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Capturing our refugee stories on a single fixed

This is part of our Road Trip 2016 summer series “Life, Disrupted,” about how technology is helping with the global refugee crisis — if at all. In August, I spent three weeks traveling through Germany and Hungary with CNET reporters Shara Tibken, Joan Solsman and Katie Collins to find out how technology is being used …

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Here’s what I look like in Facebook’s next reality

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might have just showed us the future of selfies — and maybe of social networks, too. Long story short, Zuck expects people to start hanging out with their friends in VR spaces, each person represented by a cartoony avatar. Related coverage Oculus is Zuckerberg’s big bet on the future PlayStation VR is pretty damn cool Palmer …

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iFixit’s iPhone 7 audio adapter teardown reveals mystery circuity

There’s a strange chip lurking beneath the surface of Apple‘s 3.5mm headphone adapter for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. iFixit, which routinely conducts teardowns of popular gadgets, partnered with Creative Electron to examine an X-ray image of the dongle included with every new iPhone. The scan, accompanied by a closer look at the guts provided by a contributor to …

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Netflix: Watch out, movie theaters, you could be next

Don’t start sweating yet, cinema chains. Netflix doesn’t need to destroy you, for now. Speaking at the New Yorker Tech Fest, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings saved his harshest words of the day for the theater industry, calling its business model a “tragedy” and saying “movie theaters are strangling the movie business.” Film studios risk revolt by theater chains that would …

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Hurricane Matthew watch spins across social media

Hurricane Matthew has hit Florida hard as the devastating storm begins to move up the East Coast. The storm was trending on Twitter by Friday morning, with updates continuing to pour in. Social media also celebrated the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, while humankind’s worst creation — the Cheetos pizza — trended on Facebook. Social Cues is our daily …

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MLB.com’s At Bat app tops list of best sports apps

Ahh, fall. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for sports fans. The four major North American pro sports leagues, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League, are all in action. With so much to follow, many fans now keep an eye on their favorite teams, track stats and watch …

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Facebook wins ‘Big Brother’ award in Belgium

Facebook is watching you. The social media giant won the “Big Brother” Award in Belgium on Thursday. The award is named after the dystopian government surveillance in George Orwell’s “1984,” and given to the “biggest privacy-offender of the year,” according to the Flemish League for Human rights, which runs the awards, and its partners. Facebook, nominated by international digital advocacy …

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