Always Tech News: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Airbnb to collect taxes in more big cities

Airbnb's been struggling with numerous legal issues for a while now, and one of the biggest complaints against the service is that hosts have been using it to set up illegal hotels to avoid paying taxes. These days, Airbnb's trying to get on the good...

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'Tron'-like headphones, virtual reality at Sundance and other stories you might've missed this week!

We get it. It's been a busy week. Luckily, we're here to catch you up on the release date of the Apple Watch, VR headsets in Hollywood and all the other cool stuff you may have accidentally glossed over during five days on the daily grind....

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Amazon's Echo lets you control iTunes, Pandora and Spotify with your voice

If you accepted an invitation to buy Amazon's Echo speaker, you've noticed that the device didn't have a vast musical vocabulary at first -- you could tell it to play iHeartRadio or Prime Music tunes, and that's about it. You'll have a better time of...

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Marriott is no longer fighting for permission to block WiFi hotspots

Marriott wants you to know that it's completely done trying to block guests' personal WiFi connections -- it has even given up convincing the FCC to give it permission to do so, a spokesperson told Engadget. The company already announced that it won'...

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What's the Weirdest Thing You've Ordered Online?

Timex's Popular "Weekender" Watches Are In Impulse Buy Range Today

Timex's Weekender Watches are the most popular we've ever listed in our Commerce segments. They're extremely versatile and come in a variety of colors, and today they're marked down to the $30 range, plus an additional 30% off with code WEEKEND30. [Amazon]

Google Earth Pro Is Now Available for Free

Google Earth Pro, the premium version of Google's popular Google Earth service, is now free. Google sliced the price from $400 a year, so this is a pretty solid deal. If you like to make 3D measurements or create HD videos of virtual trips around the world, I'd jump on this. You can download the software key directly from Google and start an online global journey.

Pirate Bay back up after December police raid

The torrent site, used to download television shows, movies, games and other files, was shut down for seven weeks.

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The Pirate Bay comes back weeks after a police raid

We're starting to wonder if it's nigh-on impossible to keep The Pirate Bay down. Just weeks after Swedish police raided the bootleg file site and knocked it offline, it's back -- TorrentFreak reports that almost everything is up and running once agai...

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Space out in these glow-in-the-dark galaxy undies

No need for a telescope when wearing these solar system skivvies. We promise not to make a rude comet about your asteroid.

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The poetry of my tweets

I'd like to think my tweets offer some cultural value and promote a better world. I consume plenty of brilliant films and scholarly articles, then reflect my learnings on Twitter multiple times a day. So when I heard there was a tool to turn my tweet...

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Rachael Taylor of 'Grey's Anatomy' to raise hell as Hellcat in 'Jessica Jones'

Actress Rachael Taylor takes on the role of Patricia "Trish" Walker, aka Hellcat, in the upcoming Marvel TV series premiering on Netflix.

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Planet Earth In Infrared, At 4k Resolution

Here's something you don't see every day: An ultra-HD time-lapse of Earth, as seen in infrared.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Facebook using beacons to show location 'tips'

The social network's new feature sends location tips to your feed using GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth beacons. Meanwhile, your home Internet broadband may not be broadband anymore.

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