Government Local

White House close to backing FBI’s wiretap backdoor proposal, says NYT

As reported on The Verge. By Jeff Blagdon The White House is reportedly close to backing an FBI plan that would simplify online wiretapping by providing for significant fines against web services that refuse law enforcement requests. The New York Times reports that companies could face fines of up to $25,000 day if they fail to comply with judge-issued wiretap orders.   COMPANIES ARE ABLE TO CLAIM THEY CAN’T IMPLEMENT A WIRETAP Citing officials familiar with the deliberations, The Times reports that while…

Continue reading

Application Google

Google Maps Said To Be Getting A Facelift That Could Appear At Google I/O

As reported on TechCrunch. by CHRIS VELAZCO Google’s bound to pull back the curtain on some goodies at its annual I/O conference next week (though it’s being characteristically quiet about the whole thing), but could a redesigned version of Google Maps be one of them? That’s what the folks at the (completely unofficial) Google Operating System blog hint at — they’ve come into possession of a pair of screenshots that supposedly depict Google’s new approach to mapping, and…

Continue reading

Business

New Database Reveals Adjacent Hospitals Charging $200,000 Difference For Same Procedure

As reported on TechCrunch. by GREGORY FERENSTEIN A new federal database of hospital prices shows a massive disparity in medical costs. “Average inpatient charges for services a hospital may provide in connection with a joint replacement range from a low of $5,300 at a hospital in Ada, Oklahoma, to a high of $223,000 at a hospital in Monterey Park, California. Even within the same geographic area,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who spearheaded a new transparency…

Continue reading

Business Tablet

Tablet Purchases To Drive Mobile Content Revenues To $65BN In 2016, Up From $40BN+ In 2013, Says Juniper

As reported on TechCrunch. by NATASHA LOMAS As tablet ownership and usage continues its upward trajectory, little surprise that more people are expected to be paying for more stuff on tablets in the coming years. But analyst Juniper Research has put out a new mobile content revenue forecast predicting that purchases on tablets will be the primary engine for growth — ergo: beating out smartphones — in the mobile content market over the next three years. The analyst expects annual revenue generated from…

Continue reading

Google

Google Hangouts On Air updated with live broadcast rewinding and instant YouTube uploads

As reported on Engadget. By Mark Hearn Did helping granny set up that Netflix account cause you to be late to your friend’s big On Air Hangout? What would’ve been a calamity last week is but a minor hitch now. Earlier today, Google updated its live video streaming service with a new set of “highly requested” features. In addition to restarting a broadcast at will, recordings are now available on YouTube immediately after an On Air Hangout ends. As…

Continue reading

Photography

Stop Faking the Funk and Go Make a Picture

As reported on Wired. BY JAKOB SCHILLER Feature on NFL Minnesota Viking Jared Allen for MAXIM. Breaking Bad actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul for NEWSWEEK/Daily Beast. Photographed on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Feature for Field & Stream on Ville Platte, Squirrel Town USA. Feature on 60 million dollar High School football stadium in Allen, Texas. Photographed for ESPN the Magazine. Sniper School photographed for MAXIM. Lyle Lovett for GQ. Basketball guru turned ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy photographed at his home in Houston, Texas forMen’s…

Continue reading

Application Excersize

Fitbit Flex review

As reported on The Verge. By David Pierce Whipping you into shape one step at a time For a little over a month, I’ve been getting off my subway one stop early and walking the rest of the way home. I’ve been playing soccer twice a week, and trying to drink eight glasses of water every day. I’ve been running more, eating better, but still not sleeping nearly enough.     I’ve been testing the Fitbit…

Continue reading

Application Business

Adobe Photoshop and Creative Suite to become subscription-only products

As reported on The Verge. By Jacob Kastrenakes  Camera shake reduction comes to Photoshop, Adobe upgrades and rebrands entire Creative Suite Adobe is making a major move into the cloud. The company has just announced the next version of its flagship digital editing tools, Creative Suite, and for the first time the new products will only be available through the company’s online subscription service. Adobe previously offered standalone editions of each product, which users could choose to…

Continue reading

Google

Since Photos Are Boring Without Filters, Glassagram Will Spice Up Your Google Glass Pics

As reported on TechCrunch. by DREW OLANOFF Thanks to Instagram, we rarely see photos taken from camera phones without some type of filter on it. Even Twitter’s photo service uses Aviary to drop an earthy overlay or black-and-white treatment onto your digital masterpiece. Google Glass users aren’t going to be left out of this craze thanks to an app aptly namedGlassagram. Again, this is the type of app that we’re seeing early on, consisting of the…

Continue reading

Culture

What You Need To Know About The Liberator 3D-Printed Pistol

As reported on TechCrunch. by JOHN BIGGS Now that we have confirmation that the Liberator 3D-printed pistol can be fired without destroying the body, let’s address what this means for 3D printed weapons and, presumably, homemade weapons in general. Does the pistol work? Yes, it can be fired at least once without damage to the body of the gun or the person at the trigger. Andy Greenberg at Forbes has seen the gun fire multiple times and the video above shows…

Continue reading