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Facebook's new "Trending Articles" feature, which it's been testing for the last few weeks, is already finding critics complaining about clutter in their News Feeds.

The new feature, which adds links to articles that friends have read in their News Feed, is part of a broader effort by Facebook to create what it calls "frictionless" sharing. Media companies that have created apps using the feature include Yahoo and The Guardian, among others.

Mingled among posts from friends about their kids accomplishments or their latest vacation adventures, Facebook is adding links to articles that those … Read more

With so many Web sites to follow, I find myself relying on my Google Reader regularly. Unfortunately, I also find that many RSS snippets will cut off right when I'm about to get to the good stuff. This is generally because the sites want you to click on their links. I understand the reasoning behind it (and am guilty of it myself), but this sometimes leaves me with 10 open tabs to read, making me wander and lose focus on 10 different Web sites.

To prevent this, I've started using Google Reader Inline after checking out&… Read more

You may have heard by now that the New York Times wrote an article called "In China, human costs are built into the iPad" that takes a look at the dark side of producing Apple's products in China.

It's not the first time the Times and other publications have written about the "punishing" work conditions at Foxconn, the contract manufacturing behemoth that also makes products for loads of other companies, not just Apple.

Foxconn--headquarted in Taiwan, but (according to Reuters) the largest private employer in mainland China--has been frequently in the news for fires and explosions at its factories along with a spate of worker suicides. But coming on the heels of Apple's jaw-dropping earnings and news that it had $98 billion squirreled away in cash, the article seems to have really touched a nerve, the "Occupy Apple" kind.

I don't think anybody's faulting Apple for wanting to make a good profit on its products or trying to keep up with demand. But what seems to be the big friction point is how much profit Apple is making and how it continues to squeeze its suppliers and manufacturing partners to the Nth degree. … Read more

Bradley Manning's attorney has suggested that the hundreds of megabytes of U.S. government data his client allegedly handed to WikiLeaks didn't really harm national security after all.

A new document filed in Manning's criminal case provides an early glimpse at the defense's legal strategy in advance of a preliminary hearing on December 16.

The filing, which defense attorney David Coombs made public today, requests a copy of a White House "report detailing the rather benign nature of the leaks and the lack of any real damage to national security" caused by WikiLeaks. It … Read more

In order to hang onto those articles you want to read but might forget about later, you need to keep some sort of list. Magazinify offers the ability to keep tabs on the things you want to read, and even send them to your e-mail inbox all in one PDF. With this service, you can read content in your browser, on your PC, or even transfer it to an eReader. Best of all, it'll be in magazine format, but only feature stories you actually want to read! Here's how to get started:

Step 1: Head to&… Read more

Wikidroid gives you one-tap access to Wikipedia--the world's favorite online encyclopedia--allowing you to satiate your hunger for knowledge on the go and without delay. It's very simple, and it does exactly what you need it to do: pull up Wikipedia entries at will. Plus, it adds a few nice touches that make your researching experience just a little bit more pleasant. You can save pages to SD card, and share them via other applications. There's also a nice "Pin title bar" feature, which keeps the search field at the top of your screen as you … Read more

Lodsys, a group that's targeted companies big and small for infringing on its patents, is now in the crosshairs of a company offering to pay a bounty for research that seeks to invalidate those patents.

Article One Partners, a business that crowdsources intellectual property (IP) research, has launched three new studies into patents held by Lodsys (1,2,3). Each offers a reward to the party that finds prior art, or examples of pre-existing technologies or other IP that could be used as evidence to invalidate one or more of Lodsys' patents.

Article One Partners became involved in a … Read more

We remember a time--not so long ago--when translating a text between two languages required a dictionary and a lot of patience. But now we have things like Tirgumit Right Click Free Dictionary. This handy utility makes translating between languages a breeze, whether you just need to know one word or want to translate an entire block of text.

The program's interface is attractive and intuitive, and there are several ways to access its features. If you're reading something in a foreign language and need to quickly translate a single word you don't know, simply hold down the … Read more

Apple has released an update to its professional image-editing software Aperture, now version 3.1, as well as a handful of helpful troubleshooting knowledge base articles and information documents.

As with any update, it is recommended to create a stable backup of all your important data should anything unexpected go wrong with the installation of the new software.… Read more