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Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 12 p.m.

Super heroes are the very definition of cool. The secret identities, the triumphant rescues, the skin-tight Lyrca outfits that show off every defined muscle and curve

Yes, super heroism is a lifestyle we could all get used to

Luckily for you, the following eight super powers don't even require mutated genetics or a Kryptonian birth certificate, thanks to modern technology

1. Invisibility

Until recently, only boy wizards enjoyed the power of invisibility. Those “cloaks” that did exist were either too bulky or too small to fit over anything larger than a petri dish. But no more

Read more...

More about Gadgets, Features, Tech, Geek, and Apps Software
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 11 a.m.

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

There’s been a lot of talk around Yahoo and Best Buy making unpopular decisions about employees who work from home. While we all have our opinions on the subject, it’s important to realize these decisions impact the companies that made them and no one else

As a result of the bad press telecommuting has received, the flexible work benefit has been getting a bad rap. It’s unfortunate because flexible work and telecommuting aren’t the same thing. Telecommuting is working from somewhere other than a centralized office, whereas flexible work is when schedules have opportunities for flexibility –- employees can come in early then leave early or they can work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days. Read more...

More about Features, Careers, Open Forum, Business, and Jobs
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 10 a.m.

BuzzFeed reporter and a Rolling Stone contributor Michael Hastings has died in a car crash Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 33

BuzzFeed's editor in chief Ben Smith posted a statement about Hastings' death on its site

"We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone. Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered from wars to politicians," he wrote.

Rolling Stone also posted about Hastings, praising his profile of General Stanley McChrystal, his piece on America's drone war and the interview with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange. Read more...

More about Rolling Stone, Us World, Us, Buzzfeed, and Michael Hastings
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 9 a.m.

Will Ferrell fans, take notice: the first full-length trailer for Anchorman: The Legend Continues is out

In the trailer, Ron, Brick, Champ and Brian (played by Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, David Koechner and Paul Rudd, respectively), are back, but the setting has changed

The '80s have replaced the '70s, and the team has moved from San Diego to the Big Apple. Their mission, to quote Ron Burgundy, is to have "salon-quality hair and read the news."

SEE ALSO: 'Anchorman 2' Announcement Takes the Internet to Pleasure Town [VIDEO]

The movie, directed by Adam McKay, has a huge list of star cameos, including Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Vince Vaughn, Sacha Baron Cohen. It hits theaters Dec. 20 Read more...

More about Entertainment, Film, and Anchroman 2
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 9 a.m.

Fab, a two-year-old online store for design goods, is laying the groundwork for further global expansion. The startup announced Tuesday that it has raised $150 million in a partial series D round from investors including Tencent, Atomico, Andreessen Horowitz, Itochu, Menlo Ventures, RTP Capital, Pinnacle Ventures, Lars Hinrichs and Docomo Capital.

The e-tailer, which is headquartered in the U.S., has already made significant headway into Europe. The region now accounts for approximately 40% of sales, founder and CEO Jason Goldberg told Mashable in a phone interview Tuesday. With the help of new investors Tencent, which operates some of the largest web portals and online messaging systems in China, and Itochu, one of Japan's largest holding companies, Fab has set the stage for its move into East Asia and India. Read more...

More about Fab.Com, Business, Startups, and Fab
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 9 a.m.

Facebook has pushed back the introduction of video ads in its News Feed until the fall, according to a report

Advertising Age cites a "source familiar with the product" as saying the launch, originally set for the spring and then summer, is now being delayed another season. Facebook declined to comment on the matter.

A source told Mashable that Facebook is still trying to convince advertisers of the merits of the ad units, which will fetch around $1 million, though they could go for as high as $2.4 million, according to AdAge Part of the issue is that video is an unproven format on Facebook. Measurement is also an issue. The 15-second ads, which would start automatically without sound, would count as an impression even if consumers don't watch them. Facebook is also holding off on Black Friday inventory, presumably because such ads could go for more than $1 million Read more...

More about Facebook, Advertising, and Business
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 8 a.m.

In our never-ending quest to find you the very best case for your smartphone of choice, we've taken a look at what's available for the Google Nexus 4

We have found 10 very different cases, with materials ranging from neoprene to shiny aluminium. With levels of protection varying from light to triple-layer, super-shields, we think you'll find a cover to suit your favorite Android device

With prices starting under $10, all the cool covers we're highlighting are available now. Take a look through our hand-picked selection in the image gallery above. Have we missed a case you love? Then link us to it in the comments below Read more...

More about Google, Mobile, Gadgets, Android, and Features
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 7 a.m.

Google has added support for 18 new languages to its Google Drive web app suite. Besides Drive itself, this includes Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

The newly supported languages are Afrikaans, Amharic, Basque, Chinese (Hong Kong), Estonian, French (Canada), Galician, Icelandic, Khmer, Lao, Malaysian, Nepali, Persian, Sinhalese, Spanish (Latin America), Swahili, Urdu and Zulu

With these 18 languages, Google Drive now supports 65 languages in total

SEE ALSO: Google Offers 15GB Unified Storage Across Gmail, Drive, Google+

To switch to a different language in Drive, users must click the gear icon in the upper-right corner, select "settings" and choose a new language under "general." To change the language in Google Drive for mobile, they must open their device's language settings Read more...

More about Language, Tech, Apps Software, and Google Drive
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 7 a.m.

More than 12 million Americans were victims of identity fraud in the past year, according to a recent study. Twelve million. I was one of them. Against my better judgment, I curiously clicked on a questionable direct message from a friend, and like that, my Twitter account was phished. Luckily, I changed my passwords and implemented damage control before things got out of hand.

What I learned from that experience, and the growing cybersecurity problems gobbling up news headlines, is whether you're a multinational company or a middle school teacher, we all need to do a better job of protecting our private information. And often, social media is the tool used to compromise our data. Read more...

More about Twitter, Social Media, Password Management, Phishing Scam, and Infographic
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 6 a.m.

Oh, cats — those furry little enigmas — we love 'em, but can hardly understand 'em

What exactly are our feline friends up to when we're not around? A joint study between BBC Two's Horizon programme and the Royal Veterinary College answered that question by equipping 50 cats with GPS tracking devices and micro-cameras to monitor their activity away from homeResearchers used the trackers to record the cats' movements over six 24-hours periods, according to the BBC.

Of the 50 felines that roamed England's Surrey Hills for several weeks, 10 were selected to be featured in a Horizon series called, "The Secret Life of the Cat." You can click through each of their in-depth profiles, here; then check out the video, above, for more. Read more...

More about Bbc, Gps, Cats, World, and Watercooler
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 5 a.m.

Those with a penchant for puzzles will be pleased to know that there's a big crowdfunding campaign in the works. Quite literally, big

Liberty Science Center CEO Paul Hoffman, a friend of inventor Erno Rubik, has launched an Indiegogo project aimed at recreating the world's largest working Rubik's Cube, dubbed the "Groovik's Cube." Originally conceived of as a low-cost model for the 2009 Burning Man desert arts festival, Hoffman and some friends built an astounding 40-foot iteration.

Groovik's Cube was lit from within by LEDs, and could be seen from two miles away; it required three players to operate, with one person controlling each axis. (Yes, revelers solved it — in two hours.) Read more...

More about Indiegogo, Art, Crowdfunding, Rubiks Cube, and Tech
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 4 a.m.

By now you've already survived one Sunday night without Game of Thrones, dear devoted fan of all things Westoros

GoT's epic third season is behind us now, and the wait for season four is sure to feel oh-so-long. But lost amid season three's deliciously gruesome bloodletting, plot twists and betrayals was this: The show dominated social media in a major way over the past few months

Perhaps that's not so surprising — after all, both GoT and social media boast nerd-centric fan bases — but the impressive numbers are worth going over Read more...

More about Entertainment, Tv, and Game Of Thrones
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 4 a.m.

You may be familiar with Legos in block-form, but the popular line of construction toys is entering new territory: motion pictures.

Billed as the "first-ever, full-length theatrical Lego adventure," The Lego Movie follows the story of an ordinary Lego figurine named Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) who — in a case of mistaken identity — is enlisted to help save the world alongside superheroes

The film features the voices of Will Ferrell (who plays villain President Business), Morgan Freeman (as Vitruvius) and Liam Neeson (as Bad Cop). Elizabeth Banks, Nick Offerman and Alison Brie also lend their vocal talents Read more...

More about Entertainment and Film
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 3 a.m.

You apparently can have too much of a good thing.

Ed Carter only wanted to raise $21,000 through Kickstarter to finance a deluxe edition of "Glory to Rome," a board game produced by his company, Cambridge Games Factory. He ended up raising more than $73,000, with pledges from more than 1,600 people.

After that, things started to go downhill for Carter. His Kickstarter campaign had promised supporters they would receive free shipping on their games if they agreed to pick up the games from specific retailers. Carter hoped to develop business relations with these retailers as well as provide an incentive for his supporters. However, shipping the game to 1,600 people isn't exactly cheap, especially when you've received a significant number of orders from Brazil and Australia. Read more...

More about Startup, Business, Kickstarter, Startups, and Conversations
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 1 a.m.

Martin Mull famously said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." But what if you actually did dance about architecture?

In this comic, Grant Snider of Incidental Comics illustrates a variety of architectural forms and their corresponding dances. Which one is more your style — Bauhaus Bounce or Cubist Shuffle?

You can purchase Snider's comics as prints through his poster shop.

Comic illustration by Grant Snider, Incidental Comics. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

More about Comic, Comics, Humor, Watercooler, and Incidental Comics
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 1 a.m.

Physically going out to the ol' ballgame has always been an unmatched sporting experience. More recently, however, fans have flocked to online social platforms to talk trash, post thoughts and generally partake in the fun of spectator sports

Well, fandom's offline and online realms just got married at AT&T Park, home of MLB's San Francisco Giants

The team unveiled its new "@Cafe" this week, distilling the team's online buzz in one physical location for supporters to visit just beyond the ballpark's centerfield wall

The Giants are billing the location as a sports marketing first. It's appropriate the step comes from one of the most digitally creative teams in the world. The team's innovative promotions and social-savvy audience have long led all the major leagues, culminating in the team besting a mid-campaign Barack Obama in Klout cred during its World Series run last fall. Read more...

More about Mlb, Entertainment, and Sports
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 1 a.m.

Think back to last Thanksgiving. Your meal probably started out normally enough — a few slices of turkey here, a few dozen spoonfuls of mashed potatoes there — and ended with you clutching your food baby while passed out on the couch at 6 p.m. in front of the football game

We don't blame youFood is delicious. Food comas, however, are not. Just like a bad break-up, they leave you bloated, sluggish and miserable. That is, until you bounce back and are ready to dive into your next meal.

While you wait for your stomach to return to its previous dimensions, chew on the 17 stages of a food coma Read more...

More about Humor, Watercooler, Pics, Food, and Lists
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 1 a.m.

Since banning Viber, Saudi Arabia appears to have its set its sights on another popular Internet messenger smartphone application. This time it's WhatsApp, which could be blocked in just a few weeks unless it complies with local regulations

The country's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) is considering banning WhatsApp in the coming weeks, probably before Ramadan, which starts on July 9

The ban is being considered both because WhatsApp communications are allegedly harder to monitor, and because the service cuts into local telecom companies' revenue, since it allows users to send messages over the Internet instead of the telephone networks Read more...

More about Saudi Arabia, Whatsapp, Apps Software, Us World, and World
Mashable! · Wed, Jun 19, 12 a.m.

If you watched Superman's life unfold on a white board yesterday, you're aware of his wide range of superhuman abilities. One swipe of his right fist is enough to send you into another dimension.

But imagine if you were on the other end of that punch.

YouTube sensation Vsauce3 gives a scientific breakdown of how much damage Superman could incur on an average human. The video, which has already accrued more than 1.4 million views, uses physics to prove its findings. He even references Big Mac calories for good measure

Image courtesy of YouTube, Vsauce3 Read more...

More about Viral Videos, Science, Physics, Watercooler, and Videos
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 11 p.m.

If you want to avoid being a terrible person, always tip your waiter or waitress.

You could also make a lasting impression by leaving a tip with a little flare. You have your whole meal to decide on a way to present the money you'll leave, and the possibilities are endless

You could see it as an opportunity to dazzle the waitstaff with your artistic ability, or just see it as a way to make them smile. At the very least it could get you on Reddit

1. Incorporate the tip into your art

Image courtesy of Reddit, rkeyes47 Read more...

2. Or just make the tip itself into art

More about Lists, Tips, Money, and Watercooler
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 11 p.m.

President Obama's choice for the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, will likely get the job, if Tuesday's confirmation hearing is any indication.

How can we be so sure? Senate Commerce Committee Chair Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) told Wheeler he was "certain" he would get the job before the hearing even got to several of the major issues facing the FCC. Rockefeller's early nod of approval was particularly significant given the senator previously urged Obama to nominate FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel for the chairmanship.

Read more...

More about Fcc, Congress, Us World, Politics, and Us
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 10 p.m.

Facebook now has more than 1 million businesses actively advertising on the social network, the company announced Tuesday.

The "vast majority" of those advertisers are small businesses, according to Dan Levy, Facebook's director of small business, who announced the milestone during an event at Facebook's office in New York.

"The feedback we hear from businesses from all over the world is, 'Just make it simpler,'" Levy said at one point during the event. Perhaps with that in mind, Facebook announced plans to slash the number of ad products in half in order to streamline and improve the experience for advertisers Read more...

More about Facebook, Advertising, Facebook Ads, and Business
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 10 p.m.

In its latest push against secrecy, Google has asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to ease its gag orders and allow the company to publish more data about the requests it receives from the court.

On Tuesday, the company filed a motion (embedded below) before the court, arguing that it has a First Amendment right to publish the total number of requests the court sends it, and the number of users affected by those requests. Additionally, Google argues that it should be allowed to publish the total number of requests because that information is not classified.

Read more...

More about Google, Privacy, Surveillance, Prism, and Us World
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 10 p.m.

Miss Utah Marissa Powell didn't win Sunday night's Miss USA pageant after botching her interview question, but she did win most viral moment of the evening.

In the interview portion of the competition for the final five contestants, the 21-year-old awkwardly responded to judge NeNe Leakes's question about income inequality. Her response contains the now-infamous phrase, "create education better."

Powell, who finished the evening as third runner-up and Miss Photogenic, was given a shot at redemption on the Today show on Tuesday. In a clip released Tuesday (above), anchor Matt Lauer asks her the question again, to which she replies: "So this is not OK. It needs to be equal pay for equal work, and it's hard enough already to earn a living, and it shouldn't be harder just because you're a woman." Read more...

More about Today Show, Matt Lauer, Entertainment, Tv, and Videos
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 9 p.m.

Actor James Franco is turning his pockets to the public to wrangle funds for his latest project, Palo Alto Stories, a series of three features that will be adapted from pieces of his 2011 fiction-writing debut.

The 35-year-old multihyphenate has launched a campaign on crowdfunding website Indiegogo, calling for $500,000 worth of backing for the films, which draw on high school experiences revolving around his hometown of Palo Alto, Calif

Franco pledged to donate all profits from the movie sales to Art of Elysium, a non-profit that helps actors, artists and musicians to volunteer their time and talents to work with children battling serious medical conditions. Read more...

More about Books, Indiegogo, Films, Crowdfunding, and Entertainment
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 9 p.m.

Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei billed its new Ascend P6 model as the "world's slimmest smartphone," during an unveiling event in London on Tuesday.

The Huawei Ascend P6 is 6.18 mm in depth, which is thinner than competitors like the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 (7.6 mm and 7.9 mm, respectively). This new model is now the flagship smartphone in Huawei's Ascend P series. Earlier this year, Huawei launched its Ascend P2 phone, which at the time the company called the "world's fastest smartphone."

The new Ascend P6 features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, a 4.7-inch HD display, a 8-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, according to Huawei. The phone also boasts "Magic Touch" technology that lets users use the touchscreen even with gloves on. Read more...

More about Smartphone, Smartphones, Tech, Mobile, and Huawei
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 9 p.m.

We're always being watched. And a new app lets you know it

Surv combines user input and technology to create maps with detailed descriptions of the locations and types of surveillance cameras. Kaza Razat and Khalid Mills developed the app after realizing how little access to this information law enforcement agencies have.

Formerly game developers, Razat and Mills created a utility app that actually provided the information they saw in spy games and movies. Their gaming experience informed competitiveness in Surv too, with a leader-board and new features unlocked by contributing. They hope to expand slowly through a Kickstarter campaign, but they are currently focused on creating a group of slightly exclusive users Read more...

More about Surveillance, Kickstarter, Tech, Apps Software, and Us
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 9 p.m.

The 'Prancercise Lady' has teamed up with musician John Mayer for the most bizarre music-plus-exercise combination imaginable.

By now, you've probably heard of Prancercise, Johanna Rohrback's patented breed of equine inspired exercise. In the original viral video, she gallops to some generic, lyric-less rock music. But in this video, she Prancercises to John Mayer's latest single, "Paper Doll," in perfect harmony

Although this might seem like a hoax or a bootleg mash-up, the collaboration is the real deal. Mayer enlisted Rohrback to "Romancercise" to the first release from his upcoming album, Paradise Valley. His actor friend Jarrad Paul even takes part in the joke Read more...

More about Video, Viral Videos, John Mayer, Entertainment, and Videos
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 8 p.m.

Meet Sven and Olaf: a lovable yet unsuspecting duo in Disney's Frozen that gets into a rather sticky situation on an icy lake

Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) joins forces with a hardy mountain man (voice of Jonathan Groff) and his trusty reindeer, Sven, on an epic journey to find her sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel). Elsa has trapped the kingdom in an eternal winter, and Anna and Kristoff — alongside the many friends they meet along the way — race to save the kingdom from its icy fate.

The film, an epic 3D musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, hits theaters Nov. 27 Read more...

More about Video, Entertainment, 3d, Disney, and Film
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 8 p.m.

Today, in horrifying things: A giant yellow snake successfully opens a door.

The video below, which stars a 16-foot albino burmese python, was uploaded two years ago by Vimeo user Jenner. However, the snake, named "Julius," is the latest pet to experience Internet fame.

According to Jenner, when the snake is tired of being in a dark room, "she flips on the light, opens the door and bails."

"This is why we keep doors locked with her around. We don't need her harassing the neighbors," add Jenner in the video description.

Locked doors or not, this enormous snake will certainly be slithering through our most terrifying dreams tonight Read more...

More about Viral Videos, Pets, Animals, Creepy, and Snake
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 8 p.m.

This year's E3 was amazing: dozens of terrific-looking games for fans, press and industry to demo and watch. Yet one really stood above the pack, even if it was a simple tech demo.

Still, most demos don't let you dogfight in space through the power of virtual reality.

CCP developer Dave Gundry said the team was so excited when they got their Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets that they wanted to make something to test the technologyEVR was created in-house by CCP, best known for its long-running MMO EVE Online

In EVR, you ride in a cockpit as a space fighter. The Oculus Rift headset fits over your head, eclipsing your field-of-view with a 110-degree screen, making the experience completely immersive. Look behind you — can you see the back of your seat? Can you look down and see pilot's legs? With headphones, you only hear the heavy breathing of a person alone in space. Read more...

More about Gaming, Entertainment, Eve Online, Oculus Rift, and E3 2013
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 8 p.m.

If you're feeling a little stressed today, don't worry — you probably just instinctively knew you had to celebrate International Panic Day

Though today is a time to let your anxieties go, there are many forms of panic that can hit on any day.

Be prepared to share your panic with those around you in GIF form, because who knows if you'll be able to form sentences.

1. For morning panic

Image courtesy of Tumblr, arlenexii

2. When you feel like you need to breathe into a paper bag.

Image courtesy of Tumblr, strikebackbubbles Read more...

3. When you're beginning to think the whole breathing into a paper bag thing might be a myth.

More about Lists, Gif, Gifs, Watercooler, and Pics
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 7 p.m.

Justin Bieber won the race to become the first Twitter user to reach 40 million followers, but Rihanna just dethroned him on YouTube, claiming the most-viewed-artist title on Tuesday

Rihanna's channel, which has existed since May 2009, has 3,784,030,789 views. Meanwhile, Bieber's official channel, which turned up in September 2009, has 3,782,989,210 views

On the strength of such videos as "Only Girl (In The World)," "We Found Love," and "Man Down," Rihanna has also attracted 8.7 million subscribers, compared to Bieber's 4.9 million Read more...

More about Youtube, Viral Videos, Music, Entertainment, and Celebrities
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 7 p.m.

Of the many announcements Apple made last week, the news about iCloud Keychain seemed fairly minor. After all, senior vice president of of software engineering Craig Federighi spent just 1:20 on it at Apple's WWDC keynote.

However, iCloud Keychain could end up having a big impact on consumer habits. We all know we should use different, hard-to-crack passwords for the many services we use every day, yet few people do so. A recent study found that almost two-thirds of consumers re-use passwords across multiple sites, making them much more vulnerable to a phishing attack.

Read more...

More about Apple, Password Manager, Tech, Apps Software, and Ios 7
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 6 p.m.

The National Security Administration's surveillance programs have helped foil more than 50 terrorist plots across the world, NSA Chief Gen. Keith Alexander said during a Tuesday congressional hearing.

"In recent years these programs, together with other intelligence, have protected the U.S. and our allies from terrorist threats across the globe to include helping prevent potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11," Alexander said during testimony to the House Intelligence Committee

Along with deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Sean Joyce, Alexander gave additional details on how the surveillance programs were used in two specific instances: One to prevent an attack targeting the New York Stock Exchange and another to identify a person inside the United States bankrolling terrorist groups in Somalia Read more...

More about Privacy, Us World, Politics, Us, and Nsa
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 6 p.m.

AT&T announced it will set up 25 solar-powered charging stations for mobile devices throughout New York City

For this project, dubbed Street Charge, AT&T partnered with solar power company Goal Zero and Brooklyn-based Pensa Design, which pioneered the concept a couple months back.

The chargers will begin popping up on Tuesday at Fort Green Park in Brooklyn. A total of 25 will be installed in Union Square, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Coney Island, Riverside Park and Hudson River Park

"Nearly half of all Americans own a smartphone, and the amount of time we spend on handheld devices has increased dramatically," said Joe Atkin, president and CEO of Goal Zero. "All too often, we hear the dreaded low-battery beep and it happens at the most inconvenient times. Street Charge will fix that." Read more...

More about New York City, Solar Power, Tech, Mobile, and Solar Chargers
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 6 p.m.

Forget about birds, Portlandia fans — the new trend is to "put a cat on it."

An Indiana mom wanted to spice up her daughter Laura's graduation cake, so she made the seemingly normal request for the bakery to "put a little cap on it."

SEE ALSO: 11 Graduation Caps That Stole the Entire Show

Somewhere along the way, the message was misheard, and Laura's mom picked up this cake with a little cat across her daughter's forehead. Naturally, the new graduate uploaded a photo to Reddit, where it got the face-palm seal of approval.

"When my mom got to the store and started laughing they tried to wipe off the cat and put on a plastic cap, but she told them to keep it," writes Laura in response to Reddit users. Read more...

More about Pics, Humor, Watercooler, Conversations, and Fails
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 6 p.m.

E3 is a crazy place, where you can find everything from a building-sized working robot to real-life zombies trying to escape from behind a fence. Game publishers big and small go all out for the annual conference, making it a sight you have to see to believe.

Curious what it's like to actually be on the E3 show floor?

We shot a video tour of the event using Google Glass. Originally clocking in at over thirty minutes, we sped up the final product, allowing you to see the whole show floor in a little over three minutes. Check out the video above for the result. Read more...

More about E3, Gaming, Tech, Google Glass, and E3 2013
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 5 p.m.

The most addictive smartphone game in recent memory may be making its way to Wall Street

Midasplayer (more commonly referred to as King), the gaming company behind several popular titles including Bubble Witch Saga and the phenomenally successful Candy Crush Saga, is said to be taking steps towards an IPO. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company has hired several banks including JP Morgan and Bank of America to pursue a public offering.

King did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

SEE ALSO: I'm So Addicted to 'Candy Crush' I Hacked It for Limitless Gameplay

If true, the move towards an IPO wouldn't be a complete surprise: King's CEO noted in an interview last year that he was thinking about taking the company public sometime in 2013 Read more...

More about Stocks, Zynga, Business, Gaming, and Candy Crush Saga
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 5 p.m.

With new technology often comes trepidation — people ask, do we really need this, and what's the worst case scenario? From the printing press to the radio and, of course, the Internet, skeptics find a way to spread tall tales of impending doom. But the fear is quickly set aside as we adopt new gadgets or programs, even if a little clumsily at first.

The same will be with Memoto, the lifelogging camera, a huge Kickstarter success from a Swedish startup by the same name. The device is available for presale now and will ship this fall.

Memoto is a wearable device that takes a photo every 30 seconds. It essentially saves you from thinking, "Should I take a picture of this?" because no matter where the day takes you, you'll have a visual record. Imagine your future, and perhaps with this device, you may capture your first sight of the person you'll marry, or the purse thief you encounter in a crowded intersection. Read more...

More about Wearable Tech, Tech Innovators Series, Tech Innovators, Memoto, and Lifelogging
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 5 p.m.

It’s happened to all of us. You’re planted in front of the television, laughing through another Seinfeld rerun, when the channel cuts to Sarah McLachlan’s ASPCA commercial and things get ... rough

You and your friends, chatty and giggling just a moment ago, quiet down and stare at the floor, trying to hide the tears welling up in your eyes. After the longest two minutes of your life, the ad ends and you breathe a sigh of relief. That is, until the latest Google Chrome commercial comes on.

There’s something strangely satisfying about watching a commercial that makes you feel something (other than the urge for your TV show to come back on). Check out our top 10 list of the saddest TV spots ever to hit the airwaves. Pro tip: Consider grabbing a tissue before scrolling down. Read more...

More about Advertising, Viral Videos, Ads, Television, and Commercials
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 5 p.m.

To distance itself from allegations of collaborating with the secret surveillance program PRISM, Apple issued a statement on Sunday night that denies it granted the National Security Agency direct access to its servers. The company went one step further: Apple claimed it couldn't turn over certain data to the U.S. government, even if it wanted to.

"Conversations which take place over iMessage and FaceTime are protected by end-to-end encryption so no one but the sender and receiver can see or read them," the statement reads. "Apple cannot decrypt that data."

Read more...

More about Apple, Privacy, Encryption, Imessage, and Apps Software
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 5 p.m.

Microsoft is rolling out a series of social features to make creating on the web even easier, from a new meme generator tool to creating animated photographs you can share on social networks.

The updates are coming to the company's Socl online community, which was first designed as an experiment aimed at students. Developed by Microsoft Research FUSE Labs and launched in 2011, the community has since attracted more than 400,000 registered users across all demographics, especially those with a creative spirit. In that vein, the new features will allow users to create more digital content that is shareable with other social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Read more...

More about Microsoft, Windows, Memes, Windows 8, and Tech
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 4 p.m.

History and science books have all the right answers, right? Right?

New discoveries keep our world turning 'round, but how are we supposed to disavow facts that every teacher from kindergarten through high school drilled into our heads?

The death of certain theories doesn't mean that scientists and historians are lying to us — rather, it means society is getting a little bit closer to the truth. Below, we've compiled some mind-blowing revisions and revelations to the world as we know it. Some may result in totally new school curricula — and for others, it's an edited Wikipedia page or two. Read more...

1. A professor discovered a new human body part.

More about Lists, Education, Science, History, and Watercooler
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 4 p.m.

During balmier months, many young women beat the heat by showing more skin in short-shorts and sundresses. But some in China are opting to do the opposite, perhaps in an attempt to fend off oglers.

A user named Happy张江 on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, uploaded a photo of stockings designed to look like hairy man legs. The picture has since gone viral, likely due to its quirky concept.

"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," the caption reads.

It is unclear whether or not the 'Anti-Pervert' stockings are available for purchase. Read more...

More about China, Pics, Sina Weibo, Watercooler, and Conversations
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 4 p.m.

CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson thinks she knows who hacked her computers — but she's not prepared to point any fingers just yet.

"Well, I think I know, but I, I’m just not prepared to go into that. So, we're continuing our investigation., Attkisson told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly when he asked if she had any "suspicion" about the hackers. "There are multi-facetted, you know, looks at what to do next."

Attkisson told O'Reilly her legal counsel prevents her from going into further detail, but she assured the Fox host that the computer hacking exceeded run-of-the-mill malware. Read more...

More about Malware, Journalism, Hackers, Cybersecurity, and Us World
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 4 p.m.

Yahoo is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Qwiki, the makers of a popular iOS app that turns photos, sound and video clips into short movies.

That's according to AllThingsD, which says the deal could go for as much as $50 million.

Qwiki fits in well with Yahoo's recent acquisition history: It's a mobile-first startup priced under $100 million. Yahoo has acquired more than a dozen startups fitting this description, shutting down their respective apps and diverting engineering resources to Yahoo's expanding portfolio of mobile apps.

The big exception to that trend is, of course, Tumblr, which Yahoo acquired last month for north of $1 billion and promises to run as a separate business. Read more...

More about Yahoo, Qwiki, Business, Startups, and Apps Software
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 11 a.m.

Vine is quickly becoming the go-to place for, well, everything. Users of Twitter's video-sharing service have uploaded six-second clips to scare you, impress you, and now, to help you become the next Iron Chef

We've assembled our 15 favorite cooking Vine videos here. Check out the list and let us know which are your favorites.

Do you think six seconds is enough to learn a thing or two? Did you create your own cooking Vine? Share in the comments below.

1. Omelettes

2. Spaghetti and Meatballs

3. Veggie Pizza

4. Tarragon Chicken with Spring Greens

Read more...

5. Tzatziki Sauce

More about Video, Social Media, Features, Cooking, and Vine
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 10 a.m.

CANNES, FRANCE — Dumb Ways to Die, a catchy public service announcement from Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia, won the Grand Prix in the public relations and direct marketing categories at the Cannes Lions festival, representing a world conquest for the little PSA.

The video, which features various animated characters singing a catchy tune warning of the dangers of acting unsafely around trains, was expected to pick up at least one prize at Cannes. The film may end up winning a third Grand Prix since it is favored to win in the Films Lions category later this week. The PSA beat out contenders including Dove's "Beauty Sketches" campaign and Oreo's Blackout Tweet Read more...

More about Advertising, Cannes, Business, and Dumb Ways To Die
Mashable! · Tue, Jun 18, 10 a.m.

Is your financial knowledge a little rough around the edges? Do you ever experience the burning desire to handcraft a sail boat? Have you frequently found yourself wondering if you should button the top button or just leave it open, and how that decision will affect the rest of your day and, subsequently, the rest of your adult life?

If you answered yes (or a tentative maybe) to any of these questions, we're here to let you know: There's a subreddit for that.

Aside from being a place where standing U.S. Presidents go to field your questions, Reddit can also be used as a source for DIY life hacks and pro tips (if you know the right subreddits) Read more...

More about Reddit, Tips, Features, Diy, and Advice
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