Living

Aug 9, 2012 6:40 PM   Mobile payments are a mess. Mostly because every single carrier is trying to set up its own payment platform and squeeze everyone else out. The Electronic Transactions Association has announced the Mobile Payments Committee, which should put some order to the chaos. The committee will have representatives from each of the four major US carriers, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, and it will be chaired by Jackie Moran of Verizon. It will try to get everyone to stop being gigantic jerks about mobile payment platforms, and actually create a sensible marketplace. So for example, things like Verizon freezing out Google Wallet until recently. But this isn't just a conversation to decide what format will succeed long term. Say, Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD. This is a group that will decide how entire ecosystems are allowed to process payments. And the carriers seemingly occupy the pole positions in committee that decides who gets to play the game, and how it's pla...

Aug 9, 2012 2:20 PM   Even though you might have to salvage the boxes from your local grocery store, and they'll probably be emblazoned with Rice-A-Roni and Chiquita Banana logos, you can still ensure the next time you move is a classy affair with these upscale rolls of fake leather strap packing tape. Swanky. Each 98-foot roll is printed with a photorealistic leather strap with a buckle every few feet. So for just $11 you can make your new neighbors think you're actually from high society and have come to gentrify their neighborhood. And that stack of boxes you don't bother unpacking for the first six months will instead look like a pile of antique trunks in the corner of your new place, so you can throw a housewarming party without being completely embarrassed. [mmiinn via The Fancy] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full...

When Gizmodo alumnus and wonderful human Mat Honan got hacked, the point of entry for the hackers was through Amazon and Apple's lax security policies. Amazon immediately admitted its fault in the situation and updated its security policy accordingly. Apple? Well, Apple still doesn't know what do yet. You see, Apple isn't pointing the finger at itself and its wafer-thin security policies but accusing a rogue customer service rep of not following standard operating procedure when it came to Honan's hack. If you remember, Honan's iCloud account was seized by the hackers when they offered up Honan's last 4 digits of his credit card as proof of their identity as Honan to Apple. But according to what Apple has been saying publicly, that isn't how Apple security policies work. Apple issued a statement saying "we found that our own internal policies were not followed completely." Basically, Apple claims Honan's hack shouldn't of happened like tha...

Aug 1, 2012 6:40 PM   Every nation, broadcast network, and news site on the planet have a way to keep track of the medal count at the Olympics. But why wade through all that other ancillary crap—like stories of athletes overcoming adversity and political drama—when all you care about is what nation has the most medals, and by extension is the greatest country on earth? That's exactly what MedalCount.com gives you, thanks to the folks over at Animal. It not only lets you sort the medal standings based on rank, totals—or even the breakdown of gold, silver, and bronze—it also lets you keep an eye on your four favorite countries at the top of the page. Did we also mention there's now a mobile version too? It's definitely worthy of a bookmark, at least for the next 11 days. [MedalCount.com] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full...

Jul 31, 2012 11:40 AM   Just as the streets were crowded with crazy contraptions as man made the transition from the horse drawn carriage to the automobile, the same seems to be happening with the glacially slow transition to electric vehicles. The Segway set the pace, and this Tribey electric trike follows suit as another eco-friendly way to break your neck. At its core the Tribey is basically a recumbent trike outfitted with an electric drivetrain, but in its default configuration it's designed to be ridden while standing—like a skateboard or a surfboard. An optional kit can convert the Tribey into a more traditional recumbent trike that can be ridden while sitting, but where's the fun in that? On a single charge it has a range of about 18 miles, but that number is presumably reduced depending on if the Tribey is ridden at its max speed of 25 mph, and how heavy the rider is. The current version, the Tribey M7, can be custom ordered for $2,500. But only to customers aged 16 ...

Jul 27, 2012 1:20 PM   Have you ever wondered how your computer gets made? Ever thought about the people who put it together? What about how life is like inside a computer factory? This video, which was found inside a brand new HP laptop, answers all your questions. A Reddit user recently bought a HP laptop and found this test video inside the My Documents folder of a factory worker testing out the laptop's camera feature. The voyeuristic video shows a glimpse of the monotonous life inside: sitting, testing the same gear over and over, more sitting, more testing, etc. The conveyor belt of the same new gadget is endless. Supposedly, the video was taken in the Quanta Chongqing Manufacturing City in Chongqing. Props for the opera, factory guy. [Reddit via TechCrunch] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

What the hell happened to the Internet today? Google Talk? Down. Twitter? Crashed. Messages? Completely awful. Chrome? Blowing up my laptop. The weather? Shitty. My hangover? Slight but smelly. That all made me very grumpy. Did the entire internet decide to shit the bed on Thursday July 26th 2012? Did it think we wouldn't notice? How come we never got the memo? Well, go to hell Internet, we don't need you! Wait no sorry. That's a lie. We need you. Badly. It's sort of sad, really, how connected we are. Sad that it makes us so happy. I woke up in the morning like I always do, wanting to go right back to sleep. But like any self respecting kid in adult-sized clothing trying to avoid being exposed as a no-talent hack, you power on, dropping GIF bombs to your snickering co-workers and hearing stories about who humped who on hump day over Gchat. It's a morning routine as normal as sipping hot water that ran through roasted beans. But today? Ugh. How did the internet expe...

Jul 26, 2012 2:40 PM   It's often tricky, as a runner, to rehydrate without lowering your heart rate. But will Salomon's new Sense Hydro S-Lab gloves—which strap a water bottle to each hand for easy access—make it easier or downright impossible? The set won't be available until September, but it looks like they use a pair of soft plastic bottles so they can be folded up and reduced in size as they're drained. Which is a lot easier than trying to run with a pair of empty rigid plastic bottles strapped to your hands. The design also lets you squeeze every last drop of moisture out of the bottles using just a single hand. In fact, the only obvious disadvantage is that the heat from your palms is bound to leave you sipping luke warm water, which might not be that refreshing after all. [Salomon via Gear Junkie] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activ...

Jul 22, 2012 4:00 PM   You know the type. Oh, I was just sitting here, reading some Dostoevsky, listening to this band I love but you probably haven't heard them but oh we must go catch them live some time, when my cat did this amazing thing, and I happened to snap off an Instagram photo in time. Right. Andy Pandy is pretty on the money with how that adorable shot actually happened. (Click the image to see the whole comic.) [Pandyland via Laughing Squid] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Jul 23, 2012 9:03 AM   There's a Reuters report out there this morning saying there will be "five or six" new Kindle Fire models, according Demos Parneros, president of U.S. Retail for Staples. That doesn't mean what you think it means, exactly. Whatever you think of Mr. Parneros's credibility, here's why that number is dumb: It's almost definitely based on the number of SKUs that Amazon will send to Staples. That means a separate "model" for each storage option—or data option. So, if the next Fire gets, say, just a 7-inch model, with 8, 16, and 32GB storage options, each of those having either Wi-Fi-only or 3G options, that's six SKUs right there. And that's before you get into a 10-inch model. That's not to say that that's exactly how this would break down; the "five or six" number is just hugely misleading. Will there be a 10-inch Kindle Fire? Maybe. But chances are you're not going to find out from a retail hea...

Jul 23, 2012 9:20 AM   If you've ever peered inside the ports or slots on your gadgets and wondered what was really going on inside to make them work, this enlightening video will answer all of your questions. It turns out it has nothing to do with circuits, microprocessors, or even software. All of that is just a ruse, designed to obfuscate the real tiny wonders that lurk inside your devices. [YouTube via Neatorama] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.