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15 Aug 19:25

eBay My Gadgets Collects, Organizes, and Helps You Sell Your Old Gear

by Alan Henry

It's hard to find a good tool to organize your stuff, and even harder to find one that tells you in real terms how much that stuff is worth, but eBay's new "My Gadgets" does both pretty well. It organizes your electronics, gives you real values, and makes it easy to sell if you ever get the urge to declutter.

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15 Aug 13:51

Mad Max Prequel Motion Comic Online

Mad Max Prequel Motion Comic Online

Tied to videogame - not Fury Road

Don't get too excited: this pair of Mad Max motion comics have nothing to do with the long-developing new George Miller film Mad Max: Fury Road. They are instead the set-up for the videogame, announced at E3 this year and headed to a console near you from Avalanche Studios. But hey, new Mad Max is new Mad Max, and this is our first chance to get our heads round the jarring notion that the hapless Mr Rockatansky no longer looks like Mel Gibson. Here, he doesn't look like Tom Hardy either. So we still have that to look forward to.

The gist: after a spot of road warrioring, Max runs out of petrol at an inconvenient moment and has to face a gang of deranged wasteland punks on foot. All seems lost, but then, strangely, seems not to have gone so badly after all. 

Watching all this is new character Chumbucket, who looks akin to the hunchback Ephialtes in 300 and who seems to have developed his own religion based on the combustion engine (so shades of Beneath The Planet Of The Apes' bomb worshippers there too). He's decided that Max is the chosen one that's going to help him build a machine called the Magnum Opus. Is he right? Watch the clips and find out.

Not much is known about this game so far, aside from its unsurprising emphasis on vehicular combat and customisation. The plot seems to have Max on a search to get his famous Interceptor back. How big a role Chumbucket and his Magnum Opus play remains to be seen. The writer of the motion comic is Tom Taylor (Dark Horse, DC, IDW), and the art comes courtesy of Jason Shawn Alexander (Dark Horse).

Fury Road, meanwhile, stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron with, last we heard, Nicholas Hoult, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz and Rosie Huntington-Whitely. IMDb also lists original Toecutter Hugh Keays-Byrn, so let's hope that's not just wishful thinking. Film and game are both due sometime in 2014.


    






15 Aug 13:46

Ten Financial Blind Spots That Will Cost You (and How to Fix Them)

by Trent Hamm

Ten Financial Blind Spots That Will Cost You (and How to Fix Them)

Over the years, I’ve received many, many emails from readers. A lot of those readers tell me that they’re in a serious financial bind and that they’re on the verge of being unable to pay their bills or debts. They claim to have stretched every penny they can and they practically beg me for some sort of magical answer to their problems. What I’ve found is that people in these situations often have huge blind spots when it comes to their spending.

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15 Aug 13:42

Microsoft said to remake cult BBC sci-fi series 'Blake's 7' for Xbox Live

by Sam Byford

Microsoft is funding a remake of the cult sci-fi TV series Blake's 7, according to a report from the Financial Times. While the company is reportedly not committed to producing a full series, it would represent the latest push into original TV content for Microsoft, which is working with Steven Spielberg on a live-action adaptation of the Halo video games. Martin Campbell, director of James Bond films Goldeneye and Casino Royale, is said to be on board to direct.

Blake's 7 was produced and broadcast by the BBC between 1978 and 1981. Created by Terry Nation, the man who dreamed up the concept for the Daleks, it "aimed to be a grittily realistic TV answer to Star Wars, only on Doctor Who's budget," according to the BBC's page for the...

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15 Aug 13:42

Microsoft hires the man who made Steam great, signals renewed interest in PC gaming

by Sean Hollister

Jason Holtman spent the last eight years turning Valve's Steam digital distribution platform into a veritable cornucopia of PC games. Starting this month, however, he'll be working at Microsoft on the company's Windows gaming strategy. "Yes, I have joined Microsoft where I will be focusing on making Windows a great platform for gaming and interactive entertainment," he told GamesIndustry International. "I think there is a lot of opportunity for Microsoft to deliver the games and entertainment customers want and to work with developers to make that happen, so I'm excited to be here." Holtman left Valve in February under mysterious circumstances, along with up to 25 other employees.

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15 Aug 13:41

Kinect app that turns any surface into a 'touchscreen' debuts for $149

by Tom Warren

Microsoft launched a Kinect Accelerator program for startups last year, and the results are starting to be shown. Ubi Interactive worked closely with Microsoft to create a system that uses a projector in combination with a Kinect sensor to create a virtual touchscreen that can be cast onto any surface. As many businesses already have projectors installed, most will simply be able to buy a Kinect for Windows sensor and Ubi's $149 software to turn a projector into a touch-capable unit.

The basic app will support up to 45-inch display sizes, with options to purchase professional ($379) and business licenses ($799) that provide 100-inch support. There's only one single touch point on the basic version, but a business version provides two,...

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15 Aug 13:29

Fresh Meat: 10 new Android apps worth checking out

by Steve Raycraft

New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of new entries on the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We’ve shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and launch them to new heights. Our weekly column Fresh Meat highlights new apps with less than 100k installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy.

Samsung Wallet

Samsung Wallet

Description: Samsung Wallet is a one-stop destination for your boarding passes, membership cards, coupons and event tickets. Start adding Tickets from applications you love! Look for ‘Load to Samsung Wallet’ button within your favorite application; press it and you’re set.

Triggr

Triggr

Description: Hear what’s important. Triggr adjusts your computer’s volume when you make or receive a phone call. Be notified. See phone call updates as desktop notifications on your PC in real-time.

eDrawings®

eDrawings

Description: eDrawings® is the only CAD viewer on Android phones and tablets that allows you to view native eDrawings files as well as native SolidWorks® parts, assemblies and drawings files.

Image Cut

Image Cut

Description: Image Cut is an application that can easily cut an object out of an image or photo. Drag your finger or touch pen outside of the part to be cut in the photo and picture and then click the “cut” button to complete the operation.

Silent Text

Silent Text

Description: Global encrypted text messaging with secure file transfer for mobile devices. Encrypted attachments may be any file. (Including pictures you don’t want constituents to see).

HighCrypt Lite

HighCrypt Lite

Description: With HighCrypt Password Manager all your private information is really safe and ordered. Your data is encrypted so it is safe, even if your device is lost or stolen. Password security shouldn’t be taken lightly. A scary 90% of people use the same password across all websites. We know using the same password everywhere is not safe, but who can remember dozens of complicated passwords?

CheapCast

Cheapcast

Description:  CheapCast is an app that aims to emulate the ChromeCast Dongle. It allows your Android Device to act as target (1st Screen) for ChromeCast-enabled Applications (ike YouTube and Google Music.

ActiveNotifications

ActiveNotifications

Description: ActiveNotifications allows you to receive important notifications when your screen is off. When you miss a call or receive a new email/SMS, the display will discreetly light up to let you know, without needing to unlock the device.

WebMD Pain Coach

WebMD Pain Coach

Description: WebMD Pain Coach™ offers a holistic approach to balancing lifestyle with chronic pain conditions to help bring about a better day. WebMD’s new app is a mobile companion to help you through daily health and wellness choices, so you can better manage your chronic pain.

Mobile Security & Antivirus

eSet

Description: Enjoy your time online, social networking or shopping, protected by ESET technology that has been successfully protecting customers for a record breaking 10 consecutive years (source: Virus Bulletin, VB100 Awards). ESET’s technology lets you stay secure and in control of your phone or tablet and personal data no matter what–even if your device goes missing.

14 Aug 21:12

Battery-free wireless could send text messages after your phone dies

by Jacob Kastrenakes

Whenever you send a text message, upload a photo, or check your news feed, your phone or computer directs a small amount of power to its radio, and uses that power to beam out a signal. Finding power usually isn't a huge issue, but if no direct power source were necessary at all, it would be possible to develop simple, battery-free devices that could talk to each other for purposes such as making payments, sending messages, and even monitoring the structure of buildings. Researchers from the University of Washington have put forth just such a possibility: they've proposed a new technology called "ambient backscatter" that would require no battery and could wirelessly transmit simple messages.

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14 Aug 21:10

How to Turn an Android Phone Into a Chromecast for Free with CheapCast

by Eric Ravenscraft

How to Turn an Android Phone Into a Chromecast for Free with CheapCast

When we looked at the Chromecast, we determined it was worth the $35. However, if you have an Android phone or tablet, you can turn it into a Chromecast for free with an app called CheapCast.

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14 Aug 19:34

London Startup Pocket Shop Launches 1-Hour Supermarket Delivery Service Powered By Local Pedestrian Pickers

by Natasha Lomas
PS-shoppers-shopping-aisle

Too time-strapped to get your grocery shopping in? Can’t face another dinner made from polenta and rice crackers, the two remaining foodstuffs in your cupboard? Bleeding to death because you keep cutting yourself shaving and forgetting to buy plasters? London startup Pocket Shop feels your pain. It’s just launched a one-hour supermarket delivery service so the chronically time-strapped/overworked don’t starve to death at their keyboards. Yes, it’s pretty similar to Instacart, but serving London — not San Francisco.

Pocket Shop’s delivery service is powered by a local network of pedestrian pickers who do the carrying on foot to cut carbon emissions and presumably keep costs (and time stuck in traffic) down. Power to the on-foot delivery people, as it were.

Supermarkets supported by the service at launch are Sainsbury’s and Tesco, with M&S and Waitrose listed as ‘coming soon’. However the exact options available to you will depend on where you live — I found my London postcode area only offers goods from Sainsbury’s, for instance.

Pocket Shop, which was founded last November out of London’s Forward Labs startup foundry (which has invested £300,000 in Pocket Shop), says it’s been trialling its service in North London before today, and has apparently managed to deliver 3,500 items thus far. As well as one-hour delivery, which costs £6.50, it also offers slightly cheaper two hour (£5.50 ) and three hour (£5.10) options.

These delivery costs are on top of a minimum order price of £20 — meaning the cheapest possible order with the service is currently £25.10. In addition, Pocket Shop’s prices are not the same as supermarket prices — it says it charges a mark-up on supermarket products, adding that its prices are comparable with convenience store prices — so this is very much a convenience-oriented service for the time-poor, not the cash-strapped. It does say it will add free delivery in future, on orders over a certain price threshold, and plans to incorporate some “major” supermarket offers, like two-for-ones. But make no mistake you are paying a premium for the convenience of getting your food faster.

The disruption here, aside from the offer of very speedy delivery, is to allow online grocery shoppers the luxury of not needing to plan ahead (albeit, at fairly steep cost). Supermarket online delivery services typically require choosing a delivery time-slot that’s at least a day out. Using a network of locally-based pedestrian as pickers gives Pocket Shop the ability to be that little bit faster — and thereby steal some of the supermarkets’ lunch (or that’s the idea).

Customers must currently order their shopping from Pocket Shop’s website but it has iOS and Android apps in the pipeline (due in “a few months”). The ordering system only allows customers to buy products that are available in the stores closest to their delivery location. Once they have sent in an order, Pocket Shop routes it to the closest picker to fulfill. (Another advantage it’s touting over using a supermarket’s own online delivery services is that Pocket Shop says it’s trained its staff to select only the best looking fruit and veg, not try and fob you off with any old rotten bananas.)

To keep its pickers quick, Pocket Shop has apparently created a dedicated app to guide them with the picking in-store and route them from the store to the customer. Its system also includes sending a text message to the customer when their order is on its way. Customers can also opt to receive a weekly restock reminder email if they want to set up a regular shop with the service.

Supermarkets’ own online delivery services can be a distinctly underwhelming experience — with goods ordered online frequently swapped out for substitute items if they are not available at the store where the order was made up (e.g. the cat’s favour brand of cat food being swapped for one they won’t eat). However Pocket Shop isn’t going to be able to avoid this issue, being as it’s relying on local stores for its inventory, as do many of the supermarket ecommerce services.

Indeed, substitutes may end up being even more frequent with Pocket Shop if your local store is small and frequently runs out of your preferred brand/item. According to its FAQ, pickers will “always” substitute a missing item with “the most suitable replacement”. So be prepared to get full-fat milk when you wanted semi-skimmed. The service also has to operate based on the local store opening hours — so if you want one-hour delivery at 3am and your local supermarket shuts at 11pm you’re going to be out of luck. (For that sort of delivery convenience you’ll need to relocate to New York.)

There’s also a “hard weight limit of around 15kg” per delivery, being as the shopping is being carried on foot. The startup says it’s  ”toying with using bikes” to allow it to cater for larger orders. As it’s also pushing the green angle of using on-foot deliveries these would presumably be bicycles, rather than motorbikes.

Pocket Shop currently has a team of 20 shoppers located around London to fulfil orders but says it’s in the process of moving to a crowdsourced model — “allowing our shoppers to cherry-pick the hours they want to work and deliver for us”.


14 Aug 19:33

Microsoft Acknowledges Outlook.com, Messenger, SkyDrive Outages

by Alex Wilhelm
2013-08-14_10h18_14

Having a hard time accessing your SkyDrive files or your email on Outlook.com? You are not alone, and Microsoft says that it is working on the issue.

The latest from Microsoft’s Live.com status board (remember Live.com?) is simple: Outlook.com, SkyDrive, and the ‘People’ services are all on the rocks at the moment. Some, such as ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, are not impacted by the issue. My account, for whatever it is worth, is also working.

However, Microsoft has officially noted the issues, stating that users “might not be able to see all [their] email messages.” And under the SkyDrive tab, it plainly notes that “services such as Hotmail, Messenger and SkyDrive are experiencing technical difficulties.”

Microsoft promises an update by 11 this morning, so we should know more soon.

This sort of issue is somewhat pedestrian and normal, provided that it doesn’t bang on for too long. So if Microsoft manages to right its server ship quickly, no worries. But if the outage continues for more than a few hours or so, it undermines Microsoft’s cloud premise that users should turn to hosted services over on-premise or on-desktop solutions.

Microsoft has put SkyDrive into an increasingly important position in the Windows environment, boosting its integration points in Windows 8.1 over an already intertwined Windows 8 experience. To have it go down is subpar.

For live updates on the status, head here. In the meantime, this will make you smile.

Top Image Credit: Todd Bishop


14 Aug 19:32

Amazon's Silk Web Browser Gets A Whole New Look

by Sarah Perez
kindle_carousel_20130718

Amazon’s Silk web browser, which comes built into Kindle Fire devices, has received its first major upgrade since September 2012, the company announced today. Though there have been steady under-the-hood improvements over time, this is the first release since last fall to introduce consumer-facing changes to the way the browser looks and behaves, including a new tutorial, redesigned tabs, better browser controls, simpler navigation options, and easier access to Silk’s Reading View feature.

One of the new features rolling out today has to do with how Silk appears to first-time users. Like many apps do today, the browser now launches with a brief tutorial to explain its features. Instead of screens you have to swipe through, Silk adopts the “overlay” interface which darkens the background to point out various navigational buttons like the Action Menu, Reading View, and Left Panel slider, for example, which is where users can view their Most Visited pages, Bookmarks, and History.

But one of the bigger changes, especially for current users, is Silk’s new Start page – something Amazon revamped based on user studies and feedback. Previously, this page featured links to users’ bookmarks and browsing history as well as a “Starter” section, which showed the most visited pages, trending pages across all Kindle Fire devices, and a list of “selected sites.” Some users didn’t care for the way what other people were surfing and reading on their Kindle Fires took up so much of their own new tab interface, and Amazon didn’t let users customize this screen, which was an annoyance, too. Not surprisingly, Amazon found that the “Most Visited” links and direct URL entry were the two most commonly used navigational options, so it has now made them more prominent in the new tab view.

The other links, like Trending section, Bookmarks, and History section are now tucked away off to the left side of the screen, which is also where you can access Settings. These pages received updates, too, with Bookmarks now offering two view modes: a single column of entries with thumbnails, or a grid view with larger thumbnails.

Other more subtle tweaks include performance improvements, a rounding of the tabs on the tab bar to make it easier for users to see where tabs stop and start, and updated browser controls. This includes making the Reading View (the view that strips out the related links, and ads to leave only the text) easier to find than before, as well as an improved full screen view.

Combined, the refreshed feature set makes for a notable overhaul of Silk’s browser, which has never really been one of the stronger mobile browsers out there –  at least in terms of its user interface – despite its long touted “cloud accelerated” underpinnings. That’s been frustrating since a good browser is a key component to any tablet experience, but even if you only use your Fire for reading, the browser is still needed in order to browse and checkout books from your local library’s website, in many cases.

The refreshed Silk browser is rolling out now, and Amazon has also published a Silk Developer Guide along with today’s release.


14 Aug 19:31

The Basics: Copying ringtones, notifications and alarm tones to your Android

by Jerry Hildenbrand

Transferring

Big, clunky desktop programs are a thing of the past when you're using an Android smartphone

For most people around these parts, not having to use a program like iTunes to copy files to and from your Android is a good thing. We're used to the ease of drag and drop, and for the most part, it works really well. But not everyone has a grasp on it, and the idea that a phone can act (more or less) like a thumb drive is a bit difficult to grasp.

We can't really blame anyone, the fruit companies (Apple and BlackBerry) pretty much conditioned people to using a dedicated program on their computer to interact with their phones. Whether or not it was easier makes no difference, it's what a lot of folks grew accustomed to. It's high time to change that, and we'll start with the most basic task of all — adding sounds you can use for ringtones, notification tones and alarm sounds.

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14 Aug 19:30

Middle Manager of Justice now available on Google Play, save the world from your cubicle

by Jerry Hildenbrand

Middle Manager of Justice.

Command your team to make the world a safer place, just like you learned to do in business school

The highly-touted game Middle Manager of Justice is now available for Android. It's a "save-the-world-because-you're-a-superhero" game with a big twist, because instead of honing your super powers and seeking out evil crime lords in a one on one setting, you're the department manager of the team.

You hire and assemble your team, and increase their skills by forcing asking them to do menial tasks around the office. When the time comes to go up against the forces of evil, you're in control of the action and your heros are at your command. It sounds a lot like the Android Central offices, but with more exercise and less foot long Subway sandwiches.

You fortress, err office, is customizable ala something from the Sims series. Deck things out the way you like, or to optimize training, or what ever silly scheme comes to mind. Irreverence and silliness abound in Middle Manager of Justice — and that's what makes it great.

You can find it for free (with the obligatory in-app purchases) in Google Play through the link above. If you download and run the game on a Tegra device, you'll have access to extra costumes for the Crimebot and @Man characters. It looks like a really fun time-waster, and a great way to spend the rest of the day. The trailer and some screenshots are after the break.

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14 Aug 16:27

RadioTimes.com Blocked By UK ISPs Due to “Rightsholder Error”

by Andy

To celebrate its 10th birthday, last Saturday The Pirate Bay released a new anti-censorship tool.

Called PirateBrowser, the tool allows Internet users to unblock websites that have been rendered inaccessible by governments, rightsholders and Internet service providers.

As of yesterday the software had been downloaded a highly impressive 100,000 times, a clear indication that people not only disapprove of website censorship but will also take measures to circumvent it.

While The Pirate Bay is highly censored in many countries, other sites are also affected, including the TV show-focused EZTV. That site was blanked out by the UK’s leading ISPs following a court order obtained by the MPA, and last week that particular blockade caused its first instance of collateral damage.

After EZTV experimented with its DNS settings pointing them at TorrentFreak.com, Sky Broadband’s systems automatically blocked the site, rendering it inaccessible to the ISP’s four million customers. The company eventually reversed the block, but despite the warnings it appears that yet another site has been wrongfully censored.

On Monday it was reported that RadioTimes.com, a TV scheduling site, had become unavailable to users of both Sky-owned Be Broadband and Virgin Media in the UK. Today there is confirmation that the problems were down to ISP anti-piracy filters failing again.

According to PC Pro, the problems were not caused by an EZTV-style DNS issue, but a long-feared problem – that sites with shared resources would be all fall victim to overbroad blocking.

An industry source confirmed that rightsholders did not check whether the IP address they called to be blocked was being shared by other sites. As a result, RadioTimes.com went down as collateral damage.

Neither Sky nor Virgin Media officially confirmed what had caused the problems, but did say that the blocks had now been lifted.

According to the Open Rights Group, Sky operate a blocking system codenamed “HawkEye”. Let’s hope the system can live up to name in future – with a little help from improved rightsholder caution.

Update: According to the BBC the problem lies at the feet of the Premier League. When trying to have an IP address of streaming sports site FirstRow Sports blocked by ISPs, the UK football outfit failed to notice that many other sites shared the same IP address.

Now the blame-game is on, with the Premier League blaming the ISPs for not indicating they had a problem with the block, and the ISPs insisting it’s the Premier League’s responsibility to ensure that the provided IP addresses only relate to blocked sites.

Protip: Both act responsibly and stop blocking sites without checking these things, it’s literally a two minute job.

Source: RadioTimes.com Blocked By UK ISPs Due to “Rightsholder Error”

14 Aug 16:24

More details emerge on Kim Dotcom’s NSA-proof email service

by Brad Reed
Kim Dotcom Mega Encrypted EmailWith secure email services such as Lavabit closing their doors, the fate of encrypted email may lie with the world's most infamous German-born New Zealand resident. ZDNet reports that Kim Dotcom and his Mega team are working on a new email service that will "run on its entirely non-U.S.-based server network" and will thus will be immune from pressure from the American government to comply with orders from the National Security Agency. However, Mega CEO Vikram Kumar tells ZDNet that the challenges of creating an intuitive email service with end-to-end encryption are more difficult than many might think.

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14 Aug 15:27

Samsung Wants You To Figure Out What To Do With Its Flexible Displays

by Darrell Etherington
flexible-display

Samsung is having a unique kind of contest, the company announced today, and it’s not the kind where someone walks away with a Galaxy S4. The Korean smartphone maker is asking people to submit ideas around what kind of devices to make with its flexible display technology. Have a hardware startup? Samsung wants you… to figure out what to do with their product.

Samsung is looking “to encourage designers, hardware engineers and entrepreneurs to begin thinking about future start-ups ideas using flexible display technology.” Winners are up for prizes that range from $2,500, to $5,000 and $10,000, for third, second and first place respectively, and the entries will be scored based on how important flexible displays are to the overall design, and how realistic and viable both the hardware and the business plan turn out to be.

Unfortunately, Samsung stipulates that teams won’t get any kind of firm details about when they might actually be able to get any prototype components should their idea be feasible enough to become real, nor will the company reveal anything around component pricing with regards to flexible displays to participating teams. Teams can create devices with displays ranging from 1-20 inches, with a max full-HD resolution of 1920×1080.

But if you are a hardware startup with a great idea you want to keep to yourself, and aren’t just looking to flex some design and engineering muscles in a semi-serious way, you might want to pay attention to this key bit of copy from the contest homepage:

Samsung is continuously innovating, and may develop information that is similar to materials submitted in this contest, so only non-confidential information should be submitted.

In other words, while this looks like an innocuous enough contest, it could actually be a way to crowdsource product ideas, or at least Samsung isn’t legally saying it isn’t that. But the company is likely more interested in encouraging potential supply customers and building a product pipeline for a new component than alienating hardware engineers and makers.

So as with virtually any contest asking for creative input, participate at your own risk, but hopefully this one will at least give us an idea what a future of consumer devices that use flexible displays could look like.


14 Aug 15:21

Google Maps easter egg transports you inside the Doctor's TARDIS

by Tom Warren

While Google is experimenting with self-driving carsballoon-powered internet, and wearable computing, it hasn't mastered the art of time travel just yet. That hasn't stopped the internet giant from trying. A recent addition to Google Maps Street View will transport you from a London street to a TARDIS straight out of Doctor Who. Inside is a full 360-degree view of a detailed replica of the Doctor's time machine.

The Easter egg can be accessed from this Google Maps link by clicking on the double-white arrows that appear in front of the police telephone box outside the Earl's Court subway station. If you're having trouble accessing it with the new Google Maps interface you can always head straight inside, but be warned you may end...

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14 Aug 15:20

Google+ dropping Messenger from mobile apps in favor of Hangouts

by Jacob Kastrenakes

Google's new chat service, Hangouts, was meant to unify the messaging experience across all of the company's services, and today it's getting a step closer to that by beginning to put an end to the now-redundant Messenger service on Google+. Messenger will be leaving Android in an update to the Google+ app that's rolling out today, and it'll be removed from the iOS app at a later date. Naturally, the retired service will be replaced by Hangouts on both platforms.

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14 Aug 15:16

And here's the full, high-res HTC Robert Downey Jr. commercial

by Phil Nickinson

Now that it's leaked, HTC's gone and released the full thing. Enjoy.


    






14 Aug 15:10

Don't Worry, Be Happy

by Bill Crider
14 Aug 15:06

Windows 8.1 to Be Released on October 17th as a Free Update

by Whitson Gordon

Mark your calendars, Windows users: Microsoft announced today that Windows 8.1 will officially be available on October 17th. It'll be a free update for Windows 8 users, available from the Windows Store. Check out our first look at Windows 8.1 to see what's coming, or check out Microsoft's official announcement for more.

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14 Aug 15:06

Make a Simple and Adjustable Tablet Stand from a CD Spindle

by Thorin Klosowski

Make a Simple and Adjustable Tablet Stand from a CD Spindle

Smartphone stands are a dime a dozen, but a solid tablet stand is slightly harder to DIY on the cheap. Instructables user ArvidJense decided the best approach was to modify an old CD spindle.

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13 Aug 23:17

Getty Museum's Open Content project makes 4,600 pieces of art freely available to download

by Nathan Ingraham

Much of the world's great artwork is tightly controlled, but the Getty Museum just announced a significant initiative to open things up — its new Open Content Program has made some 4,600 pieces of art from the museum's collection free to use. Users can visit the Getty Search Gateway to browse through the entire collection of high-resolution images, and they can all be used for commercial and non-commercial purposes so long as they're properly attributed to the museum. When downloading an image, the site also asks for you to share why you're using it — information the museum wants to see the many reasons that people have for downloading its content.

Amongst the many freely available pieces of art released by Getty are a number of...

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13 Aug 23:16

'Grand Theft Auto' teaser site shows off the dysfunctional world of Los Santos

by Nathan Ingraham

Rockstar Games has been slowly leaking out info about the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V for months now; most recently, the first gameplay trailer showed off the massive world based in the fictional city of Los Santos. Now, Rockstar is filling in the details of that world with a Los Santos tourism site that's filled with the over-the-top societal commentary that the Grand Theft Auto series is known for — alongside the game's ridiculous action sequences, of course. Perhaps the best example is the Los Santos political leadership page, which shows off the state's two loathsome gubernatorial candidates  — one a jock who literally gives voters the middle finger, the other a bleeding-heart liberal who wants a combined tax rate of...

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13 Aug 23:11

14-year-girl stands up to Monsanto shill

by Mark Frauenfelder

[Video Link] Kevin O’Leary, co-host of the CBC business news program The Lang and O’Leary Exchange uses every dirty trick in the book to try to derail an articulate 14-year-old girl named Rachel Parent, who advocates for GMO food labeling. Every time, the girl keeps her cool and stays on track.

The conversation got ugly when O’Leary accused Parent of being a “lobbyist” against GMOs and then equated her position of questioning GMOs to somehow supporting malnutrition and the death of children. Remaining cool-headed and composed throughout his harangue, Parent countered that people have a basic right to know what’s in our food and explained she has no vested interest in honest food labeling. She then highlighted the most basic facts for O'Leary: genetically engineered crops don’t actually out-produce organic crops, GMOs are treating human beings as lab rats, and consumers have a right to know what they're buying or eating.

TV Host Bully Shot Down By Cool 14-Year-Old Activist


    






13 Aug 23:08

Web filter at British Library: Sorry, Hamlet is too violent

by Cory Doctorow


The British Library is an instructive test-case as we ramp up for the Great Firewall of Cameron, whereby all British ISPs will have to opt all their customers into an "adult content" filter. The BL's new filter blocked Shakespeare's Hamlet for excessive violence. Because it's dead easy to get enough prudes to look at all the webpages and decide which ones to censor, right?

A spokesperson for the British Library said Hamlet had since been made accessible.

"The upgraded service has a web filter to ensure that inappropriate content cannot be viewed on-site," he added.

"We've received feedback from a number of users about sites which were blocked, but shouldn't have been. We're in the process of tweaking the service to unblock these sites."

Enjoy your time in the stables, Herc.

British Library's wi-fi service blocks 'violent' Hamlet [Joe Miller/BBC]

    






13 Aug 19:45

Roundup: Our Top Six Picks For Best New Game From July 2013

by Liam Spradlin

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Game library looking a little drab? You're in luck – we've (finally) got our roundup of the top six games from last month. After sifting through the Play Store's latest offerings from July, we've narrowed the field to just six can't-miss games, along with a few runners up.

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Tiny Thief

Tiny Thief, the first game to come out of Rovio Stars, is a game that's part puzzle, part stealth, and part adorable graphics, all combining to form a great game.

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Roundup: Our Top Six Picks For Best New Game From July 2013 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

    


13 Aug 14:42

Roundup: Our Top Five Favorite New Apps From July 2013

by Liam Spradlin

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It took us a little longer than usual this time, but we're finally back with a short selection of last month's best new apps. It wasn't easy to narrow them down, but those readers who don't have time, spare cash, or patience enough for our longer semi-weekly roundups can't go wrong with the five apps we've chosen. If, by some chance, none of the apps below suit your fancy, we've got plenty of runners up too.

Done With This Post? You Might Also Like These:

Roundup: Our Top Five Favorite New Apps From July 2013 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

    


13 Aug 13:05

Apple selling 'Lord of the Rings,' 'The Matrix' trilogy, and other complete series starting at $9.99

by Jacob Kastrenakes

Apple is hosting a sale on iTunes for many of the biggest blockbuster movie series around, and some of the deals may be too good to pass up. A number of complete film series are available for $9.99 as a digital box set, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Matrix trilogy, the Austin Powers trilogy, all four Lethal Weapon films, and — perhaps the best deal of the bunch — the complete eight-film Harry Potter series. For 10 dollars more, iTunes is also offering trilogies of The Godfather, Spider-ManBack to the Future, and Jurassic Park — though, you wouldn't be faulted for only wanting the original film when it comes to that last set anyway.

The movies are available at the same price for both their HD and SD versions,...

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