Thursday, January 31, 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “How a Beauty Company Generated Facebook Buzz Without Giveaways”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “How a Beauty Company Generated Facebook Buzz Without Giveaways”


How a Beauty Company Generated Facebook Buzz Without Giveaways

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 04:29 AM PST


In November, Nars took on a unique challenge: to promote a new cosmetics collection using social media without giving away free product or paying for advertising.

The company decided to develop a Facebook app for the Andy Warhol-inspired collection that would allow Facebook users to make over their profile photos and cover photos in the style of Warhol, with prominent Nars branding throughout. (To see it the app in action, check out the video from Nars below.)

Speaking at a WWD conference Wednesday, Heather Park, director of digital media at Nars, said her team wanted to target the cover photo section of users' profiles after discovering that every time a user changes her cover photo,…
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More About: beauty, cosmetics, Facebook, Facebook app, makeup, nars

mentalKase Foam Case for iPhone Protects in Extreme Conditions

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 04:03 AM PST


For iPhone users who are particularly rough-and-tumble with their phones, one case made of foam claims to provide protection in extreme conditions.

Developers of mentalKase say the covering, which accommodates the iPhone 5, 4S and 4, is not only durable, but also lightweight and anti-microbial.

"Nothing protects sensitive electronics from shock and impact like micro-cell rubberized foam," according to mentalKase's Kickstarter page. Check out the video above for more details.

While we don't picture the bulky case as an everyday holder for your iPhone, it could come in handy during outdoor activities.

Would you use the mentalKase? Tell us in the comments, below.

Image courtesy
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More About: apple, iphone, iphone cases, mentalkase

Monster Truck Shakes to Simulate Earthquake

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 01:51 AM PST


A monster T-Rex truck is on its way to New Zealand's South Island, to shake the soils around Christchurch.

More About: Earthquake, new zealand

Microsoft to Offer Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to Students for $70

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 12:27 AM PST


Microsoft has announced the details of a new special offer for students, which will be able to purchase the Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition online for $69.99.

The offer starts Feb. 1 in the U.S., and will also become available in 49 additional countries by March 19.

On Feb 21, the offer will become available in 22 new countries, including Canada, the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Eleven more countries will follow on March 7, and 16 more on March 19. See the full list of countries where this offer will be available over at Microsoft's official blog.

Microsoft will also start its Windows Campus Tour on Feb 18, visiting over 150 university campuses across the U.S. A team of experts wi…
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More About: microsoft, students, Windows, Windows 8

Tell Time With This Slick Clock Made of LEGOs

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 11:08 PM PST


Leave it to LEGOs to make telling time cool.

The guy who created this LEGO brick contraption is no short of a civic engineer who is probably our best bet at one day creating a time machine (which would also probably be made from LEGOs).

SEE ALSO: LEGO PancakeBot Is Deliciously Nerdy Innovation

The device uses a system of balls, levers and pulleys to tick away the minutes. And while it takes somewhat of a genius to actually figure out the time it is displaying, it manages to simultaneously look like something from both our past and future.

Clearly there is some type of magic involved. Or maybe that's just the magic of LEGOs. Watch the video above to learn how it was built.…
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More About: Lego

CouchCachet Helps You Fake an Awesome Social Life Online

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:50 PM PST


CouchCachet makes your social life seem more interesting by checking you into hip spots on Foursquare and posting pics of people hanging out to Instagram.

More About: startup, The Launchpad

Lady Gaga Loses 156 Million YouTube Views on Official Account

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:39 PM PST


Lady Gaga has joined the list of musicians to lose millions of video views on YouTube. Her official account lost some 156 million views, NME reports.

According to a YouTube spokesperson, VEVO reduced the play counts on many major artist's videos by up to 2 million views in December 2012 due to artificially inflation of view counts. Gaga's account survived that initial sweep.

SEE ALSO: Justin Bieber Passes Lady Gaga as Most-Followed on Twitter

Though many millions of views were removed last month, Gaga's videos have been found to be artificially boosted by hackers as well.

Image courtesy of Flickr, petercruise

More About: celebrities, Lady Gaga, Music, vevo, YouTube

Funny or Mean? Sassy TV Reporter Asks Drunk Videobomber About Her STD

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:22 PM PST


In a clip that went viral on the sports web Wednesday, this TV reporter has some tough medicine for a drunken Super Bowl reveler.

More About: news bloopers, Sports, Watercooler

Wristwatch to Combat Sexual Violence in India

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:06 PM PST


In the wake of a brutal string of gang-rapes of female bus passengers — one in New Delhi and one in Gurdaspur — Indian officials have unveiled a new weapon they're hoping can help combat violence against women.

Kapil Sibal, minister of information technology, announced last week that the Center for Development of Advanced Computing, a unit within the Indian government's Department of Electronics and Information Technology, plans to make a watch that can alert authorities and family members if danger is at hand.

The watch would be equipped with a button that sends a text message to the nearest police station and chosen relatives. A GPS system within the device will help pinpoint…
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More About: india, Rape, wristwatches

‘World of Warcraft’ Players Raise $2.3M for Sandy Relief

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 05:56 PM PST


World of Warcraft players have raised more than $2.3 million for Hurricane Sandy victims, after embarking on a real-life quest to help with relief efforts last month.

Blizzard, the company behind WoW, announced that the funds will go toward supporting the American Red Cross' Sandy relief initiative.

Throughout December, players contributed by virtually adopting the "Cinder Kitten," available in Blizzard's pet store, for $10. For more on WoW's charitable efforts, watch the video, above.

WoW players, did you purchase the Cinder Kitten? Tell us in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Blizzard

More About: Hurricane Sandy, world of warcraft, WoW

Why a Microsoft Office 2013 Subscription Makes Sense for Families

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 05:46 PM PST


When you think of things you regularly pay a yearly subscription for, office software probably isn't high on that list. Microsoft wants to change that.

With the launch of Office 2013, Microsoft is introducing a new way for you to buy its software. No need to go to the store for a shrink-wrapped boxed version, it's moved to a subscription-based model. For $99 you get what's called Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium. You can install the software on up to five devices in your household. This is nice since many families today have a main computer and then kids tend to have laptops of their own for schoolwork. The software can also be used on Mac computers, though Microsoft is still using Off…
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More About: microsoft office, Office 2013, SkyDrive, subscription

Super Bowl XLVII: The Social Media Guidebook

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 05:28 PM PST


This infographic will get you well on your way to learning everything you need to make Super Bowl XLVII a social media success.

More About: nfl, Sports, Super Bowl

10 Pin-Worthy Connected Living Rooms

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 05:20 PM PST


Charlotte Mazel




Charlotte was one of our winners; she won a 47" LG Google TV. Her board did a fantastic job of creating a high tech and welcoming atmosphere for her room. (Her room also has a Nest thermostat for maximum comfort.)

Click here to view this gallery.


For our first Pinterest contest, we asked you to pin your connected living room to win a high tech prize from LG. We received more than 475 entries, and you pinned nearly 3,700 contest pins! While the minimum number of pins to enter the contest was five, most people pinned many more than that -- one board even had 62 pins!

The winners of the contest were chosen at random. However, in addition to highlighting the winners' boards, we wanted to showcase other fantastic boards that you created. The idea of the contest was to design a dream living room for your home. Some of these rooms were comfortable with massive sofas and fluffy pillows, while others were cutting edge and filled with…
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More About: contest, pinterest

The BlackBerry Z10 Gets Unboxed

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 05:05 PM PST


BlackBerry Z10 Box




The paper sleeve around the box is a nice aquamarine. Let's see what's inside!

Click here to view this gallery.


The company formerly known as Research In Motion unveiled its newest handset today, the BlackBerry Z10, which runs on the brand new BlackBerry 10 platform.

Attendees at the launch event were given Z10 devices to take home to review, which means we had to spend some time unboxing the device for the camera. The phone itself is quite beautiful. It's sleek, understated and modern.

SEE ALSO: The First BlackBerry 10 Phone Is Exceptional, But Perplexing

Inside the box we found the Z10 along with the basic accessories and packaging you expect in a smartphone. It also included an accessory we didn't expect to see: a holster case for the Z10. Yes, that's right, a holster. BlackBerry might hav…
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More About: blackberry, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry Z10

Anne Hathaway Makes Last-Ditch Plea for Oscar Win

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:55 PM PST


One does not simply walk away with an Oscar.

Much like politics, it takes campaigning to win over the treasured Academy. Yes, there is all that acting and looking beautiful to achieve, but Oscar winners go above and beyond -- they rally.

Anne Hathaway is no stranger to the inner workings of the Academy and she isn't letting all the hard work (and lost weight) of playing Fantine in Les Miserables go to waste. She's begging for that Best Supporting Actress win like she begged Disney to stop making Princess Diaries movies (we suspect).

SEE ALSO: Did 'Les Miserables' Actors Steal Jokes From a Meme?

Ok fine, so it really isn't Anne in this video but this singer makes quite the a…
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More About: anne hathaway, Les Misérables, Oscars 2013, parody, viral videos

NFL Player Refutes Obama’s Concussion Comments on Twitter

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:41 PM PST


NFL player Greg Olsen engaged in an extended discussion about the safety of pro football and concussion controversy with followers on Twitter.

More About: nfl, Sports

Experience Human Trafficking Through MTV’s Digital ‘Backstory’

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:33 PM PST


MTV's college station, mtvU, launched a digital experience Wednesday, created to teach students about the harsh realities of human trafficking.

"The Backstory," the video experience, is the latest component of mtvU's Against Our Will campaign, which unites students in the growing movement to end modern-day slavery. The interactive site was inspired by four James Madison University students who won mtvU's annual Against Our Will Challenge, which calls for students to innovate with digital tools to spread awareness for modern slavery. The Backstory puts you in the position of a victim of sex trafficking or labor trafficking victim. After completing the experience, you'll learn ways to get…
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More About: human tra, mtv, Social Good

Look at These 10 GIFs and You Might Actually Learn Something

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:19 PM PST


GIFs are more than just entertaining animated loops; they can actually teach us tons of quick and interesting facts.

Think about the old textbooks most of us grew up with in the classroom. Each chapter's stock photos helped a little, but visual learners would benefit even more from quick animations. In other words, GIFs could be especially useful in scientific and medical fields.

SEE ALSO: School Yourself With These 10 Fake Science Facts

Instead of exclusively bookmarking amusing GIFs, take a look at these loops and learn something new. Or if you're a know-it-all, brush up on your knowledge.

1. How a Light Bulb Burns Out

GIF courtesy of Reddit

2. Scale of the Universe…
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More About: features, GIFs, Science

BlackBerry 10: What You Need to Know

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 04:02 PM PST


BlackBerry 10




BlackBerry 10 is finally here.

Click here to view this gallery.


Blackberry 10 was officially launched at an event in New York City on Wednesday. Along with the official debut of the mobile operating system, the company behind it also made some huge announcements about its future.

Curious what all the hype is about? Here's a quick look back at the event, what the company announced, and what we can expect in the future.

Don't Call Us RIM

RIM officially changed its name on Wednesday to BlackBerry. To go along with the new name the company will update its ticker symbol from RIMM to BBRY, and it introduced a new tagline: "One brand, one promise." The company will be showcasing the new name in its first Super Bowl ad ever this coming weekend.…
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More About: BlackBerry 10, RIM

Pranksters ‘Review’ North Korea on Google Maps

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:49 PM PST


When Google unveiled a detailed map of secretive North Korea, online pranksters and trolls began "reviewing" hotels, stadiums and even gulags.

Most of the Google Map "reviews" won't prove too useful for the few outsiders who get to visit North Korea as tourists. Instead, many people indulged in tongue-in-cheek commentary or dark humor about North Korea's cult-of-personality dictatorship, its Orwellian-style surveillance, and the general lack of both food and material wealth for many North Koreans.

"The finest health care clinic in all of Asia doubles as a fast food restaurant that makes starvation in the Glorious People's Democratic Republic a figment of Imperialist imagination!" wrote…
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More About: Google Maps, North Korea, trolls

Giffords Facebook Memo Actually Penned by Therapist

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:44 PM PST


A picture of shooting victim and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords' "handwritten testimony" on gun control which was posted to Facebook by Giffords' Political Action Committee following her Wednesday testimony to Congress on gun reform was written by Giffords' therapist and not Giffords herself.

Several media outlets, including The Atlantic and The Washington Post, ran the photo with captions suggesting Giffords herself wrote the notes. The photo soon went viral on social media as people shared it as a celebration of Giffords' recovery following a January 2011 shooting near Tucson, Arizona.

However, it was later revealed in corrections made by those outlets that the notes were wr…
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More About: congress, Politics, US

Facebook’s Q4: By the Numbers

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:31 PM PST


Monthly Active Users




Facebook broke the 1 billion mark in the third quarter.

Click here to view this gallery.


Facebook's fourth-quarter earnings was a bonanza for anyone looking for updated stats on the company. The one that caught a lot of analysts' attention was 23% -- the proportion of ad revenues that the company derives from mobile. Facebook's perceived lack of progress in mobile was a major reason the company's stock slid precipitously after its May 2012 IPO.

But, as usual, the company used its call with analysts after to show off its brisk growth and huge scale. Among the highlights:

On New Year's Day, users uploaded 600 million photos to Instagram, a new record.
Between Facebook's eponymous app and Instagram, the company now accounts for 25% of overall time spent on mobile, as meas
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More About: Facebook

Stop-Motion Music Video Uses Hundreds of Polaroid Pictures

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:23 PM PST


Walker Lukens comes to life in his new music video, "Dear Someone," as a man trapped in a photo. But the picture can move, and it leaves home to wander NYC.

More About: Entertainment, Music, music videos, stop-motion animation, Walker Lukens

Dish Hopper DVR Lets You Watch Satellite TV From Anywhere

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:19 PM PST


Now there's an improved Dish Hopper satellite video DVR on the market, adding attractive new features that might make it worth a second look. The big news is the Hopper's built-in Slingbox that lets you watch anything on your DVR wherever you have an Internet connection. We tested the new Dish Hopper with Sling, viewing video at home and on the go. How much of an improvement is it?

When I first fired up the Dish Hopper with Sling, I immediately noticed snappier performance when scrolling its program guide and viewing its menus. That's because Dish has upgraded the Hopper's processor to a 1.3 GHz chip. It's faster than the company's original Dish Hopper's processor, which ran at a much sl…
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More About: DISH, DVR, Hopper DVR, Satellite TV

Fall in Love With This Oscar-Nominated Disney Short

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 03:05 PM PST


Need a quick hit of romance and Mad Men-style glamor to get you through the rest of your work day? Take six minutes and watch this Oscar-nominated short from Disney: Paperman.

A blend of hand-drawn animation and computer graphics, Paperman is set in a stylized mid-century Manhattan. It deals with the star-crossed love of two office workers, and how a pile of papers brings them together. Disney released the video on YouTube late Tuesday.

The short is drenched in nostalgia -- not least because of our increasingly paperless offices. (Throwing your laptop out of the window doesn't quite have the same airborne effect.) But the seamless hand-drawn and computer combo -- created by a group…
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More About: animation, disney, mad men

Can the Z10 Save BlackBerry?

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:36 PM PST


BlackBerry, or the company formerly known as RIM, did all it could today in its bid for relevance. It delivered a cutting-edge smartphone, the Z10, a solid, old-school QWERTY Q10, and an intriguing and in some ways innovative mobile platform.

I just wish I could tell you if it's enough.

RIM ... er ... BlackBerry's CEO Thorsten Heins deftly played the role of affable showman. Standing in the middle of a perhaps over-large and too-empty stage (Apple's stage is always more intimate, and I think with good reason), Heins honored those who came before him (former co-CEOs Mike Lazardis and Jim Balsillie), while clearly pushing the once-dominant mobile brand into an invigorating, though unce…
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More About: blackberry, RIM

South Korea Launches Rocket in First Space Success

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:25 PM PST


South Korea launched its first homegrown rocket into space Wednesday after a series of delays and two earlier failures, marking a spaceflight leap for the country's space program, according to press reports.

The Korean Space Launch Vehicle-1, also known as the Naro booster, soared into space from South Korea's Naro Space Center 300 miles (482 kilometers) south of Seoul. The rocket launch was aimed at sending the small Science and Technology Satellite 2C (STSAT-2C) into orbit, Yonhap News reported today.

"At 4 p.m. today, the Naro was successfully launched. The satellite was deployed 540 seconds after the launch and an analysis of related data shows the satellite has successfully entere…
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More About: rocket, South Korea, space

Watch People Try to Use BlackBerry 10 for the First Time

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:16 PM PST


The BlackBerry Z10 is a powerful smartphone. It consolidates all messaging into a single, united interface called the Hub, it can run up to eight apps in the background, and it has an extremely high-res screen at 356 pixels per inch. But it also works in some starkly different ways than other smartphones.

For starters, there's no home button, so unlocking the phone works differently than on the iPhone and most Android phones. The BlackBerry 10 interface is gesture-based, meaning you navigate and control key functions by swiping the screen in specific ways. Minimized apps (called Active Frames) appear on their own home screen as widgets.

SEE ALSO: The First BlackBerry 10 Phone Is Ex
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More About: blackberry, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry Q10, BlackBerry Z10, mash, Video

How the Super Bowl Super Sizes Its Host City’s Economy

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:10 PM PST


Th Super Bowl is a bigger boon to its host cities than many probably realize. This infographic contains some staggering numbers.

More About: Sports, Super Bowl

This Collapsible Bike Helmet Fits in Your Hand

Posted: 30 Jan 2013 02:03 PM PST


Bike helmets are hardly anyone's favorite, albeit necessary, accessory. Though it's a safety essential, some cyclists prefer to ride sans headgear to avoid the bulk.

One French designer and engineer duo want to bring safety back to the streets with the Overade, a foldable bicycle helmet that protects just as well as it saves space.

When not in use, the helmet can be folded into to a small enough size to fit into a purse or backpack. It shrinks down to a third of its original size by way of latches and sliders. Check out the video, above, for more.

Philippe Arrouar and design partner ClĂ©ment Cailleau created the Overade to address the aesthetic expectations of urban cyclists. Arr…
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More About: design, health, helmet, Lifestyle, safety