Spotify and Uber might launch a collab as soon as Monday -- one that'll have you jamming to your favorite tunes with the service's drivers. According to TechCrunch, the ride-sharing company's iPhone and Android apps will soon come with the capability to blast your Spotify playlists through an Uber car's speakers. The publication has obtained two screenshots (embedded after the break) captured from within an Uber app: the first asks drivers if their cars support auxiliary audio input. That's because they need to connect their Uber-issued phones with their vehicles' stereos for customers to be able to take advantage of the Spotify integration. On the other hand, the second screenshot shows what passengers will see on their screens. The passenger's interface apparently features a music console that shows song titles and artists, along with pause and play buttons, superimposed on a map.

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Ron Swanson is the portrait of manliness on Parks and Recreation, and in real life, Nick Offerman is an avid craftsman. The Offerman Woodshop cranks out all kinds of wares using its namesake material, and a recent effort took quite the tech culture twist. If a picture's worth a thousand words, a solid oak 14-pound emoji must be worth more than that. The project was part of an infomercial sketch this week on Conan, so you won't be able to nab the smiling poop block, but you also won't suffer a back injury from hauling all of the items around for IRL chats. It does mean that you'll miss out on a "more personal and more American way of communication," though. You can, however, put that $30 towards a set of whiskey coasters.

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Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.

How James Carpenter Gave NYC Subway Riders a Portal to the Sky
by Shaunacy Ferro,
Fast Company

New York City's latest subway station is a really big deal. Fulton Center recalls an age when public transit stations packed in architectural prowess, and this hub does just that. The main element is the so-called Sky Reflector Net that not only bathes the atrium in natural light, but also reflects that light two stories underground thanks to a cable structure suspended way up above.

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Most places around the world are getting ready to bring out the blankets and coats, in preparation for the cold, cold season ahead. Knowing this, a company called Cloud & Heat has come up with a very interesting idea, one that's beneficial to both it and the parties interested in giving it a try. In exchange for heat, the Germany-based firm is offering to put a cabinet filled with servers in people's homes. As Slate points out, Cloud & Heat isn't the only company working on heat-for-server-housing program, but others aren't as advanced in the implementation stages. Unfortunately, the service isn't free for home owners, since there is a one-time (undisclosed) installation fee. The good news: Cloud & Heat takes care of the electricity and internet bills, so the deal could turn out to be more than decent.

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It's amazing how quickly five months fly by. Netflix announced in June that its public API would shut off and now we've reached the appointed day. As we mentioned then, several of the popular third-party tools built with access to Netflix's services have been chosen to continue on: InstantWatcher, FeedFliks, Can I Stream It?, NextGuide, Flixster, Fanhattan, Yidio and Instant Watch Browser for Netflix. These services matter -- once upon a time Netflix actually promoted them itself -- because they can often help you use Netflix in a more convenient way than its own website and apps do, with features like shareable lists, integration with popular ratings services and more. If you're not already using them, check out our breakdown of how to use Netflix better for more info on what they can add to your streaming experience.

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ESA's comet lander Philae has ran out of batteries and gone to sleep at 7:30PM on November 14th, 2014. It was supposed to harness solar energy to continue its operations, but it unfortunately bounced twice during touchdown and settled in the shade. That doesn't mean the project failed, though -- before the machine's power source ran out, the ground crew decided to throw caution to the wind and proceed with the more physical parts of material gathering. See, after landing in a less than ideal position, the team thought it best to just collect molecules from the comet's surface and perform the experiments (about 80 percent of the total number) that didn't require mechanical movement.

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It's official: the US Navy has entered the future. Vice Admiral John Miller tells Bloomberg that the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport, has been using the Navy's Laser Weapon System (LaWS) in the Persian Gulf since late August. The high-tech arsenal is no threat to larger vessels, but it's potentially ideal for defending against Iran's fleet of smaller ships. The Ponce can use non-lethal laser flashes to spook enemies or thwart their sensors, and it can destroy small craft (including airborne drones) if they don't heed warnings. It'll take some time before laser weapons are a common sight on the high seas, since the Navy wants to know how it fares in real-world conditions; dust, heat and other Gulf conditions could lead to failures. If it pans out, however, there's a real chance that the days of conventional small deck guns are numbered.

[Image credit: John F. Williams/US Navy, Flickr]

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In late October, researchers discovered that AT&T and Verizon attach tracking numbers to the web traffic coming from their customers' phones, in order to keep an eye on their online habits. Now, Ma Bell says it's stopped doing so -- the company claims it has only experimented using those irremovable trackers (or perma-cookies, as the media calls them) for a pilot program, but now its tests are done. Each of these unique trackers is composed of a string of letters and numbers that can follow a user across the internet. Websites and carriers can then make a compilation of those activities to sell or give to marketing and advertising companies.

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Remember Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) from Friends? Of course you do! We sat down with her for a chat, but surprise: it wasn't about Friends at all. Read on for the rest of our news highlights from the last 24 hours, including a hipster selfie cam, Intel's Black Brook PC and Joystiq's review of Far Cry 4.

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Love it or hate it, you have to use Facebook Messenger if you're to chat privately with your friends on the social network. As we know it, the application features a minimalist design and very straight-to-the-point functionality. That's all great, of course -- but, for better or worse, it could have been so much different. TechCrunch reports that Facebook quietly flirted with the idea of featuring games in the Messenger app, going as far as quietly testing this out and, eventually, deciding against it. Instead, Facebook's EMEA Director of Platform Partnerships, Julien Codorniou, says the company opted for other ways to cash-in on the site's gaming ecosystem, like letting developers take full advantage of its mobile advertising platform. More specifically, through app install ads.

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