Show Notes, September 29th, 2014

Radio in a jar plays your favorite station, and only your favorite station Despite all the proof that we basically live in a sci-fi future, there’s still something a little magical about flipping a switch and hearing a story or a song wafting out of a box. Radio is sort of steadfast that way, but that also means people are…

Consumer Reports weighs in on iPhone 6 bending As much as Apple would like for this discussion to be over, controversy and conversation over whether the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus has a durability problem is continuing. Just as it tested out antenna reception for the iPhone 4, Consumer Reports has forced…

Bid adieu to ‘Airplane Mode’ on European airlines Want to continue that scintillating game of Words with Friends throughout the entire flight? Well, that might soon be a possibility if you’re flying in European airspace. Late last year, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had decided to…

The Shellshock command security flaw isn’t really fixed yet Don’t get too comfy just because companies are rolling out patches for the Shellshock security bug — as it turns out, even updated websites and devices remain at risk. Developers are reporting that they can still run any code they like (and thus…

China blocks Instagram in the wake of Hong Kong democracy protests China has a history of tightening its censorship of internet services during times of political upheaval, and that’s unfortunately happening again with massive pro-democracy protests underway in Hong Kong. Both monitoring sites and on-the-ground…

Documentary shows how One Laptop Per Child helps kids in Peru The staff changes, massive layoffs and the shutdown of its entire Boston office over the years make the One Laptop Per Child program sound like a huge failure. But this documentary by filmmaker Michael Kleiman shows that OLPC really did change some…

Scientists make an invisibility cloak using off-the-shelf optical lenses Most invisibility cloaks require fairly exotic technology to work, such as fiber optics or light-altering metamaterials. That’s not very practical, especially since the illusion still tends to break when you move. The University of Rochester may have…

Xbox One launches in China Chinese gamers have just witnessed their first major console launch since authorities lifted their 13-year ban on most video game systems. Following a last-minute delay, Microsoft has released the Xbox One in mainland China; people in 37 cities…

Circle’s Bitcoin bank is now open to everyone in the world When Circle’s Bitcoin bank launched in May, the only way that you could sign up was if you had an invitation. From today, however, the nascent financial institution has opened its doors to everyone in the world. Circle is pitching itself as a…

Photoshop for Chromebooks begins long-awaited beta test If you’ve been eyeing a Chromebook to replace that Windows or Mac machine, Google’s OS is about to get a massive boost in productivity. Starting today, Photoshop is headed to the machines thanks to a partnership with Adobe — if you meet certain…

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests spur growth for secure messaging apps Social media and civil unrest have long gone hand-in-hand, from coordinating revolution during the Arab Spring to repressing corruption in Turkey. Amid pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, locals have taken to the location-based messaging app…

New Research Casts Doubt On the “10,000 Hour Rule” of Expertise First time accepted submitter Scroatzilla writes What makes someone rise to the top in music, games, sports, business, or science? This question is the subject of one of psychology’s oldest debates. Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘10,000 hours’ rule probably isn’t the answer. Recent research has demonstrated that deliberate practice, while undeniably important, is only one piece of the expertise puzzle—and no

Follow Boing Boing on Ello If you’re using Ello, and everyone seems to be, though we aren’t yet sure why–follow us there.

Eric Holder’s terrible tech-liberties record The outgoing Attorney General presided over groundbreaking changes in civil liberties in the physical world but was a disaster when it comes to freedom in the world’s nervous system: the Internet. Read the rest

Hong Kong protesters remain in the streets, defying Beijing: photo gallery A protester (C) raises his umbrellas in front of tear gas which was fired by riot police to disperse protesters blocking the main street to the financial Central district outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, September 28, 2014. Hong Kong police used tear gas for the first time on Sunday to disperse pro-democracy protests and baton-charged the crowd blocking a key road in the governmen

Meet Ello: The Hip New Social Network You Need To Know About It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. And it has been said that when a social network makes a small change, it can cause a schism, sending users fleeing elsewhere. Take, for example, when Twitter lowered its API limits for third-party apps, effectively killing the market for unofficial Twitter clients

Consumer Reports: New iPhones Not As Bendy As Believed An anonymous reader writes: Over the past several days, we’ve been hearing reports about some amount of users noticing that their brand new iPhone 6 Plus is bending in their pockets. The pictures and videos shown so far have kicked off an investigation, and Consumer Reports has done one of the more scientific tests so far. They found that the iPhone 6 Plus takes 90 pounds of pressure before it per

Apple knew about this feature all along

Karma, one of our favorite pay-as-you-go hotspots, has announced an LTE model that should be more re Karma, one of our favorite pay-as-you-go hotspots, has announced an LTE model that should be more reliable than its WiMax counterpart. Current customers will get a discount on the new model (which will initially cost $99), and any data will carry over. [The Next Web]

Chinese City Debuts Pedestrian Lane for Cellphone Use — Design News There must be quite a texting-while-walking problem: Last week, the Chinese city of Chongqing debuted dedicated pedestrian lanes for those who want to walk and use their cellphones at the same time. Reactions on social media have been mixed, saying the lane could encourage more cellphone use, and wondering why the lane isn’t the one farthest from the road. READ MORE »

How Do You Get People to Wait for a Walk Signal? Dance! — Design News Smart Car came up with an idea to keep