From videos to social, brands are capturing audience attention by being funny.

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December around the old newsroom means enough end of year coverage to fill Santa's magical sack. Lists of the 10 best/most popular/coolest [fill in blank with pretty much anything] offer an easily digestible recap of the past 365 days.

We've all seen the "most popular" lists, but why don't the "least popular" lists get any year-end love?

SEE ALSO: The 10 Most Viral YouTube Videos of 2012

Conan O'Brien gives some much-needed attention to the year's least watched viral videos.

BONUS: Ermahgerd! The 12 Best Memes of 2012

More About: Watercooler, viral videos

Kevin Systrom has had quite the busy week.

Fresh from nixing his revamped terms of service that caused such a stir on Tuesday -- and doing a 180-degree turn on those terms of service Thursday -- the Instagram co-founder has launched a significant update to his iPhone app.

The update adds a brand-new photo filter, "Mayfair", which brings the app's total number of filters up to 20. Its previous update, just 10 days ago, also added a new filter, "Willow". This is a veritable flurry of new filters by Instagram's standards; prior to Willow, the app hadn't added any new filters since September 2011.

Here's Mayfair:

Also in this update comes the ability to log in to Instagram via F…
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Pro sports have come to sleepy, seaside Santa Cruz, Calif. The Golden State Warriors NBA team opened up a minor league operation there this season, and the team is off to a solid start before playing its first home game on Sunday.

But the Santa Cruz Warriors story is more than just a tale of minor league hoops coming to a small town -- it also shows the growing importance of social media in sports marketing, and how it's saturated sports communications even deeper and wider than many may realize.

Like most teams now, the Warriors use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share behind the scenes snippets and accelerate engagement with a new fan base. Matt De Nesnera, the Santa Cruz squad…
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More About: Marketing, NBA, Sports

In just a few days, Santa Claus will fly his troop of magical reindeer around the world, delivering gifts to millions of children. The global journey of the centuries-old Father Christmas, once untraceable, is now broadcast in real time.

This week, Google announced the launch of its very own Santa Tracker after ending its five-year Christmas collaboration with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) mapping the jolly bearded man's travels.

The NORAD Santa Tracker, scheduled to launch on Christmas Eve, has partnered with Microsoft Bing this year. Users can pinpoint Santa on 2D Bing Maps or view 3D routes on Cesium.

Google will start mapping Santa's stops at 2 p.m. P…
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More About: holidays 2013, merry christmas

Sometime in the next day, maybe in the next few hours, humanity will hit a major milestone that has nothing to do with the Mayan apocalypse (we hope).

For the first time in history, we will be able to state categorically that a single piece of visual entertainment has been watched more than a billion times.

No prizes for guessing what that video will be: the surprise international smash hit of 2012; the song that made Seoul's richest neighborhood world-famous; the video that reveals for the first time exactly how much fun you can have in a powder blue tuxedo jacket; the meme that spawned a thousand imitations. Oppa Gangnam Style.

At time of writing, all that stands between "Gangna…
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More About: YouTube, gangnam style, psy, viral videos

Remember those privacy controls Facebook announced last week, alongside the rather less friendly news that you would no longer have the option to hide when Facebook users are searching you?

Well, those changes are finally here. As of 10pm ET, you should start seeing a small symbol with a lock in the top right hand corner of your screen. Click on it, and you've got a list of "Privacy Shortcuts" in plain English -- namely, Who Can See My Stuff, Who Can Contact Me, and How Do I Stop Someone From Bothering Me.

That's a whole lot better than what used to be in that spot -- a dizzying array of privacy options in a control panel that was hard for the average user to decipher.

"We believe…
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More About: Facebook, privacy, social media privacy

LEGO's just released the summer review results from their CUUSOO website, which is a system where modelers can submit their creations in the hopes that they'll eventually become actual sets. Once a submission manages 10,000 votes from the community, LEGO reviews them and makes a call on whether they move forward with the project. That's how that sweet Minecraft LEGO set came to fruition.

SEE ALSO: LEGO Minecraft Is the Creative Gift for Future Architects

One of those in the spotlight this time around was an impressive Back to the Future DeLorean model. You can probably see where this is going.

Yes, a Back to the Future LEGO set is really, truly happening.

Way back when the set f…
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More About: 3D modeling, back to the future, legos

Google is inviting you to be part of a field trial to test some new features which sync its products to an even more intuitive degree.

Do a regular Google Search and it will pull information from your Gmail and Google Drive, allowing you to find what information you're looking for faster. This sync-up lets you do a Google search for things like your dinner reservations and items you ordered online.

Now, if you search for an item you purchased and sent the shipping information to your gmail account, you'll now see that information in your search results.

Google posted several examples of what this will look like:

"So now instead of digging through your email, you can find…
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More About: Google, email, gmail, purchases

Instagram has formally updated its Terms of Service, making changes based on user feedback.

The photo sharing site -- which Facebook purchased in April -- introduced its plans for new terms of service on Monday. Users reacted negatively to the new terms, threatening to boycott the service and delete accounts if the terms weren't amended.

Even after Instagram's co-founder Kevin Systrom tried to clarify the changes -- including the fact that Instagram wouldn't be using user photos in ads -- prominent brands and users still expressed their dissatisfaction with the updated terms.

Today, Instagram is trying again. The company posted a new entry to its blog, outlining its "new" new Terms …
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More About: Facebook, instagram, privacy, terms of service

To Jimi Hendrix, music was a religion. To Twitter users, music is a conversation starter and so much more. Here's how music ruled Twitter in 2012.

More About: Coachella, Entertainment, Music, One Direction, Social Media, Twitter, chris brown, whitney houston

Ready for some more design tweaks to your Timeline? If not, watch out. Facebook is experimenting with some significant changes that are already showing up for a small number of users -- and may roll out to the masses very soon.

According to ABC News, where a producer's Timeline first revealed the changes Thursday, the new version is a return to tabs. Gone are the thumbnail pictures for "Friends," "Photos" and "Map" (where you see all the places you've checked in or geotagged yourself).

Indeed, the Map is gone altogether from your front page, banished under a tab that says "More."

There's a new "About" tab at the top of the page; click on that and you get all the information yo…
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If you're walking home alone at night, or perhaps in a less-populated part of town, does your cellphone make you feel safer?

A new study from University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Jonathan Klick, along with colleagues at Penn and George Mason University, speculates that a one-third drop in crime rates in the 1990s might be due to cellphones providing a deterrent for criminals.

"Mobile phones allow for quicker reporting of crimes, and, in some cases, real time communication of details about the crime and the criminal," the authors write in the study. "The perceived risk of apprehension could increase among motivated offenders when they notice potential targets are carr…
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More About: cellphones, crime, legal

How many friends do you have on Facebook?

New research from the University of Virginia and London Business School says that your socioeconomic status correlates with the size of your social network on Facebook.

Wealthier individuals, they found, tend to have larger and shallower networks of friends. After living in in multiple places throughout their lives, these individuals tend to have different groups of friends. On the contrary, less well-off Facebook users have fewer friends because they tend to stay in the same place. Their groups are typically smaller and more intimate.

"In the age of Facebook, many Americans seem to opt for a broad, shallow networking strategy," the study s…
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More About: Facebook, facebook friends

For the FPS Maniac: Halo 4

After the sheer success of Halo 3 in 2007, it was difficult to imagine a more complete and enjoyable game in the franchise. That is, until 343 Industries revived the series and created the magnum opus Halo 4. As dramatically compelling as it is beautiful, this game is an essential to any Xbox outfit and is worth a goldmine in replay value and multiplayer opportunities. Back in the shoes of Übermensch Master Chief, this installment of the series deals with the complicated task of finding a way home. Master Chief must gun, bomb and cover his way out of an alien landscape overrun with plenty of baddies, all the while holding together the fragile but necessary AI being Cortana. What unfolds is a massive sci-fi story that involves an ancient war and rapid evolution, and of course, plenty of shooting. The single-player campaign is only half of the game's true talents -- the multiplayer rocks. After (or before or during) you sink hours into the campaign, the multiplayer still feels fresh and inventive, living up to classic Halo standards. Microsoft's baby does it once again, and there's no way you'll be disappointed. Price: $39.99 at Best Buy Platform: Xbox 360 Image courtesy of Microsoft Studios

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The holidays are synonymous with quality gaming time -- with some extra days off and hours of lounging around, there's nothing better than firing up the best game you unwrapped and getting down to business. Throw in some Christmas leftovers, and there isn't anything closer to heaven.

If you're looking for the best of the best right now, either to pick up for your loved one or to treat yourself this holiday season, look no further than this roundup of games. Catered to a specific play style, you'll find that all of these games are critical and commercial successes -- a veritable sure thing in the gaming world.

SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Indie Games for the Holiday Season

Whether you're i…
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More About: Entertainment, Gaming, Gifts, holidays 2012

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying the three newest residents of the International Space Station is set to dock with the high-flying laboratory on Friday morning (Dec. 21).

Set to arrive at the space station at 9:12 a.m. EST (1412 GMT), the capsule will deliver Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield — who will become the station's first Canadian commander — as well as Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn. The spaceflyers' journey started yesterday (Dec. 19) when they launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome at 7:12 a.m. EST (1212 GMT).

After they reach the space station, the astronauts will perform leak…
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More About: ISS, NASA, space

Alpacalypse

Mashable composite: Photos courtesy of iStockphoto, Clint Spencer and Flickr, coryandjen

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Hide yo kids, hide yo llamas -- the Alpacalypse arrives at midnight.

Yes, you have heard of the Dec. 21, 2012 apocalypse, but that was just the Mayans' sneaky plan to distract from the real destruction set to doom Earth. Expect alpacas to rain down with the space rocks and pillage your supply of canned SpaghettiO's.

SEE ALSO: 21 Hilarious Tweets for the End of the World

Prepare for (really soft, sweater-ready) fur to fly, humans.

More About: Watercooler, humor, pics

A popular video game blog is calling for a one-day ceasefire genre of games known as "first-person shooters" or "online shooters," in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The event has caused a sort of rift among gamers, many of who feel the ceasefire will be viewed as a mea culpa by those who believe video game violence played a part in the massacre.

Antwand Pearman is the founder of GamerFitNation, a site that promotes both video games and healthy living. He posted a nine-minute video early Sunday morning in which he makes an emotional plea urging gamers to take a one-day hiatus from online shooters (OS) last Friday.

Pearman said the ceasefire is an appropriate…
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More About: Gaming, Social Media, US

Research In Motion reported strong third quarter earnings, at least compared to Wall Street's low expectations.

The company reported an adjusted net loss of $114 million, or $0.22 a share, on revenue of $2.7 billion in the third quarter, beating the consensus estimate on Wall Street that RIM would report a loss of $0.36 a share on revenue of $2.66 billion.

Overall, however, the company's sales are heading in the wrong direction. RIM shipped 6.9 million BlackBerry smartphones in the third quarter, a significant decline of 51% from the same period last year. Likewise, the BlackBerry subscriber base declined from 80 million in the second quarter to 79 million in the third quarter.

Wh…
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More About: RIM, stocks

Julian Assange promised in a rare speech Thursday evening to release more than a million files in the coming year which would affect "every country in the world."

"Despite an unprecedented criminal investigation and campaign to damage and destroy WikiLeaks, 2012 has been a huge year," said Assange. "Next year will be equally busy. WikiLeaks already has well over a million documents to release."

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and an Australian native, gave his speech from the balcony of Ecuador's London embassy. He's been holed up there since mid-June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where police want to question him about allegations of sexual misconduct. He has not been charged…
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More About: World, julian assange, wikileaks

A sneak peak at the NBA's follow-ups to a viral mega-hit ad includes Spike Lee and the mom of superstar scorer Kevin Durant.

More About: Advertising, NBA, Sports

Adobe announced Thursday that it has acquired Behance, the leading online platform for creatives who want to display and showcase their work. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

With Behance, Adobe is looking at bringing community features to its Creative Cloud platform. Creative Cloud is Adobe's subscription based service for professionals that offers access to desktop software as well as online tools and storage place.

A big part of Adobe's future plans for Creative Cloud are focused on the way that users can interact, collaborate and share with one another. "We always knew community would be an important element of Creative Cloud," Scott Morris, Adobe's senior marketing directo…
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More About: adobe, behance, creative cloud

Calls for gun reform have "dominated" the Twitter conversation about last week's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Twenty-eight percent of Twitter posts about Newtown from Dec. 14 through Dec. 17 included a stance on gun control laws. The majority of tweets, 64%, called for stricter gun control laws. Twenty-one percent of those tweets expressed opposition to new laws, while 14% were neutral, according to Pew.

Tweets expressing sympathy for the victims and their loved ones was the next most popular category in the days after the shootings, at 25%. Straight news reports made up 13%…
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More About: Politics, Twitter, US, newtown

Are charitable donations on your holiday to-do list this year?

The American Red Cross says despite the public outpouring of donations in 2012 people are still willing to give more this holiday season.

According to the American Red Cross' study, 56% of people make donations in-person, 52% send donations by mail and only 21% use a charity's website. No mention of using apps to donate, but considering how the popularity of smartphone shopping really took off this holiday season, it's possible apps for making donations will grow in popularity in the future, too.

SEE ALSO: 5 Social Fundraising Alternatives to Facebook Causes

We know you're using your mobile devices more than ever…
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More About: Gifts, Mobile, apps, charity, donations

Among iOS developers, the day that you finally submit your app for Apple's approval can be a tense one. Even when you've seemingly followed the guidelines, polished the code and passed every field test, Apple can still reject your app for almost any reason.

Not so with Spun [iTunes link]. At first glance, Spun appears to be a simple local news-and-information app with an eye-catching user interface. Which it is. But it's also a showcase for how to design iOS apps that Apple will love.

It starts with the UI, but the Apple-friendly elements resonate throughout Spun's straightforward functionality, novel use of location services and even the original design process. How did Spun learn exa…
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More About: Spun, UI, UI Design, app store, design, dev and design, features, iOS

Attention wannabe pilots: Here's your chance to experience the next best thing to flying Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner. The company created the Boeing 787 Dreamliner "Dream Pass," a 360-degree online video that lets you take an immersive virtual ride in the plane's flight deck, and tour its wings and engines.

Be sure to click the full-screen icon at the bottom of the screen for the maximum panoramic effect, where you can control your view by clicking and dragging your cursor. At the same time, you're able to select either Boeing 787 chief pilot Capt. Randy Neville's commentary (and some Boeing cheerleading) about what the pilots are doing, or you can hear the in-flight conversations between…
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More About: 360 panorama, Boeing 787, Dreamliner

Karmin is what aspiring artists hope to become when they post a video to YouTube, but according to lead singer Amy, it took a long time to get noticed.

More About: Entertainment, Karmin, Music, YouTube

Mayans got you down? Bummed about the fiery ball of death headed your way in the next 24 hours?

There's not much we can do about your impending doom, but enjoy this hilarity from some of Twitter's finest comic minds while you wait.

After tomorrow, it's just cockroaches and Regis.— Matt Koff (@mattkoff) December 20, 2012

I don't know about the Mayans but my world ended when McDonald's got rid of the Arch Deluxe.— Steven Amiri (@StevenAmiri) December 20, 2012

#Mayans are trending. What a comeback! Take that, Spain!— Chris Regan (@ChrisRRegan) December 20, 2012

I got a message from Sallie Mae that tomorrow's apocalypse will not alter my student loan ob…
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More About: Apocalypse, Social Media, Twitter

Does money buy happiness or should we be looking outside of our wallets for joy?

YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE explains the ways money can put happiness in the old mood bank. Hint: Don't expect to scratch off or quick pick your way to cheer.

SEE ALSO: The Connection Between Education, Money and Happiness

Where do you find the greatest happiness in your life? Spread smiles by sharing in the comments.

BONUS: Forget Money -- Try Cute Animals

Image courtesy of alancleaver

More About: Watercooler, viral videos

"Smart journal" Path has rolled out a new search function to its apps, allowing users to recall stories and memories shared with the social platform.

More About: Path, apps