I’ve been swimming for a couple of summers now, working ardently on my technique and cardio, and I’m still incredibly slow. So slow, in fact, that Michael Phelps could swim 500 m, get out of the water, order a hamburger, and read the morning news before I cross the same distance. Speed putting, however, is another matter. Not that I, personally, would be any better at it, but perhaps some of you could beat Phelps in that particular discipline. And if you do, you could win a trip for two to the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in February 2010 and a trip for two to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010.It’s a part of YouTube’s competition called “The Best of US Challenge“, where famous athletes go out of their area of expertise and try themselves at somewhat unorthodox activities. For example, gymnast Shawn Johnson tapped her ears, while doing a handstand, 54 times in 30 seconds, while sprinter Asafa Powell balanced a stick on his foot for two minutes and 30 seconds. What you need to is record a video of yourself doing one of the feats described above (hopefully, faster and better than these famous athletes), and upload it somewhere between now and Sunday, November 15. Other rewards as well as T-shirts, video games and posters; if you’re interested, you can find detailed instructions on how to create and submit your video here. Check out the video of mustache-sporting Phelps doing his record speed putting performance below. Reviews: YouTubeTags: competition, michael phelps, youtube
Over the weekend, reports have been piling upsaying that iPhone syncing with iTunes doesn’t work for some users on Windows 7. The official Apple forums have several threads related to the issue, so it’s quite safe to assume the issue is real.Looking for a common denominator, it seems that having a motherboard with an Intel P55 chipset is the key cause, but I personally have a similar issue (iPhone starts syncing, then reports an error) on a laptop with another chipset, with freshly installed Windows 7. Some of the suggested fixes include using a USB hub or a PCI USB card for connecting your iPhone, and disabling Power Management for each of the USB ROOT HUBs on your computer. But none of these seem to fix the problem for everyone. What’s your experience? Have you had problems with iPhone/iTunes syncing on Windows 7? If so, have you been able to fix it? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Tags: iphone, Windows 7
The UK’s Independent newspaper picks up on a curious study today: people who download music illegally also buy more music legally, according to a poll’s results. The study comes as the UK plans a controversial “three strikes and you’re out” rule that would disconnect copyright infringers from the Internet – it’s set to become law in April 2010. The Independent writes:The survey, published today, found that those who admit illegally downloading music spent an average of £77 a year on music – £33 more than those who claim that they never download music dishonestly…The poll, which surveyed 1,000 16- to 50-year-olds with internet access, found that one in 10 people admit to downloading music illegally. We see a few caveats here, the main one being that Internet users were simply asked whether they download content illegally or not: given that this would be admitting to a crime, that metric could be under-reported. Frankly, this self-reporting of illegal activity seems like a dubious measurement. The data doesn’t necessarily undermine the plans, either: 61% of illegal downloaders said they’d be dissuaded from downloading illegally if doing so resulted in being disconnected for one month.The debate is a legitimate one: some UK ISPs are concerned about essentially becoming Internet watchdogs, and point out that enforcement would take significant effort on their part. Others point to over-regulation of Internet access. There’s a case to be made, too, that consumers seem willing to pay if the price is low enough and the process effortless (eg. iTunes). Image courtesy of iStockphoto, cogarReviews: iStockphotoTags: music
What’s next for Twitter? According to Seesmicfounder Loic Le Meur, it’ll be a hub of hyperlocal news, be used more by devices than humans (eg. cars that Tweet their location) and replace chat applications for many people.Le Meur, answering the questionsfor last week’s 140conf Twitter Conference in LA, also predicts that Google and Bing will become the main ways to search Twitter, although Google will build its own version of Twitter rather than buying the service.What do you think? What are your predictions for the future of Twitter? Let us know in the comments.Reviews: Bing, Google, TwitterTags: twitter
The instantaneous and shareable nature of the Internet is one of the things that separates it from other mediums. Viral videosand Internet memescan take hold and spread quickly. Thanks to social networking, the speed in which the latest phenomena can spread is lightning fast. More and more frequently, Internet memes are making appearances in other more traditional media like TV and film.With only two months left of 2009, we thought we would look back at some of the biggest Internet memes of the year. Most — if not all — of these memes have inspired spin-offs and secondary memes, and in the process, become a part of our Internet cultural history.Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments!#1 David After DentistOne of the first big memes of 2009 was the YouTube video “David After Dentist.” The story is exactly like it sounds. Young David went to the dentist to get a tooth pulled and was treated with some pretty heavy sedatives. Armed with a Flip Cam and a good sense of humor, David’s Dad decided to videotape the aftermath.Watch here:#2 Susan BoyleIn April 2009, 47-year old Susan Boyleappeared on “Britain’s Got Talent” and mesmerized the audience (and the judges) with her jaw-droppingly awesome voice.Once the video hit YouTube, the rest of the world took notice and a true phenomenon was born. With an estimated 100 million viewsin the first few weeks, Boyle’s performance is one of the top Internet video phenomena of all time.Sadly, we can’t embed her fantastic debut performance from Les Miserables, but you can watch it here.#3 United Breaks GuitarsIn 2008, United Airlines broke Dave Carroll’s Taylor Guitar. After battling with the airline for months and making no progress, Carroll decided to take action. He wrote the song and shot the video “United Breaks Guitars”and released it on YouTube in mid 2009. The video earned more than 3 million views in just 10 days.In August, Carroll released “United Breaks Guitars 2,”but it failed to generate the same buzz as the original.#4 Three Wolf Moon T-ShirtAt the beginning of Summer 2009, an interesting t-shirt appeared on Amazon.com. Called “Three Wolf Moon,” the shirt featured an awesomely awful emblem of three wolves howling at the moon, the shirt garnered over-the-top reviewson Amazon.com, rating it as the best shirt ever and making outrageous claims about its power.The shirt became a best-seller and the creators of the shirt are even shopping around a bookbased on the topic.In an October episode of NBC’s “The Office,” Dwight K. Schrute wears the shirtand ends up getting pretty lucky with the ladies. #5 Baby Dancing to BeyonceThis is one of our favorite memes of the year. Featuring baby Cory from New Zealand (then just 13 months old), this video became viral after the VMAs. Little Cory dances to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”with such a level of engrossment and with so much obvious enjoyment, how could it not be a huge hit?Watch:#6 JK Wedding DanceJill and Kevin’s wedding danceis the rare Internet meme that has two waves of popularity. When the video first hit the web in late July, the awesomely choreographed dance by the wedding party down the aisle during Jill and Kevin’s wedding became a huge hit, especially after being featured on the Today Show.Then in October, NBC’s “The Office” paid homageto the dance by re-creating it with cast members for Jim and Pam’s fictional TV wedding. The result? The original video had a huge uptick in popularity(probably aided by people who missed it the first time).Another winner in this meme, embattled R&B star Chris Brown, who saw sales for his single “Forever” (which is featured in both videos) climb the charts after the video’s release. #7 Christian Bale (Strong Language)Even before February 2009, there were rumors that all had not gone well on the set of “Terminator: Salvation.” Then in February, someone leaked an audio recording of actor Christian Bale going off on a crew-member. The audio took off online and in the mainstream press.DJ RevoLucian created “Bale Out – RevoLucian’s Christian Bale Remix” from the audio and a NSFW meme within a meme was born. Not to take anything away from Bale, but he still has nothing on David O. Russell(link has very explicit language).#8 Balloon BoyTwo weeks ago, a helium filled weather balloon was launched in Colorado, supposedly with a 6-year old boy trapped inside. In under 24-hours, the Internet went from shared bafflement, to fear for the boy’s safety, to relief that he was OK (and hiding in a box the whole time), to questioning if the whole event was a hoaxto full-blown Internet meme.That’s breaking news to Internet in-joke in under 10 hours. Amazing. (Photo courtesy of ImaLetYouFinish.com)A week later, the meme came full-Internet circle with the video “I’m in a Box”(a riff of “I’m on a Boat”), which you can watch below (note NSFW language):#9 Kanye West at the VMAsWe can all thank Kanye West for providing us so much endless entertainment. After pulling an ODB and hijacking Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs, a full-on meme was born. The outburst gave MTV.com a record number of unique video views.The barrage of parodiesand jokes started almost instantaneously. Even President Obama opined on Kanye’s behavior, calling him a “Jackass.”We won’t lie, we were a little obsessed with the Kanye-meme here at Mashable. Unless something REALLY spectacular happens, this is sure to be the meme of 2009.If you missed the clip that started it all, watch it below:MTV ShowsYour FavoritesSo what did we miss? What memetastic event is your favorite? What do you think the next big meme will be about (I’d put money on puppies, kittens or babies — but that’s just me)? Let us know!Reviews: Mashable, YouTubeTags: balloon boy, internet memes, kanye west, Meme, memes, susan boyle, viral video
A social media service announcement: YouTube is suffering some downtime today, with the site first becoming unresponsive over two hours ago, and now experiencing limited uptime for many users. We’re seeing YouTubeembeds on Mashable occasionally fail to load, while the site itself is frequently slow or displaying a maintenance message. We’re not aware of any planned downtime for the site, which currently serves a miraculous 1 billion video views per day.Is YouTube down for you? Let us know in the comments.Related: YouTube Down, Facebook WonkyReviews: Mashable, YouTube
Twitter can be a very educational place, whereby following the right individual or brand, you can learn from their tweets. In fact, we’ve already highlighted usability experts, entrepreneurs, authors(fiction and nonfiction), environmentalists, foodies, and musiciansthat we think are must follows.But Twitter can also be a medium ripe with humor and capable of making the masses laugh with a single tweet that resonates throughout the Twittersphere. So now it’s time to a take a more comedic turn, and point out 10 LOL-inducing Twitter accounts that break the monotony of our work days, add spice to our weekends, and make Twitter a more entertaining place to be with their colorful characters.This is by no means a scientific list of the most hilarious Twitter users, or simply a collection of those that have a large following, these Twitter accounts are just a few of our hand-picked favorites. We encourage you to use the comments to share Twitterers that crack you up.@BroslifeWho: Barney StinsonWhat: A full in-character Twitter impersonation of the chauvinistic male character that Neil Patrick Harris plays on How I Met Your Mother.Why: These tweets reek of male machismo, which makes them totally infuriating and hilarious at the same time. You don’t need to be a fan of the show to enjoy these pithy wisecracks.@awkwardfamilyWho: Awkward Family PhotosWhat: This Twitter account is an extension of the blog AwkwardFamilyPhotos, and it delivers on what it promises: real family photos that are just plain awkward to look at. The site and Twitter account use crowdsourced photos, so you too can submit your own glaringly inappropriate family photos for the world to laugh and/or cringe at.Why: Who doesn’t like to laugh at bad decisions caught on film? In a recent smattering of completely jaw-dropping images, you can see what appears to be a family portrait with misleading make-out partners, one man’s family watching him sit on the pot, and a bride and groom kissing a donkey. Does it get any better?@FakeAPStylebookWho: Fake AP StylebookWhat: This Twitter account is dedicated to sharing “style tips for proper writing” — if it were opposite day. As the Twitter background clearly spells out, if you actually put these style and writing tips into practice for your professional writing assignments, you will get fired.Why: Sure this one is a bit nerdy, but as bloggers and prolific writers, we love that the account constantly pokes fun at the serious nature of prose and proper form. Each tweet is like an excuse to be bad, even it is just living vicariously through their Twitter account.@TheBloggessWho: Jenny, The BloggessWhat: By day she’s a blogger who tackles everything from being a mom to writing colorful and comedic content for a sex blog (which has her currently on location in Japan), by night she’s doing the same with a cocktail in hand. Jenny’s even taken on both William Shatter (part 1) and Joan Walsh(Editor-in-Chief of Salon.com), and won … well sort of, you really need to read her tweets and blog posts to understand what the heck I’m talking about.Why: She tweets with no fear, so it’s an uncensored, sometimes sensationalized, raw barrage of information in 140 character snippets. Yes, she’s not usually suited for work (bad words, sex terms, and worse), but she gives such good tweet that you won’t mind if you get caught.@ShitMyDadSaysWho: ShitMyDadSaysWhat: The bio says it all, “I’m 29. I live with my 73-year-old dad. He is awesome. I just write down shit that he says.”Why: Already a Twitter star, ShitMyDadSays is soon to be a pop culture phenomena once the book hits shelves. Yes this Twitterer, who goes by the real name of Justin Halpern, got a book dealjust for tweeting the random and hilarious musings of his unsuspecting elderly father, who also happens to be very opinionated and not one for niceties. That’s some good tweet.@OHnewsroomWho: Overheard NewsroomWhat: The companion Twitter account for the Overheard in the Newsroom blog, which attempts to publish the best overheard conversations in newsrooms anywhere. It’s also crowdsourced and you can reply to the account on Twitter to submit your overheards.Why: In general, overheards (typically identified by an “OH: + comment” on Twitter) are usually off-the-cuff comments that are often said by folks not thinking that their words would be heard by larger audiences. That’s what makes them awesome. So having a single Twitter account dedicated just to curating overheards, especially one’s from typically stressful newsroom environments, makes for an entertaining read.@gordonshumwayWho: Jelisa CastrodaleWhat: Regular tweets that poke fun at stupid people, mock silly celebrities and news, and express in 140 characters what most of think but never say aloud.Why: Castrodale is both a freelance writer and a standup comic. That combination seems to work nicely to produce cleverly crafted tweets that are sometimes self-deprecicating and always amusing. If there is such a thing as a brilliant comedic Twitter user, Castordale is it.@PeopleofWalmartWho: People of WalmartWhat: Attention Walmart shoppers, this Twitter account is mocking you with photos of you looking silly.Why: Unfortunately there’s almost nothing funnier than seeing photos of unfortunate individuals wearing or doing completely ridiculous things at Walmart. It just doesn’t get old. Here’s to hoping none of us ever appears on that Twitter account.@TomBodettWho: Tom Bodett. He’s the guy who ad-libbed the now famous Motel 6 tag line, “We’ll Leave the Light on for You,” and he’s been lucky enough to be the spokesperson for the hotel chain ever since.What: Certainly not the official tweets of Motel 6, but instead dry and witty humor from a recognizable face.Why: You can tell that Bodett pens a majority of his tweets with purposeful creative flair, so they have the artifice and spunk of a true wordsmith. Plus, it’s a trip to read the tweets aloud in the style of Bodett’s iconic and grandiose Motel 6 voice.@badbananaWho: Tim SiedellWhat: Tweets that taste better than bad bananas. It’s a smart humor meets bad taste Twitter account.Why: We like Siedell’s description from his blog best, “Bad bananas. Sour milk. Mix them together and you’re well on your way to banana bread, my friend. The same principle works with ideas. A seemingly worthless chunk of information here. An old, bad idea there. Mix them up and you just might end up with something tasty.”Image courtesy of iStockphoto, McKevin.Reviews: Twitter, iStockphotoTags: comedy, humor, Lists, twitter
Confused about how to use Google Wave, the new Google product that combines messaging, wiki-like features and group collaboration into a single app? You’re not alone.To clear up the confusion, we recently published Google Wave: A Complete Guide, a feature-length article that explains Wave in plain English.Now Gina Trapani and Adam Pash have gone a step further, releasing The Complete Guide to Google Wave. The book, which is available for free online, details all of Wave’s features – and some use cases – in 8 chapters. It’s a super-handy reference if you’re still stuck on how to get the most out of Wave. Recommended!Tags: Google Wave
Twitter opened up Twitter Liststhis week, allowing users to create their own “follow lists” of their favorite Twitter accounts. Todd Zeiglertallied the early stats this morning and found that – yowzers – our own humble @mashableaccount was the second most-listed on Twitter, trailing behind @barackobama.Obviously ranking on a list that includes President Obama is more to do with our super-supportive Twitter community than actually having anywhere near the influence of a world leader. And it’s a position that isn’t holding late in the day: as more mainstream users get to grips with lists, we’re already seeing celebrities like Taylor Swift and Ellen rocket up the rankings. The true value of lists, of course, is not overall authority but topic-based influence: who are the best people to follow for info about fly fishing? Or baseball? Or fine wines? Soon, Twitter Lists will tell us.Yes, We PanderThat said, we’re not conceding the race to Obama just yet: We’re in 7,500 lists. Barack is in 10,900 lists. If 3,400 of you were to accidentally go to the Mashable Twitter accountand add us to a list, we’ll include the “War on Fail Whales” in our 2012 Presidential bid. Promise. Image credit: dcumming27 on ObamaiconmeReviews: Twitter
If you’ve hopped over to Google.com this Halloween, you might have spotted the world’s favorite search engine has a special Halloween logo. Actually, it’s not just one logo: clicking on the Google image delivers a series of images related to Halloween candy.Another thing to notice from these shots: Google is trying a new layout with a subset of users that removes the “Search” button entirely, reminding visitors they can just hit Enter to search for something. That’s spookily simple, we think.Reviews: Google
Google Waveis still a new phenomenon in the social media world. There is no Google Wave App Storeyet and the API is relatively new, which means that Google Wave Gadgets are hard to find. The crux of Google Wave is the extensions/apps or what Google Wave is calling “Gadgets”. Embedsand robotswill have their place, but most likely not for the common user. Google was kind enough to provide us with the basic gadgets: Google Search Box, Google Maps, Yes/No, and a few others (Google Wave API sample gallery).Are there any productive gadgets out there you are using yet? Do you have any suggestions? I’m definitely a fan of the “Collaborative Sudoku” gadget (direct gadget url), but what’s your favorite Google Wave Gadget?Reviews: Google, Google Maps, Google WaveTags: gadgets, Google, Google Wave, google wave gadgets
As a young child one of my favorite, and yet most feared things, about Halloween trick-or-treating was the house down the street. The family always struck me as other-worldly and every year, without fail, they would decorate their home with spooky decor, flickering lights, realistic cobwebs, and even a few eerie characters hiding out waiting to scare unsuspecting young children such as myself.While it’s probably a little too late for you to add as much spook, gore, and creepiness to your own home this Halloween, we thought it would be fun to look at some of the best decorated homes as seen on Flickr. Each of these 10 photos highlights what we love most about this time of year: creativity, imagination, and fantasy.Of course you probably have a few worthy competitors in your neighborhood, so we encourage you to snap a photo and share it with us in the comments. Plus, if you still need inspiration for your pumpkin carvings, try your hand at these social media options. And if you’re still scrambling for a costume, we happen to love these hallow-memes, but good luck trying to pull off anything remotely as cool as the the real life iPhone costume.SpookiestImage from fetusflusheron FlickrPumpkinrot Scarecrow image from ScareFXon FlickrFront yard cemetery from piratejohnnyon FlickrGravedigger scene from ScareFXon FlickrMost ElaborateBridal group image from DrgnMstron FlickrTom’s Haunted House image from Josh Sommerson FlickrDo come in image from Zombie37on FlickrPure FantasyHalloween on Browning Avenue image from sniderscionon FlickrYour ride is here image from Zombie37on FlickrImage from texas lady bug29Header image courtesy of iStockphoto, 3Djml.Reviews: Flickr, iStockphotoTags: flickr, Halloween, haunted house, Lists, Photos
On October 7th, 2003, Nokia made a splash as it attempted to challenge Nintendo’s dominance of the handheld gaming market. Its entry was the N-Gage, a dual mobile phone and gaming system. However, the funny look it had when you used it as a phone (”taco phone” was a popular comparison), as well a weaker game library doomed it from the start.Today, Nokia announced that it is ending the N-Gage line of phones and games, instead opting to push forward its gaming agenda via the Ovi app store.The move was inevitable, especially as Apple has turned the iPhone into a gaming powerhouse, but we’re still going to miss making fun of Nokia’s Taco Phone. This is our farewell to the N-Gage, which had the right idea but the wrong execution.Image credit: Mushroom and Roostervia FlickrReviews: FlickrTags: apple, gaming, N-Gage, Nokia, ovi
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.Name: KapitallQuick Pitch: Kapitall is a revolutionary new online investing platform designed to transform the investing experience for the next generation of investors.Genius Idea: Kapitall is an investing platform that takes a visualized, stylized approach to organizing data and information. You can learn about investing and see charts and data from different companies in a very attractive and easy to use interface.The team behind Kapitall come from companies like THQ, Bloomberg and Apple. If you look at how the Kapitall site works and operates, you can see bits and pieces of those companies’ styles throughout the product. Interestingly enough, Kapitall takes a video game approach to investing.After you sign up for an account (which is free), you enter to the Playground, which features stocks, mutual funds and portfolios that you either have stock in or are interested in. You can move tiles around the screen as well as drag and drop items to and from the Playground.Double clicking on a company brings up its profile. You can view the latest news, current trading data and generate reports comparing the company against others in its sector. In addition to being a good investment research tool, Kapitall also has an extensive learning library that teaches the basics of investing.Currently, you can only invest money in practice portfolios (thus, it’s like an online version of those mock stock market games you might have played in high school economics), but in the future you’ll be able to make real trades through the system.What make Kapitall unique is that it is a very visual way of getting financial information and organizing data. If the X-Box had a stock program, it would look like Kapitall. We await the day when we can make actual investments through Kapitall.Spark of Genius Series Sponsored by Microsoft BizSparkBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platformfor their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest– use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”Reviews: PHPTags: investments, kapitall, stock, stock trading
