Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet review: the new netbook? | The Verge

"HE Z4 TABLET SOUNDS GREAT IN THEORY, BUT THE FINAL PRODUCT DISAPPOINTS
Yet again, I find myself deeply frustrated by Sony’s failure to live up to its own expectations and produce a cohesive product. The company’s ideas are not bad: there is definitely a class of more conservative mobile PC users that demands a real physical keyboard and Microsoft Office compatibility. Such people can be very adequately served by the Surface Pro 3, but they don’t strictly need a Windows PC. An Android tablet — especially one preloaded with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as the Z4 is — can fulfill most of their needs, while costing and weighing less. If I was heading off to university this fall, I’d definitely consider getting a super thin device that can be both my YouTube video player and my modernist take on the netbook for taking lecture notes. Sony's premise is sound. Its execution isn’t."

NYTimes: Office of Personnel Management Says Hackers Got Data of Millions of Individuals

"NYTimes: Office of Personnel Management Says Hackers Got Data of Millions of Individuals. "

Apple’s Bold New Product

Solar plane ends most dangerous leg in Hawaii - CNN.com

NSA can track everyone's phone calls again -- for a while

"When did you last call your mother? Don't worry if you can't remember -- the National Security Agency can once more keep track of that for you. That is, for the next 180 days.

After briefly suspending its bulk collection of phone call data, the NSA now has the authority to start it up again, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

The data collection program has become the center of national debate over government surveillance and privacy in the digital age. Whistleblowers like former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have made public intelligence programs designed to reach into the vast store of information on our phones and Internet browsers and paint an extremely detailed picture of the nation's communications.

Despite the continuation of the program, Monday's ruling helps push forward Congress's ongoing plan to narrow the NSA's phone call data collection practices by reaffirming its end in November. After November, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court won't provide a blanket approval to the practice any longer."

The Bad Behavior of Visionary Leaders

"What disheartens me is how little care and appreciation any of them give (or in Mr. Jobs’s case, gave) to hard-working and loyal employees, and how unnecessarily cruel and demeaning they could be to the people who helped make their dreams come true."

I Fixed My Old Android and Ditched my New iPhone 6 — Medium

"Google native apps I use all the time, like Google Inbox and Gmail, Keep, Google Drive and Google Now suffered on the iPhone and sometimes didn’t work at all. I missed the level of personalization I had on Android, some of it so basic that I was surprised to find out it was lacking on the iPhone. One such example was that on Android I am able to move my folders however I want on the screen, where it is much more comfortable to press with my thumb. Another example is the back button for the iPhone, which is often on the top left, far away from reach, where on Android it’s at the bottom where I can access it. Important widgets, like calendar and weather information, are lacking, and even though available from the notification pan on the iPhone, they leave much to be desired, compared to the different screens I have on the Android."

Let that hateful flag fly: From George W. Bush to Lindsey Graham, a history of Republican support for the Confederate flag - Salon.com

The secret alliance that could give the Web a massive speed boost

"After working behind closed doors for months, browser engineers on Wednesday unveiled a project called WebAssembly. The effort would marry the unbeatable reach of the Web with the speed of software written to run natively on operating systems like Apple's iOS, Microsoft's Windows and Google's Android."

Kalief Browder, Albert Woodfox and the Torture of Solitary Confinement | Democracy Now!

By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan

Twelve days after his 22nd birthday, Kalief Browder wrapped an air-conditioner power cord around his neck and hanged himself. In 2010, at the age of 16, he was arrested after being accused of stealing a backpack. He would spend three years in New York City’s Rikers Island prison, more than two of those years in solitary confinement. He was beaten by prison guards and inmates alike. He was not serving a sentence; he was in pretrial detention. He declined all plea bargains. He wanted his day in court, to prove his innocence. A judge finally dismissed the case against him. After his release, Kalief Browder tried to reclaim his life. In the end, the nightmare he lived through overwhelmed him. Two years after his release, he committed suicide.

Albert Woodfox also knows the torment of solitary confinement. Woodfox has the distinction of being the prisoner in the United States who has spent the most time in solitary confinement, now well over 42 years. For most of that time, he was locked up in the notorious maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary known as “Angola,” built on the site of a former plantation worked by slaves from the African country of Angola.

Woodfox is one of the “Angola Three,” three prisoners who served more than a century—that’s right, more than 100 years—of solitary confinement between them. They believe the isolation was retaliation for forming the first prison chapter of the Black Panthers in 1971. They were targeted for organizing against segregation, inhumane working conditions and the systemic rape and sexual slavery inflicted on many imprisoned at Angola.

Kalief Browder, Albert Woodfox and the Torture of Solitary Confinement | Democracy Now!

Samsung Galaxy S6 plus to be part of Note series? - The Times of India on Mobile

"There seems to be a lot of evidence that Samsung is planning a super-sized version of the S6 Edge -- not least the pictures that leaked a couple of weeks ago -- and now we have a few more hints to go on."

HTC tells Asus to back off - Tech Radar India Mobile

10 Features Apple Copied from Windows, Android

10 ‘New’ Features Apple Copied from Windows and Android

By Avram Piltch, LAPTOP Online Editorial Director | Jun 9, 2015 01:11 PM EDT 

Remember when Steve Jobs called Android a “stolen product”? How about the lawsuits Apple filed against Samsung over rounded corners on its phones or Microsoft over the concept of a graphical interface? The Cupertino company has a long history of striking out at competitors who have similar features in their products, even if the concepts involved are obvious or were pioneered by someone other than Apple.

Everybody copies everyone: iOS 9 features inspired by Android | Ars Technica

"Apple announced iOS 9 on Monday, and while watching the keynote, I had just a little bit of déjà vu. Most of iOS 9's new features seem to be squarely aimed at Apple's biggest rival in mobile: Android. Specifically, they were about catching up to Android.

Search improvements, proactive assistance, split screen, and transit directions? It's been done, but the differences are the fun part, so we chased down the new iOS 9 screenshots and compared them to their Android counterparts. It's not just about who copied whom; it's also a chance to look at the different designs of the two operating systems. And hey, Apple isn't the only one taking ideas from a competitor. Android M's selectable app permissions are an exact copy of the iOS model.

Siri and Search are chasing Google Now but hitting Google where it hurts"

Nexus 9 Android 5.1.1 Update: Impressions & Performance

Nexus 9 Android 5.1.1 Performance

Fast, smooth, stable, and impressive. The Nexus 9 is an extremely powerful tablet but the initial Lollipop release wasn’t nearly as smooth on this powerful 64-bit NVIDIA Denver powered device, but now that Google’s refined everything with Android 5.1.1, this device flies. Everything is buttery smooth, fast, fluid, and appears to be running like a well oiled machine.

I’m actually pleasantly surprised by the noticeable increase in performance and general smooth operations. The Nexus 9 still seems to have a little stutter here and there, which it shouldn’t, but it is actually noticeably better. The update should not only improve the speed and perfomance, but there should be less bugs, less app crashes, and improved battery life as well.

Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2015) review - CNET

Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2015) review - CNET

John OliverThe Mittens of Disapproval Are On

Costolo steps down as Twitter CEO

Twitter's Dick Costolo, who has spent months defending his performance in the hopes of saving his job, is out as CEO.

The microblogging site announced Thursday that co-founder Jack Dorsey will become interim CEO on July 1, as the company looks for a permanent replacement. Costolo will remain on Twitter's board of directors, and Dorsey will continue as chief executive of Square, the mobile-payments company he also founded.

"I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the company," Costolo said in a statement. "We have great leaders who work well together and a clear strategy that informs our objectives and priorities. There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition."