Mashable Articles: December 2013

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Green Is the New Black: Netflix CEO Scores $3 Million Raise Next Year

Chances are your new year won't be as happy as Reed Hasting's.

The Netflix CEO will receive a $3 million raise, a 50% pay bump, in 2014, according to a Reuters report based on regulatory filings. The additional compensation will be a mix of cash and stock.

Just more than two years ago, it appeared as though Hastings had backed himself into a corner. After co-founding Netflix in 1998 and building its streaming service, he made a bold move in 2011 to split the company in two. The move was widely criticized and the company eventually scrapped the plans. Netflix stock, which was trading around $295 at the time, lost more than 75% of its value. Hastings faced calls to resign.

Since then, the company has flourished. Netflix has signed numerous major distribution deals and started to develop its own content, including popular and award-winning series like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards.

Instead of questions about the future of his job, Hastings now must field inquiries about whether his company's stock is too high. Netflix shares have more than quadrupled in the past 12 months.

NFLX Chart

NFLX data by YCharts

Image: Felipe Calcedo/Getty

The Best Viral Content of 2013

Historical events and celebrities will come and go, but viral content is hilarious forever. To honor their timelessness, we've rounded up the most-searched viral content of 2013 for your reminiscing pleasure. When our children's children write the stories of their ancestors, they'll write of these moments â€" Grumpy Cat meeting Oscar the Grouch and a little dance craze known as the Harlem Shake.

Check out the infographic below, based on data from Bing Trends. You'll notice that some of the trends listed are from 2012 or even earlier. Thatâ€™s just proof that, while our attention spans may be dwindling to seconds at a time, viral content has staying power.

BING-Viral-Content-web Infographic created by Mashable

6 Sites to Download Prints for DIY Masterpieces

The holiday season is the perfect time to dust off your DIY skills. With a personalized gift, courtesy of a little do-it-yourself magic, your loved ones will know you're thinking about them no matter how tight your budget.

Etsy and Pinterest are essential resources for craft and design inspiration, but here are a few hidden gems you may not have known about.

These six websites offer whimsical patterns for wrapping paper and hang tags, vintage prints and posters for unique wall art, and gorgeous graphics for greeting cards â€" making inventive gifting a piece of (fruit)cake.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Flickr, Kristin Roach

The 8 Most Common Video Game Characters

In case you haven't been paying attention, heads up: Video games are improving. Their visual quality, physics engines and plots have advanced to a point that was unimaginable even just a few years ago. But their characters â€" well, some of them could use some ironing out.

We created this illustrated guide to the characters we seem to meet time after time, game after game. We love them, hate them and have witnessed them die disturbingly often. We control their fates like we control their movements: recklessly and selfishly. Trust us, we know them when we see them.

Scroll through our list and see if you recognize any of these characters from your gaming experience. Did we forget anyone?

1. The Conflicted Space Marine

Conflicted Space Marine Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

This hero has spent a lifetime doing little besides brutally killing hordes of extraterrestrials. He majored in alien murder in college, and his resume is just 36 pages of the names of his victims. Lately, though, he's been questioning everything.

2. The "Running Into Wall" Guy

Running Into Wall Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

Your squadron is the best group of pound-for-pound warriors ever assembled. You work fast, you work quietly and you work clean. Well, except for Toby. Toby just runs into walls all day. How did he even get out of basic training?

3. The Worst Role Model

GTA illustration Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

Sure, he just blew up a hospital and stole a helicopter, only to crash it into a congested highway seconds later. But he's a decent guy, really. You haven't seen the cutscenes; you don't know him like we do.

4. The 10-Year-Old With Way Too Many Responsibilities

10 year old Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

What terrible parents this poor fifth grader has: "Timmy, before you learn how to swim, you have to save the world from the greatest threat it's ever seen. And don't come home until you're done, either. Here's a twenty for food, now take your unpredictable wild animal and get out of here, mister."

5. The Scantily Clad Mega-Soldier

Mega-Soldier Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

Nothing ruins believability like a skilled master of the battlefield, wearing nothing but a skimpy sheet of pixels over his or her private parts. The sacrifices he's made for this country alone should warrant him at least some pants, don't you think? Maybe some mittens? Somebody get him a robe so he can cover up.

6. The Useless Sidekick

Useless Sidekick Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

Here's Keith. He's going to be your sidekick for the next 18 hours of gameplay, and you're going to develop a hatred for him that will far surpass any you've ever felt before. He'll take your health packs and hide behind a wall, forcing you to incur all the damage. You can admit it, you've thought about joining the forces of evil just to take him out.

7. The Grunts

Grunts Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

The Grunts have by far the most logically sound reason for wanting you dead: You've killed about 4,000 of their friends and family. These low-tier villains are so weak and easy to mow over, you might actually start to feel bad for them.

8. The Almost, Nearly, Just-About-Invincible Boss

Final boss Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

Alas, you've made it all the way to the final boss. He is all-powerful, indestructible, he knows your every move. You have absolutely zero chance in killing him, so just forget it. Oh, wait. What's that obvious glowing orange thing on his chest? Have you tried shooting that?

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Mashable, Max Knoblauch

15 Snowman Ideas That Don't Require Snow

The first snow of the season is a magical experience, full of snowmen, sleds and hot cocoa.

By the fifth snow of the year, however, it's all about avoiding the outdoors at all costs.

If you're over the snow, but not the fun that comes with it, find inspiration in these wintry Instagram pics that show you how to build a snowman from materials that won't give you frostbite.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Instagram, katiebville

How Visual Systems Can Improve Wearable Notifications

Many brands are excited about the opportunity that wearable technology presents. As smartphones become more common among consumers, wearables represent the next frontier in engaging brand experiences for early adopters of technology. The main problem is that wearable devices aren't currently designed for the rich interactions that brands want to create.

The benefit of wearable technology is immediacy. Devices can communicate with wearers about their environment and create or change a behavior in the moment. However, most of the current wearable technology offers limited user interactions. Instead of engaging with content on a wearable device, rich interactions are facilitated through another device like a tablet or smartphone.

Wearable technologies like Google Glass and smartwatches such as the Samsung Galaxy Gear give brands new form factors to deliver experiences.

Google Glass employs most of a wearer's field of vision to display information, but most smartwatches limit the amount of information that can be viewed. The screen size of smartwatches makes them unsuitable for delivering long, text-heavy messages in apps. Since people don't have time or the ability to read lots of copy while they're on the go, messaging is reduced to simple notifications that prompt users to explore details using secondary devices.

An important design consideration for wearables is understanding how to deliver as much information as possible to users before they transition their attention to another device. Wearables' ability to capture users' attention, provide immediate visual notifications, and stimulate a response from the wearer requires a different approach than text-heavy communications.

The physical constraints of devices such as smartwatches offer brands an opportunity to use a rich visual language to quickly communicate to users ideas that would otherwise require scrolling through lots of text.

Branded apps should use notifications as an opportunity to reinforce wearers' brand associations through recognizable visual cues. Rather than relying on text-based messaging, a visual system that incorporates signature colors, shapes, patterns, and iconography allows brands to embed deeper meaning in notifications on wearables. Icons shouldn't just serve as a visual shorthand for text labels that wearers already see. The icons should be part of the visual language that brands use to communicate with consumers across devices and touch points, online and offline.

Brands without a visual system that maintains consistency across devices and other touchpoints are missing an opportunity to reinforce positive associations with wearers. Visual systems embody a language of their own â€" they can combine with meaningful icons in a branded context to evoke strong emotional responses in wearers as they engage with apps and experiences.

Rather than using the default color schemes of operating systems on wearable devices, signature colors from a brand's color palette can offer a boost to icons and messaging in notifications. As noted on the ColorMatters blog: "Research has reinforced that 60 percent of the time people will decide if they are attracted or not to a message based on color alone."

Brands with highly recognizable colors establish strong associations in people's minds. Tiffany & Co's signature turquoise or Orange telecom's namesake orange are strong examples. Companies with strong color palettes should seek opportunities there to communicate specific meaning in notifications to wearers. Colors should be assigned specific meaning for wearable notifications to add additional levels of significance to standard icons.

Color isn't the only visual element that can be used to evoke positive associations in wearers and improve their receptivity to brand messaging.

Signature shapes and patterns can also trigger strong emotions in people who associate them with positive brand experiences. Consider the Coca-Cola wave â€" combined with color, the powerful wave pattern serves as a substitute for the actual Coca-Cola logo. The subtle physical and emotional response it evokes can encourage consumers to make a purchase, redeem rewards, or check-in at sponsored events. While few brands have a graphic motif as powerful and recognizable as Coca-Cola's, the ability to communicate meaning through strong visual cues is valuable tool for any brand.

Along with the technical challenges of designing for a new form factor, wearables elevate the importance of a distinctive visual style for brands that want to provide a compelling experience for users. Wearables are designed to stimulate the senses and provide an enhanced awareness of the environment, which make them ideal platforms for brands that want to go beyond messaging to inspiring behavior.

Through repeated interactions over time brands can employ strong visual systems to build understanding and establish a meta-level of meaning that makes wearers more receptive to messaging through notifications and delight and inspire wearers.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

This article originally published at ClickZ here

Kids' Belief in Santa Myth Is Healthy, Psychologists Say

Generally, lying to kids is a bad thing. But for many children, believing in Santa is a normal and healthy part of development, psychologists say.

The notion of a man who flies around the world in a vehicle drawn by flying hoofed mammals, entering people's homes through their chimneys and delivering presents, all within the span of a single night, is highly improbable, to say the least. Yet the Santa Claus myth is a long-standing and powerful tradition for many families, and may reinforce good values.

"I don't think it's a bad thing for kids to believe in the myth of someone trying to make people happy if they're behaving," said Dr. Matthew Lorber, a child psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Imagination is a normal part of development, and helps develop creative minds."

Mythical Story, Real Values

The Santa myth is grounded in truth â€" after all, St. Nicholas was a real person. He became famous for giving gifts and money to the poor, and it's those values that are important, Lorber told LiveScience. "It's a real story, it's a real value and it's something that inspires children," he said. That's the spirit of Christmas, though today's consumer culture may have drifted from that spirit a bit, he added.

Santa Claus is just one mythical figure many kids believe in, along with the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and other fairy-tale creatures. Children use their imaginations all the time, even if they know the resulting creations are fiction. When kids play cops and robbers, they know they aren't really cops or robbers, Lorber said. In fact, psychologists worry about kids who lack the ability to write or tell creative stories, he said.

The Santa story is also deeply embedded in popular culture, with Santa showing up at shopping malls and in plenty of TV shows and movies, said Stephanie Wagner, a clinical psychologist at the NYU Child Study Center in New York.

"I don't think we could necessarily say it's a good thing, but I would certainly say it's not harmful," Wagner told LiveScience. Christmas brings families together, and the Santa myth reinforces these bonds, she said.

The Christmas tradition also reinforces some positive habits, such as writing letters to Santa. Lots of kids don't like to write, but they'll make the effort to write these letters, Wagner said.

Breaking the Hard Truth

But like many good things, the Santa story eventually comes to an end. Kids stop believing in Santa at different ages. Often, a friend at school will break the news.

Kids will also try to figure it out for themselves, when they start to notice that the story doesn't quite add up. For instance, they might stay up late trying to catch Santa delivering presents. Questioning what's real and what's not is a normal part of mental development, Lorber said.

When children ask their parents whether Santa is real, parents need to decide whether the child really is ready to know the truth, Lorber said. The best way to handle that is to ask the child if he or she still believes in Santa. If they do, it might be too soon to tell them.

"I think most parents have a good feel as to when their children can accept the truth," Lorber said. When parents do reveal the truth, they can tell their kids that the spirit of Christmas is real, and tell them about the real St. Nicholas.

Some families will go to extreme lengths to ensure their kids continue to believe in Santa. Parents should ask themselves whether they're perpetuating the myth to make their child happy or merely for their own enjoyment, Lorber said.

Of course, many children grow up not believing in Santa, either because they don't celebrate Christmas or follow traditions of a different culture. And some families who celebrate Christmas don't raise their kids to believe in Santa, and that's healthy too, Lorber said. However, if that's the case, parents should make sure their kids know that other children believe in the story and tell them not to ruin it for others.

Santa may be a Christmas tradition. "However, the spirit of giving to poor and to the needy, and the spirit of family and being together â€" that is universal," Lorber said.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Ralf Hirschberger/AFP/Getty Images

This article originally published at LiveScience here

The 12 Worst Things About Going Home for the Holidays

Heading home for the holidays is super exciting. You imagine your sweet parents, their delicious food and your furball cat will be waiting at home, ready to greet you.

It isn't until you're actually home that the minor irritation sets in. And it isn't until the family holiday party that that irritation turns into a full-blown meltdown in the downstairs bathroom.

We share your pain. Take this list of the worst things about being home for the holidays as a token of our solidarity.

1. Three words: Twin. Size. Bed.
2. Your mom bursting into your room at 8 a.m. to ask what you want for dinner.
3. Awkwardly catching up with your parents' neighbors.
4. Running into people from high school at the supermarket and forcing small talk.
5. Perpetually needing a blanket because your parents keep the house at 10 degrees below zero.
6. Your dad harshly judging your taste in television...
7. ...even though all he wants to watch are CBS sitcoms.
8. Your parents asking, "Where are you going?" whenever you put on your coat.
9. Stumbling home from the bar and realizing that there are no greasy food places open after 9 p.m.
10. Raiding the fridge only to realize that your parents have adopted a sugar-free, fat-free, delicious-free diet.
11. Needing to get absolutely sloshed at the family party.
12. Family members judging you for getting sloshed at said party.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Mashable, Nina Frazier

China Mobile to Sell iPhones in January and Other News You Need to Know

Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world.

Today, we're looking at three particularly interesting stories. After reports the NSA paid the security company RSA $10 million to use a flawed encryption algorithm, RSA denied allegations on its website. China Mobile will begin carrying iPhones on Jan. 17; consumers will be able to purchase the 5S and 5C at China Mobile retail stores or Apple retail stores in China. And Evad3rs, the team behind the evasi0n jailbreak, announced a jailbreak for iOS 7 over the weekend, but it was met with concern from users. According to multiple reports, the jailbreak was allegedly running an unofficial version of the jailbreak app store Cydia.

Check out the video above for more on these stories.

Image: Mashable

How to Live Blog on Tumblr

The Internet gives us the ability to experience things in real time, so it's no surprise that live blogging has become increasingly popular. Users log onto Tumblr in the middle of big events, fingers ready to type out instant reactions in text posts, sharing their thoughts with the rest of the world.

People often live blog as a way to communicate with others while documenting instant reactions and opinions. Live blogs are also great for catching up on events you missed, or creating commentary for a recorded event. While some users maintain blogs specifically for live blogging certain shows or events, the majority of users simply live blog events from their primary or subculture-specific blogs.

Live blogging on Tumblr is as simple as creating a text post and publishing it. Despite its relatively easy execution, there are ways to make your live blog more successful and more accessible to other users. If you're wondering how to start, or you're just interested in upping your live blog game, here are seven easy tips.

1. Indicate the event you're participating in or watching.

tumblr liveblog Image: Sara Roncero-Menendez

You can live blog almost any event: TV shows, sports games, awards shows, concerts, press releases and even social situations (such as parties). Some people even live blog their progress on essays or projects.

Because of this wide range of options, you should always make clear what it is you're covering. You wouldn't want someone who hasn't seen an episode or movie to stumble into spoilers by accident. You can also create a separate blog on your Tumblr account just for live blogs, but it isn't completely necessary.

2. Tag your live blog correctly.

Whichever type of live blog you choose to do, make sure you tag it appropriately. Don't add tags of other fandoms or shows in an attempt to get more notes and reblogs â€" you'll likely annoy more people than attract them.

Having a live blog-specific tag helps as well, such as "#Sara Watches the Oscars" so that people can follow you or block the tag if they don't want to see the posts. Also, if applicable, be sure to tag it with #spoilers or hide the post under a "Read More" command.

3. Use reaction GIFs for full effect.

feelings gif Image: Tumblr, Zhangyeol

Reaction GIFs are rampant on Tumblr, and many users will store their favorites in a folder for easy access. Sometimes emotions can be more properly summed up in a GIF than in an 150 word paragraph.

It isn't necessary to include reaction GIFs, of course, but it will make your post more eye-catching â€" and who doesn't love a good GIF? You can also show off your Tumblr prowess by using a GIF specific to the event you're live blogging, like the one above from the TV show How I Met Your Mother.

4. Be detailed but genuine.

It isn't likely that everyone who reads your live blog will do so right as the event unfolds. If users are looking to your live blog for information, be sure to include it.

For example, if you're live blogging a TV show, don't just say "They kissed!" without any context â€" say who kissed, and maybe even when and why. Live blogs aren't recaps, so you don't need to talk about the entire episode, but keep in mind that many readers will be reading it without having seen the source material.

At the same time, don't overthink what you write. If your gut reaction is anger, talk about why it makes you angry. Live blogs are all about genuine reactions, so don't shy away from expressing frustration or elation. After all, that's what people want to read in these posts.

5. Don't spam your followers' dashboards.

internet spam Image: Flickr, Vince_Lamb

If you've decided to live blog an event such as an awards show or a football game, you're going to be tempted to post frequently about who just fell on stage or scored a touchdown. Having a post every few minutes is normal, but posting several times in one minute is definitely not. You don't want to accidentally spam anyone's dashboards by filling it with an excessive number of posts.

A best practice is to collect multiple ideas in one post and then publish it every few minutes. That way, your thoughts are more organized, and your followers won't receive a barrage of text posts.

6. Check out other live blogs, too.

The best way to learn how to do something is to do it and make mistakes. While this is sound advice, there's also something to be said about learning from others.

Look at the live blog tag, read the entries and laugh with the bloggers as you watch the same episodes and movies. Learning by example can help you formulate your own style of live blogging and better understand the etiquette. You can even discuss common interests and opinions with other live bloggers while following their coverage.

7. Know when and where it's OK to live blog.

texting at party Image: Flickr, Benny Manzur

A given place or time will either be appropriate or inappropriate for live blogging, so it's important to know the difference. For example, don't live blog a movie in the middle of a dark and crowded theater. You need to be mindful of real-life etiquette, too, so try to live blog movies you watch at home or type out your post after you leave the theater.

While you can live blog parties, make sure you aren't upsetting your host or writing things you may regret. If you're at a viewing party, be sure to ask others if they mind if you live blog, and invite them to do the same.

A good rule of thumb is to think about whether someone else live blogging would annoy you. If there are a lot of people on their phones (as is usually the case, let's be honest), feel free to live blog to your heart's content.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Flickr, Dan Lorentz

If You Like Taylor Swift's Music, You Might Enjoy These Books

Personalization algorithms are often helpful, but not without fail â€" buy a gift for a friend on Amazon and suddenly you feel like a stranger in your own account.

Qloo is an iOS app launched in November that believes better recommendations come from being more holistic. You add favorites across eight categories (movies, books, travel destinations, restaurants, etc.), each with subcategories, and the app makes cross-category recommendations. You can't have more than five favorites per subcategory â€" an attempt to keep the app's data high-quality. Your taste in music will influence your recommendations for brunch, and so on, creating a sort of Frankenstein monster of Foursquare, Netflix, Amazon and more.

Personally, I found Taylor Swift's RED album to be excellent post-breakup, but a book, being more immersive by nature, would be even better â€" so I asked Qloo to pull from its growing database the books liked by people who like Taylor Swift. My guess was that Jane Austen, with her complicated love stories, would be on there somewhere â€" and it was, Pride and Prejudice, at number 7.

Which books make you feel like you're listening to a Taylor Swift song? Share in the comments.