Dragon has separated and the solar arrays have deployed, SpaceX has announced.

With this achievement, SpaceX is the first commercial company in history to successfully launch a spacecraft towards the International Space Station.

The historic launch comes after several delays at the last second. If everything goes as planned, the Dragon capsule should dock with the ISS in a couple of days.

Watch the live stream below.

Developing…

Stream videos at Ustream

More About: SpaceX, trending

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Although neither team scored goals within the first 83 minutes, the game turned hectic as it soared into overtime, when Didier Drogba sunk a penalty goal for Chelsea’s win, 4-3. It was the first time the club won the UEFA trophy since its creation.

In other news, Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards rated third on the social TV charts for broadcast shows. Between tributes to Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, artists like Adele, LMFAO and Chris Brown swept up top awards. And Justin Bieber won Most Social Artist, based on his engagement and high follower counts on social networks like Twitter.

The data is compliments of our friends at Trendrr, who measure specific TV show activity (mentions, likes, check-ins) across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Miso. To see daily rankings, check out Trendrr.TV.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, subjug

More About: Entertainment, infographics, Social Media, social tv, social tv charts, Trendrr, TV

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Playing off the slide to unlock feature on the iPhone, Slide involves doing just that, sliding your finger across the screen in the same way you might unlock your phone. The difference in Slide’s case, however, is that you have more unlock bars than just one, and the bars will reappear after they’ve been slid open, often at a ferocious pace.

The game has four different modes: classic, twist, doubles, and revenge. As you play you slide unlock bars from right to left and left to right, and the game keeps track of how long you’ve survived in the game, how many times you’ve successfully slid to unlock, and the rate of time between each unlock. All those factors are combined together into a score.

Scores can be shared on Facebook and Twitter. The game also has OpenFeint and Game Center support, so you can compete with friends and keep track of how you’re doing against your friends on leaderboards.

While on the surface Slide may seem simple, the longer you play the game the faster the slides start to appear and the more difficult the game becomes. The result is a highly addictive game you’re likely have a bit of trouble putting down.

Slide is available now for free for iOS devices.

Have any of you given Slide a try? Let us know what you think in the comments.

More About: game, iOS, iphone

After releasing a range of affordably priced accessories and fragrance products exclusively through its Facebook shop, Oscar de la Renta is now testing social media users’ appetites for more expensive merchandise. Shortly after debuting at ODLR’s Resort 2013 show in Manhattan (and online) Monday afternoon, the company made available a sequined baseball tee for $2,490 on the website of Pinterest rival The Fancy.

Given The Fancy’s relative infancy (the site was launched last year and has around 750,000 registered users, compared to six-year-old Facebook’s more than 900 million) and that it has yet to move high-end merchandise in any significant quantities, the initiative seems more of a publicity stunt than a genuine sales effort. As Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen observed in an interview with Mashable last month, the company is motivated to partner with people and platforms that “have momentum” in order to get people “to spend time paying attention to [Oscar de la Renta], not [its] competitors.”

What do you think of the initiative? Is this a step in the right direction for ODLR? What kinds of merchandise would you be interested in purchasing immediately after a runway show, and through what channels?

More About: ecommerce, Fancy, fashion, oscar de la renta, retail, social commerce

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Using the Facebook Pages Manager app you can respond, post and comment on your page, plus post updates and photos. Just install the free app, then login to your Facebook account.

Last week, the app rolled out to markets around the globe for beta testing, reported Mobile Burn, and now all U.S. users can download it from the App Store. The new app requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Facebook is a fan of apps, after all. In March, the company announced it will launch its own app store that will enable paid Facebook apps — for both iOS and Android devices.

Will you download this new app from Facebook? Tell us in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kevinjeon00

More About: apps, Facebook

Name: Motilo

Quick Pitch: Shop and style fashion products with your friends.

Genius Idea: Like going to the mall with your best friend, online.

Sofia Barattieri and Maysoune Ghobash wanted to shop together. The best friends and former shopping buddies had suddenly found themselves on separate parts of the globe, and missed being able to suggest items and get feedback from each other when perusing for clothes and accessories in their favorite stores.

And so they were inspired to launch Motilo in April 2011. The site, which nabbed “Most Innovative Website” at the Guardian Awards for Digital Innovation earlier this year, serves up a feed of fashionable items from retailers like Net-a-Porter and Farfetch, which girls can assemble into outfits, a la Polyvore. While they’re browsing, they can chat with their friends to praise a certain blouse, or recommend a different pair of earrings.

When they’re finished browsing and styling, users can click through to purchase their looks from their respective retailers.

It’s a well-designed site, and a neat solution for those content to shop from the (mostly high-end) retailers included. For those who tend to shop from other retailers — a Banana Republic, say, or Ann Taylor — the experience is less seamless; users can still swap links and discuss products, but they will be unable to style items or click to purchase when they’re done. As Motilo expands its range of retail partners and its mobile offerings, we can see this improving, however.

Try it for yourself and let us know what you think.

Image courtesy of Flickr, andrewarchy

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, 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.

More About: bizspark, ecommerce, fashion, motilo, retail, shopping

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Name: SleepBot

Quick Pitch: SleepBot is a free Android app that tracks your sleep patterns — no headband or wristband required.

Genius Idea: Spots problem areas in your sleep over time.

Having trouble staying up at work? Not functioning at your best? The SleepBot app — which tracks, logs and analyzes sleeping patterns — may help.

The SleepBot app was dreamt up by two sleep-deprived college sophomores in 2010. Jane Zhu was a finance and marketing major at NYU when she met Edison Wang, an electrical engineering major at Cooper Union.

“We were both college students and up at 5 a.m. in the morning,” Zhu told Mashable. “We were the only people that were always up, so we started talking to each other. I started joking with him saying, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to track how much sleep we’re missing?’”

The duo wanted to create a tool that would let individuals punch in and punch out of slumber. The last thing most people touch before bedtime is their phone, Zhu says.

The students didn’t set out to form a tech startup until the numbers started rolling in. About 70,000 to 80,000 users currently track their nighttime routine on the app every week. The number of installations from Google Play are even higher.

“To be honest, it didn’t start off as a business,” she says. “We have a goal to actually help people. But, we know that it’s possible now because of the demand of people who want to do this for sleep.”

SleepBot is now manned by a New York City-based team of three. In its current incarnation, the app offers users a way to track sleep, set alarms, get sleep tips and view stats online.

Users can compare their sleep patterns in monthly, weekly or day-to-day periods. A sleep report card displays total rest time, cumulative debt, average daily sleep and their most frequent bedtime and waketime.

The web platform syncs up with the mobile platform. Updates and data sharing to Facebook or Twitter can take place on a desktop or mobile device.

SleepBot won an NYU-sponsored Startup Challenge in May. The $40,000 prize money allowed them to lease an office, boost servers and start working on the upcoming iOS application.

The team wants to incorporate mobile accelerometer readings to the app’s reports. Most smartphones have accelerometers to track movement. Zhu explains this is something the readers really want. She hopes to have the feature available with an app update by August. Another future feature: the ability to include hashtags in nightly sleep reviews.

“You can then compare all your notes and sleep ratings with the #alcohol tag to see how it affects how well you sleep,” Zhu says. The variables to track are up to the user.

The next step for the startup is to create a digital space for its passionate sleep community. The team sees the sleep management app growing into a lifestyle brand that connects doctors and retailers to interested users.

“We didn’t realize that sleep was a social issue,” Zhu said. “We want SleepBot to be a lifestyle app, not a help app. We don’t want it to be associated with ‘how much medication should i take?’ We want people to find out how they can improve their lives and have people to communicate with.”

“We want to change the people view sleep,” she adds. “It’s something that people see out of their control or something they can’t manage. Sleep can be something they can actively schedule and enjoy.”

Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, Jim Blob Blann

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, 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.

More About: bizspark, sleep, startup

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Page commented on the recent Facebook IPO saying, “I don’t want to speak about their thing. But I think it’s great to see that competition really — our competition and just the Valley is thriving.”

He also answers Rose’s questions regarding the possibility of Facebook overtaking search, to which Page says it’s “unfortunate” the company is so closed with its data. “In general, I think we’d like to see content on the Internet being made more open and so on,” he says.

Charlie Rose has interviewed dozens of notable figures in the tech field, including Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Mark Zuckerberg and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, to name a few.

The PBS program will run at 11 p.m. on Monday and on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Bloomberg. Check this local station guide to find times in your area.

More About: charlie rose, Google, larry page

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A couple weeks after unveiling a new logo and a few months before moving into a new arena, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets have hopped on the bandwagon of one of social media’s hottest new apps.

The Nets — formerly of New Jersey but Brooklyn-bound next season — became the first pro sports team to join the popular video sharing service Socialcam when they posted this teaser video last week. The video touts the team’s on-court history and natural fit in Brooklyn.

Socialcam is looking to establish itself to unfamiliar fans as well. Since spinning out of Justin.tv last summer, the mobile app has been battling with the startup Viddy for the early lead in social video. Socialcam now claims about 36 million users to Viddy’s base of 26 million. Other startups including Color and the the Leonardo DiCaprio-backed Mobli Media are looking to gain traction in the space as well.

New York City is the nation’s fastest-growing tech hub, and joining Socialcam indicates the Nets want to take full advantage of their new home’s digital culture. But the team will have its work cut out for it to stand out in the social savvy NBA. The NBA is arguably the world’s most advanced pro sports leagues digitally, with its teams and players very active on social media.

The official @NBA account recently became the first pro sports league profile to reach 5 million followers on Twitter. Counting official league, team and player profiles, the NBA claims more than 260 million combined Facebook likes and Twitter follows.

Do you think Socialcam can catch on with more pro sports teams? Let us know in the comments.

More About: NBA, social cam, sports

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Since the iPhone 4S began coming standard with Siri last October, the voice activated personal assistant has become a cultural phenomenon. Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel star in Siri-themed ads for the phone. A creepy iPhone case forces you to interact with Siri. A different project enables Siri to destroy your phone if it’s lost or stolen, and a viral video shows what happens when Siri goes psycho.

But everyone’s not impressed. In March, a man filed suit against Apple, alleging that Siri “does not perform as advertised.” Anecdotally, many others have complained that Siri doesn’t respond to voice commands and questions as hyped.

Given the controversy, Internet education portal OnlineDegrees.com rounded up a number of studies and statistics from sources including The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and others over the past several months to produce the infographic below. Among the findings: 87% of iPhone 4S owners use Siri at least once per month, with just over half describing themselves as “satisfied” with her performance. 9% say they’re not satisfied, while 36% say they’re somewhere between happy and unhappy.

Only two-thirds of users, however, employ Siri for anything beyond searching the web, making a phone call or sending a text. At least 30% of users say they would never use Siri to schedule a metting, play music or even send an email, while just a quarter use Siri to send emails on a daily basis.

Check out the infographic below for more on how iPhone owners do — and don’t — use Siri. Then let us know in the comments — do you think Siri really works?

More About: apple, infographics, iphone, siri

Lawrence Lessig called Internet privacy an “oxymoron” in a backstage interview during this year’s Mashable Connect, held in Orlando, Florida. Lessig added that the solution lies in building what he called an “identity layer” into the Internet.

“In this world, [Internet privacy] is an oxymoron,” said Lessig. “But, if we could build an identity layer into the Internet, we could actually recreate the idea of Internet privacy, so there would be both more privacy and more security.”

However, he said that’s unlikely to happen because Internet privacy advocates and security experts are generally unwilling to engage with one another on the issue to get the idea off the drawing board.

“The problem is the extremists in this debate, both the privacy extremists and the government security people, aren’t even willing to even engage to have the conversation necessary to give us both,” he said.

What do you think is the solution to online privacy? Sound off in the comments below.

More About: internet, Lawrence Lessig, mashable connect, privacy

The EVO 4G LTE was originally slated to be released on May 18, but was delayed in U.S. customs due to a “review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order.”

The exclusion order came from a court ruling last year when HTC was accused of violating 10 Apple patents. The judge ruled in favor of Apple in the case, and required HTC to adjust the software in its phones in order for them to be sold in the U.S. The problem in this case specifically centered around tapping a phone number in an email to launch the phone’s dialer to call a number.

The exclusion order went into effect on April 19, and both the HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE were both pulled for inspection last week. At the time HTC acknowledged the review, and issued a statement reading in part, “We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with customs to secure approval” — approval which it now appears to have -– at least in the case of the EVO 4G LTE.

If you have already pre-ordered the EVO 4G LTE, then you can expect the phone to arrive on or around this Thursday. Customers will be sent a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number as soon as their devices ships, and you can check the status of your pre-order on Sprint’s website.

More About: apple, htc, HTC One X, patent

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Steve Jobs may have built Apple into the world’s most valuable technology company in part by betting against the web. But global celebrities and some of the Internet’s brightest stars joined together to create a heartfelt tribute video honoring the legendary entrepreneur during Monday night’s Webby Awards in New York City.

Barack Obama, Bono and Sarah Silverman were among roughly a dozen celebrities and political figures to appear in the video thanking Jobs for his company’s role in changing the technology world and everyday life for millions upon millions of digitally savvy consumers.

Jobs died in October after an extended battle with cancer, and the Webby Awards tribute isn’t the only Hollywood treatment he’s getting these days. Ashton Kutcher has signed on to play Jobs in one upcoming biopic, while Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has agreed to pen another Jobs-themed flick.

The Webby Awards were founded by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in 1996, and annually honor the Internet’s top sites, apps and personalities. Mashable is honored to take the title of best business coverage (blog) this year.

Check out the full transcript of Monday’s star-studded Jobs tribute below. Do you think it was an appropriate gesture? Let us know in the comments.

The Webby Awards Honor Steve Jobs

We thank you, Steve Jobs…

For making us love Apple;

For making technology into art;

For a handheld internet;

For still changing the world;

For saving lives with red;

For spreading American ingenuity worldwide;

For exploring beyond our reach—

A unique, far-reaching, irreplaceable mind;

For making the classroom fun.

Steve Jobs was insanely great.

He made turtlenecks sexy again.

A meticulous attention to detail.

Forty-three patented inventions. Check Wikipedia.

Thank you for thinking different.

Here’s to you, Steve Jobs.

Here’s to you, Steve Jobs.

Here’s to you, Steve Jobs.

Here’s to you, Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was one of the great innovators of our time. And as his story, a story of American ingenuity,
makes its way into history, from classrooms to boardrooms, future generations will marvel—just as we
do—at this man, who dreamt so big and changed the way we live. The truth is, when we talk about
Steve Jobs, we only need one word: amazing.

More About: steve jobs, webbys

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So you want to keep fit, help the environment, stay on top of your work and make sure your gadgets are always charged. How can you stay productive in business without casting one of these priorities aside?

That’s where WeBike steps in — or should we say pedals in. Created by Belgian company WeWatt, WeBike is a hybrid bicycle desk that requires people to pedal to generate the energy they need to work.

Users are able to charge their laptops, cell phones and other devices by pedaling.

You can place several WeBike desks together to suit the type of work interaction you’re looking for. What the company calls a “straight” desk arrangement allows up to six people to sit side-by-side, while the “snake” arrangement option allows people to face each other as they sit — perfect for meetings and more collaborative work.

A recent study from Australia’s Sax Institute found that those who reported sitting for at least 11 hours a day had a 40% higher risk of dying within the next three years than people who sat for less than four hours a day. Meanwhile, the portion of jobs that require physical activity has declined by about 30% since 1960.

According to the WeBike website, you can both keep track of your physical activity and the power you are generating through an interactive LED display:

“WeBike displays instantly the degree of physical activity you are performing. The more power you deliver, the more LEDs will light up in the LED strip. When WeBike performs enough energy to charge the device initially plugged in, the bottom led strip will light up, indicating WeBike charges the device based on human power.”

The WeBike is partly made out of recycled waste materials, incorporating a sustainable approach toward work even further — its seats are made out of waste leather, and the wood used for the desk comes from waste cedar.

Each desk bicycle also comes with a built-in WiFi hotspot and 110 Volt output.

With all these features, not surprisingly, the product is not a cheap buy — a round table with three seats costs 9,950 euros, or about $12,725.

However, with treadmill desks and standing desks already available as alternative workspaces, perhaps a bicycle desk will soon join the fixture.

Would you work from a WeBike? Sound off in the comments.

More About: fitness, lifestyle

“Klouchebag” can be defined as (how do we put this delicately?) a person who is, frankly, a complete douchebag on social media. As you might infer, the word pertains specifically to Klout, a company that measures analytics to determine a user’s influence across social networks.

Users receive higher Klout scores the more active and engaged they are on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Based on a score from 1-100, Klout influence is also measured by follower count and influence. Many users have taken it upon themselves to achieve the highest possible score by loading their social networks with content and actively trying to raise their follower counts — you can imagine that some people don’t appreciate this “klouchey” behavior.

At this year’s Mashable Connect conference in Orlando, Fla., Mashable editor in chief Lance Ulanoff caught up backstage with the founder of Klout, Joe Fernandez. Ulanoff asked him what he thought of the term “klouchebag.”

More About: klout, mashable connect, Social Media, Twitter, Video

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Called My Last Wish, the app encourages users to post wishes on a ‘Wish Wall’ and then befriend others who might share their dreams.

“I believed in the possibility that there can be two persons in this world with same hopes, dreams and wishes,” Kirtan Thaker, co-founder of the White Lotus Corporation, the group behind the app, told Mashable. “I was confident that if we create a app where this possibility can be turned into reality, people will love this concept and they will get a chance to make friends who are unknown but having just one thing in common which is the last wish.”

When sharing a wish, users can also choose to attach their email address or phone number so others that share their dream can connect with them. Tapping on a person’s contact information within the app will add their information to the contacts list in your phone. You can also receive push notifications when people add wishes to the wall.

A palm icon appears beside wishes, allowing you to “aLike” a wish you share, or “give a five” to that person to express your support for their wish and become friends.

SEE ALSO: What Does Social Media Mean for the Future of Mortality? [VIDEO]

While definitely a little morbid, and certainly out of the ordinary, the app already has a little bit of a following. Posted wishes range from things such as traveling the world to writing a book. Thaker says that the ultimate goal behind the app is to help people make friends that share similar hopes and dreams, or even help someone potentially find his or her soul mate.

White Lotus plans to add a location-based feature to the app in the future to help you find people located physically around you, and if the iOS version of the app does well the company plans to release an Android version as well.

What do you think about My Last Wish? Is the app cool, or creepy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More About: App, death, iOS, iphone, trending

You’ve probably been overwhelmed by enough Instagram shots of this weekend’s annular solar eclipse to think you’ve seen it from every angle and through every filter. But you haven’t seen anything like the video above.

Photographer Cory Poole made the one-minute video by combining 700 still images through a Coronado Solar Max 60 Double Stack telescope, according to his YouTube post. The telescope “has a very narrow bandpass allowing you to see the chromosphere and not the much brighter photosphere below it,” Poole writes. Add in the dramatic, spacey soundtrack, and the video becomes even more of a winner.

What are the coolest annular solar eclipse photos and videos you’ve seen? Let us know in the comments.

BONUS GALLERY: 9 Inventive Solar Eclipse Photos From Mashable Readers

Bradley Mellon

Solar eclipse as seen from El Centro, California

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: space, viral, viral videos, YouTube

But on Twitter, it wasn’t even close — Chelsea was dominant.

The all-star London club gained 73% of team-specific Twitter mentions related to the match, while its star players were buzz magnets as well. The match’s five most-mentioned players — in order, Didier Drogba, John Terry, David Luiz, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech — all suit up for the Blues.

Chelsea’s coach even outpaced his Bayern counterpart by a rate of more than two mentions to one.

And Chelsea’s sponsor, Samsung, was mentioned nine times as often as T-Mobile, which sponsors Bayern.

This is all according to research by the marketing firm ExactTarget, which tracked and analyzed more than 1.1 million match day tweets to see how the Champions League final played out online. ExactTarget’s findings are summarized — in both German and English — in the infographic below.

Despite soccer’s worldwide appeal, nearly 69% of Champions League chatter took place in English. The chattiest countries? Great Britain, at almost 23%, the U.S. (9.9%), Brazil (9.4%), Germany (8.6%) and Indonesia (5.8%). The rest of the world together, meanwhile, produced just over 43% of Champions League tweets. Spanish was the second most popular language for tweeters, at 15.8%.

This celebratory tweet from Chelsea’s official Twitter account gathered the most match day retweets, with more than 7,000. Congratulatory posts from UEFA and Spanish power FC Barcelona also gathered more than 2,800 retweets apiece. Chelsea, meanwhile, used the weekend’s social media buzz to surge past 1 million Twitter followers.

For the full picture of how this weekend’s Champions League final played out on Twitter, check out the infographic below.

Did you follow the match? What role did Twitter play for you? Let us know in the comments.

Thumbnail image courtesy toksuede, Flickr.

More About: infographics, sports, Twitter

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Bradley Mellon

Solar eclipse as seen from El Centro, California

Click here to view this gallery.

Over the weekend, an astounding astronomical phenominon occurred: an annular solar eclipse. This type of eclipse, which happens less than once a year, occurs when the Earth’s moon crosses paths with the sun to create the effect of a spectacular glowing ring. This is due to the size of the moon compared to the size of the sun.

Only people in a certain geographic area get to glimpse each of these rare phenomena. This time, people in Japan, California, Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, and New Mexico were granted the best view.

We asked Mashable readers to submit their best picture of the solar eclipse. We received very inventive photo submissions from across the world.

Check out some of our favorite solar eclipse photos that you sent us, and let us know in the comments what you thought of the eclipse.

More About: photography, Solar eclipse, space

The B9Creator is a do-it-yourself 3D printer kit. Currently, it’s one of the most successful 3D printer projects seeking funding on the website. Backers have already raised $164,418 with 21 days left until the funding deadline. The project surpassed the initial $50,000 goal within a day.

Supporters of the project will receive a B9Creator 3D-printing kit with a donation of $2,375 or more. The estimated delivery date for a limited number of printers is August 2012.

Guitars, custom prosthetic limbs and jawbone transplants are all products of 3D printing. These printers create solid objects by generating layers of material on top of each other.

The B9Creator, developed by Michael Joyce, is made with anodized aluminum and stainless steel. The portable device is supposedly able generate more complex and detailed models than other 3D printers.

It does so via a projector, which is attached to the machine mechanically and shines light to “cure” the resin material, setting it in place. This allows the B9Creator to generate fragile, high-resolution molds. The 3D printer generates about an inch of material every hour.

The resin costs 10 cents per gram. A miniature Eiffel Tower mold printed by the B9Creator is seemingly sturdy and extraordinarily detailed. The model, which weighs about 12 grams, only used about $1.20 of material.

Once the B9 is in production, consumers will be able to build and print resin models at home. The machine is less than 30 pounds and about two and a half feet tall. The B9Creator kit will come up with basic software allowing users to come up with new models. The printer — upon completion of the project — will have an open API for developers to advance the existing software and hardware.

Would you buy a 3D printer for office or home use? Tell us in the comments what you would create.

More About: 3D printers, kickstarter, Tech

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Music-streaming site Spotify announced on Monday that it is headed down under.

The Sweden-based popular service — which came to the U.S. in the summer of 2011 — will be bringing its platform of more than 16 million tracks to Australia and New Zealand. The move highlights Spotify’s aggressive growth strategy of expanding into new markets.

Although Spotify recently launched in Germany, it has yet to debut in certain regions, including Latin America and Canada. Competitors such as Rdio, which is already popular in Brazil and Canada, and Sony Music Unlimited, which has currently the broadest international availability, are already mainstays in Australia and New Zealand.

However, there is no denying that Spotify has its sights set on global growth.

Unlike its initial offering in the U.S. which featured only six months of free unlimited access, users in Australia and New Zealand will have full access to Spotify indefinitely. In March, Spotify revealed plans to keep the service free past the six month trial. Originally, for those that didn’t sign up for a premium package — ranging from $4.99 to $9.99 a month — the site would be limited to 10 free hours of streaming music each month.

Which country do you wish Spotify would roll out its services to soon? Do you think the platform is on path to become the largest of its kind? Let us know in the comments.

More About: apps, Music, rdio, sony, spotify

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Redditors currently serving in the U.S. armed forces are about to get a big thank you from the Reddit community. The social news site aims to pair users in the U.S. with members serving abroad in an offical Reddit gift exchange for the troops.

The initiative is part of a larger ongoing project, “redditgifts.” This secret-santa style gift exchange allows users to swap goods with each other. Past redditgifts exchanges have presented users with DVDs, letters, basic necessities and even a laptop.

The troops gift exhange launched Tuesday — and comedian Stephen Colbert has already claimed the first spot on the list of gift givers, or “santas.”

Colbert is no stranger to Reddit. The community caught his attention when they raised more than $100,000 in less than 8 hours for the “Restoring Truthiness” rally

According to Reddit, it will be getting more well-known Redditors to join in on the redditgifts for troops exchange too.

In the video below, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian claims he was inspired by recent conversations with members of the armed forces on Reddit who received care packages from other users.

This is one of many recent initiatives from Reddit that show the impact it has when it convenes its large community for goodwill. We’ve seen what small gestures and random acts of kindness had on one terminally ill man, and Ohanian hopes to bring the same encouragement and good-spirited nature to the many troops overseas.

Signups for troops and santas begins Tuesday May 21, and ends June 18. Users sending care packages must ship by July 9.

What do you think about Reddit’s recent acts of social good? Share your thoughts in the comments.

More About: reddit, stephen colbert, trending, U.S. Military

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Josh Lafazan, an 18-year-old high school senior from Syosset, New York, shattered all kinds of records when he was elected to his school district’s board last week. He became the youngest-ever elected official in New York state, and voter turnout was well above normal.

How did Lafazan make such an achievement possible? In part, thanks to smart use of the web and social media.

While many commentators are marveling at the Internet’s ability to bring together large swaths of people from across nations, Lafazan’s campaign did just the opposite: he used his website and social media, such as Facebook and live video service Spreecast, to bring together his nearby friends and neighbors under his campaign’s banner.

“Josh was the only candidate for school board to have a personal website,” said Jake Asman, Lafazan’s campaign manager and fellow Syosset High School student. “He really went out there and expressed his campaign views. He used his Facebook page and Spreecast the same way.”

On Spreecast, Lafazan engaged in face-to-face town halls with his soon-to-be constituency. Asman credits the video site with a great deal of the campaign’s success.

“Spreecast was a big one for us,” said Asman. “We had more than 2,000 views on our first Spreecast. Josh was able to interact directly, face-to-face with members of the community. It’s one thing to have a story on [the local news], it’s another for people to ask questions directly. He answered every question he got, it took almost two hours.”

Lafazan also built up a sizable community of followers on Facebook. A note he posted thanking his supporters gathered more than 400 likes — an impressive feat for a candidate in a campaign with only a few thousand voters.

Social media proved useful when the campaign took a turn for the bizarre. The Syosset school district accused Lafazan’s father, Jeffery, of stealing information about the district’s residents. An automated message that went out to voters before the election said that “Jeffrey Lafazan unlawfully removed district records that contained the names and addresses of residents. He removed the records without permission and ran away,” according to NBC.

Lafazan’s father later returned the documents, saying he didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to take them.

Lafazan, meanwhile, labeled the accusations as a “smear campaign.” He took to Facebook to explain his side of what happened, and Asman said that move helped Lafazan beat the rumors.

“When the school district tried to pull their smear campaign, Josh hopped on Facebook and sent out a status with what had really happened,” said Asman. “It got 250 likes and 200 shares. People very quickly realized what was happening.”

Of course, Lafazan campaigned hard in the offline world, too.

“He was in the community and the high school every day, interacting with neighbors and other seniors that were 18 and could vote,” said Asman.

Lafazan went on to win the election by more than 2,000 votes, or 82% of the total votes — and it looks like he’ll be using social media to govern, not just to campaign.

“If anyone has any suggestions to help improve this district,” wrote Lafazan in a post-victory Facebook post, “do not hesitate to contact me and share those ideas with me.”

How is social media changing local elections in your neighborhood? Let us know in the comments.

Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, sjlocke

More About: Facebook, Politics, Social Media, spreecast, trending, US

1. Steve Jobs, Stanford 2005

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever -- because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path. And that will make all the difference."

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Graduation season is in full swing, and though some students have already received their diplomas, anyone in his or her 20s will tell you that sense of fear and uncertainty doesn’t evaporate once you step across the stage.

Whether you’re a soon-to-be graduate, a seasoned professional in the workforce, or just need some inspiration, take a few moments with these enlightening commencement speeches, some of which come from celebrities and leaders in technology.

We’ve gathered some of the most memorable moments in graduation history on YouTube to prepare you for the next big step.

Hats off to you, grads! Share your thoughts of the future in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, AlbanyLaw

More About: celebrities, education, features, Graduation, Video, YouTube

You know that bit in The Avengers where Tony Stark spreads his fingers apart in mid-air and the stuff on the screen in front of him instantly appears on displays throughout the room?

A company called Leap Motion wants to make that kind of gesture control a reality, and it hopes to take the first step with a new type of motion controller.

The Leap is a simple motion controller that you can plug into any USB port on your computer. Once it’s plugged in and you’ve installed the Leap software, it turns the 8-cubic feet of air in front of it into “3D interaction space” — basically, it’ll track any and all motion within that space, letting you use your hands to do whatever you could do with a mouse.

How is that different from Microsoft Kinect? Precision — the company claims the Leap is 200 times more sensitive than current gesture-based tech, able to track movements down to a hundredth of a millimeter. Users will be able to fine-tune the sensitivity, Leap says.

The camera, which is about the size of a business-card holder, can discern all 10 of your fingers individually, and even tell your thumbs apart. Such detailed scanning lets you perform actions like pinch-to-zoom, or zero in on fine details in a drawing app (check out the video below for more applications).

It all sounds a little too good to be true — especially for a device that costs a mere $69.99. The company even acknowledges how far-fetched it sounds on its web page. Leap’s goals are anything but humble: The device is all about “changing the world” by making interaction with computers more natural and intuitive.

Can’t wait to try it out? You’re going to have to wait — the controller doesn’t go on sale until the winter, but you can pre-order one now. The company is also accepting requests for developer kits, which should be available in the next few months.

How do you like the Leap? If it holds up to its promises, would you use it? What for? Browse the gallery for some ideas, and share your thoughts in the comments.

The Leap

Leap Motion just began taking pre-orders for its USB motion controller, which will cost $70.

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More About: gesture control, kinect, Leap Motion, motion control

Katy Perry‘s new lyric video for “Wide Awake,” a song the pop star debuted at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards, tells the story of her recent career events as displayed through Facebook’s Timeline feature.

The clip features lyrics to the song, career highlights and even a picture of her with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the 1:35 mark. The entire video showcases a ever-evolving Timeline starting at May 10, 2010, the day Perry announced the release date for her massively successful Teenage Dream album.

“Facebook approved us using the Timeline layout and they actually just featured it on a few of their pages including Celebs on Facebook and Music on Facebook,” EMI/Capitol Music Group’s Meredith Gardner told Mashable.

“We thought Facebook Timeline was as an elegant way to celebrate the past couple years while displaying the lyrics to the last song in the Teenage Dream chapter. During this time Katy’s star has grown rapidly and her Facebook community is a reflection of that with over 43 Million Likes, making her the seventh most popular musician on the social network.”

“Wide Awake,” written for Perry’s upcoming 3D movie Katy Perry: Party of Me, ends with a snapshot of her Facebook cover photo. The song is available on Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection.

Facebook Timeline for brands, including celebrity pages, began rolling out in February.

BONUS: Other Ways Brands and Celebrities Use Their Facebook Cover Photos

1. Red Bull

Not only has Red Bull taken advantage of Timeline, it has also created a scavenger hunt with prizes to get fans interacting with the company's history.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: celebrities, Entertainment, Facebook, facebook timeline, katy-perry, mark zuckerberg, Music, music videos

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Inside the stadium, rabbis led the sold-out crowd in evening prayers and warned of the Internet’s ability to spread “filth,” such as pornography or hate speech. The rally was sponsored by Ichud Hakehillos Letohar Hamachane, a rabbinical group with ties to a software outlet that makes an Internet filtering app for Orthodox Jews, according to The New York Times.

The thousands of attendees at Citi Field and 20,000 others at an overflow event at a nearby tennis stadium were eager to discuss the web and its impact on ultra-Orthodox life.
Thousands of women watched the proceedings from afar in viewing parties, as ultra-Orthodox law prohibits the mixing of the sexes.

“There is a very significant downside to the Internet,” Eytan Kobre, one of the event’s organizers, told The Associated Press. “It does pose a challenge to us in various aspects of our lives,” he added, citing the distractions posed by online pornography, gambling and social media as as a threat to ultra-Orthodox Jews’ “ability to pray uninterruptedly, to focus and to concentrate.”

Some technologies, such as television, are banned from most ultra-Orthodox households, but many members of the religion access the Internet via desktops, laptops and smartphones.

A pro-Internet contingent held a counter-rally outside Citi Field under banners reading “the Internet is not the problem.” Some of the counter-protesters accused Jewish spiritual leaders of turning a blind eye to reports of child molestation in the ultra-Orthodox community.

“We are fed up with rabbinical leaders’ dismissive attitude towards sexual and physical violence against children,” reads a Facebook page for the event with more than 400 attendees. “The Internet is not the biggest problem we face. Protecting children and bringing molesters to justice should be our number one priority.”

Can the internet be selectively incorporated in modern life, or does the good come with the bad? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Flickr, Kwong Yee Cheng

More About: internet, religion, US

Welcome to the next phase in on-premises beer marketing. Either that, or it’s just a cool thing to look at when you’re hoisting a few.

Either way, this glass, developed by ad agency BBDO in New York, is the most social beer glass we’ve seen. Activate that QR code and the glass checks you in to Foursquare, tweets about your pint and/or updates your Facebook status.

And in a nice branding twist, you have to use Guinness — or at least another very dark beer. If your beer is filled with an ordinary pilsner like Budweiser, you won’t be able to read the code.

[Via Adweek]

More About: Advertising, Beer, Guinness, Marketing, QR Codes

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In Mashable‘s new video series, Behind the Launch, we’re taking cameras behind the scenes at Vungle, an in-app video advertising startup. Today, one of Vungle’s publishers has pulled out, leaving the startup with a very one-sided platform. The Vungle team decides it’s time to refocus, so Colin Behr, head of business development, hits the phones to recruit publishers and build out the business side. “If we don’t move at lightning speed, someone else will be faster,” says founder Jack Smith. “It’s really good to have this paranoia.”

Watch today’s episode to see what happens, and join the conversation on Twitter, #BehindTheLaunch.

Missed earlier episodes? Watch them here!

• Ep. 1: Meet Vungle
• Ep. 2: Bringing in a Closer
• Ep. 3: How to Court Startup Investors
• Ep. 4: A Promising, Yet Controversial Job Candidate

About Vungle

Vungle is a San Francisco-based company that purveys mobile video ads to promote apps. Just last week, Vungle announced that it had raised $2 million from big Silicon Valley and Alley names: Google Ventures, AOL Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Ron Conway’s SV Angel, Dave McClure’s 500 Startups, Charles Hudson’s SoftTechVC’s, Maynard Webb, Scott McNealy and Tim Draper. Vungle also has offices in the UK and Pakistan.

Jack Smith, Co-Founder — Self-described lunatic marketer and hacker. Started his career as a freelance web designer at age 13, founded a video startup, MediaRoots, in college. Met Zain at King’s College London University in 2009. British.

Bryant Chou, CTO — Full stack engineer and software architect with more than five years of experience developing mobile apps. He’s an enthusiastic traveler who’ll share his travel tales with you over a cold beer. American.

Marta Bulaich, Chief Yoga Officer — Marta’s first job was with the masterminds behind the TV infomercial legends Chia Pet and Clapper. After a career of working with various startups and venture capital firm, she came to Vungle to do public relations and center their chi in full lotus. American.

Ben Lindsey, Senior Software Engineer — A veteran of four Silicon Valley startups with experience in Internet advertising, large scale databases and agile programming. When not slinging code, you cam find him cooking organic food, listening to electronica, backpacking around the world or running marathons.

Colin Behr, Director of Business Development — Previously founded an Internet company, CyberPlanet Ltd, with Zain in 2004, and then moved to San Francisco to start another venture. Colin eventually went to University but dropped out after speaking with Zain about his new venture, Vungle.

Ray Myers, Software Engineer — 25-year-old Linux geek who loves robotics and has been programming since he was 7. Ray is a Shotokan karate third-degree Black Belt, but you can usually find him at his computer, trying to make robots bend to his will. American.

Series presented by Internet Explorer

Behind the Launch is presented by Internet Explorer. Learn how IE is building a more beautiful web through hardware accelerated graphics and modern web standards like HTML5. Get IE9 today or download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which features the new IE10 to see where we’re headed.

More About: Behind the Launch Series, features, mashable, Startups, Vungle

Ravi, 20, was found guilty in March of a “bias crime.” While at Rutgers, he had set up a webcam to spy on Clementi kissing another man — then shared everything he saw on Twitter.

During the trial, Clementi’s father noted that his son checked Ravi’s Twitter page 37 times just before committing suicide. Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge in 2010, after posting a message on his Facebook page: “Jumping off the gw bridge. Sorry.”

Clementi’s mother described Ravi as a cold fish who failed to look up from his computer and acknowledge her son when they first shared a room. Ravi’s defense: he set up the webcam in order to ensure Clementi’s lover did not steal Ravi’s iPad.

The judge noted that Ravi had not apologized for the crime, nor did he stand for sentencing. In addition to his month of jail time, he will also pay $10,000 in 300 monthly increments, and do 300 hours of community service and 3 years probation. The prosecution, seeking more jail time, says it will appeal.

Is it enough? Does the punishment fit the crime? Vote in our poll below, and let us know your take in the comments.

More About: Facebook, Twitter, Tyler Clementi