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Facebook just took the surprising step of adding a way for users of the free anonymizing software Tor to access the social network directly. Tor is an open source project that launched in 2002 to provide a way for people to access the internet without sharing identifying information such as their IP address and physical location with websites and their service providers. People who download the free Tor software can visit websites while keeping the actual location of their computer and its make and model secret. While Tor users could previously access Facebook before today, it often loaded irregularly with incorrectly displayed fonts and sometimes didn't load at all, because Facebook's security features treated Tor as a botnet — a...

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Andy Rubin, who co-founded the Android project, is leaving Google. According to The Wall Street Journal, Rubin's departing to create an incubator for hardware startups. His role heading up the company's robotics will be taken up by James Kuffner, a research scientist at the company and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

In a statement, Google's CEO Larry Page thanked Rubin for his work. "I want to wish Andy all the best with what's next," Page said. "With Android he created something truly remarkable-with a billion plus happy users. Thank you."

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In a virulently anti-Western and uncharacteristically blunt speech, Russian spy-turned-president Vladimir Putin set out his agenda for Russia and its relationship to "western elites." The speech wasn't widely reported in the west, but Dmitry Orlov has helpfully translated, transcribed and summarized it. Read the rest

It looks like Timex is keen on getting into the full-fledged smartwatch business. The company told Business Insider today that it is thinking about releasing a smartwatch at some point in 2015.

Timex already produces a series of fitness trackers, but the company says that this new venture would focus on a broader consumer base — not just athletes — presumably serving up notifications and alerts from a tethered smartphone.

If you're looking to pick up a smartwatch from Timex in the future, take this news with a slight grain of salt; Business Insider is quick to note that this is not a confirmation that a Timex-branded smartwatch will be arriving in 2015, but it is a strong indicator.

Would you buy a Timex-backed smartwatch? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Business Insider

 Tony Conrad, the founder of about.me, says it’s time to disrupt the business card. He’s released a new app today called Intro to do just that. “You don’t always have a business card with you, but you always have your phone,” Conrad explained over the phone. “This takes what we have with About.me and makes it a digital business card for mobile,”… Read More

"Unauthorized disclosures of classified information, leaks to the news media, acts of espionage, and certain other information security offenses are now to be collectively designated as 'serious security incidents,' according to a Department of Defense directive that was published this week." [FAS]

Have you ever had breakfast for dinner? Or checked the score of the big game before you watched it? Traditional ebook reading is great when you want to read books from start to finish—but what if you want to skim through recipes; jump between questions and answers, researching a topic; or read chapters out of order? Today we’re launching a new version of the Google Play Books app for Android phones and tablets with a redesigned reading experience that’s optimized for nonfiction books. This new reader lets you easily skim an entire book, browse all your notes and highlights, and quickly jump back and forth between different spots. And it’s still great for fiction ebook reading, too.

Imagine you’re cooking two recipes from the same cookbook— roast chicken and bruschetta from Around the Table. No problem. Take a peek at the new table of contents view to skip straight to the “Bountiful Tuscan Feast” chapter. Once you’ve found your recipes, you can easily jump between them using new Quick Bookmarks.


When you’re planning your next trip, pick up a Fodor’s travel guide and use Skim Mode to browse the whole book and get a sense of which destinations you want to be sure to visit. Bookmark your favorite spots for easy finding later.

If you’re a student, you can highlight text and take notes while you’re reading, then refer back to them later with Skim Mode—the perfect study buddy.

Of course, all the things you loved about Google Play Books before are still here:

• Tap on any location name in a book to get a Geo Card with links to access Google Maps, Wikipedia or Web Search 
• Tap and press on any word to look it up in the dictionary 
• Select text to highlight in four colors, take notes or translate from any language 
• Don’t lose your place! Your reading position is synchronized across all your devices: phone, tablet and web 

Ebook reading has always been great for getting lost in a well-crafted story (in the dark using night mode is my favorite!), but now it’s a good fit for any type of book. Visit the Google Play store to have a look for yourself—just add any free sample to your library to start reading. Plan a trip, prepare a meal, research a topic or study for an exam—we’ve got you covered with the new reader app for Google Play Books.

Posted by Scott Dougall, director of product management for Google Play Books 

The ongoing revelations about UK domestic spying on political activists, continued in some case for decades, and which included an incident in which an undercover police officer fathered a child with the woman he was spying on, illustrate an important point: once you decide someone is suspicious enough to follow around, there's no evidence that you can gather to dispel that suspicion. Read the rest

Apple’s got HealthKit. Google’s got Google Fit. Now Microsoft is is entering the fitness technology ring with the just announced Microsoft Health.

The company describes Microsoft Health as a platform consisting of “a cloud service for consumers and the industry to store and combine health and fitness data.” Already, Microsoft Health is compatible with UP by Jawbone, MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper.

See also: Apple's Health App Is An Embarrassment

Perhaps the most interesting part of Microsoft’s announcement is the unveiling of a new fitness wearable, the Microsoft Band, to compete with the likes of the Apple Watch. At $199, Microsoft Band went on sale Thursday at Microsoft’s physical and online stores.

Microsoft Band has 10 different sensors to track a wearer’s heart rate, calorie burn measurement, sleep tracking, and presumably seven other stats. On top of fitness, the wearable will also keep track of incoming calls, emails, and texts, plus offer access to Cortana, the Windows based virtual assistant.

See also: Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health - The 'Coke and Pepsi' of Online Health

This isn’t Microsoft’s first foray into the fitness sphere, notes Re/Code’s Ina Fried. It launched HealthVault, a fitness data storage system, back in 2007 and the platform is still active today.

“Soon, Microsoft Health will also allow you, at your choosing, to connect your Microsoft Health data to HealthVault to share with your medical provider,” the Thursday announcement said.

Photo via Microsoft.

Finding the right news to read is hard. That’s why hundreds of companies have jumped into the game offering different takes on what you might want to read, and why you might want to read it. Some apps offer expert-level curation, like Yahoo News Digest, which bundles ten stories into a simple package that comes every morning and evening. Other services like Circa hope to actually rewrite the news into tiny, bite-sized pieces. Then, there's Flipboard, the comparatively ancient older brother that does a great job aggregating news your friends post across all of your social networks.

The app boasts 250,000 downloads per day, consistently tops App Store charts, comes pre-installed on a variety of Samsung and Microsoft Surface devices, and...

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Motorola Mobility officially becomes part of Lenovo today. Lenovo’s acquisition was announced back in February for $2.91 billion, and today marks the finalization of the deal. Motorola is now "a Lenovo company," but the brand will remain as a subsidiary of Lenovo, headquartered in Chicago. "The iconic Motorola brand will continue, as will the Moto and DROID franchises that have propelled our growth over the past year," explains Rick Osterloh, Motorola president. "We will continue to focus on pure Android and fast upgrades, and remain committed to developing technology to solve real consumer problems."

Google's sale of Motorola was met with surprise when the search giant revealed its plans earlier this year. Google initially bought...

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The weather may be getting colder, but it's totally worth it for the view. Keep autumn alive on your desktop with these wallpapers.

Remember, we're now requesting your participation in the Wallpaper Wednesday series! You'll find a selection here, but post your favorites for this week's topic in the discussions below. Stick to our format as best you can, including a title, the image, resolution, and a link. Happy wallpapering!

P.S. Leaf peeping is a real thing.

Beaten Path

Download This Wallpaper (1920x1200) | HD4Desktop Wallpapers

Autumn Sunshine

Download This Wallpaper (2560x1440) | HD Wallpaper Corner

Covered Ground

Download This Wallpaper (2880x1800) | Wallpaperpics.net

Mountain River

Download This Wallpaper (1920x1200) | Wallpaper T

Blown Away

Download This Wallpaper (1920x1080) | Wallpaper Mania

Park Bench

Download This Wallpaper (1920x1200) | For Wallpaper

Yellow Trees

Download This Wallpaper (1920x1080) | HDW

River Boat

Download This Wallpaper (2560x2048) | Wallpaper Up

Red Sunset

Download This Wallpaper (1920x1080) | Mr. Wallpaper

Post script: Literally as soon as I was finished putting this together, the dudes at Gizmodo published a collection of 76 awesome photos of fall leaves (way to beat me to the punch, guys). They may not be wallpaper-sized, but if you like this stuff, definitely check that out.

Chinese phone makers have been engaged in a long-running battle to see who can produce the thinnest possible smartphone, and today Oppo has scooped the title with the scarcely believable 4.85mm-thick R5. There is a caveat to that measurement since the camera sticks out from the ultra-slim body of the phone, but this is still the first handset of its kind to fit in under half a centimeter. Oppo has done its best not to compromise a spec sheet that includes a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display, an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, and 13-megapixel camera, however the small 2,000mAh battery and the absence of a headphone jack mark significant drawbacks for the R5.

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Projection keyboards aren't anything new, but it's a technology that's had plenty pratfalls over the years. HP's trying to change that with a new desktop computer it announced today called Sprout. It has a 23-inch,1080p screen that is topped with a canopy of cameras and a projector that turns a companion touch mat into an interactive display. Because of that technology, HP believes Sprout will bring about the end of keyboard-and-mouse interaction.

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After a long day, you want to sit back, kick up your feet and watch a hot new release. With today’s updated Google Play Movies & TV app for Android, your dinner and a movie—at home—is about to get a lot better.

Now when you cast your favorite movie or show to your TV using Chromecast or the new Nexus Player, you’ll get actor or soundtrack cards on your phone or tablet while you are watching, with extra information about what’s playing on screen. Next time you’re burning to know where you’ve seen that actress before, or want to remember a song for later, you don’t have to hit pause or fumble with your controller. It’s at your fingertips—just like your popcorn. Look for the Info Cards badge on the Google Play store to find movies and TV shows that offer this feature.
Google Play Movies also has a new look and feel inspired by Google’s material design with bigger images and smoother transitions. And the redesigned “Watch Now” tab makes the experience of finding a movie as pleasant as watching the movie itself. Now you’ll see more movie recommendations in Watch Now, and you’ll be able to watch a trailer directly in the app.
The new Android app will rollout to everyone over the next week. We hope this update helps make your living room closer to the at-home theater of your dreams. Cue the opening credits!

Posted by Ben Serridge, senior product manager for Google Play Movies & TV

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

Sentinels of the Multiverse

Android Police coverage: Faithful Adaptation Of The 'Sentinels Of The Multiverse' Card Game Comes To Android Tablets

As we continue to wait...

34 Best (And 1 WTF) New Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (10/14/14 - 10/28/14) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

 The former head of Google Wallet and longtime PayPal exec, Osama Bedier, is this morning revealing his new company Poynt, a “future-proofed” payment terminal that combines an Android-based tablet with a hardware docking station, and includes support for all modern payment technologies, including traditional magstripe cards, EMV (chip and pin), NFC (Google Wallet and Apple Play)… Read More

Ultron crashes Tony's party

As if flooding the news with its big list of Phase Three announcements wasn’t enough, Marvel has also delivered on a promise the team made when the Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer – which was supposed to be attached to this week’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the US – leaked early. A brief new scene from the superhero sequel arrived alongside the show instead and is now online.

Featuring Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and his avenging pals relaxing after a swanky party, the scene that plays out is the one that was screened before the big montage of Ultron scenes at the San Diego Comic-Con this year: the heroes take turns trying to lift Mjolnir, better known as Thor (Chris Hemsworth)’s hammer. Despite trying everything they can, no one quite manages it before a skeletal, robotic Ultron (James Spader) arrives to accuse them all of being puppets.

The clip then leads into trailer footage you’ve likely already seen, with its the Hulkbuster suit etc. Joss Whedon (who was in the audience at today’s big event but didn’t speak) is at work editing the film, which will be out in the UK on April 24 next year before arriving stateside on May 1.

Developing self control is not always easy to do, especially when you're trying to change a habit you've developed over time. To help fight your desire and stay the course, think of desire as a wave that builds and eventually passes by.

If you're trying to cut back on something—or stop all together—passing on the chance to indulge once doesn't win you the war, just the battle. Travis Bradberry at Inc. suggests giving yourself some time to ride the wave out before you cave in:

Desire has a strong tendency to ebb and flow like the tide. When the impulse you need to control is strong, waiting out this wave of desire is usually enough to keep yourself in control. The rule of thumb here is to wait at least 10 minutes before succumbing to temptation. You'll often find that the great wave of desire is now little more than a ripple that you have the power to step right over.

Take a deep breath and let that dangerous wave pass. Distract yourself with something you enjoy that won't affect you negatively. Sometimes one wipe-out can undo all the hard work and time you've already put in. Willpower can be hard to manipulate in your favor, but with the right mindset and a little determination, you can brave the deep waters of unwanted desire.

The 6 Secrets to Conquering Self-Control | Inc.

Photo by Richard Freeman.

The slate of upcoming Marvel films was announced at today's Marvel media event. There are a number of interesting tidbits within the schedule. For one, the subtitle for Captain America further confirms the film's connection to the Civil War comic series. Also of note, the separation of Avengers: Infinity War into two parts, because clearly there's more money to be made from the release model popularized by young adult film adaptations.

Avengers: Age of Ultron: May 1, 2015

Ant-Man: July 17, 2015

Captain America: Civil War: May 6, 2016

Doctor Strange: November 4, 2016

Guardians of the Galaxy 2: May 5, 2017

Thor: Ragnarok: July 28, 2017

Black Panther: November 3, 2017

Captain Marvel: July 6, 2018

Inhumans: November 2, 2018

A...

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This video from the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre is oversaturating my cuteness receptors!

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It's a common conundrum: we have too many clothes and nothing to wear. Tailor your wardrobe into just 10 core pieces (plus extras), however, and you could change your life.

Jennifer L. Scott relates on this TEDx talk the benefits of paring down your wardrobe. Besides saving you money and making mornings easier, focusing on just 10 (or 15 or 20) essential items forces you to think about presenting your view of yourself and also fuses your sense of style with every aspect of your life. At the very least, it could free you from the tyranny of clothing and eliminate small, yet draining decisions you need to make.

Scott offers examples of the 10 core items, for women and for men. A female core wardrobe for fall might include: 1 pair of slacks, 2 jeans, 3 dresses, and 4 blouses. For men: 7 shirts and 3 trousers.

This doesn't include extras like t-shirts, sweaters, outerwear, scarves, and special occasion clothes, but the point is to get your essential clothing into a manageable capsule so you could pull any two pieces together at any time and they would just work. When you buy select, higher quality clothes instead of a "fast food" approach, you also live a less wasteful lifestyle. Time to get rid of your clothing clutter.

The ten-item wardrobe | YouTube