Latest Roku TV update makes any smartphone a wireless headset

One of Roku’s smartest features was the company’s decision to pop a headphone jack right into the remote, turning it into a wireless headset and saving your housemates from overhearing potential spoilers in the process. With Roku’s latest OS 7.5 update, users can now get that same feature on any Roku TV model using any iOS or Android device connected to the same WiFi network. Rather than plugging into the remote, users running the latest update to the Roku TV can listen and control playback through the Roku mobile app on their mobile device. It’s a feature that was already available on some of the company’s streaming boxes — now available on TV sets with Roku’s built-in tech. In addition to private listening, the latest OS update now allows Roku TV users to pause live broadcast TV when they’ve got a digital antenna connected to their Roku set. (You’ll need somewhere to store all that digital video though, so you’ll have to bring your own USB stick with 16GB or more of storage.) Finally, Roku OS 7.5 allows multiple iOS and Android devices to share photos to the big screen at the same time through Play on Roku, and there’s also expanded screen mirroring support for Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+ and Roku Ultra . The new update is available today and will continue rolling out to Roku devices over the next few weeks. Source: Roku Blog

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Latest Roku TV update makes any smartphone a wireless headset

Microsoft Stops Selling Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 To Computer Makers

An anonymous reader shares a report on VentureBeat: Out with the old, and in with the new. Microsoft yesterday stopped providing Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.1 licenses to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including its PC partners and systems builders. This means that, as of today, the only way you can buy a computer running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is if you can still find one in stock. Two years ago, Microsoft stopped selling Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, and Windows 7 Ultimate licenses to OEMs. Now Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.1 are also out of the picture, leaving Windows 10 as the only remaining option, assuming you want a PC with a Microsoft operating system. This is Microsoft’s way of slowly phasing out old operating systems. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Stops Selling Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 To Computer Makers

Wix gets caught “stealing” GPL code from WordPress

Last Friday, Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg—the founding developer of the WordPress open source blogging and content management platform— posted an open letter on his personal blog accusing the developers of the blogging site Wix of essentially stealing WordPress code for a new mobile application: If I were being charitable, I’d say, “The app’s editor is based on the WordPress mobile app’s editor.” If I were being honest, I’d say that Wix copied WordPress without attribution, credit, or following the license. The custom icons, the class names, even the bugs. You can see the  forked  repositories  on GitHub complete with original commits from Alex and Maxime, two developers on Automattic’s mobile team. Wix has always borrowed liberally from WordPress—including their company name, which used to be Wixpress Ltd.—but this blatant rip-off and code theft is beyond anything I’ve seen before from a competitor. WordPress’ code is open source, but it is published under the GNU Public License (GPL). And the way that Wix used the code, Mullenweg said, is in violation of the GPL. Wix’s new mobile app, he said, reused WordPress’ text editor without credit. And the Wix application was closed and proprietary—not published under the same GPL license. Wix CEO and co-founder Avishai Abrahami fired back , writing in an open response to Mullenweg, “Wow, dude I did not even know we were fighting.” Abrahami pointed to 224 projects that Wix had open sourced on GitHub, and he admitted that Wix had used the text editor code—making some modifications and sharing the code via GitHub: Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Wix gets caught “stealing” GPL code from WordPress

You Soon Won’t Need to Own a Car to Be an Uber Driver

Uber is partnering with the car-sharing service Maven (which is owned and operated by General Motors) to let Uber drivers rent GM vehicles on a weekly basis. The business will cost drivers $179 plus taxes and fees, and driver will not incur any extra fees for using the car for personal use. Read more…

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You Soon Won’t Need to Own a Car to Be an Uber Driver

The Largest Bioterrorism Attack in US History Was An Attempt to Swing An Election

In September of 1984, at least 751 people got violently sick in Dalles, Oregon. At first, no one in the town could figure out why. Those sickened had all eaten at ten different restaurants in the area, but local health officials couldn’t find a common food that may have caused their illness. A year later, they finally figured it out: A local cult was trying to swing an election in its favor. The event remains the single largest bioterrorism attack on US soil. Read more…

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The Largest Bioterrorism Attack in US History Was An Attempt to Swing An Election

Foxconn Testing Wireless Charging For iPhone 8

One of the first big secrets regarding Apple’s upcoming smartphone has been spilled. According to a report from Nikkei Asian Review, Foxconn, the firm responsible for assembling iPhones, is testing wireless charging modules for the iPhone 8. TrustedReviews reports: Citing ‘an industry source familiar with the matter, ‘ the report states the wireless charging feature could appear on the next Apple handset, but it depends whether the company can produce enough satisfactory units. The source told Nikkei: “Whether the feature can eventually make it into Apple’s updated devices will depend on whether Foxconn can boost the yield rate to a satisfactory level later on.” The yield rate refers to the ‘number of satisfactory units in the production of a batch of components, ‘ and if it’s found to be too low, the wireless charging feature could be left out of the iPhone 8 according to the report. It’s also claimed the wireless tech could make it into some versions of the iPhone 8 and not others. Nikkei is also reporting that Apple’s next gen smartphones are expected to arrive in three different sizes — 4.7-inch, 5-inch and 5.5-inch — all of which will come with glass-backed bodies. The Next Web reports: “Nikkei further suggests out of the three new iPhones will be a premium model with a curved edge-to-edge OLED display; the other two models will likely have standard LCD displays. Here’s what Nikkei’s source said: “Apple has tentatively decided that all the 5.5-inch, 5-inch and 4.7-inch models will have glass backs, departing from metal casings adopted by current iPhones, and Biel and Lens are likely to be providing all the glass backs for the new iPhones next year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Foxconn Testing Wireless Charging For iPhone 8