Hasta La Gadget!

Netherlands newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports today that newly-reviewed documents indicate the NSA has covertly installed spying malware on over 50,000 computer networks worldwide. The documents, leaked by Edward Snowden, include a map of areas where the malware is installed.

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Each week, there are dozens of Apple rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what’s coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but most are totally bogus.

Crashes with big rig trucks are one of the worst crashes a driver can be in, especially if they happen to be in a low car that can underride the semi. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released a video showing that while the measures that have been taken to prevent compact cars from sliding under the truck in a rear-end crash are somewhat effective, more needs to be done to help keep drivers safe.

According to the IIHS, the majority of semis have underride guards installed, which are steel bars hanging below the rear of the vehicle’s trailer to stop a car from going underneath in the event of a rear-end crash. The minimum requirements for these guards, however, have been demonstrated as inadequate for keeping drivers safe, and because of this the IIHS petitioned the NHTSA back in 2011 to adopt harsher requirements.

Unfortunately, the NHTSA never responded to the request, but trailer manufacturers took the initiative anyway and began putting in guards above the minimum requirements. While this was an excellent measure on their part, a new rear-crash test performed by the IIHS, which you can see in the video above, has demonstrated that there are still safety concerns that need to be addressed – specifically, the guard’s inability to help keep drivers safe when there’s an overlap in the collision, meaning only part of the car hits the back of the semi’s trailer.

Says the IIHS, the 30-percent overlap is still within the range for the driver’s (or passenger’s, depending on the side) head to hit the back of the trailer if the vehicle underrides the semi, something that is sure to be fatal. As a result, the Institute has stated that while the stronger guards being used with trailers is a “good first step,” much more can be done to keep drivers safe and help reduce the number of deaths in these sort of collisions.

[via IIHS]

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety releases report on big-rig rear crashes is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The teenagers of the world are not an easy bunch to please. Do something cool with your business, and chances are teenagers will be some of the first to catch on, but become too popular and the teenagers are the first that will drop support for your brand. That’s apparently the predicament Apple now finds itself in, as Buzz Marketing Group tells Forbes that Apple’s iDevices are losing ground with the teenage demographic.

Instead of Apple products, Buzz Marketing – a youth marketing firm – says teenagers are going crazy for Samsung’s Galaxy line and Microsoft Surface these days. “Teens are telling us Apple is done,” the company’s Tina Wells said. “Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older [Millennials], but I don’t think they are connecting with Millennial kids. [They’re] all about Surface tablets/laptops and Galaxy.”

Indeed, Samsung’s Galaxy S III launched last year to massive success, seemingly only matched by the success of the iPhone 5, which launched later in the year. One explanation for Apple’s decrease in popularity with teenagers could be the price of it’s devices – since iPhones are typically more expensive than the competition, parents hand off their old iPhone to their child. We can name more than a few teenagers who aren’t interested if it isn’t brand spanking new, and the lower price point of Android devices means that these teenagers have a better shot at getting a new phone all to themselves.

While we don’t doubt some teenagers would rather throw in with Android before Apple these days, we also have to point to the number of disappointed teens who took to Twitter late last year after they discovered they wouldn’t be getting the iDevices they craved for Christmas. The sheer amount of complainers suggests that Apple is still pretty popular in the teenage space, so ultimately, Apple my not be losing as much ground as this report suggests. We’ll just have to wait until we have some data that’s more solid before making the final call, if that data ever comes at all.

Apple reportedly too popular to be cool with teenage crowd is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Get some time in with the Twitter‘s Favorite button now, because it may not long before it goes the way of the dinosaurs. According to The Next Web, Twitter is currently testing two new buttons – “Like” and “Star” – with a small group of users. It appears that these new buttons might be planned as a replacement for the Favorite button, which has been around since 2008.

Twitter has yet to make an official announcement on these new buttons, which makes it hard to tell if this is just as simple a test or a slow roll out. It seems that Like and Star are two different words for the same action, so perhaps Twitter is testing both to see which one users prefer most? In any case, they appear to do essentially the same thing as the Favorite button, adding tweets you like to a list that you can look back at later.

The Next Web tried to get in touch with Twitter, but naturally the social network had nothing to say about the Like and Star buttons being spotted in the wild. If Twitter does decide to implement new Like or Star buttons in place of the Favorite button, you can bet there will be some blow back from users, as the Favorite button has become an integral part of the site for many users since its introduction.

It’s still difficult to say what the plan is for these new buttons, though. Perhaps they’ll be implemented alongside the Favorite button instead of in place of it? At this point, your guess is as good as ours, so we’ll just have to sit back and wait for Twitter to make a statement on the issue. Are you seeing Like or Star buttons popping up on your Twitter page?

Twitter reportedly testing new “Like” and “Star” buttons is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.