Silicon Valley, much like the place it depicts, is one big sausage fest. An “inclusive” tech conference is one where there is almost a line for the women’s bathroom and flirting involves some guy trying to exchange PGP keys with you.

So it makes sense that the show’s only main female character — Monica, the right hand of billionaire VC Peter Gregory — feels obliged to tell the crew of Pied Piper before they head to the battle at TechCrunch Disrupt that the place is a “vortex of distraction.” But it’s not the gizmos or other gimmicks, it’s the women.

“Normally, the tech world is 2 percent women, the next three days it’s 15 percent,” she warns gravely.

“It’s a goddamn meat market,” Gilfoyle deadpans.

The episode is all about how sparks fly when sex meets the single startup guy.

Some spoilers follow. Medium, though. 

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has written an open letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning the subject of Net Neutrality.

In it, Wozniak runs down his history with telecom and details the various headaches he’s dealt with as a result of monopoly companies and government policies. With several examples, Woz points out how innovation and experimentation will be stifled if new rules concerning net neutrality are passed into law.

Everyone is always looking for a way to be more productive. The Invisible Bluetooth Headset frees up your hands so you can start multitasking without a hitch.

The Invisible Bluetooth Headset is super lightweight and fits comfortably in your ear. With an ergonomic design and silicone ear caps, you will forget you wearing this minimally designed gadget. And Cult of Mac Deals has it for only $19.99 for a limited time!

We’re mixing Sunday Tips a little for the next two weeks, with 10 great, quick tips for your iPhone, some of which hopefully you don’t know about yet.

Make sure to check back next week for the last 5 tips and visit our Youtube channel, for all great videos, 7 days a week!

Everyone with a car has tried using an iPhone holder in their vehicle at some point. Unfortunately, many of these gadget grabbers simply don’t cut it. Well, the Kenu Airframe is the solution.

Enter the Cult of Mac giveaway: We have three Airframes to give away to three viewers who like and comment on our video review and subscribe to the Cult of Mac channel on YouTube, thanks to the folks over at Kenu. Winners will be picked at random and entries end Saturday, May 31, 2014.

Okay, so a teaser trailer for a trailer is kind of the Hollywood version of Tim Cook assuring us that there are exciting products in the works, without giving any details, but this is pretty cool nonetheless.

If you’re a fan of the Marvel movies (and what comic geek isn’t?) you’re probably pretty excited about Guardians of the Galaxy — and the sneak preview below certainly doesn’t do anything to change that.

Apple might not feel the pressure to rush when it comes to releasing new product lines like the iWatch, but it sure can rush when it needs to.

Yesterday we reported on a glitch that saw people’s /Users and /Users/Shared folders disappearing if they had updated to iTunes 11.2 and had Find My Mac enabled. While we offered a couple of workarounds to the problem, Apple sprung into action to create a more permanent solution, which takes the form of iTunes version 11.2.1.

The update will ensure that your folder returns, and stay there even after you reboot. Recommended for all Macs, you’ll find it on the Mac App Store or under Software Update in your Apple Menu.

Definitely beats Terminal commands and an AppleScript hack!

Source: Apple

If you’re an iOS gamer, chances are you’re fed up of games loaded to the gunwales with in-app purchases. The so-called “freemium” trend for games is annoying for two main reasons: One, in many cases it makes games virtually unplayable if you won’t shell out the extra cash for IAPs. Two, it’s misleading because the games aren’t really “free” at all, any more than you could say that it’s free to go to the theater, but you have to pay cash if you want to actually watch a movie.

It’s this second point that antitrust authorities in Italy are taken issue with, under the heading of unfair commercial practices. They’re investigating Apple, Google and Amazon, alongside French game developer Gameloft, for allegedly misleading customers by advertising mobile game apps as free, when they actually require purchases in order to be played beyond a certain point.

If the reports ring true, Apple is about to embark on their largest acquisition ever, and the ramifications could be massive. On this episode of The CultCast, we dissect the Apple/Beats merger, and ask the questions: what could Apple possibly have planned for the world’s most popular headphone brand? Is new wearable headphone tech a part of Apple’s future? And most importantly, could the Doctor D-R-E be Apple’s next CEO? Strap on ya gats, ya’ll…

Have a few chuckles whilst we catch you up on each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin!

And thanks to Lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at Lynda.com.

Click on for the show notes.

The weekend is upon us and there’s no better time than the weekend to get your game on. Luckily, Cult of Mac Deals has a package in store that will help you with that mission, not only for this weekend…but many weekends to come.

The Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Mac Bundle features three iterations of the classic GTA series, and is available at 63% off the regular price for a limited time – just $9.99. You’ll get hours of entertainment for a fraction of the usual cost!

Fresh photographic equipment stole the show this week, but we also got wind of some great new outdoor gear (and some stuff for desk jockeys).

First the camera news: Sony is coming on strong with the amazing R100 III camera, while Nikon’s most exciting new gadget is an underwater flash. On the outdoorsy front, San Francisco is gearing up for summer with new bags from my favorite bag makers Rickshaw and Waterfield, and if you’re out in the warm/cold spring on your bike, you might like to do it wearing the beautiful Vulpine merino wool cycling jersey. If you’re not the outdoors type, we have you covered too — you can stay home and organize your desk with a handsome wooden pen and phone holder.

Have fun!

We get slammed 24/7 with new Apple rumors. Some are accurate, most are not. To give you a clue about what’s really coming out of Cupertino in the future, we’re busting out our rumor debunker each week to blow up the nonsense.

As another week passes your host Joshua Smith is here to give you a wrap-up on some of the latest and biggest news features. The return of cassettes, iPhone 6 release dates and Flappy Bird 2 are among just some of the featured stories in today’s rundown. Take a look at the video and be sure to return next week for another.

Subscribe to CultOfMacTV on youtube.com to catch new episodes of the roundup and other great video reviews, how-to’s and more.

From 1993 until 1997, Apple’s rainbow logo smiled down from the east-facing side of Infinite Loop’s Building 3 as drivers sped north on Highway 280.

Now these Styrofoam and fiberglass signs are treated like fine art being peddled by one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious auctioneers.

Two rainbow Apple logos from the company’s original offices will be put up for auction next month at Bonhams and even though they come with some wear and tear, these Apple logos will cost you more than all your previous Apple purchases combined.

Apple and Google are bringing out the white flags. A landmark decision has been reached between the two Silicon Valley giants to drop their patent lawsuits against each other, specifically with regards to Google’s Motorola Mobility.

Google has bought Quest Visual, the company behind the popular Word Lens translation app.

Apple’s most recent iPhone 5s ad featured Word Lens, and rightfully so; it’s one of the most magical tools you’ll ever use on a smartphone. The app works by instantly translating text in different languages seen through the iPhone’s camera. It’s an astounding piece of technology, and it will now be incorporated into Google Translate.

The good news is that now is the best time to download Word Lens, because its creators have made all of its language packs free for a limited time.

Beats Electronics’ co-founders are preparing to dive headfirst into a pool of cool Apple cash but before Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre collect their check from Cupertino, a former employee is already preparing to sue Beats for upwards of $20 million.

David Hyman, co-founder of the music subscription service MOG, has filed a lawsuit against Beats claiming he was hired and then deliberately fired before he could cash in on the equity grant he was promised.

The majority of people who upgraded to OS X 10.9.3 yesterday noticed what seemed to be a strange glitch, in the form of their /Users and /Users/Shared folders disappearing. In fact, the fault doesn’t have to do with 10.9.3 at all, but rather occurs if you’ve updated to iTunes 11.2 and also have Find My Mac enabled.

Fortunately, there’s a workaround.

A former iPhone owner is suing Apple in San Jose court over Apple’s Message app not delivering texts to Android phones. The issue has plagued iMessage since its inception, but it is just recently starting to get attention.

This video by game video YouTube user NicksplosionFX is perhaps the most awesome thing you’re going to see all day.

It’s a shot by shot recreation of the stunningly fantastic Game of Thrones television show introduction sequence done in the style of Nintendo’s classic Super Mario Brothers video game.

Whether your a Game of Thrones fan, a classic Nintendo nerd, or a combination of the two, you’ll love that the video maker also has a side by side comparison of the two videos (below) so you can critique his recreation with all your righteous nerd fervor.

Dr. Dre has been busy celebrating the Beats acquisition with fountains of Hennessy but the world’s favorite hip-hop producer isn’t the only musician who stands to make a fortune off Apple’s big purchase.

Enter William Adams. You probably know him by his stage name, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. He’s been pimping the Beats brand since day one and for his loyalty he’s been blessed with founding shares in the company that stand to make him more money than he ever saw from his Grammy-winning song, “I Gotta Feeling.”

Someone in global ad agency Oglivy & Mather is clearly thinking different (read: not really thinking at all) because they’ve featured Steve Jobs as one of the historical figures in a bizarre, and bafflingly offensive, ad campaign for Indian mattress company Kurl-On.

The theme of the ads is the idea of bouncing back (because, you know, mattresses have bounce in them) with famous people shown recovering from low points in their life to “bounce back” to greater levels of success. Jobs’ own advert shows him being booted out of Apple in 1985, only to return to glory as the creator of the iPad.

A metallic back for what appears to be a larger ‘iPad Pro’ has been posted on the Chinese forum Weibo. The part looks to be for an unreleased 12.9-inch model, and the same person has also shared images of an iPhone 6 dummy that matches previous leaks.

We all get tired of having an aching back. Sitting hunched over your laptop puts stress on your body which can seriously cramp your style.

It’s time to sit back and relax because Rain Design’s iLevel will take the physical pain out of your work and allow you to easily share and adjust your screen for increased comfort. iLevel is just one of the deals we’re offering today from Cult of Mac Deals, and it’s priced at only $59 for a limited time!

I suck at table tennis. Like, it’s embarrassing.

I’m alright at serving, and I can usually return, but if anyone smashes at all or puts any spin on the ball, I fold faster than a laundry robot. I still like the idea of table tennis, though, which is why I’m glad we have video-game versions.

And Table Tennis Touch, which is out now for all of your iOS devices, is easily the best one I’ve ever played.