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CNET giveaway: ‘X

Congratulations to Tom W. of Hendersonville, N.C., for winning a Sony Blu-ray player in our September 9 giveaway. Speaking of Blu-ray, “X-Men Apocalypse” comes out on Blu-ray and DVD October 4, and we’ve got a Blu-ray copy for one winner right here. “X-Men: Apocalypse” may be the ninth film in the X-Men franchise (and the …

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Harry Potter fans want a Patronus quiz do

While there are tons of online quizzes, it’s rare to find one on Pottermore, J.K. Rowling’s official Harry Potter site. Previous quizzes assigned fans to wizarding houses and chose wands for them. But the quiz fans have been waiting impatiently for finally dropped on Thursday. Pottermore fans can now discover their Patronus, a ghostly animal produced as a protector. Pottermore …

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Samsung’s new fridge orders your groceries, won’t judge your chocolate choices

Remember the early Noughties, when the world was giddy at the thought of internet-connected fridges that would one day rule the kitchen? Australia, your internet-fridge is here and it’s going to do the shopping for you. In time for the Australian launch of its latest internet-connected appliance, the Family Hub refrigerator, Samsung has announced a partnership with Woolworths to let …

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Farewell fake online reviews! Consumer watchdog announces crackdown

There’s nothing as hellish as trawling through online comments trying to find accurate reviews — from “A+++ would stay again” to “Garbage hotel for garbage people!” Now the ACCC is cracking down on misleading online reviews, sweeping sites to ensure they’re upfront about how reviews are published and to make sure the reviews themselves are accurate. The ACCC is also …

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Don’t stand for VR gaming: Ski, gallop and steer instead

VR may be the big thing in gaming, but one company thinks virtual reality isn’t quite real enough. Futuretown is aiming to fix that with Totalmotion, a peripheral-based 5D platform. It takes cues from body movement to control the VR world and comes in three distinct modules to match each simulation. Related stories This VR headset is designed to let …

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Trump: Internet control belongs to US. Period

Donald Trump doesn’t want to share the internet. The Republican presidential nominee opposes a plan to transition the supervision of the internet’s Domain Naming System, the campaign said Wednesday. For the unfamiliar, the Domain Naming System (DNS) functions like the internet’s address book, translating domain names like CNET.com into a series of numbers called IP addresses. The current plan is …

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Sorry, Verizon customers, no unlimited data for you

Verizon once again slammed the door shut on the idea of unlimited data. “At the end of the day, people don’t need unlimited plans,” Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said at an investor conference Thursday. If you listen to Shammo regularly, you’ll know this isn’t a new sentiment. But Verizon’s rivals have put a renewed emphasis on unlimited data …

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Facebook activates safety check in Charlotte

Are your friends and family in Charlotte, North Carolina okay? Now you can check on Facebook to find out. The social media company activated its “safety check” feature on Thursday in the aftermath of protests over the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man. On Wednesday night, gunfire resulted in the critical injury of an unnamed man …

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Eat waffles and battle the Demogorgon in this fan

Warning: Spoilers for season 1 of “Stranger Things” below. Read at your own risk. If you’re already sick of waiting for the second season of the hit Netflix sci-fi series “Stranger Things,” you can always kill some time with Stranger Play. Copywriter Danielle Gasbarro and artist Claire Barnette created the online Pac-Man-style game with extra expertise from game developer Amr …

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USB

Still shocked by Apple killing off the headphone jack in the iPhone 7? The beloved HDMI port on your laptop and TV may be next on the chopping block. That’s because starting in 2017, the new USB Type-C will have the ability to work like an HDMI port, which up to now has been the lifeline for getting what’s displayed …

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