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.