Need a Kidney? More Are Turning to Facebook [VIDEO]

Facebook is a place to catch up with friends, share articles and information, and now find kidneys.

According to Seattle news station KHOU, 36-year-old Dan Garrett recently received a new kidney after his wife put up a message on Facebook looking for… read more

‘Dark Knight Rises’ Parody Syncs Trailer’s Audio With ‘Lion King’ Scenes [VIDEO]

Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.

The voice-over from the massively popular Dark Knight Rises trailer has been impressively synced with scenes from Disney’s 1994 smash hit The Lion King in the above clip.

With Simba as Batman, Nala as Catwoman and Scar… read more

Steve Jobs Action Figure Is Eerily Realistic [PICS]

A toy company has set up a promotional page to tout the launch of its Steve Jobs action figure, showing the tech visionary in a signature black turtle neck, circular rimless glasses and blue jeans.

The 12-inch figurine from In Icons -– which will sell for $99, before shipping — will… read more

6 Tips For Building a High Quality Blog Following

Shane Snow is a New York-based tech journalist and co-founder of Contently.com, a marketplace for brand publishers and journalists.

In 2010, New York City startup, Birchbox launched a blog about beauty products before it had any customers. The beauty sample delivery service – and its blog – exploded in popularity.

Today, to… read more

Rupert Murdoch’s Wife Urges Him to Delete Insulting Tweet … And He Does [VIDEO]

We’ve all been there: You tweet something and then you delete it because you made a typo, included the wrong link or simply just had a change of heart regarding your comment.

News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who joined… read more

6 Steps for Protecting Corporate Reputation in the Social Media Age

Layla Revis is vice president of digital influence at Ogilvy PR Worldwide. Her specialties include international affairs, tourism and multicultural marketing.

It takes years to build a good reputation, but seconds to damage it beyond repair, as executives at companies from Dell to Domino’s certainly have found out.

This was a… read more

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Email Account Allegedly Hacked

London police are investigating an alleged email-hacking case involving former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s by British newspapers while he served as chancellor under Tony Blair, according to an Independent report.

The news comes on the heels of other investigations involving illegal activity by newspapers held throughout 2011, including computer and… read more

4 Big Moves Google Should Make in 2012

In peeking ahead to predict what 2012 holds for Google, it’s informative to look back at the eventful year it had. While one can’t help but see the big product introductions — a social network, a mobile-payment system, a music store — it’s the deletions that are much more… read more

Are Text Messages Declining Worldwide? [VIDEO]

It may seem like everyone, everywhere is sending text messages these days. But according to a Forbes report, texting may be on the decline across various countries.

Tero Kuittinen, a senior analyst at M.G.I. Research, wrote via a blog post for Forbes… read more

Reddit’s Guide to Fitness Dishes Out Diet and Exercise Tips [INFOGRAPHIC]

If you’ve made any New Year’s resolutions to get fit in 2012, this detailed infographic from health-content startup Greatist may come in handy on your journey toward a healthier you.

The visual guide is packed with information compiled from Fittit, the fitness section of social news site Reddit where people help… read more

1940 Census Report Goes Digital, Arrives in April

Following a 72-year wait period, The National Archives and Records will release the 1940 U.S. Census in April and make the search for photos and information about ancestors easier than ever with free online access from any computer.

Genealogists will have digital access to the 1940 Census when the report is… read more

Top 25 Most-Shared Stories in December

Social media ended 2011 on a high note as Facebook rolled out Timeline to everyone and Twitter unveiled a new design, brand pages and embeddable tweets.

But what got your share-happy fingers clicking the most? A story about hilarious auto-corrected text messages from Damn You Auto Correct (see gallery below) tops… read more

Samsung Galaxy Note Coming to AT&T [RUMOR]

Samsung Galaxy Note might be arriving to U.S. under AT&T’s wing, according to a photo unearthed by SamMobile.

In the photo, Samsung’s tablet/smartphone hybrid is sporting the AT&T’s logo instead of the regular Samsung sign.

The device should hit the U.S. market in the first half of this year, and… read more

Google Launches New Site With Resources for the 2012 Presidential Election

Google will officially announce its online information hub for political elections on Monday, a day before the Iowa Caucuses. It is the first website Google has dedicated exclusively to elections.

The new website has both Egyptian and U.S. editions. Google will post content from the later version on a large screens… read more

PostSecret App Discontinued Because of ‘Malicious’ Posts

The secret is out: PostSecret has killed off its iPhone app just three months after putting it on the market in September.

PostSecret founder Frank Warren says abusive content — pornographic, gruesome and threatening material — from a small group of users forced him to shut down the app.

“Bad content caused… read more

Mashable Weekend Recap: 38 Stories You May Have Missed

While most of us shared in the revelry as the ball dropped in Times Square, some of us Mashable staffers just couldn’t stop sniffing out news, tips, features and techniques for you, our dear readers.

Over this weekend, lucky for us, the news cycle kept us busy, with plenty of… read more

Facebook Timeline Doesn’t Show in Internet Explorer 7

If you don’t like Facebook Timeline, all you have to do to get rid of it is use Internet Explorer 7 — but be prepared for a buggy experience. Facebook’s latest profile redesign is not visible in IE7, and the company might soon completely phase out support for the aging… read more

The Year in Mashable: What It’s Like Inside a Fast Growing Media Company, And What to Expect in 2012

2011 was Mashable‘s most successful year to date, growing to 25 million monthly unique visitors and almost 60 staff. We expanded to a spacious new office in New York and hosted 5 successful conferences.

Growing a company this quickly is both challenging and a great deal of fun. What… read more

8 Simple Digital Tools for Scanning Documents

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Small business and startup employees are constantly on the go. They need quick, mobile solutions for scanning, storing, organizing and sharing important documents.

Eager to empty that box… read more

What Job Seekers Need to Know in Today’s Digital Market

Jindrich Liska is founder and CEO of Jobmagic, a leading social recruiting platform which enables employers to hire candidates on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Jindrich has pioneered many social recruiting approaches which are now used worldwide by brands such as Disney, J.Crew and Compuware.

The 2011 job market is ending on… read more

OnePager, a Startup Making Websites Easy for Small Business

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

OnePager is a New York City-based startup that provides a simple drag-and-drop program to create a website that looks professionally developed.

The company’s co-founder and designer Matthew… read more

30 Best Google Doodles of 2011

This year, more than ever, visiting Google’s homepage became a bit of a surprise. Google Doodles have come a long way from the first one, which showed Burning Man’s iconic logo. It’s now become customary to the search engine’s homepage, and last year, we saw many that were colorful, interactive… read more

Republican Candidates Take to the Web in the Battle for Iowa

Republican presidential hopefuls are turning to the web and social media as weapons in the war to win Iowa.

On Jan. 3, Iowa Republican caucus-goers will pick their choice for presidential nominee. One of the seven remaining candidates will move a step closer to becoming the GOP’s choice to run… read more

I Resolve: My Top 5 New Year Tech Resolutions

This year is going to be different. I resolve to change my ways — at least my tech ways — and make the world a better place for me and everyone who knows me. This is my goal. These are my 2012 New Year’s resolutions.

1) No More One-Word Email Responses

Email is… read more

LG Releases Gorgeous New Pics of the World’s Largest OLED Screen

Korean electronics company LG caused a worldwide stir when it announced its 55-inch OLED panel last week, and now the company’s rolled out two more pictures that show you what kind of remarkable TV set this is going to be.

How groundbreaking is this TV, anyway? If you’ve ever seen an… read more

Starting a New Year’s Resolution? Gympact Makes You Keep It or Pay

Happy New Year! Now it’s time to drag yourself out of bed, pop some aspirin and get started on that New Year’s resolution that seemed like such a good idea last night. If that resolution happens to be fitness-related, the good news is there’s a new app that can help… read more

3 New Digital Tools For Making Connections

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Each weekend, Mashable selects startups we think are building interesting, unique or niche products.

This week we… read more

YouTube in 2011: How Its Busy Year Affects You

Much has changed for YouTube since it launched in 2005. But in 2011, we saw Google’s video-sharing service undergo more tweaks, spit out more new features and reach more major milestones than in previous years.

Let’s rewind and reminisce as I highlight key moments in YouTube‘s eventful year that involved… read more

Facebook Timeline Is Basically Your Digital Resume

Gerrit Hall is CEO and co-founder of RezScore, a free web application that reads, analyzes and grades resumes instantly to help job seekers write the best resume possible. Connect with Gerrit and RezScore on Facebook and Twitter.

For those of you who don’t know (have you been living under a rock?),… read more

Google Nails 2011: Portrait of a Banner Year

It has proven to be a monumental banner year for Google. It’s hard to believe that one year ago, things such as Google+ and the now all-familiar +1 button were nonexistent. The company has come far from being just a search engine. For some, it is an office suite, email… read more

Top 4 Comments On Mashable This Week

For one last time this year, we are sharing the top comments posted on Mashable this week from our community.

In this weekly post, we showcase the best comments on our site posted during the previous seven days. We always keep an eye out for thoughtful comments that engage our… read more

A 2011 Retrospective Through the Millions of Eyes of Twitter [VIDEO]

2011 was a year of big news. Political revolutions, natural disasters, astounding innovations, stories of inspiration, hope and loss — all of it was captured and disseminated in real time on Twitter.

The information network came of age in 2011, with more mainstream adoption, a couple of redesigns and new traffic… read more

New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Goes Even Higher-Tech [COMIC]

Seems like every year, there’s a new high-tech addition to the ball-dropping ritual in New York’s Times Square. Always on the lookout for the latest technology, our editor-in-chief and cartoonist Lance Ulanoff might have discovered yet another innovation: Here’s an efficient way to keep people’s heads from being buried in… read more

5 Apps Worth Downloading This Week

Thicket

We know there are a lot of apps that let you create sounds and pictures using a touch… read more

Top 15 Most Shocking Social Media Disasters of 2011

1. GoDaddy CEO Shoots Elephant

The web was in shock after GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons released a video of… read more

Typical Android User is Anything But Typical [INFOGRAPHIC]

What are Android users like? Are those who use Google‘s smartphone operating system and its associated gadgetry male or female? What sort of clothes do they wear? Are they married? Do they wear watches?

Get your answers to those questions and lots more in this infographic from the people at Bluestacks,… read more

Apple’s Jonathan Ive Is Now a Knight

Jonathan Ive, designer of Apple’s best products over the past 19 years, has been knighted. Whether you call him Jonathan Ive or Jony, you’ll have to put a “Sir” before it, because now he’s officially a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE), giving him the right to be called… read more

Twitter Site Back After 90-Minute Outage [UPDATED]

As you might have noticed, Twitter was down for about 90 minutes Saturday morning, with the service disruption affecting the entire Twitter site for the past hour.

Update: Soon after we published this post, the Twitter site recovered, and now it’s available again. We’re trying to find out why the… read more

Mashable’s Top 10 Biggest Stories of 2011

1. Damn You Autocorrect

Damn You Autocorrect blog released its nine funniest texts from the year, each of which… read more

10 Best Spoof Twitter Accounts of 2011

If laughter is the best medicine, Twitter certainly kept us in tip-top shape this year with its crop of spoof accounts.

We’ve rounded up 10 of the best spoof accounts for you to follow to ensure your healthy merriment doesn’t cease in 2012. Below, check out the embedded tweets from each… read more

Instantly Turn Video Clips Into Movies With V.I.K.T.O.R

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: V.I.K.T.O.R.

Quick Pitch: V.I.K.T.O.R. is an automatic video-editing app.

Genius Idea: The free iPhone app makes movie… read more

Sports and Social Media: Our Favorite Stories of 2011

The past year was a wild one in the sports world, full of salacious scandals, poignant moments, new records, the passing of old legends and the forging of new ones.

But digital and social media also shaped — and were shaped by — some of the year’s biggest moments in… read more

The Very Best of YouTube in 2011 [VIDEOS]

Nicki Minaj – Super Bass By Sophia Grace Brownlee

… read more

Top 10 iOS Apps of 2011

1. Tweetbot

After Twitter acquired Tweetie, it was easy to think that the need for a third-party iPhone Twitter… read more

8 Hilarious Internet Jokes, Memes and Parody Accounts of 2011

Photoshop Looter

After a wave of riots hit Britain over the summer, this Tumblr started featuring photoshopped images of… read more

How One Author Found Success With Digital Books

It’s said that print is dead — and not just newspapers or magazines, but maybe short stories too. After 20 years working in print, former Chicago magazine editor Dick Babcock found the perfect platform for his short story: Kindle Singles.

Babcock’s short story tops the best sellers list on Kindle… read more

Facebook Photo of Stolen Ring Leads to Man’s Arrest [VIDEO]

Police in Vermont recently arrested a man for stealing a $3,200 engagement ring. They were tipped off after the man’s fiancee posted a picture of the ring on Facebook.

Social media has become a legitimate tool for crime-solving. Earlier this year, the… read more

5 Steps for Finding New Customers

Ronald Brown is a successful startup CEO with an extensive background in technology and consumer marketing. His new book, Anticipate. The Architecture of Small Team Innovation and Product Success is available via iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

The subject of finding customers is one of the most mysterious in… read more

Meet the Writer Being Sued for His 17,000 Twitter Followers

At any conference, product launch or other event where the top tier of tech reporters gather, Noah Kravitz is easy to pick out of a crowd. He’s the affable guy with glasses, earring and a cue-ball head; a supersmart cellphone-loving thirtysomething with a finely tuned sense of the absurd.

Online,… read more

Where Do Your Elected Officials Stand on SOPA?

SOPA Track is a new website that lets you find out where your elected officials stand on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). The tool also provides contact information and links to the social media profiles of all officials who are active on a major social… read more

2011: The Year of Reversal

You could call it the year of humility; 2011 saw its share of epic shakeups in the technology world, but it also saw an unprecedented number of them shake right back and go away almost as soon as they happened. From Verizon to HP to Netflix, the biggest names in… read more

Apple’s First iPhone Was Made in 1983 [PICS]

The first iPhone was actually dreamed up in 1983. Forget that silly old touchscreen, this iPhone was a landline with full, all-white handset and a built-in screen controlled with a stylus.

The phone was designed for Apple by Hartmut Esslinger, an influential designer who helped make the Apple IIc computer (Apple’s… read more

Samsung Shipped 1 Million Galaxy Note Devices in Two Months

Just two months after Samsung released its Galaxy Note tablet-phone, the company announced it has shipped more than one million units of the device worldwide and that it’s coming to the U.S. in the near future.

In October, Samsung unveiled its 5.3-inch, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphone, which doubles as a tablet…. read more

Where Do Browser Bugs Come From? [COMIC]

Mashable Comics are illustrated by Kiersten Essenpreis, a Chicago-based artist who draws and blogs at YouFail.com.

More Mashable Comics:

1. The Earliest Social Network Ever Discovered

… read more

Verizon Kills $2 Fee Plan Amid Consumer Outrage

The public has spoken and they don’t want to pay fees. Verizon is the most recent company to announce a fee, in this case a $2 fee to pay your bills online, and back-out less than a week after it was reported.

The public has proven that if … read more

What Are Your Predictions for 2012? [OPEN THREAD]

With just over one day left until 2012, the Internet is chock full of digital thought leaders sharing their predictions for the coming year.

Now, we want to know: What do you think will be the biggest tech and social media trends of 2012?

For some inspiration, check out Mashable Editor-in-Chief… read more

Just Did It: Nike Finally Opens a Twitter Account

One of the world’s biggest brands, Nike, just opened its first Twitter account under that name on Thursday.

As of Friday afternoon, the account had around 14,000 followers, including big name athletes like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Steve Nash. Simply Measured has tracked some of the biggest followers in the… read more

Kelly Clarkson Album Sales Rise After Ron Paul Twitter Flap

“Miss Independent” singer Kelly Clarkson endorsed GOP hopeful Ron Paul on her Twitter page earlier this week and it’s costing her the support of some of her long-time fans.

But sales for Clarkson’s album “Stronger” have skyrocketed since news of the… read more

Amazon’s Cloud: A Supercomputer Anyone Can Rent

Amazon has one of the world’s fastest supercomputers. There’s something unusual about it, though — it’s not real. That is, it’s not real in the way other supercomputers are, in a huge room filled with glowing, humming racks of processors and storage. It’s in the cloud.

Cloud computing gets a lot… read more

4 Ways Small Business Websites Can Drive More Sales

Aaron Sperling is CEO and co-founder of vFlyer, which provides online marketing solutions for small businesses and independent service providers. You can follow Aaron and his team on their Facebook page, Twitter and on the company blog.



A scenario: You envision a phenomenal idea, put all of the necessary pieces into… read more

Facebook Messenger for Windows 7 is Official

Facebook has done it’s darndest to take over your digital life. The massively popular social network has your photos, videos, a news feed, apps and games and even instant messaging. Seeking further ubiquity, Facebook is bringing its Facebook Messenger IM feature to Windows 7 as a desktop download.

While Facebook Messenger… read more

How to Follow the Times Square Ball Drop on Social Media [VIDEO]

Since all eyes are on the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball each year, it’s only natural that the high-tech device would inspire some digital initiatives surrounding the big event. From TV networks rewarding viewers for watching certain shows to following… read more

No Surprises Here: RIM Continues to Lose Market Share [VIDEO]

RIM‘s mobile market share fell from 7.1% to 6.5% between September and November, according to a recent report. During the same time period, Apple’s share increased 1.4%, coinciding with the iPhone 4S launch.

When it comes to the smartphone market, RIM… read more

Teen Prodigy Recognized by Microsoft Now in Critical Condition

A 16 year-old girl who was once deemed one of the youngest Microsoft Professionals in the world, is in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest on Dec. 22.

Arfa Karim Randhawa, who received that recognition at age 9 after meeting Bill Gates, is currently on life support in a hospital in… read more

Verizon: Future 4G LTE Outages Won’t Affect the Whole Country

Verizon‘s been having a lousy month. On top of the PR disaster of introducing a new $2 service fee for paying bills online, the wireless carrier with the reputation for having the best service suffered no less than three outages for its ultra-fast 4G LTE data network. Now the company… read more

Google Reveals 2012 New Year’s Doodle

Fans of Google Doodles — the charming illustrations and re-imaginations of “Google” that appear on the site’s main page — can get an early look at the company’s New Year’s doodle with a little smart thinking and a foreign domain URL.

Google has posted its 2012 New Year’s doodle on international… read more

2011′s Biggest Winners and Losers in Ecommerce

In-demand products, unparalleled site design and usability, competitive search engine marketing, continuous innovative, exciting holiday specials — these are just some of the variables that make up a successful ecommerce business.

On the other hand, some of the top pitfalls for Internet retailers include lousy service, uninventive products, confusing corporate messaging… read more

8 Amazing Emerging Technologies From 2011

1. Networking via LED

Wi-Fi jammed? It won’t be a problem if you’re networking through your room lights. You… read more

It’s Time to Cut Go Daddy a Break

First, the obvious: Go Daddy runs horrible, sexist Super Bowl ads. PETA members and others who think animals should be treated kindly are fully justified in canceling their Go Daddy accounts because of founder Bob Parsons’s elephant shooting this past spring.

In addition, those who believe, as I do, that… read more

Shoutz Connects You to the World, One 15-Second Video at a Time

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Shoutz

Quick Pitch: Shoutz is a free social video network.

Genius Idea: Mobile-to-mobile platform for recording and sharing… read more

Now Public: Sexual Harassment Letter That Brought Down HP’s CEO [VIDEO]

When Mark Hurd resigned from Hewlett-Packard in August 2010, it was a shock to the PC industry. HP’s board forced Hurd out when he faced allegations of sexual harassment against employee and reality-TV star Jodie Fisher. The alleged activity was outlined… read more

NASA’s GRAIL Mission Will Celebrate New Year’s on the Moon [VIDEO]

While the world rings in 2012, a team at NASA will be eschewing the festivities to keep a close eye on the moon. Or rather, a close eye on two spacecraft, GRAIL 1 and 2, which will be finally reaching the… read more

Stratfor Says Hackers Only Nabbed Credit Card Information

After hackers broke into its website on Dec. 24, Stratfor has partnered with an identity protection service in an effort to give subscribers some measure of comfort. The company will offer its members 12 months of global identity protection for free.

Stratfor, based out of Texas, offers information on geopolitics, terrorism,… read more

Biscotti: The Best Product Packaging Since the iPod?

Biscotti TV Phone Box

Click here to view this gallery.

A cookie-shaped, easy-to-use, $199 video-conferencing solution is impressive, but… read more

Telecom Immunity Ruling Upheld by U.S. Appeals Court

Three appeals court judges unanimously upheld a controversial federal law on Thursday — one that grants immunity to phone companies that give government officials access to users’ online communications.

“It is disappointing that today’s decision endorsed the rights of telecommunications companies over those over their customers,” said Kurt Opsahl, Senior… read more

5 Video Game Moments that Defined 2011

It seems like every single year is “the year of gaming,” if only because the genre keeps getting bigger and bigger. Everyone thought 2006 was going to be the high water mark with the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii all battling for supremacy. Then 2009 upped the ante… read more

HOW TO: Move Your Domain Name Account

Dec. 29 is also known as “Dump GoDaddy Day.” The initiative to move domains hosted with GoDaddy to other domain registrars was spurred on by reddit user “SelfProdigy,” in the wake of GoDaddy’s public support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Even though GoDaddy has since reversed course, the company… read more

#LastTweet Collects Finals Tweets of Those Who Died in 2011

The New York TImes Magazine has scoured the web for the final tweets of some of 2011′s biggest personalities and avid tweeters who died this past year.

The magazine features tweets from actress Elizabeth Taylor, war photographer Tim Hetherington, Indy Racer Dan Wheldon, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and more.

Social media is often… read more

Verizon Customers Suffer Third Outage in December [VIDEO]

Despite claiming to be America’s most reliable network, Verizon customers reported outages Dec. 8, 21 and 28. Wednesday’s outages were reported on both the 3G and 4G networks.

Complaints came from across the U.S., including cities such as New York, Chicago and… read more

8 Ways Digital Will Improve B2B Sales in 2012

Guy Nirpaz is the CEO and co-founder of Totango, which analyzes user actions on SaaS applications, providing sales teams invaluable information in qualifying prospects and prioritizing people to contact who are most likely to buy or renew.

How B2B products and services are purchased and sold is rapidly changing. Some call… read more

Teen’s Silent YouTube Goodbye Goes Viral After Death [VIDEO]

Eighteen-year-old Ben Breedlove died on Christmas Day after fighting a serious heart condition for most of his life. Shortly before his death, he posted a two-part video on YouTube, in which he silently describes his ordeal through cue cards.

The video went… read more

To the Moon and Beyond: China’s Five-Year Plan for Space

The Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou-8, which launched earlier this year. Credit: DLR

The Chinese government released a report on Thursday that reveals details about the country’s plans to grow its space program — by creating new spacecrafts, satellites and a space lab in the next five years.

The white paper, called “China’s Space… read more

Storify Reveals Its Favorite User-Generated Story of 2011

Social media curation tool Storify doled out its Story of the Year honor Thursday to Josh Stearns, who is using the service to keep track of journalists arrested during the nationwide Occupy Wall Street protests.

Stearns works for Free Press as the journalism and public media campaign director and began documenting… read more

Google Is 2011′s Top Web Brand [VIDEO]

Google is the top digital brand for 2011, followed by Facebook and Yahoo, according to recent research tracking unique monthly visitors per month.

A Nielsen study shows Google is the top digital U.S. web company, with more than 150 million visitors… read more

HP Wants to Print Your Twitter Wishes On Balloons and Set Them Free

Would you be more likely to stick with your New Years resolutions if they were printed on balloons and set free in the Middle Eastern sky? Thanks to a festive marketing campaign from HP, you now have the opportunity to find out.

HP is printing tweets about New Year wishes on… read more

Apple’s Museum That Never Was: Why Does Stanford Keep it Secret? [VIDEO]

Where does the world’s largest collection of Apple-related history live? In a fascinating archive owned and operated by Stanford University.

But good luck actually finding the trove of hardware, software, recorded interviews, revealing documents, candid photos and internal videos. Everything… read more

Nanoparticles Could Let You Wear a Computer Made Out of Cotton

Tablets and ereaders are so 2011 — a global group of material scientists have found a way to turn cotton into transistors and electrical circuits. In the (not so distant) future, Apple’s newest product might just be a t-shirt.

That might be a bit of fantasy but the science is very… read more

Most U.S. Small Businesses Plan to Buy an iPad in 2012 [STUDY]

The iPad is certainly the top tablet as far as consumers are concerned, but businesses strongly prefer it, too. That’s the word from the industry analysts at NPD, who just published the results of a survey that shows nearly three-quarters of small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) are looking to buy… read more

Facebook Timeline vs. Old Profiles: How People View Them Differently [STUDY]

Your social media profiles have morphed as the sites they live on have changed. So has the way people view them.

To get a better idea of how profile design affects profile viewers, Mashable asked eye-tracking research startup EyeTrackShop to compare visual statistics for Twitter, Facebook and MySpace profiles before… read more

Internet Meme Playing Card Project Seeks Your Funding

If one Seattle man had his way, all playing cards would have faces — the faces of Internet memes.

Ray Thomas has launched a Kickstarter project to raise $4,200 for the production of playing cards that would feature 52 memes, including Success Kid, Business Cat, Y U NO Guy, Sad… read more

How to Launch a Social Ambassador Campaign

Curry Smith is affiliated with NOLAbound, a unique program that immerses 25 professionals in New Orleans business to discuss the city’s entrepreneurial and social media influence. You can apply to be considered for a spot in the program at www.benolabound.com/apply.

As long as brands want to improve and increase social media… read more

Who Are Your 10 BFFs on Facebook? This App Will Tell You

A Facebook app created by Visa in conjunction with the NFL will help you assemble a team of your 10 closest Facebook friends for a Super Bowl-themed video designed to promote a contest run by the credit card brand.

The “You+10 Draft,” which went live on Thursday, scrapes your Facebook Page… read more

Spotify Names Top 10 Songs Streamed in 2011

Streaming music site Spotify has released its list of this year’s most-played tracks on the site, and indie-pop band Foster the People not only claimed the top spot, it’s the only group with two singles in the top 10.

It’s been a big year for Spotify, from its U.S. launch to… read more

How the Social Media IPOs of 2011 Fared [STUDY]

Social media continued to thrive in 2011 as it fomented revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Bahrain. But investors appeared to be a lot less enthralled.

Looking back over the 19 social media IPOs of 2011, Kevin Pleines — an analyst with Birinyi Associates, a stock market research firm — found new… read more

Facebook 2012: What the Future Holds for the Social Media Powerhouse

What do you do after your site grows to 800 million users and expands to 1 trillion pageviews per month? Why, plan a $100 billion IPO, of course!

Going public is clearly the biggest thing on tap for Facebook in 2012, but the world’s most populated social network and its users… read more

Most Rented Redbox Films of 2011 [INFOGRAPHIC]

Redbox, the kiosk rental company that has outpaced traditional retail rental shops, has shared its most rented films of 2011.

With Netflix making the controversial decision to increase its prices, Redbox’s value proposition for movie and video game rentals has only increased — even after a modest price increase of its… read more

3D Optical Scanning Makes 125-Year-Old Records Sing

Dust off your old and beat up records, there might just be a way to get them to sing again. Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Library have managed to coax sound out of 125-year-old recordings using 3D optical scanning technology.

Best of all, those records come from Alexander Graham Bell’s Volta… read more

Confirmed: Verizon Charging $2 Fee for Paying Bills Online or By Phone

Verizon customers who make single payments by phone or online will be charged a $2 fee per payment starting January 15. The new fee is intended to offset the cost of processing these payments.

“The fee will help allow us to continue to support these single bill payment options in these… read more

Reddit Users Target Pro-SOPA Politicians

Members of the Reddit community have launched a digital grassroots campaign against pro-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) politicians.

Redditors began the campaign Wednesday with a post asking fellow Redditors for suggestions on a politician to target. The original poster, Reddit user “digitalboy,” was inspired by the social news site’s community effort… read more

Jewelry Site Plukka Turns Group Buying On Its Head

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Plukka

Quick Pitch: Social shopping with a group buying twist — more jewelry buyers means a lower… read more