The quirky melodies of Koji Kondo are alive and well in the hearts of Super Mario fans. That's why you'll be instantly transported to 1985 when you hit "play" on the video above.
Our pal Nick McKaig teamed up with French barbershop vocalist Julien Neel (a.k.a. Trudbol) on this brilliant vocal arrangement.
SEE ALSO: A ‘Game of Thrones’ Vocal Cover Worthy of the Iron Throne
The costumes and shtick certainly don't hurt the fun factor either. We have it on good authority that no Goombas were harmed in the making of this film.
More About: Gaming, Music, Nintendo, YouTube, super mario, video games
Julian Assange claimed in a live video address broadcast during an event parallel to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army soldier accused of providing classified intelligence to WikiLeaks, has been tortured while imprisoned.
"Bradley Manning, science fair all-star, soldier and patriot was degraded, abused and psychologically tortured by his own government," said Assange, broadcasting from the Ecuardoian Embassy in London where he's been living for months. "He was charged with a death penalty offence. These things happened to him, as the U.S. government tried to break him, to force him to testify against WikiLeaks and me."
Assange was…
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More About: US, World, bradley manning, julian assange, wikileaks
Free is great, but some things are worth paying for. Over the past few months, we've created The Hot List -- a collection of gadgets, products and services that are worth paying for. We broke down the Hot List into various sectors, from home to gadgets to entertainment. Check out highlights below and click through to the full article to see everything we think is worth paying for.
From the Nest thermostat to the Roomba, we've rounded up a slew of gadgets that'll make your day more efficient and enjoyable, from your morning coffee to bedtime storytelling.
Want to do just about anything? There's an app for that. With more than 650,000 apps each in the…
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More About: Gadgets, Tech, The Hot List, features, mashable
Apple's stock has given up all of its gains from after the iPhone 5 announcement two weeks ago.
The company's stock closed at $665.18 on Wednesday, a decline of more than 1% on the day and the third straight day the stock ended down, and opened even lower on Thursday at $664.29. By comparison, Apple's stock opened at $666.85 on Wednesday, Sept.12, the day the iPhone 5 was announced.
In the week after the iPhone announcement, Apple stock rocketed to new highs passing $700 a share for the first time in its history just five days later, thanks to Wall Street's optimism about consumer demand for the device and Apple's aggressive roll out schedule.
Apple stock remained above $700 a sha…
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Bob Dylan hasn't been a huge fan of technology. In 2006, he complained to Rolling Stone that no one had made a record that sounded decent in the last 20 years because of modern recording techniques and that "CDs are small. There's no stature to it."
So it's something of a surprise that Dylan is using a geolocation iPhone app to promote his latest album, Tempest. The Sound Graffiti app, which can be accessed at listentobobdylan.com (but only via your iPhone -- you can't download it from a desktop computer), lets fans unlock free songs from the album when they visit various locations.
For instance, 3012 West Cary St. in Richmond, Va., is the home of Plan 9 Records and 2000 4th Ave.…
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Rovio Entertainment on Thursday unleashed its Angry Birds sequel, Bad Piggies on the world.
The game, available on iTunes for $0.99 (iPhone version) and $2.99 (iPad version) and free on Google Play, is billed as "an all new game from the pigs' point of view."
The release comes as Rovio battles the perception that the firm is a one-hit wonder, solely reliant on Angry Birds. However, the company's last non-avian title, Amazing Alex has so far failed to wow critics and fans.
Since launching in 2009, Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 1 billion times, producing about $122.1 million in revenues for the company in 2011, about a third of which came from licensing and merchandising…
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More About: angry birds, bad piggies, rovio, trending
It looks like the NFL isn't the only company facing issues with its employees. The Daily Show mocked the referee strike Wednesday night with a correspondents protest, featuring Sir Patrick Stewart a replacement for senior correspondent John Oliver.
The Star Trek and X-Men star donned a wig and reported that the regular Daily Show correspondents were being replaced by actors, such as Al Pacino and Glenn Close.
SEE ALSO: NFL Controversy Sparks Hilarious Parodies
While the NFL Ref strike ended early Thursday, it looks like this "strike" could have a very different result. Watch what happens.
The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cThe Daily Show Correspondent Strikewww.t…
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More About: Watercooler, humor, nfl, political humor, the daily show
Nokia has announced the availability and pricing of its Windows Phone 8 smartphones, Nokia Lumia 920 and 820, in Germany and Italy.
In Germany, the Lumia 920 will cost 649 euros ($834); the 820 will be priced at 499 euros ($641).
In Italy, the prices will be a little bit lower, with the 920 costing 599 euros ($770).
Although Nokia did not give a precise date, the new Lumias will be available in these two countries in November.
SEE ALSOIs it Time to Adopt Windows Phone?
Furthermore, Nokia Russia has started taking pre-orders for both devices today. The new Lumias will arrive in users' hands in Q4 2012.
More About: Nokia, Nokia Lumia 820, Nokia Lumia 920
Apple may have skipped near-field communication in the iPhone 5, but that hasn't stopped everyone else from getting on board the NFC train. The latest passenger: Moo.com, which just started experimenting with NFC business cards, with a planned rollout in 2013.
You may remember Moo as the folks who brought us Facebook business cards earlier this year. Now they're giving the whole experience of exchanging contact information a needed upgrade with short-range NFC tech.
It works like this: You order NFC cards from Moo, specifying what you want the NFC tag to do. It could just contain contact information, but it can also include actions like presenting a video, or an app download, or yo…
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Country star Kenny Chesney has launched a new app to serve as a master hub for fans, blending his social media channels with live shows, album and a customized radio station.
The app -- which is now available for download for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices -- was personally designed by the "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem" singer, who says he hand-picked every built-in feature.
SEE ALSO: Jack Johnson Breaks His No-Social-Media Rule for Voter Registration Day
"I wanted these apps to be an extension of my albums and shows," Chesney told Mashable. "Even in the middle of the winter, fans can open up the app wherever they are, listen to a little No Shoes Radio, take a photo tha…
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More About: Facebook, Kenny Chesney, Mobile, Music, Social Media, Twitter, apps, ipad, iphone
Facebook began eliminating fake likes on brand pages Wednesday, after pledging to ramp up security last month.
More About: Facebook, Facebook brand pages, likes, trending
Foursquare is on fire: Shortly after it introduced the new "Always on" notifications, it has updated its iPhone app with a simpler design and personalized search categories.
Users can now see where their friends check in, explore places they haven't yet visited and monitor popular destinations. They can also toggle the map so it only displays previously visited places, as well as "Saved" locations -- that is, places you've added to your to-see list.
The new app should also be faster, and its design should work better with the iPhone 5's screen.
Foursquare's app is compatible with iOS 6; you can get it here.
More About: foursquare, iphone
Looking for a way to challenge and dare your friends in real-life activities? Klash is here to help you.
It not only helps you create these dares, it gets your friends in on the fun and they can provide “proof” as to whether or not you’ve completed the challenge.
Sound fun? It looks like it is. Possibly.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Google, the world's biggest Internet company, celebrated its 14th birthday Thursday.
Google's birth date is the subject of some controversy. According to some accounts, the company was created on Sept. 4; but in the last couple of years, Google itself has been celebrating its birthday on Sept. 27, which lands on a Thursday this year.
Since 2002, Google has been celebrating with special birthday doodles. Today's doodle is an obvious one: an animated cake with 14 candles for you to "blow" out.
SEE ALSO: Top 10 Animated Google Doodles | 10 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Google
Check out all of Google's birthday doodles in the gallery above, and let us know which one is…
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Nook Goes HD to Face Off With Kindle (CNET)
Barnes & Noble added two Nooks to the tablet family that have better screens and faster processors. There’s the 7-inch Nook HD (starting at $200 with 8 GB) and 9-inch Nook HD+ (starting at $270 with 16 GB). San Francisco Chronicle The largest U.S. bookstore chain’s new devices will take on Amazon.com’s updated Kindle Fire announced Sept. 6. The online retailer, which also pitched its new devices as a cheaper competitor to the iPad, starts its 7-inch tablet at $199 and an 8.9-inch at $299. Bloomberg Businessweek In the United States, the tablets can be pre-ordered, starting Wednesday, and will ship in late October. They will become available in the United Kingdom in late November. Boston Herald Consumers will soon have another mobile video streaming service to consider, with Barnes & Noble announcing a new product that analysts say could create problems for Netflix. Though the company declined to offer pricing details for Nook Video, which won’t be a subscription service like Netflix, Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating indicated they will rival other offerings. Reuters In many ways, Barnes & Noble, which operates nearly 700 stores, has defied expectations. It beat Amazon to the marketplace with touchscreen devices and a color reader in recent years, and won plaudits from reviewers this year for its glow-in-the-dark Nook that allows someone to read with the lights off so as not to disturb others. continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Google expanded its Takeout service Wednesday to include all the original videos a user has uploaded to YouTube.
Before, users could only download individual transcoded videos from their YouTube Video Manager; now, Google Takeout lets users retrieve original videos they've uploaded to the service all at once.
What's more, Google Takeout makes this process really simple -- a couple of clicks and you'll get your original videos back.
Google Takeout is a service that lets users take back their data from various Google services, including Buzz, Drive, Picasa, Profile, Stream, Voice, YouTube, as well as +1s, Circles, Connections and Streams in Google+.
More About: Google Takeout, YouTube, trending
Gaming gets a bad rap a lot of the time. It rots kids' brains, turns them into vegetables; it makes kids' socially isolated and neglect their studies -- those are the most common charges, and are certainly based in reality.
Used responsibly, however, gaming can become a force that actually helps mold young minds for the better. The use of electronic games in education is on the rise, and many teachers are finding that it helps students not only retain information, but remain engaged and motivated as well.
How? According to University of Bristol neuroscientist Paul Howard-Jones, there's some serious science behind the theory. Electronic games, the thinking goes, stimulate the brain to…
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Donning a pair of shades and bow tie, one "Gangnam Style" impersonator spread his smooth moves across campus for students -- and all of YouTube -- to see.
A video showcases the Psy lookalike performing the Korean singer's infamous invisible horse-riding dance in what seems like every nook and cranny of Toronto's York University.
Viewers can watch Psy 2.0. dance on escalators, on countertops, on car hoods, in crowded common areas, near policemen, near urinals and -- to the shock of York students -- in packed lecture halls. (Also, note the cameo appearance made by another impersonator: the cowboy-hat-wearing man who does pelvic thrusts while straddling "Psy" in an elevator).
So fa…
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More About: York University, YouTube, gangnam style, trending
Everyone knows people love to use a "second screen" -- be it smartphone, tablet or laptop -- while they watch TV, but no one has created an app or experience that's become the go-to place for interacting with live shows. In short, the second screen doesn't yet have its Facebook.
Zeebox could be it. Debuting today in the U.S., the app has already found a sizeable audience in the U.K. at 1.5 million users since first launching in November. The app's done well in large part due to its partnerships with broadcasters, who can both push their own content to the app and get real-time audience metrics from it. For the U.S. launch, both Comcast's NBC Universal and HBO are on board.
For view…
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More About: Zeebox, hbo, nbc universal, second screen, second screen apps, trending
Breaking up is hard to do -- especially when you're dating Overly Attached Girlfriend.
Laina Walker, the bug-eyed YouTube sensation who inspired the meme, makes a creepy cameo in fellow YouTuber Jimmy Tatro's latest video.
Entitled "Breaking Up With Overly Attached Girlfriend," Tatro makes several failed attempts to dump Walker -- after going on one date -- but she remains smitten with the frat boy.
"I just want to live in your socks, so that I can be with you every step of the way," she tells him. "I love you, Jimmy, and you're going to love me too."
The video has attracted 1.3 million views since being uploaded on Monday. Check it out, above, and tell us what you think in…
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More About: memes, overly attached girlfriend, trending
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