Your coupons are still good if they were purchased before Dec. 1, 2011. Most future Groupons won’t expire, either. The company agreed that for the next three years, no more than 10 percent of its coupons will carry a use-by date… The settlement is a result of the consolidation of 17 lawsuits in a San Diego district court, which allege that Groupon is violating consumer protection laws. Shoppers feel like an expiration dates force them to buy something, the suit argues.

[Via Gizmodo]

RIAA CEO Cary Sherman confirmed that by July 1st the countries largest ISP’s will roll out a SOPA-like program that aims to discourage unauthorized downloading. The (guilty until proven innocent) system allows rights-holders to accuse an ISP subscriber of infringement. This accusation then triggers a series of consequences which include bandwidth throttling or account suspension.

At this point users can jump ship to an ISP that isn’t participating in this deal tilted against subscribers. The ISP’s that are participating in this SOPA-like program include: AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner Cable.

[Via EFF via Reddit]

The Photoshop CS6 beta is out and critics are praising the updates to core features and new features alike stating this is a “must-have update”.

One of the big long standing gripes about Photoshop was the UI had become bloated as Adobe added features over the years. The first thing you’ll notice with CS6 is a completely new interface. New icons, darker tone and an overall consistent interface. Adobe hired a UI expert to “clean it all, do as you wish, make it better.” The end result: thousands of graphic elements adjusted and cleaned-up/streamlined workflows.

The majority of Photoshop users only use 10% of the features. Where in past versions Adobe has added features and functionality into the program, this version has a clear emphasis on improving the core features. Crop, RAW import, Shadows and Highlights and Typography include some of the most improved areas.

There is also new lens blur, content-ware patch tools and automated image correction. The levels in automated image correction are reportedly spot-on with one critic stating “I found myself rarely touching levels or curves anymore”.

You can download the Photoshop CS6 beta from Adobe’s website to see for yourself. Rumored CS6 release date is April or May of 2012.

[Via Gizmodo]

Lots of highly anticipated films coming out in 2012. Some movies on my shortlist include: The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, Looper, Men in Black 3 and Prometheus.

[Via Metacritic]

At the Nickelodeon Upfront in New York, Michael Bay talked about the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles origin movie. The most disturbing part he mentioned is:

“These turtles [in the reboot] are from an alien race, and they’re going to be tough, edgy, funny, and completely lovable.”

ScreenRant stated the main problem here:

“So, here’s the million dollar question: does having the Turtles instead simply be aliens (even “Mutant” ones) sound like a good idea, an inconsequential change – or a terrible decision?”

One Rediditor wrote:

“So will they be changing the title? I mean, TMNT doesn’t really apply anymore…Maybe they could be Teenage Alien Interstellar Ninja Turtles?”

We’ll find out when the movie is slated to be released Christmas 2013.

*Update: After ScreenRant posted about the new TMNT origins storyline the interwebs cried for Michael Bay’s blood. Michael Bay actually responded with the following statement:

“Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of [Teenage Mutant] Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.”

[Via Reddit, ScreenRant and SuperHero Hype]

The End of Days approaches…. Diablo III will be unleashed from the Burning Hells on May 15, 2012. Beginning May 15, players around the world will be able to return to Tristram to discover the dark secrets of a fallen star and begin their quest to save Sanctuary from the impending demonic invasion.

[Via battle.net]

What am I talking about? Bitmap images. When quadrupled in size to look nice on the hi-res screen, bitmaps bloat the apps containing them. For example, iMovie for iOS jumps from a merely large 70MB to a terrifying 404MB. That 16GB iPad is starting to look a little small, right?

[Via Cult of Mac]