Social media, online content and mobile devices continue to play a large role in the lives of sports fans, according to a new study

But the growth of fans following sports via social media has leveled off over the past year, according to Sporting News Media's survey of just over 1,000 American sports fans.

This year's study found that an even 25% of fans use social media to follow leagues, teams and players online. In the same survey last year, 26% of fans said they did so, while just 15% of said they did so in 2011. Among fans who do follow online, Facebook ranks as the most popular social platform Read more...

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CANNES, FRANCE — Comedian and actor Jack Black is working on an animated web series involving his band Tenacious D that could find its way to Yahoo.

Black, who made his comments during a panel at the Cannes Lions festival, declined to say much more about the series, noting that "archrivals who shall remain nameless are listening...so they can do the same thing slightly better."

Black's first web series for Yahoo — Ghost Ghirls — is set to premiere this fall. The show, a comedy, stars Amanda Lund and Maria Blasucci as a couple of ghost-busting twentysomethings. The program features cameos from David Grohl, Val Kilmer, Josh Ritter and Black himself. Erin McPherson, vp and head of video for Yahoo, says there will be about 50 web series on Yahoo this fall churning out 400 episodes a month. About one-fifth of those series will be comedies, she said. Read more...

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Every new parent experiences moments of panic. For instance, after an unexpected four hours of blissful sleep, you might dash crib-side to make sure the baby is still breathing

While audio monitors help parents keep an ear out for newborn grunts and gurgles, a new generation of movement monitors gives parents an added source of comfort during those first few months

These not only detect sound but motion, too (or lack of it), to ensure babies are enjoying healthful nights' sleep. And while sleep-deprived parents certainly don’t need to be aware of every single movement and sound, these detectors can be set to problem-only alerts Read more...

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Apple has released a statement called "Apple’s Commitment to Customer Privacy," claiming it has not been involved in the NSA's PRISM program

Furthermore, Apple claims it does not provide "any government agency" with direct access to its servers, and that "any government agency requesting customer content must get a court order."

That doesn't mean the agencies aren't asking for data. According to Apple, the company has received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement for customer data from December 1, 2012 to May 31 2013

"Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities," claims Apple Read more...

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Think "Hangover" was crazy? The new flick from Martin Scorsese, "The Wolf of Wall Street," reaches Wolfpack-levels of craziness, with a subtle difference: It's actually based on a real-life story

In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a New York stockbroker who's approached by the FBI to cooperate in a large securities fraud case. Belfort's lifestyle involves a lot of booze, insane parties and spending huge amounts of money, so it's no wonder that his reaction is literally throwing dollar bills at the FBI officers

What follows doesn't look like it'll end well for Belfort, but it involves a monkey, several pools, tons of money, gorgeous women, guns, a goldfish, and a completely wacky boss played by Matthew McConaughey. Read more...

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In this week's edition of our viral video recap, we feature a cat versus a can, the most dangerous bike ever made, delirious airline passengers singing R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly," an explanation of what would happen if Superman punched you, and a conversation between a father and his two-year-old daughter — but reenacted by two grown men.

Check them all out in the video, above. Then tell us which one's your favorite in the comments

Screenshot image courtesy of YouTube, colinfurze Read more...

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E3 made headlines this year for its console gaming news, but a number of mobile apps created a stir after launching at the gaming conference, as well

King brought Facebook-favorite Pet Rescue Saga to iOS and Android, Marvel's Avengers Alliance also made its way to the iPhone, and Zynga launched Solstice Arena, a new multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game to which users are bound to get addicted.

What's more, Dreamworks launched Turbo, a new racing game starring a snail from the upcoming film of the same name, while PopCap updated Simpsons Tapped Out with more characters and buildings, as well as a new waterfront to put them all in Read more...

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Self-driving cars might soon be hitting the streets — but what about the testing field?

Ford announced its durability testing methods will now employ the help of robotic steering technology. Each new vehicle model will be driven, via robots, through a "stress course" full of curbs, speed bumps and rough concrete — the idea being to subject the cars to 10 years' worth of wear-and-tear damage.

In this case, the vehicles will be entirely bot-controlled — from steering, shifting and pedal working — while operators monitor the progress and collect testing data from a control room far away from the unpleasant conditions. A single operator will be able to track eight of the bots at once Read more...

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To mark 2013's day for dads we're celebrating fatherhood through the medium of music. While back in May we listened to songs written for moms for Mother's Day, this time we've created a playlist of tunes penned by musical fathers for their offspring

Embrace the cheese and take a musical journey through our video gallery above. If your favorite father-and-kid song didn't make the cut, then shout it out in the comments section below

Image courtesy of Flickr, Giles Cook Read more...

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Rapper Jay-Z surprised fans Sunday night in a Samsung commercial that aired during game five of the NBA Finals by announcing a new album called Magna Carta Holy Grail. He then surprised Samsung device users

One million owners of the Samsung Galaxy S II, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II will get exclusive access to the album first on July 4. What's more, it'll be free, as long as they upload an app associated with the album on June 24

MagnaCartaHolyGrail.com promotes the Samsung commercial and features a countdown to July 4. Samsung owners will get the album 72 hours before its wide release. Read more...

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In honor of Father's Day, we've rounded up a collection of valuable life lessons from our favorite TV dads

Sure, Homer Simpson and Don Draper may not be paragons of fatherhood — but on our climb up the ladder to the Danny Tanner league, we can use all the help we can get.

What TV dads inspire you? Let us know in the comments below.

Graphics and video by Mashable Read more...

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The term "lemming" has two different meetings. One is a small, short-tailed rodent, while the other is a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement. When it comes to social media, the latter joins just about every new network headfirst, and often can't gather any steam.

In this Sunday comic, we see the two definitions of lemming converge. Poor little lemming — maybe he should try #TeamFollowBack

Comic written by Larry Lambert; illustrated by Jerry King. Read more...

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Google announced plans over the weekend to remove child pornography images from the web by using a new, picture-sharing database.

The program, which the Telegraph reported will be operational within the year, will allow search engines and other web companies to swap information about images of children being abused or raped. Pictures that have been flagged as inappropriate, then — especially by child protection companies such as the Internet Watch Foundation — will be cleared from the web

At the moment, flagged or earmarked images are difficult to eliminate entirely given the absence of a web-standard database. This new program will increase transparency between web engines and — hopefully — speed up the process of tracking down and universally erasing these types of pictures. Read more...

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HBO wants to "do bad things with you," just like the bellowing voice of country crooner Jace Everett sings in the True Blood theme song. How? The network is serving up a fresh dose of interactive online goodies for True Blood fans for season six, which premieres June 16

With an ominous "No One Lives Forever" promotional line, the new season appears to be an unfortunate one for the vampire population — whose government (The Authority) is in shambles, synthetic-blood food supply is low after fires decimated True Blood factories and human counterparts are prepared to kill them out of fear and anger Read more...

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By now, everyone knows about the secret NSA program called PRISM, which allegedly allows the U.S. government to access user data on sites such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo. Internet users continue to be concerned about their privacy, but is there potentially a good side to all of this?

In this Sunday comic, our friends Nitrozac and Snaggy at The Joy of Tech show that maybe the NSA cares more about us than some of our friends. How ... sweet?

Comic illustration provided by The Joy of Tech. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

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Think your phone skills have gone down the drain since the age of email and text?

Here, we present to you some of the most awkward phone calls in movie history

Next time you cringe over an unnatural-sounding conversation, feel a bit better about yourself by remembering these actors as they fumble their way through corny dialogue, ridiculous situations, and their own discomfort.

Let's all cringe, collectively.

1. The "Show Me the Money" Scene in Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. get really, really excited over the phone — like, really, really excited. Read more...

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The critically acclaimed and bestselling Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson will be released as a paperback on September 10 by Simon & Schuster, the publisher said on Sunday.

According to All Things D, Simon & Schuster said the paperback version of Steve Jobs: A Biography will have an afterword that wasn't included in the hardcover when it was published in November, 2011 — one month after the late Apple CEO's death on Oct. 5, 2011.

The cover of the paperback version of the Steve Jobs biography will feature a much younger Jobs, in a photo taken in 1984 by South African photographer Norman Seeff. The photo was taken at Jobs' Woodside, Calif. mansion, at the same time as the iconic picture was taken of Jobs sitting in a lotus position, resting his arms on a Macintosh in his lap. Read more...

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With more than 15 million songs on Spotify, deciding what to listen to can be overwhelming. This list highlights the best Spotify apps for discovering new music, reading album reviews and exploring the social buzz of emerging bands

What's your favorite app on Spotify right now? Let us know in the comments section below.

1Fuse

Best for: Creative playlists
The Fuse Spotify app is a perfect resource for curated playlists. With a gorgeous, image-heavy layout, the app is fun to use and very visually appealing. Fuse's "What We're Listening To" playlist features over 200 tracks and is updated by staff members daily. You probably won't find new songs with this app, but you will enjoy the creative approach Fuse takes when compiling its playlists, such as "This Niles Rodgers Playlist is Like the History of Disco and Dance," "The Daft Punk Samples Playlist" and "Single Ladies: The Best One-Named Female Singers." Read more...

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Get ready for a cuteness attack when you watch this little cockatiel whistling the theme to the animated classic, My Neighbor Totoro.

It's especially amusing the way the wee bird and his piano-playing accompanist work together to get 'er done. We've seen plenty of singing, talking and even driving birds of various species before, but this one has to rank among the cutest ever

Don't you think?

Front page thumbnail and video courtesy YouTube, pokomarichard Read more...

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Have you ever snapped a shot of your dad that you think really captured his personality? To celebrate this year's Father's Day we have collated a collection of images from around the world that do just that

The nine photographs we've picked are accompanied by a comment from the photographer explaining what makes his or her father so very special

Take a look through our selection in the image gallery above. Want to commemorate your pops at this meaningful time of year? Link us to any of your paternal portraiture in the comments section below.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Jimmy Wright Read more...

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Man of Steel, the new Superman movie from director Zack Snyder, soared into theaters this weekend. It makes us wonder — in the digital age, how has Clark Kent still been able to conceal his true identity?

In this Sunday comic, our friends Nitrozac and Snaggy at The Joy of Tech give us an idea of how Facebook could ruin one of the most popular aliases of all time.

Comic illustration provided by The Joy of Tech. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

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Today's animated and interactive Google Doodle is all about honoring dads for Father's Day

Pressing the second "O" in the title activates a three-part slot machine in the "L," which scrolls through different images of fathers being fathers: coaching soccer, building dog houses, hosting barbecues. It's simple, fun and totally dad-approved.

Give it a try yourself. Which images are your favorites?

Read more...

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The lines between reality and television are probably most often blurred when it comes to fatherhood. Why in the world, you wonder?

Because for as long as the world can remember (or at least since TV existed), the TV dad was a staple character of the sitcom, and thus, a part of all our families. It's impossible to tell if our fathers shaped the portrayal of parenting on television, or if Hollywood dads influenced the type of advice and dad jokes we hear on a regular basis

There are so many TV dads for the world to look up to, and there's definitely one for every kind of family unit. They range from the straight-edged, concerned, hands-on fathers like Danny Tanner and Mike Brady to the more modern, less sensible — but all the while lovable — Homer Simpson. So if your life was suddenly turned into the latest primetime show, who would your TV dad be? Read more...

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Buckle up, because you're about to experience the Audi S6, one of the fastest sedans in the world. Besides its muscular performance, it's bristling with the latest car tech, so advanced that it gives you a hint of what's to come in the future of self-driving cars

Audi lent us this car for a week, giving us a close-up look at the most advanced technology available in cars, circa mid-2013. The option-packed Audi S6 we tested ($87,720) is not the most expensive car from this upscale German automaker, but it's high enough on Audi's hierarchy to show off the tremendous power and astonishing technology of today's best cars. Read more...

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