Tech NewsTech News

Social Networks Make You Feel Like You’re Missing Everything

Rashid Soomro — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:35:24 +0000

In theory, social networks are supposed to make you feel closer to everybody. Oh, look! Jim is driving a tractor on Instagram. Wow, Sarah just invited me to her baby shower on Facebook. But the truth is, social networks do […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

A Congressional investigation found that Apple has avoided BILLIONS in taxes.

Rashid Soomro — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:35:22 +0000

A Congressional investigation found that Apple has avoided BILLIONS in taxes. Senator John McCain said, “Apple claims to be the largest U.S. corporate taxpayer, but by sheer size and scale, it is also among America’s largest tax avoiders.” [NY Times] […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

A Former Subway Worker Made a Breakthrough Discovery in Math

Rashid Soomro — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:35:20 +0000

A completely unknown guy in the world of math has made a breakthrough discovery that will help us understand numbers better. Basically, a guy who once struggled to find a job and had to work at Subway, is helping math […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Aiming To Dominate Mobile Ad Attribution, HasOffers Raises $9.4M Round Led By Accel

Rashid Soomro — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:35:17 +0000

HasOffers, a startup that helps mobile app developers see which ad efforts are actually paying off, is announcing that it has raised a $9.4 million round of funding led by Accel Partners. The company was founded in 2009 — the […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Real-Time Parking Startup ParkMe Launches An Android App

Rashid Soomro — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:35:13 +0000

Real-time parking startup ParkMe wants to help find you parking — in real-time. The company, which originally started out on the Web, has been making a big push behind mobile apps, which is really smart, because most times when you’re […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

MavenSay Enjoying Sudden Popularity In Social Media-Hungry Indonesia

Rashid Soomro — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:35:11 +0000

MavenSay, a social recommendation app, just got a surge of unplanned downloads coming from Indonesia, and its founders are moving quickly to include Southeast Asia in its expansion plans, as a result. The company’s Toronto-based co-founder, Jesse Dallal, said the […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Congress asks Google if and how it’s protecting privacy with Glass

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:21 +0000

The US Congress on Thursday sent Google a letter [PDF] listing eight specific privacy areas concerning Glass that legislators would like to know quite a bit more about. Congress members aren’t the only ones. Since the emergence of Glass – […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Limelight: Share Your Carefully Crafted Movie Collection With the World

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:17 +0000

S Nearly everyone and their grandmother has at least some sort of streaming service at their fingertips—or at the very least, they have a streaming service that someone is letting them mooch off of. But despite the prominence of Netflix, […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

New Flickr Walkthrough: So Pretty, So Much, So Free

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:10 +0000

After languishing for years as a neglected acquisition, Flickr has finally been given the jumpstart it so desperately needed and deserved. As of right now, not only to you get a free terabyte of storage and extremely high res photo […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Shanzhai Biennial: Dark Optimism

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:08 +0000

This song, like the dress and the woman wearing it, is the sincerest form of flattery. In that they’re all shameless knockoffs. Everything about this music video from Shanzhai Biennial, a trio of artists—Cyril Duval, Babak Radboy and Avena Gallagher—posing […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Flickr Announces One Free Terabyte Of Storage Space Per User, Officially Beating Everyone

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:06 +0000

Yahoo’s Flickr photo-sharing service is now offering one full terabyte for users, enough storage space to hold whole swathes of the world’s photos. The service is offering this benefit in addition to its full resolution photo storage service. While the […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Yahoo’s Unwatchable Live Stream Proves Its Next Acquisition Should Be A Proper Video Platform

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:05 +0000

It’s easy to forget that Yahoo has had a long on-again-off-again love affair with online video. Remember Broadcast.com, which kicked off the Mark Cuban Era? But you might not remember that, because other online video platforms long ago left Yahoo […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Yahoo Drops Flickr Pro To Compete With Facebook, Still Offers Two Paid Tiers For Ad Haters And Power Users

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:35:02 +0000

The bookend to Yahoo’s Big News Day — a major refresh of its photo sharing site Flickr — will see the company drop its Flickr Pro pricing tiers as part of a bid to compete better with Facebook/Instagram and the […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Inside the "PlugX" malware with SophosLabs

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:23 +0000

Join SophosLabs Principal Researcher Gabor Szappanos (Szappi) as he takes you on a fascinating journey into the PlugX malware factory. This is a malware family that keeps evolving as the criminals in charge of it churn out new variants. Just […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

22 million user IDs may be in the hands of hackers, after Yahoo Japan security breach

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:19 +0000

The call has gone out to Yahoo Japan’s 200 million users to change their passwords, after the company warned that it suspected hackers had managed to access a file containing 22 million user IDs. Yahoo Japan says that it detected […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Blogger threatened with $1 billion suit for writing about allegedly predatory publisher

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:16 +0000

Jeffrey Beall, a US academic librarian who uses his Scholarly Open Access blog to write about publishers’ dubious practices, is being threatened with a $1 billion lawsuit by an Indian publishing group. Beall keeps a running list, known as “Beall’s […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

The Next Xbox: Everything We Think We Know

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:13 +0000

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How a Trumpet Works Explained In One Animated GIF

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:12 +0000

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Hacked Brainwave Headset Lets You Control Architecture by Thinking

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:10 +0000

In the age of ubiquitous computing, we’ve grown fairly used to infrastructure, objects, and even furniture that adapt to the presence of humans. But what if you could control the behavior of a wall or room simply by thinking harder? […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Amazon Studios Picks Up “Alpha House” Comedy Series Starring John Goodman, Gives “Zombieland” The Axe

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:00 +0000

In the wake of releasing eight comedy series pilots into the wild last month, Amazon is starting to make decisions concerning which pilots will be purchased for development and which will get the axe. According to Reuters, the company has […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Study: Free Computers Don’t Close The Rich-Poor Education Gap

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:33:56 +0000

According to a new study, we really don’t have to worry too much about the nearly 1 in 4 children without access to FarmVille at home. “Our results indicate that computer ownership alone is unlikely to have much of an […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Tumblr Updates iOS App With New Path-Like Interface

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:33:53 +0000

Tumblr is still shipping. Despite all the noise surrounding the Yahoo-Tumblr acquisition, the company has just pushed out an update to its iOS application introducing a new user interface that now includes the almost Path-like post chooser, previously introduced in the […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

A leaked memo suggests that Nook Simple Touch e-readers will be getting a software update next week

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:49 +0000

A leaked memo suggests that Nook Simple Touch e-readers will be getting a software update next week that equips them with a web browser and email client. Article source: Gizmodo

Bacteria Never Looked So Beautiful

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:43 +0000

Think of bacteria, and you probably think of illness, infection, and other unpleasantries. But this picture shows that they have a beautiful side after all. A contender in the Art of Science competition run by Princeton University, this picture depicts […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Samsung has announced it’s got a new 13.3-inch display with a staggering 3200 x 1800 resolution read

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:41 +0000

Samsung has announced it’s got a new 13.3-inch display with a staggering 3200 x 1800 resolution ready to plop into new Ultrabooks. Take that, MacBook Retina and Chromebook Pixel. Article source: Gizmodo

Bloom.fm Is A Mobile-First Music Streaming Service That’s Playing To A Different Tune

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:39 +0000

The news that Google has launched its own all-you-can-eat music steaming service, catchily named ‘Google Play Music All Access‘, didn’t come as a surprise. There had been rumours that the search giant was planning to create a Spotify/Rdio/Deezer competitor for […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Headcast, A Mobile Broadcast Platform For Celebrities’ & Brands’ Avatars To Talk To Fans, Launches On iOS, Backed By Stephen Fry

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:37 +0000

There’s no shortage of channels for brands and celebrities to stay in touch with their customers, followers and fans in these socially connected times — whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, YouTube, you name it. Of course, that doesn’t […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Mobile Ad Startup Adelphic Hires WPP’s Michael Collins As CEO

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:34 +0000

Adelphic is announcing that Michael Collins (pictured), previously global CEO at WPP-owned mobile marketing agency Joule, has joined the mobile ad startup as its new chief executive. The current CEO Changfeng Wang will remain on-board as CTO. Wang and his […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

YouTube Turns Eight Today

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:32:36 +0000

The youtube.com domain name was activated on February 14, 2005, and the first public preview of the site went live eight years ago today. So…birthday! More than 100 hours or about four days-worth of video is uploaded to the site […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

A 6,000-Mile Panorama Of The Earth Is Pretty Beast

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:32:34 +0000

In April NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission took a huge panorama. From 438 miles above the Earth, the satellite shot a 6,000-mile-long, 120-mile-wide strip of planet from Russia to South Africa. It is aptly named ‘The Long Swath.’ Oh and […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Pinhole Cameras That Are Actually Meant To Be Used

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:32:32 +0000

If you’ve been searching for a pinhole camera to enjoy and then pass on to your children, you’re in luck. Industrial designer and carpenter Elvis Halilović has created a beautiful line of handmade pinhole cameras. Wait, you haven’t been looking […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

BrandYourself Upgrades Its Online Reputation Tools With A Full-Service Concierge Feature

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:32:30 +0000

BrandYourself is expanding its efforts to take on the big names in the online reputation market (particularly Reputation.com) with the launch of a new version of its service. The company started out as a fairly simple self-service tool for trying […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

The New “Handmade”

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:32:27 +0000

Amid grumblings of a “general fatigue” when it comes to software-based startups, a potentially transformative technology called 3D printing is poised to reach critical mass and mainstream awareness. Today’s news headlines about the technology tend to focus on the extreme […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Pinterest Launches Pins With More Info And A New Button For Mobile Apps

Rashid Soomro — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:32:23 +0000

Pinterest announced two new features today that will help make the Web site more attractive for potential advertisers. The first is pins embedded with additional information about products, recipes and movies. The second is a Pin It button that is […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Want To Buy A 1950s Humanoid Robot?

Rashid Soomro — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:44 +0000

Sometimes it’s important to just take a moment and reflect on life. It can be a real relief to let go of technology for a moment and think about something else. History maybe. And there’s no better way to slow […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Gizmodo and Adhocracy: A Night of Great Conversation at the New Museum

Rashid Soomro — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:43 +0000

Over the past year, we’ve thrown a brisket party, a Faux Loko party, and a planetarium party. And on Friday, after we announced some very big news about our new Editor in Chief, we added another unusual party to our […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

It Takes An Earworm To Memorize The Periodic Table

Rashid Soomro — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:26 +0000

Fair warning, this video is an illustrated version of the periodic table set to The Can-Can. There are consequences to watching. But hopefully one of them is that you learn all the chemical elements in order without even trying. Which […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Leaked Memo Shows Barnes & Noble Bringing Web Browser And Email To Simple Touch eReaders In June

Rashid Soomro — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:24 +0000

An upcoming update will bring a web browser, email and update store app to Barnes Noble’s super affordable Nook Simple Touch line of e-readers, which will begin rolling out June 1 according to a source close to the matter who […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

Acrobotics Wants To Kickstart Smarter Cities With Its Smart Citizen Environment Sensors

Rashid Soomro — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:22 +0000

There’s plenty of buzz about the concept of making our cities “smarter” — that is, loading them up with sensors and data-driven services to improve efficiency and quality of life. Hell, even Google has taken to loading up its event […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

An Interview With Dr. Joshua Pearce Of Printers For Peace

Rashid Soomro — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:19 +0000

Joshua Pearce, PhD, is a researcher at Michigan Tech who rearches open source and low-impact solutions to engineering problems. He is also the founder of the Printers For Peace contest, an effort to bring together clever 3D-printed ideas that have […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...