Google Music finally available

So guess what, Google just made Google Music available to everyone. No, not just the app in beta version. Not just its Android app in which you can listen to music stored on your phone. You can now download music from Google, just like you can from iTunes. All of it happens on your laptop, or on your Android phone or tablet. What's better, you can choose to store your music on Google servers and you can access it everywhere you have internet connection!

Get cash back rewards by using your debit card!

The day's when you got cash back rewards from your debit card are long over. Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo have stopped rewarding their checking account holders for using their debit cards long time ago. Fortunately, there is a new way you can get these rewards now the same way you used to! Well, not exactly. 

A million-dollar mistake in German museum

File this one under "O" for "Oops." A cleaner with the best intentions accidentally destroyed a piece of art worth more than $1 million when she removed what she thought was a "stain" from the installation. Spoiler alert: It wasn't really a stain.

The piece of art, titled "When It Starts Dripping From The Ceilings," features a series of wooden planks and a (formerly) discolored plastic bowl. The artist, the late Martin Kippenberger, intended for viewers to understand that the bowl had been discolored by water running over the pieces of wood.

Unfortunately, the bowl isn't so discolored anymore. A spokesperson from the art museum in Dortmund, Germany, remarked that "it is now impossible to return it to its original state." The cleaner was apparently unaware that she was supposed to stay at least 20 centimeters away from the works of art.

Kippenberger died at the age of 43 in 1997, but he left behind a large collection of work. Roberta Smith of the New York Times said he was "widely regarded as one of the most talented German artists of his generation." Like many of the greats, his work has grown more valuable since his death. In 2005, a Kippenberger painting went for more than $1 million.

So far, there's been no word on whether the cleaning woman will be in any legal or financial trouble for her mistake. The piece of art was on loan to the museum from a private collector, who will probably think twice before lending out any more million-dollar pieces of art. According to the AP, insurance adjusters are currently "assessing the damage." It'll be up to the owner to decide whether to approve an effort to restore the piece to something resembling its original state, or just leave it as is.

Google Changes Search Algorithm, Trying to Make Results More Timely

The new algorithm is a recognition that Google, whose dominance depends on providing the most useful results, is being increasingly challenged by services like Twitter and Facebook, which have trained people to expect constant updates with seconds-old news.

It is also a reflection of how people use the web as a real-time news feed - that if, for example, you search for a baseball score, you probably want to find the score of a game being played at the moment, not last week, which is what Google often gave you.

“This is the result of them saying we need to find a way to more effectively get fresh content up,” said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land and an industry expert. “It does help with the issue of people thinking, ‘Wow, if I need to find out about something breaking, I’ll go to Facebook or Twitter for that.”

Think big, start small

Intrigued by this little black t-shirt that is on sale on Zazzle.com with some (pointless) words on it I decided to write this post. I mean just see what it says. What do you think? Totally pointless, right? Well, I would argue on that.

"Think big, start small" - what can it apply to? Many people want to make some big changes in their lifes, buy a new house, get a better job, start a successful business, some of us even want more - become a famous actor, etc, etc. But most of us just keep day dreaming what it would be like to be there. And that's a huge mistake.

Don't think how different you life is gonna be when you accomplish something (which in this case you probably won't), think how to get there instead. So therefore THINK BIG - think about what you want, whether it is that new house by the beach, or that new job, and then stop. Here's the next step: START SMALL - decide how you wanna get there, step by step, and just keep trying until you achieve success.

Have you ever seen that movie with 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin'? It's something like that. Spend your whole life trying to accomplish your dreams, or just die trying.

Is Steve Jobs Dead?

Right now the internet's quaking with speculation about Steve Jobs' possible death—all sparked by a single tweet. But rumors from news desks and people dumping AAPL stock are making us wonder: is this it? We really hope not.
Did an intern fuck up? Did someone tweet something they shouldn't have? We don't know—but we will say it's reminding us a lot of the media rumors that swirled up right before Patrick Swayze died of pancreatic cancer. It's extremely hard to keep the lid on the death of a celebrity—today more than ever, thanks to websites like ours. We realize we're cranking the wheel on the rumor mill by writing this, but we want to settle the question definitively. So we've got our feelers out everywhere, and are trying to either quash this rumor or verify some awful news we've all been dreading. If you know anything, send it our way.

Crossing the border... illegally...

SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT... If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 years of hard labor. If you cross the Afghanistan border illegally, you get shot. Two Americans just got eight years for crossing the Iranian border. But if you cross the U.S. border illegally you get a job, a… drivers license, food stamps, a place to live, health care, housing, child benefits, education and a tax free business for 7 years... No our country is in debt...

T-Mobile G2 gets Gingerbread

Great news T-Mobile G2 owners as today is a magical day for you. That’s right I’m talking about a Gingerbread OTA update that begins today and will rollout over the next few weeks to all G2 owners. This has been a great week for T-Mobile Android owners who are finally seeing a long promised Gingerbread update arrive. Let’s just get right to the meat of this and tell you what’s in store:

• Android 2.3.3
• Google Books added
• Notification color scheme is now black
• New battery indicator, phone and web icons
• Color-coded network icon and signal indicator
• Pressing the power key on a call disables the proximity sensor
• Wi-Fi calling improvements
• New SMS and email notification improvements
• Improvements to sending MMS from the Gallery

If you aren’t willing to wait for the OTA to come to you, you can try and go to it by using the following steps:

1. Press the MENU key
2. Tap SETTINGS
3. Tap ABOUT PHONE
4. Tap SYSTEM UPDATES

Note this line from the support document which I’m emphasizing in bold capital letters so people are sure to read it:

IMPORTANT: DO NOT CALL T-MOBILE TO RECEIVE THE UPDATE BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1. THE TIMELINE FOR RECEIVING THE OTA CANNOT BE EXPEDITED. T-MOBILE CANNOT MANUALLY PUSH THE SOFTWARE TO CUSTOMERS WHO ASK TO RECEIVE IT. 

Hope you all got that last part!

T-Mobile

Mac OS X Lion

After waiting for a long time, Mac OS X Lion finally arrived! It's here! Go and grab it from the Mac App Store now.

Apple just announced Mac OS X Lion, the eight major release of the world's most advanced operating system. It comes with more than 250 new features. It's available today as a download from the Mac App Store for $29.99.

Carry-on luggage

Try going through airport security (TSA) with this bag as your carry-on.You'll sure attract some attention...

This bag contains a gun... by NoveltyDesign
Join Zazzle.com's artist affiliate program

5 Reasons Not To Buy A 4G LTE Smartphone Today

 

Hardly a day goes by when I’m not tempted to buy a ticket and hop aboard the 4G LTE smartphone train. A few of my friends have LTE devices and love the upload and download speeds that they’ve been getting. They tell me to get one when my iPhone 3GS contract runs out. The Verizon store reps in my neighborhood rave to me about the Droid Charge and the HTC ThunderBolt. My co-workers have bought into 4G LTE. However, I’m not ready to hop aboard the train just yet and here are some reasons why.

HTC Sense 3.0 will only support Sensation, EVO 3D, Flyer and newer devices; older hardware left behind

Unfortunate news for anyone who saw HTC's Sense 3.0 UI and started dreaming about seeing it on their Desire HD, Incredible S or any other handset that doesn't ship with it preloaded. HTC has said that because of the hardware requirements of the fancier new Android skin, only the dual-core Sensation 4G and EVO 3D smartphones and the 1.5GHz Flyer tablet will be benefiting from it for now. The company's expected to introduce more tablets in the summer and its inevitable march forward with smartphones will continue, but Sense 3.0 -- and those delectable multifunctional lock screens -- will remain the exclusive privilege of its highest-end devices.

HTC confirms Android 2.3 Gingerbread coming to Droid Incredible this summer

HTC Droid Incredible owners have been patiently waiting for their Android 2.3 Gingerbread update and while we still don't have an actual release date for it, HTC is now advising folks it will be arriving "this summer" as noted in the email below:

Dear [Redacted]:

I understand your concern about wanting to know when the Android 2.3 upgrade will be released for the HTC Incredible. I’m pleased to inform you that there is going to be an update this summer to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). At this time we do not have any more information about the update. When the update is released we will announce it on www.htc.com and www.facebook.com/HTC.

If you feel you need more information, you are welcome to send us another
email or you can contact the HTC Technical Support team at [Redacted] daily from 6:00AM until 1:00AM Eastern.

We've seen similar emails come from HTC before for various other devices, so you kind of have to take them with a little grain of salt. Ultimately, it'll be pushed out when it's ready but it is always nice to get some kind of time frame from the folks behind the software. Thanks, Michael, for sending this in!

WinMo Sunno A880 gets HTC Sense alike UI

Sunno A880 was out a half month ago. The phone runs Windows Mobile 6.5, but gets a similar look with HTC magic. Hey, right now some people are going to make the phone more like a ‘HTC’ by adding a HTC Sense alike UI to this phone! The UI is not from Sunno A880, but released by two users on M8COOL’s forum. It seemingly works very well on the phone, and the touch is terrifically responsive and smooth that you got to love it, even though you may not own a Sunno A880. Watch the video for a display.

Follow HTC Sense on Facebook.

HTC Flyer begins shipping on May 9th across Europe

It's official: the HTC Flyer will begin its journey across Europe on May 9th. That's quite a bit more specific than the Q2 global release announced back in February. Now if only we had a date for Honeycomb's arrival on HTC's 1.5GHz 7-inch slate we'd be all set.

Follow HTC Flyer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FlyerHTC

10 Classic PC Games That Found New Life on the iPhone

Apple’s iPhone may mark a second golden age of computer gaming for a lot of reasons. The open marketplace means anyone can create a game; from major companies to just a couple of talented people in a garage. The result is a new boom in innovation, the likes of which we haven’t seen in about 20 years.

Even with all the potential for innovation, maybe you still want to relive that first golden age of gaming. If you’re excited for how new tech can update the classics, then this list is for you: 10 of the greatest, most influential, straight-up classic computer games ever made, all available on and completely remastered for Apple’s handset, and in most cases also playable on the iPod touch and iPad.

There are so many phenomenal PC game ports for the iPhone that we had a hard time narrowing it down to just 10. We couldn’t help but sneak in a very special bonus at the end. Flip through the gallery below for the list and be sure and tell us about your favorites too.

Zapd iOS app creates your next website in seconds flat, seriously [video]

Sure, the end result looks like a highly styled Tumblr, but let's repeat this: it's created on your phone. For those who are flat terrified of coding (or simply don't have the time to stay on top of a so-called "blog"), PressPlane has created Zapd -- a free iOS app that allows the creation of picture-led sites in seconds flat. The app truly is as streamlined as the company advertises it to be; load up a few images (or take a few), select a website style, find a decent web connection, and watch as things are published and shared with your pals on Facebook and Twitter. Enough chatter -- peek the video below to see where we're coming from, and give that iTunes link a look if you're hoping to join what's next. You know, now that your honeymoon with Color is thoroughly over. Enough chatter -- peek the video below to see where we're coming from, and give that iTunes link a look if you're hoping to join what's next. You know, now that your honeymoon with Color is thoroughly over.

HTC Thunderbolt Rooted as Fast as Lightning

HTC's new Thunderbolt smartphone has already been rooted--just one day after launch.


News of the HTC Thunderbolt root surfaced on an XDA developers forum on Thursday evening, and detailed instructions soon followed. Android Police provides full instructions on how to root your HTC Thunderbolt, but keep in mind that there are number of pros and cons to consider before you take the root jump.

The Thunderbolt is a 4g (LTE) variant of the pre-existing HTC Desire, so it isn't a surprise that the Thunderbolt root came so soon.

Will you be rooting your new device? Let us know in the comments!

HTC ThunderBolt for $179 on Amazon Wireless!

Are you tired of waiting for HTC ThunderBolt to be released? Well, wait no more! With the phone being released on March 17th with the price tag of $249, Amazon Wireless is selling the phone at $179! This offer also includes free two-day shipping.

Buying through Amazon Wireless is the same as at Verizon Wireless' store. You can get it only if you are eligible for an upgrade, provided you agree with 2-year contract terms (who wouldn't for that price?!) and if you're a new VZW customer.

With the device being Verizon's first 4G LTE phone, it is currently the fastest available on the market.

Just follow this link to buy this phone on Amazon Wireless!

UPDATE: As of March 17, 8:04AM CST the phone is backordered. According to our sources the price remains the same, but the orders will ship in 8 to 9 days. 

BREAKING Wirefly confirms ThunderBolt shipping on March 17th, pre-orders begin 3

Here we go!!!

Let the rumors be put to rest. Wirefly just lit up our inbox with the news that the HTC ThunderBolt — Verizon’s first LTE handset — will begin shipping on March 17th with pre-orders beginning at 3:00 a.m. EST tomorrow morning. The company also confirmed that the handset will not ship with Verizon’s version of Skype Mobile, but will have the ability to handle simultaneous voice and data. We’ve reached out to both Verizon and HTC for confirmation. The full text of the email is after the break.

source: http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/14/wirefly-confirms-thunderbolt-shipping-on-march-17th-pre-orders-begin-tonight/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28BGR+


Update - even more proof:

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/03/14/htc-thunderbolt-equipment-guide-says-all-channel-launch-is-march-17/

Top 5 Must Have Games for iPad 2

Maybe you've heard, but there is a little known gadget called the iPad 2 which was released just about....now. It's Apple's sequal to the incredibly successful iPad and based on early reviews, it's quite a lot more powerful.

Top 10 Paid iPhone Apps of all time

As App Store downloads approach 10 billion, Apple has decided to celebrate the occasion by offering a $10,000 iTunes store credit to the person who pushes them over the top.

To help iOS users along, Apple also released a list of the most downloaded apps since the store opened in summer 2008.

We put together the list of the top paid iPad apps of all time to help you catch up.

Apple iPad 2 overview

One of the most anticipated and awaited devices to hit the market this year from Apple is the Apple iPad 2. With the first announcements just barely hitting the market, the internet community and everyone already owning an Apple product have been buzzing about the second installment to the series. Now the real question emerges and what people have been wondering about is simple –is the new Apple iPad 2 worth it and what does it bring new to the scene. So let’s get down and dirty with the Apple iPad 2 overview and if you’re even remotely interested in the iPad 2 release date, specs and price tag you’d better keep on reading. Spec wise, the Apple iPad 2 is coming with a series of improvements when compared to the previous model, obviously as an attempt to keep up the pace with the Android tablet sector, which has been heavily attacking Apple’s product. The iPad 2 specs begin with a 1 GHz dual-core Apple A5 custom designed processor which will help it breeze through the menus, and believe me it does make a difference. The device will come in 6 different models, the main separation point being the built in storage and the connectivity. As such you’ll have the Wi-Fi only model with 16, 32 or 64 GB and the Wi-Fi + 3G model with the same storage specs.

HTC ThunderBolt overview

This isn't your dream phone. It's the one after that. With instant uploads and downloads and more, the HTC ThunderBolt 4G brings you the future, faster.


8 megapixels. Ultra-mega-amazing. 8 megapixel flash camera and the power of 4G allow you to create and share like never before.
4G + HD = infinite possibilities. Record. Share. View. HD video and a hi-res 4.3" screen means unlimited entertainment.

Keepin' it real fake: iPhone 5 provides foresight to a falsified future

Of course you knew this was coming, you probably just didn't expect it so soon. If Apple keeps up with its usual schedule, we don't expect an iPhone 4 successor to rear its head until summer 2011, but already some KIRF scientists are making forward-looking projections and produced what it thinks might be the KIRF iPhone to go tête-à-tête with the presumed iPhone 5. Resolution's apparently low, but it does its best to make up for it with dual SIM capabilities, WiFi, Bluetooth, a microSD slot, built-in camera with flash, an all-too familiar UI -- all at a price guaranteed to assuage regret: about 700 yuan (US $106). The future is now, why wait? Video after the break.