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My awful life inspired Law & Order, Gamergate dev says

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Game developer Brianna Wu
Brianna Wu, a female game developer whose life was turned upside down by Gamergate.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Game developer Brianna Wu’s life became the inspiration for an episode of the hit cop show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

While she was kinda flattered, she wasn’t entirely pleased. To get Law & Order: SVU‘s attention, your life has to be messed up one way or the other.

“There’s no good way to be on Law and Order,” she joked.

Explosions! Intrigue! Casual sex! First SPECTRE TV spot goes full Bond

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That's quite a suit, Mr. Bond.
That's quite a suit, Mr. Bond.
Photo: Sony PIctures

“You’ve got a secret,” says Naomie Harris’ Miss Moneypenny in the new TV spot for upcoming Bond film SPECTRE. “Something you can’t tell anyone because you don’t trust anyone.”

Daniel Craig is back in a new Bond film, this one named after the fictional spy syndicate that figured heavily in the Ian Fleming novels and debuted in the film Dr. No in 1962.

Here’s a full trailer full of the things you’ve come to associate with James Bond, including explosions, intrigue, and plenty of women. Bond is such a slut, right?

Mad Money’s Jim Cramer invents Apple Watch Plus

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Jim Cramer
When you see it ...
Screencap: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Jim Cramer, host of CNBC financial-advice show Mad Money, is a fan of the Apple Watch, but it doesn’t seem to be enough for him.

The boisterous host has recently introduced an interesting companion for his wearable, which he has been sporting on his show for a few weeks.

iOS 9 hints at huge improvements to future FaceTime cameras

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The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s plus are coming on September 18th, according to German carriers.
Big changes could be coming to the FaceTime camera
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

The next wave of iOS devices could sport some huge improvements to their front-facing camera, according to referrences found in iOS 9 that hints to the upcoming devices.

It’s been rumored for months that the iPhone’s rear camera could be in for a big upgrade, but the new FaceTime camera could get a panoramic capture mode (think of the selfie possibilities), 240p video and more.

The one advantage Spotify has over Apple Music

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Apple-Music

Photo: Apple

Apple Music may come with a long list of advantages over rivals like Spotify — such as real radio and a super-affordable family plan — but there’s one thing it’s lagging behind on, and that’s music quality… or so it seems.

The highest bitrate Apple Music will offer is 256 kbps, which is lower than the 320 kbps offered by Spotify, Rdio, Tidal, and Apple’s own Beats Music service.

Apple all but confirms its Street View rival is coming

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What are the LIDAR units doing on this Apple van? Photo: AppleInsider video
To be faire, how would you keep a fleet of large, camera-covered vans a secret? Photo: AppleInsider video

A post on Apple’s site for its Maps app heavily suggests that it’s hard at work on a feature to rival Google’s Street View, which lets users zoom into maps to explore areas from ground level. The company hasn’t officially announced that that is what it’s doing with those camera vans, but we’re running increasingly low on alternative theories.

Here are all the countries getting Apple Music (so far)

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Apple-music
Who's going to be dancing along come June 30?

During Monday’s introduction of Apple Music at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple said “over 100 countries” will have access to its music-streaming/social/radio platform when it launches June 30. But it didn’t say which countries those would be.

We’ve done some investigating, and we’re pretty sure we’ve got a good idea of who’s definitely getting their dance on. Check out our map below.

All the ways Apple left us hanging at WWDC 2015

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Tim Cook announces “one more thing” at WWDC 2015.
They probably shouldn't have stopped at one.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s two-hours-plus keynote at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week was packed with new and exciting information about the future of software for its current major hardware. But we couldn’t help but notice some things that were missing.

Here are some of the ways Apple’s presentation left us hanging this year.

Repeat this simple mantra if you want to make killer Apple Watch apps

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Joe Cieplinski, a designer with Bombing Brain Interactive, shares his knowledge about design at AltConf 2015.
Joe Cieplinski, a designer with Bombing Brain Interactive, shares his knowledge about design at AltConf 2015.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — The key to crafting great Apple Watch apps can be summed up with a simple mantra: “Make the user happy.”

That’s designer Joe Cieplinski’s approach to all design, really, but the precept is even more important than ever for developers making apps for Apple’s new wearable. Instead of attempting to cram all the features of an iPhone app onto that tiny screen, devs need to focus as much on what they leave out as what they include.

“That’s how you get a successful product,” Cieplinski, who works for Philadelphia-based Bombing Brain Interactive, told Cult of Mac after his AltConf panel here Tuesday. “It’s not just trying to be philosophical.”

Phil Schiller explains 16GB iPhones, MacBooks with one USB port, design vs. battery life

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Phil Schiller
Phil Schiller answers some of our biggest questions about Apple products.
Photo: Apple

Why does the latest iPhone still ship with just 16GB of storage as standard? Why does the new MacBook have only one USB port? Why does Apple make devices thinner and thinner rather than adding bigger batteries?

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, marketing chief Phil Schiller sat down with The Talk Show to address some of these questions.

How to install El Capitan safely on your Mac right now

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Hair Force One rocking the El Capitan reveal.
Trying out El Capitan on your Mac isn't too hard.
Photo: Apple

If you’ve got an Apple developer account and a Mac, you might want to instal the latest OS X 10.11, better known as El Capitan, onto your machine right now.

Until it’s out of beta, though, you might want to consider installing it on a second partition of your Macintosh, in case things get wonky. It is a beta, after all, and you should never rely on a beta for a mission-critical device.

If you’re un-daunted still, here’s how to install El Capitan safely onto another partition on your Mac to try it out without nuking your current install of Yosemite.

WWDC’s long-winded keynote makes a pretty snappy song

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He's got a point, really.
He's got a point, really.
Photo: Jonathan Mann

Jonathan Mann is the Song a Day creator who’s (so far) written and recorded 2,350 songs (including this one) for his YouTube channel. He’s an Apple fan, of course, and many of his songs have to do with the Cupertino-based tech company.

Mann set up his Macbook and guitar across the street from the Moscone Center and recorded this latest tune live on the sidewalk, and it’s all about the Monday’s developer keynote.

“Not one but (count ’em) two,” he sings, “women up on the stage. It’s a start, and it’s about time ’cause these white dad jokes they’re starting to fade.”

Check it out.

This selfie stick alternative is simply brilliant

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Seflie sticks are a big no-no at Disneyland
It's time to upgrade from the selfie stick.
Photo: CollegeHumor

 

Selfie sticks are quite possibly the worst thing mankind has ever invented. They’re annoying, long, and narcissistic and you can’t go to a concert, museum, landmark, or pretty much anywhere else in public without running into fifty dudes trying to wrangle their piece of metal into the perfect pic.

Luckily, some brilliant designers have devised a cool solution that lets you get nice photos of yourself, without annoying everyone around you.

Check it out:

Apple Watch now has over 6,000 apps

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Some of the apps available on Apple Watch.
Some of the apps available on Apple Watch.
Photo: Apple

Developers are churning out the Apple Watch apps way faster than the first wave of iPhone apps that launched with the App Store. According to new data provided by App Annie to Cult of Mac, the number of Apple Watch apps has double since the device debuted on April 22nd.

The internet is for porn, and so is this new app based on Popcorn Time

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What? We had to try it out. For science!
What? We had to try it out. For science!
Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Popcorn Time is an open source app for Mac that allows users to stream movies from bit torrent sites that have ripped movies on them.

The tech made a huge splash, but is now sadly defunct, even while its creators still proclaim that the technology is legal.

However, some other folks thought the technology was perfect to help us all with another internet activity that a whole bunch of us still enjoy: porn.

Porn Time, based on the same code as Popcorn Time, is now available for Mac, Windows and Linux, so grab a towel and check it out.

Apple Music’s cool free features will cost Android users $10 per month

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price-beats1
The only way to get Apple Music on Android is to pay up.
Photo: Apple

Steve Jobs hated Android so much he once said Apple would never make an iTunes app for Android because he didn’t want to do anything that would make Android users happy. At yesterday’s WWDC keynote, Tim Cook sang a different tune by announcing Apple Music would be available on Android too. What he didn’t say was everyone with an Android phone is going to have to pay. Even for the free features.

Pay what you want for the mobile first developer bundle [Deals]

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You don’t need us to tell you that knowing how to design for mobile is becoming a must for programmers. So it’s a great time for you to learn, whether you’re new to coding or just need to brush up on your mobile skills. We’ve put together a Mobile First Developer’s Bundle of 10 app programming courses at Cult of Mac Deals to help you do just that. Worth $1,740, you can pay what you want for a limited time.

Gadget lets you hear music without wrecking your ears

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The Aumeo audio device, right, boosts clarity of sound so that your don't risk hearing loss by increased volume.
The Aumeo audio device, right, boosts clarity of sound so that your don't risk hearing loss by increased volume.
Photo: Aumeo

The best Beats headphones can’t help you if your ears are unable to hear certain subtle sounds. You can crank up the volume, but that only puts your hearing in peril.

The creators of Aumeo want to change the way you listen to music with an audio device that profiles your hearing – testing it with a smartphone app to find the frequency suited for each level – and offers sound-rich audio that lets you take your thumb off the volume button.

A person’s hearing is as unique as their fingerprints, but electronic audio devices provide more of a “one-size-fits-all” range of volume, according to Aumeo co-founder Paul Lee.