A massive, 7.7 magnitude quake struck south-central Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon local time. The USGS warns that there will high casualties and economic losses , requiring international response. Seismologists have also confirmed that the quake raised a new island , about 30-40 feet high, off the coast. Read more…
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7.7 magnitude quake in Pakistan just created a new island
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes “Reuters reports that nineteen companies caught writing fake reviews on websites such as Yelp, Google Local and CitySearch have been snared in a year-long sting operation by the New York Attorney General and will pay $350, 000 in penalties. The Attorney General’s office set up a fake yogurt shop in Brooklyn, New York, and sought help from firms that specialize in boosting online search results to combat negative reviews. Search optimization companies offered to post fake reviews of the yogurt shop, created online profiles, and paid as little as $1 per review to freelance writers in the Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe. To avoid detection the companies used ‘advanced IP spoofing techniques’ to hide their true identities. ‘This investigation into large-scale, intentional deceit across the Internet tells us that we should approach online reviews with caution, ‘ said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. ‘More than 100 million visitors come to Yelp each month, making it critical that Yelp protect the integrity of its content, ‘ said Aaron Schur, Yelp’s Senior Litigation Counsel.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Brooklyn Yogurt Shop Sting Snares Fake Reviewers For NY Attorney General
Even in the age of the NVIDIA Shield , dedicated Android gaming handsets are still a bit of a rarity, which is all more of a reason to take a gander at the leaked GamePad 2 from Archos. The device first reared its head at the FCC , and thanks to an online retailer — which has since scrubbed all references to the product — we’re now treated to a press shot and a smattering of technical specs for the successor to the original GamePad . This time around, it’s purported to sport a slightly more dense 1, 280 x 800, 7-inch IPS display, along with a 1.6GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. In addition to the previously available 8GB model, a new 16GB version is said to be in the works, and in both cases, the GamePad 2 will retain a microSD expansion slot. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability, but you can bet that we’ll hear more from Archos soon enough. Filed under: Gaming Comments Via: SlashGear , Liliputing Source: HKTDC (inactive)
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Archos GamePad 2 outed with quad-core CPU, higher-res display
Manufacturers and consumers alike better brace themselves: memory chip prices have hit a two-year high because of a major fire in a massive Chinese production plant. Read more…
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Memory Chips Are the Most Expensive They’ve Been in Two Years
Samsung may well be the first company to actually deliver on the endless promise that flexible displays are on the way, with a limited edition Galaxy Note III with a plastic OLED screen said to be in production. Read more…
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Samsung Plans Bendable Plastic OLED Display for a New Galaxy Note III
Worried your tweenage web musings will tarnish your Harvard application? The Golden State is giving kids with less than perfect online judgment a clean slate . California Senate Bill 568 will require various online services offering access to minors the chance to remove all of the information they’ve posted. There’s a hard deadline of 2015 for the option to kick in, but this isn’t a catch-all: It only applies to content the user posts about themselves , not what a friend might tag them in. According to CNET , this only eliminates the public appearance of youthful folly, it doesn’t nuke it from a company’s servers; after all, the internet is written in pen. Regardless, this is an important step toward safeguarding kids (from themselves, mostly) of the post broadband boom-generation. Seriously, if you’re reading this and are under 18, think at least three times before you post something on the internet. Trust us . Filed under: Internet Comments Source: CNET
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California lets kids erase ‘Bieber Fever’ phase from online past
Good news is now at hand for CyanogenMod fans who like a bit of stability in their lives, because the general release builds of CyanogenMod 10.1.3 are now hitting server mirrors. As a nice bonus, support for CM Account is baked into this release (previously available only in the 10.2 nightlies), which allows users to locate and remotely wipe their missing devices — a feature that’s awfully similar to Android Device Manager . If all goes according to plans, CyanogenMod 10.1.3 will be the last of the Android 4.2-based builds, as the team is now investing the bulk of its work on CyanogenMod 10.2, which is based on Android 4.3. Once you have the latest version, perhaps you’ll consider pairing it with the impressive Focal camera app. Filed under: Software , Mobile Comments Source: CyanogenMod (Google+)
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CyanogenMod 10.1.3 arrives with remote find and wipe capabilities
The Surface RT’s full-fledged Pro counterpart just got an update. Today, Microsoft unveiled the follow-up to that x86 / Windows 8 -compatible tablet: the Surface Pro 2 and it still comes with a stylus. According to Microsoft’s claims, this new tablet boasts 50 percent more color accuracy, better graphics performance, an improved speaker setup and some speed gains — it’s purportedly 20 percent faster than the original. Battery life has gotten a significant 75 percent boost as well thanks to the Haswell processor inside and now runs much quieter. The Surface Pro 2 can also be paired with Microsoft’s new Power Cover to give the tablet 2.5x its standalone battery life or the Type Cover 2, which is now 1mm thinner and backlit. The kickstand has also been revised for the refresh, as it’s now a two-stage affair, addressing the issues many users had with the old Pro’s awkward angle. As for ports, Microsoft says the Surface Pro 2 is loaded up with support for three USB 2.0, one USB 3.0, mini DisplayPort, ethernet, audio in/out and, of course, charging. The Surface Pro 2, when docked, can also output up to a 3, 840 x 2, 160 resolution on an external display and is capable of editing 6K video. %Gallery-slideshow89981% Developing… Filed under: Tablets , Microsoft Comments
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Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 2 gets official
As promised, Microsoft has just revealed the Surface 2 here at its Surface-themed press event . Whereas the new Surface Pro 2 makes subtle changes to the original Pro, the Surface 2 is being billed as a totally revamped version of the original Surface RT. As rumored , it moves up to a higher-res 1080p ClearType display — the same one you’ll find on the new Surface Pro 2. Performance-wise, Microsoft says it’s doubled the BUS speed for the WiFi and the memory, and the CPU speed has increased “dramatically” as well. There’s also a USB 3.0 port on board, a step up from the USB 2.0 connection used on the original. All told, says Microsoft, the new model should run three to four times as fast as its predecessor, and the battery life should be 25 percent longer too. As for the design, this looks similar to the original, at least from a few feet away, but it’s thinner, lighter and is built from two pieces of magnesium, not three. And, of course, it sports the same two-stage kickstand as the new Surface Pro 2, which should make it easier to balance in your lap. Developing… %Gallery-slideshow89979% Filed under: Tablets , Microsoft Comments
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Microsoft announces the Surface 2, the follow-up to the original Surface RT
Here it is: Microsoft’s powerhouse Surface Pro 2 . As we’ve seen and hear already, Microsoft’s follow-up to the Surface Pro is thinner and considerably more powerful. We got our hands on a 256GB model to form some initial impressions and begin to determine whether this guy is worth the meaty $899-and-up going rate, up $100 from the original Pro’s pricing scheme. Head past the break to dive in. %Gallery-slideshow89994% Filed under: Tablets , Microsoft Comments
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Microsoft Surface Pro 2 hands-on