Drama unfolds in real-time in the Boston area as police pursue suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing. After a shootout with police, one of the suspects in the bombing is dead and the other remains at large.

The best source of news is consistently local news sources, including WHDH 7News, and of course Twitter.

Reddit is also on the scene and this page is a great source for latest updates.

We're compiling a Storify of the news as it happens.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images Read more...

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Update: We're continuing to compile real-time updates of this incident on a Storify here.

Confusion reigned in Watertown, Mass. late Thursday night after a campus police officer was shot and killed at MIT in nearby Cambridge. A carjacking followed by a massive police operation ensued in Watertown, with multiple reports of gunfire and explosions in several locations. At least one suspect is said by police to still be at large, armed and extremely dangerous.

UPDATE: Multiple police sources have stated that the shooters in tonight's incidents are strongly suspected to be the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Read more...

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There's at least one in every family, every workplace, every social circle. They may be your best friends. You may know their secret, or they may be firmly in the closet

We're talking, of course, about people who have never seen the original Star Wars. (Let's not confuse matters by calling it Episode IV or A New Hope just yet.) Yes, as surprising as it may be to the average geek, there are still people who fall into this camp. And as fans of a franchise that teaches tolerance, it's important that we treat them with respect, not ribbing

Well, Star Wars newbies, the perfect opportunity to address this problem is coming up in a few short weeks — May the 4th, also known as Star Wars day Read more...

More about Change.Org, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, Entertainment, and Film

NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered three exoplanets that may be capable of supporting life, and one of them is perhaps the most Earth-like alien world spotted to date, scientists announced Thursday.

That most intriguing one is called Kepler-62f, a rocky world just 1.4 times bigger than Earth that circles a star smaller and dimmer than the sun. Kepler-62f's newfound neighbor, Kepler-62e, is just 1.6 times larger than Earth, making the pair among the smallest exoplanets yet found in their star's habitable zone — the just-right range of distances where liquid water can exist on a world's surface. Read more...

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We've all been there: searched for the perfect animated response to a Gchat conversation, only to realize that GIF you had in mind is now MIA. What gives, Tumblr?

Perhaps it's time you step up your game and start making your own GIFs. Creating your own animation is not hard and actually kind of fun.

OK, so now what?

Now that GIFs are more popular than YOLO, you might feel overwhelmed by all the search results on how to make your own

Take a deep breath — it's okay. By the end of this comprehensive guide, you will have become the Karate Kid of GIF-making. Now go wax my car.

Read more...

1. Get Photoshop

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Perhaps fashion designer Kenneth Cole should stay off Twitter during sensitive political moments — or at least, his social media manager should.

After provoking harsh criticism for a February 2011 tweet, in which the designer used the protests in Cairo to promote his spring collection, Cole was at it again Thursday

This time, the brand used the fact that the Senate voted down a mild gun control measure on background checks — one supported by 90% of Americans, according to polls — to make a joke about footwear.

On Twitter, the joke went down like a lead balloon. Some sample reactions:

@laureni Oof. AGAIN with the awful current events ties? My word.

— Victoria Ashley (@VictoriaAshley4) April 18, 2013

@laureni Is @kennethcole the brand that consistently tweets stupid things at the wrong times on the wrong issues?

— Jon (@JustJon) April 18, 2013

@laureni Not again. #FAIL Read more...

— Amber Harris (@TheNuwanda) April 18, 2013

More about Fashion, Twitter, Kenneth Cole, Marketing, and Social Media

Still bummed about the fact that Google is killing its RSS feed service, Google Reader, on July 1? Us too

But there are other ways to read the headlines from your favorite websites. We've covered a bunch of Google Reader replacements — including Feedly, which now says it has gained 3 million new users since the Google Reader shutdown was announced in March

But none of those replacements have quite the pizzazz of StarRSS, a feed reader based on the opening crawl from every Star Wars movie. With John Williams' famous music blaring in the background, even the most mundane of headlines looks exciting. (Unless it's a headline about a taxation dispute involving the Trade Federation, that is.) Read more...

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Bored with driving? Now there's "Reinventing the Wheel (RITW)," a steering wheel cover that lets you entertain yourself by playing a drum set along with whatever you're listening to on your car stereo. And no, this is not a late April Fools' Day joke.

Made by the Smack Attack Corporation, the $149.99 device fits around an ordinary steering wheel, turning it into an electronic drum set that can play eight different drum sounds and a lot more.

The sounds aren't limited to drums. You can add any other sounds to its onboard storage, triggering them from whichever one of the its eight sensors you choose. The company offers a variety of sounds you can upload, or you can create your own and upload those. It can record all of your musical masterpieces, and you can even overdub your performances on top of each other Read more...

More about Apps, Cars, Toys, Tech, and Gadgets

Reuters accidentally published a pre-written obituary for George Soros on Thursday afternoon, declaring that the business titan had died at the ripe old age of "XXX."

Soros is alive and 82 years old, as a spokesperson confirmed to Quartz soon after

The obituary recapped Soros' years as an investor and financier, while detailing his massive wealth, which is estimated to be $19 billion in total. New agencies frequently write framework obituaries for aging, prominent citizens years ahead of their eventual deaths, so it's likely that someone at Reuters simply hit "publish" by accident. But that still didn't stop the false story from becoming an immediate hot topic online, and Soros' name became a worldwide Twitter trend Read more...

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This cat and sloth are best friends. In related news, the Internet's head exploded today.

Mashable composite, images courtesy of Flickr, Nikita and Carol Schaffer Read more...

More about Animals, Cats, Cute Animals, Funny Videos, and Watercooler

Mercedes-Benz's new concept SUV, announced for the Shanghai auto show (April 21-29), is a highly capable and modern-looking vehicle, but where it really shines is in the area of laser headlights, which are so bold they could redefine in-car entertainment

The Concept GLA's headlights are both fitted with a laser-beam projector.

The Concept GLA's headlights are both fitted with a laser-beam projector. It provides light for driving, but it can also project pictures or videos onto a screen or other surface

Yes, that means you can park your car in front of a wall and watch a video on that wall from your car, effectively creating your own little drive-in theater Read more...

More about Tech, Gadgets, Mercedes Benz, and Concept Gla

Chances are you've given something you've enjoyed online a thumbs-up before, or rated your latest purchase or Netflix movie a 3 out of 5 stars, but have you ever expressed your opinion in color?

Knotch is an app that offers a different take on expressing your opinion. It allows users to express their opinions with colors, labeling everything from the latest smartphone to a television show in various hues that correspond to their feelings about that product or service. The app launched late last year, and updated to version 1.2 on Thursday.

“The idea initially was just to find a way to quantify opinions,” Knotch co-founder Anda Gansca told Mashable. “We were super-fascinated by how ads are targeted toward us.” Read more...

More about Iphone, App, Startups, Tech, and Apps Software

Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Richard DesLauriers said during a press conference Thursday that the footage the FBI released showing its two suspects in the Boston bombing case is the only legitimate footage available

"Other photos should not be deemed credible," he added

DesLauriers's words were effectively aimed at Reddit and 4chan, where some users have been attempting to identify suspects in crowdsourced images and video. Reddit has since deleted its earlier efforts.

Their work was almost immediately criticized as a breach of privacy and due process, not to mention the overtones of racism and xenophobia. That criticism escalated after the New York Post gave the front page treatment to an image Reddit and 4chan users thought showed individuals involved in the attack Read more...

More about Reddit, Us, Boston, Us World, and Politics

When it feels like all the photos in your social feeds have been altered by a filter or perfected with editing software, a moment illuminated by completely natural light can be a welcome change of scene

We asked for your best photos taken using only natural light as part of the Mashable Photo Challenge. We received just under 900 submissions, a new record for the Photo Challenge, making it difficult to narrow it down to these 21. Our guest curator, Santiago PerezGrovas, chose a few of his favorites based on composition and creativity.

Check out the top pictures above, and check out the rest of the amazing submissions here. Read more...

More about Community, Photos, Photography, Instagram, and Social Media

In our multitask-heavy culture, chatting on social media networks while watching television has become the order of the day. We love sharing our thoughts in real time about the shows we're watching. And as social media becomes more of a platform for like minded audiences to gather, it's also becoming a vehicle for driving e-commerce. Brands are starting to wake up to this untapped resource and are trying to turn loyal audiences into loyal customers.

Nearly 88% of U.S. homes own at least one device that can be used as a second screen; 87% of consumers says they use at least one device while watching television, according to the consumer market research firm NPD. Read more...

More about Apps, Second Screen, Second Screen Apps, Tech, and Apps Software

The Federal Bureau of Investigation posted to YouTube Thursday surveillance camera footage which it says shows the bureau's two suspects in its investigation of Monday's attack on the Boston Marathon

The bureau is requesting the public's help in identifying the suspects, but said the two men are considered armed and extremely dangerous. It urged the public not to approach them.

FBI Special Agent Richard Deslauriers said during a press conference that one of the men in the video, seen wearing a white cap, was recorded placing a bag at the location of the second blast just moments before that explosion Read more...

More about Us, Boston, Us World, and Boston Marathon

GE's new HDlive ultrasound creates a clear and colorful 3D image of a fetus in utero. Parents get an excellent view of their child-to-be and doctors are able to see details that let them more accurately assess the fetus's health.

The technology creates a moveable virtual light source and uses advanced skin rendering techniques to create realistic color. The virtual light source casts shadows and creates definition, highlighting every detail, every bump and every fold.

The new technique makes conventional black-and-white ultrasound images look virtually flat.

Images courtesy of Dr. Bernard Beniot, Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco Read more...

More about 3d, Parenting, Baby, Pregnancy, and Lifestyle

Carlos Gomez got some big hits to help his Milwaukee Brewers to a dramatic win over the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night. As is often customary in the sports world, teammate Ryan Braun was eager to give him a Gatorade bath after the big win

The only problem? Gomez's ninja-like reflexes. He saw Braun coming and ducked out of the way at the last possible second. The only problem with that? The bucket of icy liquid sailed over his head and onto a nearby TV reporter trying to do an interview

Two disclaimers: It looks to be water, not actual Gatorade, in the bucket, and the reporter doesn't get that soaked. But it still makes for an awesome video, which you should check out above Read more...

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First it was doctored photos of missiles. Then came a fake stealth fighter and claims of sending monkeys into space. Now Iran has bent the laws of physics and created a time machine that can predict the future.

H.G. Wells is rolling over, six feet under. Doc Emmet Brown just crashed his DeLorean. Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are going loopy. But maybe web innovators like Tim Berners-Lee and professional journalists the world over should be just as appalled.

That's because Iran's Fars News Agency is serving up a clinic on how not to break and retract news online. Last week, Fars posted a story on the most amazing invention since indoor plumbing, a device that fits into a computer case, and reportedly predicts your life five to eight years in the future to reveal your marriage age, education, job and even how many children you'll have — just by touching you. It can also, allegedly, forecast the possibility of a military confrontation with a foreign country and fluctuations in foreign currencies and oil prices, with up to 98% accuracy. The meme-worthy story went viral, Read more...

More about Online Media, Iran, Digital Publishing, Us World, and World

LG, last seen terrorizing elevator riders (or at least pretending to), has moved on to the men's room to make the case that its monitors are "so real it's scary."

To test the theory, the company installed its LG IPS 21:9 UltraWide monitors above urinals in Amsterdam. The monitor showed images of attractive women waving, blowing kisses and occasionally laughing. This resulted in a 16-second "average stage fright delay" and a failure to launch rate of 26%

Can your monitor do that?

Image courtesy of YouTube, LG Read more...

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Next time you wonder how Google can afford to buy dozens of startups every year, consider just how much money it has on hand.

The search giant's cash pile grew to just more than $50 billion in the March quarter, up from $48.1 billion at the end of 2012, the company revealed in its first quarter earnings report on Thursday. That's still less than half as much cash as Apple has, but it will likely serve as a powerful resource for Google to continue buying up technology and top talent from companies, as well as investing in so-called "moonshot" projects.

As Google's chairman Eric Schmidt pointed out during a Q&A session at AllThingsD's Dive Into Mobile conference earlier this week, he is not a fan of companies holding onto an excess amount of cash. "What I really think about tech companies and cash is that there is a point where you have enough cash that you need to either start investing that stuff or lowering your prices," he said. Simply letting the cash pile grow, he says, would be a "missed opportunity for investment." Read more...

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Despite reports that Windows 8 has been torpedoing PC sales, Microsoft's third quarter wasn't too bad. The company's revenues of $20.49 billion were just under what analysts were expecting and its earnings per share of $0.72 beat expectations

“The bold bets we made on cloud services are paying off as people increasingly choose Microsoft services including Office 365, Windows Azure, Xbox LIVE, and Skype,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft, in a statement. “While there is still work to do, we are optimistic that the bets we’ve made on Windows devices position us well for the long-term.” Read more...

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Remember when your mom used to tuck you into bed? You'd be all snuggly and warm and she'd read to you that sweet story "Goodnight Moon."

There would be red balloons and cows jumping over the moon, mice and mittens and hushing old ladies. You would drift off to a blissful sleep dreaming of candy and ponies and rainbows, all because of that amazing little bedtime tale

This is not the same story

Gritty Reboots works its extra creepy magic in this sinister and somber version of the book, where mice and old ladies in the corner are much more horror movie-esque than pleasant children's yarn appropriate. It's truly the adult version of the beloved story that will surely send shivers up your spine and make you start needing your mommy before bedtime again. Read more...

More about Viral Videos, Kids, Parodies, Watercooler, and Videos

The ties between Star Trek and NASA go back a long way. Mae Jemison, the first black female astronaut, credits Star Trek character Nyota Uhura as her inspiration to join NASA, and went on to have a walk-on role in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Just this year, a crowdfunded NASA trailer will be be shown before screenings of Star Trek Into Darkness, following a popular Indiegogo campaign

There's a pretty big overlap between space geeks and science fiction fans, and NASA is clearly happy to cater to both audiences. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has done much to boost the popularity of current NASA missions, mostly through his gleefully enthusiastic Twitter feed (including chatting to Star Trek alums Wil Wheaton and William Shatner), which he updates from the International Space Station. Read more...

More about Space, Nasa, Matrix, Pop Culture, and Star Trek

Those ultrathin, super-contrasty and tack-sharp OLED screens are one of the new darlings of the television world. Some of the newest curved OLED TVs debuted at CES 2013 in January, but so far, when it comes to buying such a rounded screen for your own living room, there's been a boatload of talk and no delivery dates ... until now, in a vague sort of way.

After LG PR manager Hung W.K. Shin told TrustedReviews about how "we will see the first curved TV devices on the market soon," LGs vice president of home entertainment took it a step further. Agreeing that curved TVs will be "another trend," he spilled the beans, revealing that the company is preparing lots of curved TVs. He's not talking just 55-inch screens like those shown at CES 2013, but bigger curved OLED displays as well. Read more...

More about Lg, Hdtv, Oled, Tech, and Gadgets

Brad Paisley and LL Cool J made news recently for the release of a poorly-received new single entitled "Accidental Racist." In the song, Paisley suggests that people from the South are caught between "pride and blame," and that he is just trying to show his support for Lynyrd Skynyrd with his confederate flag t-shirts

The song received a good deal of backlash for being insensitive and inappropriate

And, of course, where there's opportunity for satire, there's Stephen Colbert. On Wednesday night's The Colbert Report, the comedian parodied the tune, and put his own spin on it. Instead of tackling racism, his song focused on homosexuality in a song entitled "Oopsie-Daisy Homophobe." Read more...

More about Viral Videos, Stephen Colbert, Tv, Watercooler, and Videos

We learned from the recent Ogilvy ad campaign for Dove that, when it comes to physical features, women tend to give themselves less credit than they deserve

But what about men? How would an average guy describe himself? Try ...

"My mom said I have the most beautiful teeth."
"I have a balanced face, almost like a white Denzel Washington."

Of course, when girls describe these same guys, the results are ... a little bit different

Just how different? Well, you can learn that from New Feelings Time's brilliant parody of the Dove campaign

We won't spoil it for you, but let's just say the girls are even harsher judges when it comes to describing guys' looks than their own Read more...

More about Parody, Watercooler, Videos, and Dove Experiment

In a world where malware targeting Android phones is used more and more everyday, security updates are fundamental to keep users away from malware and hackers. That's why the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint on Tuesday, accusing mobile carriers of failing to distribute updates and fixes to their Android phones

In its 16-page complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, the civil rights group pointed its finger at AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, accusing the companies of leaving users vulnerable by providing them with phones running unpatched and outdated versions of the Android operating system, which "rarely receive software security updates." Read more...

More about Android, Malware, Cybersecurity, Ftc, and Aclu

Crafting a resume that is unique and impressive is the goal of every job seeker. However, there is no one blueprint to follow in this process. Despite that lack of guidance, one surefire way to prevent your resume from making the circular file is to avoid some of these most common resume pet peeves of hiring managers

Nondescript Objectives

Your objective should never be, "I want to work at X company in Y role." That's a no-brainer, the act of submitting an application indicates interest in the role. What do you want to do with your career? What do you want to bring to a company? If you can't come up with something unique and engaging, leave the objective off of your resume all together. — Bethany Perkins, head recruiter for Software Advice Read more...

More about Job Search, Resumes, Job Interview, Resume, and Business

While there are a plethora of music services, they differentiate by focusing on various aspects of how we interact with musicPandora is great for creating instant playlists and background musicSpotify is better when you want to hear something specificiTunes is still there for à la carte downloading. And on and on it goes (Rdio, Xbox Music, Grooveshark, Turntable.fm, etc.), filling seemingly every niche of music culture.

There are so many services now, though, it makes you wonder: Is there any room left for a new service to stand out? Twitter Music answers with a confident yes, offering a fun music-discovery service wrapped in a gorgeous user interface. Read more...

More about Twitter, Reviews, Digital Music, Music, and Tech