The day of fry is upon us. That means it's time to share what you know, ask what you don't, and generally partake in some insightful conversation. Right here, right now! Ask questions, offer advice, discuss productivity tips, or just chat about whatever's on your mind.

We're coming to you from Hackerspace, the commenter-run playground for Lifehackers. Drop by Hackerspace any time you want to share your tips, how-tos, or just talk it out with your fellow readers. Want to be an author here? Shoot us a line on the comment thread below.

Apple exec Eddy Cue was accused of helping to orchestrate the ebook price-fixing scheme.

As expected, the judge overseeing the government's civil case against Apple for fixing ebook prices has issued a permanent injunction against the company. As part of her order, US District Judge Denise Cote made good on her promise to install a third party to monitor Apple's operations and ensure that the company complies with antitrust laws. The judge also required Apple to sever any agreements with the top five book publishers that restrict retail ebook prices in any way, and prohibited Apple from entering into any similar agreements for up to four years.

The Department of Justice accused Apple and five of the six largest book publishers last...

Continue reading…

Now that Google really kicked off the Nexus 5 rumors, we’re on a roll. Today’s tasty tidbit comes courtesy of the FCC, which just green-lighted a new LG device that looks remarkably like the rumored new Nexus device that a Google employee was spotted using. In fact, we’re almost sure that it’s the same device. It features the same slightly curved design and the large opening for the camera lens.

The device, which goes by the name of D820, also features NFC and Qi wireless charging as revealed by the picture. Seeing as both of those features were emphasized in last year’s Nexus 4, we’re not surprised to see them in this year’s Nexus phone. And if this is the new Nexus device, it features a bounty of cellular support. LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 17, 25, 26 and 41 are all supported as well as EVDO rev A, quadband GSM and EDGE, pentaband HSPA+, and dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 B, G and N connections. That means that this new device features full GSM support as well as support for LTE on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Unfortunately, we Verizon folks miss out again. But these band inclusions only add fuel to the fire that it’s the Nexus 5. As Nexus devices are generally sold off-contract, it makes sense to try and support as many carriers as possible.

Do you believe that this is the new Nexus? If so, are you excited?

No part of these devices is left untouched in a new promo video

Some of us may be feeling a bit of "Galaxy" overload after the crazy flurry of announcements yesterday, but Samsung is moving right along today by posting an extensive video walkthrough of its latest big devices — the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear. The 18-minute long video, which you can see above, thoroughly covers pretty much every new function that can be found in the new Galaxy Note, along with a good portion of explanation about how the Galaxy Gear fits into the mix.

The most interesting portion relating to the Galaxy Gear is a walkthrough of the "Gear Manager" app, which is the portal for customizing and setting up the device when paired to your phone. If you're interested in just the Gear angle you can skip ahead about 12 minutes, but the entire video is quite informative.

Read: Galaxy Note 3 hands-on | Hands-on with the Galaxy Gear

The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have pressured news organizations connected to the Edward Snowden stories to STFU. That doesn't seem to be accomplishing what the intelligence community and its overseers hoped.

A Federal court order [PDF, via Cryptome] prohibits Barrett Brown, a jailed internet activist and journalist who faces more than 100 years in prison, from talking to the media.

Critics say it's the latest example of a crackdown on investigative journalism.

A federal court in Dallas, TX imposed the gag order on Brown and his legal team which prevents them from talking to press about his prosecution over charges relating to his work exposing online surveillance. [The Guardian]

Rolling Stone has a profile. The weirdest thing about Brown's case is that "no one can figure out exactly what law he broke." [rollingstone.com]

Security guru Bruce Schneier has posted a typically pragmatic and passionate overview of why you can, and should, follow practices that improve your odds of being able to communicate privately in the face of the NSA's vast surveillance programs.

"I understand that most of this is impossible for the typical internet user," he admits, and even Schneier doesn't use "all these tools for most everything I am working on."

The NSA may have converted the internet into one big surveillance platform, he says, "But they are not magical. They're limited by the same economic realities as the rest of us, and our best defense is to make surveillance of us as expensive as possible."

"Trust the math. Encryption is your friend. Use it well, and do your best to ensure that nothing can compromise it. That's how you can remain secure even in the face of the NSA."

[theguardian.com]

Stress is something I’ve been intimately acquainted with since I was a teenager. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to perform to a high standard, and often end up losing sleep due to stress. Since I’m working on decreasing stress in my life, I thought it would be interesting to look into how it actually affects our bodies and our brains. Here’s what I found out.

Stress is Normal, and Sometimes Even Good for Us

Stress affects pretty much all of us at some point in our lives. The funny thing is, positive events like getting married or starting a new job can stress us out. Stress isn’t always a bad thing, though. In some cases it protects us from danger—in fact, that’s the whole point. Stress is a leftover survival technique that we don’t have as much use for now. When we commonly fought for survival, our fight-or-flight mode (triggered by stress) was imperative.

These days, the problem comes with having more stress in our lives than we need. Since we rarely need to be in fight-or-flight mode, our body’s stress reactions can become problematic when they’re too strong or happen too often.

You’ve probably seen images like these ones of President Obama before. There’s been a lot of press surrounding the possibility that stress leads to premature aging, often using presidents as an example. So far, it hasn’t been proved that this is true, though it definitely could be the case. With more research, we’ll have a better idea of how stress is related to symptoms of aging specifically. Here’s one last fact I found really interesting, from How Stuff Works:

The perception of stress is highly individualized. What jangles your friend’s nerves may not phase you in the least, and vice versa. In other words, what matters most is not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens to you.

Okay, let’s get into the science!

Stress and the Brain

Stress and the brain are closely linked, in fact very similar to how creativity and the brain are interlinked. In fact, stress is basically “all in our heads.” There are three parts of the brain that are highly involved in how we recognize and respond to stressors:

• the amygdala
• the hippocampus
• and the prefrontal cortex

These three areas of the brain work with the hypothalamus to turn on and off the production of stress hormones and related responses like an increased heart rate. Apart from controlling our stress response, our brains can also be affected by the stress itself:

Researchers are now learning how stressors can physically alter our brains, which in turn, may impact how we learn, form memories, and even make decisions.

Stress Can Change Our Brains

In fact, stress is actually the most common cause of changes in brain function. Some recent studies have shown indications of how this could happen. One study used baby monkeys to test the effects of stress on development and long-term mental health. Half the monkeys were cared for by their peers for 6 months while the other half remained with their mothers. Afterwards, the monkeys were returned to typical social groups for several months before the researchers scanned their brains.

For the monkeys who had been removed from their mothers and cared for by their peers, areas of their brains related to stress were still enlarged, even after being in normal social conditions for several months. Although more studies are needed to explore this fully, it’s pretty scary to think that prolonged stress could affect our brains long-term.

Another study found that in rats who were exposed to chronic stress, the hippocampuses actually shrank. The hippocampus is integral to forming memories. It has been debated before whether Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can actually shrink the hippocampus, or people with naturally smaller hippocampuses are just more prone to PTSD. This study could point to the stress being a factor in actually changing the brain.

How Stress Hormones Work

We have a few different stress hormones that affect our bodies. Adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol are stress hormones called glucocorticoids that are essential for us to function properly in the face of danger. While these hormones can be useful in helping us to learn and form new memories, too much of them can be unhealthy. When our lives are filled with chronic stress, we can enter a state called cortisol dominance, which negatively affects learning, attention span, and memory.

Here’s a great diagram that shows how chronic stress creates a loop of negative side-effects on our brains.

Although chronic stress can occur in everyday life, there are some situations where it’s a more common occurrence. War zones are an obvious one, as soldiers are under constant pressure and experience fight or flight situations far more often than most of us. We used to think fight or flight was a brief state that occurred in sporadic bursts of up to 10 minutes during an adult’s life, but researchers recently found that during a war, we can keep a state of fight or flight going for months on end.

Tania Glenn is a social worker and psychologist who has done some fascinating work on the science of stress and in particular, PTSD. In a talk given to members of the United States Air Force, Tania said that the foundation of stress is the fight or flight response. For those who experience long periods of the fight or flight state, they are often prone to feeling symptoms of withdrawal when they return to a nonthreatening environment, as their bodies readjust. I thought it was really interesting how Tania described this process:

You’re tired, but you can’t sleep; you want to sit still, but you are compelled to get up and move. Your body is literally detoxing from exhilaration… And just like any detox, coming off the extra adrenaline, glucose and cortisol is unpleasant.

Stress and the Body

Of course having stress hormones rushing through our veins is bound to affect our bodies. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that occurs.

Optimize for Speed and Strength

The effects of fight or flight don’t only occur in our brains. Our bodies are physically affected by this state as well, especially when it’s prolonged. To start with, fight or flight mode directs blood flow away from your extremities and towards your heart, lungs, legs and back.

Tania Glenn said this is to help us maximize running and fighting power (something we’d need in an actual life-or-death situation), but it reduces our fine motor skills dramatically. The increased levels of adrenaline in our brains mixed with these changes in blood flow often lead to uncontrollable shaking once the danger has passed.

Shut Down Digestion

Something else I found really interesting about Tania’s discussion of how stress affects the body was the effect it has on our digestive system. Because our bodies want to use all of our available energy for fighting or fleeing, they stop other energy-spending processes like digestion. This can make us feel nauseous by stopping digestion of the food we’ve got in our bodies already, and sometimes our bodies even flush the food out with fluids, which turns into vomit.

So now we know why we often feel sick during or after high-stress situations. On the other end of the spectrum, eating well can actually positively impact how we cope with stress and therefore limit it’s impact.

Stop Thinking

You’ve probably felt how fast your heartbeat can get during stressful situations before. What’s really interesting about this is that your fast heartbeat actually sends a signal to your brain’s prefrontal cortex—the part that handles thought processing and decision making. The signal tells this part of your brain to shut down temporarily and let your midbrain take over. Tania called this part of the brain the “kill or be killed” section. When we’re in this state, instinct and training take over from rational thought and reasoning.

Make Us Sick

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 90% of all illness and disease is stress-related. Let’s just go over that again: Up to 90% of all illness and disease is stress-related. That statistic blew me away. It shows how big a part of our lives stress is, and how seriously it’s affecting us.

Stress can affect our health in various ways, particularly chronic stress that continues over long periods of time. It can lower our immune systems so we’re generally more susceptible to getting sick. It can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease, cause everyday aches and pains, weight gain, sleep loss, lowering of sex drive and skin conditions like hives or eczema. Dr. Vivian Diller, PhD, summed up the seriousness of chronic stress with this comment:

It’s very possible that if you have a life filled with that constant stress, little by little the body is breaking down.

How to Decrease Stress

Okay, I’m convinced. Stress is bad, especially if it’s ongoing. I’m definitely keen to decrease my stress levels, so let’s look at some ways to do that. A good note to start on is that there is hope for us. Stress-reduction strategies including meditation, exercising and relaxation have been shown to reverse the negative effects of stress on our health by increasing good chemicals in the body like endorphins and making more infection-fighting T cells to boost our immune systems.

Let’s look at some practical strategies for decreasing our stress levels.

Get Organized

It’s easy to feel stressed when you don’t have a clear idea of what’s on your schedule and what you need to work on next. Organizing your life can be helpful to see specific details of what you have to get done and what can wait. This could mean starting a daily or weekly planner, collecting your family’s activities and appointments into one central calendar, or simply making lists of the things you need to get done. Another important element is to physically re-organize your work-place for a better sense of calm.

Here’s another suggestion for improving your schedule:

Try to figure out where you can combine tasks in order to reduce the amount of energy it takes to get them done. See if you can put some items off until the weekend, when you’ll have larger blocks of time available for running errands.

Prioritize

At my last job, our CEO had a sticky note on his computer that said “Prioritize until it hurts.” I never really got to the point where I could do that, but I like the idea of it. As you take on more and more things, prioritizing becomes more important to maintaining healthy stress levels and getting things done. Especially as we know that multitasking is not something that’s actually possible. Here’s a quick way to work this into your day:

Whenever you find yourself becoming truly overwhelmed, take five minutes and rank the items on your to-do list in order of importance. Then, proceed from top to bottom. Even if you can’t get everything done, at least you can be secure in the fact that you’ve dealt with the most important ones.

Delegate

Try not to live by the rule “if you want something done right, do it yourself.” A healthier solution is to work out ways to support other people to do things right. Try delegating with very clear, specific suggestions to help you get the results you’re after, and checking-in as the task progresses to ensure it’s on track. Keeping an eye on something as it gets done will be a lot less weight on your shoulders than if the task sits on your to-do list stressing you out while you try to find time to do it yourself.

Focus

Part of prioritizing well is working on one thing at a time. This is definitely something I struggle with, but I’ve found it works so much better than letting myself wander between tasks or projects during the day.

Cutting your tasks into smaller, sub-tasks can help here as well, if you want to focus on one thing without it taking up your whole day. This is similar to the story of the lion tamer, who exploits the lion’s weak sense of focus whilst pointing at him with a chair that has four legs. Completing a whole sub-task before moving on to something else can give you a sense of accomplishment and lighten your stress levels.

A final note on those situations when these strategies won’t work:

Seek gentle compromise. Many stressful situations–even those that can’t be entirely eliminated–can be eased through negotiation.

What has your experience with stress been like? Do you have some more suggestions for decreasing stress levels that have worked for you?

How Stress Can Change the Size of Our Brains and What We Can Do to Lower It | Buffer

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Belle is a Content Crafter at Buffer, where she writes about productivity, lifehacking, writing, and social media. She also co-founded Melbourne startup Hello Code and spends most of her free time in the theatre.

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

Since Google first announced Glass, it’s been trying to convey a vision of a new, more immersive relationship with technology, one that doesn't need you to constantly stare down at your phone. But as people have spent time with the device, they've learned that its swipe bar, head gestures, and voice commands don’t always achieve the frictionless ideal that Google has been striving for. Not to worry, though. The newest version of the MyGlass companion Android app lets you control the headset with your phone.

Continue reading…

Internet filters are now on the political agenda in many countries around the world.

While China and Iran are frontrunners for political censorship, the UK is leading the way when it comes to porn and other types of adult content.

All mobile Internet providers are currently complying with a voluntary code of practice to make adult content inaccessible on their networks by default. Subscribers then have the option to lift the block if they can verify that they are at least 18 years old.

However, mobile filtering alone is not enough to protect the children. Last month Prime Minister David Cameron announced a default filter for all Internet connections. This means that in the near future UK Internet subscribers will be required to opt-in if they want to view adult content online.

After the news broke the Open Rights Group warned that this new filter could also block other content too, including anonymizing services such as VPNs. And indeed, it now appears that this worry isn’t as far-fetched as some thought.

TorrentFreak has learned that VPN provider iPredator is already blocked under the “adult filter” of some, if not all, mobile providers. TorrentFreak has seen communication between the mobile provider GiffGaff and iPredator which makes it clear that the VPN’s website is blocked because it allows kids to bypass the age restrictions.

“[...] websites or services that offer, inter alia, a method for younger members to access over 18 content, without age verification; such as VPN services, are blocked [...],” the provider explained.

GiffGaff claims that they can’t change anything in the filter’s settings since they use O2′s network and referred to the Independent Mobile Classification Body (IMCB) for further details. TorrentFreak contacted IMCB for a comment on the issue last week, but they are yet to respond.

Based on the above it is safe to say that censorship is a slippery slope, especially without any oversight. VPNs are used for numerous purposes and bypassing age restrictions is certainly not the most popular one. If this holds up then proxy services and even Google’s cache may soon be banned under the same guise.

Earlier today news broke that Australia may soon be confronted with an equally restricted Internet. The opposition, which is likely to form the new Government, has put forward a proposal to start filtering adult content on both mobile networks and fixed access Internet lines.

Inspired by the UK, the goal of these filters is to protect children from harmful content.

“As has recently been achieved in the UK, we expect these standards will involve the major internet service providers providing home network filters for all new home broadband services, which will be switched on as the default unless the customer specifies otherwise,” the proposal reads.

Interestingly, the coalition quickly distanced itself from the plan once it hit the news. The proposal was deleted and statements Liberal MP Paul Fletcher made to ZDNet were swiftly characterized as non policy.

So it appears that Australia may escape mandatory Internet filters, for now at least.

The UK example, however, begs the question how effective these blocklists are to begin with, and how broad they have to be to reach their goal. If a kid is smart enough to go to a VPN provider in order to unblock content, he or she clearly doesn’t want to be protected.

As we have seen time and time again with piracy-related website blockades, those who want to circumvent blocked content on the Internet will find a way. Unless you take down the entire Internet of course. That might just work.

Source: UK Internet Filter Blocks VPNs, Australia to Follow Soon?

McG's calling the shots

Peer with us into the magic mirror of time, back to October of 2011, when Martin Campbell was attached to direct a film version of 1980s TV series The Fall Guy. Though producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald tried to get that iteration of the project up and running at DreamWorks, it hit a brick wall and burst into flames. Now, the duo has teamed up with Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE Films for a potential film that will see Dwayne Johnson taking over Lee Majors’ role and McG hoisting the megaphone.

The Fall Guy, which some of you whippersnappers may be too young to recall (get off our LAWN!) ran between 1981 and 1986 and saw Majors play a Hollywood stunt man who earned extra money working as a bounty hunter. And – who’d-a-thunk it – he was usually able to adapt a big stunt technique to the job of the week.

Though Nicolas Cage was rumoured around the time Campbell was attached, Johnson seems like a good call here: he’s got the physicality (and then some) and can also bring effortless charm to most roles. And you know the filmmakers will be happy with his one-man Twitter/Instagram PR machine.

This is one project that has been bubbling away in the development pressure cooker for ages: Warner Bros. was involved before DreamWorks. Hyde Park will be taking the rights to Toronto to sell at the market, so perhaps The Fall Guy will finally get his moment on the big screen.

Tove Jansson's trolls head for French Riviera

Given how perennially beloved they are, it's amazing that The Moomins have never starred in an original feature film before. There have been TV series - most notably the '80s Polish cut-out animation version and the '90s Japanese anime - theme parks and merchandise, but apart from films compiled from TV versions (like 2010's 3-D Moomins And The Comet Chase), the big screen has so far eluded Tove Jansson's famous Finn family. That's about to change, however, with the news that pre-sales are happening right now at Toronto on the Finnish/French co-production Moomins.

Jansson first created the Moomins in 1945. Moomintroll, Moominmama, Moominpappa, The Snork Maiden, hobo Snufkin, the bossy Hemulens, the tomboyish Little My and various hangers-on and antagonists had adventures across nine novels between their inception and 1970. There were also newspaper comic strips and picture books. The stories got increasingly dark and strange - Moominpappa At Sea is like a kids' book by Silence-era Bergman - but the film will draw from cheerier times.

Actually based on one of the comic strips rather than the novels, the movie will see the Moomins holidaying in the French Riviera. The book is kind of a satire on class and privilege, and includes a character based on Audrey Hepburn (called "Audrey Glamour"). The staff at the Moomins' hotel assume they're eccentric millionaires, while the Moomins are under the impression that they're staying in Hepburn's house.

Since that set-up significantly dates the original, it seems safe to assume that some of the details will change. What is certain is that it's produced and directed by Hanna Hemulen Hemila and Xavier Picard and has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Indie Sales. 

"Xavier and Hanna have done a superb job in maintaining the timeless humor, tone and pictorial quality of the Moomins in a sophisticated adventure for the whole family,” said Indie's Nicolas Eschbach, adding that the film will be faithful to Jansson’s original creed, “Live in peace, plant potatoes and dream.”

Moomins should be out in the middle of 2014.

Following a series of High Court orders, six UK ISPs are required to block subscriber access to several of the world’s largest torrent sites.

The blocks are effective, at least in preventing subscribers from accessing the domains directly, but that doesn’t mean that the sites are completely inaccessible.

With every site that is added to the blocklist, several reverse proxies are launched. These proxy sites give people access to the blocked sites and effectively bypass the restrictions that were put in case by the court.

TV-torrent site EZTV is the latest target of the UK blocking spree. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and FACT applied for a court order to render the site inaccessible and at the end of July UK providers complied.

At the same time, however, several EZTV proxies popped up. In addition, EZTV redirected UK visitors to a special landing page with instructions on how to circumvent the blockades, although this was soon blocked as well.

Needless to say, the movie studios are not pleased with the proxies and TorrentFreak learned this week that they have asked the Internet providers to block these too.

A few days ago eztvproxy.net and eztv.dashitz.com became inaccessible on several ISPs and anti-piracy group FACT confirmed that they are behind these recent changes.

“We have notified some proxies,” FACT informed TorrentFreak after we inquired about the blocked sites.

The new proxy blockades are currently live on BSkyB, BT and O2 and the other providers are expected to follow suit. Previously, the music industry applied for a similar expansion blocking several proxies pointing to The Pirate Bay, H33t and KickassTorrents.

The full range of sites added during the latest update remains a mystery for now – neither the movie studios nor the ISPs make these public.

The question remains, however, how effective these new blockades will be. There are still many alternative proxies up and running and with every one that’s blocked, new sites will appear.

It’s possible that the movie industry hopes people will eventually grow tired of finding alternatives and give up. In line with this strategy, FACT told TorrentFreak that they will ask the court for additional orders in the future to block more infringing sites.

“We have made it clear that we will seek action against sites that continue to provide unremitting mass access to infringing content following due legal process,” FACT said.

And so the Whack-a-Mole continues.

Update: Movie streaming site movie4k.to also appears to be added to the blocklist.

Source: Movie Studios Get UK ISPs to Block Torrent Site Proxies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j16MIENCZCs

Just over two weeks to go until another Whedonverse series begins. And here's the UK trailer from Channel 4.

You know how Obama and GWB's spin-doctors redefined "imminent" (as in "we attacked pre-emptively to prevent an imminent attack")? Well, if it's good enough for the Prez, it's good enough for Florida's neighbor-shooting yahoos. The yahoo in question is William T. Woodward, whose lawyer argues that he shot his neighbors while they were having a backyard barbecue because they were going to attack him. Eventually. Which is to say, imminently. And that, argues Mr Woodward's lawyers, is just self-defense as defined in Florida's "Stand Your Ground" laws.

But that is how the government has been using it, argued Mr. Woodward's attorneys, and so it must be a plausible construction of the word as used in Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which authorizes deadly force to protect against "imminent death" or "the imminent commission of a forcible felony." That's why Mr. Woodward should be allowed to argue to a jury that he was legitimately making a preemptive strike against an "imminent" threat when he snuck up on some people having a barbecue and opened fire, killing two of them. Or so said a motion filed this week.

According to the report, there was a "feud" between Woodward and three of his neighbors. Police had been called "numerous times" but there's no mention in the report of any physical attacks. "[I]n the hours prior to the shooting," the motion reportedly says, "all three men were yelling at Woodward and … this type of behavior had been ongoing for over a month." They called him names and allegedly said "Come on, boys. We're going to get him." Again, this was "in the hours prior to the shooting," not immediately before the shooting. Is that "imminent"?

Lousy War-on-Terror Arguments Used to Justify Preemptive Strike Against Neighbors [Lowering the Bar]

It's not easy to remember which services you signed up for in the past. If you need a little help tracking them down so you can delete them, reader Mike.Sims recommends using the username search site KnowEm to hunt down your accounts.

We've talked about using KnowEm before to search for username availability, but it's much more useful as a way to search for lost accounts. Just type in your most used usernames, and KnowEm shows you where they're registered. From there, you can go through and delete your old accounts with ease. If you need a little more help finding accounts still, we've got you covered there as well. Once you track down the sites you have accounts with, you can use a service like AccountKiller to go directly to the account deletion page.

KnowEm | via Mike.Sims

Welcome back to Android Gaming Weekly, our weekly recap on new game releases. We still plan to cover upcoming releases and games we’re playing, but this column is dedicated to new games you can install and start playing right now. Check out our top picks and let us know if you have any suggestions for next week in the comments below.

Totem Runner

Description: As he runs, the warrior breathes new life into the world and puts new stars in the sky. Knowing when to transform between shapes – man, bird, and beast – is key to success in this action-packed endless runner. Totem Runner’s unique looks are matched by its compelling gameplay and immersive story. Take up the challenge and become the warrior within.

Skylanders Cloud Patrol

Description: Join TRIGGER HAPPY and the rest of the SKYLANDERS as they patrol the Skylands for escaped trolls! Grab your favorite Skylander and take to the skies in your flying gunship to put those troublesome trolls in their place – Skylanders style.

BRAVOMAN: Binja Bash!

Description: BRAVOMAN: Binja Bash! is a new side-scrolling game for your Android device that has classic arcade game sensibilities never before seen on the go! Packed with loads more than just basic jumps and attacks, BRAVOMAN: Binja Bash! is ready to awaken your inner gamer by letting you parry enemy attacks, perform super moves, find hidden levels and even unlock secret characters!

Breach & Clear

Description: Breach & Clear brings deep tactical strategy to mobile devices! Build your Special Operations team, plan and execute advanced missions and own every angle.

TapAttack!

Description: Test your reaction skills with this fun and frustrating ‘tap the spot’ game! Level-up to go faster and faster! Win stars to buy power-ups! Challenge your friends, share and tweet your high score and climb to the top of the global leaderboard!

Flip the Aliens

Description: The innovative game where you flip cute space aliens across the screen to get them home. Fun, casual and action-packed excitement over 40 levels that will challenge your focus, speed, creativity and reflexes.

SimpleRockets

Description: Design your own rocket ships. Blast off into space. Explore the solar system. See if you have what it takes to be a rocket scientist. Choose and connect parts together to build rocket ships. You can choose from a variety of rocket engines, fuel tanks and other gizmos. You can even build rovers with powered wheels. You are only limited by your imagination.

Containment The Zombie Puzzler

Description: Because there are no zombie puzzle games. But even if there were, Containment: The Zombie Puzzler would be the best one. You don’t match 3 of anything. There are no abstract objects that you have to put together. You surround zombies with 4 of the same unit and destroy them. The zombies, not the units.

Stickman Downhill

Description: Experience ultra realistic and fast paced action packed downhill biking in stunning environments. Choose from more than 15 different bikes, including full suspension bikes, retro bikes or even electro bikes.

FlowDoku

Description: FlowDoku – a puzzle of beautiful shapes, brilliantly arranged. Imagine Sudoku re-invented as a game of colorful shapes, where you use two simple rules and logic to uncover the linked groups of squares, triangles and diamonds.

COMING SOON

The BBC iPlayer has made the jump to version 2.0, and while it may not have that long of a change log, the features it introduces are big ones. For starters, the app now supports full downloads. Users can download TV shows for free and keep them on their devices for up to 30 days. Just keep in mind that they will expire a week after first being viewed. Users can only download via a WiFi connection, but they have the choice between standard and high quality video.

• Watch Your Favorite BBC Shows With iPlayer Android App
• [New App] BBC iPlayer Radio Now Available On Android, Complete With Live Listening And On-Demand Downloads
• BBC iPlayer Updated, Brings Support For 1080p Phones
• BBC iPlayer Updated To Version 1.7 With Tweaked User Interface, Support For 10" Tablets

BBC iPlayer For Android Updated To Version 2.0, Debuts Video Downloads And Android 4.3 Support was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Oyster is the next company betting that consumers will be more willing to spend on media if offered all-you-can-eat deals. It worked for Netflix and movies, so Oyster is applying the strategy to ebooks. Oyster launched today, and the startup is offering unlimited access to a library of more than 100,000 book titles for a Netflix-esque price of $9.95 a month. To the company's credit, they've managed to license some popular books, including Lord of the Rings, Shutter Island, and Water for Elephants. But just as Netflix struggled to sign up film studios when it first rolled out its web streaming service, Oyster has licensed ebooks from only one of the major publishers: HarperCollins. According to GigaOm, Oyster's management is in...

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Google Maps is practical, but Google Earth is kind of the show off side of Google's mapping project. You can explore satellite imagery from all over the world and check out detailed 3D photos of many areas. Now there's even more to see in Google Earth with the addition of your geocoded Google+ photos.

  

Photos you've take with geocoding turned on will be available as a layer in Google Earth.

• Google Keep App Gets Major Update - Supports Time / Location-Based Reminders, Adds Slideout Navigation, More Photo Options [Update: APK]
• [APK] Download Google+ 4.1 With Swipe-Down-To-Refresh, Drive Photos, Easy Account Switching, Better Location Sharing, And More
• Steve Kondik Announces The Development Of Incognito Mode For Apps In CyanogenMod To Promote Privacy
• Google+ Will Now Highlight What You +1 To Your Followers, With Your Permission

Google Earth Updated To v7.1.2, Shows Your Geocoded Google+ Photos was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

In Bill Condon's Slight Trick Of The Mind

Currently in Toronto for the world premiere of his Wikileaks drama The Fifth Estate, director Bill Condon has revealed that his next project will reunite him with his Gods And Monsters star Ian McKellen. Condon will direct A Slight Trick Of The Mind, and McKellen will star, as an aging Sherlock Holmes.

The film, to be written by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Duchess), is based on Mitch Cullin's novel of the same name. The book takes place in 1947 when Holmes is 93, long retired to his Sussex beekeeping and frustrated by his diminishing power of recollection. He believes his bees' royal jelly is part of the secret of his longevity, and his further researches into the subject have recently taken him to post-war Japan. There he encounters the son of a former British diplomat who knew Holmes and disappeared at the start of the war. Holmes doesn't remember, but feels the familiar pull of an unfinished case.

Dr Watson is long dead by the time of the main story, but there may yet be a role for him in the film. The novel weaves together three narratives: Sussex, Japan, and a much earlier thread from 1902 when Holmes was still active as a consulting detective, investigating The (also still unsolved) Case Of The Glass Armonicist. 

Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King's Speech) are among the producers, along with head of BBC Films Christine Langan and Archer Gray Productions' Anne Carey (The American). "Mitch Cullin's elegiac novel is not so much about solving a mystery, as it is about accepting life's mysteries," believes Carey. "I could not be more excited about the talent who have come together to make this film a reality."

Shooting starts in the UK next April. In the meantime, keep an eye out for pap shots of Gandalf and Smaug discussing the finer points of Baker Street sleuthing.

Yahoo launched its new logo today. The company is sticking with a design similar to its former logo, but giving it a "more modern" look with san serif font and noticeable dimension changes. 

The logo had not been updated in 18 years. The announcement comes on the final day of the "30 Days of Change" campaign as the company has been releasing a potential new logo everyday. 

Today, on Chrome's fifth birthday, Google is announcing the rollout of what it's calling Chrome Apps. Don't feel bad if you're confused by the name. Chrome has been serving up web apps since 2010 when the Chrome Web Store opened up alongside the launch of the Chrome OS. Chrome Apps, however, are different than what's been offered before. They comprise Google's bid to elevate the browser into a true app platform — one that it thinks could one day be a legitimate rival to Windows, OS X, and someday iOS and even Android.

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The TSA announced today that they will be accepting payments to give you back your basic rights in airports — if passengers pay to sign up for the TSA Precheck program, they can keep their shoes, belts and jackets on, leave laptops in their cases, and not have to remove liquids and gels from carry-ons.

The $85 pizzo also requires fingerprinting, and will be available in 100 airports by the end of the year. The program had previously been limited to frequent flier members from "select airlines".

No word on how this new protection plan will affect Hindus, passengers with light sabers, or three-year-olds.

Also set to change this year are the FAA draconian policies concerning cell phone use on airplanes. The FAA is set to make a formal decision at the end of September.

[image via Shutterstock]

Fred the ferret goes on hour-long rampage attacking residents in block of flats

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

The TSA is allowed to lie in its responses to Freedom of Information Requests. Its court-granted ability to lie to the public it nominally serves isn't limited to sensitive issues, either: they're allowed to pretend that they don't have CCTV footage of their own officers violating their own policies, even when they do.

U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard granted the TSA the special privilege of not needing to go that route, rubber-stamping the decision of the TSA and the airport authority to write to me that no CCTV footage of the incident existed when, in fact, it did. This footage is non-classified and its existence is admitted by over a dozen visible camera domes and even signage that the area is being recorded. Beyond that, the TSA regularly releases checkpoint video when it doesn’t show them doing something wrong (for example, here’s CCTV of me beating their body scanners). But if it shows evidence of misconduct? Just go ahead and lie.

Court: Federal Law Allows Lying in TSA-Related FOIA Requests [TSA Out of Our Pants]

(via Hacker News)

If you've been deliriously excited ever since Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 3 earlier today, there's something you should see. The Korean phone maker has posted a new video, and it's jam-packed with six minutes and thirty seconds of Note 3 and S Pen action.

The video shows off all the S Pen features introduced with the Note 3 today. We get to see a few more use cases for features like Action Memo, Multi Window, and Scrapbooker.

• Hands-On (And Video) With The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 At IFA 2013
• Samsung Is Holding An Event On October 24th In New York, US Note II Availability Announcements Imminent?
• Samsung Canada: Multi-Window Is Coming To The Note II On 'National Carriers' Beginning February 6th
• Jelly Bean Update For The Original Galaxy Note Confirmed To Bring Enhanced Premium Suite With Multi-Window, Air View, And More

Samsung Introduces The Galaxy Note 3 In A Super-Detailed 6.5 Minute Video was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The latest installment of Wikileaks came with a surprise: the organization is going on the offensive. Assange has announced something called the Wikileaks Counterintelligence Unit, a project to actively surveil various surveillance contractors to provide a rare view into their business dealings — in Assange's words, "tracking the trackers."

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Converting files between formats is never a fun thing to do. When you're working on different systems, it's a pain to do, and you often need a ton of software. CloudConvert is a web app that can convert 140 different file types.

Just upload the file you want to convert and CloudConvert gives you a list of file types it can convert it to. It can then send that file directly to your Dropbox or Google Drive account. It's a pretty simple process and if you don't need to convert between file types very often, CloudConvert's handy to keep around.

CloudConvert | via One Thing Well

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