Install a Windowed GNU/Linux Environment On Any Android Device With This Guide

Android’s designed largely for mobile users, but since it has Linux at its core, it can work with a desktop environment as well. If you’ve ever wanted a Linux-style GNU workspace for Android, this guide from XDA can show you how. Read more…

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Install a Windowed GNU/Linux Environment On Any Android Device With This Guide

Recreating a 17th Century Painting in Photoshop Is Basically Magic

Using stock images and Johannes Vermeer’s 1664 painting The Concert as a base, photographer  Erik Almas admirably recreated the lost masterpiece in Photoshop. Heck, it might be able to fool you into thinking it were the real thing… if you were standing and squinting from very far away. Still. It’s pretty neat to see Almas’ workflow and how creative he gets in trying to mimic the original. Read more…

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Recreating a 17th Century Painting in Photoshop Is Basically Magic

How to Perfectly Fake a Glowing Lightsaber in Photoshop

It’s time to face the facts: lightsabers aren’t real, and they’re simply not going to exist in your lifetime. The closest you can get to realizing your Jedi fantasies is through this excellent tutorial by Mathieu Stern showing you how to properly fake a lightsaber using Photoshop. Read more…

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How to Perfectly Fake a Glowing Lightsaber in Photoshop

Spotify’s Daily Mixes use your listening habits to make playlists

Spotify has been keen on adding new discovery features to its service for a while now . Today, the streaming option announced yet another tool that keeps your playlists fresh. The new feature is called Daily Mixes and it compiles six different playlists that are constantly updated based on your listening habits. Each mix contains over a dozen songs and more tracks load as you listen so you don’t have to worry about running out of material. Sitting atop the “Your Library” section of the Spotify app, Daily Mixes are a combination of tunes by the artists you listen to on the regular and other material you might not be as familiar with. As you might expect, there’s the option to “heart” a song to add it to your collection or “ban” a track to keep it from popping up in future playlists. Unlike the name suggests, the Mixes aren’t updated daily per se. Spotify says the name implies that you can enjoy them daily and while the track order may shuffle every day, the data that selects the songs will be updated on a weekly basis. Daily Mixes are divided by genre. For example, I have playlists for hardcore, hip hop, indie rock, electronic, metal and hard rock. Most of those are an equal mix of artists that I listen to often (or at least from time to time) and new songs that I hadn’t heard of yet. Not all the songs are new releases, so there’s a blend of old and new in each list as well. These new playlists work a lot like Pandora stations or Spotify’s own radio feature, only now the queue is automatically compiled for you and you can start wherever you want. You don’t even have to pick an a specific artist to get started. Spotify says the new playlists will be “consistently refreshed” and feature “near endless playback” to make listening to music on a daily basis a bit easier. Just like those aforementioned stations, Daily Mixes are based entirely on what you’re listening to and get better the more music you play. After a few days with Daily Mixes, the playlists seem useful at times when I have trouble deciding exactly what to play. I’m a big fan of both Discover Weekly and Release Radar for learning about new artists and keeping up new material from all of the acts I listen to often, but I don’t think I’ll use Daily Mixes quite as often. It’s still early though, so that may change. Spotify’s focus on discovery continues to provide its users with ways to keep their listening habit fresh. Multiple options mean you can find the one that you like best. If you want to give the new feature a shot, it’s available now on Spotify’s Android and iOS apps for both paid and free users. New to Spotify? You’ll need to use the service for about two weeks before Daily Mixes will show up for you. For faithful desktop users, the tool will be rolling out to other platforms “soon, ” so hopefully you won’t have to wait too long to employ the new goods there.

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Spotify’s Daily Mixes use your listening habits to make playlists

Malvertising Campaign Infected Thousands of Users Per Day For More Than a Year

An anonymous reader writes from a report via Softpedia: Since the summer of 2015, users that surfed 113 major, legitimate websites were subjected to one of the most advanced malvertising campaigns ever discovered, with signs that this might have actually been happening since 2013. Infecting a whopping 22 advertising platforms, the criminal gang behind this campaign used complicated traffic filtering systems to select users ripe for infection, usually with banking trojans. The campaign constantly pulled between 1 and 5 million users per day, infecting thousands, and netting the crooks millions each month. The malicious ads, according to this list, were shown on sites like The New York Times, Le Figaro, The Verge, PCMag, IBTimes, Ars Technica, Daily Mail, Telegraaf, La Gazetta dello Sport, CBS Sports, Top Gear, Urban Dictionary, Playboy, Answers.com, Sky.com, and more. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Malvertising Campaign Infected Thousands of Users Per Day For More Than a Year

BBC Three is now an online-only channel

For sentimentality’s sake, we hope you indulged in your pre-bed ritual of catching a cheeky episode of American Dad! on BBC Three last night — because as of the early hours of this morning, it ceased to exist as a broadcast channel. For the next few weeks, it’ll be repurposed to promote BBC Three’s new online-only identity before disappearing from your TV’s EPG… forever . The switch has been a long time coming, of course, with the BBC setting the ball rolling almost two years ago as part of continued cost-cutting measures. Despite some opposition from the public, the BBC Trust formally approved the broadcaster’s plan for an online-only BBC Three late last year, and that transition has concluded today . The BBC Trust’s green light wasn’t without fine print, with various conditions set “to ensure younger audiences continue to be well served.” BBC Three became known for its experimental and often hilarious commissions, and the BBC has been keen to comfort loyal viewers with the promise its doctrine won’t die alongside the linear TV channel. As part of BBC Three’s rebirth, it’ll further embrace new media , with its YouTube channel and social network activity becoming more important outlets for content. In addition to BBC Three’s iPlayer presence, a new online portal called The Daily Drop is already live, highlighting content on social media channels and blending in blog posts, news and short-form videos. Joining that site later today is another platform, “The Best Of, ” which will primarily feature long-form content like documentaries, dramas and comedies, such as the new series of Cuckoo that premieres online this evening. Plenty of new commissions have been announced across all these genres already, and while BBC Three Controller Damian Kavanagh admits “we won’t get everything right immediately, ” he’s confident “being online means we can now adapt and iterate quickly.” “We aren’t constrained by duration or form anymore so the shackles are off when it comes to creativity.” Source: BBC

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BBC Three is now an online-only channel

The World’s Most Famous Musicians Just Hosted a Bonkers Press Conference

Only a few minutes ago, the entire music industry stood on a stage in a collective display of how rich and out of touch they are. They think you are willing to pay up to double the price of other streaming music services to pay for their streaming music service, because they are crazy. Read more…

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The World’s Most Famous Musicians Just Hosted a Bonkers Press Conference

Ford, GM Sued Over Vehicles’ Ability To Rip CD Music To Hard Drive

Lucas123 writes: The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies is suing Ford and General Motors for millions of dollars over alleged copyrights infringement violations because their vehicles’ CD players can rip music to infotainment center hard drives. The AARC claims in its filing (PDF) that the CD player’s ability to copy music violates the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. The Act protects against distributing digital audio recording devices whose primary purpose is to rip copyrighted material. For example, Ford’s owner’s manual explains, “Your mobile media navigation system has a Jukebox which allows you to save desired tracks or CDs to the hard drive for later access. The hard drive can store up to 10GB (164 hours; approximately 2, 472 tracks) of music.” The AARC wants $2, 500 for each digital audio recording device installed in a vehicle, the amount it says should have been paid in royalties. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Ford, GM Sued Over Vehicles’ Ability To Rip CD Music To Hard Drive

Find Out Your Uber Passenger Rating with this Script

Uber is a great way to get a ride without having to hail a cab. When you finish a ride, you get a chance to rate your driver and your experience. However, the drivers get to rate you too. Here’s how to find out your rating, which is normally a closely-kept secret. Read more…

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Find Out Your Uber Passenger Rating with this Script