Culture Environmental

A CITY IN FLAMES: INSIDE DETROIT’S WAR ON ARSON

As reported on The Verge. By Jesse Hicks Understaffed and with few resources, Detroit-area firefighters battle a plague of abandoned, burning buildings For eight long years, the firefighters of Highland Park, Michigan, worked out of a warehouse. There was no red-bricked facade, no lanky Dalmatian. No freshly washed engines gleaming in the sun. No second-floor fire pole to descend in the dead of night to wailing sirens. Whatever idealized vision you have of firefighting, Highland Park…

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Business

The Twitter IPO By The Numbers

As reported on TechCrunch. by MATTHEW PANZARINO Here are some accumulated statistics from our scouring of the Twitter IPO filing for your perusal. The overall numbers show a company with good but slowing growth in users, solid revenue in mobile but no profit yet to show. Twitter is absolutely a mobile-friendly company, with some 75 percent of its monthly active users coming on portable devices. About 65 percent of its ad revenue comes from there, too, in sharp…

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Apple

Apple releases OS X Mavericks gold master to developers

As reported on Engadget. By Steve Dent Apple’s latest flavor of OS X, Mavericks, is just weeks away from landing on customers’ Macs, as the gold master has now been unleashed to the developer hordes. Though not a dramatic remake like iOS 7, it’ll bring a bring a facelift to such apps as Safari and Calendar, along with better energy management, easier networking, iOS notifications, improved multi-monitor support and more. Developers on AppleSeed also got new versions of iPhoto and Xcode, along with…

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Application

Zepp 3D motion sensor captures sports data, helps step up your swing

As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon  Activity trackers like FuelBand are great if you just want to exercise, but Zepp Labs’ new 3D motion sensor might be more useful if you’re seriously training in a sport — especially if it’s tennis, baseball or golf. A 1-inch square of negligible weight, the sensor captures data from each swing you make — so long as you attach it to a glove, racket or bat — then transmits info to its accompanying…

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Art Automotive

The Most Incredible Custom Motorcycles of 2013

As reported on Wired. BY DAMON LAVRINC Few machines are as ripe for customization as motorcycles. They’re pure mechanical simplicity. Two wheels, an engine, a transmission, some brakes and handlebars, and endless possibilities. Go to any motorcycle race and walk through the parking lot. You won’t find two bikes that are exactly alike. If dogs are a facsimile of their owners, motorcycles are their two-wheeled equivalent. Nobody understands this better than Chris Hunter. He’s the editor…

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Environmental News

Another Fukushima mishap leaks highly radioactive water into Pacific

As reported on The Verge. By Amar Toor TEPCO comes under fire from Japanese authorities after second breach in less than two months Radioactive water leaked out of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant late Wednesday and has likely spilled into the Pacific Ocean, authorities announced today. As Reuters reports, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) discovered that contaminated water was overflowing from a storage tank yesterday, and officials estimate that more than 100 gallons may have leaked…

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Environmental

Lake of doom: deadly waterway calcifies any animal that dares to dive in

As reported on The Verge. By Katie Drummond Sometimes, truth is indeed more terrifying than fiction. In what could easily make for prime horror film fodder, a renowned photographer has captured stunning images of wildlife calcified by the caustic waters of a deadly Tanzanian lake. Nick Brandt, well-known for his photography of East Africa’s natural landscape, came across Tanzania’s Lake Natron during his travels. And as his ensuing photos demonstrate, this isn’t any ordinary body of…

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Application Entertainment

Netflix brings HD video and AirPlay streaming to iPhone, iPad

As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler Netflix brought 1080p streaming to Android 4.3 this summer, and now iPhone / iPad users can experience HD streams as well, provided they’ve updated to iOS 7. Another new feature in the latest update is support for AirPlay streaming (if you prefer that to using the Apple TV’s built-in app, it also means disabling AirPlay mirroring and requires iOS 7), along with other miscellaneous fixes. Hit the link below to…

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Legal

Samsung may have spied on sealed Apple-Nokia documents to aid patent deals

As reported on Engadget. By Steve Dent If you’re going to horse-trade on patents, it might help to know how much other companies have paid for them, no? Samsung has now been accused of corporate spying for exactly that purpose. The company’s legal negotiator, Dr. Seungho Ahn, apparently told Nokia that its terms with Apple “were known to him,” despite the fact they were marked “highly confidential — attorneys’ eyes only.” This means they should have been for…

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Article

In-Depth Photos of Mexico’s Cartel Violence Go Beyond the Bodies

As reported on Wired. BY JAKOB SCHILLER Tens of thousands of young people from the #yosoy132 movement and other civil society organizations marched in Mexico City to protest what they consider a “large number of anomalies, electoral crimes and violent acts” one day after the general elections for president. In the image, youth express their dissatisfaction with the PRI’s national executive committee. Mexico City. July 2, 2012. Members of the student movement #yosoy132 gather in the…

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