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Google+ launches vanity URLs, catching up to Facebook, Twitter

Both Twitter and Facebook have offered vanity URLs personalized to users' accounts for years -- something that has been glaringly vacant in Google Plus' URLs. But, that's about to change.

Google's social network announced today that vanity URLs for profiles and pages are on their way. It has even begun rolling out a few for celebrities, like soccer player David Beckham and pop singer Britney Spears, along with brands like Toyota, Delta, and Hugo Boss.

Here's what Google product manager Saurabh Sharma wrote in a blog post today:

Your Google+ profile is a place for you to … Read more

Microsoft saying good-bye to Hotmail

No spam in Tuesday's top tech stories:

It's not often we get a shakeup in the email world, but say hello to Microsoft's new free email account, Outlook.com. It'll eventually be replacing Hotmail, but you might want to grab your name now. There's a new, clean look and it ties in your social media contacts. It's not too far off from what you may be used to already in Gmail, as you'll be able to tell from CNET's full overview of the features.

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, called Curiosity, will … Read more

Hulu Plus not showing up on your Apple TV? Restart it

This morning Apple quietly rolled out Hulu Plus on the Apple TV. The missing service was one of the last pieces to a puzzle being put together by those who've decided to cut cable, and go all streaming.

If you aren't seeing Hulu Plus show up on your Apple TV yet, you simply need to restart it. Turning it off and back on wasn't enough for me, I had to actually go in and restart it from the settings menu. Here's how.

On your Apple TV, go to Settings > General.

Scroll down to the bottom … Read more

How to get access to Verizon's 3G network at big discounts

Looking to slash your smartphone bill? Prepaid services that resell service from the nationwide carriers at big discounts may be your answer.

There are now several prepaid services available that resell nationwide carriers' 3G wireless services. The benefits to these plans are huge. Customers can still get access to hot new smartphones and reliable networks with nationwide coverage at a fraction of the price that they'd pay subscribing to a service from AT&T or Verizon Wireless. Of course, there are a few downsides to these prepaid services. Still, as I explain in this edition of Ask Maggie, … Read more

Apple TV quietly gets Hulu Plus app

The Apple TV is one of the best streaming boxes on the market and it just got a little better.

As of this morning, Hulu Plus is now available on the Apple TV. The app showed up without fanfare, with its icon popping up next to Netflix without an announcement from Apple or a required firmware update.… Read more

Minding your manners when sharing in social media

Since this is a column about "Common Sense Tech," I thought I'd take that name and run with it in terms of social-media sharing. Sometimes I see a lack of common sense, politeness, and manners when it comes to personal sharing. Consider this a "things not to do" list.

Some of the suggestions below are things I personally try to follow. I love to share on social media, but I also try to be mindful of people's privacy. Some of the suggestions come from others whom I asked through... social media!

The suggestions are … Read more

T-Mobile could get HTC One X+ this September

T-Mobile customers may lack 4G LTE, but if the latest rumors are right, it'll be the first U.S. carrier to offer its customers a quad-core smartphone.

The HTC One X+, suggests TMoNews, will carry Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core processor, the same chipset used in international versions of the HTC One.

The U.S. versions of the HTC One family of phone -- which includes T-Mobile's HTC One S, AT&T's HTC One X, Sprint's HTC Evo 4G LTE, and U.S. Cellular's HTC One V -- come with Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 … Read more

YouTube's weapon against crude comments

Tuesday's top stories score a touchdown against trolls:

YouTube is hoping to reduce its troll population by letting users go by their real names. Google+ accounts can now be used as a YouTube identity. The switch can be done in settings. Before making the change, users can review past activity and delete any undesirable comments. But this isn't a required switch. Users can keep their existing account names.

Video game publisher Electronic Arts may not have the monopoly over pigskin for long. Back in 2008, EA was sued for making exclusive licensing deals with the NFL, NCAA and … Read more

Migrate Google+ circles from one account to another

Sometimes you have to make a transition from one Google account to another. In times like these, you'll want to be able to pack up your personalized settings and migrate them to your new spot. Google+ circles can be quite large in size if you only keep a few of them, and reorganizing all of those people can be time consuming. For instance, you might have 40 colleagues, 30 local friends, and 150 celebrities you're following; no one wants to hunt down all of those people and organize them yet again.

This is where Google Takeout comes to … Read more

Google+ gives users a tool to merge multiple accounts

Google has come up with a way to merge users' Google Plus accounts, so that all circles and circle information can now be in just one account. The Web giant announced today the launch of the "Google+ circles transfer tool" via Google Takeout.

The tool works by moving users' Google+ circles and connections from what it calls a "source" account to a "destination" account. Once users' accounts are merged with this tool, people in their circles will only see the "destination" profiles.

This is most likely welcome news to those users that … Read more