London museum turns 3D-printed Liberator guns into works of art

London museum turns 3Dprinted Liberator gun into a work of art

Home to some of the world’s rarest pieces of art, London’s Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum has just added a modern, yet controversial piece to its collection: the world’s first 3D-printed weapon. The museum has managed to get its hands on the two prototype Liberator pistols which were successfully fired by their creator Cody Wilson back in May, offering London’s culture lovers the chance to view the original $25 do-it-yourself plastic firearm in all its glory. The gun has come under fire for supposedly aiding terrorist threats, leading the State Department to demand Defense Distributed take down online copies of the Liberator’s schematics. The V&A could have simply printed their own models, downloading the blueprints like 100,000 other people, but Wilson claims the originals add a sense of authenticity. One of the models is so authentic, it’ll go on show with half of its right side blown off, because, y’know, guns.

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Via: Forbes

Source: Dezeen

Google Keep code hints at future Drive and video integration

Google Keep code hints at integration with apps and Drive

Google Keep stores its content in Drive, but it doesn’t pull content from Drive. That may change, however, as Google Operating System has spotted some unused Drive integration code within the Android app. They suggest that users could attach Drive files to their notes and either view them directly or open them in third-party software. Media hounds wouldn’t have to upload video, though — there’s mention of embedding YouTube clips. The code doesn’t guarantee that Keep will be file-savvy in the near future, but it does show that Google is at least considering such an upgrade.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Google Operating System

Adafruit tutorial turns your Raspberry Pi into an ad-blocking WiFi access point

DNP Adafruit tutorial turns your Raspberry Pi into an adblocking WiFi access point

Ads can be a buzzkill, especially when they’re so pervasive they become distractions. Luckily, Adafruit has a new tutorial that turns your Raspbery Pi into a WiFi access point that doubles as a mighty ad-blocking machine for any device — be it an iPad or an Xbox — that connects to it. All you need is a working internet connection, a Raspberry Pi booting Raspbian, a WiFi adapter, an Ethernet cable and the necessary software (which the tutorial breaks down for you). It should go without saying, but Adafruit also includes a reminder to whitelist the ad-supported sites you frequently visit. Blocking ads might improve your online experience overall, but it’s always a good idea to support the people who provide you with free content. To get started, check out the tutorial at the source link below.

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Source: Adafruit

Deezer music service expands as it launches on Philips and Panasonic Smart TVs

Deezer music service expands as it launches on Philips and Panasonic Smart TVs

Deezer’s currently competing with the likes of Spotify and Rdio to win over the streaming souls of the world, so it knows how important it is to be available in as many countries and on as many platforms as possible. Taking that into account, the music service announced it has inked a deal with Panasonic and Philips which will bring its web-based tunes to Smart TVs made by those companies, similarly to what it did with other manufacturers earlier this year. What’s more, Deezer also (quietly) updated its app on LG and Samsung television sets with improvements to search, an easier way to manage the music library and an option to access your friends’ playlists. Of course, this all only applies to places where Deezer is present — in other words, folks here in the US of A need not to power on their Smart TV and look for the app. One day, perhaps.

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Source: Deezer

PayPal revamping its policies to better support crowdfunding

PayPal sign

PayPal’s commerce system wasn’t built for crowdfunding, and that has created problems for some startups — the company recently (if briefly) froze $45,000 of Mailpile’s assets, for example. The PayPal team is determined to set things right, however, and just announced that it’s reworking its policies to better accommodate crowdfunding projects. The firm isn’t yet saying what those changes entail, but it’s requiring that its Risk Management group review any potential freezes on crowdfunding campaigns until there’s a permanent solution in place. While we’d prefer that PayPal devote the same kind of care to all frozen funds, it’s good to know that fewer entrepreneurs will have their dreams dashed by someone else’s mistake.

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Source: PayPal (1), (2)

Spotify gets its own Twitter #Music app

Spotify gets its own Twitter #Music app

Twitter #Music launched with Spotify streaming as a core feature. It’s only fair that Spotify #Music get an app of its own, then, and one has just launched today. The new client very closely mimics its web counterpart, letting members find and play trending music on Twitter from big-name artists, fast-rising newcomers and everyone in given genres. As you’d imagine, the difference rests in how you play music — it’s much faster to start a track or add it to a playlist, and you don’t need to be a Spotify Premium subscriber to tune in. If you’re interested in learning what the world is listening to, you’ll find the free #Music app at the source link.

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Via: Twitter Music (Twitter)

Source: Spotify

Chrome 29 for iOS brings voice search with pronouns

Chrome for iOS with voice search

Google loves to throw small-yet-sensible interface updates into many Chrome releases, and the new Chrome 29 for iOS represents a textbook example. The browser’s voice search now supports contextual pronouns like “her” or “them;” ask a question and you can run a follow-up search without mentioning the subject by name. The update also lets you quickly jump back to search results if you visit the wrong result, and it’s now easier to view bandwidth savings if you have access to the experimental data compression feature. Should you like the smattering of new features, you can grab Chrome 29 now through the App Store.

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Via: Chrome Releases

Source: App Store

Twitter gives verified users a mentions filter / velvet rope

Twitter gives verified users a mentions filter  velvet rope to keep the masses at bay

Twitter is making it easier for the truly famous to chat with each other in public, now that it’s added a couple of new filters for users with Verified accounts. While the general public continue to have their mentions open to one and all, verified users can see their @ stream either “Filtered” to take out likely spam or “Verified” to pick out tweets from other blue checkmarked accounts. While this should make it easier for the famous to spot messages from each other (we’ll keep reading every tweet mentioning @Engadget — we’re for the people) among those begging for RTs, or just trolling, we hope that at least the filtered option pops up for everyone soon. We have enough offers for weight loss secrets to last us a lifetime as-is, now it’s time to see if Facebook and Google+ change how they cater to the high-profile.

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Source: Twitter Blog

Twitter submits plans for IPO: 140 characters of going public

Twitter submits plans for IPO 140 characters of going public

Honestly, it shouldn’t come as any shock: the microblogging service that made it perfectly acceptable to deliver huge, huge news in 140 characters or less has just done precisely that. Twitter has announced that it has “confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO,” but details beyond that are being kept under wraps. What’s it mean? Those with equity in the company are about to become mind-numbingly rich; Wall Street is about to lose its gourd about getting in early; and end-users like yourself should start worrying about ads, ads everywhere.

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Source: Twitter

Twitter 5.0 beta for Android brings all-new design, in-line pictures and videos

Twitter 50 beta for Android now available with new design, inline pictures and videos

Only less than two weeks have gone by since Twitter debuted its app experiment on Android, but the little blue bird isn’t letting any time go to waste. Available now to those willing to deal with some rough edges, the Twitter 5.0 beta for Android features a completely new look, the ability to view in-line images / videos and a redesigned bar for menu items (notifications, messages, etc.). Looks-wise, it’s certainly slightly different than the current version. But does it perform better? We’ll let you, the beta testers, be the judge of that.

[Image Credit: RootzWiki]

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Via: RootzWiki

Source: Twitter for Android Experiment