegal preprogrammed software,” the group notes.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

When you staying at a hotel, you have to hand over your credit card to the front desk. So if you get a room call asking for additional credit card details, you might not think much of it. But chances are, this is a scam.

Here’s how it works: thieves call hotel rooms pretending to be hotel managers and ask guests for credit card information. One Redditor shared this particular experience:

Sunday morning at 10:30 my hotel phone rings and it’s the manager letting me know their computer system is down at the moment...He lets me know that because the system is down they’re a few hours behind on recovering data. He confirmed my room number and offered me an extended checkout (which sounded great from the hangover) and also offered to comp our least expensive night’s stay for the inconvenience. He mentioned there were 30+ people in the checkout line and offered to check me out via the phone and said I could leave my keys as I left. He asked me to confirm my credit card number and I got a little hesitant and said I would feel more comfortable providing that in person.

Consumer Affairs reported on a variation of this scam recently, too. But instead of a free room comp, the scammer tells guests their cards aren’t working and asks them to give their info over the phone. Consumer Affairs suggested this general rule of thumb for avoiding scams like this:

Whether you’re getting scammy phone calls in your own home or hotel room, or checking messages in your email inbox, always remember the anti-scam rule “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.” If you want to call the hotel front desk because you think there might be some problem with your payment card, go ahead and call them. But if someone claiming to be from the front desk calls you – don’t believe it.

And the bottom line: at a hotel, you should never have to give this info over the phone. Check out the full post for more detail.

Hotel guests: be on guard for the “front desk scam” | Consumer Affairs

Photo by (vincent desjardins).

Facebook UK made £105M in 2014, paid £35M in bonuses, and will pay £4,327 in tax.

This is a notable improvement on its tax bill for 2013, which was £0 on earnings of £223m. (more…)

"The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien" is a new collection of the drawings, maps, diagrams, and sketches that Tolkien drew to help him navigate Middle-earth, and the entire complex universe he created for his novels. Edited by Tolkien scholars Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, the hardcover book contains nearly 200 images, the majority of which have never been published before.

"The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien" (Amazon)

(via Wired)

When you set up a plan to pay off debt, you’re probably willing to forego frivolous expenses. However, even the things that are worth buying can be on the chopping block if it helps you pay off debt.

As personal finance blog The Bean Counter explains, there will always be some expenses that you can justify. Living in a home without a couch while you pay off debt, for example, may not be worth it. However, if refraining from that purchase will help you stay consistent in avoiding other purchases, then abstaining helps, even if you could justify that particular item:

During our move from Miami to Orlando, we set up a separate budget of what we needed to purchase for our new place and what we were willing to sacrifice on. The sacrifice? Purchasing a couch. I bet your next question was, “Was it worth it?”

The truth: Absolutely not.

Dropping $300 bucks for a new couch would have not had a significant impact on our willingness and ability to get out of debt. But, it was that same sacrificing mindset that allowed my wife and I to avoid additional expenses, any chance we got. Including the comfort of owning a couch.

That’s not to say that you can never justify an expense. Some things you just need. If you have back issues, buying a bed isn’t just an investment in a nice thing to have, it’s to prevent further health issues. You can decide your own issues for yourself. However, being willing to sacrifice some comforts, even if you can justify them, to pay off your debt is what will enable you to keep going.

The Crazy Side of Paying Off $55,000 of Debt in 14 Months | The Bean Counter via Rockstar Finance

Photo by Reed Wiedower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgDzU2FVr1Y

It's from yesterday, and it has Nathan, Alan (who left halfway through to do ADR work on Con Man), Gina, and Jewel. A warning: sound on this has a lot of reverb, but everyone is understable.

We should all be so lucky to be loved this much.

(more…)

Everyone loves a clean, tidy home, but cleaning sucks. Big cleans are a pain, and smaller cleaning sessions make sense, but who has time? Here are some ways to streamline the big cleans when you have to do them, and make the little ones even easier to do regularly.

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-streaml...

10. Make a Schedule (and Stick to It!)

If you’re struggling to keep things tidy, the biggest thing you can do (and equally the smallest, aside from actually cleaning things) is to make a schedule for your big and small cleanings, and stick to it.

http://lifehacker.com/5273978/use-a-...

This sample schedule from Real Simple is broken into weekly, monthly, three-to-six month, and even yearly periods, and is a great one to get started with. Even if there isn’t much to tidy on a day you’ve scheduled a big clean, do what you can and enjoy the results. With small cleans, do the same. As long as you make it a habit, the rest will come naturally. You don’t even have to set aside a lot of time for it: even 20 minutes is more than enough.

http://lifehacker.com/316251/follow-...

9. Get the Right Tools for the Job

As much as we love telling you all about how vinegar and baking soda can make just about anything go from grimy to glistening, sometimes they’re just not the right tools for the job—or at least not the tools that’ll get the job done quickly. If you value your time as much as your money, you’ll probably want to grab the tools that make cleaning as easy as possible.

http://lifehacker.com/5861821/how-to...

From the time-saving wonder that is the Magic Eraser, the surprising ease of dusting with a proper duster instead of a cloth, to actually investing in a proper anti-mildew spray instead of just spritzing the shower with vinegar and hoping for the best, using the right tools makes a huge difference. Even if one of those tools is a little robot friend who’ll do a lot of it for you.

http://lifehacker.com/the-best-produ...

8. Set Up Staging Areas for Clutter

One thing that stops a lot of people from cleaning is that you’ll inevitably need a place to put the stuff you’re cleaning while you clean under it, around it, and organize it. Needing clean space before you start cleaning isn’t a catch-22; you just have to solve for the problem first.

http://lifehacker.com/5941340/create...

Make a plan of attack, set up a few staging areas (or “clutter buckets”) where you can move the items you’re cleaning temporarily, and give yourself the freedom to use them. Once you have a space you can move your clutter to, you’re free to clean freely without worrying “where’s all this stuff going to go while I’m cleaning?”

http://lifehacker.com/5681698/create...

7. Do One Room at a Time

Part of forming that attack plan we mentioned is making sure that you only take on what you can handle in specific cleaning sessions. Don’t overcommit and think you’re going to do your whole apartment in one afternoon, or the whole house in a single day. You may be able to cover the distance, but you’ll be tired, stressed, and nothing will be as clean as you’d really like it to be. Stick to one room or space in your home at a time and focus on it. Like any goal, you want housecleaning to be bite-sized and doable without being so monolithic you’ll never actually do it.

http://lifehacker.com/5967278/how-to...

This also lets you spend as much or as little time in any one area as you need to. You can clean your whole bedroom in 10 minutes if it comes down to it, you can do larger spaces in 20 minutes. If those things are possible for people who are probably already clean, imagine what you can do with just a few more minutes.

http://lifehacker.com/5876139/clean-...

6. Clean in Bursts

When you do get down to actually picking up the gear, putting on some gloves, plugging in the vaccuum, and getting things done, make sure you clean in short bursts—only a few minutes at a time. There’s a reason why those “one room” guides are only 10 or 20 minutes. If you go on too long, you’ll burn out, get tired, get sweaty and uncomfortable, and just give up on the whole thing. Even if you do power through, you’ll never want to do it again.

http://lifehacker.com/294770/keep-yo...

Keeping things short and giving yourself plenty of breaks also lets you get things done without getting stressed out, and it also trains you to get a lot done in a short period of time, so you can feel accomplished while you sit down for a few minutes before you get up and tackle something else.

http://lifehacker.com/5839936/clean-...

5. Let Your Appliances Clean For You

Remember, getting things clean doesn’t have to mean doing all the work yourself. We’ve talked about some great lazy ways to let other devices clean for you while you do the stuff you can’t get away from doing manually. You can toss everything from keyboards and stove ventilation hood filters to light fixture covers and vacuum cleaner attachments into the dishwasher. Then turn around and let your washing machine refresh your pillows for you while you do other things, and then let it refresh your towels while it washes them when the pillows are done.

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-lazy-ye...

4. Let Time Clean For You

Aside from the appliances you already have and the right gear for the job, time is you best friend when it comes to cleaning your house. Whenever possible, start some cleaning task in one place, then let it work on autopilot while you go do something else.

http://lifehacker.com/5829673/how-to...

Normally multitasking isn’t ideal, but since you don’t need to focus on the shower head while you’re vacuuming the floor, why not wrap it up in a cleaning solution and let it clean itself? Let the oven clean itself overnight with a pot of boiling water and some ammonia in it and you can wipe up the grime when it’s done (just don’t use the self-cleaning feature!) Do the same with your microwave—put in some lemon water, fire it up, and walk away while you clean something else in the kitchen. Spray down the shower and toilet with bleach or cleaning solution, then leave it alone while you wipe down the mirror and bathroom countertops.

3. Fake It When You Have To

There’s nothing wrong with doing the absolute minimum to give you some peace of mind if you don’t have the time or the willpower to actually do a deep clean.

http://lifehacker.com/5185773/how-to...

Quick brush-ups, tidy-ups, and well, just hiding everything that should be out of sight and covering up your clutter is just fine for those work weeks that are just out of control, or those days where you’re sick or just dead tired. Cut yourself some slack when you need to and show some self-compassion. Not only is it good for you, it’ll help you rebound and tackle the job again when you have the time or energy.

http://lifehacker.com/5907670/fake-a...

2. Get Help When You Need It

Don’t be afraid to enlist the help of others when it comes to cleaning. If you’re stuck thinking that you’re the only one who can do all the housecleaning—especially if you live with a spouse or roomies, give yourself a break and get everyone else involved. We’ve even outlined some age-appropriate chores for kids to help out with.

http://lifehacker.com/the-chores-kid...

For those big cleans, it makes the whole thing go by faster (not to mention it makes the small cleans easier later), and for the regular, smaller cleaning jobs it means you can be free of it entirely. Don’t shoulder the whole burden yourself.

1. Pay to Make the Problem Go Away

Sometimes money really can buy happiness—and when it can, you should spend it. In some cases, maybe it’s just better to ignore the problem entirely, or just dedicate yourself to those small, periodic cleans, and let someone else come in and handle the big ones and deep cleans that you really don’t have the time or willpower to do.

http://lifehacker.com/5859755/when-m...

You’ve said in the past that a housecleaner is overwhelmingly worth the money, provided you have it to spend. After all, you have to value your time as well as your money, and that time and energy saved (not to mention the mental relief) can, in some cases, be priceless. If you can’t get help, or that help isn’t enough, and you can’t do it yourself, never think you’re stuck—someone out there is willing to do it for you if you’re willing to part with the money to have it done.

http://lifehacker.com/is-hiring-a-ho...

Illustration by Tina Mailhot-Roberge. Photos by Tim Regan, Morgan, Melissa Barrett, Maarten Takens, Dana Robinson, Kodomut, and condesign.

Lifehacker’s Weekend Roundup gathers our best guides, explainers, and other posts on a certain subject so you can tackle big projects with ease. For more, check out our Weekend Roundup and Top 10 tags.

As Boing Boing's King of Typos, I enjoyed this gallery of misspelled signs written by people who love English. Here are a few samples: (more…)

Wikileaks has published a leaked draft -- dated Oct, 5, and thus possibly the final text -- of the "Intellectual Property Chapter" of the Trans Pacific Partnership, and it's grim reading. (more…)

Here's a photo of the moon taken with a prototype.

Jack Dorsey was named permanent CEO of Twitter on Monday, and a big reason he got the job was that as a co-founder, Dorsey isn’t afraid to make the tough, necessary decisions. He isn’t wasting much time.

Twitter is planning company-wide layoffs next week, according to multiple sources. It’s unclear how much of the staff will be culled, but insiders say it will likely affect most, if not all, departments.

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