One year ago, Google ventured to the midwest with plans to put small startups and businesses on the map. Google enabled Kansas City, Mo. with their fiber-optic network and then waited -- and it seems Google's concept has paid off.

Midwest startups like RareWire, have thrived off the extra-high speed connection that Google Fiber has offered and in turn, opened up an entire new network for those startups.

"It's made the city and entrepreneurs realize there's a great opportunity in front of them," RareWire's cofounder and president Kirk Hasenzahl tells Forbes.

SEE ALSO: How Does Your Internet Service Stack up to Google Fiber?

RareW…
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More About: Google, google fiber, startup

Did you ever think you could own a 3D printer? The team behind the Kickstarter project PandaBot wants to make that a reality.

Two days in to its campaign PandaBot has raised more than $18,000 of its $50,000 fundraising goal.

This isn't, however, the first affordable 3D printer on the market. Several inexpensive options, as noted in the above video, have inspired campaigns on Kickstarter before.

Would you want to own a 3D printer? Let us know if this is a project you'd back in the comments.

More About: 3d printing, Startups, kickstarter

More U.S. military service members have died from suicide than enemy fire, roadside bombs and injuries sustained during combat this year.

As 2.4 million Americans who fought in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan prepare to return from combat, U.S. military entities are struggling to tackle the rising number of suicides, according to an NPR report. After experiencing war-related trauma, active-duty service members and veterans often face debilitating mental-health issues -- including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and suicide ideation.

Suicide remains a top cause of death among active-duty personnel and veterans. For years, the Department of Defense has tried to f…
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More About: Mobile, Social Media, U.S., apps, government

StubHub's Twitter account posted a vulgar tweet late Friday, then quickly deleted it and apologized.

The tweet, shown below, appears to have been posted by a StubHub employee, or someone pretending to be one. It refers to the company as a "stubsucking hell hole" after expressing relief that it's Friday, punctuated with an expletive.

The tweet was posted at 7:33 p.m. Eastern Time. Almost an hour later, at 8:20 p.m., @StubHub posted the following tweet:

We've deleted an unauthorized tweet made from this Twitter handle. We apologize to all of our followers for the inappropriate language used.— StubHub(@StubHub) October 6, 2012

Many Twitter users noticed the original tweet an…
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You may not have to feel so guilty about juicing up your smartphone every few hours, according to a new study conducted by OPower.

The study found that the electricity used to charge an iPhone 5 from 0% to full is almost inconsequential at $0.41 per year. The researchers compared the iPhone 5 to a Samsung Galaxy S III (the front-running Android device) and found similar rates -- $0.53 per year.

Researchers say Samsung's slightly higher costs can be attributed to the phone's larger battery, but overall, OPower found that the "energy consumption of a modern smartphone is minuscule."

But it's not the individual rates that people should be concerned about, but the power of multip…
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More About: electricity, energy efficient, iPhone 5, iphone, samsung

The Thermite, built by Howe & Howe Technologies, is the first firefighting robot that any ladder company can buy. It travels on treads, fits through most doors and can douse fires with 600 gallons of water per minute.

But all this automated firefighting goodness doesn't come cheap -- the Thermite costs $98,000. However, that's still a lot less than other firefighting equipment. The trucks that fire departments use typically range from $100,000 to more than $1 million.

Check out the Thermite in action in the video above, and let us know what you think in the comments.

More About: emergency response, robots, videos

Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger, 1964)

The classic Bond spy car, the Aston Martin appeared in five films total. Its original incarnation included bulletproof panels, oil slick, smoke screen, machine guns, rotating license plates, tire slashers, a homing screen for tracking the bad guy, radar receiver, bumper basher and of course the passenger ejector seat.

Click here to view this gallery.

James Bond is the greatest action hero of the 20th century. Whether you're a classic Connery fan, a child of the 90s and Brosnan devotee or a recent convert to the grim and gritty Craig, the character has defined cool for half a century. But the man of mystery has only ever been as good as his gadgets. Where charm, wits and a gun won't get you, a jetpack just might.

British Intelligence has armed 007 with a great number of deadly gizmos over the years, not all of them ultra cool (A leg cast with a rocket launcher in it? Come on). Collected in the gallery above are the best of the best - the gadgets that truly defined Bond… James Bond.

Do you have a personal favorite Bond gadget fro…
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More About: Film, Gadgets, James Bond, mobile phones

Here's a fitting tribute to the late Steve Jobs on the one-year anniversary of his death: a working iPod Classic that runs in your browser.

More About: HTML5, iPod classic, steve jobs

Jay-Z may have 99 problems, but streaming his concerts through YouTube sure ain't one.

The rapper will live-stream the finale of his eight-performance concert series at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET, from his new YouTube channel, Life and Times.

The channel is part of a YouTube initiative to bring more original programming to the site. As of now, the page has more than 116,000 subscribers. Featured video playlists already up include "Leisure," "Decoded" and "Roc Nation Artists," among others.

SEE ALSO: Jay-Z Launches Facebook Game 'Empire' For You to Take Over the World [PICS]

The Barclays Center is the…
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Apple's promised updates to Maps in iOS 6 are starting to roll out, starting with the Statue of Liberty.

Until Friday afternoon, the Lady Liberty was a pixelated mess in Apple's new homegrown mapping app. Thanks to a server update, the statue -- and all of Liberty Island -- is now replicated in beautiful 3D.

Check out the differences below:

Since releasing Apple Maps as part of iOS 6, Apple has faced criticism from its users and competitors because of the unfinished state of the 3D depictions -- as well as the uneven mapping data. Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the product, admitting that it "fell short" of Apple's standards.

Fixing the Statue of Liberty might not stop…
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More About: apple, apple maps, iOS 6

The Angry Birds are headed to a galaxy far, far away, according to a teasing Tumblr posted on Friday.

The Angry Birds Tumblr posted an image above, of a hooded, round figure holding a lightsaber. It was confirmed later Friday by Fast Company that Finnish game maker Rovio Entertainment was partnering its Angry Birds transmedia brand with an even more powerful one: Star Wars.

Fast Company reports there will be a Star Wars/Angry Birds hybrid game released on Oct. 28, and several toys released before then.

"As casual games grow as a category and mobile devices grow as an interface, it's going to become more important for us in the future," Paul Southern, vice president of lice…
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More About: Star Wars, angry birds, rovio

Bananas

Via Are Like Facebook

Click here to view this gallery.

Facebook boasts its similarities to chairs and other inanimate objects -- doorbells, airplanes, bridges, dance floors, basketball -- in their new ad campaign.

The social network's first commercial has inspired a new Tumblr, Are Like Facebook, that highlights the other random things Facebook is like. Flip through the gallery above for some of our favorites.

The Tumblr, however, isn't the only thing poking fun at the ad.

A new website, AreChairsLikeFacebook.com, asks if chairs are indeed like Facebook. The never-changing answer is simply a large "NO" on a white background.

The Twitter parody account @InvisibleObama has also chimed in with its thoughts.

Honored to have been fe…
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More About: Facebook, Meme, Watercooler, tumblr

Sometimes video calling just isn't enough. That's where Helios comes in handy -- it's the Kickstarter project that will turn your iPhone into a robot that can interact with another person.

The dock works with the iPhone 4, 4S, 5, and even iPod touch with a front facing camera, through a companion Helios app. The app and dock communicate with patterns signaling to the robotic iDevice pal to move forward, back, up or down.

The project's creator, Tian Long Wang, writes on his Kickstarter page that it's the "first telepresence robot that is affordable, portable, and mobile."

SEE ALSO: VGo Is a Robot That Goes to School or Work for You [PICS]…
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More About: Gadgets, apps, iphone

Joining other brands this year that have made public their support of gay rights, Expedia this week released a poignant video depicting a father's journey his daughter's wedding to another woman.

The video, titled "Find Your Understanding," follows retired business owner Artie Goldstein and his wife on "a journey that will test him, challenge him, and ultimately change him," as he comes to accept his daughter Jill's choice to marry her partner, Nikki.

"You always have great expectations for your children. My expectations of what Jill's life was going to be included a husband." Goldstein says in the video. "When Nikki came to ask permission to marry our little girl, that startled m…
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More About: Expedia, same-sex marriage

Some 3,000 to 4,000 production workers at Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory went on strike Friday afternoon, according to an alert sent out Friday by China Labor Watch, a not-for-profit, U.S.-based watchdog for Chinese workers' rights.

Production was halted as workers -- primarily quality control inspectors -- protested against a series of escalating demands. According to the group, Apple and Foxconn "raised strict quality demands on workers, including indentations standards of 0.02mm and demands related to scratches on frames and back covers" on iPhone 5 devices. When workers failed to meet the new standards, friction between quality control inspectors and workers came to a head, in some c…
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More About: Foxconn, apple, china, iPhone 5

Election Day can be a stressful experience: "Where's my polling place again? Who's running in the local elections? What are all these other initiatives on my ballot?" Wouldn't it be nice if there were a mobile app that helped answer all those questions? You're in luck, because now there is.

VoterHub, a new app from AT&T, the Pew Center on the States and Politics-360, is designed to be a non-partisan one-stop-shop for everything voters need to know on Election Day. Voters can use the app to find out how to register to vote in their state, locate their nearest polling place, check out some sample ballots, research non-candidate ballot issues and read election news from the Associated Pr…
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More About: 2012 presidential campaign, Mobile, Politics, US

A special edition of the MacBook Pro with Retina display is up for auction, and it features the silhouette of Steve Jobs on its backlit Apple logo.

More About: Macbook Pro, apple, charity, steve jobs

Independent journalist Tim Pool thinks the future of journalism could rely on drones. Mashable is thrilled to announce that he will give an in depth discussion on this at the 2012 Mashable Media Summit.

The Mashable Media Summit is a one-day conference that explores how new forms of technology are redefining media. The brightest minds in the industry will come together Nov. 2 at the TimesCenter in New York City to explore the latest innovations in the space and the future of journalism. Get your tickets now before they sell out!

Tim Pool was one of the central voices of the Occupy Wall Street movement and was featured as part of TIME's person of the year (The Protester) as…
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More About: Drones, Occupy Wall Street, conferences, journalism, mashable media summit, ows

Paul and David Bettner, the brothers behind the hugely popular mobile game Words With Friends game, are leaving Zynga.

More About: Zynga, words with friends

It's been one year since the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and the company's new leader Tim Cook has been endlessly compared to the former CEO.

There's no denying that Jobs revolutionized the tech industry and truly impacted the way we communicate and connect with others, but on the anniversary of his death, Apple experts are urging people to stop comparing Cook with his former boss.

"The company has changed, but that is inevitable," said Robert X. Cringely, a veteran tech journalist and author of Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition.

"Part of this is related to Cook, but another part is the maturation of App…
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The next Nexus smartphone to hit the market may be made by LG.

Following in the footsteps of the recently announced LG Optimus G, rumors point to the phone having a Qualcomm quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera.

According to CNET, Google and LG will unveil the handset at the end of the month.

The Nexus line of smartphones are used to showcase pure Android, without any sort of software put on top of it by the device manufacturer or carrier. Samsung made the last two Nexus smartphones, the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S.

Not exclusively a Samsung show, the first Nexus smartphone, the Nexus One, was manufactured by HTC in 2010. Asus also got to try its hand at…
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More About: Google, LG, Nexus, android

Apple has come a long way since Steve Jobs introduced the first Mac nearly thirty years ago. The company's products have evolved by inventing new devices and reinventing its old ones.

This comprehensive chart, created by Pop Chart Lab shows every Apple computer ever released, from the original Mac to the most recent MacBook Air.

SEE ALSO: Hop in the Time Machine For 10 Vintage Apple Commercials

Each product is sorted according to type, including the connections between various invented--and reinvented-- products.

You can purchase the chart as an 18" x 24" poster at the Pop Chart Lab store.

Chart courtesy of Pop Chart Lab, used with permission. Thumbnail image courtesy of …
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More About: Tech, Watercooler, apple, computer, infographic

Job creation in the technology sector saw mixed results throughout September, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

First, the good news for the tech sector: 2,900 news jobs were created in "Computer systems design and related services" from August through September, according to the report. Likewise, 1,900 new jobs were filled in "Other information services" -- defined by the BLS as online news syndicates, archives and Web search engines such as Google or Bing.

What's the bad news? Data processing, hosting and related services lost 2,400 jobs. The tech-related hardware manufacturing sector took a sizable hit, losing 5,500 jobs.

SEE ALSO: Top Tech J…
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More About: Jobs, Startups, US

It has been 50 years to the day since The Beatles released their first single.

It was a funny story actually. If it was up to producer George Martin (different from George R.R. Martin, who wrote Game of Thrones), the first release from the group, now widely heralded as the best rock and roll songwriters of all time, would have been a song they did not even write.

Martin pressured the group to release a song called "How Do You Do It?" a cover track. The Beatles insisted on a quick ditty they had written, entitled "Love Me Do." The song, which would be considered incredibly "pop" by today's standards, was "artistic" for a 1962 recording (maybe it was the harmonica).…
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More About: Entertainment, Music, features, itunes, spotify, the beatles

On October 27, 2010, I wrote a blog post about the "57 Things I Learned Founding Three Tech Companies." This past week while in Tokyo for meetings, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on startups. The discussion quickly turned to those 57 things. Thousands of miles away and two years later, people still want to talk about those 57 things.

As the questions came in, I realized that my 2010 list was great for what I had learned as of two years ago, but it also was in desperate need of an update to include what I've learned more recently, especially after pivoting in 2011 and scaling the company.

So, here goes -- 90 things I've learned founding four tech companie…
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More About: Fab, contributors, entrepreneurship

What do Mitt Romney and the Little Mermaid have in common? More than you'd think, at least according to a new YouTube video in which a Romney look-alike sings a parody version of "Part of Your World."

Just like Ariel, Romney complains that even though he seems to have everything, there's still something missing in his life. In his case, it's setting up shop at the White House.

SEE ALSO: If the Presidential Debate Was Like 'The Voice' [VIDEO]

With the presidential election only a month away, we can expect the silly season of political parodies to keep pumping out the videos. Are you ready for the election to be over?

More About: Romney, U.S. presidential election, Watercooler, barack obama, youtube videos

Sequestered in a freezer in Sweden is a potential cancer-busting virus. The therapy, if tested and developed further, could prolong the lives of those suffering with a neuroendocrine tumor -- the type that led to Steve Jobs' death a year ago Friday.

A self-proclaimed group of guerrilla fundraisers, dubbed iCancer, have started a campaign to raise the money needed to begin human trials of the treatment. The iCancer team needs to raise £2 million to begin testing. The reason the therapy hasn't been tested, the group says, is because the research is not profitable for companies yet.

Professor Magnus Essand, the virus' creator says it will take £2…
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More About: Social Good, apple, icancer, steve jobs

Your phone charger won't reach your bed, your house is too big for just one wireless router, leaving your clothes in the washer too long. All qualify as #FirstWorldProblems, the hashtag and meme joke poking fun at the slight inconveniences about which some of us in well-off countries complain.

But are any of them really problems? Not even a little, says the above video.

In the film, people living in poverty read off some #FirstWorldProblems from their own homes and neighborhoods, effectively highlighting the "real" problems of the world.

It's a promotion from ad agency DDB NY for WaterIsLife, the organization behind a portable filtration device designed to instantly provide cl…
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More About: Social Good, Video, Watercooler, World, trending

Zynga's stock fell by more than 20% in trading Friday morning to a new all-time low of $2.21 a share after the company cut its bookings forecast for the year and revealed that it will end up taking an impairment charge of between $85-$95 million on its purchase of Draw Something earlier this year.

Zynga's stock isn't the only one tanking on the news, though. Facebook shares also fell in after hours trading Thursday and went as low as $21.17 in early trading Friday, a decline of more than 3%.

For Facebook's shareholders, the big concern is that the social network will earn less revenue from Zynga games than had previously been expected. Doug Anmuth, an analyst with JP Morgan, cut…
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More About: Facebook, Zynga, stocks

No, there's nothing wrong with your YouTube connection. The video above is just critiquing Internet Explorer 9 in the most devastating way possible: By demonstrating a clunky experience with the browser.

The ad -- which riffs on a real one from Microsoft -- features fake reviews ("It's kinda fast, I guess") and other in-jokes (the person using the browser is using Bing to try to download Google Chrome.)

You may be happy with IE9 and Microsoft will tell you that it's browser is pretty damn good. Yet the fact remains that there are a lot of IE haters out there. While the people in Redmond will doubtlessly cry "low blow!" to the video above, haters will find some new fodder.

For comp…
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More About: IE9, parodies, trending, viral videos