Social Lego: Vector Social Icons Set

If you are looking for a thematic and original set of social bookmarking icons, here comes an option for you.

Social Lego is a set of 20 icons, built exclusively for WRD readers by Iconshock (same creators of WordPressThemeShock), that has a lego-like texture and includes the items for the most popular social services like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Youtube and much more.

The set comes as .PNG and .AI vector formats where you can create any size and modify the easily.

It is free to be used in both personal and commercial projects (and can not be redistributed).

Download Click here

A couple in southern China has apparently sold their three children for less than $10,000 to support an online gaming obsession.

Gaming can get quite time and resource consuming, but two gamers have reached a new low in pursuit of virtual gratification. A southern Chinese newspaper is reporting that a young Chinese couple has been found guilty of selling their three children off to support a gaming habit.

It sounds like a ludicrous scenario but according to Sanxiang City News, the couple from Dongguan, China first met in 2007 in Internet cafe; both were under 21 years old. Bonding over a mutual online gaming obsession, the two eventually had their first child a year later. However, the couple couldn’t be weaned from online gaming and within a few days of their son’s birth they left him home alone so they could trek to an Internet cafe 18 miles away.

Li Lin and Li Juan didn’t begin selling children until 2009 with the birth of their second child, a baby girl. Graduating from simple neglect, the young couple sold the baby girl to fund their obsession and received a short-lived sum equivalent to $500. With the success of the baby girl they then proceeded to sell their firstborn son and received close to $4600 for him; almost ten times the amount as the girl.

The next child they had was another son who was sold for the same amount $4600. The two were finally turned into the authorities by Li Lin’s mother who discovered what was happening to her grandchildren. It was reported that the couple didn’t know that they were breaking a law.

The two gamers were asked if they missed their children and they responded, “we don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”

Chinese newspapers have had a tendency to embellish stories in the past, but China has had a history of online gaming problems. In 2007 a man’s three day gaming binge in Guangzhou actually led to his death.  The Chinese government has attempted to control the problem by setting time limits on game play and even banning the creation of new internet cafes.

A Huge & Free Design Bundle By WTS

WordPressThemeShock has recently released a design bundle which includes many freebies.

It is totally free to download and not offered for a limited time.

The bundle consists of:

10 WordPress themes

The themes have many custom options like 3 different image sliders, dropdown-menus, image gallery, contact form with captcha, etc.

750 high-quality icons

The icons include the most important items to be used in web apps like actions, files, media and much more. They come in 5 different size and in.PNG + .PSD formats.

Many design elements 

And, there are many other design freebies like site templates, buttons or vector elements.

Website : http://www.wordpressthemeshock.com/

South Korea is taking the lead on technology and education, promising to spend $2 billion to convert its entire school system's curriculum and texts to a variety of digital formats by 2015.

Though we haven’t seen many laptops or tablets tackle textbooks in the U.S. yet, South Korea isn’t waiting for consumers. The country’s Ministry of Science and Technology has announced that it will digitize its entire elementary-level educational textbooks and materials by 2014. Topping that goal, the entire school-age curriculum will be available on computers, smartphones, and tablets by by 2015. To make this happen, the country will spend 2.2 trillion won ($2.06 billion), reports the Straits Times Indonesia.

In addition, the ministry is pushing for online classes to be available so that students who miss classes can catch up. Online hours will be recognized as attendance under some circumstances.

“Korean students have ranked first in terms of digital literacy among developed nations according to the OECD-run Program for International Student Assessment,” said an official from the Education Ministry. “That’s why Korean students, who are already fully prepared for digital society, need a paradigm shift in education.”

There is no word on precisely which digital devices South Korea will buy for its students, but hopefully they will be closer to an iPad in terms of functionality. We don’t want these kids getting stuck with the tablet equivalent of a Betamax. And speaking of outdated technology, a few lawmakers here in the United States should take notice. While South Korea moves toward e-textbooks and online learning, many of our classrooms still have to rent a VHS player from down the hall to watch a movie, and a lack of technology is the least of our problems.

Technology Review guesses that Samsung, being a South Korean company, may provide the electronics. We will be mighty jealous if every South Korean student gets a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. On the other hand, if this money goes toward more robot teachers, we’ll probably be okay.

The Pentagon announced on Thursday that a cyberattack which took place in March resulted in 24,000 military files being stolen.

Deputy defense secretary William J. Lynn revealed in a speech on Thursday that the security systems of a defense contractor were breached by hackers back in March, resulting in the loss of 24,000 military files. The hackers are believed to be based outside of the US, though no specific information as to their whereabouts was given.

According to a Huffington Post report, the cyberattack is one of the Pentagon’s biggest ever security breaches.

Lynn called it a “significant concern” that “over the past decade, terabytes of data have been extracted by foreign intruders from corporate networks of defense companies.”

The deputy defense secretary went on to explain that while much of the data taken by intruders is “mundane,” some of it is extremely sensitive, relating to areas such as aircraft, surveillance and satellite communications.

Lynn was outlining the Pentagon’s new cyber strategy, which aims to produce tougher computer networks that can withstand cyberattacks and allow the military to continue to function in an effective manner, even when parts of its set-up have been compromised.

It is the first time such a strategy has been implemented by the Pentagon as it looks at ways to deal with cyberattacks not only from foreign groups and governments looking to obtain sensitive data, but also terrorist groups.

“Current countermeasures have not stopped this outflow of sensitive information,” Lynn also said in his speech, adding: “We need to do more to guard our digital storehouses of design innovation.”

Last month, national security expert Richard Clarke claimed that the Chinese government is systematically attacking the computer networks of the U.S. government.

In late May, hackers were also reported to have gained access to the computer networks of defense contractors Lockheed Martin.

In the same month, White House officials were the victims of an attempt by foreign hackers to trick them into giving over their e-mail passwords. Military personnel were among those targeted. China was blamed for the phishing attack, though the government denied being involved.

Also in May, the Pentagon announced that cyberattacks on US computer systems could be regarded as an act of war, resulting in a possible military response.

Microsoft accidentally published a splash page for what looks suspiciously like a new social endeavor from the company.

Microsoft inadvertently published a splash page for a new social network called “Tulalip” on Thursday to the URL Socl.com, reports Fusible. The page has since been taken down. In its place, Microsoft has left a cheeky message for visitors.

“Thanks for stopping by. Socl.com is an internal design project from a team in Microsoft Research which was mistakenly published to the web. We didn’t mean to, honest,” the message reads.

As others have noted, it seems highly unlikely that Tulalip is simply an “internal design project.”

First of all, “internal design project” could simply mean that Microsoft is designing a new service, therefore; it’s an internal design project.

As far as actual evidence goes, the now-removed splash page says, “With Tulalip you can Find what you need and Share what you know easier than ever.” It also shows Facebook and Twitter buttons for signing in, as well as other standard social network caveats, like terms of service agreements, a “remember me on this computer” box to check, and a politically correct mix of “real” individuals looking coyly quirky. On top of all that, the layout of the images looks suspiciously similar the new “Tiles” design of Windows Phone 7.

Plus, the domain for the splash page, Socl.com, is the word “social,” or at least a hip shortened version.

Search Engine Land‘s Matt McGee discovered that Tulalip is, indeed, an app from Microsoft Research. McGee uncovered the Twitter authorization screen for the app, which says that users will be able to use Tulalip to do much of the same things they can do with Twitter, like “read Tweets from your timeline,” and “see who you follow, and follow new people.” If you ask us, that says basically nothing.

The gut reaction is to jump to the conclusion that Microsoft is preparing to launch a competitor to Google+. Which they may very well be. But we’re just going to have to sit back, and wait to see what happens when Tulalip isn’t “internal” anymore — or at least until they “accidentally” leak some more info.

Apple announces ‘revolutionary’ Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X, Apples newly-released editing software, is made to save time, easily organize data and offer robust post-production capabilities.

After months of intense anticipation, Apple today unveiled Final Cut Pro X, the most recent version of its widely-used editing suite. The software is available immediately for $299.99 through the Mac App Store.

As with most things Apple, the software is “revolutionary,” with magic powers capable of transforming the entire movie industry. Plot lines will now always make sense, actors will never give a bad performance, and the good guy will always win.

Ok, we kid. But Final Cut Pro X does have some truly impressive new features that will change the way editors work — or at least make it easier for them to work the way they like.

First up is the Magnetic Timeline, which replaces the standard timeline with a new format that allows editors to easily organize and rearrange clips however they like. Another handy feature, Clip Connections, links story clips to other elements, like tiles and sound effects. This makes it easy to keep the elements related to a specific clip connected when the clip is moved around. Compound Clips allows editors to group multiple clips together, and move them or apply effects as a single unit.

Another immensely helpful addition to Final Cut Pro X is background processes. Lik Content Auto-Analysis, for example, which uses the metadata taken from the camera that shot the imported media and applies useful tags, like shot type (e.g. wide, medium, close), to the files. Using the automatically generated keywords, the clips are automatically assembled in the “Smart Collections” section of the “Event Library,” where all clips are store for new project. Not only is this supposed to make it easier to keep things organized, it takes out a massive amount of time-consuming work involved in editing large projects.

Perhaps the most-needed upgrade to Final Cut — an absent feature that we know made some editors stop using the software — is background rendering, which means editors don’t have to stop working just to wait for their software to sluggishly apply changes.

Other useful additions, include Auditions, which allows for quick clip comparisons, plus a wide range of post-production goodies, like customizable effects and improved audio editing.

In addition to the totally overhauled design and functionality, Final Cut Pro X is a completely “rebuilt from the ground up” app, Apple says. The massive software is 64-bit and requires the use of a high-end Mac with some heavy-duty hardware, so check to make sure your system meets the minimum requirements before dropping the cash.

Apple also offers Motion 5, a companion app for creating professional motion graphics, and Compressor 4 for advanced encoding. Both apps will cost $49.99 each through the Mac App Store.

Sony PS3 hacker George ‘GeoHot’ Hotz ‘works for Facebook’

Huge news in the hacker world: Renowned PS3 and iPhone jailbreaker George "GeoHot" Hotz now reportedly works for Facebook.

Just when you thought the massive hacker stories were over for the evening, another twist comes in: Hacker George ‘GeoHot’ Hotz, who recently settled a lawsuit with Sony for publishing a PlayStation 3 crack online, now works for Facebook, according to various sources. His exact position with the company is unclear, but he may be on a the development team tasked wit building the social network’s rumored new iPad app.

The rumor of Hotz’s break into “legitimate” product development comes first from jailbreak hacker Joshua Hill (aka p0isixNinja), who said in a recent interview that Hotz had made the move. Hill reportedly challenged Hotz to a iPad 2 jailbreak duel. (Both hackers come from an iOS-cracking background.) Hotz declined, saying that he wanted to remain out of the attention of the media after the debacle with Sony.

Gabe Rivera, creator of news aggregator Techmeme, said that he noticed on Hotz’s Facebook page a message that reads, “Facebook is really an amazing place to work…first hackathon over.” Hotz reportedly published that post on June 17, but he is said to have worked at Facebook since May.

Hotz has become somewhat of a symbol for the hacking community. Hacktivist group Anonymous launched a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on Sony in April as retribution for suing Hotz. Coincidentally or not, the DDoS onslaught came at the same time as a monstrous breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network put the personal data of as much as 100 million people worldwide at risk.

Those hacks became the preface to an ongoing campaign by Lulz Security, who hacked Sony in a variety of ways. The group later went on to attack everyone from PBS to the CIA. By chance, LulzSec announced tonight that it was disbanding, and would never perform another cyberattack under the LulzSec pirate flag again. There is so far no evidence that GeoHot going corporate has anything to do with LulzSec’s sudden death.

ICANN approves new top-level domains: Now .anything is possible

Forget .com: ICANN has made it now possible to create an almost limitless number of custom domain names, a move the organization believes could usher in a new Internet boom.

In the most significant change to domain name regulations since the institution of .com, the Board of ICANN, the body that regulates how domain names work, has approved the creation of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that will allow for a near-infinite variety of new website addresses. The colossal decision not only enables corporations and other organizations to create domains like drink.coke or buy.apple, but they could theoretically create .almost .anything .they .can .think .of.

“ICANN has opened the Internet’s addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination. No one can predict where this historic decision will take us,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and chief executive of ICANN in a statement.

“Today’s decision will usher in a new Internet age,” said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of ICANN’s Board of Directors told reporters. “We have provided a platform for creativity and inspiration, and for the next big dot-thing.”

Despite these claims of grandeur, three massive barriers will hold back the onrush of new domains. First, the price: new custom domain available through the program will cost $185,000 to register. Second, those seeking to acquire one of these new domains must prove legitimacy to their claim of the terms they want to use in their web address. Third, only “established public or private organizations” can apply. And those that do must prove that they have the technological infrastructure to support the domain.

Some domain applications may be discarded for other reasons, said Dengate Thrush. For instance, if the domain could infringe on religious or social sensitivities, like .nazi, then ICANN will not approve the creation of the domain.

Currently, a mere 22 gTLDs exist — things like .com, .org, .net or .gov — as well as about 250 country-level domains, like .uk or .cn. ICANN expects between 300 and 1000 new domains to come into existence as a result of the new program.

Organizations who seek a ‘.anything’ domain may send in applications as soon as January 2012, through April 2012. ICANN anticipates that the first new domains will be approved by the end of 2012.

Ultimate Collection of Free Photoshop Styles

Photoshop users can save time during the design process by  making use of layer styles. Whether you are saving your own custom style to be used multiple times throughout your design (such as with a button), or using pre-made styles created by other designers, taking advantage of this feature in Photoshop can greatly speed up your workflow.

In this post we’ll link out to a number of useful Photoshop layer styles that can be downloaded for free. Many of them have been created especially for text, others for buttons, and some are more general. Download the styles and apply them to your layers for instant results.

for more and downlaod click here