stories

Flipboard is a must-have newsreader and social network hub that lets you organize the info you want to look at, then flip through it like you would a magazine. The latest version of the app for iOS lets you create custom magazines from the sources you like most so you can browse through your favorite topics, share your magazine with others, or find magazines about topics you're interested in created by other users.

Get started by creating an account with Flipboard, then sign in to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. You also have the option to connect with your … Read more

Thirst for iOS had already been out for a few months, giving us a new way to view Twitter by organizing tweets into categories so you could read them in a sort of digest. But the latest version takes this news aggregator to a whole new level, scouring the entire Web for content, then displaying it in categories that are easy to browse.

What makes Thirst a compelling alternative to other newsreaders like Flipboard is that it doesn't just give you the latest story to hit a particular RSS feed. Instead, it uses a complex algorithm to perform a … Read more

The original "Toy Story" took years and $30 million to produce, but a pair of enterprising filmmakers have created a live-action tribute to the Pixar classic with a few toys picked up at the local toy store.

Filmmakers Jonason Pauley and Jesse Perrotta began working on their remake of the 1995 animated children's movie in 2010 and posted the fruit of two and a half years of work yesterday on YouTube. In less than 24 hours, the 80-minute-long movie, titled simply "Live Action Toy Story," has become an Internet sensation, attracting more than a quarter … Read more

It starts with two empty rooms, but with your creative efforts becomes your dream home. Home Design Story is an iOS game that lets you experience all the joy and pain of interior and exterior home design. While it's offered free of charge, you will need to earn coins and gems to purchase items and the process can be a little slow. You may be tempted to spend your own money to speed up the process.

Home Design Story requires two things from the player: creativity and spare time to play. The game is centered around buying items from … Read more

This app offers one of the easiest and most effective ways to combine multiple photos into one work of art. If you want to combine some smartphone pictures but don't have the editing chops, then PicStory is for you. It gives you enough effects to add a nice touch of personality and even has a fun social networking element.

The app offers hundreds of combinations of frames, borders, and animations for you to choose from. You can unlock even more by downloading a few affiliated apps, but you probably won't need any more options. PicStory's photo editor … Read more

TeamLava's popular Story series of virtual-world games differ from the sort of free mobile games that typically involve zombies, weapons, and monster trucks. Instead, in TeamLava's life sims players build and develop things, such as farms, businesses, and careers. It was with a sense of relief that we sampled Fashion Story, which might as well be called Fashion Store since its premise is that you're managing a popular boutique.

You must shop for merchandise, stock your store, and cater to customers, including some who might be your friends in real life, since the Story series has great … Read more

Free farm sims are some of the most popular games in any format. Millions play them online, and more and more users are also playing them on the go, thanks to compact versions optimized for smartphone displays and controls. TeamLava's Story series includes the hugely popular Farm Story, now updated with a Halloween-themed edition, Farm Story: Halloween. Despite the Halloween decorations, your job as a farmer remains the same as it is in the basic game, or for real farmers, for that matter: Grow produce, tend your livestock, and improve your property. But your animals are wearing Halloween costumes, … Read more

Facebook has won preliminary approval of a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed over the social network's use of members' names and images in advertising.

Under the settlement's terms, Facebook agreed to pay $10 to each user who objected to being included in the social network's "Sponsored Stories" advertisements, as well to initiate user controls that allow people to be excluded from the program.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said today that the settlement "has no obvious deficiencies" and "appears to be the product of serious" negotiations between lawyers … Read more

It looks like Judge Richard Seeborg may be turning a corner in the lawsuit over Facebook's "sponsored stories" feature. He said today that he would review the social network's second settlement offer and would issue a ruling "very shortly," according to Reuters.

The crux of the case focuses on Facebook's use of advertising in its sponsored stories. The original five plaintiffs, which aimed at representing more than 100 million members in a class-action suit, claimed the social network violated users' right to privacy by publicizing their "likes" in advertisements without asking … Read more