Author: admin

Environmental

Dogtown: Detroit’s latest challenge is thousands of stray dogs

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As reported on The Verge. By Russell Brandom Detroit’s recent bankruptcy has exacerbated an old problem: stray dogs. A new Bloomberg report estimates there could be as many as 50,000 stray dogs roaming the streets of Detroit, roughly one for every 14 citizens. The problem is particularly severe because of the city’s large number of abandoned homes, which the head of animal control says is “as if you designed a situation that causes dog problems.” Detroit currently houses only…

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Microsoft

Microsoft’s Next Era

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As reported on TechCrunch. by AARON LEVIE Editor’s note: Aaron Levie is CEO and co-founder of Box. Follow him on Twitter @levie. Moments like this happen only once a generation in the technology industry. The announcement of Steve Ballmer’s retirement from his post as CEO of Microsoft puts an end to one of the most powerful and interesting “regimes” in technology history. Symbolically, this is likely the closing chapter of an era that was led by Bill Gates, then collectively…

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Apple

When Apple Did Color Because It Was Delicious, Exciting, And Human

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As reported on TechCrunch. by ELIZA BROOKE You know what they say about trends: wait five years and they’ll swing back around again. With confirmation that a a gold iPhone 5s will indeed break onto the scene in September to throw a crimp into Apple’s monochromatic streak (madness! Gold rush jokes!), let’s take a look back at all those times that the company did color and did it well. While Apple is known for a clean, pared-down aesthetic…

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Microsoft

Switched On: Windows ReTried

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As reported on Engadget. By Ross Rubin  Last week’s Switched On discussed the initial confusion and rough ride for Windows RT, which became a dealbreaker for inventive PC designs that used the operating system. Despite ASUS dropping out of making Windows RT devices and joining such abstainers as HP, Acer and Toshiba, the operating system is due to be updated to include improvements in Windows 8.1, creating what will apparently be Windows RT 8.1. While Windows RT…

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Business Entertainment

Pandora Plans To Lift Its 40-Hour Free Mobile Listening Cap On Sept. 1

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As reported on TechCrunch. by ANTHONY HA During this afternoon’s earnings call, Pandora executives said that they would lift for the 40-hour monthly cap on free mobile listening that was announced back in February. This is actually the second time Pandora has instituted a free cap and then lifted it again — it last lifted the cap in September 2011. CFO Mike Herring said the decision was based on two factors. First, he described the cap as a…

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Article Entertainment

GetInspired365 Is A Discovery Site For Inspirational Videos

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As reported on TechCrunch. by CATHERINE SHU An industry has blossomed around people hungry for a quick hit of motivation.TED talks, Do Lectures and sites like Brainy Quote all exist to provide inspirational content for the time-strapped. GetInspired365 wants to draw visitors by showcasing upbeat videos sourced from around the Internet. Its founders hope that users will not only be inspired to achieve their own goals, but also to order a similar site from GetInspired’s Web design and hosting service. GetInspired365 was self-funded…

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Tablet

Modus III Is A Portable Workstation That Wants To Turn Your iPad Into A Desktop

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As reported on TechCrunch. by NATASHA LOMAS To the untrained eye the evolution of technology can appear to be a rather futile oscillation. We had laptops. Then we threw away their keyboards and worked only on a screen. Then we decided touchscreen typing on tablets was annoying, so brought back a physical keyboard and added supports to hold the screen at that trusty old laptop screen angle that made so much sense… All of which probably…

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Microsoft

Microsoft explains 3D printing standards in Windows 8.1

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As reported on Engadget. By Timothy J. Seppala Whether you’re looking to print an Aston Martin or a birdhouse, Microsoft promises you’ll be able to do it more easily with Windows 8.1. Redmond is looking to iron out the wrinkles currently associated with 3D printing — like metadata loss during exporting and limited communication between apps and printers — and make 3D printing more like 2D printing so it becomes “more seamless and ubiquitous.” The software giant’s plan for making…

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Google

Google expands word definition box, makes looking up ten-dollar words easier

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As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon Here’s one for the logophiles and the voracious readers: searching for words on Google now returns more than their definitions. So, next time you look up a fancy term, the definition box will also contain its synonyms, sample sentences and a drop-down menu that can translate the word into another language. The new results even give you a glimpse of a word’s origins and show a graph of how commonly it’s used…

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Business Culture

Burned out: tech money is harshing Burning Man’s anti-capitalist vibe

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As reported on The Verge. By Russell Brandom The tech world loves the festival’s creative spirit, but do they love it too much? At last year’s Burning Man, a prominent tech investor was attacked by ninjas. “They were just a bunch of people dressed up as ninjas, riding around on bikes,” says Garry Tan, Y Combinator partner and co-founder of Posthaven.com. “They yelled out ‘ninja! ninja!’ and then they tapped me lightly on the arm.” As…

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