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Apple reminds iWork.com users of impending closure

If you have Apple's iWork productivity suite and have used Apple's iWork.com collaborations, Apple has sent out another notice to remind users that this service will be canceled on July 31. The service, which was always in a beta release status, was an attempt to provide an online storage and collaborative environment for iWork programs, similar to Microsoft's SkyDrive and SharePoint options for its Office suite.

Apple's decision to shutter iWork.com comes after its transition of its MobileMe service to iCloud, which provides an online syncing and storage option that is system-wide and usable … Read more

Apple gives away Snow Leopard to boost iCloud migration

Apple has a plan to nudge more MobileMe users on to iCloud.

The cloud-based storage service will replace MobileMe in June, but only users running OS X Lion (version 10.7) will have access to iCloud. Apple has realized that many MobileMe users are probably running an older OS and may be left behind by the cost of upgrading their systems.

So Apple is giving users of older operating systems a gentle push by making the first step toward upgrading easy: the company is giving away Snow Leopard -- the 10.6 version of OS X -- to MobileMe users, … Read more

The 404 1,032: Where we get lucky with Morgan Spurlock (podcast)

Our guest today is documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who joins us today to talk about his new film "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope."

He'll tell us about what it was like to meet geek royalty like Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, and more. We also ask him about his own history with comic books and how sci-fi movies pushed him to create his own movies.… Read more

Court orders push e-mail ban on iCloud, MobileMe to continue

An earlier German court ruling banning iCloud and MobileMe push e-mail service in that country has been upheld.

The Mannheim Regional Court today ordered the ban to continue, claiming that the push e-mail service found in Apple's iCloud and MobileMe violates patents Motorola Mobility holds. In addition, Dow Jones, which first reported on the story, says the court ordered Apple to pay Motorola damages, but did not specify how much.

A German court back in February sided with Motorola Mobility in the case, arguing that Apple's push e-mail services in iCloud and MobileMe should be banned from use … Read more

UnBlockMe game

If you're the type of person who likes a challenge, UnBlockMe from GzDev offers 7,800 levels of difficulty for the serious gamer. The objective, as with most really good games, is simple: get the red block out to the right side of the screen and into a gap in the wall.

UnBlockMe's interface and the mechanics of the game are really quite simple. Just drag the blocks up, down, and sideways to free up the red one. As expected, the game progressively becomes more difficult as you go up the levels, so stick with it if you … Read more

About.me blends the personal, professional you online (video)

Tony Conrad and Ryan Freitas started the site About.me as a way to aggregate people's social-media content like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter into a single hub. Think of it as the personal and professional you all in one place online.

If you only get one chance to make a first impression, says Conrad, "We think it should be the whole you."

Since launching the site, it has grown to more than 1 million users. The business was acquired in 2010 by AOL, which has enabled About.me to launch a mobile app. SmartPlanet visit its San … Read more

Girls Around Me and the end of Internet innocence

Moscow-based I-Free and its app Girls Around Me crystallized the online privacy debate this week, and, I suspect, will begin the end of our long era of digital naivete.

It's as though the online community has been living in the Garden of Eden all these recent years, and we're all taking a bite of the apple all at once. There are consequences to our behaviors: companies that rely on our data to make their money are not going to suddenly start protecting that data. It's time for you and me to get serious about what we put … Read more

1.5 million card numbers stolen

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

1.5M card numbers compromised Comcast, Time Warner don't allow access to HBO Go on Xbox and Roku Free Photoshop CS6 preview Angry Birds cartoon series Developer defends Girls Around Me app Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

Developer defends Girls Around Me app

The developer of a controversial Foursquare app designed to locate nearby women defended the app, saying its goals are misunderstood.

The Girls Around Me app, which used Foursquare and Facebook data to automatically pinpoint the location of specific women near users, was blocked by Foursquare after a firestorm of criticism over user privacy. The popular check-in service said the app's access to its API was shut down because it violated its policy against aggregating user data across venues.

Russian developer i-Free Innovations insisted in a statement that the app, which many blogs criticized as creepy and stalking, used publicly … Read more

Report: Foursquare shuts off API for Girls Around Me app

The tagline is "In the mood for love, or just after a one-night stand? Girls Around Me puts you in control! Reveal the hottest nightspots, who's in them, and how to reach them..."

For a lot of people, this sounds like an app made in heaven, but the fact that the service used Foursquare and Facebook data to automatically pinpoint the location of specific women near users has even more people freaking out, writes Cult of Mac.

Now, in response to the uproar about the app, Foursquare has apparently shut down the app's access to its … Read more