Month: November 2013

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

A closer look at the Jolla phone: good intentions, bad delivery (video): Jolla’s self-titled and first smartphone launched in partnership with Finnish carrier DNA this week, with a few hundred handsets finding their way to early pre-orderers. – by Jamie Rigg – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/29/a-closer-look-at-the-jolla-phone/

Pay Attention, Snapchat! China’s WeChat Messaging App Does E-Commerce Well.: American messaging services could learn a thing or two from WeChat. The mobile-focused app is massively popular in China and spreading quickly abroad; of the 270-million-plus regular users of the service, about a quarter of those are outside of mainland China. – by Mike Isaac – Tags: commerce, general, mobile, news, social, e-commerce, evan spiegel, facebook, gaming, in-app purchases, kakaotalk, messaging, path, snapchat, tencent, wechat, xiaomi – http://allthingsd.com/20131129/pay-attention-snapchat-chinas-wechat-messaging-app-does-e-commerce-well/

While Mulally/Nadella Remain the Favorites, Bates Is Silicon Valley’s Choice for Microsoft CEO: About 10 days ago, AllThingsD reported once again that Ford CEO Alan Mulally was in the lead position to take over as CEO of Microsoft, with one internal exec as the No. 2 choice. As I noted in a post on Nov. – by Kara Swisher – Tags: enterprise, general, media, mobile, news, alan mulally, featured post, microsoft, satya nadella, tony bates – http://allthingsd.com/20131129/while-mulallynadella-remain-the-favorites-bates-is-silicon-valleys-choice-for-microsoft-ceo/

How Many Patents Does Google Have? Plenty: Over the last few years, Google executives have had plenty to say about patents. According to Google, patents, particularly software patents, are mostly bogus, largely low-quality, and used in court by companies that can’t innovate to hurt consumers and stifle true innovators. – by Antonio Regalado – http://www.technologyreview.com/news/521946/googles-growing-patent-stockpile/

Clan of the Caveman’s Diet: The challenge: To cook and eat “Paleo” for two weeks. The rules: No processed foods, no legumes or grains, no dairy, no soy, minimal fruit, loads of meat and vegetables. (The rules morphed, mid-challenge, to be addressed later.) – by Sophie Brickman – https://medium.com/medium-long/e3ce79900c22

Why aren’t Amazon and Hulu shows playing on Netflix’s level? — Tech News and Analysis: When Netflix made television history this summer with its nine Emmy nominations for House of Cards, there was a lot of discussion about how the the show’s victory represented a major breakthrough for digital content. But it’s a success that appears to be limited to Netflix at this stage. – by Liz Shannon Miller – Tags: Alpha House,Amazon,Battleground,Betas,house of cards,Hulu,John Goodman,Netflix – http://gigaom.com/2013/11/28/why-arent-amazon-and-hulu-shows-playing-on-netflixs-level/

The Verge at work: using the Pebble smartwatch to never miss a thing: The Verge at Work is a series about process. We’re not scientists, and we’re not gurus, we’re just trying to get some work done. The solutions presented here are highly personal, and highly personalized. Not the only way, but our way. Stay focused. Attention is the new currency. – by Dan Seifert – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5152544/the-verge-at-work-using-the-pebble-smartwatch-to-never-miss-a-thing

Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel: Saying no to $3B, and feeling lucky: LOS ANGELES — Like many a young man, Evan Thomas Spiegel is enamored of expensive cars. Unlike many young men, he can afford them. Snapchat, which was valued at $800 million just a few months ago, makes an app for sending pictures and videos, called “snaps,” that disappear after a few seconds. – by Jennifer Van Grove – Tags: snapchat, facebook – http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57613694-93/snapchats-evan-spiegel-saying-no-to-$3b-and-feeling-lucky/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

23andMe revealed a condition it took my doctors six years to diagnose: The FDA claims it halted the sale of 23andMe‘s flagship Personal Genome Service (PGS) kit due to concerns over its validity and the possibility that clients may suffer from mental anguish when faced with the possibility that their genetic code puts them at risk of serious diseases. – by Search results – http://qz.com/151817/23andme-revealed-a-condition-it-took-my-doctors-six-years-to-diagnose/

Who Will Own The Next Great Instant Messaging Service?: Instant messaging is the center of the internet. Everything else is a temporary distraction. The case for this is strong: Every company that has ruled the internet in the last 20 years — even for a short period — has had a dominant instant messaging service. – by John Herrman – http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/who-will-own-the-next-great-instant-messaging-service

The internet mystery that has the world baffled: For the past two years, a mysterious online organisation has been setting the world’s finest code-breakers a series of seemingly unsolveable problems. – by Chris Bell – Tags: cicada 3301, cryptology, cia, mi6, darknet, dark web, 4chan, anonymous , Internet,Technology – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10468112/The-internet-mystery-that-has-the-world-baffled.html

The Period, Our Simplest Punctuation Mark, Has Become a Sign of Anger: The period was always the humblest of punctuation marks. Recently, however, it’s started getting angry. I’ve noticed it in my text messages and online chats, where people use the period not simply to conclude a sentence, but to announce “I am not happy about the sentence I just concluded. – by BEN CRAIR – Tags: Language, Culture, Language, Punctuation, Grammar, Text Messaging, Online Chat, Periods – http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115726/period-our-simplest-punctuation-mark-has-become-sign-anger

Solving the Neural Code Conundrum: Digital or Analog?: One of the great debates in neuroscience is how neurons encode information that is sent to and from the brain. At issue is whether the information is sent in digital or analog form or indeed whether the brain can process both at the same time. – http://www.technologyreview.com/view/522066/solving-the-neural-code-conundrum-digital-or-analog/

The $299 Blu Life Pro is aimed at the selfie set with a 5-megapixel front cam: When we first spotted the decently spec’d Blu Life series, it seemed like a nice Android handset option for folks on a budget. However, the times they have a-changed, and the former KIRF company’s latest device, the Blu Life Pro, is now looking decidedly less cheap. – by Steve Dent – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/27/blu-phone-pro-5-megapixel-front-camera-299/

Android is Eating the World: Benedict Evans has a must read slide deck from his mobile is eating the world presentation. I’m going to piggyback on his title a little and tackle the narrative that Android is eating the world. – by Ben Bajarin – http://techpinions.com/android-is-eating-the-world/25276

Nike FuelBand SE review: more social features, much longer battery life: Nike’s new FuelBand is now out, and following a few weeks of running in parks, walking around exhibition halls and the occasional all-out exercise session, well, I’m pretty tired. Fortunately, I only needed to charge Nike’s new wearable once in my first eight days of use. – by Mat Smith – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/27/nike-fuelband-se-review/

Nike FuelBand: Did the Brand Score a Goal?: Nike’s FuelBand activity tracker is one of the company’s hottest sellers ever. Not only did the product sell out online pre-orders in one day twice, but at one point the eBay price was double the suggested retail price. – http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/nike-fuelband-band-brand-strike-goal/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Backed With $3.5M From Social+Capital, Athos Is Creating Connected Workout Clothing That Tracks Your Muscle Output And More: University of Waterloo college students Dhananja Jayalath and Christopher Wiebe were frustrated by their workouts in the gym. They felt like there was no way to know whether they were actually working the right muscles when lifting weights. – by Leena Rao – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/26/backed-with-3-5m-from-socialcapital-athos-is-creating-high-powered-connected-workout-clothing-that-tracks-your-muscle-output-and-more/

What Color Is The Universe? – Tags: – http://digg.com/video/what-color-is-the-universe

How Google Earth is busting Persian Gulf nations for overfishing: Weapons-grade uranium isn’t the only thing Iran may be hiding. The country does not report its fishing catch to the United Nations, which is problematic given that the Persian Gulf, like other areas of the world, suffers from overfishing. – by Todd Woody – http://qz.com/151346/how-google-earth-is-busting-persian-gulf-nations-for-overfishing/

Smaller Than Your Phone, This Device Could Keep You Healthy: Isabel Hoffmann’s daughter fell sick after the family moved to the U.S. from Europe. The 14-year-old’s illness got progressively worse — hives, low blood pressure, tremors and light sensitivity — to the point that she had to drop out of school. – by Lauren Drell – http://mashable.com/2013/11/26/tellspec/#:eyJzIjoiZiIsImkiOiJfMnpwZmE2N3duY2trdzl0eiJ9

Lithium-Ion Batteries, Straight from a 3-D Printer: By making the basic building blocks of batteries out of ink, Harvard materials scientist Jennifer Lewis is laying the groundwork for lithium-ion batteries and other high-performing electronics that can be produced with 3-D printers. – by Mike Orcutt – http://www.technologyreview.com/demo/521956/printing-batteries/

PayPal adds support for prepaid gift cards, thanks to patent-pending ‘pay anytime anywhere with any card’ system: PayPal today announced it has added support for prepaid gift cards, letting its users apply them to the purchase of products and services anywhere PayPal Checkout is available. – by Emil Protalinski – http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/11/27/paypal-adds-support-prepaid-gift-cards-thanks-patent-pending-pay-anytime-anywhere-card-system/

Data Occupations: Quantified Self is a passionate political “movement” without concrete demands. That should sound familiar  On a July evening at the Microsoft New England Research & Design building in Cambridge, Mass. – by Whitney Erin Boesel – http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/data-occupations/

Target (Yes, That Target) Wants To Launch An Accelerator In India: Target has long looked to India to fuel its software applications and back-office projects. Now, the Minneapolis-based retailer is doubling down on the country’s tech potential. – by Pankaj Mishra – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/26/target-yes-that-target-wants-to-launch-an-accelerator-in-india-to-tap-into-its-startup-scene/

Given Room to Grow, Range Rover Blossoms: TATA, THE INDIAN industrial conglomerate, bought Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) from Ford in 2008. Since then, both brands have soared: record sales, new global markets and a string of beguiling and glamorous products. – by Dan Neil – http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303531204579208260322015846

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Automatic Link review: an expensive way to learn better driving habits: We love when we find new ways to bring our toys together. The Automatic Link does just that: it connects your iPhone to your car’s computer, using Bluetooth Low Energy as a bridge to the On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) interface that’s been standard in most cars since 1996. – by Ben Drawbaugh – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/26/automatic-link-review/

Demolition Man: why does Fab’s CEO keep building big companies that suddenly implode?: Is Jason Goldberg doomed to repeat his mistakes? If you ask employees when they started to notice that something was wrong at Fab, they will usually mention the bike locks. The bright orange locks appeared suddenly, affixed to the office doors of senior executives. – by Ben Popper – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/26/5144184/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-and-fall-of-jason-goldberg

Punch Through’s new Arduino board can stay wireless forever (video): You’ll have to plug in a typical Arduino-compatible board at some point in its life, whether it’s to add code or just to supply power. Not Punch Through Design’s upcoming Cortado, however. The tiny device centers on a custom Bluetooth 4. – by Jon Fingas – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/26/punch-through-design-lightblue-cortado/

With PrimeSense, Apple Got Key Mapping Technology: There’s a lot of speculation about why Apple bought motion-sensor company PrimeSense. But I think the real reason has been overlooked. PrimeSense’s chips were in early versions of Microsoft’s Kinect sensor, the gaming console that lets you wave your hands around to control it. – by jessicalessin – http://jessicalessin.com/2013/11/26/with-primesense-apple-got-key-mapping-technology-2/

ZTE Jumps On Smartwatch Bandwagon: When Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Gear launch in early September created a hype around the potential market for smartwatches, it was certain that we would soon see cheaper versions from Chinese competitors. Now,  ZTE Corp. – by Juro Osawa – http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-DGB-31061

Spotify Connect local streaming comes to Android: A couple of months ago, Spotify Connect was announced for iOS — a feature that allows you to wirelessly control (via your home WiFi network) music playing on Connect-compatible speakers with your phone. – by Michael Gorman – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/25/spotify-connect-android/

Intel Said to Be Asking $500 Million for Pay-TV Unit: Intel Corp. (INTC) is asking about $500 million for OnCue, the online pay-TV service that the world’s largest chipmaker developed before dialing back its ambitions, according to people with knowledge of the process. – by Andy Fixmer – Tags: Media,Technology,TV, Games & Movies,Web,Top News – http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/intel-said-asking-500-million-for-streaming-pay-tv-unit.html

Start-Up Leaders Recall Choice to Cash In or Stay Independent: The reactions last week flowed like those to a Rorschach test. Were the young founders of Snapchat, a mobile-messaging start-up, delusional for turning down a multibillion-dollar buyout offer? Greedy to think they might get more later? Or courageous to chase their dreams? – http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/11/18/technology/startup-leaders-weigh-decision-to-sell.html

The Atlantic Spins Off, Relaunches The Wire: The Atlantic Wire, previously a channel positioned within The Atlantic’s website, has been spun off as an independent brand called The Wire. – by Bill Mickey – http://www.foliomag.com/2013/atlantic-spins-relaunches-wire

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Roundtable: Is Music Discovery a Feature or Product?: It’s an important question. There are hundreds of websites and applications that promise to expose listeners to new music. But can they make money? Are they worth money? This is where the discussion becomes challenging for many music startups. – by Kyle Bylin – http://sidewinder.fm/post/51230570455/roundtable-is-music-discovery-a-feature-or-product

Chris Hadfield: We Should Treat Earth as Kindly as We Treat Spacecraft: Racing high over the Sahara at 5 miles per second, protected from the desert’s parched endlessness and soaking in its sere beauty, I saw Khartoum, the city where the White and Blue Nile rivers meet. I turned my head left and followed the river downstream to Cairo and the Mediterranean. – by Chris Hadfield – http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/chris-hadfield-wired/

Click! Google rebuilds Android camera base for better photos: Want a better camera on your Android device? Google does, too. For that reason, the company has overhauled the mobile OS’s plumbing. – by Stephen Shankland – http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57613613-94/google-rebuilds-android-camera-foundation-for-better-photos/

The Internet of Things: Look, It Must Work: For twenty-five years, we’ve been promised a thoroughly connected world in which our “things” become smarter, safer and save energy. But progress doesn’t seem to match the glowing predictions. Picture this: A 25¢ smart chip inside a light-bulb socket. – by Jean-Louis Gassée – http://www.mondaynote.com/2013/11/24/the-internet-of-things-look-it-must-work/

An average NFL game: more than 100 commercials and just 11 minutes of play: For five months of the year, the National Football League dominates Sundays in the United States; it’s more popular than church. The NFL’s popularity is all the more remarkable when you inspect the fare it has to offer each week on television. – by Zachary M. Seward – http://qz.com/150577/an-average-nfl-game-more-than-100-commercials-and-just-11-minutes-of-play/

How 10 people built a competitor to Amazon.com for $1 million—in 90 days: “Being a scrappy startup, it’s funny to see some of our designers forklift once in a while,” chuckles Chieh Huang, CEO of Boxed. – by Christopher Mims – http://qz.com/149811/how-10-people-built-a-competitor-to-amazon-com-for-1-million-in-90-days/

Why Comcast isn’t worried about the Xbox One: While the tech world’s attention is firmly planted on the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and their bids to take over the living room, Comcast is having a party. – by Russell Brandom – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/21/5129464/why-comcast-isnt-worried-about-the-xbox-one

The Battle For The Connected Home Is Heating Up: Editor’s note: Matt Turck is a managing director of FirstMark Capital. Follow him on Twitter at @mattturck. Almost 15 years ago, a friend of mine at McKinsey spent a few nights writing a document called “The Battle for the Home”. – by Matt Turck – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/23/big-companies-could-crowd-out-startups-in-the-new-battle-for-the-home/

Switched On: Taming Evernote’s paper tiger: Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In April, Evernote CEO Phil Libin announced his company was getting into the hardware business — gradually, at first, by partnering with others. – by Ross Rubin – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/24/taming-evernotes-paper-tiger/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Couric Deal to Become Yahoo’s “Global News Anchor” Set to Be Announced Monday: As AllThingsD had first reported in August that it was working on, Yahoo is poised to announce a deal with well-known television news star Katie Couric to do a high-profile interview show on its home page. – by Kara Swisher – Tags: general, media, news, abc, abc news, acquisition, advertiser, allthingsd, anchor, archive, arena, broadcast, cable, caribbean, celebrity, content, contract, correspondent, criticism, dailymotion, david pogue, daytime, deal, disney, earnings, erin mcpherson, fee, finance, fox news, france, glenn beck, global, google, graphical, growth, henrique de castro, home page, house of cards, hunger games, interview, jennifer lawrence, kathy savitt, katie, katie couric, katie’s take, lloyd braun, marissa mayer, memo, mickie rosen, move, negotiation, netflix, network, new york, new york times, news, personality, post, presentation, producer, redesign, revenue, rights, ross levinsohn, ryan seacrest, saturday night live, season, second quarter, shift, show, silicon valley, sports, streaming, subscription, syndicated, talk, television, today show, tv, user, video, yahoo – http://allthingsd.com/20131123/couric-deal-to-become-yahoos-global-news-anchor-set-for-monday/

Fed up with slow and pricey Internet, cities start demanding gigabit fiber: Slow Internet speeds and a lack of competitive pressure on Internet providers is a fact of life in communities throughout America. We’ve seen that competition can make a difference, notably with the entry of Google Fiber in certain markets, forcing incumbents to offer faster speeds and better deals. – by Jon Brodkin – http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/11/fed-up-with-slow-and-pricey-internet-cities-start-demanding-gigabit-fiber/

As Customers Seek Privacy, AeroFS Emerges With Stealthy File Sharing Software: Air Computing Inc., which is doing business as AeroFS, emerged publicly Friday with software that lets customers privately share files in a way that no outsider–not even their software provider—can gain access to their data. – by Deborah Gage – http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/11/22/as-customers-seek-privacy-aerofs-emerges-with-stealthy-file-sharing-software/

Touch ID Patent Applications Show Details Behind ‘Secure Enclave’ and iPhone 5s Implementation: The first, as noticed by , details a method by which the iPhone scans a finger and then provides that data to the “Secure Enclave” for matching and eventual approval. – by Patently Apple – http://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/22/touch-id-patent-applications-show-details-behind-secure-enclave-and-iphone-5s-implementation-2/

Comcast and Charter reportedly considering joint purchase of Time Warner Cable: Comcast may be interested in merging with Time Warner Cable. – by Chris Welch – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5133412/comcast-seeking-advice-on-time-warner-cable-merger

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Giant ‘Siats’ dinosaur discovered, second only to the T.rex: Utah is making a name for itself as the place to unearth dinosaurs. Earlier this year a big-nosed dinosaur was discovered in the state, and just recently a relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex was also unearthed. Today, yet another dinosaur has been discovered: Siats meekerorum. – by Tom Warren – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5132928/siats-meekerorum-new-dinosaur-discovery-utah

ESPN relaunches ScoreCenter iOS and Android app, now calls it SportsCenter — Tech News and Analysis: ScoreCenter is dead, long live SportsCenter: ESPN  relaunched one of its most popular mobile apps under the SportsCenter brand Thursday, adding video highlights, social media and personalization to take the mobile sports experience beyond just scores. – by Janko Roettgers – http://gigaom.com/2013/11/21/espn-relaunches-scorecenter-ios-and-android-app-now-calls-it-sportscenter/

Should Vodka Be Marketed as Gluten-Free?: Here’s a new twist on an old drink: gluten-free distilled spirits. After a 2012 Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) interim ruling, gluten-free labeled vodkas hit the market this year, including National Basketball Association legend Shaquille O’Neal’s gluten-free “Luv Shaq.” – by Fred Minnick – http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

Say Goodbye to the Car Salesman: A car salesman used to spend long days on his feet. Now he’s becoming like everyone else—stuck most days in a chair in front of a computer screen. The Internet has been upending car sales for more than 15 years. – by Christina Rogers – http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304672404579182061400578466

Intel Media sale looks increasingly inevitable, TV contracts on hold — Tech News and Analysis: Intel’s new CEO Brian Krzanich has made up his mind and decided that he doesn’t want to disrupt the TV business, according to a report from Reuters. – by Janko Roettgers – http://gigaom.com/2013/11/20/intel-media-sale-looks-increasingly-inevitable-tv-contracts-on-hold/

Nest Gets Sued Again For Patent Infringement For Daring To Make A Better Product: A year and a half ago, we wrote about the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Honeywell against Nest. – by Mike Masnick – http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131120/02345925299/nest-gets-sued-again-patent-infringement-daring-to-make-better-product.shtml

Will U.S. consumers and retailers ever be ready for NFC?: Last year, experts thought that NFC was going to really take off in 2013, but recent moves from Google Wallet and Isis point to a significant question: Will NFC ever really take off? On Wednesday, Google Wallet launched a physical card, suggesting that its NFC application is not doing the job. – by Rebecca Borison – http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/will-u-s-consumers-and-retailers-ever-be-ready-for-nfc

One social network you’ve never heard of drives 20% of all social commerce: It’s called Polyvore. Polyvore is essentially a Pinterest that is explicitly focused on products you might want to buy. – by John Koetsier – http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/20/one-social-network-youve-never-heard-of-drives-20-of-all-social-commerce/

Google invites devs over for a Chromecast hackathon plus SDK show-and-tell, updates official app: Google has slowly trickled out more authorized commercial apps that can stream to its Chromecast dongle since launch (Hulu, Pandora, and most recently HBO Go) but what about homebrew? So far developers have been able to work with a preview Cast SDK (creating a few impressive demonstrations) but re – by Richard Lawler – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/21/google-chromecast-sdk-hackathon-app/

App.net crawls out from Twitter’s shadow with Broadcast: notifications for anything: App.net CEO Dalton Caldwell once promised a better Twitter — “a real time social feed without the ads” that wouldn’t crush the dreams of its developer community. A little over a year later, App. – by Ellis Hamburger – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/21/5130224/app-net-broadcasts-mobile-alerts-anything-on-the-internet

Intel Chairman: “We Seemed to Have Lost Our Way”: Long a beneficiary of the falling cost of computing power, chipmaker Intel acknowledged Thursday that it was beaten at its own game. – by Ina Fried – Tags: general, mobile, news, andy bryant, brian krzanich, chips, featured post, intel, nvidia, pcs, phones, qualcomm, tablets – http://allthingsd.com/20131121/intel-chairman-we-seemed-to-have-lost-our-way/

What the acquisition of MapMyFitness by Under Armour really means for the industry: Despite most Internet apps running small operations, MapMyFitness is hardly small from an employee standpoint.  As of Tuesday it counted 101 employees, with 31 employees in Denver, and another 70 employees at its headquarters in Austin, Texas. – by Rainmaker – Tags: mapmyfitness,under armour – http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/11/acquisition-mapmyfitness-industry.html

When We Lose Antibiotics, Here’s Everything Else We’ll Lose Too: This week, health authorities in New Zealand announced that the tightly quarantined island nation — the only place I’ve ever been where you get x-rayed on the way into the country as well as leaving it — has experienced its first case, and first death, from  a strain of totally drug – by Maryn McKenna – http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/end-abx/

The NFL’s Modern Man: How Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin — a bike-riding, socially conscious, Animal Collective–loving hipster — is redefining what it means to be a football playerAre you guys the Dirty Projectors?” The question comes from one of the few stragglers still hanging at a nearly cleared-ou – by Robert Mays – Tags: bill simmons, sports guy, grantland, grantland stories, grantland features, sports, pop culture – http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10001087/connor-barwin-philadelphia-eagles-linebacker-nfl-hipster

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

The First Apple Store App For iPad Nails Tablet Shopping With Clever Gesture And Image Focused Interface: Today, Apple is launching its very first Apple Store app for iPad, bringing a gorgeous shopping experience to its tablet in a long-overdue move. The new app arrives just in time for the holidays and utilizes the display and capabilities of the iPad to present a best-in-class shopping experience. – by Matthew Panzarino – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/20/apples-retail-master-class/

Coin, Kicking Credit Cards To The Curb, Answers A Few Questions: YC-backed Coin, the electronic credit card that stores multiple cards on one Bluetooth device, made a big splash last week blowing past its $50,000 pre-order in less than 40 minutes. Turns out, people not only want to buy more Coins but they want to know more about Coin, too. – by Jordan Crook – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/20/coin-kicking-credit-cards-to-the-curb-answers-a-few-questions/

Audio Giant Harman Makes Name For Itself With New York Store: The grand-opening party on Madison Avenue last week featured a red carpet, an exclusive guest list and performances from DJ Cassidy and singer Miguel in a pre-celebration of the public opening Nov. 21. – by Beth Snyder Bulik – Tags: harman, ralph santana – http://adage.com/article/news/audio-giant-harman-makes-york-store/245290/

A Monochrome Lego Set To Teach Tomorrow’s Architects: The first thing you’ll notice about the Lego Architecture Studio is that it’s white. There are no colors, no shades, no pigments, no hues here. It is as white as a piece of paper, a glass of milk, a blind albino lizard skittering in a lightless cave a mile below the ground. White, white, white. – http://www.fastcodesign.com/1673217/a-monochrome-lego-set-to-teach-tomorrows-architects

Ribbon Is Building A Peer-To-Peer Payments For Consumers, No App Or Account Required: Payments startup Ribbon, which launched last year with a focus on making it easier to accept payments online across websites, blogs and social media services like Facebook and Twitter, is expanding in a new direction. – by Sarah Perez – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/20/ribbon-is-building-a-peer-to-peer-payments-for-consumers-no-app-or-account-required/

Google’s latest Chrome Experiment shows off an eagle’s eye view of Middle-earth: Google has long used its Chrome Experiments as a way to show off the power of browser-based apps, and the latest one should appeal to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson’s set of Middle-earth films. – by Nathan Ingraham – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/20/5126932/chrome-experiement-shows-an-eagles-eye-view-of-middle-earth

LG Smart TV Caught Collecting Data On Files Stored On Connected USB Drives: The growing presence of “smart” devices, each one requiring a connection to the outside world, is a bit alarming (Samsung TV zero day exploit, anyone?). – by Tim Cushing – http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131119/06503625288/lg-smart-tv-caught-collecting-data-files-stored-connected-usb-drives.shtml

EBay plans big expansion of ‘connected glass’ shopping: SAN FRANCISCO — EBay is planning a big expansion of its “connected glass” shopping technology as the company tries to make more money in the physical retail world, not just from online transactions. – by Alistair Barr, USA TODAY – http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/11/20/ebay-connected-glass-shopping/3519535/

This Real Life Version Of X-Ray Glasses Can See Through Your Skin: Google Glass has received endless press coverage for its futuristic form factor and novel, consumer-friendly applications. The wearable computer, for example, allows users to see email and maps right from its heads-up display. – http://www.fastcompany.com/3021953/this-real-life-version-of-x-ray-glasses-can-see-through-your-skin

Why You’ll Get Google Glass: Lots of people say: “I would never wear Google Glass. They look ridiculous.” But the appearance — love it or hate it — is going to be considered by buyers along with what you can do with it. And the public hasn’t really thought about what’s coming for Google Glass functionality. – by Mike Elgan – Tags: Google Glass, google+, social media – http://www.datamation.com/applications/why-youll-get-google-glass-1.html

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Behold Internets! Memrise Launches CatAcademy App That Deploys Cute Cats To Teach You Spanish: The day after I meet Memrise‘s COO Ben Whately, to get a preview of the language learning startup’s new app, I’m out for a Saturday morning run when the image of a brilliant ginger cat with its head stuck down the toilet sails into my head. Quiero vomitar, says a voice in my head. – by Natasha Lomas – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/20/catacademy/

Liquid Metal Printer Lays Electronic Circuits on Paper, Plastic and Even Cotton: One of the dreams of makers the world over is to be able to print electronic circuits on more or less any surface using a desktop printer. – http://www.technologyreview.com/view/521871/liquid-metal-printer-lays-electronic-circuits-on-paper-plastic-and-even-cotton/

Gaming Company Fined $1M for Turning Customers Into Secret Bitcoin Army: A gaming software company has been slapped with a $1 million fine after secretly adding bitcoin mining software to a product update earlier this year. – by Robert McMillan – http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/11/e-sports/

Exclusive: Tim Draper is leaving DFJ: Venture capitalist Tim Draper is stepping back from the Silicon Valley firm he created 28 years ago. FORTUNE — Tim Draper will no longer be an investment partner with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm he founded in 1985. – by Dan Primack – Tags: term sheet, venture capital deals, dfj, draper fisher jurvetson, john fisher, tim draper, venture capital – http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/11/19/tim-draper-leaving-dfj/

Grouper, the social club that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends, launches in London: Two years after it first launched in New York, way back in September 2011, Grouper is finally arriving out of North America with its first European launch, in the UK capital London. In terms of how it works, Grouper takes members and matches them up with someone from the opposite sex. – by Paul Sawers – http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/11/20/grouper-social-club-sets-drinks-2-groups-friends-launches-london/

Crowdfunded nanosatellites unleashed in orbit: Two tiny satellites supported by Kickstarter campaigns were kicked out into orbit from the International Space Station on Tuesday, beginning what’s expected to be a months-long citizen science mission. – http://m.nbcnews.com/science/crowdfunded-nanosatellites-unleashed-orbit-2D11624550

Xbox One Review | Polygon: The Xbox 360 that exists in 2013 bears little resemblance to the console that Microsoft launched in 2005. It’s so different, in fact, that it helps to think of the company’s new Xbox One as an evolution, not of the original Xbox 360 but of the one that exists today. – http://www.polygon.com/a/xbox-one-review

If 3 Little Girls Did This To My House, I’d Do Everything I Could To Get Them Full Rides To Stanford: Close – http://www.upworthy.com/if-3-little-girls-did-this-to-my-house-id-do-everything-i-could-to-get-them-full-rides-to-stanford

Retailers Are Tech Platforms Now: Under Armour’s recent acquisition of online fitness community MapMyFitness is just the latest instance of offline brands trying to redefine themselves, at least in part, as tech platforms. And it should make its competitors sweat. – by John McDermott – http://digiday.com/platforms/under-armour-mapmyfitness/

Sony’s PlayStation 4 Costs $381 to Build — Only $18 Under Retail Price — In Teardown: When PlayStation 3 was first released by electronics giant Sony in 2006, it was sold at a loss with the hope of making money back on individual games. That’s pretty close to what Sony is doing again with the PS4, although it’s not as extreme. – by Arik Hesseldahl – Tags: general, media, news, product news, andrew rassweiler, atd facebook, chips, gaming, gaming console, ihs, manufacturing, memory, playstation, playstion 4, semiconductors, sony, teardown – http://allthingsd.com/20131119/teardown-shows-sonys-playstation-4-costs-381-to-build/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

NFL, Major League Baseball Warn That Aereo Could Trigger End of Free TV Game Broadcasts: The National Football League and Major League Baseball are urging the Supreme Court to grant broadcasters’ petition to hear their challenge to the legality of Aereo, the startup that features unauthorized streams of local broadcast signals. – http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/nfl-major-league-baseball-warn-supreme-court-that-aereo-could-trigger-end-to-games-on-free-tv-1200847089/

Samsung Elec says Gear smartwatch sales hit 800,000 in two months: SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co said on Tuesday its Galaxy Gear has become the world’s most popular smartwatch with sales reaching 800,000 since its debut two months ago, defying some market concerns the accessory would fail due to a lack of compelling features. – by Miyoung Kim – Tags: United Kingdom, United States, David Pogue – http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/19/us-samsung-gear-idUSBRE9AI0AU20131119

‘Selfie’ is the 2013 Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year: Last year Oxford University Press split its word of the year honors between the US and the UK, but for 2013 there’s one word to rule them all — and it is “selfie.” The term beat out contenders like twerk, bitcoin, and binge-watch, due largely to its remarkable uptick in usage. – by Bryan Bishop – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/18/5120390/selfie-is-the-2013-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year

Silver Spring seeks new profits from smart-city infrastructure: Wish your home town had network-enabled streetlights? A company called Silver Spring Networks does, and Tuesday it unveiled a service designed to make the technology and other networked infrastructure more affordable. – by Stephen Shankland – http://m.cnet.com/news/silver-spring-seeks-new-profits-from-smart-city-infrastructure/57612919

Ex-Google-Wallet Creators Raise $7M To Rethink In-Store Retail Data: Can a team of ex-Googlers reinvent the antiquated physical retail space in the mold of Amazon? Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has a huge advantage over its brick-and-mortar counterparts: data. – http://m.fastcompany.com/3021865/ex-google-wallet-creators-raise-7m-to-rethink-in-store-retail-data

Qualcomm’s Toq Smartwatch Shows Off The Future Of Displays – ReadWrite: Qualcomm may not seem like a company that would make a big splash in the smartwatch Arm Race. After all, Qualcomm has long been known to make the pieces that go inside people’s gadgets, not the gadgets themselves. – http://readwrite.com/2013/11/18/qualcomms-toq-smartwatch-shows-off-the-future-of-displays

The Rise of Twitter Bots: Last Tuesday, Google decided that I was a spammer, and I lost access to my e-mail for twelve hours. It was my fault. One of my Twitter accounts, RealHumanPraise, was mentioned on “The Colbert Report,” where I work as a writer, at 11:46 P.M. – by Rob Dubbin – Tags: elements, technology, techpages, twitter – http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/11/the-rise-of-twitter-bots.html

The : The dusty landscape of the American West is dotted with enormous concrete arrows. They look like cryptic messages from a primitive civilization — a civilization that was obsessed with westward expansion. And that assessment wouldn’t be altogether wrong. – by Matt Novak – http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-highway-of-light-that-guided-early-planes-across-1466696698/@kcampbelldollaghan

Hitlist lets you know when its cheap to fly to your dream destinations: Timing is everything when it comes to snagging deals, and the travel and flight booking domain is no different. Hitlist is an app that aims to help travelers find the best deals to their favorite destinations, taking the hassle (and some of the expense) out of booking air travel. – by Jon Russell – http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/11/19/hitlist-lets-you-know-when-its-cheap-to-fly-to-your-dream-destinations/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Bitcoin Mining Chips, a High-Tech Arms Race: The easiest way to get a Bitcoin is to buy one. You can join drug dealers, speculators, and the curious by hopping onto an online exchange and purchasing one unit of the digital currency for, as of Nov. 11, about $340. – by Ashlee Vance – Tags: – http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-14/2014-outlook-bitcoin-mining-chips-a-high-tech-arms-race

Why Google Play Music All Access beats Spotify hands down: Ever since Spotify was launched I’ve been a subscriber and huge fan of the service. I’ve sworn by it for years and have built extremely large playlists on the service and synchronized them with all of my devices. – by Owen Williams – http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/11/16/google-play-music-going-kill-spotify/

Offices For All! Why Open-Office Layouts Are Bad For Employees, Bosses, And Productivity: In part one of our two-part series, Fast Company senior editor Jason Feifer makes a case for giving all workers a little alone time–behind an office door. I had an office. Now I don’t. – http://www.fastcompany.com/3019758/dialed/offices-for-all-why-open-office-layouts-are-bad-for-employees-bosses-and-productivity

Rap Genius and Sony/ATV Reveal Licensing Deal (Exclusive): Rap Genius, the online lyric site with financial backing from Silicon Valley heavyweights, has signed its first licensing deal. Billboard has learned the Brooklyn-based startup has a licensing agreement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. A Rap Genius statement says the deal was finalized “earlier this year.” – by Glenn Peoples – http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/5793024/rap-genius-and-sonyatv-reveal-licensing-deal-exclusive

How Amazon is building substations, laying fiber and generally doing everything to keep cloud costs down — Tech News and Analysis: If there’s anyone still left wondering how it is that large cloud providers can keep on rolling out new features and lowering their prices even when no one is complaining about them, Amazon Web Services Vice President and Distinguished Engineer James Hamilton spelled out the answer in one word d – by Derrick Harris – Tags: AWS: Reinvent,Cloud Computing,Data Centers,energy efficiency,iaas,Web Infrastructure – http://gigaom.com/2013/11/15/how-amazon-is-building-substations-laying-fiber-and-generally-doing-everything-to-keep-cloud-costs-down/

Facebook, Still Dominant, Strives to Keep Cachet: When Evan Spiegel peered into a crystal ball to divine a future for his company, Snapchat, he did not see Facebook. He saw something else, something much bigger — a social network that could exist on its own, outside Facebook. – by JENNA WORTHAM, NICOLE PERLROTH, VINDU GOEL – http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/technology/facebook-strives-to-keep-its-cachet.html

Snap Out of It: Kids Aren’t Reliable Tech Predictors: I believe the children aren’t our future. Teach them well, but when it comes to determining the next big thing in tech, let’s not fall victim to the ridiculous idea that they lead the way. Yes, I’m talking about Snapchat. – by Farhad Manjoo – http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303559504579202623459037550

Xbox One Vs. PS4: The Console Wars Are Just Getting Started: It’s quite possible that all that momentum Sony’s Sony’s had leading up to the launch of the PS4 will dry up now that the machine is in the wild. System issues, faulty HDMI ports, and a real lack of compelling first-party games all work against the next-gen console. – by Erik Kain – http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/11/16/xbox-one-vs-ps4-the-console-wars-are-just-getting-started/

The Giphoscope turns your favorite GIF into a hand-cranked work of art: If you were to accuse us of being fans of GIFs we wouldn’t disagree, but what happens when you want to share that perfect, singular moment away from the confines of a computer screens? One particularly beautiful solution is called The Giphoscope. – by Bryan Bishop – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/17/5112314/the-giphoscope-turns-your-favorite-gif-into-a-hand-cranked-work-of-art

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

The Lean Hardware Startup: From Prototype To Production: Editor’s note: Cyril Ebersweiler is the founder of the pioneering hardware startup accelerator HAXLR8R (which is now looking for applicants) and Partner at SOSVentures. Benjamin Joffe is an expert on startup ecosystems, angel investor and Advisor at HAXLR8R. – by Benjamin Joffe, Cyril Ebersweiler – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/16/the-lean-hardware-startup-from-prototype-to-production/

Chris Hadfield Space Oddity : Interview with author of An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.: Chris Hadfield is a retired Canadian astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station, where he spent five months earlier this year. His book is An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. – by Jacob Aron – http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2013/11/chris_hadfield_space_oddity_interview_with_author_of_an_astronaut_s_guide.html

Robot Cowboys, Apple’s Starship Campus, and Slimy Starfish: This Week’s Must-Reads: It’s been a long week. You haven’t had much time to devote to keeping current on the news. We get it. But now it’s the weekend and complaining about your significant other to your friends is not a fruitful topic of conversation. – by Daniela Hernandez – http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/11/wireddozen1116/

Apple reportedly buys Kinect tech-creator PrimeSense: Apple has reportedly acquired PrimeSense, the motion-tracking company responsible for the technology in the original Xbox 360 Kinect, in a deal said to be worth around $345m. – by Chris Davies – http://www.slashgear.com/apple-reportedly-buys-kinect-tech-creator-primesense-17305684/

Ubiquitous cameras: ABOUT halfway through Dave Eggers’s bestselling dystopian satire on Silicon Valley, “The Circle”, the reader meets Stewart, a bald, silent, stooped 60-year-old who has “been filming, recording, every moment of his life now for five years”. – by From the print – http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21589863-it-getting-ever-easier-record-anything-or-everything-you-see-opens

Apple Stores to implement iBeacon location technology to improve service, boost sales: An iBeacon system could allow a store to install transmitters that would wirelessly connect to an iPhone and tell the phone its location with respect to items on shelves. This iPhone could then perform additional functionality if it is equipped with a specialized application. – by Mark Gurman – http://9to5mac.com/2013/11/16/apple-stores-to-implement-ibeacon-location-technology-to-improve-service-boost-sales/

Pinterest Launches Its First API, And It’s All About Big Brands: Zappos, Walmart, Disney In First User Group: Pinterest is today, at long last, releasing its first API for developers, which will let third-party sites embed Pinterest pins, and make it easier to post content into Pinterest itself. – by Ingrid Lunden – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/14/pinterest-launches-its-first-apis-partners-with-zappos-walmart-disney-nestle-random-house-hearst-on-first-rollout/

Here comes the age of ambient everything: Wait, what the heck is ambient news? Pew uses that phrase to characterize the experience of getting news in social streams, especially on the social sites Reddit, Twitter and Facebook. – by Mike Elgan – http://m.computerworld.com/s/article/9244093/Here_comes_the_age_of_ambient_everything

Lessons the American Girl store can teach Silicon Valley: PALO ALTO — Starting about 7 a.m. Saturday in a corner of the Stanford Shopping Center, hundreds of girls under the age of 11 will begin lining up for an event that many of them have been dreaming about for years now: the grand opening of an American Girl store. – by Chris O’Brien – http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-american-girl-store-silicon-valley-20131115,0,2323348.story

If this doesn’t terrify you… Google’s computers OUTWIT their humans: Analysis Google no longer understands how its “deep learning” decision-making computer systems have made themselves so good at recognizing things in photos. – by Jack Clark – http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/15/google_thinking_machines/

This Bulletproof Suit Lets You Escape the Line of Fire in Style: Despite the classy appearance, there’s something about an exorbitantly pricey bulletproof men’s suit that screams publicity stunt. After all, besides fictional movie characters that go by 007, who in the world would ever need something like this? – by Tuan C. Nguyen – Tags: bulletproof,business,design,fashion,garrison bespoke,menswear,safety,suit – http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/2013/11/this-bulletproof-suit-lets-you-escape-the-line-of-fire-in-style/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Sun expected to ‘flip upside down’ as magnetic field reverses its polarity: The sun’s magnetic field is about to flip upside down as it reverses its polarity. In August Nasa said the reversal would happen in three to four months time, although that it would be impossible to pinpoint a more specific date. – by Lucy Kinder – Tags: Space,Science – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10450581/Sun-expected-to-flip-upside-down-as-magnetic-field-reverses-its-polarity.html

From touch screen to touch world – welcome to mobile 2.0: Companies that make it possible for consumers to touch the real world will win as mobile becomes the platform. The world is going mobile (we know, we know) and everyone should be building for this world. – by Phineas – http://sneakerheadvc.com/2013/11/15/from-touch-screen-to-touch-world-welcome-to-mobile-2-0/#prclt-11jPpooC

Despite Financial Concerns, Cities Are Doubling Down on Bike-Share: Ongoing financial problems at PBSC (also known as Bixi), the Montréal-based bike-share equipment company, continue to ripple across North America. But even so, the continuing popularity of bike-share with the public is leading cities with PBSC contracts to call for expansion of their systems. – http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/11/despite-financial-concerns-cities-are-doubling-down-bike-share/7604/

Leonid meteor shower will peak this weekend: Skywatchers, rejoice! The Leonid meteor shower, an annual mid-November treat, will be coming to a sky near you this weekend. The peak of the shower will be visible both Saturday and Sunday nights, according to EarthSky magazine. – by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY – http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/11/15/leonid-meteor-shower/3579823/

Gmail is boiling the frog – and we are the frog: Summary: Google’s steady push to become an intermediary for all of our communications comes at a cost – but do we care anymore about paying it? Judging by the results of the latest ZDNet Great Debate, the answer is… ribbit. – by David Braue – http://www.zdnet.com/gmail-is-boiling-the-frog-and-we-are-the-frog-7000023256/

Awesome List Of Google Now Voice Commands: In the new Android 4.4 update, Google has highly integrated its personal assistant Google Now into the KitKat home screen. It has now a dedicated panel, which can be accessed with a swipe to the left. – by Marc Knoll – http://trendblog.net/list-of-google-now-voice-commands-infographic/

Samsung Mobile-made infographic boasts its achievements in 2013: x PhoneArena is looking for new authors! To view all available positions, click here. – by Chris P. – http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Mobile-made-infographic-boasts-its-achievements-in-2013_id49380

Impressions: Our first day with the PlayStation 4 is full of surprises: We’ve had our very own PlayStation 4 here in the Ars Orbiting HQ for a little under 24 hours—not quite enough time to dig into things for a comprehensive review of a new game console. At the time of this writing, Sony has yet to enable the firmware version 1. – by Kyle Orland – http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/11/impressions-our-first-day-with-the-playstation-4-is-full-of-surprises/

(sorry I missed yesterday … too many flights and the red-eye and meetings killed me)

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

How PBS Is Reviving Carmen Sandiego: Attention gumshoes: The mystery of PBS’s Carmen Sandiego revival is solved. The network is reviving the character with a new online social game. Yep, no new shows, no old show, but a new game. Fans can help PBS solve “The Case of the Pilfered Paintbrushes” every Thursday. – by Chris Harnick – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/14/pbs-carmen-sandiego_n_4276403.html

A Wonderfully Simplified Map of San Francisco’s Bicycle Infrastructure: Drivers who stop to ask Mat Kladney for directions are in for a frustrating day. Because Kladney bicycles all over San Francisco, the route he instinctively gives weaves through town like a madman’s marathon – great for cyclists, unnatural and awful for motorists. – by John Metcalfe – http://m.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/11/wonderfully-simplified-map-san-franciscos-bicycle-infrastructure/7554/#.UoQaZ0cm2P0.twitter

Is the Internet of Things Creating Data Hoarders?: By now, the “Internet of Things” (IoT) is something you’ve heard before. In fact, a recent Morgan Stanley report predicts that the number of devices connected to the IoT will reach 75 billion by the year 2020. – by Greg White – http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/11/is-the-internet-of-things-creating-data-hoarders/

New Glass Input Methods: Eye-Tracking, Web Control, Touch-Sensitive Clothing, and Bananas: YouTube video accompanying the post (click image to view) How we interact with a device largely determines the context that it can be used in (e.g., while driving, during a meeting) and potentially who can use it (e.g., users with disabilities). Glass supports touch gestures (e.g. – http://blog.brandynwhite.com/new-glass-input-methods_eye-tracking_touch-sensitive-clothing

What’s Wrong with Tech Writing?: Confession: I am a tech writer. So this week we learned Android was dominating the smartphone market to an extent it never has before. IDC’s figures were quoted everywhere, accompanied with many a catchy headline or turn of phrase. It’s terrible news for Apple. It’s great news for Google. – by Kit Eaton – https://medium.com/editors-picks/6809cb0ea604

The Inside Story of How the iPad Got Its Iconic Design: While Jony Ive’s group was secretly working on the iPad, Steve Jobs was telling the public and press that Apple had no intention of releasing a tablet. “Tablets appeal to rich guys with plenty of other PCs and de- vices already,” he said publicly. But Jobs was dissembling. – by Leander Kahney – http://gizmodo.com/the-inside-story-of-how-the-ipad-got-its-iconic-deisgn-1463463557

Do We Live in the Matrix?: In the 1999 sci-fi film classic The Matrix, the protagonist, Neo, is stunned to see people defying the laws of physics, running up walls and vanishing suddenly. – by Zeeya Merali – http://discovermagazine.com/2013/dec/09-do-we-live-in-the-matrix#.UoU3_GR4ayg

Instagram Is Spoiling Your Dinner: It turns out that those self-appointed ‘foodies’ clogging up your Instagram feed with photos of their latest gastronomic feat are more than just annoying – they’re literally ruining your appetite. – Tags: food, food culture, foodie, instagram, internet culture, brigham young university, university of minnesota, why do we post photos of food, ,featured,foodie culture,instagram,internet culture,psychology,social media – http://www.theconnectivist.com/2013/11/instagram-is-spoiling-your-dinner/

AmazonFresh Is Jeff Bezos’ Last Mile Quest For Total Retail Domination: Amazon upended retail, but CEO Jeff Bezos — who just bought The Washington Post for $250 million — insists it’s still “Day One.” What comes next? A relentless pursuit of cheaper goods and faster shipping. The competition is already gasping for breath. – by Pari Dukovic – http://www.fastcompany.com/3014817/amazon-jeff-bezos

Apple Store Point Of Sale Systems Go Down Again Today, Outage Continues: Some Apple Stores have had their point-of-sale systems go down repeatedly today, TechCrunch has learned. There was an extensive outage early Thursday morning and there has been an ongoing outage this evening in some stores. – by Matthew Panzarino – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/14/apple-store-point-of-sale-systems-go-down-again-today-outage-continues/

The Best Of Fritz Kahn, The Grandfather Of Data Visualization: We’re in the golden age of infographics. Everything from the death toll in Breaking Bad to the sinking of the Titanic to trends in men’s jewelry has been rendered in fancy little charts, graphs, and maps. – http://www.fastcodesign.com/3021584/infographic-of-the-day/the-best-of-fritz-kahn-the-grandfather-of-data-visualization

Our Government Has Weaponized the Internet. Here’s How They Did It: The internet backbone — the infrastructure of networks upon which internet traffic travels — went from being a passive infrastructure for communication to an active weapon for attacks. – by Nicholas Weaver – http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/11/this-is-how-the-internet-backbone-has-been-turned-into-a-weapon/

Pew Social Media Study: 30% Of The U.S. Gets News Via Facebook; Reddit Has The Most News-Hungry Regular Users: The Pew Research Center is today releasing comparative numbers looking at how U.S. adults use social networking sites to read news (a follow-on from earlier research focusing on two specific sites, Facebook and Twitter). This is significant for a couple of reasons. – by Ingrid Lunden – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/14/pew-social-media-study-30-of-the-u-s-gets-news-via-facebook-reddit-has-the-most-news-hungry-regular-users/

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Motorola Announces The Moto G: What The iPhone 5C Should Have Been: Motorola today announced the Moto G, a mid-market smartphone designed to give consumers a high quality experience for the fraction of the price. – by Dan Rowinski – http://readwrite.com/2013/11/13/motorola-announces-the-moto-g-the-highest-quality-budget-smartphone-on-the-market

Playstation 4: In the seven years since the introduction of the PlayStation 3, we’ve seen our gaming consoles transform into living-room hubs through constant evolution and software updates. – http://www.polygon.com/a/ps4-review

This could get messy: Giphy brings animated GIFs to your Twitter timeline: Animated GIF support is now available on Twitter. Giphy, seemingly the online database of GIFs, announced today that it is now integrated with Twitter’s Media Cards. All you need to do is simply share a GIFs URL and when it’s displayed in your Twitter timeline, it will automatically animate. – by Ken Yeung – http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2013/11/14/get-messy-giphy-brings-animated-gifs-twitter-timeline/

Newly launched Smithsonian X 3D Collection offers historical models you can print at home: We’ve already seen first-hand that the Smithsonian has a keen interest in 3D printing and modelling, and it’s now turned that interest into something of a public service with a new online collection that’s just launched today. – by Donald Melanson – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/13/smithsonian-x-3d-collection/

What if Our Hair Dryers and Blenders Worked Like Open Source Code?: Open E-Components is a collection of appliances that combines consumer electronics functionality with Lego-like construction mechanisms. Photo: Ming-Han TsaiThe system is comprised of five basic modules: a light socket, rotating motor, air heater, immersion heater, and a heated surface. – by Joseph Flaherty – http://www.wired.com/design/2013/11/open-source-toaster/

Facebook Says Its New Data Center Will Run Entirely on Wind: Facebook passed another milestone in the green data center arms race today with the announcement that its Altoona, Iowa data center will be 100 percent powered by wind power when it goes online in 2015. – by Klint Finley – http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/11/facebook-iowa-wind/

PS4 declassified: How Sony used its PS3 mistakes to build the ultimate developer’s console: It’s the fall of 2006 and Sony has a problem. PlayStation 3, the company’s eagerly awaited and hyperbolically marketed successor to the best-selling video game console of all time, has not been well-received. The major issue is cost. – by Tim Stevens – http://m.cnet.com/news/ps4-declassified-how-sony-used-its-ps3-mistakes-to-build-the-ultimate-developers-console/57612108

How Twitter’s new expanded images increase clicks, retweets and favorites [New data]: I recently covered some big changes that Twitter has made, and here is another one. Twitter just added inline images to tweets so that you don’t need to click a link to see an attached image, but rather the Tweet itself expands. – by Belle Beth Cooper – http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-power-of-twitters-new-expanded-images-and-how-to-make-the-most-of-it

Samsung smartphone with flexible wraparound display, that actually has a good reason to be. Launch next year: The first smartphones with flexible displays – Samsung Galaxy Round and LG G Flex, are pretty pointless devices. Samsung and LG did them for bragging rights, and simply because they could. Not because there’s something those phones can do better than handsets with traditional, flat screens. – by Stasys Bielinis – http://www.unwiredview.com/2013/11/14/heres-samsung-smartphone-with-flexible-display-that-actually-has-a-good-reason-to-be/

Under Armour Buys MapMyFitness for $150 Million: Athletic clothing brand Under Armour is buying workout app MapMyFitness for $150 million. The company plans to use the purchase to “broaden its existing digital offerings,” according to The Wall Street Journal. – by TODD WASSERMAN – http://mashable.com/2013/11/14/under-armour-mapmyfitness/

Intel Opening Retail “Experience” Stores Starting November 23rd: Intel wants to give you a chance to get up close and personal with its PCs. – by Avram Piltch – http://blog.laptopmag.com/intel-launching-retail-stores

The Dual-Screen YotaPhone Will Launch Internationally In December: Russia-based Yota Devices has been working on a curious beast called the YotaPhone for years now, and it’s gained quite a reputation for itself because of its split personality. – by Chris Velazco – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/13/the-split-personality-yotaphone-will-launch-internationally-in-december/

Made by ex-Nokians, the first Jolla phone will go on sale this month: November 2013 is definitely the month for new technology launches, with Microsoft, Sony, and Apple all releasing some of their most anticipated products of the year within weeks of each other. – by Aaron Souppouris – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/14/5103196/jolla-sailfish-os-smartphone-finland-release-date

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

UPP is a fuel cell charger for smartphones and other devices, but it’s also destined for integration: If you own a smartphone or a tablet there’s a pretty good chance that you aren’t very impressed by the battery life; while processing power and storage advances continue apace, battery technology has made only modest gains. – by Ben Woods – http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2013/11/12/upp-fuel-cell-charger-smartphones-devices-also-destined-integration/

Cliiiimb gives real-time Strava segment feedback: Legions of riders use the social fitness product Strava now, but the company 4iiii is hoping that the promise of real-time audio and visual feedback on Strava segments will entice Strava users to buy Cliiiimb, which attaches to a pair of sunglasses. – http://m.bikeradar.com/us/road/news/article/cliiiimb-gives-real-time-strava-segment-feedback-38988/

Netflix introduces one unified TV interface to rule them all: Watch Netflix instant streaming on your television and you know what content you’ll get — but you likely won’t know how you’ll find it. – by Bryan Bishop – http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/13/5098224/netflix-introduces-one-unified-tv-interface-to-rule-them-all

SmartThings Raises $12.5 Million From Greylock And Highland To Power The Internet Of Things: Internet-of-Things startup SmartThings has spent the last year or so building a platform that people can use to connect to an increasingly wide range of devices in their homes. Now it’s getting ready to bet even bigger on those products and its platform, thanks to a $12. – by Ryan Lawler – http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/12/smartthings-12-5m-greylock-highland/

Apple will launch 1.7” iWatch for men and 1.3” iWatch for women next year: Several weeks ago we’ve heard that Apple is experimenting with several iWatch display sizes. Now it seems that this may be more than experiment. Apple may have already decided to launch two wearable devices next year – 1.7” iWatch for men and 1.3” iWatch for women. – by Stasys Bielinis – http://www.unwiredview.com/2013/11/13/apple-will-launch-1-7-iwatch-for-men-and-1-3-iwatch-for-women-next-year/

The Absurd Beauty of Creating Musical Turnstiles in NYC’s Subway: There are so many good subway sounds: the whoosh and clatter of a train approaching, the click of a turnstile, armies of boots on cement echoing through strange, low-ceilinged corridors, people playing love songs that the rats know by heart. – by Alexis C. Madrigal – Tags: The Atlantic, The Atlantic Magazine, TheAtlantic.com, Atlantic, news, opinion, breaking news, analysis, commentary, business, politics, culture, international, science, technology, national and life – http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/the-absurd-beauty-of-creating-musical-turnstiles-in-nycs-subway/281406/

Google Is Bigger Than Magazines And Newspapers: Google has become so big that sometimes it’s difficult to understand just how big it is. It’s on course to do $60 billion in revenue this year, almost all of that from advertising. But how big is that in terms of the media it competes against for ad dollars? – by Jim Edwards – Tags: Google, Ignition 2013, Chart Of The Day, Jim Edwards – http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-bigger-than-all-magazines-and-newspapers-combined-2013-11

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Should Tech Designers Go With Their Guts — Or the Data?: For many tech companies, design is no longer subjective. Instead, it’s all about the data. Analytics click and hum behind the scenes, measuring the effectiveness of even the tiniest design decisions. – by Braden Kowitz – http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/11/design-world-stop-fighting-over-data-vs-instinct/

Facebook likes wearable technology, but the tech’s not quite ready to like back: We’ve become accustomed to posts flooding our news feeds proclaiming that a friend has just completed a 5-mile run or taken their 3,000th step of the day, but that’s not enough for Facebook. At a recent hackathon held at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. – by Michael Gorman – http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/10/facebook-wearables-hackathon/

Motiif “M” smart trench coat offers integrated 4G LTE and smartphone charger: Wearable technology is mostly limited to smartwatches and smart glasses, though other types have been — and actively are — being developed. A particularly unique type is clothing, of which we’ve seen samples in the past. – by Brittany Hillen – http://www.slashgear.com/motiif-m-smart-trench-coat-offers-integrated-4g-lte-and-smartphone-charger-11305030/

Apple Finds Surprising Growth Market in Japan: Apple Inc. AAPL -0.29% is striking gold in an unlikely place: Japan. In the past two years, Japan has emerged as Apple’s fastest-growing region, far outpacing its home market and the booming economies of Greater China and the rest of Asia. – by Daisuke Wakabayashi – http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304672404579185940386164788-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwNzEwNDcyWj

Google Relents on YouTube Ad Measurement: For about two years, Google Inc. GOOG -0.54% refused to let Nielsen Holdings NLSN -0.28% place measurement tags on ads running on YouTube, a stance that media buyers say stopped some advertisers buying time on the online video site. – by Suzanne Vranica – http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303914304579192211449903486-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwMTExNDEyWj

Same Time, Same Channel? TV Woos Kids Who Can’t Wait: When Eric Nelson’s 6-year-old daughter, Charlotte, and 10-year-old son, Asa, discover that they cannot rewind or fast-forward a TV show, they are perplexed — and their father is, too. It is hard to explain the limitations of live television to children who have grown up in an on-demand world. – by BRIAN STELTER – http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/business/media/same-time-same-channel-tv-woos-kids-who-cant-wait.html

Shafted Again.: Can we ever get a break? Apparently not. – by BikeSnobNYC – http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2013/11/shafted-again.html

New invention ‘harvests’ electricity from background radiation and could be used to beam power to remote locations or recharge phones wirelessly: Engineers at Duke University have designed a breakthrough gadget that ‘harvests’ background microwave radiation and converts it into electricity, with the same efficiency as solar panels. – by Daily Mail Reporter – Tags: engineers,duke university,allen hawkes,alexander katko,steven cummer, – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2493931/New-device-harvests-electricity-background-radiation-like-Wi-Fi.html

Shopify now allows stores to accept Bitcoin: E-commerce platform Shopify is already tackling the world’s newest form of currency. Today, the company announced that it now supports Bitcoin payment through Bitpay on checkout for stores using the platform. – by Owen Williams – http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/11/09/shopify-now-accepts-bitcoin-purchases/

More iPhone buyers switching from Android this year than in 2012: New research by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, based on interviews of 400 new iPhone 5s and 5c buyers, indicates that an increasing proportion of Apple’s customers are coming from Android compared to last year. – by Daniel Eran Dilger – Tags: Apple, Apple Inc, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, iPod nano, Apple TV, Apple, iPod shuffle, iTunes, i mac, mac os x, mac osx, Apple Computer, Apple Computer Inc., Mac OS X, iMac, iBook, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, Magic Pad, Magic Mouse, iPod classic, App Store, iTunes Store, iBook Store, mac book, Microsoft, Adobe, Research in Motion, RIM, Nokia, Samsung, Google, Nvidia, Intel – http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/11/more-iphone-buyers-switching-from-android-this-year-than-in-2012