CrunchGear Week In Review: Independent Edition

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: Weekend Giveaway: Toshiba 47-inch TL515 Series 3D LED TV Starbucks Merges Their Two iOS Apps, Lets You Gift Your Friends Coffee From Your Phone Warn Friends And Foes With These Nine Aperture Science Test Chamber Labels SocialBicycles Bike Sharing Is Now A Kickstarter Project Ricoh [...]

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/07/04/week-in-review-independent/

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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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Victory! Verizon Drops Its Absurd $2 Online Payment Fee [Verizon]

Well done, consumers! In a brief press release issued just this afternoon, Verizon has announced its change of heart on the $2 "convenience fee" it was prepared to charge customers just for paying their bills online or by phone. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/EeIvo8INI1g/verizon-drops-its-absurd-2-online-payment-fee

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These Unwearable Specs Poorly Hide a Digital Camera [Digital Cameras]

If you fancy yourself an amateur Bond, there are plenty of high-tech glasses available that discreetly hide a compact camera. This isn't one of them. In fact, these Fuuvi Megane glasses aren't going to fool anyone. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/uMS1orogStQ/these-unwearable-specs-poorly-camouflage-a-digital-camera

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This Is One Ridiculously Over-The-Top iPhone Camera Case [Photography]

If you've come to rely on your iPhone 4 as your daily shooter, but miss the form factor of a real camera, Gizmon's over-engineered iCA case will convincingly disguise your phone as a retro snapper. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/eW2o0gLLg5M/this-is-one-ridiculously-over+the+top-iphone-camera-case

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Engadget Podcast 270 - 12.30.2011

Happy The Engadget Podcast New Year's, everybody! You know what to do. Don't forget to date your checks right.

Host: Brian Heater
Guests: Richard Lawler, Terrence O'Brien
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: We Found Love

04:47 - Verizon experiencing nationwide data outage? (update: Verizon confirms)
09:00 - Verizon confirms latest LTE outage restored, again claims 3G operated normally
12:28 - Toshiba Thrive 7" review
21:10 - Tech's biggest misfires of 2011


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Engadget Podcast 270 - 12.30.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/30/engadget-podcast-270-12-30-2011/

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Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday

windows phone 7
Happy first birthday, Windows Phone 7! One year on, and the fledgling mobile operating system has 36,000 active developers in its AppHub community, 1.5 million downloads of its Developer Tools, and 11,500 apps in its Marketplace.

Microsoft is quick to take a couple shots at competitors' app stores, beating its chest about not re-counting tanslations of an app or "lite" apps, "increasing tonnage" by supporting apps from other mobile platforms, and not listing wallpapers as a category.

That's all fine and dandy, but we spend a lot of time sifting through WP7 app feeds -- and we're still not seeing a lot of awesome apps on the platform. We think a few marquee apps would've made a pretty nice first birthday present -- along with a much smoother update process for WP7 users.

Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/microsoft-trumpets-windows-phone-7-numbers-on-first-birthday/

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Apple Didn't Invent the All-Touch Phone [Video]

In 2007, Steve Jobs stood on a stage and denounced the "smart"phone—ugly, mismatched keyboards of Nokia and RIM. Rightfully! But he also championed Apple as the mobile keyboard killer. However, IBM beat them almost two decades earlier. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/VpN_xpaPWF0/apple-didnt-invent-the-all+touch-phone

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ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite ASCII extension
Have you ever wondered what the Web was like before the Mosaic Web browser? If you were born in the last 20-odd years, or you only discovered your inner geek recently, did you miss out on monochrome monitors and the dial-up BBS era? Well, here's your chance to get a sneak peek at history: grab the ChromeLite extension and marvel as the entire Web is transformed into ASCII characters.

Now, ChromeLite isn't really all that functional. For the most part, it simply strips images and converts text into a monospaced terminal font. There are a few Easter eggs inserted -- such as a fun message at the bottom of YouTube (image after the break) -- and some fun ASCII art, but that's about it. Rather oddly, most JavaScript continues to work -- so you can still enjoy Google Instant Search!

ChromeLite was actually made by Google as an April Fools' joke -- and indeed, an annoying 'you can uninstall this!' message appears at the top of every page -- but we're kind of hoping that Google, or another developer, takes ChromeLite and turns it into a real ASCII browsing extension with configurable settings. If anything, it will provide an easy way to save bandwidth and CPU time.

Continue reading ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/chromelite-experience-the-ascii-web-of-yesteryear/

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Verizon offers vague statement, no apology for LTE downtime

Earlier this week, you may have noticed that your Verizon Wireless LTE smartphone couldn't do inconsequential things like update your inbox, or pull up a webpage. This happened once. Then twice. And finally a third time this month. And what's the root cause? "Growing pains," according to the carrier's latest statement. And since growing pains are a natural consequence of adolescence, there's no reason for Verizon to issue any kind of apology to its paying customers, who naturally expect such inconsistencies from "the most advanced 4GLTE wireless network in the world." Now, some of you also reported issues connecting to the 3G network, which Verizon reps claim didn't experience any downtime. Instead, your hiccups were a result of being "unable to connect to the 3G Network as quickly as [Verizon] would have liked." Have any questions? Of course you don't. Such can be expected from any carrier, just like the requirement to fork over two bucks for the convenience of paying your monthly bill.

Continue reading Verizon offers vague statement, no apology for LTE downtime

Verizon offers vague statement, no apology for LTE downtime originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/t22muBUW_Tw/

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