Wednesday 20 March 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Pentagon to Deploy More Than 100 Cyber Teams by 2015”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Pentagon to Deploy More Than 100 Cyber Teams by 2015”


Pentagon to Deploy More Than 100 Cyber Teams by 2015

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:54 AM PDT

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Within three years, the Pentagon’s Cyber Command will deploy more than 100 teams focused predominantly on defending military networks rather than attacking adversaries’ systems, according to Defense Department officials.

The department recently reorganized Cyber Command, which since 2010 has directed offensive and defensive operations in cyberspace, into three “mission forces.” Two of those forces will engage in digital assaults, while the third will shield the dot-mil domain. The Washington Post first reported the organizational structure in late January.

The organization defending military networks — cyber protection forces — will comprise more than 60 teams, a Pentagon official said. The other two organizations — combat mission forces and national mission forces — will conduct offensive operations. National mission forces will employ 13 teams focused on securing U.S. private networks powering critical infrastructure such as transportation systems and other vital industries, the official said.

Don't Try This in Your Gym: Extreme Exercise Video Will Leave You in Awe

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 03:52 AM PDT

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If you're a gym regular, you've probably seen a few videos showing you how to do an exercise properly, keep proper posture and make sure you don't hurt yourself while lifting weights

This video is nothing like thatDamien Walters and Tim Shieff, two amazing stuntmen known for their videos of parkour and freerunning stunts, have gone to the gym, and their style of exercise is unlike anything you've ever seen

Backflips with weights, bench-pressing a hand-standing man and some very odd ways of using the elliptical trainer are just some of the highlights from this positively crazy video

Check it out above and tell us what you think in the comments.

Bluetooth Earbuds Aim to Eliminate Tangled Cords Forever

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:41 AM PDT

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An annoying drawback of wearing earbuds is getting them tangled up. One company aims to address this problem by removing the lower two-thirds of the cord, and replacing it instead with a Bluetooth unit

The result is Elroy: Bluetooth earbuds that live on "magnetic docking points," where users can store them securely, according to the company's Kickstarter page

What's more, the docks can also perform other tasks. Removing an earbud answers a call, while putting it back ends a call. Likewise, placing an earbud on a dock will pause music, while removing it will restart the tunes.

Elroy can connect up to seven devices via Bluetooth, so users can answer their smartphone while watching a movie on their tablet, for example

Twitter Patents Twitter

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:49 AM PDT

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Twitter has been granted a patent which describes the basic principles of the service itself.

Originally filed in July 2008 and granted to Jack Dorsey and Christopher Isaac Stone, the patent describes a system for "device-independent point to multipoint communication."

From the patent: "The system is configured to receive a message addressed to one or more destination users (...) The system applies rules to the message based on destination user information to determine the message endpoints, the message endpoints being, for example, Short Message Service (SMS), Instant Messaging (IM), E-mail, web page output, or Application Program Interface (API) function call."

Lower Your IQ Permanently With the 'MinusIQ' Pill

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 11:46 PM PDT

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Tired of idiots? If you can't beat them, join them using the MinusIQ pill, which permanently lowers your intelligence quotient

Okay, so the product isn't actually real, but the concept behind it may be something that's crossed your mind once or twice. According to the amusing faux commercial, MinusIQ offers pills that can reduce your IQ by 10, 30 and 50 points.

"Why should I consider lowering it, you might ask? Because life is easier and the world is a much happier place when you're dumb," says Cornelius Grouppe, a neurologist and senior research chemist at Sleepthinker. (While this man is an actor, Sleepthinker is a real-life London-based creative production company).

An Ergonomic Chair for Schoolchildren

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 10:47 PM PDT

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Since I am sitting as I type this, I regret to be reminded: Sitting all day reduces life expectancy. Sitting is associated with an increased risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Sitting is the new smoking. Our chairs, basically, will kill us.

While adults might be able to save themselves from a sad, sedentary fate — by switching to standing desks, by buying cushy ergonomic chairs, by getting up and walking around every once in a while — there's a large segment of the population that has even less control than the rest of us over daily sitting habits: kids. And that's largely because we force our mini-humans to sit, day in and day out, at school.

'Despicable Me 2' Trailer Features Abduction, Arson and Eminem

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 09:46 PM PDT

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The high-pitched yellow minions from Despicable Me are back.

Three years after the original animated film made its debut, Despicable Me 2 continues the tale of lovable villain Gru (Steve Carell) and his three adopted daughters. This time, Gru faces a new nemesis voiced by The Godfather himself, Al Pacino

Scored to Eminem's "Without Me," a new trailer for the sequel shows our protagonist getting kidnapped by Agent Lucy Wilde of the Anti-Villain League. Gru later finds out that the league is recruiting him to fend off a new unnamed evildoer that has surfaced

Jawbone UP Fitness Bracelet Now Works With Android

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 09:00 PM PDT

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The Jawbone UP has a lot going for it as a fitness bracelet — it's durable, comfortable and simple — but until now it's been limited to iPhone users. That just changed with the introduction of the Jawbone UP app for Android in Google Play.

Jawbone originally launched the UP in late 2011, but recalled the gadget in the wake of many returns due to damage. It spent months designing a more rugged replacement and in late 2012 released the newer, tougher UP. It works by measuring the steps you take throughout a day as well as your sleep patterns, inputting the data into an accompanying app.

In addition to coming to Android, the bracelet is now for sale in Europe, Asia and Australia, with Middle East availability coming in April as well. It costs $129 online.

DIY Your Own Instagram-Inspired Photo Booth

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 08:00 PM PDT

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What's a good party without a photo booth?

Nineteen-year-old Alexander Morris, from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, designed a makeshift photo machine inspired by Instagram. The get-up is built entirely out of medium density fiberboard and resembles the app's iconic logo — down to a filtered I.

Morris, a freelance photographer, posted the entire 18-step process to Instructables over the weekend

"I finished school in June last year, where I was the photographer for my [class] prom," he told Mashable. "The organizers asked me to come back and photograph this year's event."

Mark Cuban Challenges Donald Trump to 'Harlem Shake Duel'

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 07:28 PM PDT

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And now, we present to you the latest in billionaire Twitter wars

Mark Cuban and Donald Trump have been going back and forth for a little while now. Points of contention have included their respective reality TV shows, the performance of Cuban's Dallas Mavericks and other very important things

For the full tête-à-tête, please feel free to go through their individual feeds, or consult Google. But here's the important news: It. Just. Got. Real

How? Cuban escalated the smack talk by challenging Trump to a "Harlem Shake duel." We're not quite sure how that would work, but it does call to mind certain imagery. Here's Cuban laying down the gauntlet late Monday night:

Dudes Stage Epic Battle Using Movie Weapons

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 06:56 PM PDT

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If you're gonna beat down your buddies, what better way than with lightsabers, wands, Wolverine claws and Thor's hammer?

The Sneaky Zebra bros are redefining backyard brawls by substituting their fists with the most powerful weapons in the world. (Well, more like the most powerful weapons in Hollywood.)

They've taken props straight out of the hands of superheros and action stars and are using them to defend themselves in a friendly gang fight. The results are purely epic

But we are left wondering, how are Iron Man and Han Solo going to retaliate when realizing their precious props have disappeared? See how many movie references you can spot and tell us your favorite in the comments below

Half of What Online Advertisers Know About You Is Wrong

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:58 PM PDT

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Considering that they’ve never explicitly asked us about our preferences, it’s a minor miracle of big data that web advertising companies know anything about us at all. But at least half of the things they think they know about you—from your political preferences to your affinity for ladies’ fashion—could be wrong, and sometimes hilariously so.

Or at least, that’s what data from a survey put out by a firm called Enliken would suggest. Because Enliken’s business is getting people to give up more-accurate data about themselves in exchange for access to content. Because the survey wasn’t very big—covering just 116 people and about 9,000 data points—I took the survey myself in order to see whether ad targeting firms’ notions about my preferences were as inaccurate as Enliken suggested.

Nerds Rejoice! 'Star Wars' Video Explains March Madness

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:42 PM PDT

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Fluent in Star Wars, but lost when it comes to March Madness?

This brilliant video will get you up to speed in no time. Fresh from the YouTube channel Satire, it breaks down college hoops' annual tournament extravaganza using terms you may be a bit more familiar with: AT-AT, Darth Vader and TIE fighter, for example

Check it out for yourself, above; then let us know what you think in the comments

Homepage image courtesy of YouTube, Satire

Did the Best Thing in Sports Twitter Just Get Killed?

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:23 PM PDT

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Well, it was nice while it lasted

For months, the Twitter account @Nets_PR — an official outlet for the NBA's new Brooklyn Nets franchise — kept hoops fans and Twitter fiends alike entertained with a clever departure from the traditional sports social media playbook

Those days, it seems, are now over. But first, the backstory:

Pro sports teams typically stick to a pretty rote formula on Twitter, erring on the side of blandness with boring statistical updates, game scores and hashtagged calls to action. The Nets account did plenty of that regular stuff, but also mixed in jolts of awesome oddness

3 Tips to Attract and Retain Mobile Consumers

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:15 PM PDT

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Every day mobile devices improve the way we shop online. As the market grows — 45% of American adults own smartphones — it becomes even more important for businesses to adapt to mobile payments.

SEE ALSO: Forrester: U.S. Online Retail Sales to Hit $370 Billion by 2017

Today's businesses need strategies that not only attract mobile consumers, but also retain them, which can be infinitely more profitable. In fact, gaining a new customer is six times more costly than retaining one, a figure which should highlight the importance of loyalty programs. But that isn't your first priority if your business is part of the surprising 55% of American small businesses that don't accept credit card payments. That's major revenue loss!

Students Confess Their Darkest Secrets on Facebook

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:39 PM PDT

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Diaries are so passé. If you really want to pour your heart out, Facebook seems to be the popular place to do it. Instead of disclosing intimate details through journaling, students are taking to the social network to reveal their innermost secrets

Hundreds of high schools and universities have unofficial Facebook confession pages dedicated to sharing anonymous admissions. The pages are akin to secret-sharing platform PostSecret, where users can divulge anything without fear of recognition. Check out the video, above, for more

Confessions range in topics from hygienic habits ("I love binge drinking for the sole reason that the next day poops are the most satisfying I've ever had") to personal struggles ("I'm having trouble deciding if life is worth it"). Commenters often serve as a support system, offering advice and resources for students battling depression or self-image issues

Visualize the Intergalactic Saga With 'Star Wars' Family Tree

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:21 PM PDT

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It's like six degrees of separation — but minus Kevin Bacon and plus C3PO

Graphic Designer — and hardcore Star Wars fan — Joe Stone has traced the genealogy of the Empire and Alliance clans to help the rest of the world remember the connections between the dozens of characters that appear in a galaxy far, far away

He notes everything from direct bloodlines to friendships, mentorships and romances

Stone tells Mashable that Star Wars was an easy choice as a family tree because, "like all good stories, there are lots of soap opera elements with love triangles and family drama."

Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch Moving to Apple

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:50 PM PDT

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Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch is leaving the company to take a job at Apple. The news was leaked in an SEC filing and confirmed by Adobe.

Lynch joined Adobe in 2005 as part of its acquisition of Macromedia. At Macromedia, he helped create Dreamweaver and other web technology tools. More recently at Adobe, Lynch has overseen the company's push into more subscription software territory with the Adobe Creative Cloud and the Adobe Marketing Cloud.

Tech followers might be most familiar with Lynch as one of Adobe's more public figures — he frequently engaged with the community via blog postings — and a vociferous defender of Flash at the height of Apple and Adobe's "war" over the format's worthiness for the web.

March Madness: 17 Twitter Media Must-Follows

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:34 PM PDT

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You've got your flat screen. You've got your chips and beer. You've planned to come down with a nasty work-preventing illness Thursday and Friday. In short, you're all set for March Madness, except for one thing — some go-to Twitter follows for news, analysis and insight

As the action unfolds over the next three weekends, you'll want to stay both entertained and informed. Here, we've gathered some of the best college basketball writers, reporters and blogs on Twitter. From national reporters to local beat writers, stat gurus to niche blogs, we've got you covered. Click through the gallery above for 17 must-follow accounts, then add your own suggestions in the comments below

Try 'Sloppy Typing' on This Reimagined QWERTY Keyboard

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:20 PM PDT

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With every iteration of each smartphone model comes a slew of new features. Better display! Faster! Thinner! Lighter! But with the notable exception of Swype on smartphones, serious innovation with the QWERTY keyboard has been largely ignored.

Toronto-based company Whirlscape is reimagining the QWERTY keyboard by streamlining the keys into a single line and letting you type without being precise (unlike a typewriter). The "Minuum" keyboard design lets you enjoy "delightfully fast, sloppy typing," said company CEO and lead designer Will Walmsley in the project's Indiegogo campaign video. This "continuum of letters" concept, based on the QWERTY keyboard, is sort of like if T9 texting had a brain, as explained in the video above.

Battle for Your Wrist Estate Intensifies Amid Smartwatch Rumors

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:03 PM PDT

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Technology has always been a real estate battle. First it was the battle for your desktop with dueling PCs, then it moved to the living room with game consoles and smart TVs. There’s a battle for your shoulder bag with laptops and tablets, and for your pockets with mobile phones. The next battleground: your wrists.

The good news is that the wrist is relatively under-populated territory. Except for LiveStrong bands and a few other collector’s items, wrists fell out of fashion when the mobile phone learned to tell time.

The biggest limitation of the wrist? You’ve only got two. Unlike a pocket or bag it’s harder to add an extra one. And wearing electronic bangles up and down your wrist may be just too complicated.

Twitter Bringing Instant Video Replays to March Madness

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:26 PM PDT

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Following March Madness on Twitter just got better

This year, instead of simply scanning for scores, reactions and other updates while still in your cubicle and on the clock, you'll also be able to watch video clips of big plays minutes after they happen

The 15-second videos will be posted to the tournament's official @marchmadness Twitter account. They're scheduled to begin with the tournament's first play-in game, between North Carolina A&T and Liberty at 6:40 p.m. EDT on Tuesday

The video delivery is a partnership between Turner Broadcasting, which is carrying the tournament on TV, Twitter and the startup Snappy TV, which will handle the tech side. AT&T and Coke Zero are sponsors for the videos. The arrangement will allow fans to follow the tournament as never before from their computers, smartphones or tablets

Nicolas Cage in 'Legend of Zelda' Will Make Your Day

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:17 PM PDT

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One thing's for darn sure about the Internet: anything Nicolas Cage-related is an instant hit. This time, the National Treasure actor is getting a Nintendo 64 makeover (#throwback).

YouTube user Criken2 took the oh-so-awesome task of inserting Cage's face into the 2000 classic The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Cage's face is everywhere — on Link's shield, in the form of fairies and across countless arbitrary creatures. It's nothing short of spectacular.

Take a look for yourself in the video above to see him in action. You can stay up to date on the creator's other projects on Twitter as well

Asteroid Threat Collides With Budget Realities in Congress

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:59 PM PDT

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In the wake of last month's meteor strike in Russia and a close asteroid flyby on the same day, members of Congress asked NASA, White House and Air Force officials what they're doing to combat the threat of near-Earth asteroids during a hearing today on Capitol Hill.

By and large, the experts stressed that the two space rock events were a coincidence and that the chance of a catastrophic asteroid impact to Earth any time soon is remote. On Feb. 15, a surprise meteor exploded in the sky over Russia's Ural Mountains, just hours before the 150-foot-wide (40 meters) asteroid 2012 DA14 flew close by Earth in a pass that had been predicted beforehand by scientists.

Don't Blame Snapchat for Your Teen's Naked Pics

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:56 PM PDT

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Mashable OP-ED

By now, you've noticed the app Snapchat has caught some major attention

Well-known for its promiscuous reputation, the app lets users send quick, SMS-like messages, which can include candid photos or videos that (supposedly) disappear seconds later — "never to be seen again." Unless you take a screenshot, that is. In that case, Snapchat notifies the sender — or not, because anyone familiar with the Internet should know that nothing you share is really 100% private.

The app has turned controversial, especially among concerned parents and adults who believe the platform encourages risqué conduct among teens. Yes, children are sexting, and there are real, serious consequences that come with those situations

Microsoft Outlook Ad Gives a Shout-Out to Same-Sex Marriage

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:43 PM PDT

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Microsoft has become the latest tech advertiser to give a shout-out to same-sex marriage with an ad for Outlook that shows two women getting married.

The ad comes after Amazon released an ad last month featuring a same-sex male couple. Expedia — formerly a Microsoft unit — also ran an ad last October showing a father coming to terms with his daughter's decision to marry another woman

Hayes Roth, chief marketing officer with branding firm Landor Associates, compared the sudden ubiquity of gays in advertising to the late 1950s and early 1960s when African-Americans began being featured in ads

"It's become mainstream," Roth says

Cops Want Wireless Providers to Record and Store Your Text Messages

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:16 PM PDT

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The same day that Google is asking Congress to strengthen privacy protections for Americans' emails, the cops are arguing that U.S. law should require cellphone providers to store text messages logs in the event authorities need to read them in the course of a criminal investigation

According to the proposal, backed by a coalition of law-enforcement associations, wireless companies like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile would have to record and store customer's text messages for at least two years, as first reported by CNET last year

Richard Littlehale, a supervisor with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, testified this morning in front of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, echoing the law-enforcement coalition's proposal. In his prepared remarks (PDF), Littlehale lamented that the cellphone companies don't retain text messages, a practice that "can hinder law enforcement investigations."

'The Particles' iPad App Is a Physics Geek's Dream

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:56 PM PDT

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What with the Higgs boson making headlines all the time, everyone's heard of this so-called Standard Model in physics, but how many people really know what it is? Now anyone with an iPad or Windows 8 tablet can dive into the world of particle physics in a comprehensive and well-organized app simply called "The Particles."

Lest you think Science Photo Library's The Particles is nothing but impenetrable text and equations, fear not: The five main categories of particles are displayed on the app's main page in a colorful pie chart that responds to finger swipes by rotating. Since each of the five pie pieces moves independently, the menu also functions as a kind of "chaos pinwheel" — a detail that's sure to amuse.

Google Announces 'Google Capture' for Hangouts

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:39 PM PDT

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Google announced a new Hangouts Capture app Tuesday, a new way for Google Hangouts users to capture photos of a Hangout in progress so they can relive the magic of the event later on.

“Google+ Hangouts bring people together, and when they do, all sorts of awesome can unfold,” Google’s Jeremy Ng said in a Google+ post announcing the app.”

The app lets Hangout users take photos of a Hangout in progress, saving all of those photos to a shared folder available to all Hangout invitees. Photos can be viewed while you’re in the Hangout, while you’re browsing through your photo albums, and by visiting the original Hangout post on Google+.

Hulu Plus For Apple TV Gets a Facelift

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:38 PM PDT

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Hulu has rolled out a brand new Hulu Plus interface for Apple TV.

On its blog, Hulu says that it has redesigned the Apple TV Hulu Plus experience "from the ground up," with a focus on finding current TV episodes and content discovery.

Content categories are now across the top navigation bar — mimicking the interface Apple uses for the iTunes store — and offering easy access to sections such as TV, Movies, Kids, Latino and the Hulu Queue.

There is also a new "Shows You Watch" section that highlights shows you watch or subscribe to in Hulu Plus. Hulu has also added a new feature that makes watching the latest episode of a show super quick. Simply select a show with the remote and press the play button. The latest episode will start playing


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