Push notifications, automatic updates and roaming charges can create costly data overages that break the bank. But you can devise ways to minimize the cost.

Since summer tends to bring out the explorer in all of us, we've compiled a list of ways to eliminate roaming charges and minimize your data usage while traveling abroad

1. Turn Off Data Roaming

The European Commission recently voted to end roaming charges by 2014, but until then it's important to turn off data roaming on your phone when traveling outside your network.

Roaming occurs when you use your cellphone on a network that does not belong to your provider. Data usage means you're using services like Internet (without Wi-Fi) or email. When you roam on another network, the mobile phone company that owns that network sends a bill to your provider, who then bills you Read more...

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True moments of tech terror are like ghost stories for grown upsSo your mom liked that picture of you at the lingerie party, and then what happened?

Just thinking about the time your hard drive crashed before you could save that final paper can be enough to set your heart racing.

Like a horror movie, they unfold — and you're powerless to stop them. Here are 15 gut-wrenching scenarios feared by techies

1. When you accidentally hit send before you're done with an email.

Image courtesy of Tumblr, kattpowerr Read more...

2. When you get 10 Facebook notifications that say you've been tagged in a photo the morning after a night you don't remember.

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Thomas Loud is a passionate dude. He's intelligent, adventuresome and well-intentioned in his quest to save the world.

He's also completely fictional

And yet his Twitter account, @ThomasLoud, posts two or three tweets a day — usually about some obscure or seemingly dangerous mission overseas.

It's all part of Croatian author Goran Racic's newest novel, Loud Evolution. The book follows protagonist Loud as he gets pulled into a shadowy, power-hungry organization. It seems like a standard thriller novel from an outsider's perspective, only here, Racic expands the story with cross-media elements: the Twitter account, a blockbuster-esque trailer (above) and a complete Minecraft recreation of the Chicago Loop Read more...

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Don't let Don Draper fool you. Advertising is not as simple as a catchy slogan or clever pitch. As industries shift away from print advertising toward the changing digital frontier, brands need to know which audiences will be most receptive to certain methods.

Advertising can be one of the biggest challenges a brand faces. This infographic by Ambassador helps shed light on how public perception of advertising is changing, and what ad formats your brand should focus on for the future.

Infographic courtesy of Ambassador

Image via Getty Images, Carsten Koall Read more...

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Today's Google Doodle celebrates Franz Kafka's 130th birthday, referencing one of his most famous novellas, "The Metamorphosis."

Born on July 3, 1883 in Prague to a German-speaking, Jewish family, Kafka is recognized as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century

In the Metamorphosis, the protagonist Gregor Samsa one day realizes he has turned into a giant insect. Oddly, the people from his surroundings continue to live a fairly normal life despite his transformation, the reasons of which are never explained

Though the story is quite disturbing, Google's Doodle is far from frightening, depicting a large bug in human clothing coming from work. In the story, however, Gregor's horrible appearance renders him unfit for work, and the apple, also depicted in the Doodle, is used as a weapon that nearly kills him Read more...

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Facebook stickers, the extra-large emoticons mobile users have been throwing into Facebook chats for a while now, are now also available on the web version of Facebook

Using stickers is simple: start a chat with someone, click on the emoticon icon in the lower right corner of the chat window, choose the sticker you like and click it to send it to that person

SEE ALSO: Facebook Shadow Profiles: What You Need to Know

You start with a relatively low number of stickers, but you can get more by clicking the basket icon in the upper right corner of the sticker window. All the sticker sets are currently free, but Facebook will probably introduce paid ones later on Read more...

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Ubisoft, best known for creating the popular Assassin's Creed video-game series, has announced that its user-account database was hacked, and is urging all users to change their passwords immediately

"We recently discovered that one of our Web sites was exploited to gain unauthorized access to some of our online systems ... During this process, we learned that data had been illegally accessed from our account database, including user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords," Ubisoft said in a statement

Ubisoft added that no personal payment information is stored in its database — meaning that no credit- or debit-card info was stolen Read more...

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While their natural environment may be the sky, drones are now entering wetter territory.

Ziphius is an app-controlled aquatic drone that responds to smartphone or tablet commands in real-time, according to its Kickstarter page. The drone's first incarnation will come with a remote-control app that enables users to steer it, and to take photos or videos of their underwater activities.

Unlike other robotic drones, however, Ziphius can express emotions, as well as act independently from the user.

Created by Portugal-based company Azorean Aquatic Technologies, Ziphius has raised just over $38,000 of its $125,000 goal on Kickstarter, with 21 days left in its campaign. Read more...

More about Tablet, Water, Tech, Gadgets, and Mobile

Rapiro is a humanoid robot that can be programmed to do various tasks — Including make you coffee

The kit was created by a Japanese company as a “catalyst between robotics and Raspberry Pi.” The credit-card sized, Linux-based PC known as Raspberry Pi is designed to work with the basic hardware of Rapiro, allowing you to program it to do many things, such as manage your calendar or tell you the weather, in addition to making the coffee.

Rapiro isn't the first of its kind: BrickPi is a Raspberry Pi-controlled lego robot that was funded through Kickstarter. According to its developers, BrickPi "connects LEGO Mindstorms Sensors, motors, and parts to turn your credit card-size computer into a robot." Unlike Rapiro, it functions more as a toy than a personal assistant. Read more...

More about Kickstarter, Tech, Apps Software, Dev Design, and Humanoid

Here's a lesson for all the local news graphic departments out there.

When a news station in New Zealand covered a story about a bull mastiff mix that kept biting tires, it probably seemed harmless. The dog had a traumatic incident with a car as a puppy. He was calmly taken into an animal control vehicle. It was a cute, local news story.

But the accompanying visual, created by 3 News, is not quite as cute.

Though the video is from 2011, the clip has only recently started circulating around the web as a testament to accidentally LOL-worthy news graphics Read more...

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Opera, an alternative web browser, unveiled a brand-new version on Tuesday that features an updated design for both Windows and Mac computers.

The Norway-based software company released desktop version 15 of its browser. Among other updates, it sports a cleaner, modern look that seems to take inspiration from its competition.

The "Stash" feature (pictured above) lets users save webpages, and organize them into a list that is searchable using keywords. Opera says Stash is useful for tasks such as saving articles, comparing offers or looking for the best hotel. Read more...

More about Opera, Web Browser, Web Browsers, Web Browsing, and Tech

The more wireless our world gets, the more connected we seem to become. One Kickstarter product, which has made a lot of noise not even one week into its campaign, is exploiting this paradox, putting you "one fold away from work."

The portable keyboard called myType is spearheaded by keyboard evangelist and MIT graduate Brunn W. Roysden. It fits nicely in your pocket and works wirelessly via Bluetooth with the iPhone, second and third iPad iterations, iPad Mini, iPod touch, Android (with HID support) and Windows 8 tablet. The keys interlock when it's closed so the keyboard folds up conveniently. Read more...

More about Keyboard, Bluetooth, Kickstarter, Tech, and Dev Design

Christina Stephens just won today's coolest person on the Internet award. In this time-lapse video, she builds herself a prosthetic leg entirely out of LEGOs

Stephens writes, "Someone in my research lab jokingly suggested I make a prosthetic leg out of LEGOs. The joke's on you - I went home and did it."

As an Occupational Therapist, she warns viewers to not try this at home. But, she adds, "sometimes, you just need to be silly."

Her LEGO prosthetic looks pretty awesome, but is it functional? Watch the video find out

Read more...

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PowerPoints? Forget it. Instructional film? Nah. White board? Boring. Instead, two UK teachers are experimenting with a more interesting way to spice up in-class lectures.

Kapil Sugand and Pedro Campos, junior doctors from St. George's University of London, presented holograms of life-like images to students in their latest seminar. Called HAMLET (Holography-Assisted Medical Lecturing and E-Tutoring), the presentation included jumbo 3D manifestations of a 13-foot-tall kidney, a skull and other parts of the human anatomy (see above and below).

The HAMLET team developed the lecture for medical students and junior doctors around a 3D animation of the human-kidney system. After the same lecture was conducted without animation, students were asked to provide feedback, which will be assessed to determine whether the technology aided their understanding of the lecture topics. Read more...

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The 2012-2013 NBA season wrapped up just three weeks ago, but it already feels like an eternity for basketball fans

If you're bummed out, don't fret — we have a mashup of the best b-ball video bombs of the year. There's a heavy dose of shenanigans from the two-time NBA champions Miami Heat, as well as notable players like John Lucas, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bogut and Jeff Green making wacky faces for the camera.

Who should consider ditching the court for a career in video bombing? Tell us in the comments.

Read more...

More about Viral Videos, Videos, Nba, Entertainment, and Sports

Every year in the United States, about 3,500 Americans die in fires, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Household smoke alarms can help save lives, and a new iPhone dock design could work as a secondary detector in your bedroom.

Seattle-based Tonic Product Design created an iPhone dock and accompanying app that can warn you while you're sleeping when smoke or carbon monoxide is detected. It's still a prototype design right now, but the Sense+ dock includes a built-in photoelectric smoke detector and carbon monoxide gas detectorCarbon monoxide is an odorless gas that can be deadly.

Read more...

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Rapper-turned-rastafarian Snoop Lion (a.k.aSnoop Dogg) took to Reddit on Monday for an extensive Ask Me Anything session, in which he invited Redditors to chat with him, his wife and even his kids

He talked about the moment he realized he was famous, gave a sentimental shout-out, teased a Michael Jackson collaboration, took job applications, crowdsourced for music partners and more. He also shared a bonus AMA video (below), which spotlights his song "No Guns Allowed" and his philosophy on violence — among other things.

Always one to, ahem, bluntly answer fans' questions (remember when he hilariously took over Mashable's Twitter account for a Q&A?), Snoop Lion delivered a slew of standout one-liners during this week's Reddit AMA. We've rounded up the best bits below Read more...

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Should the government get a warrant before it obtains seven months' worth of your cellphone location data, which details practically everywhere you've been in that time?

The U.S. government argues it doesn't need to, and a district court judge agreed. But the American Civil Liberties Union disagrees, arguing that such sensitive information should be protected by the Fourth Amendment and thus require a warrant

The ACLU filed a brief (.PDF) on Monday in a criminal case where the government obtained almost 30,000 cell site location data points for each of two defendants, Aaron Graham and Eric Jordan, who robbed a Burger King and a McDonald's on February 5, 2001, in Baltimore, MD Read more...

More about Tracking, Privacy, Surveillance, Aclu, and Location Tracking

We knew this would happen eventually — cats not only rule the Internet, they're also invading places once thought to be strictly feline free.

In Japan, Twitter users are snapping photos of cats spotted in and around convenience stores. It's more common than you'd think. And surprisingly, these kitties are mostly left to their own devices

The takeaway? There's just something about ... convenience stores. Or maybe Japanese cats are lurking around, trying to snag a good deal.

近所のコンビニの猫が成長してた。　http://t.co/9ZnmOdaqtt　：以前UPした画像　http://t.co/1zHrkeoXVW P_namekujiuo

— にんきったー (@ninkittar_bot) June 23, 2013 Read more...

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To mark this month's release of The Wolverine, the sixth installment in the X-Men film franchise, 20th Century Fox International is creating a virtual "Be the Wolverine" experience that gives fans superpowers just like the Weapon X research facility did to Wolverine

Weapon X in the X-Men world transforms humans and mutants into fighting machines with superpowers. The facility spawned Wolverine, Sabretooth, Deadpool and Leech.

"Be the Wolverine" stations placed in cinemas and shopping areas (locations to be announced before the movie's July 26 premiere) will use motion-sensing Kinect technology to turn people into holographic superheros, 20th Century Fox exclusively told Mashable Read more...

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In the world of Internet debate, YouTube comments should always carry the biggest weight in your decision-making process.

Oh, wait, that's backwards. If anything, the above video, created by ShesellSheShells, proves that the conversation surrounding the upcoming console wars should not be left to YouTube commenters. Unless, of course, you like laughing at other people.

At E3 three weeks ago, Microsoft and Sony gave more details about the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to live and streaming audiences. There were plenty of choice comments for the "YouTube Reacts" series to pick up, send out to its army of dramatic narrators, and turn into a video. Read more...

More about Youtube, Gaming, E3, Watercooler, and Videos

In what's good news for Microsoft, Windows 8 has become a more popular operating system than its much criticized Vista platform.

Although Windows 8 has taken awhile to gain traction, new data conducted by NetMarketShare.com has revealed the operating system was on about 5.1% of computers in June, compared to Vista's 4.6% share. The analytics firm used the desktop systems it tracks, which includes more than 40,000 business websites and 2 million personal ones such as blogs and profiles, as the basis of the report.

Windows 7 — the predecessor of Windows 8 — dominates the space with 44.8%, followed by Windows XP with 37.2%. The data also revealed Windows occupies 91.5% of the market and Mac takes up 7.2%. Linux trails with its 1.28% share. Read more...

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Calling all Star Wars fans! Scratch that — we're calling all fans of everything that is all-around awesome. Here, we present a perfect shot-for-shot recreation of the famous "Death Star Trench Run" scene starring Chris Hardwick and Jonah Ray from Nerdist. You may shake your lightsabers in approval now.

Homemade Movies is a YouTube series by CineFix that recreates movie scenes without the help of fancy visual effects, but instead with the help of cardboard, trash cans and creativity

To truly appreciate the mastery in head movements, stickers, pyrotechnics and facial hair, it's essential to watch the side-by-side video of the recreation alongside the original scene below: Read more...

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FitBit has long been doing fitness wearables a lot longer than others, but now it's taking its heath-tracking technology to the next level with a fitness wristband — and it's one of the most impressive options we've seen so far.

The water-resistant FitBit Flex wristband tracks just about everything you do — from the steps you take to how well you sleep — and can even handle laps in the pool. Although the FitBit Flex was first announced at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics conference in January, it's been generating significant buzz since it's May debut.

Read more...

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For this week's Mashable Photo Challenge, we invited you to celebrate the beauty of individuality by capturing the phrase "be yourself" — through a lens. It was all about illustrating what makes you, you — whether it was your interests, personality, style, or hobbies. We received a ton of great submissions over the weekend, ranging from artistic portraits and self-portraits to creative collages.

Our guest curator, Kevin Truong, chose the 12 photos he thought were most interesting and original.

"I was really impressed with all the submissions," he says. "Such a wide and creative range of images to pick from, it was hard to choose my favorites!" Read more...

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Yelp has launched a fun new feature that lets you search for keywords — from "bacon" and "hipster" to "romantic" and "cheap" — and then see on a map where reviewers are flocking to most for those items.

Called Yelp Worldmap, the heatmap shows a high density of keywords that pop up in Yelp reviews. This aims to reveal patterns about hotspots, so users can narrow in on locations and neighborhoods when looking for something specific.

"People come to Yelp to read and write reviews, look at photos and find business information, but that data houses even more local knowledge than we can see on the surface," Yelp said in an official blog post Read more...

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The PSA that kept Australians safe from the perils of death now has some Brazilian flavor

In November 2012, "Dumb Ways to Die," swept the Internet as the morbidly snappy sensation that highlighted all the stupid ways you could meet your demise — including accidentally selling both kidneys online. Now, the tune is detailing the many ways you may be offed in Rio de Janeiro

Turns out, it's just as unsafe to be dumb in Rio as it was in Melbourne, the city which served as inspiration for the first video

The revamped PSA by YouTuber TheLorems mentions fatal accidents like driving on a road full of holes and going out in a flood and getting electrocuted Read more...

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Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi just rejected the army's ultimatum with a single tweet.

#الرئيس محمد مرسي يؤكد تمسكه بالشرعية الدستورية ويرفض أي محاولة للخروج عليها ويدعوالقوات المسلحة سحب إنذارها ويرفض أي إملاءات داخليةأوخارجية

— د.محمد مرسي (@MuhammadMorsi) July 2, 2013

Reuters translated the tweet as follows:

"President Mohamed Mursi asserts his grasp on constitutional legitimacy and rejects any attempt to deviate from it, and calls on the armed forces to withdraw their warning and refuses to be dictated to internally or externally."

Read more...

More about Twitter, Egypt, Arab Spring, Us World, and World

Attack ads now sound like a T-Pain song.

At a press conference Monday, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced plans to run for the United States Senate against incumbent Mitch McConnell

The Senate Minority Leader's team reacted quickly with a 90-second autotuned ditty entitled "What Rhymes With Alison Lundergan Grimes?" posted on McConnell's official YouTube channel.

The video mashes together clips of Grimes saying her own name and "me." Super-imposed over each clip are rhyming phrases such as "Not Ready for Prime Time," "Sticks to Party Line" and "Left Wing Mime." The video also includes doctored footage of Grimes dancing with President Obama Read more...

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Creators of 2012's Academy Award-nominated animation ParaNorman are teasing a new 3D stop-motion film, The Boxtrolls, in a trailer that emphasizes families come in all shapes and sizes. The movie appears to follow ParaNorman's footsteps by highlighting gay characters

Near the end of ParaNorman, the film reveals Mitch is gay. The revelation in a children's movie angered some viewers, while others praised the inclusion. Unlike this new trailer for The Boxtrolls (watch above), trailers for ParaNorman didn't acknowledge a gay character.

Read more...

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