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President Obama wants America's poorest families to have access to broadband

The digital divide runs deep in the United States, and no one knows that better that communities in the poorest and more rural parts of the nation.

While America has been at the forefront of Internet adoption, it lags behind when it comes to broadband access, ranking 16th out of every country in the world.

But the Obama administration is taking steps to bridge that divide by launching a new initiative called ConnectHome on Tuesday, fulfilling a promise he made earlier this year.

ConnectHome aims to get reliable, high-speed broadband access to more families across the U.S. Read more...

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McDonald's emoji advert trolled by British graffiti artist

LONDON — When McDonald's came up with the concept of an emoji-themed billboard, they probably thought they'd tapped in to the perfect advertising campaign.

Because emoji are ridiculously popular at the moment, aren't they? They're simple, highly visual and can be used to tell a funny or cryptic story in a way that will make people stop and think, right?

Well, that was almost certainly the thinking behind McDonald's "Good Times" campaign and the billboards like this that are popping up everywhere at the moment. Read more...

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Obama on Cosby: Drugging women for sex is rape

President Barack Obama was at a press conference on Wednesday fielding questions about the United States' historic nuclear deal with Iran when he was asked an entirely different question: would he revoke Bill Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom?

He said there is "no precedent" for revoking the nation's highest civilian award. The president said he wouldn't comment specifically on the allegations against Cosby, but did have something to say about rape in general

“If you give a woman — or a man, for that matter — without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that’s rape," Obama said. "And I think this country, any civilized country, should have no tolerance for rape.” Read more...

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Rob Gronkowski and Funny or Die unveil trailer inspired by erotic fanfiction

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is one of the most popular figures in professional sports. Never was that more apparent than in December 2014, when A Gronking to Remember, the first volume of a planned series of Rob Gronkowski-based erotica, was published

The book is about a woman falling for Gronkowski's ability on the field — and his signature touchdown dances, in which Gronkowski is known to powerfully spike the football

Surprisingly enough, Gronkowski embraced the novel — so much that he teamed up with model Charlotte McKinney and Funny or Die to create a trailer for a fake film based on the book Read more...

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Arkham Knight’s Batgirl DLC Just Isn’t Good Enough

I’ve been waiting a long time to play as Batgirl in a modern video game. Now the chance has arrived in the form of a new add-on for the latest Batman title. Is it what I wanted? Not really.

Marvel just released a sneak peak of hip-hop-inspired variant covers

There are few things that induce excitement quite like hop-hop and superheroes do — so it only makes sense to mash the two together.

On Tuesday, Marvel Comics released a sneak preview of its upcoming variant comic book covers, which will be released in the fall. All pay homage to classic hip-hop album coversOver 50 covers will be unveiled, representing hip-hop royalty from Ol' Dirty Bastard to 50 Cent to Dr. Dre

The best part? Each cover has a different artist, so the overall collection is going to have a very eclectic look

“For years, Marvel Comics and hip-hop culture have been engaged in an ongoing dialog,” stated Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso in a press release. “Beginning this October, we will shine a spotlight on the seamless relationship between those two unique forces.” Read more...

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Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak now lets you share photos

Yik Yak has been testing the ability to share photos for months, but now it's official

The anonymous messaging app, which previously let users anonymously post text-based messages only, announced on Wednesday it plans on rolling out photo-sharing to all users over the next several days.

"Sure, you could describe that amazing Eggs Benedict your mom just made for breakfast (let’s be real, sometimes being home for summer has its perks), but it’s often more tantalizing to share a drool-inducing photo of it, too," the startup wrote in a blog post Read more...

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Apple's Annual Back to School Promotion Still Nowhere to Be Found

For many years running, Apple has offered a Back to School promotion for students and educators, providing discounts on Apple products ahead of the coming school year. Back to School promotions have kicked off on the first Tuesday of July for the last two years, so when July 6 came and went without a Back to School announcement, many people began wondering when Apple would launch the 2015 promotion.

We've been receiving questions about the Back to School program for several weeks now, and in mid-July, there's still no sign of an imminent launch. Some have wondered whether Apple is canceling the program all together, but it's too early to say. It may be late in the month, but there are still several weeks to go before kids and teachers begin returning to classrooms.

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Apple's 2014 Back to School Promotion
Historically, the latest Apple has launched a previous Back to School program was July 2, and that was in 2013. From 2006 to 2012, Back to School kicked off in May or early June, while it launched in July in 2013 and 2014. It's entirely possible that Apple has simply decided to launch the promotion a bit later in the year, once again adjusting the dates as it did in 2013.

MacRumors has spoken to several retail employees who often hear word on Back to School a few days ahead of its debut, but so far, no one we've contacted has heard anything from Apple. The last Back to School promotion Apple introduced was for Australian customers in January of 2015.

Apple's Back to School promotion is highly anticipated because it's one of the few times a year that Apple offers deals to customers, and many hold off on summer purchases until the event begins. Last year, Apple's Back to School offer included a $50 to $100 Apple Store Gift Card with the purchase of a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, while years past included a $50 to $100 App Store Gift Card.

In the early days of the Back to School promotion, deals were offered in the form of rebates that provided a free iPod with the purchase of a Mac, but Apple has offered gift cards instead of iPods since 2011.