Saturday, February 2, 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Apple Meets With Turkish Officials on Tablets for Schools”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Apple Meets With Turkish Officials on Tablets for Schools”


Apple Meets With Turkish Officials on Tablets for Schools

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:54 PM PST


Apple Vice President for education John Couch is reportedly in talks with the Turkish government about the country's goal to make tablets accessible to 15 million schoolchildren.

Turkey's presidential website posted a photo and video of Couch's meeting with president Abdullah Gül. MacRumors reports (via local source Elma Dergisi) that the meeting concerned the country's $4.5 billion tablet program.

"Apple has reportedly been pushing for the contract, but negotiations are said to still be underway," said the source, adding that the meeting also tackled the layout of Turkey's unique F-keyboard on iOS devices.

Another source suggested that the meeting -- which is not the fir
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More About: apple, education, ipad, students, tablets, turkey

Listen to Super Bowl Mayors’ Dueling Game Tunes

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:23 PM PST


Which Super Bowl mayor has the better musical taste?

More About: nfl, Sports, Super Bowl

Watch Students Send Hello Kitty to the Edge of Space

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:21 PM PST


Well, this sure makes me want to do some science this weekend. Seventh graders at Cornerstone Christian School performed this experiment on "the effects of altitude on air pressure and temperature." And presumably also on a Hello Kitty doll inside a lovingly spray-painted rocket ship.

[via Gizmodiva]

Image courtesy of melody green via YouTube

More About: hello kitty, Science, Video

Durex App Promises Discreet Condom Delivery on Demand

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:08 PM PST


"Ever noticed you never seem to have a condom when you need one?" asks a new app from Durex that promises to save you from those awkward situations. The SOS Condoms iOS app claims to provide discreet delivery of the protection you're looking for.

Just fire up the app, locate yourself, choose the product you need, and a delivery person -- disguised as a pizza delivery man, police officer or tourist (apparently so as not to draw suspicion) -- will deliver it to you for cash on delivery, says the app.

Don't get too excited about this lifesaver though. So far it's only available in Dubai (but the app's website is taking votes for which cities should get it next). And while we're tryin…
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More About: Condoms, iOS apps

Woman Finds Birth Parents Through Viral Facebook Photo

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:59 PM PST


Never underestimate the power of social media.

One woman in search of her biological parents found her apparent birth mother and father after posting a picture of herself on Facebook. On Jan. 27, Jenessa Simons shared a photo of herself holding a handwritten sign with her birth information.

Two days later, her birth mother reached out to her.

Simons' search began when she was 18, but she had to wait three years before submitting paperwork to the state. She decided to try her luck on Facebook while waiting, after seeing the success of posters who garnered 1 million likes for a puppy.

Her photo included what little information she knew: her birthday, hospital, parents' dates of…
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More About: Facebook, Social Media, Watercooler

Ravens Use iPads for Super Bowl Prep

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 06:59 PM PST


NFL players are used to lifting weights and rigorous workouts, but they're probably happy to replace bulky playbooks with iPads. The tablets come loaded with apps that detail all the Xs and Os of the paper version as well as video clips of opponents.

Almost half of the NFL teams use iPads with digital playbook apps, including the Super Bowl-bound Baltimore Ravens, who are in New Orleans preparing for this Sunday's big game.

In fact, the Ravens were the first team to go digital with their playbooks, according the Wall Street Journal. And when Chuck Pagano left the Ravens to coach the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, he converted the team to digital playbooks as well.

The iPads replaced…
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More About: Apple iPad, national football league, nfl, Super Bowl

Homeless People Anchor the Weather in Striking Awareness Campaign

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:59 PM PST


It's been a very cold winter -- especially for the homeless.

In a new campaign called "Days of Hope," people who are homeless stand in place of TV weathermen to bring awareness to the harsh impact of the cold winter in Europe, Osocio reports. Real men and women are invited from the streets to read the weather. When they're done presenting, they can ask the audience to make donations to local charities.

The above news cast is from Romania, a similar weather program is running in Russia, and more will soon roll out in Germany, Poland and Switzerland.

SEE ALSO: Homeless Man Uses Flip Cam, YouTube to Spread Awareness

Though these stand-in weathermen don't give particularly exci…
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More About: homelessness, Social Good, TV

10 Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Special Geek in Your Life

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:39 PM PST


1. Nyan Cat Valentine Heart Magnet




This awesome Nyan Cat magnet got a heart-shaped makeover for Valentine's Day. Cost: $17 Image courtesy of OlechkaDesign/Etsy

Click here to view this gallery.


While it's traditional to ask someone "Be My Valentine" with flowers and chocolates, here at Mashable we prefer to make our affectionate declarations with unicorns, meme cats and 8-bit hearts.

SEE ALSO: 8 Adorable Pixel Heart Gifts for Valentine's Day

We have found 10 great geeky gifts for the special nerd in your life. Get your dork on and take a look through our superb selection of romantic geekery in the gallery above.

Please share in the comments below any other love-themed nerd gifts you've seen online this year.

Homepage image courtesy of Etsy, LoLo Ma

More About: accessories, features, gallery, geek, home, Lifestyle, valentine's day, work and play

Pizza Hut Super Bowl Ad Gives Quarterbacks a Shout-Out

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 05:16 PM PST


Ever wondered what exactly the "hut" a quarterback shouts at the center actually means? If you'll believe Pizza Hut's Super Bowl 2013 ad, it might be quarterbacks giving a shout-out to the restaurant. And in return, Pizza Hut salutes quarterbacks in this year's Super Bowl commercial.

Check it out, above.

Image courtesy of Pizza Hut, via YouTube

More About: Commercial, Pizza Hut, Super Bowl 2013, Super Bowl ads

38 Predictions About the Future

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:59 PM PST


Have you ever wondered what the future of humanity holds? We know you have, we do it all the time here at Mashable. And frankly, looking ahead is pretty much an integral part of human nature.

Our friends at Information Is Beautiful Studio have compiled 38 predictions about the future of tech, science, and humanity in general -- with an educated guess as to their odds of actually becoming reality. There are predictions for all kinds of tastes: your computer will have a sense of smell, Pinterest will be bought by Google, the appearance of the first human clones, the territory of the moon will be claimed by china, and many more.

Check out the infographic below and see for yourself what t…
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More About: future, predictions, tech predictions

White House Considering Response to Chinese Cyberattacks

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:47 PM PST


The Obama administration, frustrated by a lack of cooperation from the Chinese government, is now considering a range of options in retaliation for Chinese hackers' attacks on U.S. businesses, according a to a report.

The Director of National Intelligence is working on a new report that will argue the Chinese government is directly involved in cyberattacks against the United States, reports the Associated Press. The report will focus on the negative impact of economic cybercrime on the U.S. economy, per former U.S. officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Hackers have long infiltrated foreign business' computer systems to steal intellectual property in order to sell or…
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More About: china, cybersecurity, US, World

Facebook Campaign Rescues ‘Gay Bulldog’ From Execution

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:32 PM PST


A bulldog who's owner claimed was "gay" was set to be executed -- until a Facebook campaign found it a new owner.

More About: Facebook, gay rights, Social Good, social media campaign

Twitter Attacked: Quarter-Million Accounts May Be Compromised

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:24 PM PST


Twitter issued a blog post late Friday announcing a possible security breach and live attack that may have given hackers access to 250,000 users' information.

From the post:

This week, we detected unusual access patterns that led to us identifying unauthorized access attempts to Twitter user data. We discovered one live attack and were able to shut it down in process moments later. However, our investigation has thus far indicated that the attackers may have had access to limited user information – usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords – for approximately 250,000 users.

Twitter's director of information security, Bob Lord, said in…
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More About: Twitter

A Nerd’s Guide to Football

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 04:11 PM PST


Are you a fair-weather football fan? The type who jumps on the bandwagon when Super Bowl time comes around just to make sure you have plans on a Sunday night? Do you actually question the nacho-dipping, beer-chugging traditions?

Well you can stop hiding that deep dark secret because this guy is blowing the roof off this thing we call the Super Bowl.

Turns out, there are actually a lot of people who are just as baffled by America's obsession with the sport (though most of them are overseas) as you are. And for good reason.

SEE ALSO: 8 Unforgettable Super Bowl Moments

It seems our obsession with the sport is in reality just a fixation with ads, since the time that is devote…
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More About: football, Super Bowl

Bang With Friends Debuts Same-Sex Option, But Questions Remain

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:48 PM PST


As promised, controversial app Bang With Friends unveiled an option for users to bed members of the same sex, after it received criticism for catering exclusively to heterosexuals.

"We've had extraordinary feedback and requests to bring this to the gay community," C, one of the app's three California-based co-founders told Mashable over the phone. (The 20-something men have chosen to remain anonymous for the time being.) He added that they received over 1,000 emails requesting the feature.

Bang With Friends, which anonymously hooks users up with their Facebook friends, claims to have seen 235,000 sign-ups, and matched over 15,500 couples, since its controversial launch last week.…
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More About: Bang With Friends, LGBT

Congresswoman Posts Revamped ‘Aaron’s Law’ on Reddit

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:14 PM PST


Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) has revised and expanded "Aaron's Law," her proposal to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in honor of Aaron Swartz. The congresswoman posted the revised bill on Reddit Friday afternoon.

"Thank you, Reddit and everyone else who provided feedback to the original rough draft bill to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and the wire fraud statute -- the laws the government used to unfairly prosecute Aaron Swartz," Lofgren wrote in the post.

The new draft addresses some of the concerns that were raised when the first proposal was made public. The bill still de-criminalizes terms of service violations, just like the first version did, but it als…
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More About: Aaron-Swartz, computer fraud and abuse act

What the Flicka: Felicity Huffman’s Digital Wisteria Lane

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:53 PM PST


Actress Felicity Huffman may have given up the close knit neighborhood of Wisteria Lane when Desperate Housewives came to an end, but she's created her own community on the Internet at WhattheFlicka.com.

It's a website for women and moms where they can "gather, make mistakes, say they're losing their mind, trade tips and offer advice to one another," Huffman told Mashable.

She discovered, after having kids, that it was a tough job and there wasn't a lot of opportunity to talk about it. "There's no conversation for parenting, no one to say 'it's hard' to." When she finally met someone who could relate, she felt a strong sense of community -- so she created that community for other mom…
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More About: felicity huffman, microsoft office, parenting, what the flicka

The 10 Best Super Bowl Ads of All Time

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:36 PM PST


Coca-Cola | Mean Joe Green


Coke's Mean Joe Green ad may be the most well-known Super Bowl ad of all time -- if not the most well-known commercial period. The ad originally aired during the 1979 game and shows a child melting Mean Joe's heart by offering him a bottle of Coke.

Click here to view this gallery.


Just like football teams need to bring their A-game on the field during the Super Bowl, advertisers need to bring their A-game for the commercial breaks -- especially now, considering how costly the ads are this year.

There have certainly been plenty of lousy ads over the years, but there have also been dozens and dozens of creative and entertaining commercials from brands big and small. In some cases, the ads have lived longer in our cultural memory than any single play or outcome from the game itself.

SEE ALL SUPER BOWL COVERAGE HERE

Who could forget the iconic Coke ad when Mean Joe Green tossed his jersey to a fan who gave him a coke to the Star Wars-themed Volkswagen ad from 201…
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More About: Super Bowl, Super Bowl ads, Super Bowl Ads Series

‘Star Trek’ Mobile App Kicks Off Super Bowl Campaign

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:35 PM PST


Paramount's new Star Trek app for iOS and Android is now available. The app is going to play an important role in Paramount's Super Bowl ad for the film Star Trek Into Darkness.

At CES 2013, Paramount and Qualcomm showed off the app, which uses context-aware technologies to bring specific information to users at specific times.

SEE ALSO: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Mobile App Will Blast off During Super Bowl

The app was designed to be a one-stop shop for Star Trek fans. It includes a news feed feature that shows off Star Trek news articles from around the web. When the film gets closer to release, users will also be able to pre-order tickets for the app from Fandango.

In addition…
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More About: Marketing, movie marketing, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness

Applebee’s Server Fired for Posting Customer’s Receipt Online

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:28 PM PST


An Applebee's employee was fired this week after posting a photo online of a snide comment -- and lack of tip -- left by a customer.

More About: Applebee's, reddit, religion, viral content

The Last Time the 49ers Won the Super Bowl …

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:15 PM PST


The 49ers last won the Super Bowl in 1995. Button your flannel, sip on some yak and roll with us, homies, down Memory Lane.

More About: Sports, Super Bowl, Watercooler

Watch ‘Sesame Street’ Hilariously Parody ‘Downton Abbey’

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:09 PM PST


Sesame Street has transformed Downton Abbey's Violet Crawley and Charles Carson into Muppet versions of the Dowager Countess of Grantham and her butler.

More About: Downton Abbey, Entertainment, sesame street, TV, viral videos

This GIF Search Engine Is Everything You’ve Ever Wanted

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:06 PM PST


You love .GIFs, right? Of course you do -- tweeting them, Tumbling them, sending them via Google Chat.

The only problem with the Internet's favorite animated art form is that it can be a real challenge to find the absolute perfect .GIF for a given situation -- but not anymore. Allow us to introduce Giphy, your new favorite search engine.

Giphy's user interface is dead simple: just search for a .GIF the same way you'd search for something on Google. Searching for "Doctor Who," as an example, brings up 363 results of animated Time Lord goodness.

Thankfully for load times, the results won't start GIFing until you hover your mouse over them.

Giphy's homepage, also has links…
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More About: GIF, Social Media

Path Settles With FTC Over Data Privacy ‘Deception’

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 01:40 PM PST


Social network Path has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it "deceived users" -- including children under 13 -- by collecting their personal information without consent.

The San Francisco-based company, which makes a mobile app that lets users focus on private updates from close friends and family, must set up a "comprehensive privacy program" and get "independent privacy assessments" every other year for the next 20 years, the FTC announced Friday. Path is also required to pay $800,000 to settle charges that it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by illegally collecting personal information from children without parental consent, the commission added.…
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More About: federal trade commission, FTC, Path, privacy

No, This Film Didn’t Inspire Disney’s Oscar-Nominated Paperman

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 01:36 PM PST


The Internet has fallen in love with Disney's Oscar-nominated short "Paperman," but could it have been inspired by another film?

More About: disney

Cup Holder Doubles as iPhone Case

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 01:22 PM PST


The UpperCup has a circular bevvie holder that pops up when you need it and then folds flat against the phone when you've had your fill.

More About: indiegogo, iphone cases

FTC Says You Should Be Able to Block Smartphone Tracking

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 12:56 PM PST


The Federal Trade Commission suggested Apple, Google, app developers and advertising networks should implement mobile Do Not Track (DNT) features in new mobile privacy guidelines issued Friday.

Do Not Track is designed to block third parties such as advertising networks from tracking your activity on the web. It's becoming increasingly popular as many plugins and several of the newest browsers offer it as a feature with varying degrees of efficacy.

Advertising companies argue tracking is necessary for delivering relevant ads. Tracking is also used by many websites to remember your login information and for other web experience-enhancing features. However, some people view Internet trac…
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Astronaut’s Columbia Tribute Is Only 165 Words, But It’s Perfect

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 12:30 PM PST


On the tenth anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, one NASA astronaut remembers the most important thing we lost: our people.

More About: astronauts, Columbia, NASA, space

Reddit Raises $10,000 for Taser-Happy Mall Manager

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 12:01 PM PST


Users of the social news site Reddit have helped raise more than $10,000 in less than 24 hours for an Atlanta shopping mall manager turned Internet hero.

Property manager Darien Long became an overnight Internet celebrity after an eight-month-old video of him dealing with two violent women collected more than 1 million views in less than three days.

The video shows Long telling two truculent women to back up outside Atlanta's Metro Mall while a group of young children looked on. After about three minutes worth of yelling at the women to stand down, one decides to attack Long, who was wearing a video camera on his bulletproof vest and had a pistol in his possession. Long was hit on the…
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More About: atlanta, crowdfunding, crowdtilt, reddit, redditors

Innovative Ways the Autism Community Uses iPads

Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:42 AM PST


The iPad has proven to be an especially useful communication tool for young people with autism. It provides a way to express themselves through words and images; it can be used to teach them about everyday scenarios and give them more independence. It's also far less bulky than some communication devices of the past.

Autism Spectrum Disorders are developmental disabilities that affect about one in every 88 children, and one in 54 boys.

Jonathan Izak's 12-year-old autistic brother inspired him to develop the AutisMate app for iPad. His brother, Oriel, is mostly nonverbal and used to struggle to communicate, sometimes throwing tantrums when he was unable to get his point across, Izak t…
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More About: apps, autism, Children, Gadgets, ipad, parenting

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