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Google is purging hacked spam from your search results

It’s bad when your web searches include sites that are mainly marketing fluff , but it’s much worse when that fluff has been hacked into legitimate sites that you wouldn’t visit otherwise. Well, Google has had enough of this attempt to game the system. It’s tweaking its algorithms to “aggressively” cull hacked spam from results, leaving you only with sites that intended to include the content you’re looking for. While the changes will only affect about 5 percent of searches when all is said and done, that could mean a lot if it helps you avoid compromised pages and the malware that might be lurking inside. [Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan] Source: Google Webmaster Central Blog

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Google is purging hacked spam from your search results

These 8K displays may end up on your next tablet

Most of us have barely touched 4K content, but the keen folks in Japan are already showing off some 8K displays, and we’re not just talking about those of conventional TV sizes. At CEATEC, NHK brought along three upcoming 8K panels that may end up on future tablets, laptops and monitors. These include JDI’s 17.3-inch LCD that was just announced last week, as well as Ortus’ insanely sharp 9.6-inch LCD (that’s a whopping 915 dpi!) from May, and Sharp/SEL’s 13.3-inch OLED display. Even though the OLED panel was unveiled back in June last year, it’s still by far the best 8K display out of the three; it’s as if you’re looking into another world, thanks to the combination of high contrast, strong vibrancy plus insanely sharp resolution. Alas, there’s no launch date for any of these just yet, but a spokesperson from NHK hopes to see these come out before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be broadcast in 8K .

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These 8K displays may end up on your next tablet

DoJ shells out $23 million for the President’s body camera pilot program

The Department of Justice announced last May that it would fund a national pilot program for law enforcement body cameras, a plan first put forth by President Obama. On Monday, the DoJ made good on that promise by awarding $23 million in grants to 32 states for the purchase of these devices. Of that total, $19.3 million will go towards actually purchasing the necessary 50, 000 cameras, another $2 million is earmarked for training and the remaining $1.9 million will be used to conduct impact studies in Miami, Milwaukee and Phoenix. “This vital pilot program is designed to assist local jurisdictions that are interested in exploring and expanding the use of body-worn cameras in order to enhance transparency, accountability and credibility, ” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “The impact of body-worn cameras touches on a range of outcomes that build upon efforts to mend the fabric of trust, respect and common purpose that all communities need to thrive.” Source: Department of Justice

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DoJ shells out $23 million for the President’s body camera pilot program

4chan sells to the founder of the site that inspired it

If you know your internet message board history, you know that Chris Poole’s legendary 4chan was inspired by 2channel, a board dedicated to anime and other aspects of Japanese culture. Well, things are about to come full circle: Poole (aka Moot) just sold 4chan to Hiroyuki Nishimura, 2channel’s founder and the current editor in chief for Variety Japan . The terms of the deal aren’t public, but Poole notes to the New York Times that there’s a “lot of opportunity” to grow his site with the “right resources.” That wouldn’t be hard. Unlike some other community mainstays, such as Reddit, 4chan has never really been run as a full-fledged business. If you’re a loyal 4chan user, the handover might be worrying. Part of its appeal is that homebrew, almost-anything-goes vibe that has frequently made it both the launching point for internet memes and a bastion of open, anonymous expression. However, Poole believes that he’s putting his creation in good hands. Nishimura is the “only person in the world” with as much experience running a message board like this — if anyone can understand what makes 4chan popular, it’s him. The real question is whether or not he can (or wants to) make it a profitable venture without compromising its spirit. Reddit has already taken some flak for cleaning up some of its hate communities in its bid for mainstream success. While 4chan already has experience with this kind of backlash (the notorious 8chan board exists partly to house 4chan exiles), it’s still considered more laissez-faire than its commercial cousin. It risks losing that image if it goes too far in sanitizing the experience for the sake of advertisers. [Image credit: Johannes Simon/Getty Images] Source: New York Times

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4chan sells to the founder of the site that inspired it

Dropbox Teams will offer a host of business features to free users

Dropbox for Business is an increasingly important part of the company’s revenue stream — there are more than 130, 000 businesses using the service — but there are many more people out there using the company’s more consumer-focused free service and its $9.99 monthly subscription plan. Millions of those users are in fact using their personal Dropbox accounts to get work done, as well — so now Dropbox is going to offer a set of tools to make it a lot easier for individuals and smaller businesses to use Dropbox with a team of co-workers. In fact, that’s the name of the new service that launches tomorrow: Dropbox Teams. Anyone using Dropbox will now have the opportunity to create a team. When you start the process, Dropbox will even suggest users it thinks you should invite based on what documents you share with what people or whether you’re all using the same email address domain. Once your team is set up, everyone will have access to the same shared folder, which Dropbox expects teams will use to share documents that the whole group will need access to. Fortunately, you can also set up sub-groups (like a marketing team, or the specific people involved with a specific project) — that’ll keep everyone on the team from having files they don’t need taking up space in their Dropbox. Dropbox Teams will also give administrators granular control over what different users will have access to — you can limit what files and folders they can see, and you can also decide whether files can be shared or not. Another sharing option is the ability to determine whether folders and files can be shared with people who aren’t on your team. If files are confidential, you can keep them only within your team, but other files will be able to be freely shared with anyone using Dropbox. (Of course, that won’t stop anyone from downloading the file and sharing it via email, but there’s only so much you can expect from a free offering.) The last major feature here is pulled directly from Dropbox for Business. If you happen to have created Dropbox accounts for separate work and personal accounts, Dropbox will let you link them together so you can see them both while logged in, rather than have to log in and out to jump between them. All in all, it’s a pretty generous set of free features: it lets the many people out there already using the popular Dropbox Basic and Pro services for work have more control over how they do that. And it just might help the company sell more Dropbox for Business subscriptions as those small companies start growing up. Source: Dropbox

Facebook’s new read receipts promise to ruin your friendships

Ever had a Facebook friend send an event invitation that you ignored, whether it was because you couldn’t attend or (let’s be honest) had no interest in going? Unfortunately, you may have to explain yourself in the near future. Facebook has confirmed to The Daily Dot that it’s testing event read receipts which tell organizers when you’ve seen an invitation, making it clear when you’re avoiding things. Ostensibly, this is to help event creators message the right people. However, it really amounts to (as the New York Times ‘ Daniel Victor puts it ) a “friendship destruction device” — take a glimpse at that polka party invite and you may need to come up with an excuse to avoid alienating a long-time pal. The good news? There’s no certainty that Facebook will roll out the feature to everyone, so you might not be making enemies any time soon. [Image credit: Adam Berry/Getty Images] This is what Facebook’s new friendship destruction device (event read receipts) looks like pic.twitter.com/Nv1IZfnCJ6 — Daniel Victor (@bydanielvictor) September 14, 2015 Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments Via: The Daily Dot , The Next Web Source: Daniel Victor (Twitter) Tags: facebook, internet, socialnetwork, socialnetworking

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Facebook’s new read receipts promise to ruin your friendships

iOS 9 will be available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch September 16th

An official announcement of new iPhones usually means a release date for the latest version of Cupertino’s mobile operating system as well. Today was no different as Apple announced that iOS 9 would be available as a free download September 16th. When it arrives next week, you’ll be privy to new features like a new and improved Siri , system-level security settings and split-screen multitasking on the iPad (hello, iPad Pro ). Native apps like Maps (now with transit info), Notes and others have also been refreshed, so if you haven’t been adventurous enough to test drive the public beta , there will be a load of new stuff for you to try. And there’s that brand new News app too, serving up personalized content to your devices for reading on the go. To help store all of those newfangled Live Photos , iCloud pricing has been revised to 50GB for 99 cents a month, 200GB for $3/month and 1TB for a $10 monthly fee. If you’re looking to make the switch from Android, Apple’s new “Move to iOS” app will arrive alongside iOS 9 as well to lend a hand moving your stuff over to a new phone/tablet. In terms of compatible devices, the new OS will play nice with iPhone 4s and later, 5th-gen iPod touch and later, iPad 2 and later and iPad mini and later when it arrives in just a few days. Filed under: Software , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: Apple Tags: apple, ios, ios9, iphone, iphone2015, mobilepostcross, software, update

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iOS 9 will be available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch September 16th

First 3D map of Earth’s interior shows where volcanoes come from

It’s no secret that Earth’s volcanoes are the result of magma rising through the planet’s mantle, but have you wondered just where those ‘roots’ run? UC Berkeley can provide an answer. It just created the first-ever detailed 3D map of the Earth’s interior by studying the path of seismic waves. The model shows mantle plumes (where the hot rock flows) starting at the bottom of the core-to-mantle boundary and climbing to the top, where they connect to volcanic hotspots in the Earth’s crust. As it turns out, the plumes don’t take a straight path — they often spread out as they merge with the colder upper mantle. It’s also clear that most of the world’s volcanoes (such as those in the Pacific’s island chains) ultimately come from two large “blobs” of hot rock at the core boundary. The model isn’t perfect. It didn’t link plumes to some volcanoes, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park . However, it’s good enough to represent the first hard evidence of magma plumes, and there are promises of higher-resolution maps in the future thanks to gravity-sensing satellites. While it’s doubtful that scientists will ever know as much about Earth’s insides as they do about the top layer, this below- longer as mysterious as it once was. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Science Comments Source: UC Berkeley , Nature Tags: ctscan, LawrenceBerkeleyNationalLaboratory, science, UcBerkeley, video, volcano

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First 3D map of Earth’s interior shows where volcanoes come from

Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month

Just as rumored , Hulu has finally decided to offer a version of its subscription without the ad breaks . Ad-free Hulu will cost $12 per month, as opposed to the regular $8 subscription (or the shows it offers for free), and of course it will soon include more movies (that Netflix doesn’t have ) thanks to the company’s deal with Epix . One small catch however is revealed by the FAQ , which indicates that due to licensing, a few shows will still have ads before and after (but not during) episodes. Hulu’s ads have always separated it from online streaming competition like Amazon and Netflix, and even though ads are a way of life on cable and broadcast television, its annoying tendency to repeat the same few selections always drove me crazy. Now, with more original content ( Seinfeld , The Mindy Project , the just-renewed Difficult People and others ), it’s a serious, although slightly more expensive, competitor for our attention. Developing… Will all shows and movies be commercial free? In response to feedback from our viewers, we started offering a commercial-free experience on Hulu. For a small number of shows, however, we have not obtained the rights to stream commercial free and they are not included in our No Commercials plan. You can still easily access these shows with a short commercial before and after each episode with no interruptions during the episode. Specific shows that still have commercials accessible through the No Commercials plan will be noted throughout the signup, switching, and playback experience. While the list of shows may change, these shows are currently: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon A Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scandal, Grimm, New Girl, and How To Get Away With Murder. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD Comments Source: Hulu Tags: ads, breaking news, hdpostcross, hulu

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Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month

1 billion people used Facebook on Monday

What were you doing Monday? According to Mark Zuckerberg, it probably included using Facebook. He just posted that for the first time, the social network notched one billion individual users in a single day, calling it “just the beginning of connecting the whole world.” With that kind of scale, it’s no wonder the exec is focused on drones , lasers and satellites to connect the rest of the world to the internet ASAP, because he’s got an idea what they’ll be logging in to eventually. We just passed an important milestone. For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day.On… Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, August 27, 2015 We made this video to celebrate all you’ve done to help our community connect one billion people in a single day. It’s an amazing milestone. I hope you enjoy. Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, August 27, 2015 [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images] Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments Source: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) Tags: activeusers, billion, facebook, MarkZuckerberg, video

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1 billion people used Facebook on Monday