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• Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute - NYTimes.com
  Amazon and Hachette announced this morning that they have resolved their differences and signed a new multiyear contract, bringing to an official end one of the most bitter publishing conflicts in recent years. Neither side gave details of the deal, but both pronounced themselves happy with the terms. Hachette gets the ability to set the prices on its e-books, which was a major battleground in the dispute. While Amazon and Hachette successfully kept the exact terms of the dispute to themselves, Amazon was widely seen as wanting a bigger share of e-book revenue. Since Amazon also wanted lower e-book prices, that was seen by Hachette supporters as a move that threatened to undermine the publisher’s existence. The retailer and Hachette, the fourth largest publisher, have been battling it out since the beginning of the year, at first quietly and then very publicly. Amazon raised the stakes by discouraging sales of Hachette books, which incited the ire of those authors and then other members of the literary community.
• Android 5.0 Lollipop begins rolling out OTA to Nexus devices | 9to5Google
  The Android 5.0 Lollipop update has begun rolling out to Nexus devices everywhere. A huge part of this update is Android’s new “Material Design” aesthetic, which provides a crisp and clean interface that uses shadows and perspective to achieve its effect. Google has also updated its Roboto typeface for this update, saying that the new version is  “slightly wider and rounder, giving it greater clarity and making it more optimistic.” Along with a newly designed interface, Lollipop focuses on providing a faster and smoother experience. Performance improvements are widespread, with Android now running exclusively on the ART framework, which vastly improves app responsiveness. Rounding out the more obvious enhancements, Android Lollipop also features a completely revamped way of handling notifications. Important notifications now appear as a drop-down banner, and you can easily adjust settings so that only notifications that you actually want reach you. You can also now address certain notifications straight from the lock screen.
• YouTube announces plans for a subscription music service | The Verge
  YouTube has confirmed that it will launch a paid subscription service that lets users stream high-quality, ad-free music and music videos. The service, which launches next week in invite-only beta, is to be called YouTube Music Key. Music Key will have ad-free listening and some other perks when it begins rolling out Monday. For now, the program is invite-only, and beta testers will get six months of free access followed by an invitation to sign up for a promotional price of $7.99 a month. Music Key also includes a subscription to what the company is now calling "Google Play Music," its Spotify competitor, which normally sells for $9.99 a month. The terrible "Google Play Music All Access" name is dead.
• This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: One Star Reviews Flood 'Monument Valley' Following Paid Expansion Release | Touch Arcade
  The developers of Monument Valley have released a new expansion for the game, called Forgotten Shores. It offers eight new levels for $1.99. But some users are balking at paying for new content, flooding the app's reviews with one-star ratings. Maybe they should stick to Candy Crush?
• Chinese hack U.S. weather systems, satellite network - The Washington Post
  Hackers from China breached the federal weather network recently, forcing cybersecurity teams to seal off data vital to disaster planning, aviation, shipping, and scores of other crucial uses.The intrusion occurred in late September, but officials gave no indication that they had a problem until October 20th, according to three people familiar with the hack and the subsequent reaction by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Even then, NOAA did not say its systems were compromised. Officials also said that the agency did not notify the proper authorities when it learned of the attack.
• Microsoft shocker: Open-source .NET, free Visual Studio, support for Linux, Mac, Android and iOS - GeekWire
  Microsoft is shaking up its development platforms by open-sourcing the .NET framework and announcing the release of a new version of Visual Studio that will be free for non-enterprise developers. Microsoft also announced that it will make it possible for developers to create software for OS X, iOS, Android, and Linux with its development platforms.
• PETA opens headquarters in Minecraft, creates animal utopia | Polygon
  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is setting up shop in the massively popular online world of Minecraft.This Saturday, PETA will open the digital doors to its own Minecraft server, which will be home to a recreation of the organization's headquarters, vast vegetable and flower gardens and an abandoned circus and slaughterhouse. Most importantly, PETA's Minecraft won't allow players to harm animals, be they chickens, pigs or mooshrooms."Priority number one is that no animals can be harmed in PETA's Minecraft," said Joel Bartlett, director of marketing innovation for the group.
• People Are Freaking Out Over Twitter’s Clunky Description Of Itself - Yahoo News Philippines
  Twitter unveiled a new statement about what it wants to be, and it’s a real head-scratcher. The social media company put out a new strategy statement that reads: Reach the largest daily audience in the world by connecting everyone to their world via our information sharing and distribution platform products and be one of the top revenue generating Internet companies in the world. That doesn't even fit in a Tweet!