July 18, 2013
The Tumblr Porn Crackdown Yahoo Told Us Wouldn't Come Is Here

The Tumblr Porn Crackdown Is Here:

Oh, did the users screech and holler when Marissa Mayer’s purple people-eater bought Tumblr for $1 billion about how she was going to take away their nudie pictures forever. Ads were swiftly thrown into the Tumblr dashboard and now, a few months later, the crackdown on Tumblr porn has begun. “Tumblr welcomes free expression, but we have to be sensitive to the millions of readers and bloggers from different locations, cultures, and backgrounds with different points of view concerning mature/adult-oriented NSFW content,” the Tumblr team says on a page explaining the new guidelines that appeared today.

Via The Atlantic Wire.

Posted by Arcterex at 06:32 PM
Of Beards and Men: A Portrait of Man by Joseph D.R. OLeary

Of Beards and Men is a kickstarter project for a photo book of, well, bearded men. Great looking images, support this guy!

Note: I am in the process of growing an epic beard.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:17 PM
GlassUp: Augmented Reality glasses... Pebble For Your Face

GlassUp are Augmented Reality glasses that display messages from your smartphone. Think Pebble for your face.

Thanks Aryk for the link.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:03 AM
Evernote 5 Beta for Windows

The New Evernote 5 for Windows Desktop Beta Now Available, and looks pretty nice. The windows and mac experiences are now in parity, and they look great.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:56 AM
July 17, 2013
Slate on Android Vs. iPHone

Interesting read over on Slate.com: Android vs. iPhone: Why Apple still has the edge over Google’s operating system. Before you, faithful Android user and UFies.org reader (I know there’s at least 3 of you), this is not an ‘Android sucks’ article, in fact, the author rather likes Android. The key is here:

But then, at the last second, the phone makers and the world’s cellular carriers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They ruin the phones’ potential with unnecessary features and apps that lower the devices’ battery life, uglify their home screens, and make everything you want to do extra annoying.

And later:

If you get the Play edition of these phones, you’ll see Google’s version of each of these apps, and you’ll come away impressed by Google’s tasteful, restrained, utilitarian design sense. But if, like most people, you get your phone for $199 from a carrier, you’ll find everything in it is a frightful mess.

Or put in simpler terms, “design by committee sucks fat hairy wookie balls”.

Posted by Arcterex at 04:39 PM
View of Niagara Falls from a remote helicopter

View of Niagara Falls from a remote helicopter…. you’ll want a big screen (and enable HD) for this one:

Posted by Arcterex at 04:33 PM
Android Backs up Wifi Passwords in Plaintext to the Cloud

At least according to Issue 57560:

The “Back up my data” option in Android is very convenient. However it means sending a lot of private information, including passwords, in plaintext to Google. This information is vulnerable to government requests for data.

Ignoring the implications of google knowing yet another bit of information about us, or the tinfoil hats when you combine this information with the previous scandal with them capturing and saving encrypted wifi data from the street view cars, where are the pitchforks? If Apple did this, there’d be a class action lawsuit already (even if the story was completely different, it’d be filed purely on the headline).

Posted by Arcterex at 03:48 PM
How Man Of Steel Should Have Ended

How Man Of Steel Should Have Ended fixes any complaints you might have had from the movie.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:16 PM
Bugshot - Marco Arment's Bug Reporting App

Marco talks about Bugshot over on his blog.

Quickly draw orange arrows and boxes on screenshots, then email or share them! Great for reporting bugs, web layout issues, article typos, and other visual issues to whoever’s responsible (even if it’s you).

Posted by Arcterex at 11:39 AM
July 16, 2013
The Verge on the new AT&T "Next" Plan

The Verge asserts that AT&T’s Next phone upgrade plans are a huge ripoff.

Shocked?

No, I didn’t think so.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:38 PM
July 15, 2013
The Oatmeal on Running

As someone who runs to (try to) get in shape, and can barely lumber out a couple of miles on the treadmill a couple of times a week, The terrible and wonderful reasons why I run long distances is particularly terrifying/inspiring.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:15 PM
July 14, 2013
Nokia shares first official image samples from 41MP Lumia 1020

DPReview shares links to the first official image samples from 41MP Lumia 1020. I have to say the images are impressive. Not perfect, looking at the CNN building area on the city shot shows a lot of muddy looking pixels and some odd noise, for example, but for the most part I have to say this is the first camera phone that’s made me re-think my “iPhone is the best camera phone” position. Of course these are hand picked shots by the vendor, so they’re obviously choosing the best of the best. Still, something to keep an eye on.

PS: Come on Apple, this is technology that I’d be ok with you ripping off and putting in the iPhone 6… :)

Posted by Arcterex at 04:15 PM
The Pixar Theory By Jon Negroni

Jon Negroni writes his grand unifying The Pixar Theory:

Every Pixar movie is connected. I explain how, and possibly why. Several months ago, I watched a fun-filled video on Cracked.com that introduced the idea (at least to me) that all of the Pixar movies actually exist within the same universe. Since then, I’ve obsessed over this concept, working to complete what I call “The Pixar Theory,” a working narrative that ties all of the Pixar movies into one cohesive timeline with a main theme. This theory covers every Pixar production since Toy Story.

This blew my mind.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:53 AM
July 12, 2013
MacX Video Converter Pro Giveaway

Till July 25, you can Get a Free Copy of MacX Video Converter Pro. Just go to the link, download the software, and enter the license key: AY-VJVNJIJT-BOPPEP

Yea, it’s a loss leader, but still, free is free :)

Posted by Arcterex at 09:50 AM
More Stunning Russian Dash Cams

Yet another great compilation of Russian dashcam videos passed onto me.

Wow. Just. Wow.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:44 AM
July 11, 2013
Lego Super Star Destroyer Timelapse

Lego Super Star Destroyer Timelapse from TWiT.

Oh god I want this.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:37 PM
Police tweet worst driving excuses

Abbotsford police tweet worst driving excuses - Awesome.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:41 AM
July 10, 2013
Sharknado Trailer

Ok you are dead inside if you don’t think this trailer for Sharknado isn’t totally awesome.

Note that I mean that the trailer is awesome, I wouldn’t go near the movie with a ten foot pole….

Posted by Arcterex at 01:00 PM
New Google Maps

A new Google Maps app for smartphone and tablets from Google…. got to say it looks great. Rolling out to Google Play and coming soon to iOS.

The new Google Maps for mobile builds on the design we released for iPhone last December and improves on it with a few useful search and navigation features. And it’s the first dedicated app for Android tablets and iPads. We’re also retiring Latitude and are making some changes to offline and My Maps which we’ll explain in more detail below.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:42 AM
New Rogers $35 Connection Fee Launches Today

I’m not exactly sure how the New Rogers $35 Connection Fee will “bring me more value”, but if it’s that awesome, I can’t wait to get in on it, especially at the bargin price of only $15.

*sigh*

Posted by Arcterex at 09:28 AM
July 09, 2013
The 'Tile' Lost and Found Kickstarter

Found Tile via DF.

I’m not sure I’ll back it, but man it does look cool. The Tile FAQ answers most questions.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:11 PM
Dropbox Announces "Replace the Hard Drive" Initiative

Think of it like iCloud for everything, but there aren’t many more details available from the Dropbox developers conference. Of course, while Dropbox is a cloud service, it still requires (sort of) to sync it’s data to the hard drive.

Still, interesting stuff coming.

More info in the blog post.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:21 PM
First Gameplay Video For 'Grand Theft Auto V'

Gotta say, the First Gameplay Video For Rockstar’s ‘Grand Theft Auto 5′ is pretty awesome.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:55 AM
The Beatles Anomalies List

The Beatles Anomalies List is an OCD-comprehensive list of anomolies from Beatles albums. Things like:

Yesterday 0:19 After the word “believe” there is a squeak, sounds like it’s from a violin string (left channel).

Pretty crazy, but if you want to impress your friends, and you’re Beatles fans, time to start memorizing.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:30 AM
July 08, 2013
Watch the "Wolverine" Train Fight Sequence

All aboard the ludicrous train fight scene in the first Wolverine clip - via io9.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:35 PM
Free iOS Apps

Some Great iOS Apps, Currently Free has a great list of iPhone and iPad apps that don’t suck and are normally in the $1-$10 (or more) range.

Included are some good stuff like Day One, Infinity Blade II, and Tiny Wings. Go forth and download.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:25 AM
July 06, 2013
Astrid Todo App Announces Service Shutdown August 5, 2013

Astrid Says Service Shutdown Date Set for August 5, 2013

[…]When we built Astrid, we sought to help as many people as possible become happier, healthier and more productive - and we certainly hope we helped you. Thank you again for your support.

Another victim of acquisitions…

Posted by Arcterex at 04:29 PM
July 05, 2013
Jay Z's Samsung Only Album Release Triggers a Piracy Bonanza

Jay Z’s ‘Exclusive’ Album Release Triggers a Piracy Bonanza at TorrentFreak.

I’m not sure if this will be a good or bad thing for Mr. Z.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:35 PM
Microsoft to add Bing ads to Windows 8.1 search

Saw via OSNews a link to the Forbes story about Microsoft adding ads into the built in Bing Search in Windows 8.1.

I can only imagine that this is an experiment that won’t ever actually be integrated (at least anytime soon) into the actual OS. I really really hope this.

Aggregated search is one of the pillars of Windows 8.1 and isn’t a terrible idea. However searching for something on your computer and having to deal with ads for “Looking for chicken recipes, head over to Church’s Chicken at 10th and Main!” or ($DEITY forbid) click through a 10 second video to get to your content on your machine. Apple also was investigated this when they filed a couple of patents a few years ago, but it never went beyond that.

Scary stuff.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:08 PM
July 03, 2013
Massive Android Security Flaw

Massive Android flaw allows hackers to ‘take over’ and ‘control’ 99% of Android devices:

Mobile security company Bluebox said today that it recently discovered a vulnerability in Android that makes any Android device released in the last four years vulnerable to hackers who can read your data, get your passwords, and control any function of your phone, including sending texts, making phone calls, or turning on the camera.

This isn’t helped by the fact that Android is “fragmented” in terms of the distribution of OSs installed is wide, compared to iOS where the majority of iOS users are upgraded to the latest version, making distributing a fix harder.

Posted by Arcterex at 07:39 PM
Photo 365 iPhone App Updated

Photo 365 - Everyday Photo Calendar for Your Life is a great iPhone app that I used to inspire me for my Photo 365 project from last year (still going by the way!), and it just received a huge update, with iCloud syncing, bug fixes, iPad and iPhone 5 support, and a host of other fixes.

If you’re interested in improving your photography, a photo-a-day project is a great way to start. You can read about my experiences, or just download the Photo 365 app (or a similar one, should a different one float your boat) and get started today (no need to wait till January 1).

Posted by Arcterex at 02:29 PM
Stephen Fry the Understanding Barman

Stephen Fry as the understanding barman, proving once again that Stephen Fry is one of the funniest people ever (and of course matched with Hugh Laurie… no contest).

Posted by Arcterex at 02:21 PM
Beta of iCloud Pages, Numbers and Keynote Released

If you have a developer account at apple, you probably just got the email shown here:

iCloud developer beta

Apple’s beta versions of Pages (word processor), Keynote (presentation) and Numbers (spreadsheet) are now available on beta.icloud.com if you have a developer account (even a free one). The functionality here seems pretty solid after a quick look and dirty look. The collaboration features of Google Docs aren’t there, but they weren’t promised, so don’t be too disappointed they’re not there. For a webapp that’s a word processor running off the cloud? Pretty damn awesome.

iCloud Pages demo

Posted by Arcterex at 01:37 PM
Welcome To the world of Bubble Football

Watch Why Aren’t All Sports Bubble Sports? asks Break.com.

To this I answer, there is no reason, and head to order a set of these suits for my office.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:09 PM
Samsung Buys Boxee

Samsung Acquires Media Box Company Boxee For $30 Million.

In what’s likely an effort to bring improvements to its Smart TV software, Samsung has reportedly just acquired Boxee, a company which specializes in creating home media center devices, for the tune of $30 million.

Hopefully they can make it so you can actually reboot a boxee box through the menu, which it seems you can’t do right now.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:18 PM
The Nikon Symphony

I don’t care if you’re a Canon person, a Nikon person, or a Pentax person, the Nikon Symphony is just awesome!

Posted by Arcterex at 09:33 AM
July 02, 2013
Parkour POV Video

So what’s more awesome than watching parkour? How about a Point of View parkour video?

Definitely don’t watch this full screen on a huge monitor if you get queasy or motion sick ;)

Posted by Arcterex at 04:53 PM