Get ready for the sun to flip its magnetic field

Get ready for the sun to flip its magnetic field: We're just a few months away from the sun flipping its magnetic field, a change that only happens about once every 11 years. [Read more]

Redbox Instant comes to Roku

Redbox Instant comes to Roku: The fledging joint venture from Redbox, the DVD-rental kiosk company, and Verizon adds another device to push its catalog of streaming movies straight to TVs. [Read more]

Jeff Bezos Pays $250 Million For The Washington Post

Jeff Bezos Pays $250 Million For The Washington Post: In an ironic twist for a tycoon whose company has never appeared to care what the press thinks of it, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has agreed to pay $250 million cash for The Washington Post.

Amazon's CEO to buy Washington Post for $250M

Amazon's CEO to buy Washington Post for $250M: Jeff Bezos himself is buying the newspaper publishing side of the Washington Post Co., including its flagship publication but not its most high-profile digital assets. [Read more]

Forget Apple’s SuperDrive and go for MCE’s Super-BluDrive (especially if you’re a Blu-ray movie fan)

Forget Apple’s SuperDrive and go for MCE’s Super-BluDrive (especially if you’re a Blu-ray movie fan): As for MCE Technologies’s US$79.99 USB Super-BluDrive (http://tinyurl.com/mnd28az), forget Apple’s SuperDrive. Though a bit heftier, the MCE is a much-better deal.

It’s compatible with all Mac systems. You simply plug it into an USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port, and you’re good to go.

The MCE USB Super-BluDrive comes with the aforementioned Mac Blu-ray Player software (which is $39.95 if purchased separately). Commercial Blu-ray movie playback requires an Intel Core 2 Duo processor-equipped Mac running at 2.4GHz, or faster, and at least 2GB of RAM.

Newly leaked NSA program sees 'nearly everything' you do

Newly leaked NSA program sees 'nearly everything' you do: The X-Keyscore program, which has been revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, may be the "widest-reaching" intelligence system yet uncovered.

A few nice word from my friend Gordon

prompted me to write this post.

A Bizarro Drone That Would Deliver Peace and Oxycontin Instead of Missles

A Bizarro Drone That Would Deliver Peace and Oxycontin Instead of Missles: The Peace Drone hones in on enemy combatants to administer a dose of calming, violence-abating Oxycontin.

Google Takes Aim at Apple with New Nexus 7, Google Play Games and Chromecast

Google Takes Aim at Apple with New Nexus 7, Google Play Games and Chromecast: Chromecast, another feature Google introduced today, is an HDMI accessory that functions similarly to AirPlay, allowing users to mirror content from a tablet, smartphone, or computer. Chromecast works with video, music, and apps like Netflix, and can be used with a number of devices, including iPhones and iPads. Chromecast, which will retail for $35, will be available later today through Best Buy, Amazon, and the Google Play Store.

Mikhail Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita' at Bard College | By John Castellucci - WSJ.com

Mikhail Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita' at Bard College | By John Castellucci - WSJ.com: When the Devil visits Moscow and discovers the majority of Russians don't believe in him, there is hell to pay. An editor who boasts that Soviet society is atheist slips beneath the wheels of a trolley and is decapitated. A poet who doubts the Devil's existence goes insane. The tenant of an apartment the Devil needs for Walpurgis Night is whisked away to Yalta. The audience at a performance of black magic erupts in a riot.

Zeta Woof: The Master

Zeta Woof: The Master: Dave saved me from that. Dave had spent some time at the university and in addition to the thousands of comic books he purchased, studied, and saved — some are worth a fortune now if you can get him to part with them — he also developed the habit of reading serious science fiction and literature. Every time I would visit him he would hand me a handfull of books.

"Here. Read this."

How could I refuse? Michael Moorcock, John Brunner, Samuel R. Delaney, Philip K. Dick, Kilgore Trout, Thomas Pynchon, Lawrence Durrell, and Mikhail Bulgakov... there were others, too. I can't remember them all. Dave Handy got me started reading again.

Some I borrowed and never gave back. Dave was not particular about that. The important thing to him was that I read them. I did, and I bought more, and I kept reading, and I've never stopped.

SIM card flaw said to allow hijacking of millions of phones

SIM card flaw said to allow hijacking of millions of phones: Vulnerability in the security key that protects the card could allow eavesdropping on phone conversations, fraudulent purchases, or impersonation of the handset's owner, a security researcher warns.

Hands-on: VLC, the prodigal media player, returns to iOS

Hands-on: VLC, the prodigal media player, returns to iOS: VLC is a popular media-playback app on the desktop—an open-source project, it runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. And, once upon a time, it was even available on the iOS App Store. Just a few months later, however, it was forced out, thanks to a licensing dispute.

That issue has now apparently been resolved, and VLC is back in the App Store as version 2.0. The goal of the free app remains the same: Play any video files you throw at it. While the app itself could reasonably substitute for iOS’s built-in Videos app, it offers a number of additional features beyond just greater codec compatibility.

SDCC: "The Simpsons" Will Cross Over with "Family Guy" Next Year

SDCC: "The Simpsons" Will Cross Over with "Family Guy" Next Year: It's finally happening. "The Simpsons" will appear in a fall 2014 episode of "Family Guy in which the Griffin family goes on a road trip and ends up in Springfield where the two FOX families collide.

Apple ‘iPhone 5S’ specs leak: 4-inch IGZO Retina display, NFC, 12MP camera, 2GB RAM, quad-core GPU, fingerprint reader, sources claim

Apple ‘iPhone 5S’ specs leak: 4-inch IGZO Retina display, NFC, 12MP camera, 2GB RAM, quad-core GPU, fingerprint reader, sources claim: Photos and hardware specifications of the iPhone 5S have leaked from the Chinese supply chain

Man, that is a lot of technology.

Hulu's sellers cry "cut"; scrap sale

Hulu's sellers cry "cut"; scrap sale: Co-owners 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, and The Walt Disney Company say they'll pump $750 million into the video-streaming service to "continue to empower the Hulu team." [Read more]

5 years on, Apple’s App Store has forever changed the face of software; a defining moment in personal computing history

5 years on, Apple’s App Store has forever changed the face of software; a defining moment in personal computing history: On July 10, 2008, Apple launched the App Store, an online hub...

Apple's Court Loss Could End the Book as We Know It

Apple's Court Loss Could End the Book as We Know It: More than anything, Apple's defeat in court reinforces the key fact of bookselling in the 21st century: Amazon gets to dictate what Americans pay for books.

REVIEW: "The Lone Ranger"

REVIEW: "The Lone Ranger": Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer star in "The Lone Ranger," a misguided and over-funded reimagining of the eponymous hero directed with bombast but no creativity by "Pirates of the Caribbean's" Gore Verbinski.

China opens world's largest building, three times size of Pentagon | Crave - CNET

China opens world's largest building, three times size of Pentagon | Crave - CNET: Almost the size of Monaco, its 420 acres of floor space could fit nearly three Pentagons, four Vatican Cities, or 20 Sydney Opera Houses.

Our top five Dropbox tricks

Our top five Dropbox tricks: If you asked Macworld editors to name the technologies they can't live without, you’d inevitably hear about Dropbox. This file-synchronization service lets you access your files from anywhere—not just your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, but also any Web browser. It provides easy cloud-based backup, too. But all that’s just the beginning. Here are five of our favorite ways to use it:

How to rip a DVD with HandBrake

How to rip a DVD with HandBrake: To rip a DVD with HandBrake, you need to download the free software. The latest version works on 64-bit Macs running OS X 10.6 or later. But HandBrake doesn’t include the software needed to decrypt commercial DVDs, so you also need to install libdvdcss, an open-source library that can circumvent the Content Scramble System (CSS) used on DVDs. (You should, of course, only rip DVDs that you’ve purchased.)

Mac Gems: iFlicks tags and converts video files for iTunes with finesse

Mac Gems: iFlicks tags and converts video files for iTunes with finesse: There are plenty of apps that can transcode video from one format to another, and there are a number of nifty apps that let you tag media files with useful metadata. But Jendrik Bertram’s $20 iFlicks (Mac App Store link) does both, and I’ve found none better at combining the two tasks. iFlicks does its job with a clean, responsive, and very Mac-like interface that makes working with the software intuitive and fun.

Book review of My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles | Open Letters Monthly - an Arts and Literature Review

Book review of My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles | Open Letters Monthly - an Arts and Literature Review: Welles had a genius for the dramatic; he was a master of shock and awe long before they turned to other, considerably less noble ends, but at the same time he was a skilled miniaturist who worked just as easily on a small canvas with lightness and subtlety. Above all, it was his wizardry with time, space, and light, along with the exquisite tension between his furious, operatic imagination and the elegant, meticulous design and execution of the film – the deep focus, extreme camera angles, striking dissolves, ingenious transition – that make it crackle with electricity. After Kane, movies were never the same. When asked to describe Welles’s influence, Jean-Luc Godard remarked, simply, ‘Everyone will always owe him everything.’

Shock: Research says pot makes you lazy (but not psychotic)

Shock: Research says pot makes you lazy (but not psychotic): Scientists in London conclude that smoking your favored leaf cools down your dopamine-synthesis skills. Their initial hypothesis was that pot contributed to psychosis, which they now doubt. [Read more]

The Quartz complete guide to being interviewed on TV - Quartz

The Quartz complete guide to being interviewed on TV - Quartz: Remember to breathe when you’re talking

Marijuana's march toward mainstream confounds feds

Marijuana's march toward mainstream confounds feds: It is a moment in marijuana's history in America that is rife with contradictions.

Crops ripen quickly with sudden summer heat : 'They just burned up'

Crops ripen quickly with sudden summer heat : 'They just burned up': The sudden summer heat made for an abrupt end to strawberry season, and some farmers fear a quick season for other crops. “Some strawberries will go to waste because they just burned up, they dehydrate ‘til they look so bad no one will buy them," said farm owner Randy Henderson.

Automator workflow of the month: Powerful PDF tricks

Automator workflow of the month: Powerful PDF tricks: PDF is a wonderful format for reading documents, but once you move beyond reading, things can get complicated in a hurry. Thankfully, useful tools for working with PDF files are built into Automator, OS X's built-in workflow tool. Let’s run through a few of them now.

"Being Supermans Pal is Bad for Your Health" & More Cool Comic Covers

"Being Superman's Pal is Bad for Your Health" & More Cool Comic Covers: CSBG's collection of comic book cover themes includes the latest, a gallery of times where Superman has killed -- or is killing -- Jimmy Olsen or Lois Lane. Superman's not a bird or a plane, he's just plain deadly!

Science Fiction Novels That Inspired Change - Business Insider

Science Fiction Novels That Inspired Change - Business Insider: The great geek works of fiction inspire engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to dream their biggest dreams — or at least to muster the courage to light the way toward the future.

These great books deserve to be celebrated. If you haven't read all of them, you should.

How to extract audio from movie files

How to extract audio from movie files: Use QuickTime Player X: Launch QuickTime Player X (found in the Applications folder) and use it to open your movie. Choose File > Export and in the sheet that appears choose Audio Only from the Format pop-up menu at the bottom of the sheet. Name the file and click Export. The file will be exported as a 256kbps AAC audio file.

Supermoon will be big, bright, and full on June 23

Supermoon will be big, bright, and full on June 23: The perigee full moon, which happens once every 14 months, is happening next weekend and will likely bring with it tales of impending calamity and natural disaster.

Silver Falls: Oregon's largest state park

Silver Falls: Oregon's largest state park:

Silver Falls is Oregon’s largest State Park with 9,064 acres to explore. There are 10 waterfalls accessible by hiking trails; 4 of them you can actually walk behind and feel the mist of fresh water tickling your skin.

Review: MAN OF STEEL: 'Ambitious' But 'Lacking'

Review: MAN OF STEEL: 'Ambitious' But 'Lacking': Best Shot's David Pepose reviews MAN OF STEEL, calling out its 'lack of focus, lack of humanity and lack of warmth.'

Grim, Violent Man of Steel Sells Superman's Soul for Spectacle | Underwire | Wired.com

Grim, Violent Man of Steel Sells Superman's Soul for Spectacle | Underwire | Wired.com: And still, all of that might be forgivable if Man of Steel were otherwise a well-made movie. It’s not. In the rush to make everything exciting, Snyder has forgotten to make it interesting. There’s very little substance supporting the spectacle, narratively or artistically: it’s like walking up to a building with a beautiful facade, opening the door, and discovering that it’s a theater flat.

OS X Mavericks Tidbits: System Requirements, Redesigned Activity Monitor, App Battery Monitoring, and More

OS X Mavericks Tidbits: System Requirements, Redesigned Activity Monitor, App Battery Monitoring, and More: At yesterday's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled its next generation operating system, OS X Mavericks. While Mavericks incorporates a number of significant changes like a redesigned Finder, a Safari overhaul, and new Compressed Memory settings, there are also a number of other, smaller changes that MacRumors forum readers and other sources have unearthed.

iOS 7 Beta Tidbits: Per-App Cellular Data Usage, Live Clock Icon, Panoramic Wallpaper and More

iOS 7 Beta Tidbits: Per-App Cellular Data Usage, Live Clock Icon, Panoramic Wallpaper and More: While the most obvious change in iOS 7 is the look and feel of the user interface, Apple's engineers have packed the update with numerous changes both big and small.

Here are a selection of changes noticed by folks in the MacRumors Forums and elsewhere.

27 new iOS 7 features Apple didn't talk about

27 new iOS 7 features Apple didn't talk about: System improvements aren't always the flashiest features, so they often get short shrift at keynotes. But they're often hidden gems.

What's New in OS X Mavericks | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

What's New in OS X Mavericks | Gadget Lab | Wired.com: First, OS X is moving to a new naming path. Apple’s SVP of software Craig Federighi, who demonstrated the latest OS upgrade on stage, announced that the new versions of OS X will be named after places in California. This new version will be named Mavericks, after the famous Northern California big-wave surf spot. So goodbye kitties, hello ocean.

What Apple revealed at WWDC 2013

What Apple revealed at WWDC 2013: At its annual developers confab in San Francisco today, Apple unveiled a wide variety of new products and software updates.

Apple to stream WWDC Keynote live via Safari browser, Apple TV today at 10am PDT, 1pm EDT

Apple to stream WWDC Keynote live via Safari browser, Apple TV today at 10am PDT, 1pm EDT: Apple today will stream the company's WWDC Keynote live...

Watch your Plex content on your Apple TV with the jailbreak-free PlexConnect

Watch your Plex content on your Apple TV with the jailbreak-free PlexConnect: PlexConnect does its magic by running two small servers on one of your local Macs: a Web server and a Domain Name System (DNS) server. It’s the latter that handles the magical part; you configure your Apple TV to look towards this Mac for its DNS server, and PlexConnect intercepts requests for the URL http://trailers.apple.com and redirects them to its Web server, where it provides a custom version of the Plex interface reminiscent of other Apple TV apps, like Netflix and Hulu. (DNS requests to other addresses, meanwhile, should to be passed through to your normal DNS server, thereby maintaining the rest of your Apple TV’s normal operation.)

The Smart Set: Surrender to Proust - June 5, 2013

The Smart Set: Surrender to Proust - June 5, 2013: It is a hundred years since Marcel Proust finished his novel Swann’s Way. The novel became the first volume of Proust’s seven-volume work Remembrance of Things Past. Remembrance of Things Past is now one of the accepted masterpieces of 20th century literature. But that greatness was not so easy to see a hundred years ago. Publishers initially rejected Swann’s Way.

Facebook file-sharing app Pipe goes wide Wednesday

Facebook file-sharing app Pipe goes wide Wednesday: After more than a year of working out the kinks, Pipe is set to go public on Wednesday, letting Facebook friends share files as big as a gigabyte.

Hackers Spawn Web Supercomputer on Way to Chess World Record

Hackers Spawn Web Supercomputer on Way to Chess World Record: But more importantly, in working to solve this problem, they've developed a new breed of software that lets you pool the processing power of potentially thousands of machines just by pointing them to a single website. They call it Supercomputer.js. It's a new breed of supercomputer built with JavaScript, the standard programming language of the web.