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The technology lab behind a Kickstarter-funded project to build a portable device-charging station announced today that it will refund its crowdfunded $139,170 to donors after Apple refused to license rights to its Lightning connector.

POP, a minimalist portable power station, was billed as "the intersection of charging design" and was expected to feature four retractable cords for charging a variety of devices, including iOS and Android devices. The portable charging station featured a 26,000 mAh battery capable of charging 10 iPhones, according to Junior Edison, the company behind the effort.

In addition to its portable convenience, … Read more

For those of you with a dirty wit, please lend me some patience before you fly off the rails when I say that a group of NASA interns made a "Gangnam Style" parody named "NASA Johnson Style."

Wondering what's with the song name? Well, NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center houses educational programs for interns and students aspiring to progress further into the field of space science. The eclectic group of youths created a parody video that plays off Psy's "Gangam Style" in a geeky way by amusingly attempting to "inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center," says a related video description. … Read more

Expensive in-home Internet service may soon be a thing of the past, at least if FreedomPop has anything to say about it.

The startup, backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, today said it's now taking preorders for its FreedomPop Hub Burst home modem that allows users to access the high-speed Internet for free.

The company noted that the device, available for an $89 deposit, will ship next month. If a user decides to turn off the service within the first year, he or she can return the modem to FreedomPop and receive the deposit back. There are no contracts … Read more

Look at your smartphone case. If it's plastic or rubber, it's way behind the times, man. You might agree with that sentiment after seeing PopSlate, an innovative iPhone 5 case with a rear 4-inch e-ink screen currently making waves on Indiegogo.

True to its name, PopSlate offers a customizable slate -- sort of like a second screen -- that enables the owner to display any picture(s) on the iPhone as a black and white image on the back of the phone case. To change images, owners can tap the back of the phone twice, or alter a pic through the related PopSlate app. … Read more

Released yesterday, Adblock Plus for Android offers a no-nonsense way to completely remove ads from your mobile computing experience. Simply download and install the app, and let it run behind the scenes. From there, you should notice that display ads, video ads, push notifications, and even many in-app ads are no more.

So far, I've seen AdBlock Plus kill ads on several Web sites, including Google, and within the ad-supported Pandora app. According to its developers, though, AdBlock Plus does not work when browsing with Firefox for Android, since Firefox does not support Android's system proxy settings.

Adblock … Read more

Questions answered on today's episode of The 404 Show:

- What's the point of having an LCD screen and buttons on my credit card?

- What comes in the Nintendo Wii U box, why do people love unboxing videos so much, and why does my brain feel like it's being massaged? Side note: ASMR Subreddit

- What's the history of Goatse.cx and how can I use it to ruin everyone's day?

- How can I sucker someone into giving me free money for the holidays?… Read more

Plants vs Zombies is one of the most popular games on the Windows, iPhone, and iPad platforms, and now it's on the Mac. The goal of Plants vs Zombies is to stop zombies from marching across your lawn or roof and eating you. To defend yourself you have to put various plants in their way, each plant having special skills. Plants vs Zombies installs easily.

The plants in Plants vs Zombies get laid out on a grid. Some plants shoot peas, which injure zombies, some plants eat zombies, and so on. There's about a dozen different plants that … Read more