Wednesday's Google Doodle celebrates the birth of Julia Child, the woman who made America fall in love with French cuisine.

The Google Doodle of Child illustrates her with a wide grin, as she simultaneously prepares fish, soup, two chickens and a cake.

The chef, author and TV personality was born Aug. 15, 1912 and would be celebrating her 100th birthday this year.

Child is credited with introducing French cooking to the American palette through her debut cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which was released in 1963. She later became the host of long-running PBS cooking show The French Chef.

SEE ALSO: 10 Food Writers to Follow on Twitter

Her decorated career inc…
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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced the company's lastest international expansion: Scandinavia. Hastings announced Wednesday that the video streaming and home delivery service would be coming to Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland by the year's end.

This is the company's fourth international move beyond the U.S. Netflix opened up in Canada in 2010, Latin America in September 2011 and most recently the UK in January of this year.

Thus far, the international expansions have had mixed results. Of the companies 27 million subscribers, just 3.6 million come from outside the U.S. While Canada has been profitable, Hastings admits Latin America was less of a success.

SEE ALSO: Netfl…
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A lost Olympic ticket was returned to its owner within hours -- all through the power of Twitter.

Cameron Montgomery, 29, found the ticket on the morning of Aug. 3 at a train station just north of London. Valued at nearly £300 (almost USD $500), it was for an athletics event that very evening.

But rather than attend one of the Games' most popular events, Montgomery opted to find the ticket's rightful owner by combing through social media.

"With each ticket having a name on it, I went about looking for the person on the Internet, looking at Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but didn't really hit with anything," he tells Mashable in an email.

(Montgomery later discovered…
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More About: 2012 London Olympics, 2012 Olympics, Olympic games, Twitter, summer olympics, trending

Teddy the Cat throws down on the Internet with one swipe of the paw.

You come at the Teddy, you best not miss.

More About: Watercooler, cats, trending, viral videos

Video games are meant to be an escape. Become the hero or blow up your enemies. Games don't often tackle real-world issues because that hasn't been their purpose, and because it's difficult for them to do so.

That is beginning to change in 2012. Games that force the player to witness difficult events (Spec Ops: The Line) or make tough choices (The Walking Dead series by Telltale Games) are being accessed by thousands. But neither of these tackle issues that any of us could face at home: the demons of alcoholism in a family.

That's the mission of Papo & Yo, a PlayStation Network indie title released Tuesday. It's the brainchild of Vander Cabal…
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That bizarre place on the Internet that cooks up the extremely weird (but inevitably sharable) has a new one in store for us.

More About: Watercooler, trending, web humor

Brands may soon be able to advertise in the news feeds of Facebook users who aren't fans of their pages.

The social network revealed Tuesday that it will begin testing promoted posts that can reach people who haven't "liked" a company's Facebook page.

"Starting soon, we are beginning a very small test that will allow marketers to promote page posts to people beyond their fans in the news feed," says Facebook spokeswoman Annie Ta. "These ads may appear on both desktop and mobile."

The ads will look like typical page post ads in the news feed, but will be labeled as "sponsored," Ta tells Mashable in an email. A screenshot of the ad shows an option to "like" a company's page in t…
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Are your kids eager to get their hands on a tablet device?

Your kids may love their video games, but a recent survey shows the popularity of tablets is surging faster than video game consoles. Although families love gadgets of all types -- the survey also showed that households with kids ages 4-14 own an average of 10 different devices, with kids using an average of five of those devices.

This new survey released by market research company, The NPD Group titled Kids and Consumer Electronics: 2012 Edition, shows new trends and stats for families and their mobile devices.

Video game console usage rates for children ages 4-14 are still higher than tablets, but this past year saw a st…
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In conjunction with its fashion-focused September issue, W magazine has partnered with iPhone photography app Hipstamatic to release a magazine-inspired lens, film and virtual camera case.

The "WMag Freepak" takes photos with soft, cool grey tones and frames them in a thick black border. It's available for free download through Hipstamatic's app [iTunes link] for a six-week period. During that timeframe, users are encouraged to submit photos taken with the new lens and film to W's contest. Winning images will be announced on Oct. 15 and appear on the magazine's website and Facebook Page, as well as in a gallery exhibition alongside W contributors at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan. The…
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More About: conde nast, fashion, hipstamatic, iphone app, photography, trending, w, w magazine

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.

Name: Live Score Addicts

Quick Pitch: Live scoring updates, customizable push notifications and video highlights from soccer leagues around the world.

Genius Idea: Customizable alerts and an extreme depth of content -- more than 420 leagues from 98 different countries are included.

In a span of just several months, the iPhone app Live Score Addicts has proven to be a huge hit with soccer fans around the world. Now, with the 2012-2013 European soccer season set to kick of…
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Pinterest is still a relatively new kid on the block. Up to this point, the site launched new features by talking about them on its Facebook wall and then waiting for the comments to start rolling in.

Consistently among the first comments after each Facebook post? A Pinterest Android app. The requests are so common that it has become a Pinterest in-office joke with each launch: How long will it take for someone to ask for an Android app?

Well, the wait for Android fans ended on Tuesday. Pinterest officially launched an app for Android as well as iPad, and also launched an updated version of its iPhone app.

Announced at a summer party at Pinterest's new San Francisco headquarters,…
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The 2012 Summer Olympics are in the past now, after a dazzling two-plus weeks in London. Iconic moments and inspiring stories vaulted a number of athletes into sporting immortality, and their lives will never be the same. But what will casual fans find after searching Google to learn more about some of the Games' biggest stars?

The online reputation management company BrandYourself explored just that question for three of the United States Olympic team's hottest names: swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, and gymnast Gabby Douglas. What did BrandYourself find? Phelps is Google gold, Lochte's online reputation could use some work and Douglas' otherwise sterling credentials are slightl…
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More About: Google, Marketing, Sports, olympics

If you dare to venture near the water, bring a pencil and paper. And maybe an underwater taser, but that has little to do with this particular post.

SEE ALSO: Shark Week 25: 7 Ways to Play Along Online

The talented Mark Anderson at Andertoons has put together an easy-to-follow guide for how to draw a shark. It's the perfect accompaniment to Shark Week.

Image courtesy of Andertoons

More About: Shark Week, Watercooler, art

For months leading up to the 2012 Olympics in London, the event was hyped as the "world's first social Games." Now that the Olympics and all their athletic glory have finally passed after 17 exciting days, which athletes and events captured most of the social conversation?

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was the big winner, with more than 960,000 mentions during the Games. American swimmer Michael Phelps took social silver with over 830,000 mentions. British diver Tom Daley was the third-most buzzed about athlete, with close to 490,000 mentions -- partially, no doubt, the result of a widely publicized incident in which he outed a hateful troll on Twitter.

Among sports, soccer sparked th…
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People tweeting about hip-hop star Nicki Minaj's concert Tuesday night could have their messages featured on a digital billboard in New York City's Times Square.

The Aug. 14 concert -- part of Pepsi's celebrity-infused "Live For Now" global ad campaign -- at Roseland Ballroom will be live-streamed on Twitter.com/Pepsi and Pepsi.com at 9:30 p.m. ET.

All tweets that include hashtag #NickiMinajConcert will be considered for inclusion on the billboard.

"We're putting the fans at the center," Shiv Singh, global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages, told Mashable. "What makes it special is we're able to do it to scale thanks to Twitter and Pepsi Pulse."

Launched in April, Pepsi P…
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More About: Entertainment, Nicki Minaj, Pepsi, Social Media, Twitter, celebrities

Twitter founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone want to shake up the digital publishing world with their latest venture, Medium. The pair, who also worked together on Blogger, announced the new platform today.

In a post outlining Medium, Williams writes, "We're re-imagining publishing in an attempt to make an evolutionary leap, based on everything we've learned in the last 13 years and the needs of today's world."

On the surface, Medium looks like a mashup between more traditional blogging services and user-curated collections. Users can choose to read, give feedback or write their own material.

All posts are organized into collections, and these collections share the same theme and…
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More About: Obvious, biz stone, ev williams, me.dium

The Batmobile has been a wonder since its inception in the original Batman comics, but with today's technology a utilitarian vehicle like the Batmobile could be possible. By layering steel outside the vehicle and fiber on the inside, a nearly indestructible exterior can be built. International Armoring Corporation has been building these modern-day Batmobiles for about a decade and is the leading manufacturer in the field.

While adding rockets and guns to your vehicle may not be economical (or encouraged), being able to continue your trip with flat tires may be worth the cost. In addition the vehicle absorbs any external pressure, whether from bulle…
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Those dreaded battles in traffic trying to flag down a passing taxi will soon be a thing of past horrific nightmares. ZabKab is the first TLC approved app for hailing yellow cabs.

The app comes in two versions -- one for drivers and one for passengers. The passenger version lets the user hit a "hail" button that signals cabs in a four to five block radius. Passengers can also see cabs move on the map in real time; a yellow cab on the map is free, a gray cab is taken.

The app runs on GPS and gives drivers a precise location of where the passenger is hailing from -- even which side of the street they are on.

ZabKab does not allow for communication between driver and rider -- t…
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Flipboard is a great concept: Scrape the content from all the feeds you care about -- Facebook, Twitter, RSS and others -- then mix it together and dress it up so it looks great on a tablet or smartphone. There are a few apps trying to apply the same concept for video, including Vodio, which just launched its iPhone app (the iPad version launched in January).

The weakness of the direct Flipboard analogy is that the majority of the content we see or share on various networks isn't video. Vodio gets around this in a couple of ways. First, it organizes content into various channels (Tech, Entertainment, News, etc.) so you can better find what you like, in addition to providing dedicated chan…
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Fifth grade students at the Ray Bjork School in Helena, Mont. produced a PSA in 1995 that not only features totally tubular 90s fashion, but also accurately predicts the cat-filled future of the internet.

These kids should've set up a psychic hotline 1-800 number to compete with Miss Cleo.

(H/T Dog and Pony Show Website)

More About: Watercooler, YouTube, internet, viral videos

Rumors and speculation about the digital surveillance system TrapWire have been flying around the web since the newfound information about the system surfaced in a recent WikiLeaks release.

Public knowledge about TrapWire is scant. But it certainly has the makings of a global security conspiracy: ex-CIA officiers, counterterrorism surveillance and mysterious private intelligence firms all play a role in the story. Some commentators have portrayed TrapWire as a 1984-style massive global network of interlinked security cameras and other watching devices.

If it sounds like the rumors are straight out of a spy novel and couldn't be real, you're probably right: The truth of TrapWire is…
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More About: US, World, privacy, security, stratfor, trapwire, wikileaks

The Pinterest frenzy may have cooled, but millions of people are still buzzing about social media's overnight sensation. Once the network reached 10 million users in February (in record time, we might add), buzz peaked with 119,000 social mentions, an increase of 373% over two months.

But a rush of new users meant Pinterest was under a microscope. According to this infographic by NetBase and SAP, people were quick to criticize the platform's technical glitches and UI shortcomings. Others felt that connecting Pinterest with Facebook delivered unwelcome "spam" from pin-happy users. The number-one thing that Pinterest users hate? Three-quarters believe that the social network is a gigantic t…
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More About: Business, Social Media, infographics, lifestyle, pinterest

Embattled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be granted asylum to Ecuador, according to a recent report.

An Ecuadorian official who has been described as "familiar with government discussions" told The Guardian that Ecuador's government will approve Assange's request for asylum. It remains unknown, however, if he will be allowed a path to reach Ecuador from the country's embassy in London, where he's been living since mid-June.

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, previously said that he would announce his decision about Assange's asylum request before Friday. Correa appeared as a guest on Assange's television show, World Tomorrow, in May.

Government sources also told The Guar…
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For more than a decade, Verisign, Inc. -- the registry operator for .com, .net and other top-level domains (TLDs) -- has been connecting people to the websites that shape the world.

This means every time you type a .com or .net web address into your browser, it sends a "query" to Verisign's servers to locate the website's Internet address and enables your computer to connect to the site. It also provides security and network availability to keep sites online even during peak traffic conditions and large cyber attacks.

SEE ALSO: ICANN Announces Hundreds of '.Whatever' Domain Claims

With more than seven million new domain names added to the web in the first quarter of 2012…
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More About: Tech Innovators Series, cyber criminals, ddos, features, internet, mashable, security

Google+ added Studio Mode to Hangouts this week to improve the sound quality of musicians' live-streamed concerts. Singer-songwriter Daria Musk, who has catapulted her music to to wider audience (1.8 million) thanks to Hangouts, joined us Tuesday to discuss and test the new feature.

Musk played an acoustic song and an uptempo song, partly with Studio Mode off and partly with Studio Mode on. Everyone in the Hangout , including fans who have listened to her previous Google+ concerts, immediately noticed the enhanced audio when Studio Mode was on.

More About: Entertainment, Google, Music, Social Media

It wasn't too long ago that a freak storm in Virginia took down Amazon's cloud servers, and along with it, Instagram, Pinterest and other popular websites.

The outages, which came amid a brutal heat wave, left thousands without power and thousands more irritated at the absence of some much-beloved web services. But was the event a one-time thing or a harbinger of worse Internet catastrophes to come?

Our friends at Slashdot.org prepared the infographic below to look into the question of just how vulnerable the web is to freak weather events. The answer? More so than you might think.

Amazon and Rackspace both have major cloud computing centers in Virginia, which experienced three…
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More About: Amazon EC2, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, hurricane

Happy Shark Week! For the 25th anniversary of Shark Week, Discovery Channel wants to get you "closer than ever before" to the ferocious creatures of the underwater world.

Discovery entered the week with a super-sized digital blitz of interactive online features, and early numbers indicate things are paying off. For example, people on Twitter have already posted more than 1.1 million Shark Week tweets in two days, eclipsing the 750,000 tweets for the entire week last year.

Here are seven ways you can join the Shark Week madness online:

Chompdown

Sharkzilla, a 52-foot mechanical replica of a Megalodon, sunk its 7-inch steel teeth into a keg Monday night -- all because of…
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More About: Entertainment, Facebok, Shark Week, Social Media, Twitter, getglue, social tv

10. Success Kid Grows Up

Before German weightlifter Matthias Steiner dropped a 432-pound weight on his head, his other notable moment was giving the Internet an idea what Success Kid might look like as an adult. Image courtesy of Reddit

Click here to view this gallery.

The London 2012 Olympics bid a British song-and-dance farewell Sunday night, but the memes spawned at the Games will live forever. Or at least until something else catches the Internet's attention.

From McKayla to Mo and the Queen to the Mayor, the memes gave us a little something to chuckle about in between wincing at the painful fail GIFs.

Take a backflip through the gallery to view our top 10 picks for the best memes of London's Summer Olympics and let us know who we snubbed in the comments.

More About: Watercooler, london 2012, memes, olympics

Progressive Insurance, reeling from a charge ricocheting through social media that it provided a lawyer for a policy holder's killer, has a devastating response of its own: We didn't do it.

A rep for the insurer says that the lawyer in the case was actually supplied by another company: Nationwide. Progressive issued its statement Tuesday afternoon:

I'd like to take this opportunity to explain Progressive's role in this complex case. First and foremost, our deepest sympathies go out to Kaitlynn Fisher's family.

To be very clear, Progressive did not serve as the attorney for the defendant in this case. He was defended by his insurance company, Nationwide.

There was a qu…
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Following partnerships with Macy's, Target and American Eagle, Shopkick announced yet another big retail partner for its loyalty rewards program Tuesday: CVS/pharmacy.

The pharmacy chain is pilot testing Shopkick in 150 of its San Francisco Bay Area locations. Using Shopkick's app for iPhone or Android devices, shoppers can collect collect points, or "kicks," by visiting and performing certain tasks with partner brands in store. They can then exchange their kicks for CVS-specific rewards, like gift cards, as well as for more general rewards, including song downloads, restaurant certificates, movie tickets, Facebook Credits, charity donations, etc.

To jump-start the program,…
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More About: CVS, shopkick