As winter storm Nemo descends on the eastern seaboard of the United States, many of us have gathered supplies and braced for the reality that we may be spending much of this weekend confined to our homes.

While the storm doesn't look like it will have the catastrophic effect of superstorm Sandy, states are bracing for impact. Inevitably roads will be messy and hundreds of flights out of airports across the northeast have been canceled.

Because we're anticipating being holed up for the weekend, we decided to put together a playlist of winter songs. You could call it our ultimate snowed-in soundtrack. Whether you've got your weekend defined by winter storm Nemo, you're experiencing win…
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More About: Music, nemo, playlists, spotify

Ever hear someone say, "I don't have a musical bone in my body"? Well as it turns out, everyone may have that musical bone.

Designer Pietr-Jan Pietr believes that anyone can make music simply by moving their finger or tapping their foot. He developed five simple instruments that make music using natural human movements, calling the set Sound on Intuition.

The idea came out of Pietr's graduate thesis at the Design Academy Eindhoven. It is based on the notion that whenever someone learns an instrument, they must teach their body certain movements in order to be able to play.

A flautist must master his fingers, a drummer his coordination, but a player of Pietr's instruments?…
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More About: design concept, Music, musical instruments, Science

More About: astronaut, Chris Hadfield, Music, space

1. OhMiBod

The OhMiBod is the original music-driven sex toy in the company's line of high-tech personal pleasure products. You plug in your iPod and it vibrates to the beat and rhythm of your favorite music. You use the volume control to change the intensity of the vibrations: the higher the volume, the more intense the vibrations.

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When you brainstorm ideas for Valentine's Day gifts, you probably think of flowers and chocolate. Or, since you're a Mashable reader, you might prefer more techie offerings, like chargers and phone or tablet accessories.

Here's an idea -- have you thought of a sex toy? Some studies report more than half of women are using personal pleasure devices -- vibrators. So why do they still seem taboo?

That might soon change as the adult industry becomes both a little more connected and more mainstream. OhMiBod, for instance, is a company based in New Hampshire started by a husband and wife. I first met Suki Dunham, founder of OhMiBod, when I was at the International Consumer Electronics Show…
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More About: features, Gadgets, sex, valentine's day

As Nemo descends, denizens across the northeast are flooding grocery stores and bodegas in search of essential supplies. After all, who wants to be stuck for a few days in a blizzard without bread and milk?

Certainly not Vic DiBitetto. The comedian posted a 30-second video to his YouTube account, the aptly named "Bread & Milk" and the clip has gone viral, accumulating over 327,000 views in just 24 hours.

We'll be honest -- we're not exactly sure why this clip is so popular. It's certainly humorous, but its popularity surprises me. Though maybe I'm just missing something. Please feel free to educate me in the comments.

In the meantime, I'm heading out to get some bread and mi…
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More About: nemo, viral videos, YouTube

You know you want to. A sportsman if ever there was one.

More About: viral videos, Watercooler

When you're ready to upgrade from your old tablet, you have a lot to think about. Should you sell or donate it? How do you make sure all of your personal information is safely wiped? We answer all of those questions and more, so you can rest easy as you shop for a new device.

Note: Be sure to back up any important information, such as old documents, receipts or passwords.

Clean It

If you have an iPad, here's how to wipe it safely so you can still access your iTunes backup file from any of your other Apple devices:

Launch your Settings menu, then tap General.
Tap Reset, then choose "Erase all Content and Settings."
Enter your password if prompted.
Tap Erase, which will…
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More About: android tablets, Apple iPad, resell, Tablet

Eric Schmidt is cashing in on his massive pile of Google shares -- to the tune of more than $2.5 billion.

The chairman and former CEO has filed the necessary paperwork with the SEC that will let him sell roughly 42% of his stake in the search giant over the next year, Google announced Friday after the markets closed.

Over his decade at the company, Schmidt has netted 7.3 million Google shares, representing nearly 3% of the company. At $785.37 a share -- the stock's new record high, which it hit Friday afternoon -- selling 42% would net him roughly $2.51 billion.

Schmidt, 57, is the 138th richest billionaire in the world and the 49th richest in the US, according to the latest Forb…
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More About: eric schmidt, Google

1. The Purported Original Harlem Shake

This appears to be the video that started it all. So thank (or blame) these guys.

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The definitive roundup of those awesomely strange, strangely awesome "Harlem Shake" videos that set the Internet on fire this week.

More About: memes, viral videos, Watercooler

The winter storm that's hit the Northeastern U.S., dubbed "Nemo" by the Weather Channel, is testing first responders and emergency preparedness, but it's also testing the a newly implemented system to alert wireless subscribers of emergencies via their cellphones.

Several Verizon customers in the New York City area -- including Mashable staff members -- received an alert about the storm on Thursday. Some T-Mobile and Sprint customers got the alert, too. Sent via text message, the alerts are part of the new Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system, a National Weather Service initiative that went into action in mid 2012.

SEE ALSO: National Weather Service to Send Weather Warnings to Smartp…
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More About: att, sprint, T-Mobile, verizon, WEA, Weather

The school classroom experience is not just about pen and paper anymore -- computers and tablets have changed all that. And wait until we let the robots take over. It might happen sooner rather than later, if a startup called RobotsLab has its way.

The company, which is the educational division of RobotAppStore, has launched a toolbox, simply called "RobotsLab BOX" to be used in classrooms. The box is equipped with all kinds of bots: a Parrot AR drone, a Sphero robotic ball, a Mobot two-wheeled modular robot vehicle, and an Armbot robotic arm.

This robot-filled box comes with a tablet too. The tablet not only serves as a remote control for the bots, but also contains everything a teac…
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More About: Drones, education, robots

What do you get when you combine a massive winter storm with the potential to drop between one and three feet of snow with the latest and greatest video-sharing app? A torrent of excellent snowfall footage, that's what.

Mashable is curating the best Vine content from Winter Storm Nemo in this post. Have a video that you've safely taken? Post the link as a comment and we will consider adding it to our collection.

1. Boston is getting some of the worst of Nemo -- it's already tough to park a car:

Parking is a 3-person job. #nemo vine.co/v/bnYBmKX07zh— mg (@greenmelinda) February 8, 2013

2. The snow's falling in Connecticut -- and so are the Nemo jokes:

Finding #nemo in t…
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More About: mobile app, nemo, US, Video, Vines

Tweens' social media use and texting may look like positive social skills, but excessive use of these activities actually hinders emotional intelligence.

More About: girls, instagram, Teenagers

Here's a tiny development in cancer prevention with big potential. Researchers have identified a molecule that causes the immune system to prevent the formation and spread of tumors.

This molecule, called TIC10, triggers a cancer-killing protein researchers refer to as TRAIL, an acronym for Tumor necrosis factor Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand.

Check out the video above for more about TRAIL.

[via Nature]

Image via iStockphoto, haydenbird

More About: cancer, health, Science

Iran showed images of its new "super-advanced" stealth jet last week, boasting its capabilities and trumpeting what would be a great step forward for its limited military force. If only it could actually fly. As it turns out, according to aviation experts, the plane might very well be a fake.

Aviation blogger David Cenciotti thought there was something fishy when he saw the plane. He broke down all his suspicions in a couple of posts on The Aviationist. "Overall, the plane seems to lack the characteristic rivets, bolts all aircraft, including stealthy ones, feature. Images released so far show it as a plastic-made aircraft," he writes.

Not only does it seem to be made of plastic, it…
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More About: aviation, iran, stealth

The first 90 seconds of this video will probably bore you. Then your mind will be blown. Seriously -- you'll be straight up gobsmacked.

Anderson Cooper discovered this talented treat when he held his own version of America's Got Talent on his talk show.

This painter showed up, promised Cooper and his co-judges (including Sharon Osbourne) a masterpiece in under two minutes. They were doubtful. Then they were proved wrong -- very wrong.

SEE ALSO: 10 Works of Art on Vine

Who knew "speed painting" was even a thing?

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pcatalin.

BONUS: 10 Epic Works of ASCII Art

More About: Anderson Cooper, art

The need to clear a bottleneck of unanalyzed DNA is undermining the Justice Department's ability to drive innovations that could more quickly solve both the backlog problem and new cases, some law enforcement experts say.

While police technology is nowhere close to what audiences see on forensic science dramas such as CSI and NCIS, so-called rapid DNA tools could move law enforcement in that direction.

But, backlog reduction programs account for the majority of DNA funding from the National Institute of Justice, the department's research and development arm and the only federal agency that provides resources for unclogging backlogs at crime labs. A prime area for experimentation i…
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More About: crime, DNA, local government, Science

O hai. I'm in ur Twitterz, changing up ur language.

Twitter quietly added a new (and still experimental) language option Friday, one for the Cheezburger cognoscenti. Under Settings > Language, just between Korean and Malay, you'll find this curious designation: Lolcat - LOLCATZ (beta).

The operative word here is "beta." Don't expect every word of every tweet to suddenly read like it came out of a hilarious cat meme. Probably its most amusing use case for now: changing your co-worker's Twitter feeds when they're not looking. (Your amusement may vary.)

So what's changed? "Who to follow" has become "HOO 2 FOLLOW," "home" is now "HUM," "view my profile page" becomes "VIEW MAH PROFILE PU…
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More About: lolcats, Twitter

The beauty of nature comes to life in GIF form on Tumblr blog Head Like an Orange.

A 28-year-old Dutchman and GIF-crafting master named Marinus started the oddly-named Tumblr that features stunning wildlife snippets. Take a stroll through nature without leaving your cubicle.

Image courtesy of Tumblr, headlikeanorange

Image courtesy of Tumblr, headlikeanorange

Image courtesy of Tumblr, headlikeanorange

Image courtesy of Tumblr, headlikeanorange

BONUS: 7 Amusing Nature Mockumentaries

Image courtesy of Flickr, memkaos

More About: GIFs, nature, tumblr, Watercooler

A popular video showing off a 3D-printed automatic rifle magazine was removed Friday "as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content."

The video featured the "Cuomo" 30-round magazine developed by Defense Distributed, a Texas-based initiative run by 24-year-old Cody Wilson. It quickly went viral after Defense Distributed posted it this week.

YouTube has not yet responded to Mashable's request for a comment on the video removal. The language now tied to the video, however, seems to suggest the company believes the video is somehow fraudulent.

Wilson told Mashable in an e-mail that he's attempting to re-upload the video to YouTube, but it's…
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More About: 3d printing, US, YouTube

A video that reveals Google's most advanced Chromebook computer "leaked" earlier this week, showing a powerful laptop with a Retina-like screen called the Chromebook Pixel. There's also a good chance it's a fake.

A company called Slinky.Me claims to have created the demo video for Google. After the leak, the CEO, Victor Koch, contacted Sergey Brin (publicly on Google+ of all places), tagging Brin as well as the developer who had initially posted the leaked video. Later Koch tweeted a link to the video.

SEE ALSO: HP Launches Its First Chromebook for $330

While there's reason for skepticism, the Chrome developer who posted the video, François Beaufort, said the laptop shown might be…
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More About: chromebook, Google, mash, retina display, Video

1. Opened Baby Formula

Opened three weeks ago ... enough said.

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Craigslist is probably the most eclectic listing of stuff ever compiled onto one domain.

While enough trolling may score you some one-of-a-kind vintage finds, there are plenty of things you should steer clear of. Think opened foods, prescription medications or pretty much anything found in a bathroom.

We know you're all savvy Internet users who wouldn't fall for these kinds of buys. You may, however, be tickled by some of the crazy household items Craigslist users try to sell -- or even give away for free -- to other users.

SEE ALSO: 8 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do on Craigslist

We rounded up 16 products posted on Craigslist no one should be purchasing. We didn't link to…
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More About: craigslist, ecommerce, features, Lifestyle

It doesn't do any good to debate when Google's Project Glass will become ubiquitous, or how many billions of dollars the Augmented Reality industry will make by 2015. You're missing the point.

Augmented Reality (AR) is not just a technology. It's a shortcut. Whether we can interact with data through a pair of glasses or contact lenses, the very nature of such technological immediacy will very quickly change human behavior.

First shortcut? We'll get our hands back. Imagine your coffee and bagel, no spills -- because you're checking email on AR-enabled glasses.

SEE ALSO: 7 Ways Augmented Reality Will Improve Your Life

It's the second shortcut that will be much more…
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More About: Augmented Reality, contributor, features, Tech

If you ask Twitter's CEO Dick Costolo why the company decided to buy Vine, an app for creating and sharing six-second videos, the answer is simple: It's the next big thing. "When Facebook bought Instagram, I said we're not going do what those other guys did. We're looking for the next thing," Costolo told The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview. "We all agreed that this is the next thing down the road."

That might sound like little more than the trademark optimism of a Silicon Valley exec if not for how quickly the app has taken off. In just the two weeks since Vine launched on the iPhone, news outlets have used it to capture stories, brands have used it to create ads and conte…
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More About: apps, Startups, Vine

Scientists noticed odd stains in satellite images of Antarctica's Princess Ragnhild Coast. Now, the first humans visit the 9,000-odd emperor penguin kingdom

More About: Antarctica, NASA, penguin, satellite imagery, space

Four adorable bulldogs. What could possibly go wrong? The lesson for college sports teams: Live mascots are always better.

More About: college sports, Sports

On any given weekend across the country, tiny humans take the stage caked in makeup, spray tans and giant hair to be judged on beauty and character.

From the makers of Toddlers & Tiaras, comes the only show dedicated to baby hackers coding in basements. With iPads in their chubby hands, they're plotting to take over the world, one download at a time.

Anyway, that's one of many hilarious fake TV pitches during this week's game of MashTags: #WebRealityShows.

Mashable composite, image courtesy of Flickr, jdlasica

Mashable composite, image courtesy of iStockphoto, PeskyMonkey

Use the hashtag on Twitter, not in the comments. We'll showcase the funniest hashtagged tweets b…
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More About: MashTags, Twitter, Watercooler

Despite being among the brightest objects in the sky, Mercury is a planet very rarely seen by even experienced stargazers. The next couple of weeks offer the best opportunity in 2013 for observers in the Northern Hemisphere to spot Mercury's tiny speck of light in the evening twilight sky.

The trick for spotting Mercury is first to find an observing location with a low unobstructed western horizon, wait for half an hour after sunset for the sky to darken, and then sweep to the left of the sunset with binoculars. Once you've initially located the planet with binoculars, you can usually see Mercury with the unaided eye. Don't wait too late, or Mercury will have set. In a telescope, Mercury…
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More About: astronomy, Mars, Mercury, space

Turns out NHL players aren't the only ones who are tough as nails -- hockey reporters ain't no pansies neither.

More About: Sports, Watercooler

Vine has become a popular animation platform, this despite its limitations. Here are 7 ways to make it much, much better,