Facebook on Wednesday became a full member of the Global Network Initiative, a non-governmental organization promoting Internet freedom and privacy rights.

In her lecture “Hacking Healthcare: How Makers can Save Medicine” at the 2013 Bay Area Maker Faire, Dr. Amy Baxter, an Atlanta-based pediatrician and pain researcher, told the story of taking her 4-year-old son in for a routine vaccination.

Like many people, her son Max was scared of needles, so she came armed with topical anesthetic cream to numb the pain, books for distraction and a juice box for a soothing sensation. But a gruff nurse came in, discredited the numbing cream by saying it didn’t work, then proceeded to tell Max to “sit there, don’t move, this is going to hurt.”

SEE ALSO: Power Wheels Resurrected In Racing League Read more...

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Rushing to your gate and making your flight, it’s easy to forget just how you got there. But, the next time you’re on your way to the airport, take a look around you. You might find that some of the most high-end and cutting-edge technology is taking you right to your destination.

It’s easy to shrug off Automated Transit Systems (known colloquially as "people movers") as robots that specialize in getting from point A to point B, but there’s plenty of exciting technology happening in that very field. Companies are working hard to not only develop products that work as well in Toronto as they do in Buenos Aires, but also to remain mindful of individual needs within cities and airports. Read more...

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Having difficulty growing a manly beard worthy of a lumberjack? Try sticking a cat up to your face, and head out the door in a flannel shirt

Cat bearding is the latest viral photo trend to sweep the confused place we call the Internet. There may seem to be no reason for the insane concept, but once you've had a cat snuggle up to your chin, you'll completely understand

The cuter and smaller the cat, the more rugged the beard

SEE ALSO: 8 Freaky Animals With Human Parts

Next up on our radar: cat hats — in which cats sit on your head to provide warmth and style. (We can't even make this stuff up, it's actually beginning to happen.) Read more...

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IBM's cognitive supercomputer Watson will soon be helping several of the company's most important customers, who will have the opportunity to ask for his assistance via web chats, email, SMS and smartphone apps

Watson's new role, called "Ask Watson," will be available to big IBM clients like Australia’s ANZ Bank, Nielsen, Celcom, IHS and Royal Bank of Canada. Watson will tap his ability to use semantic searches — remember when he beat Jeopardy's two greatest champions? — and not just keywords, making him a formidable customer service assistant

"Watson pulls up stuff that an agent wouldn’t because it is looking for semantic links, not just doing text-matching based on keywords," Manoj Saxena, general manager of IBM Watson Solutions, told Forbes Read more...

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NASA's plan to lasso an asteroid for astronauts as a deep-space dry run for a future mission to Mars has some members of Congress wondering if the space agency would be better off setting its sights on the moon instead.

The asteroid mission was announced when President Barack Obama unveiled his 2014 NASA budget request. The scheme would have NASA use a robotic spacecraft to capture a roughly 23-foot-wide (7 meters) asteroid in deep space, and redirect it to an orbit closer to the moon. Once there, NASA would launch a human mission to rendezvous with the space rock and explore it.

But members of the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee expressed their skepticism of the plan during a hearing Tuesday to discuss NASA's ultimate goal of sending astronauts to Mars. The asteroid mission was proposed as an initial step toward that goal — one that would test technologies needed for a Mars mission and allow crews to gain experience in deep space exploration. Read more...

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Arrested Development returns this Sunday for a new season on Netflix, which means that you have less than 100 hours to catch up on all the hijinks and hilarity of the Bluth family

Feeling overwhelmed? No need to have an anxiety attack of Buster-Bluth proportionsSlackstory has created an uber-supercut of the 18 funniest recurring jokes that Arrested Development writers have used time and time again for a surefire chuckle

SEE ALSO: 8 Quirky 'Arrested Development' Protest Posters

And if you need an even more structured way to remember the running jokes in the show, check out this interactive visualization. The website charts each funny saying, which episodes it's used in and explains the joke's context Read more...

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Fans booed when Bob Dylan went electric in 1965, but in 2013 in the Czech Republic no one seemed to bat an eye when the Czech National Symphony Orchestra one-upped Dylan by also going mobile.

As part of a stunt to promote a new "all-digital" bank in Europe called Hello Bank!, BNP Paribas and ad agency B-Roll wired up 60 musicians with smartphones and tablets for a rousing rendition of "Carmen." According to a behind-the-scenes video, the effort required 227 different interfaces that were hooked up to Wi-Fi

The point: You and your mobile device can make beautiful music together. Or something

[Via Creativity Online ] Read more...

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Most entrepreneurs assume they’ll have to move to Silicon Valley to make it big. Let’s face it, some regions are more abundant with investors, resources and talent than others. But if you’re in or near London, you might consider staying put — the startups below prove that building a great company with staying power can be done in The Big Smoke

SEE ALSO: 25 Startups In Surprising Places

Most operate in London exclusively, while companies that serve many regions are noted. If you live in London, which of these startups would you want to work for? If you're outside of London, which services do you wish you could use? Tell us in the comments Read more...

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This robot can sprint 13.6 miles per hour, making it the second-fastest robot on land. (Here's the fastest one, which can run 18 miles an hour.)

While the scientist dubbed it "cheetah robot," it's a bit slower than the real thing. Cheetahs can reach speeds up to 70 miles per hour

SEE ALSO: Robot Alarm Clock Dances by Your Bedside

Image courtesy of NowThis News Read more...

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Yap Music, a company advised by Steve Wozniak, is moving into the burgeoning social music market after building a popular second-screen app for television.

Social music brings music to like-minded listeners and serves as a platform for artists to reach and cultivate fans. As of late, music discovery is proving to be one of the hottest verticals in tech.

Yap Music, which debuts today on the App store, is planning a head-to-head battle with Twitter #music and a slew of other established giants like Shazam, Pandora and Spotify, which is valued in the $3 billion range.

SEE ALSO: Google Unveils Streaming Music Subscription Service Read more...

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A new generation of Retina displays with high pixel densities is now on the market. Unfortunately, that means your website imagery could instantly become ugly and pixelated if you don't take action

With the introduction of the iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple no longer measured its screens in pixels, but in points. The scaling factor of the screen changed, which determines how a point relates to a pixel. A Retina display now has a scale of two, so one point is equal to two pixels — if you draw a one-point line, it shows as two pixels wide. If you're imagery isn't optimized to account for this, your product won't make a great first impression Read more...

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Sure, Friends has been off the air for nine years, but aren't the former cast members still hanging out like old times in a cozy coffee shop somewhere in downtown New York City?

To help promote an upcoming co-hosting stint on Ellen, Jennifer Aniston taped a sketch where she shows up at friend Matthew Perry's house for advice (he previously co-hosted the talk show). But what follows is a series of awkward discoveries, forgotten names and surprise cameos.

SEE ALSO: Beyond Barrel Roll: 10 Hidden Google Tricks

We don't want to ruin the plot of the clip, but you'll get a kick out of the mini reunion and the ridiculous plot that unfolds. Read more...

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Lezione-incontro con Gioacchino Lanotte e Marilisa Merolla

Il ruolo della radio nella costruzione della nuova identità sociale, culturale e politica dell’Italia post-bellica è il tema delle riflessioni di Gioachino Lanotte, autore di “ Il Quarto Fronte ” e di Marilisa Merolla , autrice di “Rock’n’roll Italian way”. L'incontro, promosso dalla cattedra di Storia contemporanea e della comunicazione (prof. Gloria Gabrielli), si svolgerà giovedì 16 maggio alle ore 15 nell'aula 4 dell'ex Caserma Sani.

La locandina

Disponibile il verbale della selezione per una procedura selettiva pubblica, per titoli e  colloquio, per l'attribuzione di 1 assegno annuale per lo svolgimento di attività di ricerca di categoria b) – tipologia 1presso il Dipartimento di Comunicazione e Ricerca Sociale dell’Università Sapienza di Roma, nel settore scientifico disciplinare SPS/08 – Sociologia dei processi culturali e comunicativi, titolo della ricerca “Heritage University. Identità e cultura degli Atenei nello scenario dei media e delle reti digitali”, Responsabile scientifico Prof.ssa Valentina Martino

Disponibile il verbale della selezione per una procedura selettiva pubblica, per titoli e colloquio, per l'attribuzione di 1 assegno annuale  per lo svolgimento di attività di ricerca di categoria b) – tipologia 2 presso il Dipartimento di Comunicazione e Ricerca Sociale dell’Università Sapienza di Roma, nel settore scientifico disciplinare SPS/08 – Sociologia dei processi culturali e comunicativi, titolo della ricerca “Competenze digitali e capitale sociale”, Responsabile scientifico Prof.ssa Ida Cortoni

Beloved novels, games, even TV series have spawned pages upon pages of fan fiction — much of it unauthorized and unsellableAmazon is hoping to create a new model to commercialize the genre. The company announced Wednesday that it has partnered with Alloy Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. that produces novels tied to its television shows, to authorize and compensate writers who produce fan fiction related to certain shows.

Amazon writers are now authorized to publish and sell fan fiction on Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diairies, with additional licenses on the way. Writers are encouraged to self-publish their works — of at least 10,000 words — in the Kindle Store Read more...

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Thinking about death is frightening, but planning ahead is practical and leaves more room for peace of mind in our final days. In a solemn, thoughtful talk, Judy MacDonald Johnston shares 5 practices for planning for a good end of life.

Brace yourselves, New York City: Anthony Weiner officially wants to be your mayor.

Weiner formally announced his candidacy in a YouTube video that first appeared late Tuesday night and was then shared with supporters in an early Wednesday email. The video puts an end to the will-he, won't-he speculation that has been surrounding the former Congressman for months: he has long been expected to run and has already amassed $5 million in campaign funds.

Formerly a Congressman representing Queens and Brooklyn, Weiner was forced out of office two years ago after it came to light he had sent lewd texts and photos to young females who were not his wife. Weiner at first denied the allegations; he later said they were true and left Congress. Read more...

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Bloomberg Businessweek is targeting twentysomethings living at home for a campaign that aims to gently nudge them out of their parents' basements by offering — what else? — a subscription to the magazine.

The title launched the website bbwgetsyouahead.com, which houses e-giftcards that parents and friends can send to Gen Y-ers still living at home. One card from the parents reads, "Our American dream is for you to move out." A friend's card offers the following inspiring message: "**Spoiler Alert** You end up middle-aged and single." In addition to launching the site, Bloomberg Businessweek will also run an online campaign Read more...

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