For some, work is a chore. For JD Samson & MEN, it's a labor of love. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the electronic outfit's new, aptly titled "Labor" album. Although the LP's 13 tracks tackle a variety of heavy, highly personal topics, well-suited for therapy -- gender identity, relationships, and the challenges of making it in today's musical landscape -- listeners will undoubtedly experience a post-confessional lightness, buoyed by MEN's synth-driven dance sound. I recently spoke to JD Samson about 'Labor,' the tour, gender identity, ex-bandmate Kathleen Hanna, and favorite apps.

Sit and see: JD Samson gets highly personal on Labor.

How would you describe a MEN show to the uninitiated? A MEN show is always different. Sometimes it's dreamy, smoky, and soft. Sometimes it's hard, punk, and quirky. But what I aspire to do is always create a different experience for the audience. The show is real life. It's what we are feeling. It's who we are. It's how we move.

Check out MEN's "Who Am I To Feel So Free" performance:

Your music is both provocative and danceable. But when socio-political lyrics are layered atop dance music, are audiences getting the messages? I don't really care if they are listening to the lyrics or not. Thro... [Read more]

Apple has releases OS X 10.9.2 for people running OS X Mavericks, and a couple of security updates for those running Lion and Mountain Lion.

These updates are important ones because they address a number of security bugs, including the recent SSL/TSL vulnerability that could allow an attacker to intercept secure connection data on a local network.

The 10.9.2 update also adds a few new features to Apple's FaceTime and iMessage services in OS X, allowing you to now make and receive FaceTime audio calls, use call waiting for FaceTime, and also block incoming messages from individual iMessage senders.

Beyond this, 10.9.2 addresses the recent inability of Mail to continually connect to some service providers, and improves some networking features of SMB2 and VPN.

The updates are available through Apple's Software Update service, which can be accessed from the Apple menu, or from the "Updates" section of the App Store. In addition, Apple has made the 10.9.2 update downloadable in delta and combo form, along with the other security updates on its support downloads Web site.

As always, be sure to fully back up your system before applying any of these updates. You can use T... [Read more]

BlackBerry might soon become a mobile ATM.

Speaking to Recode in an interview published on Tuesday, BlackBerry enterprise president John Sims said the company is meeting with firms in emerging markets around the world to explore the possibility of transferring money through BBM.

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"Money movement is an important thing," Sims told Recode.

If BlackBerry delivers a full payment service, it wouldn't be the first time the company has dipped its toe in the water. Last year, in fact, BlackBerry provided a money-transfer service through BBM on a test basis in Indonesia.

Although BlackBerry's 85 million monthly BBM users are made up in large part of consumers in developed countries, the service is seeing fast growth in emerging markets, Sims told Recode. Realizing that, the company wants to focus on money transfers in those countries before (or if) it ever brings it to the US or Canada.