Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Netflix CEO Compares Company to Bank of America and Oakland A’s”
Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Netflix CEO Compares Company to Bank of America and Oakland A’s” |
- Netflix CEO Compares Company to Bank of America and Oakland A’s
- BlackBerry 10 Is Now the Official Name of RIM’s Next Mobile OS
- Sport Your Xbox Live Avatar on Custom Tees and More
- Alec Baldwin’s Words With Friends Addiction Gets Him Booted Off Plane
- Facebook Reveals 2011′s Most-Popular Status Trends
- Flipboard Re-engineers Itself for the iPhone
- Kaboodle Founders Launch Mobile Fashion Marketplace
- Pixar Exec Talks Steve Jobs and ‘Brave’ [VIDEO]
- Microsoft Reveals Windows Store in Bid to Crash Tablet Party
- Future Tech: 8 Ways We Could Recycle Our Wasted Heat
- Facebook Begins Official Timeline Rollout
- Beyonce’s Baby Inspired More Tweets Per Second Than Steve Jobs’ Passing
- Live Tweeting the GOP Muppet Hearings
- Angry Birds Dress Makes Big Fashion Statement
- Procatinator Will Kill Your Productivity (While Being Awesome)
- Facebook Bug Revealed Mark Zuckerberg’s Private Photos
- Adele Finds Her Voice on Twitter, Imitates Beyonce
- Judge Accidentally Releases Details in Apple, Samsung Legal Battle [VIDEO]
- Mostly Mobile: How the Internet Is Consumed in India [INFOGRAPHIC]
- How Much Does a Twitter Follower Cost?
- Coming Soon to Your Smartphone: Grand Theft Auto III for $5
- XXX Domains Are Here: Now What?
- Real or Fake? The Texts Behind Damn You Auto Correct
- Amazon Will Pay You Up to $15 to Shop With Its Price Check App
- Verizon to Challenge Netflix With Streaming Service [REPORT]
- Can Gaming Change the Climate Change Conversation?
- Microsoft Delays Major Xbox Update, Without Explanation
- T-Pain Talks Autotune, Apps and the Future of Music
- How a Startup Went From Zero Revenue to $1 Million in a Year [VIDEO]
- How Russians Are Tracking Elections on Social Media
| Netflix CEO Compares Company to Bank of America and Oakland A’s Posted: 07 Dec 2011 05:17 AM PST      Ouch. Reed Hastings addressed a room of investors and media experts this week in a bid to reignite confidence in his company. After his curious speech, it’s unlikely many of them will be jumping back on the Netflix bandwagon anytime soon. During a Q&A in a New York ballroom, Hastings said overconfidence had caused Netflix to resemble the country’s most troubled bank, Bank of America. He later added that Netflix has a new strategy to be “the Moneyball of content providers” a reference to a book about how the low-budget Oakland A’s used a knowledge of stats to compete with much richer teams Although the session reflected Hastings deep knowledge of the entertainment business, his “better times are coming” message seemed at times to vacillate between an apology and wishful thinking. Recall that Netflix is in a dreadful bind. The company is burning through cash at a time when content owners — many of which are developing streaming services of their own — are demanding exorbitant sums to share their shows. It is also smarting from a botched effort to split itself into two companies and from a disastrous corporate finance decision in which it blew a bundle to reacquire shares near their peak price. To shore up its cash holdings, Netflix last month had to sell new shares at a much lower price, further diluting its remaining value. So what is Hastings’s strategy to escape this dilemma? "If you fundamentally believe Internet video will change the world … we're the leading play on that thesis,” he said. “As long as we don't shoot ourselves in the foot anymore, we should be a fantastic opportunity." Hastings’s hope appears to lie in the fact that the future will be dominated by streaming, a field in which Netflix has long been a leader. He claims that Netflix and content-rich HBO will become neck and neck rivals to serve consumers looking to stream shows on many different devices. Under this scenario, the two companies would soon resemble each other as a result of Netflix investing in content and HBO investing in distribution capacity. Hastings dismissed Amazon, which is streaming movies to its popular new Kindle Fire tablet, as a serious competitor, saying he sees the market as a two-horse race. The other potential bright spot for Netflix is international expansion. Hastings repeatedly cited the company’s success in Canada where streaming was introduced this year. But Canada is only one-tenth the market size of the U.S. and Netflix’s larger global strategy is on hold while it concentrates on returning to profitability. It is not clear when that return to profitability will occur. Hastings deflected a question about a return to profits by 2013 though he suggested the first quarters of next year were promising because Netflix has doubled its content. Much is riding on this recent content strategy that includes a decision to purchase exclusive rights to a 26-part political drama House of Cards. The problem is that Netflix is in a position where it must pay more than anyone else for content, a fact that Hastings acknowledged. Unlike its rivals, it doesn’t have a vault of its own material that it can swap or license. Meanwhile, new competitors are barreling in all the time, including Verizon which is rumored to be introducing a web video service of its own. Hence, the Moneyball strategy. Hastings says Netflix is using statistics about user views and other metrics in order to find the optimal amount to pay for each scrap of content. This is like what the Oakland A’s did in the 1990s, obtaining hidden gems that let them win baseball pennants on a shoestring payroll. It sounds promising but it is worth noting that the A’s finished at the bottom of the American League last year, trounced by rich teams like the Yankees and Red Sox who now have stats gurus of their own. Just saying. BONUS: How Netflix Lost Two-Thirds of Its Value in 3 Months1. Netflix Stock Hits All-Time High July 13, 2011 Netflix stock more than doubled over the previous year, then increased by 15% in May to reach its last all-time high in July of $300. Click here to view this gallery. More About: netflix, reed hastings For more Entertainment coverage:
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| BlackBerry 10 Is Now the Official Name of RIM’s Next Mobile OS Posted: 07 Dec 2011 04:54 AM PST   BlackBerry 10 – not BBX – will be the official name of the next generation of RIM’s mobile platform, the company announced in a tweet. “#BBDevCon Asia Keynote: BlackBerry 10 is the official name of the next generation platform that will power future BlackBerry smartphones!^BZ,” tweeted BlackBerryDev. The name change comes after RIM lost a legal battle for the BBX name to BASIS International, a company that has been using the name for its software products. BBX, now BlackBerry 10, was unveiled in October. It will be a unified operating system for BlackBerry smartphones, tablets and other devices, combining the best features of BlackBerry OS and QNX, the operating system RIM had purchased in 2010. BONUS: Sleekly Designed Porsche BlackBerry Has Gravity-Defying PricetagPorsche Design P'9981
Click here to view this gallery. More About: bbx, blackberry, BlackBerry 10, RIM For more Mobile coverage:
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| Sport Your Xbox Live Avatar on Custom Tees and More Posted: 07 Dec 2011 04:46 AM PST A new project promises to bring your Xbox Live avatar to life. CafePress and Microsoft Xbox have teamed up to turn gamers’ avatars into customized merchandise, including t-shifts, flip fops and hoodies. We could see this being the perfect gift for the gamer on your holiday wishlist. For more details, check out the video above, or visit xbox.cafepress.com. For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Alec Baldwin’s Words With Friends Addiction Gets Him Booted Off Plane Posted: 07 Dec 2011 12:49 AM PST   Alec Baldwin likes Words With Friends, the Scrabble game available on multiple platforms including the iPhone, so much that he missed a flight because of it. On Tuesday, Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines plane at the Los Angeles International Airport and had to switch to a different flight. It’s unclear if Baldwin was actually booted off the plane because he had refused to turn off his phone, but according to his tweets, it definitely had to do something with the popular game. “Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt,” tweeted Baldwin on Tuesday. He continued to lash out at American Airlines after the incident with a barrage of Scrabble-related jokes. “Now, as I was kicked off this flight, the word I was playing was UNITED,” tweeted Baldwin, alluding to another airline company. American Airlines tried to reach Baldwin via Twitter and said in a statement the company would not “comment on something that might or might not have happened.” Zynga’s Words With Friends is a Scrabble game that lets you take turns against your opponents at your own pace. The game is known to be highly addictive, and for Baldwin, it seems, waiting a couple of hours was not an option. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, EdStock More About: alec baldwin, Social Media, Twitter, words with friends For more Mobile coverage:
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| Facebook Reveals 2011′s Most-Popular Status Trends Posted: 06 Dec 2011 09:07 PM PST   Facebook status updates played a starring role in the evolution of the world’s largest social network in 2011. As several major changes to status updates (increased character limits, for example) rolled out throughout the year, Facebook data scientists kept their eyes focused on tracking the key trends among those status updates. Facebook unleashed that research late Tuesday night in their end-of-year Memology list, which each December since 2009 has helped users understand the most-popular topics, cultural trends and acronyms on the site. Similar to what was popular on Twitter in 2011, high-profile deaths triggered (see image above) plenty of discussions among you and your friends. On Facebook, the death’s Osama bin Laden, Steve Jobs and Amy Winehouse incited heavy activity in status updates. “While it takes days of painstaking work to compile the data, it’s a rare chance to get an insight into what the world is talking about,” data scientist Eytan Bakshy told Mashable. This year’s list also highlights the fastest-growing topic areas in news, entertainment and sports. Most-Listened To Songs1. “We Found Love” by Rihanna and Calvin Harris 2. “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” by Katy Perry 3. “Sexy And I Know It” by LMFAO 4. “Titanium” by David Guetta and Sia 5. “First of the Year” by Skrillex 6. “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by Skrillex  “2011 was also the rise of music producer Skrillex,” Facebook notes. “Although Skrillex has been around for years, his 2011 tour, a collaboration with Korn, and record label launch prompted a 76-fold increase in the number of people mentioning him in their status updates on Facebook.” 7. “Without You” by David Guetta and Usher 8. “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine 9. “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People 10. “Someone Like You” by Adele Most-Shared Articles1. Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Earthquake and Tsunami This Mar. 15 New York Times interactive graphic compares satellite images of the damages of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Click here to view this gallery. Movies1. Harry Potter "Wands are only as powerful as the wizards who use them. Some wizards just like to boast that theirs are bigger and better than other people’s.” 2. The Twilight Saga 3. Toy Story 4. Avatar 5. Jackass 6. Shrek 7. Saw 8. Pirates of the Caribbean 9. Fast & Furious 10. Titanic Acronyms Two acronyms gradually seeped into your repertoire as the year progressed: “lms,” which is short for “like my status,” and “tbh,” which expands to “to be honest.” Facebook says “lms” is its fastest-growing acronym. We’re confident that this viral video — “Like Mah Status” — played some part in the acronym’s usage growth on Facebook. To see me mash up the acronyms into one status update, check out my Facebook profile. TV Shows1. House 2. Two and a Half Men 3. The Simpsons 4. Family Guy 5. South Park 6. Grey’s Anatomy 7. SpongeBob SquarePants 8. CSI: Miami 9. iCarly 10. The Big Bang Theory Top Meme “Status updates mentioning planking, where people lie face down in unusual locations, exploded in May,” Facebook notes. “That happened after Max Key, the son of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, posted a Facebook photo of himself planking in the family lounge with his father in the background.” Musicians1. Rihanna 2. Bob Marley 3. Avril Lavigne 4. David Guetta 5. Enrique Iglesias 6. Usher 7. Lady Gaga 8. Metallica 9. Green Day 10. Black Eyed Peas Actors and TV Personalities1. Megan Fox 2. Vin Diesel 3. Adam Sandler 4. Selena Gomez 5. Will Smith 6. Taylor Lautner 7. Jackie Chan 8. Ashley Tisdale 9. DJ Pauly D 10. Kim Kardashian Fictional Characters1. Dr. House 2. Dory 3. Patrick Star 4. Mr. Bean 5. Upin & Ipin 6. Bob Esponja 7. Mario 8. Doraemon 9. Ari Gold 10. Sue Sylvester (GLEE) Athletes1. Leo Messi 2. Cristiano Ronaldo 3. John Cena 4. Ricardo Kaka 5. David Beckham 6. Michael Jordan 7. Sachin Tendulkar 8. Andres Iniesta 9. Kobe Bryant 10. Cesc Fàbregas Sports Teams1. FC Barcelona 2. Real Madrid C.F. 3. Manchester United 4. LA Lakers 5. Chelsea Football Club 6. Liverpool FC 7. A.C. Milan 8. Arsenal 9. Galatasaray 10. Fenerbahce News Outlets1. CNN 2. Fox News 3. NPR 4. The Onion 5. The New York Times 6. Al Jazeera Channel 7. Yahoo! News 8. The Times of India 9. BBC World News 10. PBS Note: These categories represent growth in page popularity, not mentions in status updates. More About: Facebook, News, Social Media, trending
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| Flipboard Re-engineers Itself for the iPhone Posted: 06 Dec 2011 09:07 PM PST   Flipboard, a popular social newsreading app for the iPad, is launching its long-awaited iPhone app Wednesday. The app, which displays feeds from both formal news sources and social networks in a magazine-like format, has been entirely reengineered to serve the unique habits of newsreaders on the iPhone: That is, users who want to access all of their newsfeeds in quick, short spans without sacrificing what Flipboard CEO Mike McCue describes as “the notion of bringing beauty to these posts.” Flipboard has streamlined its signature tile format into a single stack, which users can move through not by swiping right to left, but from top to bottom. McCue says this is a more natural movement for the iPhone and in our early tests, we have to agree. As they scroll, users can also mark interesting-looking headlines for later reading — handy for quickly gathering must-read material. One of the more welcome new features is Cover Stories, which pulls up stories Flipboard’s algorithms determine are most relevant to you and the people you care most about. The feature, McCue says, will improve the more you use it. Next, Flipboard plans to bring Cover Stories to its iPad app. After that, the company will focus on making both apps more relevant for users in various international markets. (Just yesterday, a Chinese version was launched.) And what about Android? “Very gradually we’ll go to other platforms,” McCue says. “The iPhone app was almost a completely new product. If we were to go to another platform you’d see a similar level of thinking go into the experience.” More About: Flipboard, iphone app
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| Kaboodle Founders Launch Mobile Fashion Marketplace Posted: 06 Dec 2011 07:31 PM PST   The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Quick Pitch: Purchase and sell pre-owned apparel and accessories via your iPhone. Genius Idea: Four-and-a-half years after their last startup was acquired by Hearst, Kaboodle’s founding team is at it again. On Monday, Kaboodle cofounders Manish Chandra and Chetan Pungaliya, along with Tracy Sun and former Kaboodle engineer Gautam Golwala, launched Poshmark, an iPhone app that lets you browse, buy and sell clothing and accessories in just a few clicks. You can shop and sell items individually or through pre-scheduled shopping events called “Posh Parties,” which bring together a number of items under a single category or theme, such as “Coats and Capes” or “Holiday Sparkle.” To list an item, you need only snap a photo or two with your iPhone, apply an optional, Instagram-like filter, and add category and pricing details. There’s no listing fee, but Poshmark will take a substantial (20%) cut that includes the cost of shipping and customer support. The company will intermediate if there are issues with a product, but buyers are otherwise unable to file for returns. One of the app’s biggest flaws at present is its lack of filtering options. There’s no way to search or browse for items by category; you can only sift through Posh Parties and the listings of users you follow. And although the app is designed to get women to sell clothing out of their closets, there’s nothing that would seemingly prevent you or other users from putting other goods on sale too. Still, we believe the app has potential. It is indeed easier to list items on Poshmark than eBay, and the timed, themed events should keep shoppers coming back for more. In addition to its launch, Poshmark announced Tuesday that it has secured $3.5 million in Series A funding led by Mayfield, a $2.7 billion early-stage investor fund. Previous Kaboodle investors Kanwal Rekhi through Inventus Capital, Jeff Clavier through SoftTechVC and Ron Conway through SV Angel also participated in the round. Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark  The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. More About: bizspark, poshmark, spark-of-genius For more Startups coverage:
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| Pixar Exec Talks Steve Jobs and ‘Brave’ [VIDEO] Posted: 06 Dec 2011 07:11 PM PST John Lasseter, the chief creative officer at Pixar, was on Charlie Rose last week, talking about Steve Jobs, the evolution of animation and Pixar’s next project, Brave. The episode is worth watching in its entirety. On the subject of Jobs, Lasseter refers to him as “being like a brother” and talks about Jobs’s drive for excellence. He also points out that Jobs invested more than $50 million of his own money in Pixar for nearly a decade before it ever made a profit. Lasseter also talks about Pixar’s next film, Brave, which hits theaters in June. Brave features a female protagonist — a first for the company. Lasseter, who also serves as the Principal Creative Adviser for Walt Disney Imagineering, discusses the importance of fusing new technology and new techniques with what fundamentally makes a great film: A good story. What continues to make Pixar unique is that it is one of the few companies that fuses technology with stories and characters that stand the test of time. In the interview, Lasseter shares an anecdote about Steve Jobs and how the late Pixar CEO looked at the legacy of animation. After remarking that with technology, a good product could last at most, five years, he said, “if you do your job right with these animated films, what you do can last forever.” You can watch the whole interview here. More About: Brave, john lasseter, pixar, steve jobs For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Microsoft Reveals Windows Store in Bid to Crash Tablet Party Posted: 06 Dec 2011 07:04 PM PST
The Windows Store will debut with the launch of Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system, which will be released in beta in February 2012, company officials said on Tuesday. The full release is believed to be coming in the fall of next year. The Windows store will be “the most significant development opportunity ever,” Windows Web Services team corporate vice president Antoine Leblond said on Tuesday, and “a really important part of the Windows 8 platform.” Microsoft’s new app store will compete for developers’ attention with Apple’s Mac App Store, and will offer free trials of programs for Metro-themed programs in addition to the full paid version, company officials confirmed on Tuesday. The Windows store will split app sales revenue 70-30 with developers, in keeping with the unofficial industry standard established by Apple, but that rate will increase to an 80-20 split for developers once apps reach $25,000 in sales. Microsoft also trumpeted the Windows Store’s ability to take on apps written in a variety of programming languages including HTML5 and JavaScript, another departure from Apple’s model, as well as access to Microsoft’s unprecedented reach with more than a billion Windows PCs worldwide and more than 500 million licensed copies of Windows sold in the past two years. Developers present in San Francisco on Tuesday expressed excitement about the level of opportunity presented by Windows 8 and Microsoft’s coming app store. “It’s going to be easier for us to go online with this platform,” Sina Mobasser, co-founder of the BarMax app, which sells for $1,000 and helps law students prepare for the bar examination, told Mashable. But industry insider and former Microsoft manager Scott Berkun cautioned on Monday that developers and users won’t be able benefit from the Windows Store for some time yet. “The problem is it won’t be available yet — there are no plans for a Windows 7 store,” he told Mashable in an email. “So this will have no real impact until Windows 8 launches, which will be a year at best.” When Windows 8 does launch, it will represent a radical departure from previous Windows operating systems, with a much more interactive feel designed to do well on tablets and other touch-screen devices. Instead of the traditional start menu, Windows 8 will feature a start screen with tiles representing different programs and applications (see photo), including direct access to the new Windows Store. In a smaller example of Microsoft’s eagerness to gain ground in the changing hardware landscape, users will have the option to sign in using screen gestures instead of the normal type-in password. The new user interface’s touch emphasis caused the International Data Corporation research firm to predict that “Windows 8 will be largely irrelevant to the users of traditional PCs” in a recent report. But Windows 8 users will be able to access a desktop tile that reveals a user interface nearly identical to Windows 7, as Microsoft representative Christopher Flores demonstrated to Mashable in a preview Tuesday morning. “Windows 7 is really just another app sitting on the desktop,” he said. “We have a very thin Metro UI for the new stuff, and a very thin Windows 7 UI all sharing the same core of the Windows 8 operating system.” Nonetheless, the touch-centric primary UI and complementing app store do represent a clear bid by Microsoft to gain ground in the tablet space, where Apple, Amazon and Android have a significant head start as the computing industry moves from traditional menu tabs and pop-up windows to touch screens and apps. Multiple Microsoft Windows-based tablets are expected to be released in 2012. “They clearly are in a hole when it comes to tablets and mobile, and so it will be interesting to see what kind of impact this will have,” Robert Scoble, an industry analyst, former Microsoft tech evangelist and regular company critic, said in an email to Mashable. “This strategy might not make them the sexiest company on the block, but it does give them a firm base to build on,” Scoble added. But as Microsoft does look to make a splash in the tablet and mobile worlds, its success or failure in grabbing market share from Apple and Amazon won’t make or break the gigantic Seattle tech company’s overall fate. In Scoble’s words: “Microsoft has something like 14 different billion dollar businesses, most of which won’t be affected one bit if their new strategy doesn’t succeed or not, so I’m not worried about Microsoft’s future.” Mobasser of the BarMax app says he’s optimistic about the Windows Store’s potential moving forward. “It seems like they’ve learned a lot of lessons that developers have gone through with the Mac App Store and Android Market, and kind of brought their own twist to it,” he said. “So, even though they’re a little late to the game we’re very excited.” Bonus: A Closer Look at Windows 8Windows 8 Devices Microsoft demonstrated a lot of Windows 8 devices, including tablet devices, at its Build conference in Anaheim, CA. Click here to view this gallery. More About: apps, mac app store, microsoft, mobile devices, tablets, Windows 8, Windows Store
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| Future Tech: 8 Ways We Could Recycle Our Wasted Heat Posted: 06 Dec 2011 06:53 PM PST   Julian Taub is a freelance science writer and performance poet in the East Village of NYC. He writes a nanotechnology blog called Julian's TechSplurge, and runs Late Nite Labs' science blog. You can follow him on Twitter: @JulianTaub. Every electrical appliance — from a humble light bulb to a MacBook Pro — leaks precious heat. Electric companies love this fact. We, on the other hand, should be looking for solutions. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute teamed up with the University of Wollongong in Australia to design a new material that converts heat into electricity. They mixed zinc oxide nanoparticles (the material that makes sunscreen dry clear on your skin) with aluminum and heated it in a microwave for about three minutes. The zinc oxide conducts electricity and the aluminum makes it harder for the molecules to transfer heat. The difference in temperature between the two parts of the material sparks the electrons to start an electrical current. Though the resulting thermoelectric material is far from efficient at this point, the zinc oxide has a new property: the ability to transfer heat was lessened by twenty-fold. Thermoelectric materials that turn heat into electricity have been around for a while, but are typically expensive and inefficient. The microwaved zinc oxide is an environmentally friendly technology that should produce affordable materials. The question is, how can we use this material to make a much-needed impact on society and the environment. Here are eight implementations that would help the movement gain momentum. 1. Heat-Trapping Computer MatLaptops are getting more and more efficient, but they still lose a significant amount of heat during use. By creating a thermoelectric layer on the bottom of your computer, you can conserve some of it. This "mat" would connect to a heat pipe (a device that channels all the heat in the computer to a specific area) and turn the heat back into electricity. The mat might also be used to charge additional devices like a mobile phone or iPod. 2. A Heater That Powers Your LightsWhile modern household boilers are more efficient than their predecessors, they still waste a lot of energy as they heat your home — not to mention the significant heat lost through steam pipes. By covering your boiler and lining pipes with thermoelectric material, you would save energy while reducing the electric bill. The material can also link up to your regular (or holiday) lights, powering them with heat energy that would otherwise be wasted. 3. Hot Air ConditionerCooling and heating systems have used thermoelectricity in the past; however, these devices turn electricity into heat, not the other way around. They are also very inefficient and expensive. For instance, a thermoelectric cooler that holds only nine soda cans costs about $80 and uses a battery power or an AC adaptor to draw the heat away from the container. These types of devices also tend to break down easily. Despite their flaws, if you're interested in checking out one of these bad-boys, I suggest a Koolatron. The expense for thermoelectric home air conditioners is so high that virtually no market exists — the systems can cost upward of $900. However, this could change very soon. This technology can be improved so that the heat from the surrounding environment runs the machine — it wouldn't require a battery or plug at all. The air conditioner would react to the heat outside, then create an electrical current that pumps cold air into the room. 4. Powering Transportation AccessoriesThe team that originally developed the zinc oxide material had this application in mind. A high amount of energy is required to run these types of vehicles, and a lot of heat is lost in the process. However, thermoelectric heat from turbines or pistons can power almost any vehicle accessory, from the GPS system to the automatic windows to the seat warmers. It could also prevent a car from overheating. 5. A Hot Summer Day Powers Your Car RadioWhile similar to the previous idea, here the material is not attached to the engine. Rather, it's built into the car frame's interior and exterior. That way, the hot air outside will contact the thermoelectric material and power your car speakers, or create a hot air conditioner by extracting that same outside heat energy. 6. Body Heat Powers Your WatchSince the advent of smartphones, watches have become optional accessories. However, expensive watches remain stylish status symbols. Thermoelectric material can break into the existing accessory industry by marketing body heat watches to mainstream tech culture. The watch design is simple. Watches, which usually run on quartz crystal, don't require much 7. The Meal You Cook Powers Your DishwasherNobody really enjoys washing dishes. Besides, dishwashers guzzle up electricity. However, heat produced by your oven, stovetop or microwave could provide more than enough energy to get the cleaning job done. One patch of thermoelectric material would absorb energy during the cooking process, convert the heat to electricity, and store the energy in a capacitor. After a hearty meal with friends and family, place all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Once you flip the switch, the electricity collected from the hot stovetop or oven would activate the cleaning cycle. 8. Temperature Changing ClothesIn 2009, MIT graduate Kranthi Vistakula started his own clothing company in Ahmadabad, India. ClimaWare clothing uses thermoelectric material to control the wearer's external temperature. The wearer can adjust temperature settings by pressing the modules on his clothing. The material is lightweight, no heavier than a regular pair of jeans. The only major downside? Each jacket costs about $800. Nonetheless, this amazing technology has the capacity to revolutionize the clothing industry, especially amidst rapidly changing weather patterns. The main customers right now are the U.S. and Indian armies. And as thermoelectricity technology continues to advance, these options will become less expensive and more accessible to the public. Images courtesy of Flickr, SiamEye, Jan Tik, nouveaustar More About: contributor, environment, features, future tech, Heat For more Tech coverage:
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| Facebook Begins Official Timeline Rollout Posted: 06 Dec 2011 06:36 PM PST   Facebook officially took the “beta” label off its much-publicized Timeline this evening, but it’s rolling out the new feature gradually. New Zealand is currently the only country to get Timeline, the company said in a blog post this evening. Other regions will get it in the “near future.” Facebook first unveiled Timeline in early September, and quickly provided the means for developers and curious users to enable the feature. A more general release was planned for later that month, but it never came, ostensibly to address technical issues and privacy concerns having to do with the software. Timeline, you may recall, is a way to illustrate your entire life — not just the part you’ve been living on Facebook since you joined — in a graphical way. One of the common criticisms of Facebook is that it’s almost entirely concerned with the here and now, no matter how mundane. Major life events, though chronicled, are quickly pushed to the bottom of an individual’s feed and forgotten. Timeline brings those events back, mapping them on a graphic that tells the story of a user’s life, from birth to present day. Although the idea was praised widely, new privacy concerns were raised with the feature, one of them being that it was visible from the Timeline when you “unfriended” certain people (Facebook has said this was a glitch that’s been corrected). Timeline is one of Facebook’s most exciting new features, and we’re sure users will flock to it as it’s rolled out officially. Check out some amazing Timeline designs in the gallery below, and share your own in the comments. 1. Janet Medina We like the simplicity and the warm message that Janet's profile delivers. Click here to view this gallery. More About: Facebook, Social Media, timeline
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| Beyonce’s Baby Inspired More Tweets Per Second Than Steve Jobs’ Passing Posted: 06 Dec 2011 05:54 PM PST   The onstage confirmation of Beyonce's pregnancy during MTV’s Video Music Awards shattered Twitter’s tweets-per-second record in August. To this day, the event still tops the TPS chart, ahead of significant moments involving Steve Jobs, FIFA Women’s World Cup, New Year's Day in Japan, Osama bin Laden’s death and the Super Bowl. On Tuesday, Twitter unveiled the list of 2011′s top 16 moments, many of which Mashable has written about throughout the year. Relive the moments with us below. Which ones did you tweet about this year? Top 16 Tweets-Per-Second Moments of 2011
 White House The White House tweeted this at 11:35 p.m. ET. shortly after President Barack Obama spoke the words during a live statement. Click here to view this gallery. More About: News, Social Media, Twitter
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| Live Tweeting the GOP Muppet Hearings Posted: 06 Dec 2011 05:23 PM PST   It sounds like the plot of a Muppet movie: A right-wing TV network accuses Jim Henson’s popular creations of being Communists, and a multitude of fans rise to their defense throughout the country. That’s the story being played out on Twitter right now. It all started when Fox Business News’ Eric Bolling accused Kermit and his friends of being agents of the radical left. His evidence? The latest Muppet movie, now in theaters, which features as a villain an oil tycoon who goes by the name Tex Richman. Labeling the movie as the left’s latest attempt at class warfare and calling upon various talking heads to support the argument that The Muppets is “brainwashing” children with a liberal agenda, Bolling appears to be actively fishing for a mention on The Daily Show in the segment, viewable here. The backlash was inevitable, and even though Bolling has since sort-of apologized, live on the air, Twitter has been keeping the fire going since the original “story” via the hashtag #GOPMuppetHearings. Below is a collection of our favorite tweets with the tag, assembled via Storify.
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| Angry Birds Dress Makes Big Fashion Statement Posted: 06 Dec 2011 04:28 PM PST
Angry Birds has made its way into fashion before with the introduction of t-shirts and accessories, but the wife of a Rovio executive is taking the brand to a whole new level with an off-the-shoulder ballroom gown that pays tribute to the widely popular game. Teija Vesterbacka – who is married to Peter, CMO of the company that created the game – wore an Angry Birds dress to an event on Tuesday night at the Finish Presidential Palace to celebrate Finland's independence. The red dress features the iconic face of one of the Angry Birds characters. News of the look made its way onto Twitter and was met with a mixture of reactions, as some called it “epic” while others were “disgusted.” “Sooooo glad my husband didn’t create ‘Angry Birds.’ Quelle horreur! This dress is a nightmare,” tweeted Nanea Reeves via @naninja. Meanwhile, Twitter user @sircoolio said the following: “Love this! Company pride!” Many praised Vesterbacka’s wife for enhancing the brand’s marketing strategy. Angry Birds has taken the game market by storm since it first debuted in December 2009. In fact, the company recently announced that various versions of the game have been downloaded 500 million times. Rovio also revealed that fans have played a whopping 266 billion levels, shot 400 billion birds and collected 44 billion stars. This amounts to 300 million minutes played of the game each day and 109.5 billion minutes played each year. What do you think of the dress? Will this make a splash in the fashion industry? Image courtesy of Italehti. More About: angry birds, rovio
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| Procatinator Will Kill Your Productivity (While Being Awesome) Posted: 06 Dec 2011 03:12 PM PST   A brilliant new website has combined our love of wasting time and the Internet’s collective affection for cats. It’s called Procatinator, and I’m warning you now, it will suck all but the blackest of hearts into its vortex of awesome. Procatinator is a fairly simple site: It serves a visitor an repeating animated GIF of some sort of cat motion paired with an exquisitely chosen song sourced by YouTube. For instance, this link (captured below) takes a cat petting a stuffed animal and pairs it with George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.” Genius. On the site’s Twitter account, the crew has indicated that its server is exploding. As a result, initial loading of images and music may be delayed. Trust us, it’s worth the wait. More About: cats, humor, internet memes, procatinator, YouTube For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Facebook Bug Revealed Mark Zuckerberg’s Private Photos Posted: 06 Dec 2011 02:45 PM PST   A bug in Facebook’s code briefly gave users access to other users’ Facebook photos — including those of Mark Zuckerberg — without permission Tuesday. Members of a body building forum first spotted the bug, which appeared in a new feature that allowed people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously. If you reported a photo for reasons of “nudity or pornography,” you were given the option to “take action by selecting additional photos to include with your report”. You were then shown additional recent photos from the same profile to flag if inappropriate. Unfortunately, photos were shown regardless of their owners’ photo privacy settings. Facebook has since removed the feature from its site. “This was the result of one of our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm the bug has been fixed.” Private photos can no longer be accessed via the bug, but it was live long enough to beget a blog filled with photos of Mark Zuckerberg that were supposedly obtained this way. Some of the photos on the blog are publicly visible on Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile, while many are not. The non-public photos on the blog include pictures of Zuckerberg making sushi, and one where he is holding a rooster. None of them are particularly scandalous. The bug’s exposure comes at a time when Facebook is particularly sensitive to privacy concerns. Just last week the social network, which is preparing for a reported $100 Billion IPO, agreed to settle with the FTC over charges that it had deceived users about privacy. More About: Facebook, mark zuckerberg, privacy
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| Adele Finds Her Voice on Twitter, Imitates Beyonce Posted: 06 Dec 2011 02:22 PM PST   Adele, who is sidelined by vocal cord hemorrhaging and subsequent microsurgery, sent her first two tweets this week. The global pop star’s inaugural tweet on @OfficialAdele — which has been around since August 2010 but managed by other people until a few days ago — urged fans to follow charity @drop4drop or else she would refrain from tweeting ever again. She promised to “start tweeting” if the charity’s account reached 10,000 followers. Unsurprisingly, that call to action didn’t take long for fans to do, prompting Adele to issue this jam-packed second tweet that includes a link to a photo of her imitating Beyonce’s “Live at Roseland” poster.  More celebrities are using Twitter (see gallery below) to boost their online presences or help their social initiatives. After surpassing 100 million active users earlier this year, Twitter has attracted a grab bag of well-known users such as former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Facebook president Sean Parker and The X Factor judge Simon Cowell, to name a few. Adele has had an eventful year that has taken a strain on her vocal chords, and she may be turning to Twitter in order to get her voice heard as she heals from a November throat surgery. Fans are getting a glimpse of celebrities’ lives on other social networks, too. Popular musicians have enabled Facebook’s Subscribe button, which allows any user to subscribe to those stars' personal profiles and see anything shared publicly. Google+ plays host to famous people — like the social network’s most-followed users Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg and Tyra Banks — who regularly post and incite heavy engagement. We reached out to Adele’s record label, Columbia Records, and will update this story with comments later. Which celebrities would you like to see join Twitter? Sound off in the comments. @simoncowell TV personality and music executive Simon Cowell is Twitter's newest celebrity. Cowell, who became a household name in 2002 as the brutally honest judge on American Idol, used his first tweet on Nov. 16 to pimp the U.S. version of The X Factor for which he's a judge. Since then, he has argued with @PiersMorgan, live-tweeted about his X Factor finalists (while dissing other contestants as well as fellow judges) and shared random thoughts just like most Twitter users do. Click here to view this gallery. More About: Adele, celebrities, Entertainment, Social Media, Twitter For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Judge Accidentally Releases Details in Apple, Samsung Legal Battle [VIDEO] Posted: 06 Dec 2011 02:05 PM PST The smartphone and tablet patent battle between Apple and Samsung continues, but recently included an interesting twist. A U.S. District judge accidentally revealed some details about just how secretive these court proceedings are. Check out the video above for more on what was revealed. The U.S. case is scheduled for trial next year. But other battles are also being waged between Samsung and Apple around the world. For more Tech coverage:
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| Mostly Mobile: How the Internet Is Consumed in India [INFOGRAPHIC] Posted: 06 Dec 2011 01:57 PM PST India Stats
Click here to view this gallery. As India becomes more connected, technology is disseminating in different patterns than it did in the West. Today, there are more mobile subscribers in the country than TV owners. Of the population of 1.2 billion, 100 million are online and 38 million are on social networks. But more than 858 million have mobile phones, and 59% of Internet users have only gone online through their mobile device. This We Are Social infographic, presented in slides, explores social, digital and mobile trends in India. In a country where half the population is below 25, you can expect these rates to rapidly change. In rural areas, only 31% of Indians have ever even heard of the Internet. Considering over 70% of Indians don’t live in cities, this means a huge proportion of the population is yet to learn of the joys of Facebook or YouTube. Though the rates of Internet users are low, online Indians are quite savvy. Seventy percent watch web videos. Two-thirds check online reviews before making purchases. Thirteen million are registered on matrimonial dating websites. The country is home to the second-largest base of LinkedIn users. Facebook beats out Orkut as the most popular social network, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn. Seventy percent of India’s Internet users are male. Where do you think the future of digital is heading in the world’s second largest country by population? Image courtesy of iStockphoto, nullplus More About: developing countires, india, orkut
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| How Much Does a Twitter Follower Cost? Posted: 06 Dec 2011 01:41 PM PST   An email from Twitter sales to prospective advertisers today revealed what brands have been paying for followers on the platform. The memo included cost-per-follower (CPF) rates for Promoted Accounts and cost-per-engagement (CPE) for Promoted Tweets. The CPF runs between $2.50 and $4, while the listed CPE rates come in from $0.75 to $2.50. For CPE, “engagement” refers to clicks, favorites, retweets and “@Replies.” As has been the case for a while, Twitter advertisers must commit to three months at a minimum spend of $15,000. The email pitches advertisers on the benefits of targeting Twitter users who do not currently follow their brand accounts. It says that Twitter is “already seeing well over 15x the impression volume of Promoted Tweets targeted in search, with the same stellar engagement rates.” Here’s the full sales letter:
– Christopher Heine, ClickZ More About: Promoted Tweet, Twitter
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| Coming Soon to Your Smartphone: Grand Theft Auto III for $5 Posted: 06 Dec 2011 01:16 PM PST Grand Theft Auto III: 10th Anniversary Edition Collage This title shot and collage combines some of the best moments from the game. Click here to view this gallery. Controversial carjacking game Grand Theft Auto III, a console classic, is finally coming to a mobile device near you, Rockstar Games announced Tuesday. Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition will be available on Dec. 15 on both iOS and Android platforms including smart phones and a wide range of tablets. Fans won’t have to rob the bank to buy it, either. The game will sell for $4.99 — including nearly all the original content. GTA III first came out in 2001 for PS2, and was later released for PC and Xbox. The anniversary edition puts the player back in Liberty City (read: New York) as a nameless anti-hero who climbs his way up the criminal ladder. GTAIII was the first game in the series to ditch its top-down camera and sprite-based layout for immersive, realistic graphics. A decade later, GTAIII is widely heralded as a classic game and a genre-defining experience, one which gave birth to a slew of copycat follow-up games. The game currently has a score of 97% on Metacritic. Can the mobile version live up to its roots? The screenshots above certainly show promise. What is unclear is whether the controls will work well using touch gestures and smaller screens. Stay tuned — Rockstar, the studio behind the game, will have a trailer up shortly when the game is officially released. Will the new GTA game be an epic win or is it setting itself up for disappointment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. More About: games, Gaming, Mobile, video games
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| XXX Domains Are Here: Now What? Posted: 06 Dec 2011 01:09 PM PST   For some, today’s official grand opening of the .xxx domain is the best thing to happen to Internet pornography since it was injected with life in the 1990s, as depicted in the movie Middle Men. For others, it’s a dangerous move that comes with too many negative consequences, some subtle and some severe. The idea of setting aside an Internet domain for adult material has been around for over a decade. In 2000 and 2004, proposals were submitted to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), but garnered widespread opposition from conservative groups. After ICANN initially approved the domain in 2005, .xxx faced six years of legal and procedural hurdles before getting the final go-ahead in March 2011. Since then the ICM Registry (which polices the domain) hosted an initial closed sale for some .xxx domains, and today they’re available to anyone who wants one, at $60 a pop. The general sale is far from the last word on such a controversial topic. Those opposed to adult entertainment, those who produce it, and consumers have all staked out their territory on the debate, sometimes on both sides of the debate, over whether .xxx domains are a good idea. Cases For and AgainstMany conservative groups suggest that creating a top-level domain (TLD) for porn is tantamount to an endorsement of it. The same logic is what keeps most cities from creating an official red-light district, like in Amsterdam, where adult activities are permitted, if regulated. By setting aside part of the Web for porn, those groups would have to accept that it’ll be around in some form no matter what. “We are not in favor of the establishment of that domain,” Patrick Vaughn, general counsel for the American Family Association, told Mashable. “It just creates more real estate for the pornography industry, and it doesn’t exclude the sites that already exist. It might have been helpful if they set up .xxx, and that was the only place to find pornography. As this is, it just gives [pornographers] more to work with.” The ICM Registry says creating a .xxx domain is better for those who don’t like porn, since it provides an easy way to filter out adult-entertainment sites. After all, if a site has the .xxx suffix, it’s clear before you even go there what kind of content will be there, and telling software to simply filter those sites out is an easy thing to do. At the same time, .xxx domains provide better protections than other porn sites, and that benefits people who do want access to adult material. Since anyone who runs a .xxx site agrees to certain conditions — among them a daily scan for malware, dedicated servers for search, and access to a new micropayment system — the sites will theoretically be safer and easier to use than other adult sites, which are sometimes breeding grounds for malware. Despite those benefits, some think the idea of putting all the Web’s porn eggs in one basket makes it that much easier for a government or third party to simply push a button and make it all go away. Besides the censorship concerns, some vendors of adult material object to the whole idea of a .xxx domain, arguing that it relegates to an Internet “ghetto” aspects of human sexuality that society shouldn’t be ashamed of in the first place. The Real Issue: $$$However, some see such principled stances as merely a pretense to oppose the move toward .xxx on the real issue: money. Hundreds of webmasters of adult sites have written to ICANN over the years to oppose the domain’s approval for that reason. The company that runs Playboy.com, for example, strongly opposes the .xxx domain and has refused to take part in its implementation in any way. Luxembourg-based Manwin, which also manages YouPorn, xTube, and other sites, is suing ICANN and the ICM Registry for essentially forcing businesses to cough up money to register domains before cyber-squatters do. For example, if, say, Apple was concerned that a porn site wanted to start operating under the site apple.xxx, they would need to pay to obtain it (and they may have done so, since it’s not available, according to the ICM Registry). Many universities have been reported as snapping up their .xxx addresses before anyone else does. The Future of .XXXWhile many have opposed the creation of .xxx over the years, the fact is it’s here, with domains for sale at $60 each from GoDaddy and others. However, being available and being a success are two different things. Adult sites aren’t required to use the domain, and if only a small percentage do, it may fade to oblivion. After all, the domain .mobi made a big debut five years ago as the TLD for sites optimized for mobile devices, and it went absolutely nowhere. Will the same thing will happen to .xxx? That depends on how strong the ICM Resistry’s outreach is to the adult-entertainment community, and how consumers respond. Five years from now, .xxx could be a bustling adult marketplace, or a gaudy ghost town. Tell us which you think it’ll be in the comments. More About: .xxx, adult content, Domain Names, domains, ICANN, ICM Registry, porn, TLD, web sites
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| Real or Fake? The Texts Behind Damn You Auto Correct Posted: 06 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST
The popular blog Damn You Auto Correct went viral on the Internet again this week, after the site unveiled its funniest auto-corrected text messages of the year. As amusing as they are, some readers question whether or not the texts submitted were actual autocorrect failures. But the site's founder Jillian Madison insists the texts published on the blog are not fabricated. Damn You Auto Correct features a collection of outrageous auto-corrected text messages submitted by readers. “It's the Internet – everyone thinks everything is fake,” Madison told Mashable. “If Michelangelo was painting today and had a website, there would be some guy in the comments section screaming, 'That's fake!’” Some of the confusion comes from the fact that auto correct is inherently inconsistent – what auto corrects for one user differs from another, depending on the words they’ve typed already. "The bottom line is that auto correct is a mysterious beast," Madison said. "No one knows exactly how it works. What we do know is that it behaves differently on everyone's phone and it 'learns' words based on things you have typed in the past. You may not be able to recreate something on your phone, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to someone." Still, Madison noted there is no way to prove that all Damn You Auto Correct submissions are real. “Have I seen my iPhone do some absolutely ridiculous things that make no sense? Yes. There are billions of texts sent every week, so we know there are funny things happening everywhere with auto correct,” Madison said. “In this case, I think less skepticism and more laughing is a good thing.” This isn't the first time published texts have been met with criticism. The Smoking Gun recently reported that the wildly popular Tumblr blog Texts from Bennett — which went viral last week — is fabricated by its site owner, 30-year-old rapper named David Sheldon also known as “Mac Lethal.” Texts from Bennett features text messages sent to Sheldon from his 17-year-old cousin Bennett. “He is a white boy that thinks he's a crip, works at Amoco, has a girlfriend named Mercedes and is one of the most unintentionally funny and brilliant souls on the planet,” according to the site. “By the way, this blog is 100% real.” Sheldon – who has had a few brushes with YouTube fame over the past few weeks– argues that the blog is indeed real, and he refuses to give out Bennett's real name and contact information to protect his identity. Some critics believe that text messages can be created by sites such as FakeiPhoneText.com, which allows users to type in text they want displayed on a fictional iPhone screen shot. Then again, it would be just as easy to fake a text message exchange if your friend is in on the joke. Check out our gallery below — it contains seven hilarious texts from Damn You Auto Correct, and one we made up ourselves. Can you tell the difference? Warning: Some of the content is not safe for work.  Intended: "Richter," not "titty." Click here to view this gallery. More About: Damn You Auto Correct, texts For more Mobile coverage:
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| Amazon Will Pay You Up to $15 to Shop With Its Price Check App Posted: 06 Dec 2011 12:56 PM PST Consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices to run price comparisons while shopping in stores, and many online retailers — who, without the costs of a brick and mortar operation, are often able to offer better prices — are benefitting as a result. Amazon, looking to snatch even more sales from under other retailers’ noses, will be offering consumers a 5% discount (up to $15 for three items) for looking up an item using its Price Check App and making a purchase through Amazon instead. The offer is only available on Dec. 10 for select products in the electronics, toys, sports, music and DVD categories. Given those limitations, the promotion seems designed more to drive awareness of the app and its uses than to move product on that particular day. To participate, shoppers need to scan or search for a product using Amazon’s Price Checker app for iPhone [iTunes link] or Android devices and add it to their shopping carts. They’ll then have 24 hours to complete their purchase through any Amazon channel, including Amazon’s other apps and Amazon.com. Although the app is designed primarily for in-store use, users don’t necessarily have to walk into stores and scan a barcode to participate: They can simply search for a product instead. For a full walk-through, check out the video above. More About: amazon, amazon price check, retail, shopping
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| Verizon to Challenge Netflix With Streaming Service [REPORT] Posted: 06 Dec 2011 12:51 PM PST   Verizon plans to roll out a video streaming service that will challenge Netflix next year, according to a report. The company is in talks with potential programming partners about the service, which will target users who don’t have Verizon’s FiOS TV and broadband package, according to Reuters, which cites “several people briefed on the plan.” That demographic gives Verizon a target audience of 85 million people. FiOS has 5 million subscribers. Details about the potential service are fuzzy. One source told Reuters the “focus would be packages of movies similar to Liberty Media’s Starz Play and Viacom’s Epix or could involve children’s programming from a partner such as Walt Disney Co. or Viacom.” As for pricing: “Most likely, Verizon would want to price any such service competitively with Netflix,” the report says. Sources in the article say Verizon has been in discussions with content providers about such a service for about two years. The content providers are concerned about souring their relationships with competing cable companies. Fresh competition would be bad news for Netflix, which has seen a reversal of its fortunes this year after a series of events beginning with its decision to raise prices in July. The company’s stock is now trading at around $68, less than a quarter of its peak price just before the announcement. BONUS: How Netflix Lost Two-Thirds of Its Value in 3 Months1. Netflix Stock Hits All-Time HighJuly 13, 2011 Netflix stock more than doubled over the previous year, then increased by 15% in May to reach its last all-time high in July of $300. Click here to view this gallery. Image courtesy of Flickr, tar0 More About: netflix, streaming video, verizon For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Can Gaming Change the Climate Change Conversation? Posted: 06 Dec 2011 12:31 PM PST   From Foursquare to Angry Birds to Farmville, there’s no denying social gaming is exploding. Riding this trend, new ideas and inspiration site PSFK recently challenged designers to use social gaming to combat climate change. At this month’s Gaming for Good in New York City, 10 finalists presented gaming concepts, which address challenges presented by The Climate Reality Project. Environmental activist and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore selected five gaming concepts he believes have the potential to change conversations about climate change. In his opening remarks, Gore said private companies — such as the PSFK gaming entrants — rather than governments, are leading the way to slow the rate of climate change. “Our democracy has been hacked,” he said. “It no longer functions with the integrity of our founding fathers.” Gore is a known supporter of climate change prevention and believes the U.S. government does not do enough to protect the environment. Despite the evidence, some people are still not convinced that climate change and its effects are real. One innovative gaming solution Gore loved was REALiTREE, a digital representation of the local environment and our role in sustaining its well-being. As seen in the photos below, large video screens, powered by renewable energies, display images of conversation-provoking trees. Creators Stark Design compare it to a communal Tamagotchi, essentially a digital environment where you’ll feel compelled to take care of the trees.  Other favorites included Zemoga‘s Climate Trail, based on retro favorite Oregon Trail, in which players follow a money trail tied to false information, and use that information to work toward a healthy environment in 2036. Awkward Hug‘s Greensquare is a geo-location game where you get points based on your checkin’s green scores. Arnold Worldwide‘s Reality Drop provides you with the tools to win any climate change argument on online discussion boards — and gives you points for each time you “drop” a reality fact. Parlor’s Climate Reality Patrol users tag their online comments with deeper explanations relating to climate change, earning rewards and badges. While these games might not share the addictive appeal of World of Warcraft their combination of a pressing topic and points and badges make them exciting educational tools and conversations starters. If these concepts come to fruition, do you think they can impact climate change? Disclosure: PSFK is a publishing partner in the Mashable Publishing Platform More About: climate change, Gaming, Social Good For more Dev & Design coverage:
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| Microsoft Delays Major Xbox Update, Without Explanation Posted: 06 Dec 2011 11:59 AM PST   People awaiting Microsoft’s shiny new user interface for Xbox 360 will have to keep holding their breaths. The update, which adds the tiles aesthetic seen on Windows phones and Windows 8, was supposed to go live around 10 a.m. EST on Dec 6. Larry Hyrb, a member of the Xbox team, started tweeting shortly before then to say that the update was being delayed; no reason was stated. As of 3 p.m. ET, the update had still not gone live. Hyrb has been updating his Twitter feed throughout the day, assuring followers that the team is working on it and to expect more news in the afternoon (Pacific time) on when the updates would officially start rolling out. The hotly-anticipated update expanded the Xbox 360 into a multimedia hub with the inclusion of voice recognition, gesture controls, Bing search, television and social options. The delay might tick off some customers, but it’s not yet a disaster for Microsoft — especially if the delay is to help smooth out and clean up the new interface before launch. Mashable will report back once the update has been officially released. BONUS: A Look At the Xbox 360′s New Interface |
| T-Pain Talks Autotune, Apps and the Future of Music Posted: 06 Dec 2011 11:32 AM PST   Technology has permanently changed the way we listen to music. One of the artists credited (or blamed) for that shift is T-Pain, the perpetually auto-tuned R&B and rap hit-maker. Some years ago, auto-tune was inescapable. Every rapper seemed to have an auto-tuned hook or run. The tacky technology was originally used by producers to help correct notes that an artist couldn’t hit or hold. The hope was that listeners wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. In the mid-2000s, auto-tune broke onto the hip hop and R&B scene with producers and rappers exaggerating the effect to extremes. T-Pain was one of the first of those artists to feel the success and also the inevitable backlash of auto-tune. Critics said the technology was disingenuous and destroyed any need for vocal talent. Auto-tune wasn’t just decried by music purists and angry bloggers — celebrated artists such as Jay-Z came out against it, and even released a song on his 2009 album The Blueprint 3, titled “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune).” Well T-Pain survived the barbs and is currently riding another wave of auto-tune success with the release of an iPhone app, novelty microphone and a brand new album, rEVOLVEr, released in 2011. The app, I AM T-Pain, lets users auto-tune their voice by singing into an iPhone, whereas the microphone, called the “I AM T-Pain Mic,” is a stand-alone toy dedicated to auto-tuning. Mashable had a chance to speak with T-Pain about auto-tune, his app and microphone and the future of music in the age of technology. The Road to the App Store |
| How a Startup Went From Zero Revenue to $1 Million in a Year [VIDEO] Posted: 06 Dec 2011 11:05 AM PST When Shane Snow co-founded Contently a year ago he had just 48 cents in his bank account. Fast forward to the end of 2011 and the startup is on track to clear over $1 million in revenue. Watch Snow’s interview to hear about his experience going through the TechStars mentorship program, raising money and how his experience of losing a big sale helped him better understand Contently’s business model. Full disclosure: Snow is a frequent Mashable contributor. You can read his articles here. Follow Venture Studio, in association with Mashable, which is brought to you by Square1 Bank. The show is hosted by Dave Lerner, a 3x entrepreneur and angel investor. You can follow him on Twitter here. More Recent Episodes of Venture Studio:
More About: contently, Entreprenuership, mashable video, Startups, venture studio For more Business coverage:
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| How Russians Are Tracking Elections on Social Media Posted: 06 Dec 2011 10:52 AM PST   A YouTube video of a poll worker casting a vote for an elderly lady went viral; arrested Russian bloggers uploaded a jubilant photo from the police bus on Twitter. In Russia, a country with Europe’s highest Internet penetration, social media offers an alternative form of election coverage. "These elections are for the first time taking place in a real situation of parallel information flows – the official one and the one of mass civic networks," noted media specialist Anna Kachkaeva. Two examples: An elderly woman waves her hands in confusion at a ballot in a viral video about parliamentary election violations. A poll worker steps in to do it for her, casting a vote for the pro-Putin United Russia party. One viewer commented: "Our country is like that old woman – silly and silent." After complete results of the elections were announced Monday, thousands of protesters went to the streets. Bloggers posted and tweeted the gathering places of protesters. Ilya Varlamov covered these events on his Twitter feed, his blog and at Ridus, a citizen journalism news agency. Police arrested prominent blogger Alexei Navalny and Iliya Yashin, an activist from the Solidarnodst movement, along with other protesters. He snapped a picture with his iPhone and uploaded it to Twitter. "Sitting with my lads on the police bus. They all say hi," Navalny tweeted in Russian. (An hour later, he posted a group photo of those arrested in the Izmailovo precinct. Today Navalny’s court trial was live-tweeted with photos from the courtroom. Both Yashin (in the earlier trial) and Navalny were sentenced to 15 days in jail. This parallel information network is bound to grow: Russia currently has the highest number of internet users in Europe – 50.8 million people over 15 years old – overtaking Germany, according to recent ComScore data. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, duncan1890
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