iOS app turns smartphones into an automated teleprompter

Add / Remove Those who regularly speak at conferences will know how much of a help a teleprompter can be in making sure they keep on track and don’t fumble their words. However, it’s not a luxury that every speaking occasion affords. PromptSmart is an iOS app that mimics the standard autocue, using voice recognition to track users’ place in the text. Users can import their documents in either .docx or .txt format from various cloud services including iCloud, Dropbox and Evernote. Scripts can either be full text or in notecard form, and the app enables users to customize the text style from font size to typeface. As they go through their speech, the app highlights their current place in the text so they can always keep track of where they’re up to. While speaking, users have 3 ways they can control the flow of the text. They can either manually scroll as they’re reading or set a words-per-minute speed to make the app automatically scroll. A third option, however, uses voice recognition to determine exactly where the speaker is in the text. If they go off script, the scrolling simply stops until they begin to read from the autocue again. Users can edit their speeches in the app, and also record their speeches as they’re reading. Watch the video below to learn more about the app: PromptSmart is available on the App Store for USD 9.99. Are there other typically expensive standalone systems that could be turned into a fully-functional smartphone app? Website: www.promptsmart.com Contact: team@promptsmart.com

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iOS app turns smartphones into an automated teleprompter

To Fight $5.2B In Identity Theft, IRS May Need To Change the Way You File Taxes

coondoggie writes: Based on preliminary analysis, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates it paid $5.2 billion in fraudulent identity theft refunds in filing season 2013 while preventing an additional $24.2 billion (based on what it could detect). As a result, the IRS needs to implement changes (PDF) in a system that apparently can’t begin verifying refund information until July, months after the tax deadline. Such changes could impact legitimate taxpayers by delaying refunds, extending tax season and likely adding costs to the IRS. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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To Fight $5.2B In Identity Theft, IRS May Need To Change the Way You File Taxes

Blizzard Has Canceled Titan, Its Next-gen MMO

Ptolemarch writes: Blizzard never officially announced it, but now it’s gone: Titan, the next-generation MMO that had been in development for seven years, has been canceled. Mike Morhaime said, “[W]e set out to make the most ambitious thing that you could possibly imagine. And it didn’t come together. We didn’t find the fun. We didn’t find the passion. We talked about how we put it through a reevaluation period, and actually, what we reevaluated is whether that’s the game we really wanted to be making. The answer is no.” Polygon adds an article detailing everything publicly known about Titan (which wasn’t much). MMO-Champion’s report mentions rumors of a new project at Blizzard called Prometheus. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Blizzard Has Canceled Titan, Its Next-gen MMO

PayPal’s new deals let you pay with Bitcoin at more online stores

PayPal has been coy about embracing virtual currencies so far, but it just took a big step toward welcoming them with open arms. As of today, the company’s deals with processing firms BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin let you pay with Bitcoin at North American online stores that both use PayPal’s Payments Hub and accept digital cash. This doesn’t mean your PayPal wallet can suddenly hold Bitcoin; the service says it’s only moving “gradually” toward full support, and wants to see how things shake out. However, it should now be easier for many outlets (primarily smaller ones) to accept Bitcoin. Don’t be shocked if some of your favorite internet shops flick the switch and give you an alternative to paying with old-school money. Filed under: Internet Comments Source: PayPal Forward

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PayPal’s new deals let you pay with Bitcoin at more online stores

Blizzard cancels its next-gen online game despite seven years of work

Have you been anticipating Titan , Blizzard’s first online role-playing game since World of Warcraft ? Unfortunately, you’re going to have to pin your hopes on some other title. The studio tells Polygon that it has cancelled Titan despite pouring seven years of effort into the project, which was never officially announced. As Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime explains, Blizzard just “didn’t find the fun” during a reevaluation — the game was extremely ambitious, but it “didn’t come together” as a cohesive work that you’d want to play. The developers were also nervous about defining themselves as an online RPG company. They want to build “great games every time, ” even if that means switching genres. In a sense, it’s not surprising that Blizzard would give Titan the axe. The company has a history of cutting games that it doesn’t think will fly, even when they’re relatively close to completion — see StarCraft Ghost and WarCraft Adventures for examples. There’s no mention of where the cancelled game’s team will focus its attention, but it’s safe to say that their future work won’t bear much resemblance to WoW or other massively multiplayer experiences. Filed under: Gaming Comments Source: Polygon

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Blizzard cancels its next-gen online game despite seven years of work

China’s National Gallery Will Be One of the Largest Museums on Earth

The sprawling Hermitage Museum has long reigned as the world’s largest museum—but China has plans to come close to it with a huge new building for the National Art Museum of China , the design plans for which were recently released by French architect Jean Nouvel. Read more…

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China’s National Gallery Will Be One of the Largest Museums on Earth

Enter Your Email Address Quickly on Your Phone with the @@ Shortcut

Text expanders (a.k.a., on your phone : “keyboard shortcuts” in iOS and “personal dictionary” in Android) are great timesavers : Tap a few keys, and instantly whole words or phrases are entered. Here’s a very efficient shortcut if you have multiple email addresses: Read more…

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Enter Your Email Address Quickly on Your Phone with the @@ Shortcut

Fedora 21 Alpha Released

An anonymous reader writes Fedora 21 Alpha has been released. After encountering multiple delays, the first development version is out for the Fedora.NEXT and Fedora 21 products. Fedora 21 features improved Wayland support, GNOME 3.14, many updated packages, greater server and cloud support, and countless other improvements with Fedora 20 already being nearly one year old. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Fedora 21 Alpha Released

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Premieres On Linux, 2 Years After Windows

An anonymous reader writes Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has finally been released for Linux two years after its Windows debut. The game is reported to work even on the open-source Intel Linux graphics drivers, but your mileage may vary. When it comes to the AMD and NVIDIA drivers, NVIDIA continues dominating for Linux gaming over AMD with Catalyst where there’s still performance levels and other OpenGL issues. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Premieres On Linux, 2 Years After Windows

AT&T tempts cord-cutters with $40-a-month broadband with HBO and Amazon Prime

If you tried to count the number of times that we’d wished cable companies would offer nothing more than HBO Go and broadband, you’d run out of limbs well before you hit the total. AT&T, however, is following Comcast’s lead in offering a cord-cutter bundle that offers us exactly what we want without any of that messy cable grift we normally have to pay for. The $39 a month U-Verse + HBO bundle offers U-Basic TV and U-Verse Internet Max Plus, paired with HBO and HBO Go but also, more notably, a year’s free Amazon Prime subscription as well. The company is also trialling a package that ditches the U-Basic TV and HBO options and just offers you broadband and Amazon Prime for $29 a month, although that’s only available in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco. The catch here is that once the 12-month contract expires, you’re bumped up to AT&T’s standard rates, but, hey, at least that’s a year you don’t have to worry about paying through the nose for 900 channels you’ll never watch. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD , Amazon , AT&T Comments Via: Variety , Re/code Source: AT&T

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AT&T tempts cord-cutters with $40-a-month broadband with HBO and Amazon Prime