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1st Apple Macintosh (Mac) 128K computer, released january 24, 1984 by Steve Jobs

Apple Won't Always Rule. Just Look at IBM.
by Jeff Sommer
The New York Times

Apple's growth is staggering. It's also unsustainable... just ask IBM. The folks in Cupertino may still have room to expand the company's reach, but there are some signs that the ceiling may be approaching. Of course, IBM, a company that was once on top, is doing great work, but its market cap is estimated to be less than a quarter of Apple's.

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Landing airplane

Whoever said "it's the journey, not the destination" obviously lived in a time before air travel. But maybe, just maybe, the Department of Transportation's implementation of the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), the "backbone" of the NextGen air-traffic system, could change how we feel about getting on a flight. There are a few things making up ERAM: performance based navigation, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and data comm.

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According to a new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, there's a breed of supermassive black holes out there a lot more ravenous than usual. Supermassive black holes are found in the middle of galaxies, measuring millions to billions of times the mass of our Sun. Some of them actively consume gas and dust, which form a "disc" around the mass -- as matter from that disc fall into the black hole, a jet of particles stream out, appearing as cloudy streaks. These are called quasar black holes, and they usually shine more brightly than the galaxy itself, since that disc radiates huge amounts of energy. The ones discovered by Bin Luo and his team of astronomers, however, "[dine] at enormous rates, at least five to ten times faster than typical quasars."

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A Nordstrom store

Store pickups give you the luxury of shopping online without waiting days for deliveries, but there's still one big hassle involved: you have to, y'know, enter the store. That won't be a problem if Nordstrom's latest experiment pans out. Several of the retail chain's locations (including its Seattle flagship) are testing an option that lets you pick up an internet order while staying in your car. All you do is call or text when you're near the shop, and a staffer will wait for you outside. There's no word on whether or not Nordstrom will expand the streetside option, but here's hoping that it does. This would not only save you time picking up a new wardrobe when you're in a rush, but spare you from hunting for that elusive downtown parking spot.

[Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]

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Grand Theft Auto V has a few mobile apps of its own, but one enterprising modder has taken the idea to its natural conclusion: an application that lets you control the in-game cellphone with an iPhone. With the application you can scroll through text messages on-screen, peep your current list of objectives and, among other things, even control the in-game phone's camera. The YouTube video's description (spotted by former Joystiq'r Dave Hinkle) does't offer much by way of details other than it's running on an Arduino Leonardo with an Ethernet shield connected to a PC, sadly.

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NASA's ten-engine UAV, dubbed the Greased Lightning (GL-10), recently showed off a slick new trick in the skies over Hampton, Virginia. The drone, which is under development by a team at the Langley Research Center, had already passed its initial hovering tests last August; but that was the easy part. As the long and miserable development of the V-22 Osprey has shown, the real challenge is switching over from hover mode to conventional forward flight without the vehicle falling out of the sky. But on Thursday, NASA's battery-powered tilt-rotor aircraft successfully did just that.

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Boeing 787 9

The 787 Dreamliner has been plagued with battery woes since its early days, to the point where the Federal Aviation Administration kept it from flying the skies in the past. And while those technical difficulties are apparently taken care of, Boeing's flagship airliner could be on the way to more trouble soon. According to the FAA, there's a software bug in the 787 Dreamliner that can cause its electrical system to fail and, as a result, lead to "loss of control" of the plane. But why? The FAA says this is triggered by the aircraft's electrical generators, which could give out if they have been powered on continuously for over eight months.

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Celta Vigo v Real Madrid CF - La Liga

The content programming spree for Sling TV continues today. Now, the company has announced two $5 bundles intended for the Spanish-speaking community in the US. Deportes Extra is one of them, featuring beIN Sports en Español, beIN Sports (English), Univision, Univision Deportes and UniMas. The other, Peliculas & Novelas Extra, comes with channels like Az Corazon, Cinelatino, De Pelicula, Pasiones and a pair that carry over from the sports-focused bundle: Univision and UniMas. Both packages are perfect for people who like watching football (soccer) and Latin American soap operas, better known as novelas.

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Warby Parker's Holiday Spectacle Bazaar Launch Party

Warby Parker, the eyewear company that sends you frames to try on before you make a purchase, has some lofty goals for the near future. In addition to plans that'll almost double its current retail footprint, the start-up has tech in the works that will save you a trip to the optometrist for an eye exam. "We think that would increase access to eye exams," co-founder Dave Gilboa told The Wall Street Journal. "It's early in the process but we are excited about the potential." Of course, besides the convenience, it'll also provide an avenue for folks who really need their eyes looked at to get some help at home.

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IMG_4739

After almost five years of internal turmoil and allegations, WikiLeaks is back in secret-sharing business. The site has re-launched a beta version that is accepting anonymous files starting today. Even though Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of the site, continues to live in asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the online submission system intends to regain its reputation as a secure site for people looking to share information of political and historical significance.

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