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Researchers have uncovered Android-based malware that disables infected handsets until end users pay a hefty cash payment to settle trumped-up criminal charges involving the viewing of illegal pornography.

Sweet baby Jesus, go get an iPhone people.

Wired’s Philip Di Salvo interviewed Om Malik on the future of journalism. Good read.

Justin Williams:

I’ve been a founding member of the ADN movement since 2012 and have renewed each of my developer accounts without much hestitation. I’m abnormal however. I prefer paying my products rather than being advertised to, want to pay higher air fares for better service…

This is such a great article. I’m like Justin: I don’t mind paying for a good product or service, but we’ve become so accustomed to receiving everything for free with services like Twitter and Facebook, that it’s become the norm.

In other words, U.S. Internet providers are the worst at making sure their networks can meet demand, at least from Level 3. Instead of augmenting their network capacity (at costs that are “not significant,” according to Level 3), these ISPs are holding out for payments, either from middlemen or from content providers such as Netflix.

This is what we pay for. As consumers, there seems to be very little we can do because they are all part of the scheme.

That’s brutal.

The Galaxy S5 has 40 applications only, which is much reduced compared to, for example, the Galaxy Note 3 having 51 apps. 40 applications in the 2 pages. That’s it. If wanted, other relatively less frequently used apps can be easily downloaded through Galaxy Essential and Galaxy Gift widget.

Samsung is praising itself for only pre-installing 40 apps? That’s 40 apps… pre-installed. While admitting they used to pre-install more. Fucking morons.

I love this device. I just spent two weeks away in Ireland and Scotland, and was able to keep up on the NHL playoff games, thanks to my Slingbox. The only problem is that I need another one so I can watch my cable box too.

. Ken Segall:

As product names go, iWatch is every bit as obvious as iPhone was. Apple would desire it for exactly the same reason: it clearly describes the category it is about to disrupt, and it echoes all the i-goodness that came before it. It’s a name that single-handedly does an awful lot of the heavy lifting for the marketing dept.

Second, securing the iWatch name may require some fancy footwork. According to Bloomberg there are more than 50 companies that can lay claim to the name. The biggest one of the bunch is Swatch, which has been marketing a product called iSwatch since 2009. Swatch is already making noise that the name iWatch will cause confusion in the marketplace.

It will be easier for Apple when it comes to light that ‘iWatch” isn’t a product but an OS/platform.

Dalton Caldwell, App.net co-founder:

The good news is that the renewal rate was high enough for App.net to be profitable and self-sustaining on a forward basis. Operational and hosting costs are sufficiently covered by revenue for us to feel confident in the continued viability of the service. No one should notice any change in the way the App.net API/service operates. To repeat, App.net will continue to operate normally on an indefinite basis.

The bad news is that the renewal rate was not high enough for us to have sufficient budget for full-time employees. After carefully considering a few different options, we are making the difficult decision to no longer employ any salaried employees, including founders. Dalton and Bryan will continue to be responsible for the operation of App.net, but no longer as employees. Additionally, as part of our efforts to ensure App.net is generating positive cash flow, we are winding down the Developer Incentive Program. We will be reaching out to developers currently enrolled in the program with more information.

Very sad.

. Ars Technica:

Yahoo yesterday announced that it will stop complying with Do Not Track signals that Web browsers send on behalf of users who wish to not be monitored for advertising purposes.

“As of today, web browser Do Not Track settings will no longer be enabled on Yahoo,” a company blog said. “As the first major tech company to implement Do Not Track, we’ve been at the heart of conversations surrounding how to develop the most user-friendly standard. However, we have yet to see a single standard emerge that is effective, easy to use and has been adopted by the broader tech industry.”

As one of the commenters pointed out, “this is in a nutshell why optional compliance doesn’t work.”

EZdrummer 2 is the easiest and the best drum sampler I’ve ever used—and I’ve used almost everything on the market.

This is funny. Sad, but funny.

Matt Gemmell does a great job on offering some advice on the dos and don’ts of working from home. Over the years, the hardest thing I’ve found is the discipline to leave work and spend time doing something else. I still haven’t found a remedy for that.

As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

This is just incredible—I can’t even imagine what went into making this.

[Via Swissmiss]

Interest in type, typefaces, typography and fonts has grown far beyond the graphic design community, yet few truly understand how and why these vital components of design are created and applied. This exhibition, organized by Monotype and designed by AIGA Medalist and Pentagram partner Abbott Miller for the AIGA National Design Center, celebrates 100 years of type as a constant influence in the world around us.

[Via Khoi Vinh]

Apple Inc granted its new retail chief 113,334 restricted stock units, the company said in a regulatory filing on Monday, valued at $68.1 million based on Monday’s closing share price.

Good people cost money. If Apple is convinced she is worth it, then pay up and let her do her job.

Samsung will ask the trial judge and an appeals court, if necessary, to reduce the damages awarded by the jury May 2 and yesterday to zero, John Quinn, a lawyer for the maker of Galaxy smartphones, said in a statement.

This slimy company is just unbelievable.

A custom-made, $10,000 guitar stolen in March from heavy metal rocker Zakk Wylde’s tour bus outside The Chicago Theatre has been recovered after being sold to a Chicago pawn shop, Wylde’s manager confirmed Saturday.

I can’t imagine how devastating it would be to lose a guitar like that. I’m glad to hear Zakk got it back.

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. ESPN:

With the world’s biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, set to kick off in roughly 37 days, ESPN has now revealed how it plans to deliver coverage to you.

At a recent media event in New York City, ESPN President John Skipper and Co. announced that all 64 World Cup matches from Brazil would be streamed live via WatchESPN and ESPN3. Naturally, you’ll need a cable subscription to have access to the feeds, but the good news is that, since ESPN has full rights to the tournament in the US, you won’t be subject to any tedious blackout restrictions.

Most of the US won’t care/won’t watch but this is the biggest sporting event in the world. I’ll be watching every game.

. Ozy:

Amid the security checks, cramped seating and baggage fees, it’s easy to pine for the glory days of air travel. When food was abundant (and included in the price of your ticket), you had room to cross your legs and fashionable air hostesses handed out cocktails and chewing gum. And if you wanted to light up, then — like most anywhere else — you simply lit up. A smoking section on an airplane … is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.

The smoke-filled cabin seems hard to imagine today, a quaint relic of a bygone era when travel also meant white gloves and meaningful customer service. But the right…was far from a given. Just 25 years ago, thanks to the efforts of an intrepid few, from key lawmakers to, yes, valiantly disagreeable flight attendants, a public health hazard went from established custom to punishable offense.

The fight to keep the “No Smoking” sign on in airplanes crossing the friendly skies was not an easy one.

I remember when it was legal to smoke on planes. Seems insane now.

Rectangles inside other rectangles: this is what our webpages have always been made of. We’ve long tried to break free from their restrictions by using CSS to create geometric shapes, but those shapes have never affected the content inside the shaped element, or how the element is seen by other elements on the page.

The Mobile Application Distribution Agreement, or MADA, is a deal that applies to phone and tablet makers that want to use Android applications such as YouTube or Gmail. Among other things, the MADA requires phone makers that want one of the Google apps to install all of them.

It’s all or nothing.

Information and downloads are on Avid’s Web site.

. PC Magazine:

Why would one of the most innovative technology companies in the world be glacial in redesigning one of its most iconic products? Why would it want the MacBook Air to look…dated?

The answer seems pretty simple. The design hasn’t changed because, frankly, it hasn’t needed to.

What changes, if any, would you make to the Air?

. The Codist:

I started my career in 1981 working for 3 years at a defense contractor. By 1985 I started my first company to develop and then sell a spreadsheet like application for the Mac called Trapeze.

So what was it like back then in the dark ages? Quite different than today in many ways; not so different in others. There was no internet, no Google, no StackOverflow. It was just you and your friends and your brain.

Warning, antique history!

Ah, the good old days.

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Vanity Fair:

For three years, Apple and Samsung have clashed on a scale almost unprecedented in business history, their legal war costing more than a billion dollars and spanning four continents.

Beginning with the super-secret project that created the iPhone and the late Steve Jobs’s fury when Samsung—an Apple supplier!—brought out a shockingly similar device, Kurt Eichenwald explores the Korean company’s record of patent infringement, among other ruthless business tactics, and explains why Apple might win the battles but still lose the war.

Great read.

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