Just install the aptly-named "suicide knob" and you won't have to worry about your hand position:

See the realities of comercial air travel baggage handleing first hand, download a leaked version of Facebook Messanger for Windows, and listen to the most streamed songs of 2011 on Spotify.

• See How Your Luggage Travels From Its Point of View: The video by Delta Air Lines shows the journey from Atlanta to New York with a camera mounted in a suitcase. [swissmiss]
• Facebook Messenger Available for Windows: A download of the Windows client for Facebook messenger has been leaked, but it is only compatible with Windows 7. [The Verge]
• Spotify Shares The Top 10 Most Streamed Songs from 2011: The streaming music service has put together a playlist of the top 100 songs from 2011. [Mashable]
• Verizon Will Start Charging You $2 When You Pay Your Bill Online: Starting next month Verizon will begin charging a "convenience fee" for clients who pay online without enrolling in automated monthly payments. [Consumer Reports]
• No SOPA Identifies Websites Owned by SOPA Supporters: The Chrome extension displays a banner when you visit a site owned by a company on the SOPA supporter list (.PDF link). [gHacks.net]
• CyanogenMod Preps a Custom Music Player for Android 4.0: The music player will be a standard part of the CyanogenMod ROM for Ice Cream Sandwich, and it will be packed with unique features like custom shake actions and notifications. [The Verge]

Some common goods and services will see some big price increases in the new year, a dedicated Facebook Timeline app for iPad is coming next month, and Windows computeres will join the Thunderbolt party in 2012.

• You Will Probably Have to Pay More for This Stuff in 2012: Airfare, food, and data are a few of the things that Consumer Reports think will have significant price increases in 2012. [Consumer Reports]
• Facebook Timeline Is Getting an iPad App: Sometime in January a dedicated Facebook Timeline app will bring full compatibility and customizations to the iPad. [Mashable]
• Thunderbolt Connections Coming to Windows PCs in 2012: The high-speed data connection pioneered by Apple will be available on Windows computers in the first half of 2012. [Ars Technica]
• The FAA Doesn't Even Know Why You Can't Use Portable Electronic Devices During Takeoff: A report claims that there is no serious electromagnetic interference emitted by Kindles and that the FAA's reasoning behind the ban does not add up. [The New York Times Bits Blog]
• Remind Your Collaborators About Your Shared Evernote Notebooks: You can now send emails to collaborators from the settings page of your shared notebooks to remind people that they have an invitation or inform them of added content. [Evernote Blog]
• A Podcast Showcasing Mobile Apps for Children: The new episode of the Apps For Kids podcast, from the folks behind Boing Boing, covers the platformer game Robot Wants Kitty. [Boing Boing]

A build of Android 4.0 is available for the Kindle Fire, GoDaddy is no longer listed as a SOPA supporter, and see if you'll miss any of the top tech products that died in 2011.

• Ice Cream Sandwich Running on the Kindle Fire: A pre-alpha build of Android 4.0 is running on the tablet, though there are several bugs that developers are still working on. [BGR]
• GoDaddy Removed from the U.S. Congress' List of SOPA Supporters: While the damage may already be done to the registrar, GoDaddy is no longer included on the updated list of SOPA supporters provided by the U.S. government. [Neowin.net]
• 10 Tech Products that Didn't Survive 2011: Macworld lists the products and services that called it quits in 2011 that you might grow to miss in 2012. [Macworld]
• Android 4.0 Might Be Coming to Galaxy Devices After All: Samsung has back-tracked on their stance about not releasing Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab and are reevaluating the internal effort needed release the updates. [BGR]
• Kill Some End-of-the-Year Downtime With YouTube Slam: The game is simple; just vote for your favorite of two videos in various categories to earn points on the leaderboards. [YouTube Blog]
• Christmas Sees Almost Seven Million New Android and iOS Device Activations: Market research firm Flurry reports that 6.8 million new phones and tablets were activated on Christmas, and that over 250 millions apps were downloaded. [Flurry Blog]

Dropbox will implement instant uploads for photos, soon your credit score may be affected by your Facebook profile, and offline reading comes to Google Books.

• Dropbox Will Add Instant Upload Feature for Photo Importing: The feature, currently in beta, will allow for simple uploading of pictures from your smartphone or memory card to the cloud. [gHacks Technology News]
• Social Networks May Influence Your Credit Scores: Financial institutions and credit agencies are looking into ways to use your social network profiles to gauge your credit risk. [Neowin.net]
• Google Books Supports Offline Reading in Chrome: You can now read with the Google Books app for Chrome without an internet connection. [The Digital Reader]
• Smartphones Are Killing Point-and-Shoot Cameras: A new NPD study shows that 27% of all pictures taken in the U.S. in 2011 were taken with a smartphone, and pocket camera sales have shrunk nearly 20%. [Electronista]
• Amazon Opens Digital "Best Of" Store: You can visit Amazon's new Best of Digital page to see all of the top downloads across all Amazon's digital offerings in once place. [ReadWriteWeb]
• Reddit Users Launch Boycott of GoDaddy Because of SOPA Support: The call to boycott GoDaddy, the only domain registrar on the House's list of SOPA supporters, gains supporters. [Wired Threat Level]

You can now use Evernote Clearly with Firefox, T-mobile talks about how they used Carrier IQ, and you can manually update your Kindle Fire's software.

• Evernote's Article Reading Tool Available for Firefox: Evernote Clearly, a Read-It-Later type browser extension, is now available for Firefox in addition to Chrome. [Evernote Blog]
• T-Mobile Comes Clean About Its Carrier IQ Usage: T-Mobile reports that only nine phone models had any Carrier IQ software installed, and those phones that did used a less powerful version of the tracking software. [GigaOM]
• Force Your Kindle Fire to Update Without a PC: You can manually copy the update files to your Fire over USB, but if you don't want to hook up to a PC you can use an Android file manager app instead. [GigaOM]
• A Galaxy Nexus Software Update Will Address Weak Signal Issues: Verizon will release a software update to make the phone's signal strength display more accurate. [Computer World]
• Mozilla Email Client Thunderbird 9 is Available for Download: The update provides security fixes and some other behind the scenes improvements; download it here. [gHacks Technology News]
• CCleaner Update Plays Nice with Google Chrome Canary: You can now use the system cleaning tool to tidy-up your system, including Chrome Canary's associated files and information. [Techdowns]

The NFL will stream the Super Bowl for the first time, Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire root access is broken by software updates, and Google Music has lots of discounted MP3s.

Photo remixed from an original by hyku

• Watch the Super Bowl Streaming Live Online: The biggest television event of the year will be streamed online to NBCSorts.com, NFL.com, and the Verizon Wireless mobile apps for iOS and Android. [SiliconFilter]
• Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet Software Updates Break Root Access: Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have updated their tablet's software to remove root access, and the Nook Tablet has also lost the ability to sideload apps. [Android Police]
• Google Music Downloads On Sale: You can pick from hundreds of thousands of albums discounted to $4.99 and millions of individual tracks for $0.49 at the Android Market Music Store. [Android Market]
• Apple Discounts Your Season Passes to TV Shows: "Complete My Season Pass" is a new option in the iTunes store to purchase a discounted Season Pass if you have already purchased individual episodes of the show. [Mac World]
• Buy a Kindle at Amazon and Get Free Two Day Shipping: Amazon is providing free two day shipping on all Kindles purchased before 8pm Wednesday, 12/2. [Mashable]
• Major Hard Drive Manufactures Will Reduce Warranty Periods: Both Seagate and Western Digital will shorten the warranties on certain drive models next year as their supply chains are increasingly constrained by the floods in Thailand. [New York Times Bits Blog]
• Send a Custom Video from Santa: Google now lets you create a personalized animated video from Santa to share via email and Google+. [The Official Gmail Blog]

AT&T has to pay the penalties for their failed merger attempt, you can draw and send doodles with Gmail, and Skype gives the gift of free Wi-Fi.

• AT&T Cancels Its T-Mobile Merger Plans: AT&T has withdrawn its takeover bid for T-mobile due to opposition by the U.S. government, and AT&T will pay a Three Million dollars penalty to T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom. [Ars Technica]
• Scribbles Come to the Gmail Web Client: You can now draw simple picture and diagrams in Gmail right from your web browser. [Official Gmail Blog]
• Skype Provides Free Wi-Fi for the Holidays: If you travel between December 21st and 27th you can use free Wi-Fi access provided by Skype in participating U.S. airports. [Skype Blog]
• Trade in Your Old Verizon Phone for Credit Towards a New Model: The trade-in program is available in 11 states and will give you a gift card for the value of your old phone. [The Consumerist]
• MIT Expanding its Free Online Course Resources: In addition to thousands of courses worth of materials already available online MIT will develop and release open source software to manage your online learning. [Computer World]
• Avoid ATM Transaction Fees by Watching Ads: Free ATMs NYC is installing thousands of independent ATMs across the country that play video advertisements before completing your transactions instead of charging you a fee. [Consumer Reports]

Nexus S phones get updated with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Sprint kills Carrier IQ on its phones, and you can use Siri to get Best Buy product information.

• Nexus S Phones Getting Ice Cream Sandwich Update: The over-the-air update has started rolling out to Nexus S owners today. [The Verge]
• Sprint Has Disabled Carrier IQ on Its Devices: Sprint has stopped collecting data from Carrier IQ-equipped phones, and they have asked their manufacturers to remove the code from devices built for the Sprint network. [Mobile Burn]
• Use Siri to Get Product Information from Best Buy: Now that Wolfram Alpha has added Best Buy's product database to their search you can use Siri to ask questions about products carried by Best Buy. [RazorianFly]
• Free Online Training Available for Android Developers: Android Training has free web-based classes to help get developers started building Android apps. [Android Developers]
• How Windows 8's Photo Password Feature Works: The Window 8 developers provide an in-depth look at the math behind Windows 8's unique photograph-based passwords. [Building Windows 8]

American households produce millions of tons of extra trash during the holidays, the ACLU warns about drones encroaching on our freedoms, and Internet Explorer will get auto-updates in the new year.

• Millons of Tons of Extra Waste Is Generated During the Holidays: Click on the infographic on the right by JayJayPowPow to see a break down of just how much extra trash American households produce during the holidays. [www.jayjaypowpow.com]
• The ACLU Warns that Drones Could Be the Next Step in a Surveillance State: The American Civl Liberties Union's new report (PDF link) calls on the government to use UAV surveillance only when they are investigating a specific crime and to not allow "routine aerial surveillance of American life." [New York Time Bits Blog]
• Internet Explorer Will Auto-Update in 2012: Starting in January, IE8 and IE9 will feature automatic updates much like Chrome and Firefox. [The Verge]
• Schemer Gets an Android App: Google's new activity recommendation and tracking service Schemer (get your beta invites here) is now available on the Android Market. [Android Police]
• It Is Now Easier to Share Notes on Evernote for Android: You now have finer control over sharing notes and notebooks from the Android app; the update also brings some performance and UI tweaks. [Evernote Blog]
• Control Your Roku Box from Your iPhone: You can now use an iOS app to control your Roku streaming set top box, including viewing guide information, and controls for all existing Roku services. [electronista]

Google crowdsources its mapping efforts, the Galaxy Nexus phone is available tomorrow, and Google+ Hangouts gets several new functions and mobile support.

• Goolge Map Maker Tools Available for Everyone: Anyone can now use the editing tools in Google Map Maker add details, like hiking trails, campus maps, and updated route information to Google's map database. [ReadWriteWeb]
• The Galaxy Nexus Phone Available Tomorrow: Tomorrow you will be able to score Google's new flagship Android phone on the Verizon network for $299 with a two year contract. [The Verge]
• Google+ Hangouts Are Coming to Mobile Apps: In addition to improvements made in how you start and join Hangouts on the web, the group video chat feature will soon be available on the Google+ Android and iOS apps. [The Official Google Blog]
• Netflix on the iPad Gets a New Interface: The Netflix experience on your iPad is now easier to navigate and closer to the design of the Android app. [Slashgear]
• Google Translate gets Handwriting Recognition: You can use your Android device to translate a picture of text in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. [Android Police]
• iPads Are a Hit in the NFL: Wired takes an in-depth look at the ways several NFL teams are using iPads, from reviewing game film to replacing play books. [Wired]
• UrbanSpoon Lets You Check In to Restaurants Now Too: The restaurant recommendation app UrbanSpoon has added a check in feature so you can record and track all your favorite lunch spots. [MakeUseOf]

Electronic device use by drivers comes under fire by the Federal government, Amazon gives you more time to get free shipping on Christmas gifts, and the FAA may allow for iPad use by flight crews for entire flights.

Photo remixed from an original by p.Gordon

• U.S. Government Recommends Total Ban on Cell Phones While Driving: The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended a ban on the use of all personal electronic devices while driving because of safety concerns. [The Verge]
• Amazon Extends Deadline for Christmas Deliveries: You now have until December 19th to have your Amazon purchases delivered by Christmas via free Super Saver Shipping. [Reuters]
• FAA May Allow iPads Use for Whole Flights on Friday: If the FAA gives the final go-ahead on Friday, Commercial flight crews could start using their iPads for all aspects of flights from flight plans, to charting, to flight manuals. [electronista]
• Microsoft Patches Windows Against the Duqu Worm: A patch to close the vulnerabilities exploited by the Dugu virus has been issues by Microsoft and is available as a Windows update. [Ars Technica]
• Hollywood Studios Exposed as Pirates: An investigation of BitTorrent traffic has revealed significant pirate downloads have occurred at nearly every major Hollywood media company. [Torrent Freak]
• Get Your Twitter Direct Messages in Your Email: A new web service will enable POP3 access to your Twitter direct messages. [eight22er]

The FBI denies the release of information about their use of Carrier IQ, Wikipedia founder asks for input about a site-wide blackout, and the Kindle Fire will get a pre-Christmas software update to improve performance.

• The FBI May be Using Carrier IQ for "Law Enforcement Purposes": A Freedom of Information Act request for information about the cell phone logging software by Carrier IQ resulted in a denial by the FBI to release documents because of an ongoing investigation. [MuckRock]
• Wikipedia May Go Dark to Protest SOPA: The "Stop Online Piracy Act," or SOPA, will be voted on this week, and James Whales wants to turn off Wikipedia to protest what amounts to censorship. [Torrent Freak]
• Software Update for the Kindle Fire Due Before Christmas: The update should fix performance issues and make privacy improvements in the Android tablet when it is released sometime over the next two weeks. [electronista]
• A Study On Browser Security Finds Chrome The Most Secure: The independently conducted, but commissioned by Google, study found that Firefox was even less secure than Internet Explorer. [Forbes]
• Lightbox for Android Updated to Take on Tumblr: You can use the updated Android app to create an automatically updated photo-blog filled with the pictures you snap with your phone. [TechCrunch]
• Screenshots of the Windows 8 App Store were Leaked: The screen shots show the "Windows Store" interface and the new download manager. [Winrumors]
• A Look at the New Fonts in iBooks: Learn about the history and design of the new typeface options from last week's iBooks update. [Boing Boing]
• CyanogenMod No Longer Supporting the Samsung Vibrant Because of 911 Calling Restrictions: The source code for the Vibrant Android phone restricts what services can call 911, and due to these safety concerns the CyanogenMod team is no longer supporting the phone. [CyanogenMod Forum]

I had to make some choices in the apps to include, and unfortunately News360 and Pulse didn't make the cut even though I like both of those apps a lot. I just felt they were too close to RSS readers and didn't have enough of the digital magazine flavor that the others did.

I haven't looked into Flud, I will check that out.

Thumbing through the newspaper over your morning coffee and a few minutes of chitchat at the water cooler used to be all it took to stay up-to-date on your world. Now we're faced with a constant flow of information from the internet that often feels overwhelming. The crop of iOS apps dedicated to bringing you a curated, customizable, and attractive stream of content is one way to combat the information overload. Much more than simple RSS readers, these digital digest apps cull stories from across the web and your social networks and wrap them into an iPad friendly and design-forward package. Here's a look at the best options.

(If you just want to hear which we liked best, go ahead and jump down to the end.)

Flipboard: The First on the Scene

Flipboard (iTunes) is the most well-known of the digital digests, and it was considered one of the iPad's first killer apps. Flipboard pioneered the mixing of social networks and news outlets using a slick visual design; it was even named on of the The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 by Time Magazine.

The Good: Your Social Networks Have Never Looked so Good

Flipboard has a great user-interface and visual design. It turns your iPad into a gorgeous glossy magazine filled with pictures of your friend's babies and professional photojournalists' best work. Images fill the iPad's screen and the type is crisp and clean. This eye-candy appeal makes the app a real virtual-page turner that will have you saying "just one more flip" until way past your bedtime.

If the strength of the Flipboard's visuals are its biggest draw, it's the way the app merges your social feeds into the stream of traditional content that keeps you coming back. Flipboard's presentation of tweets as pull-quotes scattered among the headlines and images of the stories linked to by your contacts is a welcome improvement on Twitter's linear stream.

The Bad: Lots of Style, Could Use More Substance

Flipboard focuses on your social networks when building your digital digest, but it also allows you to add in sections of traditional web content feeds. These feeds are generated through Twitter streams, and as a result you are often presented with only the first paragraph of a story and have to click-through to the source site to complete the reading. The sudden change from Flipbord's clean design to the uneven quality of the outgoing link is often jarring.

Besides causing the uneven presentation, the source of a story also limits the way you are able to share that story; if you want to share a story from Twitter you can only tweet about it. Likewise with Facebook stories; there is no simple way of tweeting a link that originated in Facebook.

Update: Looks like I was mistaken. Flipboard has clarified that you can cross-post Twitter stories to Facebook and vise versa. This blog post explains what I missed.

The Verdict: A Showcase App for the iPad

Flipboard was the first digital digest on the scene and it is one of the most visually appealing UIs on the iPad. The app engages you with your social networks in a new and very enjoyable way, and it deserves a spot on everyone's iPad. However, the limits to sharing the content feel awkward and dated and the limited sources for outside content focus Flipboard more on your social networks and less on news stories.

Zite: It Knows What You Want

Like Flipboard, Zite (iTunes) merges your Twitter feed with curated web content, and it allows you to add in your Google Reader feeds for more material. The app's hook is that it learns your reading habits using algorithms developed by the University of British Columbia's Laboratory for Computational Intelligence and suggests articles that you will like . Zite monitors which articles you read and how long you spend on each type of article so the learning process is more transparent than using manual thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons (though those are available).

The Good: Good Looks and Great Content

Zite's presentation is a midpoint between Flipboard's design-nerd look and Google Reader's utilitarian layout, and the app is intuitive and beautiful. There is rarely the confusion of UI elements that the other digital digest apps can exhibit. Once you've added content categories flipping through the stories feels natural.

Zite's user interface is second only to the AI-driven recommendations as the app's best feature. Whatever voodoo is going on behind the scenes is impressive, and after just a day or two of using the app you will be presented with compelling articles that you didn't know you wanted to read. A simple customization panel slides out from the right side and allows you to further tune the app's selections.

Once Zite has shown you some great blog-post or news story there are numerous ways to share the story. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are represented, as well as popular web services like Instapaper, Read It Later, Evernote, and Delicious.

The Bad: Needs More Social Content

One glaring omission from Zite's stable of sources is Facebook, and it doesn't showcase the tweets of your Twitter connections the way that Flipboard does. This makes the app more of a news-aggregater and less of a way to interact with your social networks. Zite was acquired by CNN earlier this year, and while they news network hasn't made any changes to the app some think this loss of Independence will hurt Zite down the road.

The Verdict: A Great Way to Get Your News

If you want to see all your friends tweets and Facebook updates in your digital digest, Zite is not be the best choice. The great recommendation algorithm makes ii the best at providing you with always interesting content, and there are numerous ways to share this content. Zite is my most used app on the iPad, and it is the first thing I open when I have a little time to kill on the couch.

Editions by AOL: The Digital Magazine

Editions (iTunes), AOL's entry into the digital digest space, takes the virtual news magazine concept a step further with its presentation and by making it possible to read the app "cover to cover." Editions only updates its content once per day; once you select which topics you would like the app downloads all the articles chosen by its algorithms, indexes them, and makes them available for off-line reading. When you have completed the 100-or-so pages of the edition you are done until the next day (or you manually refresh).

The Good: Offline Reading and Novel Design

Edition's strongest feature is the off-line reading capabilities, and for someone who is often without a data connection but still wants to have tailored content available throughout the day, like subway commuters, it is perfect. You can customize the app's color pallet and create a black-list for sources you don't want Editions to pull from.

The sharing options in Editions are better than Flipboard, and while not as comprehensive as Zite's options all the major services are covered. The app also has some fun extras like a weather report on the cover and a horoscope feature at the "end" of each edition.

The Bad: A Laggy Interface and Lots of Ads

Editions' user interface feels a little like Jekyll and Hyde. Visually the app is close to Zite and Flipboard's design, but the UI feels sluggish and often stutters and flickers when navigating. Articles you select are opened as a web page in the app's internal browser, and you get a jolt when the app transitions from the clean design of its pages to the often cluttered design of the source's web page (complete with ads).

The sluggishness and uneven presentation can be jarring, but more jarring is the app's large and interactive ads. It is too easy to trigger an advertisement while trying to navigate past it, and this can result in videos or 3D animations playing. When you consider all the ads you also see while reading the content, Editions is easily the most ad-dense of the digital digests.

The Verdict: Try It, You Might Love It

The developers did a commendable job of making the app feel like you are reading a digital magazine. This makes the slowness of the UI and the frequency of advertisements breaking up the reading experience more glaring than they might otherwise be. The variety of ways to share articles and the offline reading feature can make up for a lot of the app's shortcomings, and it is worth trying out if you have a Wi-Fi iPad and spend time reading without a Wi-Fi network.

Livestand: New to the Party

Livestand (iTunes) is Yahoo's horse in the digital digest race, and like AOL Editions it uses a network of content providers to populate your reading list. While it lacks the quantity of sources that the other options offer, Livestand has an attractive presentation and lots of options to tailor the available content just the way you want it.

The Good: A Unified Visual Design

Livestand presents articles in a simple way that is not jarring or distracting, and it is the most visually consistent of the digital digest apps. Instead being unsure if you will see the story you select reformatted or if you'll be taken to the source's web page, Livestand always smoothly transitions to an attractively formatted article that matches the style of the app. This seems like a small thing, but it makes the whole reading experience feel more natural and seamless.

The Bad: Lots of Little Issues

Livestand doesn't have a single fault that makes it hard to recommend, but a combination of smaller issues make it feel unpolished. Though the app has over 100 content partners, its selection of sources doesn't have the breadth of Zite or Flipboard, and Livestand feels much more limited in the viewpoints it presents. The app's performance isn't as choppy and distracting as Editions, but it also doesn't have the snap of Flipboard. Sharing articles is limited to email and Facebook, and you must use a landscape orientation when using the app where the competing apps are more flexible.

The Verdict: Immature, but Promising

While there were no terrible problems with Livestand, there were enough little issues that the app seems cumbersome and unfinished. The article layouts look great, even better than Flipboard in a lot of cases, but the limited content and poor sharing options put it at the bottom of the list. The app was only released in November, and with some updates the app could be a serious contender.

Currents: Google Joins the Party

The new kid on the block, Currents (iTunes), is Google's long awaited Digital Digest app, and it launched with a deep catalog of content providers and some nice features. Currents links to your Google account and is available across iOS and Android devices.

The Good: Your News, Now With Video

The feature that separates Currents from the pack is a well organized Trending Topics section with video support. Trending Topics is broken up into tabs; the "Stories" tab is a scrolling feed of popular topics in eight different categories. Once you select a topic you are shown all the sources reporting on that topic, and this is a nice way to get some different perspectives on one story. The "User Generated" tab has pages of YouTube videos related to the topic to flip through. Currents is the only digital digest to include video content and it is such a natural feature for tablet computers that I am surprised it is not more common in the digital digets.

Currents also allows you to read content offline. Read items are synced to your Google account; a nice touch if you do your reading on multiple devices.

The Bad: Rough Around the Edges

The attractive user interface has some rough edges, and it feels clunky to use. Often images for a topic appear overly-enlarged and pixelated, and the mass of images that appear on top of topic pages are a chaotic jumble. Sometimes you navigate with up-and-down scrolling and other times with left-and-right scrolling, and this causes a low-level confusion that persists while you flip through the app.

There are plenty of ways to share content you find, but oddly Google+ posting is missing. You can +1 a story, but there is no way to share it with your circles from the iOS app. I also ran into some bugs when sharing articles with some sources where the actual link would not appear in the email or tweet.

The relevancy of Currents' recommendations and user generated content is often way off base; a lot of topics will recommend other stories that are only tangentially related at best. The accuracy of these recommendations should improve as the app matures, but right now they can be more distracting that useful.

The Verdict: Not Ready for Primetime

Google's addition of video and the leveraging of their search and aggregation technology set Currents apart from the crowd. The app is just a few days old however, and there are some improvements and fixes that need to be made before it is a real challenger to Flipboard's attractive interface and Zite's content delivery and sharing.

What's the Best Digital Digest Application?

Predictably, the choice boils down to your personal preference, and what you are looking to get out of this style of app. Flipboard is the best alternative way to stay up to date on your Twitter and Facebook feeds, but it's limited sharing options and smaller pool of content sources mean it isn't the best choice if you want to read more articles than tweets.

The app I choose to give precious iPad dock space too is Zite. It is currently the best bet if you want a practically endless stream of articles delivered to you plus the best tools to share content with your friends. Add in the ability to specify RSS feeds to add to your digest and Zite's uncanny learning abilities and the app is easy to recommend to any iPad user.

WebOS becomes an HP-backed open source project, London cabbies' brains are altered by on-the-job training, and Google makes using your phone to find local movie times better.

• HP Will Convert WebOS into an Open Source Project: HP will continue to work on development of the platform, and the source code will be available for the community to help build the mobile OS. [Slashgear]
• Driving a Taxi in London Rewires Cabbie's Brains: A study of London cabbies finds that the grueling multiyear process of learning the city's streets and landmarks makes structural changes to the driver's brains. [Wired Science]
• Google Mobile Helps You Find Movies to Watch: When you use your mobile device to search Google for movies or local theaters the results will include show-times, plot synopsis, and rating information. [Google Mobile Blog]
• Have Personal Computer Interfaces Become Too Friendly: This opinion piece from tech blog The Verge makes the case that all the rounded corners, drop-shadows, and pretty colors are condescending to users and just slowing us down. [The Verge]
• Avoid Free Web Services to Ensure Your Favorites Stay Around: The makers of Pinboard, a social bookmarking site, argues that too many free services fail because they are unsustainable and that if you really love a site and the service they provide then you should be paying for it. [Pinboard Blog]
• Gear Up Your Custom Android Avatar for the Winter: The new update for Andoirdify, the just-for-fun avatar maker, gets all new winter-themed clothes and accessories. [Google Mobile Blog]

Google's new Carousel View makes image search on tablets more enjoyable, AT&T slows the connections of their top iPhone-using data consumers, and Nintendo 3DS gets free Wi-Fi in airports.

• Google Adds Carousel View for Image Search on Tablets: The new carousel view for Google image searches lets you swipe through results in a fast, clutter-free interface. [Google Mobile Blog]
• AT&T Implements Throttling Policy for iPhone Data Users: AT&T subscribers who are among the top 5% of data users are having their data speeds reduced to 2G speeds for the remainder of their billing cycles. [Cult of Mac]
• Nintendo 3DS Owners Get Free Airport Wi-Fi: Thanks to a partnership with Wi-Fi provider Boingo you will be able to use your Nintendo 3DS handheld on Wi-Fi networks in 42 U.S. airports for free. [Venture Beat]
• Groupon Schedule Lets You Make Appointments for Your Deals: For select Groupon deals you will be able to make an appointment for the discounted services from the Groupon page when you purchase the deal. [ReadWriteWeb]
• There Is No Way to Opt-Out of Microsofts New Xbox Terms of Use: Unlike previous agreements from Microsoft, the Terms of Use for the newest Xbox360 Dashboard update does not have an opt-out clause, and by agreeing you forfeit your rights to join a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft. [Ars Technica]
• T-Mobile Gets YouMail Removed from the Android Market: Visual voicemail app YouMail, and competitor to T-Mobiles own voicemail app, was the subject of a T-Mobile complaint that alleged the app could compromise users devices, and the app was pulled from the Android Market by Google. [GigaOM]

Android's many software versions and best devices are detailed, The U.S. DOJ looks at ebook pricing, and a vulnerability in Adobe Reader leads to malware infections.

• Android's Three Year History Covered in Pictures and Videos: Check out the comprehensive look back at all the versions of the Android OS and the hardware it has run on. [The Verge]
• U.S. Department of Justice Looking into Ebook Pricing: An investigation on price-fixing in the ebook industry has been ongoing for a year, and Apple, Amazon, Google, and the major publishers are all being investigated for antitrust violations. [The Wall Street Journal]
• Malware Infections Caused by Adobe Reader Vulnerability: Hackers are exploiting a bug in Adobe Reader to install malware on Windows computers; Adobe hopes to have the issue patched next week. [Mac World]
• The Kindle App for Android Now Supports PDF Files: You can open and read PDF files from the Kindle ebook reading app on your Android phone, but there is no highlighting, editing, or annotation capabilities in the app. [The Digital Reader]
• Google+ on Android Updated: The Andorid app gets better photo upload support, better integration with Messenger, and the ability to +1 pictures and comments. [Android and Me]
• Supermarket Self-Checkout Lanes Contain Card Skimmers: More than 20 Lucky Supermarkets in California have seen hackers employ card skimmers in the self-checkout lanes to access customers bank accounts and withdraw funds. [Ars Technica]

AT&T is again awarded the dubious title of the worst in customer satisfaction, Google's Galaxy Nexus phone is expected to launch on Verizon on Friday, but Google Wallet will not be available on the phone at launch.

• AT&T Rated Lowest in Consumer Reports Survey: For the second year AT&T was ranked the worst for customer satisfaction in a survey of online subscribers while Verizon scored the highest. [Consumer Reports]
• The U.S. Launch of the Galaxy Nexus Could be Friday: While there is no official word on the smartphone's U.S. launch several signs and rumors point to it being available on Verizon Wireless on Friday December 9th for around $299. [Android and Me]
• Google Wallet Is Not Compatible with Verizon Galaxy Nexus: Google's mobile payment app will not be available on the flagship smartphone when it is released by Verizon Wireless because Verizon is working with AT&T and T-Mobile to develop a Google Wallet competitor. [Computer World]
• Android Devices Are Made Less Secure by Manufacturers' Custom User Interfaces: The trend with Android phone manufacturers to customize the stock Android UI with their own app launchers and home screens can actually make it easier for third-party apps to compromise a device's security. [Wired Gadget Lab]
• Facebook Bug Exposed User's Private Photos: Before it was fixed this morning, a bug in the Facebook image reporting tool allowed anyone to view the albums and photos marked as "private" by their owners, even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's. [Neowin.net]
• Apple's Card App Updated with Small Improvements: Apple's greeting and thank you card app was updated to version 1.0.1 with better text entry and a smoother check-out process. [Mac World]

An illicit version of Siri for the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch is more trouble that it's worth, Google helps you with your math homework, and Cox subscribers can watch (some) live TV on their iPads.

• Hackers Bring Siri to iPhone 4 and iPod Touch: Chinese hackers have released a mostly-functional and very dangerous port of Siri called H1Siri that uses stolen code and could send your personal data to their servers. [MacNN]
• Google Adds Graphing Feature to Search: You can now enter a mathematical function into the Google search and the results will contain an interactive graph of the function. [Google Inside Search]
• Cox Communications' Brings Live TV Viewing to iPads: While currently limited to only 35 channels, Cox subscribers can use the new app to watch live content on their iPads while connected to their home networks. [GigaOM]
• Rdio Add Private Listening Mode to Facebook: Following suit with Spotify, Rdio has added a way to disable sharing what you are listening to with Facebook and Last.fm. [Rdio Blog]
• Location Sharing Service Gowalla Purchased by Facebook: The Foursquare competitor will close their doors this week and the service will allow users to export their data through January. [Gowalla Blog]
• Postal Cutbacks Will Delay Netflix Deliveries: The U.S. Postal Service is closing nearly half of its processing centers and it expects First Class mail delivery to take an additional one or two days. [The New York Times]

A bill in congress would redefine who is eligible for overtime pay, live poker games are in development for Google+, and the Android 4.0 OTA update is being testing on Nexus S phones.

Photo remixed from an original by ZapTheDingbat

• More IT Employees Could Lose Their Overtime Benefits: A bill introduced to congress would define more IT job descriptions that are exempt from overtime pay. [Ars Technica]
• Live Poker Coming to Google+ Hangouts: A new online poker service, Aces Hangouts, is being built to take advantage of Hangout's live video for a more realistic poker experience. [TechCrunch]
• Android 4.0 Available for Google Employees' Nexus S Phones: An over-the-air Ice Cream Sandwich update is available for Google employees with Nexus S phones for final testing ahead of a general public release. [Android Police]
• Windows 8 Public Beta Couple be Available in Early 2012: Some rumors say the beta version will be released prior to CES in january while other reports point to a February 2012 launch. [electronista]
• A Hockey Team Turns to RFID Chips to Boost Season Ticket Sales: A promotion by the Tampa Bay Lightning gives season ticket holders a replica hockey sweater equipped with an RFID chip which entitles them to discounts at in-arena concessions, and the promotion has seen a near 70% increase in season ticket sales. [Mashable]
• Hard Drive Shortage Effects BTO iMac Supplies: The lead-time for a BTO iMac with a 2TB hard drive is now 5-7 weeks because of the shortage of hard drives caused by the flooding in Thailand. [Apple Insider]

Senator Al Franken goes after Carrier IQ, the Kindle browser is pitted against its tablet competitors, and Google looks for partners to compete with Amazon Prime.

• U.S. Senator Questions Carrier IQ About the Software's Capabilities: Democratic Senator from Minnesota Al Fraken has officially requested detailed information about just what Carrier IQ is up to with their controversial snooping app. [The Verge]
• Kindle's Silk Browser Compared to iPad and Galaxy Tablets: Page load times for 11 URLs were tested on each browser, and the Silk browser was comparable in speeds to the two more mature platforms. [Steve Sounders]
• Google Might be Getting into the Shipping Business: Google will attempt a trial-run of a next-day delivery service for online purchases in the San Francisco Bay Area sometime next year. [electronista]
• Apple's Controversial NYC Grand Central Store Opens December 9th: The large retail space, which is under investigation by New York state, will open to the public next Friday. [MacNN]
• Arduino Is Officially at Version 1.0: The DIY electronics development environment has just made version 1.0 with improvements to the user interface and several new libraries that users can call on for their home brew projects. [Arduino Blog]
• Facebook Now Allows Status Updates to be 12 Times Longer: Facebook used to cap your status updates at 5,000 characters, but you can now use more than 60,000 characters for the ultimate in TL;DR updates. [Ubergizmo]

McGruff the Crime Dog gets a taste for pirates, HBO will not offer a la carte streams of its shows, and Wi-Fi signals might be hurting men's reproductive health.

• New Government-Backed Anti-Piracy Ads Are Filled With Hollow Scares: The so-bad-it's-funny video above links DVD piracy with all kinds of terrible crimes, but these claims are mostly fabrications according to a major academic report. [Ars Technica]
• No Streaming HBO Shows Without A Subscription: HBO has confirmed that they have no plans to offer streams of their shows to customers who do not subscribe to the channel with their cable or satellite package. [mocoNews]
• A Study Shows a Laptop's Wi-Fi Signal Might be Harmful to Male Reproductive Health: Researchers tested samples of sperm from healthily men and found that electromagnetic radiation from laptops greatly reduced the sperm's motility. [Reuters]
• Evernote for Windows Phone Gets New Features: Evernote on Windows Phone now allows you to pin notes or notebooks to your home screen as well as create templates for your notes. [Evernote Blog]
• Sonos Update Adds Android Tablet Compatibility: You can use the Sonos Controller app on your Android tablet, including the Kindle Fire, to control your Sonos music streaming system. [All Things D]
• An Eye Tracking Study of Social Networking Profile Pages: The Study tracked the eye movements of participants viewing social network profiles and found the most interesting elements of the pages to be recent updates and profile pictures. [Mashable]