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Here you will find detailed, unofficial reviews and recommendations on websites/web services that cover every different category, from Personal Information Managers, to Image Editors to Desktop Managers…and more!
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Google Now and Google Translate bug ‘praises the iPad’
Now this is definitely one of the stranger bugs we’ll come across. A bug in Google’s text-to-speech engine that affects the Google Now and Google Translate services causes it to add the phrase “he now praises the iPad” to sentences ending with “end with,” “enraged with,” and “filled with.”
The [...]
Read More »See what the world searched for in 2012 with Google’s 2012 Zeitgeist
With last year now almost a week behind us, it’s easy to forget all the big things that happened over the course of 2012. With many things good, bad and even great, 2012 was a year of many accomplishments as well as many losses.
Google’s 2012 Zeitgeist is a great [...]
Read More »Google reenabling Maps access on Windows Phone, one day after removing it
Well, that didn’t take very long. Around 24 hours after Windows Phone users began reporting that they been blocked from accessing Google Maps when using Internet Explorer on their phones, Google says that they’re now going to fix that.
“We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make
[...]
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Google no longer warning Chinese citizens about potential censorship
When performing searches on Google’s Hong Kong-based site, Google warns users about potential censorship by displaying a message. The message would usually tell the user that searching for that particular term may “temporarily break your connection to Google” and that “This interruption is outside Google’s control,” due to the results [...]
Read More »Windows Phone users no longer able to access Google Maps on the web
According to numerous reports from Windows Phone users, they are no longer able to access Google Maps on their phone. Instead, when attempting to load the web version of Google Maps, they are redirected to the main page of Google.
When asked about the issue, Google issued this statement to [...]
Read More »Internet-connected devices in the US outnumber US population
According to a report out of The NPD Group, there are now more devices in the U.S. that are connected to the internet than there are people.
U.S. homes have 425 million internet-connected devices, while the human population sits at around 315 million. Information was gathered using a survey [...]
Read More »Pakistan lifts Youtube ban for three minutes
When a blasphemous video of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) began circulating and inciting riots last year, Pakistan’s government decided to ban Youtube altogether. The government decided to lift the ban a few days ago, only to reinstate it after three minutes. Why, that’s not even enough time to watch Gangnam [...]
Read More »These are the most pirated TV shows of 2012
As you’ve probably already guessed, Game of Thrones is indeed the most pirated tv of show 2012. According to TorrentFreak‘s data, it handily beat out other popular shows — it even has double the amount of downloads of The Walking Dead. Check out the full list below for more [...]
Read More »These are the most pirated movies of 2012
TorrentFreak has released their annual list of the most pirated movies of the year — most of the results are pretty much expected, but there are a few surprises in there as well.
Raise your hand if you were expecting Project X to top the list. Nobody? Thought so. I [...]
Read More »[Web] Add special effects to your photos without downloading a thing with TiltShiftMaker
If there is one thing that I like better than things I don’t have to install, it is things I don’t have to download at all! TiltShiftMaker is an online tool that you can use to add special effects to your photos. Simply visit their site, upload a picture and [...]
Real name registration may become mandatory for Internet users in China
Real names on Facebook? That’s nothing. What about your real name tied to every account you use on the Internet, anonymous or not? That’s what Internet users in China might have to deal with if this new policy becomes official. A draft decision proposing a new “identity management” policy has [...]
Read More »Google extends free phone calls to US and Canada numbers (via Gmail and Google Voice) until the end of 2013
One very underrated feature of Gmail that doesn’t get much publicity is the fact that you make domestic phone calls in US and Canada, completely for free. Google announced this feature back in 2010 and has extended it every year since then. 2013 looks to be no different as an [...]
Read More »Retailer websites are showing higher prices depending on where you live
Turns out that shopping online in some retailers might not be worth the convenience anymore. That’s because The Wall Street Journal has discovered that some retailers vary their pricing depending on their buyer’s zip code.
Normally this wouldn’t be such a big deal, because factors like shipping costs can vary [...]
Read More »Amazon is finally cleaning up fake product reviews on its website
When you want something on Amazon that you’re not too familiar with, reviews are usually your best bet to help you with your decision. And on Amazon, that’s as easy as just scrolling down the page to its user reviews. The one problem with that is, what if those reviews [...]
Read More »Flickr Pro is going free for three months, grab an account now
Yahoo! and CEO Marissa Mayer have been on the right track lately, and they’re looking to continue that straight through this holiday season. It might be the holiday season, or it might be because of a certain other company’s recent stumbles – either way, it’s a pretty good deal.
Yahoo! [...]
Read More »‘Gangnam Style’ is the first YouTube video to reach one billion views
You probably saw this coming, but Psy’s uber popular ‘Gangnam Style’ music has just one billion views on YouTube, making it the first ever video to reach that amount. The video also has the Guinness World Record for most YouTube likes with over six million as of posting.
If you’ve [...]
Read More »Facebook may let strangers message you if they pay $1 per message
Facebook is testing a strange new feature with a small number of users in the US to determine if they’ll be willing to pay to message you. That’s right, a feature where strangers that aren’t on your contact list could potentially pay the amount of $1 to reach your inbox.[...]
Read More »German data protection agency orders Facebook to let people use fake names
Facebook doesn’t like fake accounts — they’ve even gone as far as deleting them to clean up the top social site. With that said, it’s not really a surprise that Facebook also requires users to use their real names on their accounts. Germany, however, has a law that gives people [...]
Read More »China strengthening the Great Firewall by blocking VPNs
When going on a trip to China, don’t expect to be able use sites like Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube — those sites are all blocked by the Chinese mainland’s so-called “Great Firewall,” which is designed to keep out content that may go against China’s policies. Foreigners and even residents, [...]
Read More »Instagram says it’s not planning to sell your photos
When Instagram recently made changes to its Terms of Service, they saw more than just a public outcry due to Instagram seemingly claiming ownership of photos uploaded to the service. People closed their accounts (or threatened to), cursed them, and basically announced that it was the death of Instagram with [...]
Read More »Twitter launches ‘Your Twitter Archive’, lets you download everything you’ve ever tweeted
According to The Verge, users are beginning to report that a new option labelled ‘Your Twitter Archive’ has shown up on the site’s settings page with a button to ‘Request your archive’. Users that request for their archive are then sent a link to a zip file that contains [...]
Read More »Google is now reporting false DMCA takedown requests
In an effort to improve transparency, Google began publishing reports on the DMCA takedown requests it receives. According to Google, removal requests are now up from 250,000 weekly in May, to 2.5 million requests weekly today. Unfortunately for copyright holders and their never-ending battle against piracy, not all these requests [...]
Read More »Google does some ‘winter cleaning’, retires features and services you may or may not miss
Google is doing some winter cleaning, according to its official blog, but instead of snow, we have features and services being swept. Perhaps the most notable casualty of the bunch being shut down is Google Sync, a service that allowed users to sync Google’s Mail, Contacts and Calendar through Microsoft’s [...]
Read More »US rejects UN telecoms treaty in fight to maintain an open Internet
The Verge reports that the US has chosen not to sign a proposed international telecommunications treaty amid fears that it could lead to the regulation of the Internet. The countries involved — which include Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, have argued that the US has unfair control over ICANN. The [...]
Read More »Yahoo announces new Yahoo Mail for web client, Android, iOS, and Windows 8
Yahoo has just announced new versions of Yahoo Mail across all platforms, upgrades for its current web client and Android app, and brand new apps for iOS and Windows 8. The announcement was made by CEO Marissa Mayer in a blog post today, and speed seems be the main focus:[...]
Read More »Iran launches ‘Mehr’, their very own version of YouTube
Iran has launched an alternative to YouTube called ‘Mehr’. Why not just use YouTube with its already well-established amount of cat videos, you ask? That’s because sites like YouTube (and even Facebook) have been banned in the country since 2009, with YouTube being deemed as “inappropriate”.
Mehr, which means affection [...]
Read More »South Korea declares war against Internet porn
Pornography is illegal in South Korea. Inevitably, savvy Internet-users find ways to go around governmental blocks, in this case to acquire or view said pornography. South Korea’s solution? Destroy all the porn in an all-out war!
The Associated Press reports that officials in South Korea have decided to outsource an [...]
Read More »Kim Dotcom shares three screenshots of Mega, shows 2048-bit RSA encryption will be used
The government may have taken the first punch against Mega by taking down Me.ga, but Mega is far from out. In fact, it appears that Mega is still on track for a January 19 opening, despite opposition from the American government.
Indeed, Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload and now [...]
Read More »Youtube is redesigned (again), gets a “cleaner, simpler” yet oddly left-aligned look
Guess what? Yeah, yes you guess it — Google has redesigned Youtube. Again.
The focus of this new design is to facilitate viewing of videos and subscribing to Youtube channels. If you head over to Youtube.com, you will notice videos are pushed up to the top and everything else, including [...]
Read More »Dumb DMCA: Movie producers ask Google to take down links to their own websites, legitimate sources to purchase content, and film reviews
We have seen examples of dumb DMCA takedown requests before, such as the requests Microsoft sent to Google in July of this year. But movie studios asking Google to take down links to their own websites and/or websites that contain legitimate copies of movies and TV shows probably takes the [...]
Read More »Dropbox updates website, makes it easier to share files and folders with others
Dropbox has always had the ability to share files (and folders? I never really tried sharing folders prior to today). In fact, this sharing of files is one of the aspects that made (make) Dropbox so great. However, it seems like the Dropbox team was not satisfied with their current [...]
Read More »Google asks everyone to “support a free and open Internet”
By and large, the Internet is a decentralized system not owned or run by one single entity. At its most basic form, the Internet is a bunch of networks connected to each other with limited regulatory oversight. Governments can control access to the Internet, and in some cases even influence [...]
Read More »Another man is fined $1.5 million for sharing 7 movies online
What do you think is a fair amount to fine a person for illegally sharing copyrighted content? The MSRP (retail value) of the shared copyrighted content times the number of people who downloaded it? More? Less? Legally speaking, in the United States (and I’m quoting from Wikipedia, since I’m not [...]
Read More »Watch Youtube videos in VLC media player to skip ads, control playback speed, and multitask [Tip]
So you are a Youtube junkie yet you find it annoying to watch Youtube in your browser for multiple reasons, such as the inability to multitask while watching videos. Want to know a better way to watch Youtube videos? Through VLC media player.
WHAT IS VLC MEDIA PLAYER?
VLC Media [...]
Read More »Piracy charges are dropped after 9-year-old girl’s father pays 300 euros
Remember that 9-year-old-turned-pirate girl in Finland who’s home was raided and laptop was confiscated? Yeah, well, that saga has come to a close. The father of the girl, who is the one held responsible by Finland’s Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre (CIPAC) because he owns the Internet connection the girl [...]
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