A decent cup of coffee is undoubtedly one of life's simple pleasures. We have found nine nifty gadgets that will make sure you get your caffeine fix whether you're stuck at your desk, out in your car or even half way up a mountain

Take a look through our top selection of java-makers in the gallery above. If you've found a cunning contraption to whip up some joe on the go we have not featured, then please link us to it in the comments below

Image courtesy of Flickr, Doug Wheller Read more...

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Google Earth is a free program that lets you explore the globe (and a few other parts of the galaxy) via satellite imagery. Street maps, terrain, 3D neighborhoods — you name it, Google Earth can show it to you

But with the planet at your fingertips, it's easy to miss some of the lesser-known features the program has to offer.

We compiled a list of tips and tricks that will help you get the most out of the program and make you a power user in a matter of minutes. Be warned, though: Google Earth can be very addicting. Between traveling back in time, exploring the ocean depths and flying around in an F-16 Viper, you'll find it difficult to leave your screen and see the real world. Read more...

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Looking for creative content that is also free can be taxing. And when overused, Creative Commons becomes a bore of stock photos and MIDI jingles. Especially when it comes to fair use music, sometimes you just want something more refined and less 8-bit.

In comes Moby, who announced Monday the relaunch of mobygratis.com, a fair use site stuffed to the brim with over 150 tracks from Moby's own discography. Geared toward independent filmmakers, the entire collection is available to license free for non-commercial use, through a simple application processOriginally launched in 2007, the updated site includes music from Moby's last two albums Wait For Me and Destroyed, as well as remixes from both. Read more...

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One day before rival Facebook is rumored to announce a Vine competitor, employees of Twitter's video-sharing service teased several of its new features.

Co-founders Dom Hofmann and Rus Yusupov tweeted out Vine videos on Wednesday that gave an early look at the app's upcoming design changes.

From each six-second clip, viewers can catch glimpses of full-screen videos, private messaging between users and possible curated categories (e.g. cats, science and technology). There also appears to be the ability to save drafts and create multiple Vine posts at one time. Check them all out, below.

Bleep boop https://t.co/zuyoAq0h3t

— Rus Yusupov (@rus) June 19, 2013 Read more...

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Andrew W.K., the man known for his music but also for his crazy affinity for partying, is playing drums right now. He's been doing it for the last 8 hours or so, and he plans to continue doing it for the next 16 hours

Can he pull it off? Well, staying up all night is no problem for Andrew, but playing the drums for an entire day, that's a wee bit more difficult

Andrew is not alone in his endeavor, though — he's got a bunch of special guests to help him out, including Marky Ramone, Liberty DeVitto, Chad Smith, Nick Jonas and Zac Hanson.

Right now, everything looks and sounds good — so good, in fact, that we've been grooving to drum sounds for the last hour or so, and it just might be our soundtrack for the day Read more...

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LinkedIn is recovering from a DNS issue that sent visitors to a different web site for an hour Wednesday night

The issue, which is now resolved for most users, rerouted the traffic to a domain sales page.

LinkedIn, a popular professional social network, acknowledged the issue in a tweet, but did not elaborate

Our site is now recovering for some members. We determined it was a DNS issue, we're continuing to work on it. Thanks for your patience.

— LinkedIn (@LinkedIn) June 20, 2013

However, App.net co-founder Bryan Berg claims there's more to the issue.

"LinkedIn just got DNS hijacked, and for the last hour or so, all of your traffic has been sent to a network hosted by this company [confluence-networks.com]. And they don't require SSL, so if you tried to visit, your browser sent your long-lived session cookies in plaintext," Berg wrote Read more...

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Rumors are floating around that Instagram intends to jump into the world of video-sharing, but the creative duo FriendsInFaux have made their own video from Instagram photos — 1,556 of them, to be exact

While the short film's plot follows a casual beach-goer's trials and tribulations, the animation is more than just a straight-forward compilation of Instagrams (which still would have been an impressive undertaking).

In a behind-the-scenes video, Paul B. Cummings and Eriq Wities explain that they were addressing the question, "What are all the fun things that could happen on Instagram?" Taking cues from the Instagram user experience, they incorporated a phone, swiping, and popular Instagram filters into the video Read more...

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Horns honking, engines running and construction clanging — the urban jungle's daily noises can be hard on the ears, and easy to ignore

But Marc De Pape, a self-described "creative technologist" based in Toronto, is encouraging urbanites to tune back in by turning these city sounds into music

De Pape achieves this through his creation, an instrument inspired by wind chimes called "The Chime." A collection of 18 sensors that measures 27 data points (through microphones and thermometers, among other tools), it "translate[s] the impulses and flows of everyday city into sound," De Pape said on his website Read more...

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There are two ways most teenage fellas try to attract the ladies: play sports or play music. If you play one, you're probably doing alright. If you play both, you're probably doing quite well. But if you play both at the same damn time? That's next level, right there

Nineteen-year-old Ben Lapps has both his hoop skills and guitar playing well on-point. Watch the video above as he frets a funky riff while dribbling through his legs and around his back then hits a one-handed shot before swaggering off down the driveway and into the sunset Read more...

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A small group of Facebook employees have been working on “something big,” which the social network is set to unveil on Thursday.

The press event for Facebook's "new product" will take place at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

To notify reporters about the event, Facebook sent out paper invitations through traditional post — an unprecedented move — in addition to digital versions. In both cases, a coffee stain is prominent on the invites, suggesting that Facebook may be serving up more than just a cup of joe to reporters. Indeed, it foreshadows a coffee-related theme for the event

Since the invitations went out, there have been reports that Facebook will be announcing video for Instagram at the event, which would help the company better compete with Twitter’s Vine. Read more...

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With Man of Steel in theaters and doing monumental box office numbers, the film has quickly become the hottest commodity of the summer.

Reviews for the film have been generally positive, but there's also been plenty of criticism. While a few folks have called Man of Steel one of the "greatest superhero films ever," others maintain it's "worse than Daredevil." That's a huge disparity, so we took to Twitter, the most unfiltered Internet source possible, to find out how good this movie truly was

Whether your opinion of the film was yay or nay, here are 20 Twitter reviews of Man of Steel in 140 characters or less. Read more...

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Channing Tatum's noodle, an explosive science fair project and Miley Cyrus under a vending machine — all that weirdness and more pops up in Jimmy Kimmel's new music video for "(I Wanna) Channing All Over Your Tatum."

The euphemism-filled video never answers what it actually means to "Channing all over someone's Tatum." But you can try to figure it out as Channing and Jamie Foxx break it down on the beach while wearing white suits and Miley throw Channing-brand Skittles into the air.

Most surprising part of the video: Channing keeps his shirt on the entire time. Read more...

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Hurdler Lolo Jones' athletic talent, good looks and sassy social-media posts catapulted her to Internet fame before and during the 2012 Summer Olympics

But Jones landed in hot water this week for a post she made about the financial rewards — or lack thereof — of her lastest athletic endeavor: bobsledding

Jones earned good money as a two-time Olympic hurdler, successful track star and endorsement powerhouse before taking up bobsledding last fall and competing with the U.S. national team

Seems bobsledding doesn't pay so well, however, so Jones took to Twitter and Vine on Monday to post this video bemoaning the lack of income: Read more...

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On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 crashed just south of Long Island, claiming all 230 lives aboard the Boeing 747. A four-year National Transportation Safety Board investigation determined a fuel tank explosion was to blame for the incident

Even before NTSB investigators arrived at the scene, however, conspiracy theories began to float: Was it a terrorist armed with a shoulder-fired missile? Did somebody have a bomb on board? Or did the military accidentally shoot down the airplane?

The NTSB's final explanation satisfied few of those who had already made up their mind. Indeed, filmmakers behind a new documentary say they have new evidence from NTSB insiders and others of a cover-up. As that film is set to open next month, it's important to remember those with "alternative" theories about Flight 800 long ago found a place where they could swap ideas and share their aviation expertise or first-hand accounts: the Internet Read more...

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Actor James Gandolfini, best known for his portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano in The Sopranos has died. He was 51.

HBO confirmed to Mashable on Wednesday that Gandolfini died while vacationing in Rome, Italy. Reports suggest the cause was a possible heart attack

"We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family. He was [a] special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect," the network wrote in an emailed statement

"He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us." Read more...

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Say you're a successful NBA player. Your massive Twitter following comes with many advantages: increased marketing appeal, the ability to interact with fans and a platform to break your own news on your own terms, just to name a few

Kendrick Perkins, however, just found a new and innovative way to leverage Twitter: as a secondary marketplace to shed some unwanted canine cargo. That's right — Perkins just sold his English bulldog on the microblogging network after posting a series of ads and photos for his 55,000 followers

But no slimy sales pitches here, folks. Perkins opened up the action with a tweet that digitally looked you in the eye, and shook your hand firmly: Read more...

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Apple announced Wednesday that it has landed a major deal to sell iPad tablets to the second-largest public school district in the United States.

The Los Angeles School Board of Education has approved a $30 million deal to roll out iPads to students in its district beginning this fall. Each iPad tablet will include the "Pearson Common Core System of Courses delivered via a new app," Apple said in a statement. The iPads will also be equipped with iWork, iLife, iTunes and some educational third-party apps.

The school district is paying $678 for each iPad, since it includes the pre-loaded educational software, the Los Angeles Times reported. Read more...

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It’s a rainy day; you’re busy power loading Dr. Who on Netflix when it happensNetflix lapses into endlessly “Loading” your next episode, without actually ever playing it. This is not a new problem, and even as broadband speeds improve, the issue persists.

Now a recent report in Gigaom suggests that the cause of your troubles, at least on one major broadband provider, is the result of an ongoing spat between Netflix and Verizon, and the story puts most of the blame on the FiOS Fiber provider.

As the story tells it, Verizon and a major internet traffic transit provider, Cogent, can’t come to terms over who should shoulder the burden for all the Netflix traffic. It’s a lot of traffic. By one estimate, Netflix streaming accounts for over 30% of all broadband Internet traffic. Read more...

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Love can make you do crazy things, like hoisting a boombox over your head to serenade your dream girl, sprinting to the love of your life while staring into her eyes on FaceTime, and maybe even purchasing a $4.9 million home to be closer to your boyfriend's family.

When a Reddit user posted the question, "What is the dumbest thing you've done for love?" the forum exploded with answers. Close to 5000 commenters chimed in with stories of grand romantic gestures gone wrong. Here are a few of the most cringe-worthy responses:

• "Took my own braces off with nail clippers. I was head over heels in love with this chick, but found out through a friend she didn't find me attractive." - scrotum_nachos Read more...

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NASA released a 360-degree interactive panorama of Mars from Curiosity rover's point of view

The image is actually a compilation of 900 photos — all of which Curiosity took while she was parked in an area called Rocknest in October and November of last year. Stitched together, the mosaic makes you feel like you're standing on the Red Planet with the rover. The full-resolution version is 1.3 billion pixels. To put that in perspective, a standard 5" x 7" photo is about 1,500 pixels wide and 2,100 pixels high

There are two versions of Curiosity's panorama. The first, embedded below, has been white-balanced to show how the scene would look under Earth's lighting conditions. In other words, this is how the human eye would translate the terrain in what we perceive as a "normal" environment. Read more...

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Twitter has acquired Spindle, a location-based social discovery engine, the two companies announced Wednesday. The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

Spindle was founded two and a half years ago by former Microsoft engineers with the goal of helping users discover relevant content on social networks based on time and place. The startup raised $2.3 million in funding in late 2012.

"Every time we’ve experimented and looked beyond local discovery, we’ve been amazed by the breadth and quality of content shared on Twitter," Spindle said in a blog post. "By joining forces with Twitter, we can do so much more to help you find interesting, timely, and useful information about what’s happening around you." Read more...

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Microsoft is dropping the restrictions on Xbox One games that keep players from sharing game discs across multiple consoles, backtracking on the position it held earlier on DRM.

"As a result of feedback from the Xbox community, we have changed certain policies for Xbox One," Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft wrote on wrote on its blog:

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360. Read more...

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Makerbot has been acquired by Stratasys, a 3D printing business, and will merge with a subsidiary of the company, the two companies announced Wednesday afternoon

“The last couple of years have been incredibly inspiring and exciting for us,” said Bre Pettis, CEO of Makerbot, in a statement. “We have an aggressive model for growth, and partnering with Stratasys will allow us to supercharge our mission to empower individuals to make things using a MakerBot, and allow us to bring 3D technology to more people."

SEE ALSO: Makerbot Opens Large New Factory in Brooklyn

Makerbot, a Brooklyn-based company, was founded four years ago and has sold more than 22,000 3D printers to date. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Makerbot was in acquisition talks after it looked to raise a $300 million round of funding. Read more...

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are reportedly still deciding on their little one's name, following the baby's arrival on Saturday.

We do have a few clues about the baby's name, though — it might start with a 'K.'

"I think it would be really cute cause Kanye and I are both K’s … but half the names on our list aren't K's," Kardashian told Extra

Donda is likely one of the options on their list, after West's late mother. Various sources claim the baby has been named Kaidence Donda West, Kai Georgia Donda West and Kamo North West.

Hollywood practically requires celebrity parents to choose outlandish monikers for their offspring — just look at Apple, Blue Ivy and Pilot Inspektor. So we can't help but wonder what the baby's name would be if the Kardashian and West left it up to other famous couples, like Beyoncé and Jay-Z or Nicole Richie and Joel Madden? Check out the potential results: Read more...

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Superheroes spend all of their time saving the world, which leaves them with little to address their own issues — even when they seriously need to

But entertainment website The Credits is helping out superheroes suffering from serious personal problems.

The site enlisted a clinical psychologist, Dr. Natalie Petyke, to blindly analyze a few superheroes based on the recent films in which they appeared, and to suggest treatments.

She was only given summaries of the characters' backgrounds and traumas — she had no clue their stories were pulled straight from fiction. Still, it's a pretty spot-on take Read more...

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Lugging around wires and batteries is a hassle for everyone, but accessories manufacturer Moshi plans to make it much easier for iPhone 5 users with the help of its new external battery. Unlike other portable chargers, this one comes with a built-in Lightning cable.

The IonBank ($89.99, 5,000 milliamp-hours) supports Apple's Lightning connector, so there's no need to bring along an iPhone cable for a quick charge. The Lightning connector is tucked into the battery and pops out when you slide the top of the battery case to the side. The device also works for other models of the iPhone and iPad, but you'll need to bring a cable and connect it via the USB slot. Read more...

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Can six seconds' worth of video and audio convey the story of a massive protest in Brazil? Yes it can, per this Vine video recorded earlier this week.

Posted by Lucio Amorim, the Vine shows thousands of protesters in the streets of Rio de Janeiro protesting poor public services and corruption in the halls of government. Per its official tally, it has been tweeted more than 10,500 times and "liked" 400 times, but its off-platform reach is likely much higher.

Protests in Brazil started earlier this month in Sao Paulo as a relatively small demonstration against the government's planned rise in public transit fares. After police engaged in a brutal crackdown against the demonstrators, the movement grew into a multi-city protest against government corruption at large — mirroring similar but unrelated developments around the world in Turkey. Read more...

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At Mashable, we follow leaders and innovators in the digital space. As technology is dramatically reshaping the practice and profession of communications, we are looking to identify and recognize the women pushing the barriers and reshaping communications for the digital era.

These are women on the rise: Women who have accomplished a great deal, but whose work is far from finished.

We've teamed up with New York Women in Communications to bring you the first
annual WiCi Awards, created to recognize rising stars in communications and their career achievements.

The WiCi Awards will honor women to watch — ambitious women who have made an impact through their careers and commanded the respect and admiration of their peers. Who would you nominate? Read more...

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Tuesday night's epic NBA Finals slugfest featured gripping back-and-forth lead changes, stellar performances from the game's best players and set up what promises to be an appointment-viewing Game 7 on Thursday evening

It also included a remedial seminar in how to fail as a sports fan, courtesy of the Miami Heat's home crowd.

Here's the backstory: The Heat and visiting San Antonio Spurs battled fiercely down the stretch, with Miami taking a two-point lead with just two minutes remaining. They then squandered that advantage, going down five points with just about 30 seconds to go. At this point many Heat fans — estimated to be about 2,000 of them — streamed to the exits, apparently looking to beat the traffic and get a primo seat at the bar Read more...

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No matter how much thought you put into your social media strategy, the real world can always interfere.

Robert Reimann spent more than a week hashing out a plan to boost sales and engagement on the Facebook page for his bike tour business, after being matched with Shane Johnston, a social media marketing consultant from Mashable's Small Business Panel. With Johnston's help, Reimann would launch a contest — along with Facebook ads to promote it — in order to attract more fans and build up an email list of customers, which he would then work to convert into sales.

Then the flood started

Germany, where Reimann and his business BikeSherpa are based, was hit with severe flooding earlier this month that forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. While Reimann's home in Dresden wasn't damaged, he had to help his sister move all her furniture and evacuate from her house along the Elbe river. Reimann also had to scramble to come up with new bike routes and re-book hotels for customers who had booked bike trips around the city. Read more...

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