IBLOG SPACE

Well, things just got crazy on Pretty Little Liars. It seems like a lot of the loose ends are being connected. Except with this being Pretty Little Liars, they're all sure to unravel soon. Spencer and Emily confronted Aria about the creepy photos they found in Jason's shed. When Aria confronted Jason about them, he managed to explain them away as photos that Alison took, which he was going to have framed and given to Aria as a gift. This dispelled her fears, but didn't change Spencer's mind that he is up to no good. Aria also had serious relationship problems. She let the kiss between her and Jason slip to Ezra, who was initially angry, but then wanted the two of them to come clean about their relationship. Unfortunately, Aria soon learned that her mother would be furious if Ezra had been in a relationship with one of his students (which was rumored while he was working at the high school), so Aria is forced to keep it a secret indefinitely. Hanna had a run in

You know, ever since I talked to Molly Quinn at Comic-Con, I have been thinking about just how much Alexis is going to affect our favorite dynamic duo's relationship. Molly was very adamant about how hard this is going to hit Alexis and how the teen will not take it well. I have been meaning to write something about it for the past couple of weeks now, but I could never seem to find time to get to it. That was until Ausiello revealed a very juicy piece of info about the youngest Castle, so there can't be any more postponing this discussion on my part. For three seasons now, Alexis Castle has been portrayed as pretty much the perfect daughter. Mature for her age, she is probably the most responsible member of the Castle clan and doesn't give her dad any trouble. She is not rebellious - as a lot of teens worldwide tend to be - she gets along extremely well with her father and, despite the crazy family she has, she is quite well-adjusted. In season 3 we got a first glim

When undercover cop Tommy Murphy focuses on one case for a span of three episodes, brilliance occurs. The mystery doesn't go on too long, as it did in the six-episode, one-case series 3. For series 4 and 5 of Murphy's Law, out on DVD from Acorn Media August 30, Murphy tackles some pretty nasty stuff. Series 4 sees him trying to take down a drug empire headed by an Irishman and his sadistic brother, while series 5 focuses on Murphy's hunt for two missing police officers. It's tense, gripping, and it never quite pans out the way you would expect. Murphy's not just a badass in the series. He's got a heart, something that the show doesn't shy away from. Series 4, for example, sees him juggling his undercover activities with his struggling to cope with his mother's Alzheimer's, which has robbed her of her sanity -- and the ability to recognize Murphy as her son. Each series ends with moments that might just move you emotionally, if it doesn't bring

Amazon has started to crack down on the publishing of e-books that use the private label rights or PLR. PLR is a way that a writer can write a digital book for the Kindle service and then sell the rights to other people to republish it as their own. It’s like writing a how-to book and then selling publishing rights to others. The problem with this is that the same book ends up in the Kindle store with different titles and names associated with it confusing the customer. Amazon is trying to fix the issue and prevent confusion on the Kindle store and has started to remove PLR e-books that are on the store. Amazon’s official reason for removing the books sent to the people that publish them is that the copycat books “diminish the experience for customers.” Amazon states that it has been working hard to eliminate books that are no different from another on the store or that are barely different for a long time. The idea behind publishing the PLR books is that the person publishing it is su

Google has further waded into the ongoing mobile patent saga, joining Apple in calling for re-examination of IP it argues should never have been granted in the first place. “We’ve asked the US Patent Office to reexamine two Lodsys patents that we believe should never have been issued” the search giant’s general counsel Kent Walker told Wired, referring to the same company targeting iOS developers over what it alleges is misuse of in-app payments systems. However, there are also fresh reports that poor handling of source code release by OEMs using Android have, in fact, left them in violation of the GPL v.2 open-source license, and have as a result lost their Linux distribution rights. On the Lodsys front, Walker says that “developers play a critical part in the Android ecosystem and Google will continue to support them”; earlier this year, Android developers began to receive IP infringement warnings alleging they had used technology detailed in patents 7,222,078 and 7,620,565. Although

Google has announced that it is buying Motorola Mobility, in a $12.5bn deal expected to close either by the end of the year or the start of 2012. Described by Google CEO Larry Page as a move to “supercharge the Android ecosystem” the deal will see Motorola operated as a separate business with the company remaining an Android licensee. “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers” Larry Page, CEO, Google According to Google, Motorola’s devotion to Android figured big in the company’s decision to purchase. Back in 2008, Motorola decided to leave its own OS and others like Windows Mobile, and devote resources entirely to building an Android-based range. It seems unlikely that Motorola will now look to Windows Phone, even if

We already know some of the details on the coming HP Pre3 smartphone. The last time we talked about the Pre3 was in mid-July when the device was tipped to be running a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. The Pre3 is expected to hit the UK at the end of the month. The big question on the device so far has been what carrier it will land on. The scuttlebutt was that O2 didn’t want the handset so they ruled out one major carrier. The answer is now clear; the Pre3 has now landed on the Orange support site so we know where the device is headed. The smartphone could land on other carriers too, but for now, Orange is the one we know of. The official support page lists the specs that we already know about. The Pre3 gets 512MB of RAM, a 3.6-inch 480 x 800 resolution display, and either 8GB of 16GB of storage. Along with the Orange support page, there are several retailers that have pre-order pages up for the device. The phone will sell for $130 or £80 according to the listings. The rub is that the price

Back in July when Apple launched OS X Lion we talked about a lot of the cool features that the OS has. One of the more interesting things for those that worry about their Mac not booting is the new Lion feature where you can make your own recovery drive using a flash drive. If you want to know more about Lion read our review of the latest versions of Mac OS X here. You can make the OS X Lion Recovery Drive for free by following the directions that Apple offers. If you don’t have the time or inclination to make your own recovery USB drive Apple is getting set to offer them through AppleCare. The flash drives with the recovery software installed are expected to sell for $69. A 9to5mac source has told the publication that the recovery drives will start selling to the public this week. The recovery drives have reportedly shown up in the Apple internal system slated for launch on August 15, which is today for those that are having problems keeping track of time on a Monday. There has been n

Attempts to use facial recognition technology to identify looters involved in the UK riots last week have proved mixed, with security forces pushing forward with the software while an unofficial project has shut down due to inaccuracy of matches. The official software – being tested for the 2012 Olympics, among other events – is being used to identify potential suspects yet to be detained, the UK police told CBSNews; however, a Face-based app that might have allowed Facebook users to flag up those responsible has been axed. The anonymous team behind the project told Forbes that early trials of the app – which used technology already in service flagging up celebrity faces on Twitter and identifying long-lost friends on Facebook – indicated that positive matches were low on the confidence level, and that the system was prone to mistaking identities. In Forbe’s own testing, using an early version of the software, mismatches suggested that known criminals were in fact completely different

It has been more than a year now since we talked about the awesome high-tech and very expensive artificial limbs made by a company called Touch Bionics. These hands are able to sense the electrical pulses from the muscles in the arm of users and activate artificial bionic hand. The artificial hand is so high-tech that the user can do just about anything they are able to do with a normal hand. A 14-year-old boy named Matthew James was born with a congenital defect that meant his left arm only developed to the wrist. The teen sent a letter to Ross Brawn, the head of the Mercedes F1 team and offered to allow the team to advertise on his bionic hand if they would pay the £35,000 that the hand costs. The teen’s letter was “intelligent and moving” according to Mercedes so they contracted with Touch Bionics to get the boy a custom i-LIMB Pulse artificial hand. The teen says that he can do just about anything with the new hand and that his old hand only had a simple close and release mechanism

Asus has some of the cooler Android tablets on the market today and it still has one of the coolest yet to hit store shelves called the Eee Pad Slider. The Slider is a very interesting tablet that has a keyboard tucked away under the screen so you can type on the go without needing to take a keyboard with you. The Slider is expected to land in the US and other places in September. Not too long ago the tablet crossed the FCC to get the approvals it needed to come to market. Asus has now unveiled the official page for the tablet marking one other little detail out of the way before the tablet launches. The official page gives up all the details and features of the tablet. We already know the most interesting feature with the 10.1-inch screen sliding and tilting to reveal the keyboard underneath. The tablet will come in 32GB and 16GB versions with selling prices of $550 and $400. The tablet also has Android 3.1 onboard and the 10.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1280 x 800. Internal memo

Vodafone’s super-cheap interpretation of the Facebook Phone, the Vodafone 555, has gone on sale, offering straightforward access to the social network for just £62.50 ($102) SIM-free. Announced back in July, the 555 offers a full QWERTY keyboard and 2.4-inch non-touch display, synchronizing your Facebook news, photos, chat, messages and contacts over EDGE. Like the HTC ChaCha there’s a dedicated Facebook button, which can be preset to automatically share photos snapped with the 555′s 2-megapixel camera, though since this is a featurephone rather than a smartphone, don’t expect the full app experience. Vodafone does preload Opera Mini, however, for browsing, though again you’re stuck with EDGE data speeds since there’s neither 3G nor WiFi. You do at least get an FM radio and expandable memory, handy if you want to make the 555 your media player too, and there’s Bluetooth and a speakerphone as well. The Vodafone 555 is available now.

Adobe has launched its latest web tool intended to democratize establishing an online presence, Muse, which claims to allow complex HTML sites – with HTML5 and CSS support – to be created as easily as if being laid out for print. Currently in beta, Muse borrows UI and layout concepts from Adobe InDesign, with drag-and-drop menus, slideshows and other widgets that require no coding skills to implement. Instead, it’s a case of making the page look great, and relying on Adobe’s web-elves in the background to do the clever stuff. Sitemaps are organized with straightforward flowcharts, common design elements set up using a straightforward “Master Page” system, and site-wide basics like size and colors can be handled with little fuss. Elements that can frustrate beginners – like creating floating toolbars or pinning certain items so that they always display in the same place – are made far easier to use. The end results aren’t just static, basic pages, but can be heavily multimedia-centric w

If you have a Chromebook and you have wished that you could run Windows on the little rig for software compatibility you will like this news. Chromebooks can now get Windows running on the machine via Citrix virtualization, assuming their company supports Citrix virtualization. A new app has been released recently that will let the Chromebook user runs desktops and applications in the data center via a free client app for businesses that are already running Citrix virtualization. The new app is called Citrix Receiver and has already been offered on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices before. The addition of Chromebook support means that just about every tablet, smartphone or computer can now access the Citrix virtualized environments. The Citrix app is on the Chrome Web Store right now. Using the app people running a Chromebook can do anything they do with virtualization on their home or office computer. The app allows the Chromebook user to check email, run apps and mov

Late last month the Blackberry Bold 9930 smartphone was given a video demo by Verizon. At the time, we knew all the details on the smartphone except how much it would sell for and when the device would land. Verizon now has the official page for the Bold 9930 up on its website with pricing info and all the details on the new smartphone. If you have been waiting to get your hands on the new Blackberry, check the official page out now. The Bold 9930 will sell for $509.99 with no contract. A 2-year contract will get you the smartphone for $249.99 with free shipping if ordered online. The phone does require a data package too. It appears that the smartphone is shipping right now. The device uses the Blackberry 7 OS and has the famous QWERTY keyboard that fans like so much. The screen of the smartphone also supports touch navigation. The rear camera is a 5MP unit with flash and image stabilization. The smartphone also has WiFi, 720p HD video recording and a lot more. The screen is a 2.8-inc

Apple has reportedly significantly increased its iPhone orders for the second half of 2011, with claims that the order book has swollen by up to 13-percent including contracts for the fifth-gen iPhone 5. Over 56m units – consisting of iPhone 5, iPhone 4 in GSM and CDMA flavors, and iPhone 3GS – have been ordered, DigiTimesreports, with supply chain insiders claiming an estimated 25.5m to 26m will be the fifth-gen device expected to go on sale later in the year. Interestingly, Apple has reportedly shifted its iPhone 5 order numbers around: Q3 has been reduced from 7m to as few as 5.5m units, while Q4 has been boosted considerably, from in excess of 20m units versus the previous 14m expected. The existing phones will, collectively, be tapered out, with over 20m ordered for Q3 but just 8m in Q4. Altogether 95m iPhones are expected to have shipped this year by the end of December. The significant numbers indicates that Apple is anticipating strong demand for its iPhone 5, though could also

Another high-profile hack this weekend, as the San Francisco BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) transport authority confirms that “at least 2,400″ of its 55k strong member database has been compromised, with hacking collective Anonymous claiming responsibility. Names, emails and passwords – as well as potentially phone numbers and addresses – have been snatched, with the BART site – and services that rely on the transit data it publishes –sluggish on Sunday under an ongoing assault. The upside is that no financial information is stored about each BART user, so those believing themselves to be affected will not have to cancel their credit cards. However, the organization warns that members should be wary of potential phone or mail scams, since their details are potentially in the wild now. “BART has proved multiple times that they have no problem exploiting and abusing the people. First they displayed this by the two recent killings by BART police. Under no circumstance, unless police are s

In a series of photos taken by a member of XDA Developers forums, we’re here able to see what may well be the upcoming Android device by the name of HTC Holiday. What we can see here is that the smartphone has a massive “CALIFORNIA” sticker or case on the back, this leading us to believe that either the phone will be released with different cases in different regions of the USA OR someone slapped a nasty ol’ sticker on the thing. In addition to this, we’re seeing a rather thin device with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a 4.5-inch qHD display at 960 x 540 pixel resolution and a very possible AT&T release. We’ve not heard just a whole heck of a lot of information on this device since back this May when we heard that the 1.2GHz MSM8660 processor was proposed to be the same as we’re currently seeing in the HTC Sensationand the HTC Sensation 4G from T-Mobile. This device, if we can believe that same leak back earlier this year, will also have 1GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera on the back

While some call it a copy of the Russian T62, others note that it appears more likely that the maker of this monster saw a Panzer II tank and copied it complete with an M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun on a completely new looking turret. Regardless, this is a gigantic war tank created by a civilian by the name of Hao JinXi whose private manufacturing enterprise specializes in the production of a certain single type of tourist train. Why on earth he decided to drop 800,000 Japanese yuans (something like $9,400 USD) on a completely newly manufactured version of an out-of-use tank is quite simple. Hao and 10 of his best friends took on the project and had to refine this vehicle more than 20 times over the course of 7 months. The tank can drive just fine and is able to fire its main cannon – though the power behind this version of the tank releases shot no more harmful than a flash of fireworks. Inside the vehicle are controls which are completely newly created, these controls the creat

Before we begin speaking about how awesome it is that the Raspberry Pi Alpha version boards are ready for shipping, it would be remiss of us not to explain what Raspberry Pi is in the first place. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a group which is preparing to release a single-board computer for right around $25 USD (aka approximately £ 15 GBP) meant to stimulate basic computer science in schools around the world. What’s happening this weekend is that we’re being treated to a video filmed by Eben Upton, Director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, as he shows of the newly shipped alpha boards for this project. The Raspberry Pi foundation is confirming this weekend that Dom (another Raspberry Pi official) has been able to access an SD card, a network, and boot Linux from the alpha boards without a hitch. At the moment we’re only able to see a video of Upton speaking about the board and the hardware on it, but later this week we should be able to see demos of the board working in full action. O

It’s not often that a device of this disturbing a magnitude gets through a month or two being under wraps – much less several years. That appears to be the case though, as this eBay listing shows a MacBook Pro with not only a place inside the laptop to insert a SIM card, but a rather ugly slide-up antenna protruding from the side of the display half of the device as well. This device dates back to 2007, while Apple has yet to produce a laptop with any sort of mobile capabilities other than Wi-Fi connectivity – currently users must purchase mobile hotspots or flip the ON switch for their mobile hotspots on their iPhones. The current owner of this seemingly rather rare prototype machine describes it as a pre-production 2007 15-inch MacBook Pro Santa Rose laptop “with red circuit boards and integrated cellular data functionality.” There’s a rather giant antenna which slides up the side of the device’s display and reads “Tyco Proto / #006″, and under the memory cover on the bottom of the l

Necessary. It’s like a dirty word. A curse, or at least it was at my house. Activities were defined on a scale of how “necessary” they were. Snagging a couple Tagalongs before dinner. Is that necessary? Want to drive 20 miles to visit my girlfriend on a school night. Is it necessary to see her before the weekend? Waiting in line at midnight for the new Sonic the Hedgehog game (it was the 90s, after all). Definitely unnecessary. It is with those voices in my head that I read Mike Perlman’s column about whether tablet computers are “. . . Really Necessary.” Necessary? I consider myself an expert on battling the subject. First, a delightful disclosure. Not just my usual disclosure about how in my day job I work for Samsung and we make tablets like the one Perlman mistakenly thinks are not necessary. No, this is about Mike. Mike and I worked at a past Web site together. In fact, I hired him there, and I was his boss. When I left, he took over for more than a year until he left to join his

The folks at Microsoft have released build 7720 for their Windows Phone mobile operating system internally this weekend, a leaked version of this full upgrade to what’s otherwise known as Windows Phone Mango available now. This is NOT an official release from Microsoft as it’s only been sent out internally, within the company, that meaning of course NOT FOR YOU! But that doesn’t hold back the folks at XDA Developers does it? I think not. Hackers rejoice, today you may load an early version of the final Windows Phone Mango build on your devices. Last we heard, this Mango build was supposed to be being released on the 1st of September, this internal release therefor right on schedule. Back on July 26th, we knew this release (an earlier version, that is,) to have been released to manufacturing, while it was all the way back in June that we knew Windows Phone Mango to be sent out to developers. If you’d like to know more about Windows Phone Mango, hit up our official SlashGear 101: Windows

I've got some bad news for you, Pretty Little Liars fans. The season 2 midseason finale will be airing on August 30 and then the show goes on hiatus. If season 2 follows the same pattern as season 1, it's likely that the show will go on hiatus until early 2012 and then return to finish out the season. Last year we were left with a cliffhanger in the midseason finale and I have no doubt we'll see the same thing again on August 30. Here's what we know: on the August 23 episode, the girls will finally tell someone the truth about "A". They chose to tell their therapist, Dr. Anne Sullivan, but telling her the truth puts her right in "A"'s cross-hairs. "A" will force the girls to go to great lengths to protect Dr. Sullivan in the midseason finale and the mysterious blackmailer will be calling all the shots. She/he sends each girl out on a "mission" to save Dr. Sullivan. Apparently "each mission will ultimately lead to w