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In the early hours of September 11, 2014, adulthood gasped its final breath in an editorial by New York Times critic, A.O. Scott.

Scott's piece tracks the gradual deterioration of Americans' adulthood, the cultural rung meant to inspire the youth. The criticism spans a variety of topics, from the climactic deaths of male leads in serious television series, the rise and rise of comic book adaptations in Hollywood, and the expanding reach of young adult novels into an older demographic. Even the cultural demise of the patriarchy plays into his brilliant argument.

Writes Scott:

"What all of these shows grasp at, in one way or another, is that nobody knows how to be a grown-up anymore. Adulthood as we have known it has become...

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You know those websites that dim themselves out and make you click through a "lightbox" that stops you from reading until you look at an ad, join a mailing list, or stand on one foot while whistling "The Stars and Stripes Forever" -- all you need is a little web-fu and you can make them go away.

How to view 'locked' content on websites.

(via Reddit)

 Australia’s Looop provides a mobile-friendly platform to enable small-to-medium sized business to deliver training online. Today, the company is disclosing a $2 million seed round from an undisclosed education investor, specifically raised to fuel expansion into the UK. Read More

 Microsoft has been held in contempt of court after failing to comply with a warrant, following a rejection of a request for appeal on July 31st. The case stems from a United States government search warrant for data stored on a Microsoft server in Ireland. Microsoft contends that the data is outside the purview of the domestic warrant. The United States government disagrees. Microsoft has thus… Read More

Microsoft is planning to stop using the Nokia and Windows Phone brands this holiday season in its marketing materials. GeeksOnGadgets has obtained an internal Microsoft document that details the company's guidelines for its own brands, and The Verge can confirm the material is authentic and accurate. "As part of our phased transition, we will drop the manufacturer name [Nokia] from product references during the Holiday campaign," reads one of the slides. Microsoft is also planning not to use the Windows Phone logo in promotions and commercials, instead it will be replaced with just Windows.

Windows will take the place of Windows Phone, with Lumia for phone models

Although the death of the Nokia brand is understandable given that...

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According to the Daily Dot, nearly 5 million usernames and passwords associated with Gmail accounts have been leaked on a Russian Bitcoin forum. Here's what you should know.

The list has since been taken down, and there's no evidence that Gmail itself was hacked—just that these passwords have been leaked. Most sources are saying that lots of the information is quite old, so chances are they were leaked long ago—though others are claiming 60% of the passwords are still valid (not to mention really, really horrible).

To check if your password was one of the leaked, plug your Gmail address into this tool (which also checks against recent Yandex and Mail.ru leaks). Note: We've removed the link to the password checker tool due to some controversy surrounding it. It's all speculation, but regardless, your best bet is to just change all of your passwords right now. If you really want to use the tool, there are plenty of links to it on other sites.

No matter what you do, make sure you using a strong password on all your accounts and that you've enabled two-factor authentication. Hit the link to read more.

Update: Looks like the IsLeaked tool is having some trouble due to unusually high traffic—if you get an error message, try reloading the page or checking back later.

Update 2: We still aren't sure how these passwords were leaked or when—but some folks over on Reddit discovered that these may not, in fact, be Gmail passwords, as original reports claimed. Instead, it looks like these are passwords leaked from other web sites over the years that were associated with Gmail addresses. But, as we know, many people used the same password for multiple accounts—which is why some of you may find that your old Gmail password was leaked (while others are seeing passwords not from Gmail).

We still don't know the full details, but the lesson remains the same: use secure passwords and enable two-factor authentication on all of your accounts!

5 Million Gmail Passwords Leaked to Russian Bitcoin Forum | The Daily Dot

 I’ll confess, I know very little about wine, except that too many glasses of cheap red plonk can make you very sick as a 14-year-old child. WhatWine, a new app from serial entrepreneurs Cedric Maloux and Matthew Gertner, who previously founded AllPeers together, could help fill in a few of my gaping sommelier blanks. Read More

We're stood at the foothills of a very large and formidable mountain that has the perfect smartwatch at its peak. It's still very early, not everyone's sure of their footing or the right course to take, but we are all instinctively drawn toward that pinnacle. The thing is, even with all the months and maybe years standing between humanity and its ideal wrist gadget, the winners of the race are already known. Google and Apple won.

Attempts at standalone smartwatches seem to resurface every few years. There was Microsoft's SPOT, the LG GD910 Watch Phone, and the Meta Watch — to name just three in the past decade — and none of them ever amounted to anything more than an intriguing bulletpoint in the history of personal electronics. Maybe...

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After years of legal action, arrests, and placing people like Gottfrid Svartholm and Peter Sunde behind bars, it became clear to copyright holders that trying to directly shutdown The Pirate Bay would not be easy.

Instead they decided to target ISPs, companies that are responsive to legal threats in most corners of the world. In time, court orders rendered The Pirate Bay and similar sites blocked, but not for long. Proxy sites enabling access to the world’s largest torrent indexes soon began to thrive, but their time would also come.

The biggest proxy battle anywhere on the planet is taking place in the UK, a country where it’s become almost a formality to have sites blocked at the ISP level. Today we can report that yet another silent round of blockades are being put in place.

One of the main targets is PirateProxy, an extremely popular proxy service that’s particularly well known in the UK. The site was previously accessible at PirateProxy.net but moved to a new domain earlier in the year after its domain was blocked.

The site switched to PirateProxy.in during April and successfully maintained its traffic. As can be seen from the Alexa chart below, PirateProxy is the 125th most popular domain in the entire country, an impressive feat for a site that offers nothing but a Pirate Bay block workaround.

Notable too is the site’s placing in Ireland, where The Pirate Bay is also blocked by ISPs. As of this morning PirateProxy was the country’s 131st most-popular domain.

However, visitors to the site through the major UK ISPs are now beginning to see the familiar “domain blocked” message. The example from Virgin Media, which confirms the existence of a court order, is shown below.

Also under attack are the various proxy services available through Come.in, a portal which facilitates access to a wide range of torrent and other similar sites blocked by numerous European ISPs.

In addition to sundry others, at the moment the site’s PirateBay, KickassTorrents, ExtraTorrent, YTS/YIFY, TorrentReactor, BitSnoop and 1337x proxies are being subjected to UK blockades.

This is the second time this year that multiple Come.in proxies have been targeted by rightsholders. Back in June its EZTV and YTS proxies were blocked in the UK but were re-established by the site’s operators who vowed to keep putting up new services to maintain service.

While blocking proxies continues to be a key weapon of choice, proxies with UK-based operators have greater concerns. As reported in August, City of London police’s PIPCU unit arrested the operator of Immunicity and several other proxies.

According to a police response to a Freedom of Information request obtained by TorrentFreak, he now stands accused of a wide range of crimes including breaches of the Serious Crime Act 2007, Possession of Articles for Use in Fraud, Making or Supplying Articles for use in Frauds and money laundering.

While plenty of proxies still exist (including several which rotate at the bottom of The Pirate Bay homepage under ‘proxy’), others aren’t doing so well.

Visitors to sites including TorrentProxies, Torrenticity, FenopyReverse, FirstRowProxy, GetPirate, H33tUnblock, KatProxy, LivePirate, Metricity, ProxyCentral, KickassUnblock and YifyProxy are greeted with a message from PIPCU that the domains are under police investigation.

Finally, and despite efforts by the BBC to have all VPN users labeled as pirates, use of such services to evade blockades and enable geo-unblocking continues.

The BPI, PirateProxy and Come.in were not immediately available for comments but we’ll update this report when they arrive.

Update: The operator of PirateProxy informs us that a new domain is up and operational at PirateProxy.bz

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

Aza Raskin's Tabnapping is a proof-of-concept for a fiendish attack: a tab that waits until you're not watching, then turns itself into a convincing Google login screen that you assume you must have opened. Read the rest

Since its launch Spotify always had a very clear goal in mind. Compete with piracy and make it obsolete.

To see how the company is faring on this front Spotify regularly researches piracy rates in countries where they enter the market. Thus far the results have been rather positive.

In 2012 the streaming service entered the Australian market and Spotify’s own research now shows that music piracy via BitTorrent dropped significantly during the following year.

In a keynote speech at the BIGSOUND music conference today, Spotify’s Director of Economics Will Page reveals that the volume of music piracy has decreased 20% between 2012 and 2013. Similarly, the number of people sharing music via BitTorrent in Australia has gone down too.

“It’s exciting to see that we are making inroads into reducing the music piracy problem within such a short space of time in this market,” Page says.

“It shows the scope for superior legal services (offered at an accessible price point) to help improve the climate for copyright online,” he adds.

Spotify shared the graph below with TorrentFreak, showing that the drop in downloads was observed between December 2012 and 2013.

Less music downloads and sharing IP-addresses

While the overall volume is down not all pirates are giving up their habit. The research found that it’s mostly the casual file-sharers who stop sharing, while the hard-core pirates remain just as active as before.

Also worth noting is that interest in illegal music downloads pales in comparison to that of other media. The research found that the demand for TV-shows and movies is four times that of music.

Spotify suggests that it’s partly responsible for the drop in music piracy, but can’t say to what extent. It’s also not clear how the demand for and volume of other forms of piracy changed in the same time period.

Page sees the drop in music piracy as an encouraging sign, but notes that more has to be done. While Spotify’s Director of Economics doesn’t comment on specific anti-piracy proposals the Government has put forward, he does stress that both carrots and sticks are required to address the issue.

“Let’s be clear, Australia still faces a massive challenge in turning around its much talked about media piracy challenge, and it always has, and always will, take a combination of public policy and superior legal offerings,” page says.

“The downward trend in piracy volume and population suggests superior music legal services like Spotify are making a positive impact, and this has proven to be the case in Scandinavia, but it will take both carrots and sticks to turn the market around.”

The research seems to suggest that services like Spotify are reasonably good carrots, but what the sticks look like will have to become clear in the months to come.

Update: We added the graph Spotify shared with us after publication. This shows that there initially was an in increase in piracy, and that the downward trend started a few months after Spotify became available. In part, the company attributes this delayed effect to the relatively slow organic adoption.

Spotify further explains that it “contributed to the decline” thanks to its fair price, great performance and wide availability.

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

Candlelight flickering on a stone wall covered in hieroglyphs. A proud queen brought low by the bite of a snake. Reeds rustling along a river, waiting to be turned into papyrus, or maybe a basket. The civilization of ancient Egypt stood for thousands of years and left behind a rich legacy of architecture, art, medicine, politics, culture and more. Today, it looms large in our imagination as the home of Cleopatra, Ptolemy, Tutankhamun, people who worshipped cats as gods and buried their embalmed dead in tombs filled with treasures and sustenance for the afterlife.

Now the Egypt of your imagination can be brought to life with new Street View imagery in Google Maps, and you can take a virtual walk among the stunning monuments and rich history of this ancient civilization.

Start where most tourists do: at the Pyramids of Giza, which rise from the vast expanse of the Sahara like man-made mountains. Just kilometers from the bustling, modern city of Cairo, the Pyramids have stood for nearly 5,000 years, a testament to the ingenuity and ambition of the ancient Egyptian people.

The Giza Necropolis is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, and is home to the last standing wonder of the ancient world: the Great Pyramid. Built as a tomb and a symbol of eternity for the Pharoah Khufu, it stands 139 meters high (the height of the world’s highest roller coaster!) and was the tallest man-made structure on Earth for 3,800 years. Look beyond it to the west, and you’ll see the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, built by Khufu's son and grandson.

Now turn east to the Great Sphinx, the oldest and largest known monumental sculpture in the world. With the body of a lion and the head of a human, it measures a grand 73 meters long and 20 meters high. Literally translating to “Father of Dread,” this mythical creature is believed to resemble Pharaoh Khafre, who was the ruler at the time of construction.

In addition to the Giza Necropolis, you can explore The Pyramid of Djoser, the ancient site of the world’s very first Pyramid designed by the great Egyptian Architect Imhotep in the ancient burial ground of Saqqara.

Other sites you can check out on your virtual tour include: Abu Mena, one of the oldest sites of Christianity in Egypt—the church, baptistry, basilicas and monasteries; the Hanging Church, one of the oldest Coptic Churches in the world; the Cairo Citadel, a medieval Islamic fortification and historic site; and the Citadel of Qaitbay, a 15th-century defensive fortress on the Mediterranean coast.

If wandering through the imagery of these historical sites has piqued your interest in Egyptology, head over to the Google Cultural Institute, where you can explore the treasures of ancient Egypt through a series of drawings, historic photographs and artifacts from the famed sites.

The Pyramids of Giza have survived nearly five millennia and are the planet’s oldest man-made wonder. Now their legacy—and the legacy of many other sites of ancient Egyptian culture—are preserved in a new way with panoramic and immersive Street View imagery. We hope you’ll take a moment to step back in time and explore what was once known as the Gift of the Nile.

Posted by Tarek Abdalla, Head of Marketing - Middle East and North Africa

If you're the type of person who buys a new iPhone every time one is announced, Sprint wants your money — and your phone when you're done with it. Today the carrier announced a new "iPhone for Life" program that will give you a free Apple iPhone 6 or 6 Plus up front, as long as you pay $20 a month to lease it. When you're done, you turn it back in, paying about $480 over the course of a 2-year contract, a figure that can go up if you choose to lease a higher capacity model.

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It turns out the Instax Mini 90 wasn't a one-off. Fujifilm's attempt to lend its kid-friendly instant cameras a touch of class from its high-end X-series was great fun to use, but had a couple of issues — the small Instax prints aren't for everyone, and the $200 entry price takes it out of impulse-buy territory. But now Fujifilm is back with a new model that addresses both of those problems: the Instax Wide 300.

The Wide 300 uses larger format Instax Wide film, which is around twice the size of regular credit card-sized Instax prints. Previous Instax Wide cameras featured comically huge, bulbous designs; the Wide 300 isn't going to win any beauty contests either, but it has at least received a similar makeover to the Mini 90,...

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Google Voice and Hangouts are finally joining in digital matrimony, according to Android Police. Many users are now reporting the Hangouts app for Android is allowing them to send Voice SMS and voicemail. However, it looks like the integration of the two services remains a work in progress, as a number of bugs have been reported.

For example, while messages delivered to your Google Voice number will appear in Hangouts, replies will not. Android Police writes that there currently appears to be no way to select which Voice number you would like to use when writing a reply. Additionally, enabling Voice integration will redirect all your messages from Voice to Hangouts. The integration also poses problems with the Voice extension for...

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Deezer, a 7-year-old French company that competes with Spotify and other streaming music services around the globe, is coming to the United States at last. But the US version of Deezer's service has a twist: it's a premium offering aimed at audiophiles, and for starters, you'll need a Sonos speaker system to try it out. Deezer Elite, which launches Sept. 15th, will stream tracks from Deezer's catalog of 35 million songs in 16-bit FLAC. FLAC files are similar to MP3s, but they're lossless, meaning that the song's audio quality is not degraded despite being compressed. Spotify, by comparison, streams at a maximum of 320 kbps; Deezer says Elite songs stream at five times the quality.

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 Earlier today, Apple offered a live stream of its iPhone 6 and Apple Watch launch event, but if you missed it (or want to watch it again), the full video of the event is now online. During the live stream, Apple ran into numerous issues, ranging from streams that cut out in the early parts of the event to basic audio issues (many viewers heard a live translation into Mandarin Chinese dubbed… Read More

Apple had their big event today and a lot of new hardware was announced. We watched the whole event so you don't have to, so from the new iPhone to a Apple Watch, here's everything you need to know.

The iPhone 6 Comes Out on September 19th with Two Models

As expected, Apple announced two new iPhones: the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Both have bigger screens than the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6 is 4.7-inch, compared to the iPhone 5s' 4-inch. The iPhone 6 Plus is even bigger at 5.5 inches.

The two new iPhone 6 models are also thinner with a new outer design. Both new phones come packed with a new A8 processor that should be more energy efficient while still being more powerful. The motion coprocessor also gets an upgrade. The M8 can now track your activity even better by logging when you walk up stairs and how far you travel.

The new phones also get a new autofocus mode for the 8MP camera, and the Plus gets a handy optical image stabilization feature.

The iPhone 6 will start at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 64GB and moves up to $399 for 128GB (all prices with a 2-year contract). The iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 for the 16GB version, $399 for the 64GB, and $499 GB for 128GB (again, on contract). You can pre-order on September 12th and they'll ship on September 19th. Get all the details about the new phones over on Gizmodo.

The Apple Watch Is Announced, Coming Early Next Year

Apple announced their highly-anticipated smartwatch, dubbed the Apple Watch. It comes in two sizes and three different models: Watch, Watch Sport, and Watch Edition. The Watch is the normal version, while the Sport edition comes with a stronger screen and better strap for exercise. The Edition is a fancier gold version of the watch. All three models feature a new operating system built specifically for the watch. As you'd expect, it features all kinds of iOS integration as well as a bunch of activity tracking features.

The Apple Watch features both pressure input and touch input. It also has Siri integration so you can use Siri's voice function. The Apple Watch has all kinds of different input methods, includes tracking your heart rate, motion, and more. With an iPhone, it also tracks your GPS.

When it's connected to your iPhone, the watch has all kinds of a custom notification options from apps, email, and your calendar. Developers can make apps for the watch, so third-party support will add the ability to unlock doors at hotels, track your car's location, and plenty more. You'll need an iPhone for most of these features.

The Apple Watch has a ton of activity tracking features. On top of tracking your heartbeat, it also tracks your activity and movement throughout the day. With an iPhone it'll also log your GPS coordinates. You can set up goals within the fitness app that help you make sure you're meeting the recommended amount of movement each day.

The watch comes with a variety of different straps available in different colors and styles. The Apple Watch requires an iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, and 6 Plus for most of it's features. It starts at $349 and will be available for purchase in early 2015. You can get even more information about the Apple Watch over at Gizmodo.

Apple Pay Makes Shopping Easier

Apple Pay is a new NFC payment system that allows you to pay for items at stores. Once you add your credit card information, you can just touch your phone to pay for your items at a bunch of major retailers. Apple then stores your number behind a secure element. When you go to make a purchase, your identity is confirmed through the Touch ID sensor, and your phone creates a device-specific card number for each sale.

The Apple Pay system is also available in-app, so developers can integrate it into their apps. Apple Pay is coming to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus next month.

iOS 8 Releases September 17th

iOS 8 now has a release date of September 17th. As you'd expect, it's a free upgrade. If you need a refresher, you can see everything coming in iOS 8 in our original post. If you're in a rush, download and install it right now.

If you really want, you can check out the full stream on Apple's site.

For the first time since the death of Steve Jobs, Tim Cook took the stage and let himself say Jobs' signature line: "One more thing." The phrase was said moments before the new Apple Watch reveal — probably the biggest new device since Jobs' death — and clearly signals that the company is finally willing to let the Jobs legacy lie. Indeed, the company has been bolder and more daring this year, and their willingness to have more fun was present today. Here's to the new Apple.

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The Apple Watch is amazing and boring at the same time.

After nearly two years of rumors, the Apple Watch has finally been unveiled. (Don't call it the iWatch.) Designed to work in tandem with an iPhone, the Apple Watch is packed with sensors that can be used to help monitor your activity. Of course, as with other smartwatches, it'll also run apps and help you keep tab on your incoming notifications. And even more intriguingly, you'll be able to make purchases with the included NFC technology...

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For months it's seemed like a foregone conclusion that Apple was going to go bigger with the iPhone. And indeed the rumors were true: today in a huge auditorium, to thunderous applause, Tim Cook announced a bigger iPhone. Two, in fact.

The more moderate new model of iPhone is the iPhone 6, a 4.7-inch model, which looks much like the iPhone 5S. Only, you know, bigger. Its power button has been moved to the side, the edges have been slightly rounded, which make it feel almost like a...

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Confession: I watched four 90-minute episodes of Sherlock in a single sitting, thanks in no small part to Netflix's auto-advancing "Post-Play" feature on the web. It's that little pop-up interface that automatically goes to the next episode in a TV series if you don't press anything. Netflix added it to the Android app back in June, but if you want to watch the next episode via your Chromecast, you have to grab your super-powerful space age phone and tap it with your meaty fingers.

Netflix Says The Post-Play Binge Watching Experience Is Coming To Chromecast In The Next Few Days was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

When you are trying to adopt a good habit, you will face moments of temptation and weakness. To stick it out, write a little script to tell yourself or anyone else why you are doing it.

The Peak Athlete founder Todd Herman says that you lose sight of your targets in a moment of weakness. So while your mind is fighting temptation, knowing what you should say is a good way to revise your goals while explaining them to someone else:

Plan for this ahead of time because you'll be too weak to think properly in the moment. Herman suggests writing out a script for yourself so you'll know exactly what to say, either to other people or to yourself, to stay on track. For example, if you're trying to change your eating habits, you need to know exactly what to say when people offer you unhealthy foods.

I've personally experienced success with this approach by repeating a small speech I prepared in my head to explain my weight loss goals to anyone who asked. It has helped me stay on track and had the added benefit of not giving in to the whims of pushy people. These scripts can also coach yourself out of bad habits. It's yet another good way to trick your brain into a healthy habit.

6 Steps to Breaking Bad Habits | OPEN Forum

Photo by steyed_np3.

Reese Witherspoon still attached to star

For several years now – at least since 2010, in fact – Reese Witherspoon has harboured a desire to portray iconic singer Peggy Lee. Nora Ephron was attached at one point to write and direct the biopic, but her death stymied the project. Now the film has a new director aboard, with Far From Heaven’s Todd Haynes set to call the shots.

Peggy Lee might not be quite as well known as, say, June Carter, who Witherspoon played to Oscar-winning effect in Walk The Line, but she had quite a career, and had her most enduring hit with the classic Fever.

She got her start working with Benny Goodman’s band before recording albums and film soundtracks. She then stepped in front of the camera for movies including 1953’s The Jazz Singer and 1955’s Pete Kelly’s Blues. She also provided songs and her vocal talents to Disney's Lady & The Tramp, though controversially she had to sue to win video sales royalties a few years down the line.

Quills writer Doug Wright has re-written the script following Ephron’s passing, and with Haynes attached things should finally start moving ahead. First, however, Haynes must finish editing his latest drama, Carol, which stars Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, and Witherspoon will have to launch her drama Wild and presumably help to promote Inherent Vice.

When you want to get better at something, you need to be able to reflect and review what you did and how you handled things. Whether it's a task, a workday, or even a week, you can rate it out of 10 to kick off your personal review process.

To get better, you have to critique yourself, but it's important to specify and guide where it should go. You can't learn and get better if you're only telling yourself that you did poorly. Sarah Chang at career blog The Muse explains the two steps you should take instead:

1. At the end of the day, week, meeting, event, you-name-it, rate how you think it went on a scale of one to 10.
2. If it wasn't a 10, ask yourself: "What would have made it a 10?"

That's it.

Putting a number on an intangible experience suddenly makes what was amazing or not so amazing about it a lot more clear. When you acknowledge that things didn't go perfectly, you accept the fact that there's room for improvement, and more importantly, what that improvement might look like. It's an insanely easy way to gain clarity, and the approach shines a bright light on exactly what you can do differently next time.

The ratings won't mean anything to anyone but you, but that's the point. These are strictly for your self reflection. The most important part is the second step: asking yourself what could have made it a 10. Perhaps a 10 wasn't even possible in the scenario you're reviewing, but even just telling yourself that can help you clear things up and move on. We can be our own harshest critic, but it's important to know where the criticism, if any, belongs.

The Easy Secret to Making Yourself Better at Anything | The Muse

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker.