firehose

Keurig’s copyrighted coffee has been hacked again – this time with just a pair of scissors and a bit of tape. The coffee machine maker (purchased by Green Mountain in 2006) attracted the ire of both consumers and rivals earlier this year after it unveiled a coffee pod machine with digital rights management (DRM) that blocks cheaper, third-party pods.

Keurig sells its machines at cost to make money on the refills

This approach makes a certain amount of sense from a corporate perspective but is aggravating for consumers. Like the printer manufacturers that sell their machines at near cost in order to make a killing off the refills, Keurig is relying on customers not having the time or know-how to circumvent their system. Unfortunately for them, coffee-drinkers are nothing if not determined.

The first chink in the DRM armor was revealed back in August when a rival company introduced Keurig-compatible coffee pods, but this latest hack is far simpler and much more comprehensive. The video above demonstrates the method to the tune of Darth Vader’s theme from Star Wars, with our anonymous rebel simply cutting out the identifying tag from an official pod and taping it up inside the machine to fool the scanners. "It’s an older coffee pod," thinks the machine, "but it checks out."

Google+ is introducing "infinite" ways to define gender, letting users describe themselves using whichever terms they feel comfortable with rather than relying on the ternary ‘Male’, ‘Female’, or ‘Other’ system.

"Now the gender field on your profile will contain four entries, ‘Male,’ ‘Female,’ ‘Decline to state,’ and ‘Custom.’" writes Google software engineer Rachel Bennett. "When "Custom" is selected, a freeform text field and a pronoun field will appear. You can still limit who can see your gender, just like you can now."

The new gender options follow Facebook's lead earlier this year

The move follows Facebook’s launch of custom gender options earlier this year, with the rival social network introducing more than 70 different gender definitions (including less well-known terms such as ‘Gender Fluid’ and ‘Non-binary’) to better embrace its varied userbase.

A screenshot of the new gender options on Google+

To many users these sorts of changes will go completely unnoticed, but to those individuals that don't conform to the expected definitions, a slight tweak to a drop-down menu can make the difference between feeling rejected and welcomed. More than ever now, social networks play a powerful role in defining society's norms: giving people the option to define their gender for themselves is the least we can do.

The great clickwheel in the sky just keeps on a-turnin’ as, three months after Apple quietly killed off the iPod Classic, the discontinued media players are being sold for hugely inflated prices online. Besides being an elegant solution for ironic flip phone types who are too lazy to commit to cassette tapes, the iPod Classic is notable for its massive amount of storage space—up to 160GB on the seventh-generation model—which makes it desirable to music lovers with huge digital libraries. (The iPod with the biggest capacity currently in production is the iPod Touch, which has 64GB of flash storage.)

As part of the continued dilution of the word “vintage,” a quick search of eBay reveals that new, factory-sealed iPod Classics are being sold for up to $899.99 apiece on the auction site, some labeled “VINTAGE” or “RARE.” Prices on Amazon are relatively more reasonable, with a black ...

One of the founders of The Pirate Bay (TPB) has bid good riddance to the site that he helped build a decade ago, which may have been definitively shuttered this week.

In a Tuesday blog post, Peter Sunde, who was released last month after having served five months in a Swedish prison for his role in aiding copyright infringement via The Pirate Bay, wrote:

TPB has become an institution that people just expected to be there. No one willing to take the technology further. The site was ugly, full of bugs, old code and old design. It never changed except for one thing – the ads. More and more ads was filling the site, and somehow when it felt unimaginable to make these ads more distasteful they somehow ended up even worse.

The original deal with TPB was to close it down on its tenth birthday. Instead, on that birthday, there was a party in its "honour" in Stockholm. It was sponsored by some sexist company that sent young girls, dressed in almost no clothes, to hand out freebies to potential customers. There was a ticket price to get in, automatically excluding people with no money. The party had a set lineup with artists, scenes and so on, instead of just asking the people coming to bring the content. Everything went against the ideals that I worked for during my time as part of TPB.

Sunde did not respond to Ars’ request for further comment.

This week's New Booze is a random selection of flavored ingredients, from barrel-aged bitters to vanilla-flavored bourbon to coffee flavored sambuca. 

Peychaud’s Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters

The Sazerac Company announces Peychaud’s Whiskey Barrel-Aged Cocktail Bitters. Aged in Sazerac Rye Whiskey barrels for 140 days, the bitters are a marriage of the classic Peychaud’s bitters with the spicy undertones of Sazerac Rye Whiskey.

The roots of Peychaud’s Bitters has a long history, starting in the early 1800s, when Antoine Amedie Peychaud, an apothecary, gained fame in New Orleans for the compounding of a liquid tonic called bitters. These bitters gave an added zest to the potions of cognac brandy he served to his friends and acquaintances in his pharmacy. By the 1870s, as American Rye Whiskey became more popular and more readily available in New Orleans, Peychaud added his bitters to Rye cocktails while working at the Sazerac Coffeehouse in the French Quarter.

The Sazerac Company will begin selling limited quantities of these bitters in select markets and via the online gift shop at www.thesazeracgiftshop.com, starting in November. The suggested retail pricing for a five ounce bottle is $16.99.

Molinari Caffè

Molinari, noted for Molinari Sambuca Extra, the number one selling Sambuca in the world, and Van Gogh Imports, one of North America’s premier spirits importers, reintroduce Molinari Caffè to the United States. The coffee liqueur’s new formulation delivers lower alcohol content and a more robust coffee flavor.

Molinari Caffè combines Molinari Sambuca Extra with a blend of coffees and other ingredients. The product gets its dark color from a blend of 100% Italian-roasted Arabica beans from Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, as well as Robusta coffee beans from Java, Togo and Congo. The liqueur is blended with a secret mixture of herbs and spices giving the brand its flavor of anise. Molinari Caffè is produced without any artificial colors or flavors and as with all products in the Molinari portfolio, all ingredients are all-natural and never GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). 

Molinari Caffè is now available nationwide at a suggested retail price: $25.99/750ml

For more information, please visit http://www.vangoghimports.com/our-portfolio/brand/molinari-sambuca/.

Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Vanilla Bean Infused Whiskey

A. Smith Bowman Distillery announces the last release in its Abraham Bowman line for 2014, the Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Vanilla Bean Infused Whiskey. This new whiskey was aged a total of seven years and six months in the barrel.

Barrels of A. Smith Bowman bourbon were infused with chopped up Madagascar vanilla beans in October of 2012. After a little over two years, all of the barrels were married together for bottling.

The Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Vanilla Bean Infused Whiskey is part of a series of limited edition whiskies, named after Abraham Bowman, the commander of the 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolutionary War. Each edition of the Abraham line is a different expression and a new release is offered a few times a year. The Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Vanilla Bean Infused Whiskey went on sale at the end of November. However, quantity is very limited and it will mostly be available only in Virginia. It is 90 proof. Suggested retail pricing is $69.99.

For more information on A. Smith Bowman, please visit www.asmithbowman.com.

Bittermilk No. 6 Oaxacan Old Fashioned

Charleston, SC based Bittermilk, has unveiled its next product—the No. 6 Oaxacan Old Fashioned. No. 6 is a celebration of the flavors of Oaxaca, Mexico using dried Mexican chilies, cocoa nibs and spices, sweetened with raisins and aged with cocoa husks. The Oaxacan is best mixed with Mezcal, a distilled alcoholic spirit made from the maguey plant. Mezcal, the source of inspiration for the product, is produced in Oaxaca, Mexico, a Pacific-coast state in southern Mexico, as well as in other regions of Mexico.

The No. 6 is the third Old Fashioned-style product in the line. The bittering agents are cinchona bark and cocoa nibs, the latter of which is another important ingredient in Oaxacan cuisine. Mezcal, with its strong smoky flavor, is all that is needed to create a warmly spiced drink great for the crisp days of fall.


Bittermilk No. 6 Oaxacan Old Fashioned will be available via their website and in a variety of the retailers across the country already selling the product lines. To learn more about Bittermilk, visit http://bittermilk.com/ or follow on Twitter @DrinkBittermilk.

Langley's No. 8 Gin Imported to the USA

Made with 100 percent English grain spirit, Langley’s No. 8 is distilled in a small, English-made, 53-year-old copper pot still named Constance, and nicknamed “Connie,” in honor of the Master Distiller’s late mother. The brand name was inspired by the eighth of 12 gin blends tasted by its crafters.

Langley’s No. 8 is made with a blend of eight botanicals, including juniper berries from Macedonia, coriander seeds from Bulgaria, sweet orange peel and sweet lemon peel from Spain, cassia bark from Indonesia, and ground nutmeg from Sri Lanka. The final two ingredients are a secret.

Langley's No. 8 Gin is imported from England by the Artisan Spirits division of Terlato Wines. It is bottles at 41.7% ABV and sold at a suggested retail price of $42.

New Tequilas Released from Dobel and Suerte

New Booze: Vodka in Flavors of Bergmaont, Black Pepper, Pineapple and More

Eight New Drink Books On Whiskey, Brandy, Cocktails, and History

Four New Whiskies: Two Vintage Recreations, One Orphan, and One Rye

New Booze: Six New Cognacs Hit the States, All of Them Expensive

I'm a letter carrier for the USPS in the Portland, OR area. We just had a meeting this morning where we're basically being told to deliver all Amazon packages whether or not it's safe to do so.

Normally we use our discretion. Whether we don't think it's safe or the recipients would rather pick it up from the post office, we would simply leave a notice if no one was home. Now, at least for Amazon packages, we won't be doing that anymore. They will be delivered and left there, even if your front door is directly on a busy street.

Just wanted to get that out there as we go into this holiday season.

Edit: To clarify, we're obeying Amazon's orders. They want us to leave their packages.

Edit 2: Thanks for the gold kind stranger!