New Technology : YouTube Drops Google+, The OnePlus 2 Flagship Killer… [Tech News Digest]

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The unimportance of Google+, the OnePlus 2 arrives, eBay Now is no more, Steve Jobs is The Man In the Machine, and everything wrong with Super Mario Bros. Google+ Is No Longer Required Google is dropping the need to have a Google+ profile in order to use its other services. While the change will happen gradually, rolling out over the next few months, YouTube is the first service affected. So, it only took the better part of two years for Google to take notice of YouTube users’ complaints. As it stands, your Google+ profile is used across the whole of...

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New Technology : Hidden Features For Your Favorite Social Networks You Should Use

♠ Posted by channel-top-news in ,,,,,,
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You probably use Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn at least somewhat regularly. In fact, you probably use at least one of these social networks all the time. You also probably think you have a good handle on how to make the most of each of these services, but as it turns out, there are a lot of hidden features that most users don’t know about. Don’t believe us? Check out the infographic below for a look at some features for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn that you probably aren’t using. Are there any other features of these social networks that...

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New Technology : How to Use Photos for OS X With Photoshop, Pixelmator and Other Image Editors

♠ Posted by channel-top-news in ,,,,,,
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Apple’s new Photos app for OS X and iOS is being pitched as being the only photography app you might ever need. It enables you to manage your library, edit your images, and then share them to common online services. It’s also fully integrated with iCloud, so you can access all your images on all your Apple devices. For most users, and in most use cases, it’s pretty good. But for more advanced users it falls short in a few areas, not least in its lack of support for external image editors like Photoshop and Pixelmator. Fortunately, there is a workaround...

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New Technology : The Best Albums of All Time, as Chosen by Reddit

♠ Posted by channel-top-news in ,,,,,,
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Popular music is tough to agree on. Sure, we might have bands and tracks that we love as much as our friends, but it’s guaranteed that no two people have exactly the same taste in music. Indeed, with the popularity of iTunes and Spotify, it’s pretty tough to find people below a certain age that appreciate albums as anything more than a collection of songs that can be skipped or played through at random. However, for many, the album still represents the optimum expression of musical quality: a work of art comprising 10 (ish) songs, a statement of intent, a...

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New Technology : Quick Guide to Windows 10 for Windows 8 Users

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Windows 10 is just around the corner and if you’re running Windows 8 you will be able to upgrade for free on July 29. Let’s take a look at what the big changes are. Windows 8 wasn’t well received when it launched, facing criticism for being too focused on touch devices. But with the newest, and supposedly last version of Windows being the same across all platforms, Microsoft has learned from its mistakes. Please be sure to dive into the comments section afterwards to let us know if you’re using Windows 8 at the moment and what you’re looking forward to in Windows 10. Rediscover the Start...

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New Technology : Hearing Is Believing: The Best Audiobooks Narrated by Authors

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book-narrate

I recently discovered that you can finally finish your reading list using audiobooks, as they allow you to multitask in a way that the traditional reading experience doesn’t allow. I also discovered that autobiographies and/or books written in the first person are best enjoyed when the author is reading the words rather than a third-party narrator. An audiobook is only as good as the quality of the narration. Even the best writing can fall flat if the narrator is unable to do justice to the words. And who better to bring the author’s true feelings for each word to life...

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New Technology : 8 Ways Upgrading to Android Lollipop Makes Your Phone More Secure

♠ Posted by channel-top-news in ,,,,,,
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As we shift more and more of our computing to the mobile space, mobile security becomes more and more important. These days our phones are full of sensitive information – from personal photos to bank login credentials. So how can we keep ourselves safe? Android Lollipop, the newly released version of Android, has a bunch of useful features, including Google’s new Material Design aesthetic. More importantly, though, it packs a big punch in the security arena, bringing in a number of features that improve security across the board. Let’s dive in and see what improvements you can expect when you boot up...

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New Technology : Ashley Madison Leak No Big Deal? Think Again

♠ Posted by channel-top-news in ,,,,,,
ashleymadison-leak

You may be aware that Ashley Madison, a “discreet” online dating site targeted primarily at cheating spouses, was recently hacked. The site has garnered controversy for many years, largely by running ads like these: The hackers, who call themselves as “The Impact Group” are threatening to release data on millions of users (including compromising images and personal information) if the site isn’t taken down by its parent company, Avid Media Life, which owns a number of other hookup sites. The motive for the hack appears to be a moral objection to the operations of the site itself, although it would...

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New Technology : Amazon Local vs. Groupon – And the Winner Is…

♠ Posted by channel-top-news in ,,,,,,
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Groupon has controlled the “local bargains” market for some time now, so it’s exciting to see a big name like Amazon step up as a competitor with its Amazon Local service. But is Amazon able to compete? In this article, I will test and analyze both services – Groupon and Amazon Local – using a defined list of metrics that I consider to be the most important for people who are looking for fun local things to do or buy at steep discounts. These metrics are: Volume: How many listings are available to browse through? Value: How good are the...

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New Technology : Where Can I Find Old and New Interactive Fiction Games?

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Cindi Arteglier Asks: Back in the 1980s, I remember a game on my MS-DOS computer that was played solely by reading directions or clues, and typing responses. For example, “You are in a dark alley,” type: Turn left,” response: “You can’t turn left,” type: “Go straight,” response: “You find an axe,” type: “Pick up axe,” response: “There is a green monster about to attack you,” type: “Use axe,”… on and on. No pictures, strictly in the player’s imagination. In retrospect, of course, it is ridiculously tedious and lame, but at the time it was quite addicting. Any ideas of its...

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