Raspberry Pi Model B+ gets a massive price cut -- now even more affordable

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All models of the Raspberry Pi have always been very affordable -- that’s a big part of the appeal. When the B+ launched 10 months ago it was priced at $35 dollars -- which was the same as the regular B model, despite improvements which include additional USB 2.0 ports, lower power consumption, and better audio.

However, three months ago the Raspberry Pi 2 arrived, and that was also priced at $35. Suddenly, the B+ seemed like a bad deal in comparison. But not anymore.

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Worried about damaging your Apple Watch? Get a case for it!

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Our smartphones might need protection, as their displays can be scratched by keys in our bags and pockets. We might also drop them in a moment of inadvertency, or we might slip whilst texting and go down, bringing the expensive device down with us.

But what about a smartwatch? Does the smart wearable device which has no contact with car keys and has close to zero chance of falling to the ground need protection?

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Zombies, Run! gets a massive update, goes free-to-play

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I’m a huge fan of Zombies, Run! and whenever I hit the treadmill (or, less frequently, the streets) the exercise app is always with me, turning a boring run into an action-packed journey through the zombie apocalypse.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting Season 4 of Zombies, Run! for ages now, and today is the day it arrives, bringing with it not only 40 new missions, but also some big improvements, including an important pricing change -- it’s now free to play.

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The Kickstarter paradox

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Among the great business innovations of the Internet era are Kickstarter and the many similar crowdfunding sites like IndieGoGo. You know how these work: someone wants to introduce a new gizmo or make a film but can only do so if you and I pay in advance with our only rewards being a possible discount on the gizmo or DVD. Oh, and a t-shirt. Never before was there a way to get people -- sometimes thousands of people -- to pay for stuff not only before it was built but often before the inventors even knew how to build it. From the Pebble smart watch to Veronica Mars, crowdfunding success stories are legion and crowdfunding failures quickly forgotten. I’ve been thinking a lot about crowdfunding because my boys are talking about doing a campaign this summer and I have even considered doing one myself. But it’s hardly a no-brainer, because a failed campaign can ruin your day and damage your career.

From the outside looking-in a typical Kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign is based on the creator (in this case someone like me, not God) having a good idea but no money. If the campaign is successful this creator not only gets money to do his or her project, they get validation that there’s actually a market -- that it’s a business worth doing. About 80 percent of crowdfunding campaigns come about this way.

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Comic Seer is a one-stop comic viewer and manager

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Viewing comics can be easy. Really, really easy. If you have a CBZ file, say, rename it to ZIP, open it in Explorer, and browse the images it contains -- simple.

That works well for occasional viewing, but if you’re a big comic fan, or just want the best reading experience, it’s worth installing a specialist tool like the free Comic Seer.

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Ultra HD Blu-ray 4K is coming -- will consumers care?

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I am a huge proponent of pushing the limits. The moment you say something is good enough, you have officially lost your way. When DVD was released, I remember being blown away by the quality and convenience, but many friends and family said VHS was good enough. The fools!

Fast forward to 2015, and VHS is long dead, but so too is physical media. Yes, some maniacs still buy DVD and Blu-ray discs, but we all know that streaming is the future. Apparently, no one told this to the Blu-ray Disc Association, as today, it announces the completion of the Ultra HD specification. In other words, 4K Blu-rays are coming. While some consumers may be interested in buying UHD optical discs, the reality is, no one wants to re-buy their movie collection for the 100th time. Am I right, folks?

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Sorry, Americans, there are no 'YouTube My Break' Kit Kats for you

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YouTube and Kit Kat lovers across the pond have reason to gloat. Unless imported—and there is a legal settlement prohibiting such practice—"YouTube My Break" campaign chocolate bars will not be coming to these shores. Yesterday, Google and Nestlé announced the branding collaboration, which replaces the Kit Kat logo with "YouTube break" on 600,000 wrappers.

"Hershey does license the rights to Kit Kat in the U.S.," a company spokesperson tells BetaNews. "At this point in time Kit Kat U.S. is not participating". That's okay, because I look at the UK campaign and wonder: "Why now?" In 2013, Hershey joined the Nestlé-Google collaboration that put the green Android robot on Kit Kat bar wrappers when the mobile operating system of the same name shipped. That tie-in I understand.

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Windows 10 editions revealed!

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A common complaint of both Windows promoters and detractors is the overwhelming number of versions, or editions, on the market. The sheer number of SKUs can be maddening, and quite frankly, confusing for consumers.

Many people -- myself included -- had hoped Microsoft would do away with all of the editions, and only have one. Admittedly, having one edition was a pipe-dream, but with all the good moves the company is making lately, I thought two or three editions was realistic. Unfortunately, Microsoft has announced the upcoming editions of Windows 10 and there are a lot. In fact, the number of editions have increased from Windows 8!

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The main obstacles to BYOD mass adoption

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After nearly two decades of having smartphones and other devices that are exclusively for work purposes, there has been little headway in making Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, a standard practice in the work place. In fact, it is nearly unheard of as a standard accepted business practice.

What exactly is preventing this convenient solution from becoming the norm? Here are a few of the major reasons why BYOD has yet to take off.

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HP is Putin Ubuntu Linux on Russian computers

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Linux is an unstoppable force; well, except on the desktop where it is barely used. While some PC manufacturers, such as System76, sell computers running Ubuntu and other distros, the average consumer will have difficulty buying such a machine in a physical store. The closest they can get is a Chromebook or Chromebox, but I digress.

Some Windows partners, such as Dell, offer Linux-based operating systems as an alternative, but this is few and far between. HP, however, is planing to sell machines in Russia running the Ubuntu operating system. I suppose you could say the company is Putin (puttin') Linux on the desktop there!

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AI to humanity: Open the box or suffer endlessly

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You may remember the allegory of the cave, or Descartes’ "veil of perception". If not, you probably remember the Matrix. Whether the method is pop culture or philosophy, you’re most likely aware of the concept of the universe you live in being a mere simulation of reality.

Eliezer Yudkowsky of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute has put forward a scenario to consider the effectiveness of trapping an AI to study it. But could humans hope to outsmart an AI which is hopelessly beyond them? He suggests that any sufficiently advanced intelligence would be irresistibly persuasive, making them impossible to safely study.

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InPixio Photo Editor is a 1-click photo enhancer

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Photo editors for the Windows desktop typically compete on the length of their feature list: file formats support, range of selection tools, layer handling abilities, whatever it might be.

InPixio Free Photo Editor ignores almost all of that, and instead focuses on app-like ease of use, just providing a quick and easy way to tweak an image and share it with others.

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Google rejects most Right To Be Forgotten requests

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One year ago, a European court ruled that Google should comply with requests from individuals to remove certain results from search results; it became known as the Right To Be Forgotten. Twelve months after the initial ruling, Google has published a new transparency report that shows it rejects more requests than it complies with.

The Right To Be Forgotten stemmed from a case brought by Spaniard Mario Costeja González who wanted Google to remove search results that pointed to online articles about his home being repossessed. There then followed an influx of requests after Google set up an online form to provide individuals with an easy way to get in touch.

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Commvault launches new solutions to speed up cloud adoption

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As the pace of cloud adoption accelerates, businesses often come across unforeseen issues that add to costs and may derail projects completely.

Enterprise data protection and information management specialist Commvault is aiming to streamline moving to the cloud with additions to its product suite to enable organizations to get the most from existing investments and accelerate enterprise wide cloud adoption.

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International access to BBC iPlayer ends in two weeks

International access to BBC iPlayer ends in two weeks

The BBC has announced that access to its iPlayer service from outside of the UK is to end from 26 May. Originally only made available to those living in the UK, the international version of iPlayer provided access to a selection of its content for a monthly subscription.

Those with a subscription have a month to access the content they have paid for, so the final date that iPlayer can be used will actually be 26 June. The timing of the BBC's announcement is interesting, coming just a week after the European Commission revealed plans to break down the barriers of geo-blocking.

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