Esquire envisions a wired modern bachelor
Esquire
There are many notable things about the 2011 Esquire apartment, but my interest was piqued by a prominent screen featuring Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare feeds.
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Shigeru Miyamoto rumors of retirement not true, says Nintendo [updated]
Getty/Stuart Wilson
(CBS) - Whew! The man who brought us video games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda is not retiring.
Wired got an exclusive interview with Shigeru Miyamoto on Wednesday and declared the video game legend was stepping down. While it is a possibility, the man himself said it was not true.
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Facebook photo privacy loophole disabled while glitch is fixed
Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg
(CBS) - Let's hope your stalkers aren't as tech savvy as you are. For a short period of time, a loophole in Facebook's security let anyone access its members' private photos.
Full coverage of Facebook on Tech Talk
A member the bodybuilding.com forum discovered a security flaw in Facebook that would allow anyone to access a user's private photos. That discussion thread has since been deleted.
The method was a roundabout way that would only come in handy if you wanted to block a user or report obscene photos.
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American Airlines releases statement on Alec Baldwin's accusations
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Baldwin was playing the popular Scrabble-like game "Words with Friends" while waiting for the plane to take off. When he refused to turn off his phone, American Airlines left him at the gate.
The airline released this rebuttal of the actor's claims this morning.
The year according to Facebook
Facebook
Early this morning, Facebook's Jonathan Chang posted Facebook's top trending topics, globally and by country.
Here are some random facts. Planking was the No. 1 trend in Australia. Really? The national interest in planking spiked in May when Max Key, the son of New Zealand's Prime Minister John Keys, posted a photo of himself on Facebook planking with his father in the background.
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Alec Baldwin's "Words with Friends" addiction gets him kicked off plane
Jemal Countess
(CBS) - Actor Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight Tuesday after he refused to turn off his cell phone at Los Angeles International Airport.
Baldwin was playing the popular Scrabble-like game "Words with Friends" while waiting for the plane to take off. When he refused to turn off his phone, American Airlines left him at the gate.
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New Xbox 360 dashboard is still delayed
Microsoft
"FYI: The timing for Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed. I'll have a status update later today," Larry Hryb of the Microsoft marketing team tweeted this morning.
Microsoft overhauls Xbox platform
Verizon FiOS brings live TV channels to Xbox 360
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Siri backlash the end of Apple fanboyism?
Apple fanboyism a thing of the past?
/ YouTube/ToddWassermanThe Siri abortion debacle that was discovered by bloggers at Abortioneers and brought to light by the New York Times, provoked more than just women's groups. It posed a conundrum for Apple fans. Either Siri's flub was a conservative conspiracy or it was a failure in Apple's spotless technology.
New .xxx top-level domains go on sale today
PR Newswire
(CBS) - Porn kings will now have their own top-level domain to rule over.
Today, .xxx sites go live at 11 a.m. EST. The long-awaited domains offered by the ICM Registry is finally done with preliminary sales periods and will now be available for the general population.
While, it sounds dodgy to peddle .xxx domains, it will be easier for parents to filter and block adult content. According the ICM Registry, "over 250 million pages of adult oriented content have already been labeled using the MetaCert technology including the .XXX domain pages." MetaCert is a web browser add-on that helps parents filter content and block sites.
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Tech Talk holiday gift guide
Think Geek
Think Geek, the home of all things nerdy and cool, was no-brainer. They have my all-time favorite gift idea, the iCade. Atari games on a mini arcade cabinet? No explanation needed.
Some of my favorite unique finds were the iMac lamp and USB typewriter conversion kit from Etsy. Another of my favorites is the Ion Tape Express+ from Ion Audio, which converts tapes to MP3s. My car is so old that it only plays cassette tapes, so I am still listening to nearly-melted tapes from the 90s. This is a really cool retro gift for Gen Xers, who can't let go of mix tapes either.
More girly finds that I loved were iPhone cases from Kate Spade and Diane von Furstenberg. I won't spoil all the fun, so check out the gift guide yourself.
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Carrier IQ lawsuits pending for Apple, Samsung, HTC, AT&T, Sprint and more
Carrier IQ
On Nov. 28, Android developer Trevor Eckhart posted a video on YouTube showing the software Carrier IQ interacting oddly with his mobile phone activity. Eckhert alleged his keystrokes and data were being collected without his permission.
Speculation and accusations began flying immediately over what data Carrier IQ was collecting. Massachusetts congressman Rep. Edward Markey has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the company over concerns of consumer privacy. Many believe the software was logging keystrokes and collecting sensitive data.
Carrier IQ is software that is embedded onto mobile devices to collect and analyze data for wireless carriers. The company says they only collect diagnostic data.
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Siri's abortion glitch critics still waiting for a fix
(CBS) - Last week a firestorm broke out over the iPhone 4S's personal assistant Siri's omission of abortion clinics. Groups like the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and the American Civil Liberties Union spoke out against Apple because of the broader implications of the software glitch.
A petition at SignOn.org to fix the software is still active and they've even upped their goal to 40,000, after surpassing the original 30,000 signatures. A spokesperson for SignOn told me that the petition's authors, which include former MoveOn staff member Nita Chaudhary, will present their petition to Apple once they've hit their goal and will not back down until a fix is released.
PlayStation 3 immersive movie experience will blow your mind
(CBS) - A group of filmmakers create a 3D experience using what they call "immersive imaging." Three videos were produced and they're all amazing.
The special effects team described their technique on YouTube.
"In the past, projection mapping worked only from a single, static view point, and thus was very limited. By attaching the PlayStation Move to the camera, we can track projections to screens in real time, enhancing the effect of spatial deformation and false perspective on the projections and allowing viewers to look round (virtual) corners, bend walls, create a hole in the wall, or remove the walls altogether to reveal vast expanses of virtual worlds."Continue »
Thousands petition Apple over Siri's abortion answers
Apple
Siri's abortion answers are a glitch, says Apple
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NES Duckhunt in real life?
(CBS) - Dear gaming Gods, please let CNN advance their hologram technology, so that one day we can play the classic Nintendo video game Duck Hunt in real life. In the meanwhile, check out this conceptual video created by special effects artist Jeremiah Warren.
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