Apple's outsourcing of social continues: iTunes gifts now available in Facebook

Apple's outsourcing of social continues: iTunes gifts now available in Facebook

You can now buy iTunes gifts from within Facebook's gift system. iTunes gifts in Facebook are available for $10, $15, $25, or $50, and can be used to buy videos, music, apps, and more. Facebook says:

Starting today with Facebook Gifts, you can instantly gift your friends iTunes digital gifts and recommend albums, movies, games, apps, and more available on the iTunes Store.

Search for a specific song or album to recommend, or let your friend decide. iTunes digital gifts are available for $10, $15, $25, or $50.

This follows Apple making iBooks discoverable in Flipboard, and it's quite a strategic change for Apple. Previously, if you wanted Apple's digital content, you went to Apple. Even their grand, and ultimately ill-fated social experiment, Ping, lived in iTunes. Now, post-Ping, Apple continues to outsource social, and Apple starting to come to you.

Sure, if you're already in iOS or OS X, you can use Twitter and Facebook integration to share, but if you're not, if you're in Flipboard and Facebook (and presumably other places, eventually), Apple's content will be there for you to "discover".

Amazon gets a cut of iTunes revenue, Apple gets a much larger visible footprint.

Smart.

Source: Facebook.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/1kfDtezfOys/story01.htm

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Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

Yahoo Messenger Big Brother censorshipWe've all thought it, but never dared think it could be true: what if Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL actively monitor our instant messenger chats? What if mentions of 'bomb' and 'underage' are tracked and sent to law enforcement agencies? What if chat providers don't agree with the things we say, or the links we share, and filter or censor the content of our transmitted messages?

Well, it looks like our fears may actually have some basis in reality: Yahoo Messenger strips FilesTube links from instant messages. It doesn't tell either party that a URL has been removed from chat -- it just deletes it. Poof. FilesTube, in case you were wondering, is one of the largest file hosting meta search engines on the Web -- it indexes RapidShare, Megaupload, Mediafire, and many other 'cyberlocker' services.

It's fairly obvious why FilesTube links are being removed -- the Censor General at Yahoo is probably one of those perplexed primates who think all uses of BitTorrent are illegal -- but this situation poses a far more important question: is Yahoo censoring messages on the client side, or the server side. Does the messenger client itself maintain a list of 'blacklisted' words -- and if so, why are we not told that FilesTube links are banned? What other words and terms does Yahoo protect us from?

Continue reading Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/yahoo-messenger-now-censors-links-raises-serious-privacy-issue/

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New, ultra-thin iMac available starting November 30

Apple's all-new, all thin iMac will be available for your purchasing pleasure starting November 30. The 21.5-inch model will be available through Apple Online, Apple Retail, and select Apple resellers, while the 27-inch model will be available for order through Apple Online and will ship sometime in December (no word on in-store availability for that model). Lest we forget the details, originally announced over a month ago at the October iPad and Mac event, Apple has issued a press release to remind us:

Redesigned from the inside out, the new iMac packs high performance technology into an aluminum and glass enclosure that measures just 5 mm thin at its edge and features a reengineered display that reduces reflection by 75 percent. The new iMac includes 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, a 1TB hard drive, third generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processors that can be upgraded to Core i7, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors that deliver up to 60 percent faster performance. Fusion Drive is an innovative new storage option that gives customers the performance of flash and the capacity of a hard drive by combining 128GB of flash with a standard hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance.

The 21.5-inch iMac is available with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US); and with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US). The 27-inch iMac is available with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US); and with a 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US).

Apple is using a process called "friction stir welding" to adhere the iMac front panels to the casings at the molecular level, and rumor has it that's not the easiest thing to do at commercial scale. Supplies might be constrained going into the new year, so if you've been waiting on the new iMac, shop early and shop fast.

Anyone planning on picking one up?

Source: Apple

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Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game

shotshotpirate
Shot Shot Pirate is very satisfying, because each level is short and to the point. You know what you have to do and you just do it.

As you may have gathered from the name, you're cast in the role of a pirate. Your goal is to shoot at a diamond and make it fall off a tower of bricks. The height of the tower changes as you progress through the levels. It's not enough to just make the diamond fall off the tower of bricks - it has to fall below a certain line (drawn on the screen) for the level to be completed.

There are also different kinds of bricks, with some heavier than others, and different kinds of ammo. You only get a certain amount of ammo for each level, and when it's gone, you lose. But don't worry! If you don't make it on the first try, it's very easy to restart the level and just give it another shot (or three).

All in all it's a cute game. I've seen similar games with better graphics and music, but the game delivers on its main promise - a few minutes of pure time wasting!

Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/24/shot-shot-pirate-is-a-fun-simple-physics-game/

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Whither OpenSolaris? Illumos Takes Up the Mantle

For the installed user base of the former Sun Microsystems' OpenSolaris OS, questions about its continued support and development remain largely unanswered. When Oracle bought Sun Microsystems, it raised fees for its technical help and halted further development on OpenSolaris, replacing it with its own Oracle Solaris 11. Enter the Illumos Foundation, which created a fork of the OS and is gearing up to continue its development. Illumos developers see strong interest in the project as it gains momentum.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/25c5f89f/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C766690Bhtml/story01.htm

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Skype Takes Heat for Security - Both Too Little and Too Much

Microsoft had to temporarily disable Skype's password reset feature last week after a Russian hacker revealed a simple way to lock users out of their accounts. All an attacker needed to know was an email address associated with an account in order to hijack it. That address could be used to create a new account, which could then be used to reset the password and lock out the original user. Ironically, Skype's robust security features are one reason some organizations bar it from their networks, said Tom Nichols, vice president for corporate marketing for Endace.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/25bd3536/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C76660A0Bhtml/story01.htm

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RE Factor Tactical Survival Band – A MacGyver style bracelet

The RE Factor Tactical Survival Band puts a collection of survival tools around your wrist. Made in the USA by a US Army combat veteran, the Tactical Survival Band combines 12 ft of 550 Black Paracord, 30 ft of 80lb Fishing Line, fishing hook, a whistle, p51 can opener, and a flint fire starter rod. The RE Factor Tactical Survival Band starts a new EDC category – survival jewelry. Get yours for $49.95.

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RE Factor Tactical Survival Band – A MacGyver style bracelet originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 24, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Editor's desk: Debugged, Ad hoc'ed, and inspired

Editor's desk: Debugged, Ad hoc'ed, and inspired

It's Thanksgiving weekend in the south, below The Wall, and while I'm busy still waiting on my iPad mini + LTE to ship, getting my snow tires on, and writing a bunch of l our 2012 gift guides, I know many of you are still in turkey-fed, Black Friday-fueled fevers, so I'll keep it short-ish and simply pass along an update on our Mobile Nations podcasts, going into the new fall season.

The Wednesday iMore show is still on hiatus. I'm spending a couple of hours every Tuesday talking Apple news with Leo Laporte and the crew on MacBreak Weekly and repeating that on Wednesday nights just doesn't seem fresh and exciting. I really miss the live chatroom community, however, so we'll be doing something interesting to tie that back in, and sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile the Sunday iMore show will continue to be a mix of special guests and iMore regulars, and will continue to vary from product reviews to deep dives on industry-spanning issues. But we've also got some new shows like Debug and Ad hoc, and new series on shows like ZEN and TECH, and I can't wait for you to hear them.

Debug

Debug is a new podcast I'm doing with the inestimable Guy English of Kicking Bear and Çingleton fame. It focuses on developers, iPhone, iPad, Mac, and gaming in particular, but we'll likely touch on all platforms at some point, as well as the business behind making apps and services.

We'll be recording every two weeks, alternating with Iterate, which focuses on development, and while we'll mostly be doing interviews with developers, we'll also mix it up with round tables and other formats occasionally. The first episode, featuring Loren Brichter of Apple, Tweetie, and Letterpress, is already available and we'll be recording the second episode this week.

If you're a developer, there's lots of great stuff about targeting Game Center API, re-writing UIKit in OpenGL, and the business model for in-app purchases. If you're not a developer, there are some gems in there about the future of Springboard (and backboard) and where iOS might be going in 2013.

Ad Hoc

There's another new podcast I'm a part of that's... different. It has no real name, no fixed schedule, and no set subject. Basically, we get a group of geeks together and we talk about geeky things. Anyone on the show is welcome to record it and release into whatever feed(s) they like. Yes, it's "openy".

Along with the aforementioned Guy English, we've already recorded an episode with Dan Moren, Matt Drance, Dave Wiskus, on the future of Star Wars and what we hope to see -- and not to see -- now that Disney owns Lucasfilm.

You can find it in 5by5's After Dark feed, as an ancillary to Jason Snell's excellent The Incomparable podcast. I've also put it up in a new feed, where I'll also add future episodes, called Ad hoc.

ZEN and TECH

As much as I love doing the iMore show, MacBreak Weekly, Iterate, Debug, Ad hoc, and all the other shows, I'm honored to be a part of ZEN and TECH -- it's absolutely the most important show on our network, and one of the most important shows on any network. Because it's not about coding or interfaces, news or events. It's about us as human beings, and how we relate to the world and technology around us.

ZEN and TECH is like hacking our own OS. It's very literally made me a better person, and based on the feedback we've been getting, I'm far from alone. Over the course of the last couple months, Georgia has been doing a special series on parenting. If you're a parent, or you have friends and family who are facing challenges with parenting, please share the links below. And if you're not a parent, we're still mixing it up -- the latest episode is on anger management.

Tangent: DragonStorm

This isn't about a podcast, but about an old project. 20 years ago I took a summer off and wrote and illustrated a pen-and-paper role-playing game called DragonStorm. I never did much with it, and since then it's been locked on old Amiga floppy disks, but I found a printout and scanned it.

I've been really inspired lately by Dave Wiskus returning to his music, Daniel Pasco, restoring an amp, and Derek Kessler doing a pretty damn impressive project all his own, and because of that inspiration I decided to share the full PDF in the iMore forums.

It's not great, but it's mine, and I've decided I'm going to carve out a little time to do some more side projects in the near future.

If there's anything you used to do, something that inspired you and gave you pleasure, that let you enjoy the exuberance of creation, be it writing, music, art, dance, or anything else, consider getting back into it and sharing it. It's what makes us not only live, but thrive.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/xISM78M9UR8/story01.htm

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The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 6: 1951-1960

The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 6: 1951-1960
Since 2007, Wired.com’s This Day In Tech blog has reflected on important and entertaining events in the history of science and innovation, pursuing them chronologically for each day of the year. Hundreds of these essays have now been collected into ...

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/the-decades-that-invented-the-future-part-6-1951-1960/

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