Security flaws in the code that connects your phone to 3G networks could allow anyone to track it, according to research from the University of Birmingham with collaboration from the Technical University of Berlin.

The flaws, reported by SC Magazine, involve attackers using a rooted femtocell device -- a small, modified cellular base station -- and performing man-in-the-middle attacks to identify a particular device.

In one instance, the attacker could force mobile devices to reveal its Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI), assuming the attacker knows the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).

In another instance, the attacker could sniff a valid Authentication an…
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More About: 3g, hack, phone, privacy, security, tracking, trending

Struggling game maker Zynga received another blow Monday, with the exit of Laurence "Lo" Toney, an executive who oversaw the company's hugely popular online poker game.

Toney, who has been with Zynga since 2010, revealed that he left the company via his LinkedIn profile. He shows his current profession as "mentor at MuckerLab," a Los Angeles startup accelerator, and lists Zynga among his previous professions.

The general manager of Zynga Poker for two years, Toney also spent a year as a general manager in the company's mobile division, according to AllThingsD.

Toney's current "professional headline" on LinkedIn is: "Technology Leader. Internet Strategist. Startup Advisor." He d…
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Google has teamed up with Samsung for a new 10.1-inch Nexus tablet.

Cnet, citing NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim, reveals some details about the upcoming tablet. It will have, Shim claims, a 2,560x1,600 resolution with 299 PPI, which is higher than iPad's 264 PPI resolution.

The tablet will be a "high-end device," which likely means it will cost more than the Nexus 7, which goes for $199.

If Google has indeed teamed up with Samsung for a new tablet, it's a bit of a surprise. Google has had Samsung make its smartphones before, but the Nexus 7 tablet was manufactured by Asus.

The date and the price for the new tablet are unknown, but Shim did confirm that Google is st…
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More About: Google, Nexus, Tablet, samsung, trending

The first batch of Windows Phone 8 devices will be available for pre-order in the U.S. starting Oct. 21.

Sources tell The Verge that mobile service provider AT&T will begin taking pre-orders for Windows Phone 8 smartphones, including the HTC 8X and Nokia's Lumia 920, as well as Samsung's Ativ Smart PC and Asus' Vivo Tab RT tablets. Microsoft's expected official launch date is set for Oct. 29 in San Francisco.

If your heart is set on buying the Lumia 920, be prepared to fork over money to AT&T, as the carrier is exclusively offering Nokia's flagship phone in the U.S.

As of Q2 this year, Windows Phone had just 3.5% of smartphone market share. Microsoft unveiled its latest mobile O…
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Google has new inspiration for their software -- the human brain.

For months, the tech company has been developing "neural networking," a technique that collects data and uses that data towards other processes, much like the neurons in the human brain do when learning something.

Now Google is ready for those networks to be used commercially.

The company has already successfully used neural networking data for computers to recognize cats in YouTube videos. The computer itself was able to decide which features of the videos -- patterns, colors etc. -- to give importance to and then identify what it thought was a feline.

SEE ALSO: Startup …
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More About: Google, artificial intelligence

Comedian Tig Notaro's widely acclaimed standup set on her breast cancer diagnosis is now available on Louis C.K.'s website.

Fellow comic C.K. posted a live recording of Notaro's August show at the Largo comedy club in Los Angeles. Downloadable as a single FLAC or MP3 file, the recording costs $5. Fans simply enter their email address, pay via PayPal or Amazon and are then directed back to C.K.'s website to enjoy the show, called "Tig Notaro Live." C.K., a friend of Notaro's, is keeping $1, while the comedienne gets $4, some of which will go to cancer research.

In an Oct. 5 blog post, C.K. explains why he decided to post another performer's work on his site.

"The show was an amaz…
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More About: Louis C.K., Tig Notaro, comedy, trending

"Ouch, Char-lie!"

Back in 2007, a video of a one-year-old English boy biting his older brother's finger went viral. You've probably seen it. Now, the two boys, Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr, will star in their own web series based on the 56-second video.

Companies Viral Spiral and Rightster have teamed up to produce and market the series, which will apparently follow the boys, now six and eight, on their daily antics.

In the five years since it's been posted, "Charlie Bit My Finger" has been viewed almost half a billion times, making it the sixth most viewed video on YouTube. It's been reported that the Davies-Carr family made more than $5…
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More About: YouTube, trending, videos

Wednesday's first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney dominated social media this week, but failed to unseat The X Factor from its four-week reign atop the broadcast chart.

The music competition garnered 2.5 million social interactions, but the debate spurred at least 1.2 million impressions for each of six broadcast networks, including NBC, CBS, FOX and Telemundo.

SEE ALSO: Big Bird Appears on 'SNL,' Talks About Tweets [VIDEO]

All told, the debate received 13.7 million social mentions on Wednesday. Of those, CNN contributed the most of any network, with 1.4 million. And while pundits agree Romney won the debate, Obama earned more mentions throughout the day a…
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More About: Social Media, TV, Trendrr, infographics, social tv, social tv charts

For Kim Chow, a trip to Lima, Peru, proved to be a concerning one. Chow found that the people of the 30,000 Cerro Verde slum were storing water in 55-gallon drums on the street, making the town more susceptible to water-borne illnesses. She also discovered that water was 14 times more expensive than what households in other towns were paying for tap water.

Chow and her classmates at the Art Center College of Design wanted to find a cheap solution for the town's needs; so, they developed the "Balde a Balde" (Bucket to Bucket). The portable faucet pumps water from the water drums through an adjustable nozzle, so residents can save water by alternatin…
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Talking to kids about pornography has vexed parents for generations. It's even harder today -- the Internet gives kids access to a whole lot more than a Playboy magazine under the bed ever did. There are thousands of websites, many with video, and even more with scams and malware that can damage your computer.

How and when to have that conversation remains a conundrum for many parents, already trying to navigate how to raise kids in the digital age.

When he found out his 13-year-old son had been surfing porn sites, one dad chose to handle it in a rather unique way. He wrote a note to his son, left it on his computer and then posted the contents of his note on Reddit, with the que…
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More About: family & parenting, reddit, trending

British soccer star Ashley Cole has been charged with misconduct by the sport's governing body in England after he directed an obscene Twitter post at the organization last week.

Cole plays left-back for the powerhouse club Chelsea and England's national team. His Chelsea teammate John Terry was recently handed down a four-match suspension for racial abuse against a player from another club. When the Football Association's Independent Regulatory Commission published a report on its investigation of Terry, the body questioned Cole's credibility as a testifying witness.

In response, Cole composed and shared this tweet with his hundreds of thousands of followers:

The soccer s…
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Have you ever wished you could clip a layout or picture from a digital magazine straight to Pinterest? Now, there's a way.

Maz, a startup that helps publishers design magazine apps for the iPad, recently launched a new feature to make it easier for readers to virtually cut out part of a page and share it to Pinterest, in addition to Twitter, Facebook and e-mail.

With the new feature, called Clippings, readers can pinch any part of the page to select part of a picture or a chunk of text and post it directly to one of their Pinterest boards, without ever having to leave the magazine app. Some publishing apps on the iPad do let users highlight text and share it to social networks lik…
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It's been well over 30 years since a ghostly image of Carrie Fisher first told Obi-Wan Kenobi he was her only hope, but the technology to create full-motion holograms has remained stubbornly out of reach. That is, except for the lab coats at MIT.

Joi Ito, the Director of MIT's MediaLab recently paid a visit to Mashable and told us about the progress the institute has made in creating holograms, and how close we are to building a compact holographic projector that can display images akin to Princess Leia's hastily recorded message.

Ito explained that the projection tech already exists, but it's too large to be practical. That's changing, however.…
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More About: Joi Ito, MIT Media Lab, holograms, mashable video, mit

Billionaire Richard Branson can send satellites and himself into space -- is there anything he can't do? Apparently Branson can't DJ. That is, until Saturday at the 2012 Virgin Mobile Freefest, where he got a lesson in dubstep from none other than Skrillex.

SEE ALSO: Skrillex Drops the Bass While You Browse the Web

Watch the unlikely duo come together to make music in the video above. We'll know exactly who to hold accountable if Branson shaves the side of his head.

Image courtesy of Paul Morigi, Invision

More About: Watercooler, YouTube, richard branson, skrillex

Do you have a blog? Chances are you have a Twitter account, too. Twitter and blogging (or running any type of business website) go hand-in-hand.

We use Twitter to drive traffic to our websites. We invite our website visitors to follow and engage with us on Twitter. One feeds the other and vice versa.

Many experts agree that WordPress is the best way to power your website, especially if you operate a blog. I can go on and on about what makes WordPress great, but let's stick with its one outstanding benefit: There are so many great ways to integrate Twitter with your WordPress website.

This article will cover various ways to merge your Twitter presence with your website, an…
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More About: Social Media, Twitter, WordPress, blogging, contributor, engagement, features

New photos of what Apple's iPad Mini may look like started making the rounds on the web Monday.

Considerably smaller than the current iPad, the tablet has two rear speakers rather than the single speaker on the current iPad, and uses the new lightning connector Apple introduced with the iPhone 5. Placed beside a third-generation iPad in the photos, you can really see how the size difference between the two tablets will come into play.

Originally posted on Twitter by Sonny Dickson, the photos line up with current iPad Mini rumors. However, they could also simply be mockups of the device based on those rumors.

twitter.com/SonnyDickson/s…— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) O…
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In response to Sunday's United States debut of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, PETA has released a parody game called "Pokémon Black and Blue" with the tagline "Gotta free 'em all."

The game has users play as an escaped Pokémon, Pikachu, who fights trainers so that other Pokémon can also escape the abuse of being forced to fight.

"Much like animals in the real world, Pokémon are treated as unfeeling objects and used for such things as human entertainment and as subjects in experiments," PETA wrote in a statement. ""The way that Pokémon are stuffed into Pokéballs is similar to how circuses chain elephants inside railroad cars and let them out only to perform confusing and often…
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It's no secret that aficionados of fantasy sports, the web-based contests that let fans digitally "own" players to compete in the accumulation of real-world statistics, sometimes take their virtual games a little too seriously.

NFL running back DeAngelo Williams (at right) is sick of it -- and he took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to let overenthusiastic fantasy fans know how he feels.

Williams received a stream of Twitter abuse from disgruntled fantasy owners after he was held to just six yards on six carries as his Carolina Panthers fell to the Seattle Seahawks. Fans called him foul names and denigrated his football skills. Fed up, Williams posted this tweet shortly after the game…
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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who over the weekend broke the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass, really wants to join the boy band One Direction. At least that's the gist of a forthcoming Pepsi commercials starring the football player and the five "1D" members.

Pepsi will release two versions, with alternate endings, of the full TV ad during The X Factor on Oct. 10.

SEE ALSO: Shirtless One Direction Gys Plays With Inflatable Toys in New Music Video

Here is the teaser for the ads, which were filmed in New Orleans as part of Pepsi's Live For Now campaign:

One Direction member Niall Horan, who recently attracted the most social buzz out of…
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More About: Advertising, Entertainment, Music, One Direction, Sports, football, nfl, videos, viral videos, x factor

You've worked hard to make it into college, and now comes another challenge -- getting funding. Of course you can -- and should -- call your campus' financial aid office to find out what scholarship, loan and grant information they can provide you with. It's also wise to do a little searching of your own. And don't count yourself out if you don't have excellent grades, some sites award scholarships based on luck.

There are only a few free web tools that are actually useful in the search for college scholarships. Fastweb, is the first stop for online scholarships and a household name with families who've been through the college process in the past 10 years. The site has 50 million regis…
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More About: college, education, funding, scholarship

Steve Martin has come a long way as a comedian. Before becoming a big screen star known all around the world, he started small (as most comedians do) and was known for smaller parts.

Luckily for us, his first TV special, Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy, is hilarious. Martin promises his lover that he will wear something from her as good luck. Unfortunately for him, it's not just a "pin or something," as he expected.

SEE ALSO: Watch Seth MacFarlane Tell His Dad He's Hosting The Oscars

Watch the video above to see this classic and hilarious turtle-wrangling version of Steve Martin in one of his first comedy videos. Thanks to Official Comedy for sharing the throwback.

More About: Watercooler, comedy, youtube videos

Some iPhone 5 owners are reporting that they are seeing an intermittent flicker on the device's screen.

The first reports started showing up on Apple's Support Communities as soon as the device launched. The main thread for the issue is over 12 pages long with reports of the issue.

As Business Insider notes, the issue seems to most frequently occur when a user accesses the virtual keyboard in the App Store.

In most of the video tests afflicted users have uploaded to YouTube, it specifically occurs when a user enters in their password to purchase an app.

Writers at iSmashPhone noticed the issue more prominently within other apps, including Mail.

Because users don't see…
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Is it a #FirstWorldProblem that I'm concerned to share this video, when there are real world problems much bigger than the golden ratio of chips and dip? Yes, of course, it is.

By now you're probably familiar with first world problems, ubiquitous jokes about the minor inconveniences well-off countries often have. They are usually "crises," such as when your phone fits uncomfortably in the back pocket of your jeans, or the thermostat is set slightly colder than ideal.

SEE ALSO: Think You Have First World Problems? Think Again [VIDEO]

To fight this epidemic, YouTuber Ryan Higa has created the video above, asking you to help knock it off. The PSA sends a very clear message about th…
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More About: Watercooler, YouTube, humor, memes, parody

Facebook is offering a new $20 million settlement in a class action privacy lawsuit relating to "Sponsored Stories" advertisements, according to a report.

The fresh settlement, filed Saturday, is offering up to $10 each to nearly 125 million affected users, reports Reuters.

Sponsored Stories, a Facebook advertising feature introduced in early 2011, caused users' names and profile pictures to be shown as endorsements in a brand's advertisements those users have "liked." Users cannot opt-out of the feature, a situation some users and watchdog groups considered to be a violation of privacy.

An earlier deal, struck down by a judge in August, didn't provide any funds for users. Inste…
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More About: Facebook, Social Media, US, privacy, trending

Austrian skydiver and BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner, 42, will attempt to break the world record on Tuesday for highest altitude human free fall when he dives from 22 miles high -- close to the edge of the Earth's stratosphere.

The jump, part of the Red Bull Stratos mission, will be broadcast live from the website, as well as a handful of mainstream media outlets.

Baumgartner's suit and support crew will be equipped with more than 30 cameras -- including one on each of Baumgartner's knees -- to track every step of his jump. The entire feat, from the launch to the landing, will be documented in real time. The jump is estimated to last about 10 min…
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Nobody knows if Apple is really going to announce the iPad mini in the next few days, but there's already a website that sells a screen protector for the alleged 7-inch tablet.

Zagg.com, an online seller of mobile device cases and other accessories, is advertising a $24.99 case called "invisibleShield" for the "coming-soon" iPad mini.

Rumors of the iPad mini have been swirling for weeks and, at this point, it seems like a fairly safe bet that Apple is going to release a 7-inch version of its popular iPad at an event on October 17. Cases for the new tablet have already been popping up on Chinese websites but this is the first time an American st…
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More About: apple, ipad, ipad mini, ipad rumors

There's a whole lot to learn from this year's Mashable Media Summit, from the new direction of social media to the future of HTML5 web apps. The event will also anticipate the biggest digital media trends for 2013. Check out the online agenda for the latest lineup of speakers and topics to take place this Nov. 2 at the TimesCenter in New York City.

Here are three sessions you won't want to miss:

Co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, will sit down with Mashable features editor, Matt Sliverman, to talk about the art of monetization for a big online community.

Independent journalist Tim Pool, who was a central voice in Occupy Wall Street and a huge proponent of citizen journa…
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More About: Conference, Events, Media, event, mashable media summit

Less than a week after Facebook's big announcement about hitting 1 billion users, all anyone can remember are the chairs. Facebook celebrated hitting the milestone with its first ad campaign, an inspired effort that compared the social network to chairs.

The Internet's response has been swift. Mashable has tried its hand at lampooning the ad and the Tumblr Are Like Facebook has had some fun comparing Facebook to bananas and boxes, among other things.

This latest parody takes things a bit further into NSFW territory as well as bizarro territory. ("The universe is a big place full of things that have names. And people you can connect with. People that have a hook for a hand...")

Is…
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More About: Advertising, Facebook, parodies, trending, viral videos

This week marks the anniversary of 50 years of Bond, James Bond. Along with an iconic cocktail preference, a lineage of beautiful women and an arsenal of amazing gadgets, the James Bond films have also given us some of the most memorable movie theme songs of the past half-century. Diamonds are forever, and that's about how long we'll remember Bond's best intro tracks.

Recently, British songstress Adele joined the ranks of Nancy Sinatra, Madonna and Paul McCartney by voicing the theme to Skyfall, the newest Bond flick. In honor of 50 years of Bond theme songs, we compiled a Spotify playlist of our favorite songs from movies for this week's Music Monday. Our playlist, like the James Bon…
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More About: Adele, James Bond, Music, music monday, spotify

Is foreign money infiltrating American politics through insecure online donations to Barack Obama? That's one question pondered in a report published Monday but quickly denied by the Obama campaign.

The study was conducted by the Government Accountability Institute, a research group run by conservative author, strategist and researcher Peter Schweizer. An 109-page examination of "fraudulent and foreign online campaign contributions," it points out three ways in which the Obama campaign may be receiving foreign funds, which is illegal.

First, the report, titled "America the Vulnerable," claims the Obama campaign "lacks the industry-standard level of credit card security for donation…
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More About: 2012 presidential campaign, Politics, US, World, barack obama