Environmental Random

Rogue Queens, Sex-Changing Fish, and Rain-Making Bacteria: Nature’s Weirdest Life Cycles

As reported on Wired. BY BRANDON KEIM The word ‘unnatural’ is often used to describe what’s considered weird or unusual. But is anything weirder than nature? Just look at 17-year cicadas, poised to flood the U.S. East Coast after having stayed underground since Bill Clinton was President. And cicadas are just the start: Biology abounds with creatures that change shape, change sex, change locations and in some cases cause other creatures to do these things. It’s a strange,…

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Government

FBI ran child porn site for two weeks in attempt to identify over 5,000 pedophiles

As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris DON’T MISS STORIES FOLLOW THE VERGE The FBI kept a site facilitating the viewing and sharing of child pornography for two weeks to try and catch pedophiles. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the agency raided what it describes as a bulletin board-type site back in November. Rather than shutting it down, investigators kept it open in the hope of identifying its users. The paper notes that while FBI agents have posed…

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Google

Using Google Glass: at the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600

As reported on The Verge. By Nilay Patel A day in the life of a hungover cyborg I am not a shy man. I stood in the bathroom of my hotel room in Indianapolis, repeating those words to myself in the mirror. I needed to find courage in those words. I needed to find resolve. I needed to find the strength to walk downstairs to the hotel bar wearing Google Glass. I was also slightly worried…

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Application

The New York Times’ Mobile Guide ‘The Scoop’ Gets A Citi Bike-Sponsored Update

As reported on TechCrunch. by ANTHONY HA With today’s update to its iPhone app The Scoop, The New York Times may have accomplished something that advertisers and publishers often boast about but rarely achieve — it may have found a genuinely useful way to incorporate sponsored content. And the update isn’t only relevant to New Yorkers (who can actually take advantage of The Scoop’s recommendations for the best restaurants, bars, coffee shops and more), but also to observers of…

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Google

Google+ App For iOS Updated With New Automatic Photo Features, Hashtags And In-Stream Google Offer Posts

As reported on TechCrunch. by DARRELL ETHERINGTON Google unleashed a slew of updates to its Google+ social networking service at I/O earlier this month, and now a bunch of those new features are making it to the iOS app for Google+. The update follows the Android version, which arrived last week, and brings tons of new things to the version on Apple mobile devices, including Auto Backup, Highlight, Enhance and Awesome features for photos, hashtags that curate related content…

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Science

This DIY Super Laser Can Cut Through A Ping Pong Ball

As reported on TechCrunch. by JOHN BIGGS There are few things as satisfying – and dangerous – as burning through stuff with a laser. Drake Anthony AKA Styropyro is a young man who enjoys making DIY lasers out of things, and he recently completed a 3000mW laser made from the diode of an old DLP projector that can blow out a beam so hot that it burns paper, plastic, and electric tape in seconds. Considering the most powerful…

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Apple Legal

Apple agrees to $53 million settlement for some iPhones, iPods denied warranty coverage

As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler Documents have been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for a $53 million settlement between Apple and customers denied warranty coverage on their iPods and iPhones due to water damage. The case is due to Apple’s policy not to extend warranty coverage on devices where the indicator tape inside them showed exposure to liquids, however plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit argued the indicator…

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Application

Spotify Discover launches for all with integration from Songkick, Pitchfork and more

As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler Spotify is making another push to help its users find more music they’re interested in listening to, and find out more about the artists they like by making its “Discover” feature available to all. Initially shown off late last year, this page combines several elements that have already been a part of the music service, including apps like Pitchfork, Songkick and Tunigo with its song recommendations and followed artist pages.…

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