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The 404 1,268: Where we buy beats behind bars (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The future of television lies in the greasy, gaming hands of the "lost boy generation."

- "Pinterest stress" is a real problem for moms who worry they're not crafty or creative enough.

- The source of Pinterest stress is probably sites like Lunchbox Awesome, a year-long project from an overachieving mom.

- The digital music business in America's prisons.

- NSA's secret Google tricks revealed in declassified guidebook.… Read more

The 404 1,267: Where we fang with briends (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The Worst Room makes everyone in New York feel terrible.

- San Francisco hotels pricey? Van on Airbnb is only $92 a night.

- A bold new font lets dyslexia sufferers read.

- Bang With Friends goes mobile, because some people want to get it on the run.

- A Wi-Fi enabled Microsoft ad printed in Forbes magazine offers free Internet to readers.… Read more

Tumblr CEO says average cost of ad campaign tops six figures

NEW YORK -- Companies are spending, on average, "north of six figures" on advertising campaigns on Tumblr, the CEO of the blogging platform said Wednesday.

David Karp, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, noted that advertising remains Tumblr's biggest challenge, but it's seeing good traction with its efforts.

"Budgets are starting to ratchet up," Karp said. He noted that "some of the best advertisers in the world" are turning to Tumblr.

Tumblr sits alongside the Internet elites in terms of audience, but the 6-year-old blogging medium has lagged far … Read more

Breaking: White House Tumblr says it's GIF, with a 'hard G'

The first post on the White House's official new Tumblr boldly tackles a topic sure to inspire as much debate in certain circles as immigration reform, tax cuts, and gun control -- the pronunciation of "GIF."

I, being the softie that I am, have always pronounced the acronym for Graphical Interchange Format "jif" (it sounds more French), but the White House informs me I am wrong and may be declared an enemy of the state. "Hard G," it declares on a graphic (or is that jraffic?) previewing the kinds of content we should expect to see on the new Tumblr -- everything from behind-the-scenes photos to updates on policy and First Dog Bo (and, presumably, Bo's take on policy updates).

And because a Tumblr without them wouldn't be worth its weight in dancing cats, "yes, of course there will be GIFs," it says. … Read more

Netflix adds new plan for password sharers

CNET Update is streaming movies about Mars:

For those that share passwords with family and friends, Netflix will offer a new plan that allows four devices to stream at the same time.

If you don't care about Netflix and rather not live on this planet anymore, Mars One is looking for volunteers to join a colony on the Red Planet.

If you want to quickly buy a bunch of movies for the seven-month Mars trip, there's now the option to download later on iTunes.

And if you want to eat some good Earth food before dedicating yourself to … Read more

Glass may be controlled by winks, pinches

CNET Update is acting totally normal:

If it isn't not odd enough to be wearing a computer on your face, how about controlling it with nods, blinks and air pinching? Some interesting phrasing of code in the MyGlass companion app seems to indicate the Google Glass headset will have gesture controls.

Also in this tech news roundup:

- What's bright, yellow and has keys all over? Nokia's next smartphone.

- The end is near for TweetDeck's desktop program and mobile apps. After May 7, the only way to use TweetDeck will be from the browser. Time … Read more

Tumblr puts ads in mobile apps

Tumblr is picking up the pace on becoming a real business with the Monday release of advertisements inside its mobile applications.

People who use the company's mobile applications for iPhone and Android will now see ad units in the stream as they scroll through the dashboard, the company said.

The ads are a mobile-enhanced version of Tumblr Radar, the blogging platform's take on sponsored content. The units are similar to Twitter's promoted tweets or Facebook's sponsored stories in that the advertised content is native to the platform.

The mobile ad addition comes roughly a year after … Read more

People spend more time on Tumblr than on Twitter or Facebook, CEO brags

Tumblr CEO David Karp today boasted that members of his blogging platform spend, on average, 14 minutes per visit.

The per-user Tumblr stat, he said, is greater than the time people spend on competing networks. "It's about a minute and a half higher than a Facebook visit, a few minutes higher than an average Twitter visit," Karp said during an interview at a PaidContent event in New York.

Karp even acknowledged that he's made sure Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is aware of this fact.

"The reason for that is, I don't think that Tumblr … Read more

Man traces stolen laptop to Iran, blogs photos of new owners

It's a sad occasion when a laptop is stolen. All that money, time, and personal data just disappear into the night. This is the Tumblr story of a boy and his stolen laptop. Dom Deltorto lives in London. In early February, he says, someone broke into his flat and made off with his MacBook Pro and his iPad.

Deltorto was prepared for just such an incident. He had installed Hidden App on his laptop, a program that tracks the laptop's location and sends back images of the thief. However, Hidden App still needs to be connected to the Internet to work. After more than a month of radio silence, Deltorto reports that his MacBook suddenly came online, but it wasn't in a place where he could just call the London police and have them recover it.… Read more