The Flip is a popular handheld digital video camera used by many to capture precious family moments and create stunning viral videos for display on the web. While the cameras themselves are super simple to use, the results are often less than glamorous. With the help of the experts, we share 6 ways to make your Flip (or any other brand of camera) clips look like a pro handled them!

With all the noise online these days, it's tough to know who you can trust when it comes to recipes that work. There are few things more frustrating than searching for a recipe, shopping for the ingredients, and putting the time and effort into making it, only to discover that it doesn't deliver as promised. As a professional recipe developer, it's my business to know the (mostly) friendly competition. Here are the online sources you can count on for consistently great recipes and ideas.

Summer vacation is the perfect time to bust out the toys! So here's a selection of unexpected amusement we've pulled together to help make you the awesomest aunt or uncle around. (OK fine, these work for moms and dads, too.) Some are educational, some playful. Some get them outside, some help them geek out. Most are fun excuses for you to act like a kid again.

Getting indoorsy family members outdoors: it's my annual summer challenge. I'm proud to report that, despite a number of lost battles, I'm winning the War of the Air Conditioned TV Room. My next quest: THE HIKE.

The Android Market may not be quite caught up to its Apple App Store counterpart just yet, but it's certainly no slouch either. Gamers looking for a free fix on the go won't be disappointed, as a number of fun and entertaining apps are available, with more being introduced all the time.

It's caption contest time! For real prizes of course - are you ready? You have the chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! So what's the deal? Add your a caption in the comments - and you could win! Entries close midnight July 9th PST.

For the creative types, decking your home in the latest technological finds, especially those that feed your artistic hunger, is a must. Surround yourself with today's notable home devices that are sure to provide inspiration and motivation for whatever artistic path you choose. Got a full family? These devices are both family-friendly and super-popular with the kids, although the concept of sharing may have to be reinforced from time to time.

Some folks think that travel is the antithesis to living a green lifestyle. After all, driving and flying hundreds or thousands of miles creates a huge carbon footprint. Still, there are many ways you can tread a little less lightly while hitting the open road . Check out our guide of handy online tools, apps, and services that can help you plan and green your summer vacation.

The web is a great place for film buffs, and there are thousands and thousands of sites and communities geared specifically toward movie goers.

It's been a long year, but summer is finally here. For many of us, the warm weather brings the perfect time to rest, kick back, or take a much-needed vacation. Fortunately there's lots of ways to relax while going light on the earth, and we've assembled several green tech goods that are designed to help you unwind. Read on for our picks of the best technologies to help you relax.

As soon as Portland's damp, grey Winter loosens its grip and Spring brings color (if not sun) back to our neighborhood, I start hatching improbable garden schemes. I've had months to sit inside fantasizing about my dream garden, and in early Spring, reality hasn't had a chance to temper my ambitions.

Magic Choppers that slice, dice, even make julienne fries! Instant Pasta Extruders that also make perfect omelets! We've seen and tested every kind of kitchen gadget imaginable. Truth is, most of the time, you're better off with a plain old knife, cutting board, pot, and wooden spoon. But every once in a while, one shows up that is every bit as useful as it sounds. Here are six of our favorites, each one of them rings up at under $10.

Do our kids really need more encouragement to play electronic games? I'd be one of the first to say "no." Already, a multitude of screens are competing for our kids' attention, and the non-electronic world is being rendered increasingly pokey and boring. A neighborhood stroll? Monopoly with Mom and Dad? Snooze. Sure, there's the Wii, and we have great fun playing together. But the fact remains that we're still all staring at the TV.




YouTube is a great source for web savvy fashionistas looking for style tips, as it's host to thousands of videos about everything from the basics of looking presentable to the most avant-garde trends.

Staying connected and making your gadgets work for you no matter where you are is no easy task. On the move, commuting or on a field trip ... sometimes these gadgets are even more useful when paired in unexpected ways.

No point in being uncivilized while you're escaping civilization, take your tech along with you. These reasonably priced gadgets make camping a little more comfortable, but don't leave you wondering whether it would have been cheaper to buy an RV.

Read any good books lately? Maybe you're actually reading MORE since you've gotten that new smart phone? We've got a few super apps designed to help you read more on the go, get more from the text you do read, and make each juicy word more enriching. 

TVs, media players, stereos, iPods, radios: with modern electronics evolving and shape-shifting at a dizzying pace, flexible media storage has become an essential element in the well-organized house.

Some folks feel that savoring nature requires leaving all material possessions at home. Others need a little help from technology. If you fall into the latter category (and let's face it, most of us do), you're in luck: A number of iPhone apps are designed to enhance our experiences in the wild. No matter what outdoor activity you prefer, there's an app for that.

Too time-starved and money-strapped to plan a family vacation, you say? Such is the lament of today's busy parents, not to mention their equally overscheduled prodigy. Stressed out Americans leave over 460 million vacation days on the table each year. Yet consider the irony: families too busy to plan a vacation are precisely the ones who need one the most.

Summer's almost here, and your child is still surgically attached to the nearest glowing screen. If you'd like to nudge your kids outdoors without the ensuing drama, these gadgets for kids will hold their attention while they take in a little fresh air.

Each summer, families across the world choose to devote an extended period of time together as a unit, traveling long distances to foreign lands, hiking tall mountains or voluntarily trapped in cavernous tents. This annual event is commonly called "The Vacation." Ever heard of it? In today's work-till-you-drop society, "vacation" can certainly seem like an unknown term. Yet family vacations are still a popular way to reinforce the bond often lost amid busy schedules, as well as a way to prove to skeptical kids that their Moms and Dads are still cool (depending on where you go for vacation, of course).

After a long day at the office, you may think the last thing you want to do is chop, steam, and stir, when that microwave dinner is two minutes in the making. But cooking can be therapeutic.  And whether you're a certified foodie or a comfort food connoisseur, the web is a bountiful resource of recipes and cooking how-tos.

One of the greatest things about the iPhone is the App Store. The slogan, "there's an app for that" exists for a reason -- there is an app for almost everything. Sometimes the hardest part is actually finding the best applications in a certain category.

Do you sometimes feel as if time is moving faster than ever?

The downside of the efficiency and immediacy of today's technological advancements is that we can cram more tasks in our day than ever before. While this results in days that are much more productive, the downside is that they are often less meaningful. Workday memories are a muddle of e-mail alerts, scheduled appointments and microwaved lunch breaks, while our weekends are spent trying to recuperate from the speeding bullet that has become our lives. 

Camping is the ultimate vacation experience for environmentalists. It allows both city dwellers and suburban folks to reconnect with nature. Plus, it's relatively low impact-most sites are totally off the grid, so as long as campers make sure to clean up after themselves, it's one of the most eco-friendly trips out there. Luckily, there are a number of techie goods to make the adventure even more enjoyable. Before you hit the great outdoors, check out our list of green gadgets and services for campers.


You have 15,000 photos on your hard drive and nothing on your walls. Here are a few clever ways to display snapshots quickly and change them out often. Go ahead and hit print.

Could you be having more fun with your camera? Always. Here are seven great options for getting started:

There are so many kitchen gadgets out there that can change the way you cook. They can make a tedious task easier, faster and more fun. Or they can do things to food you didn't know were possible. 

You don't have to master Photoshop or take fancy art classes to create great looking original art. Here are 5 low-cost super easy apps for creating artistic and fun images in just a few minutes.

From eating out to cooking at home, foodies have it made thanks to the large number of delicious iPhone apps available to help them find, order, and make tasty meals.  From locating the hottest new restaurants to reserving a seat at a local favorite, from tracking down farm fresh produce to cooking a five-course meal, the following selection of foodie-centric iPhone apps will make your life positively scrumptious. 

What in the world is this guy doing?

Join My LifeScoop and NOTCOT as we look for the funniest, most creative or craziest caption you can muster.

The iPod Touch is known for two things: its ability to store and play back music, and its large library of apps. The iPhone is the same device but with phone functionality and a 3G data connection. If you have either, you've probably guessed that they're great for apps that enhance your music-listening experience.

There are at least hundreds or maybe thousands of music apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. Some of them are fantastic -- some not so much. Consider this list of 10 apps a sampler of the best the Apple App Store has to offer.  Each one is both popular and highly rated by iPhone and iPod Touch owners like you, but we'll admit we've also selected some personal favorites!

This list wouldn't be complete without feedback from you, our readers, so be sure to tell us which apps you'd add in the comments.

"We all live in a yellow submarine" says the popular Beatles tune. In an age of encapsulating iPhones and captivating computer screens, it is easy to forget that there is such a thing as the outside world. If you're stuck indoors, however, there are still many ways to get reminders of the natural life that exists on the other side.

It's truly a great time to be a music lover online, as a host of startups, independent musicians, and creative thinkers are increasingly banding together to re-invent the music industry for the digital age. More mainstream artists and labels, although slower to catch on, are also stepping in to solve lingering licensing problems and legal disputes that have plagued music's transition to the online world.

I'm no iPhone evangelist. I acknowledge it's groundbreaking technology, it's extremely useful, fun, beautiful, etc., etc., but I can't seem to get past what it does to its owners. I'll spare you the full-on soapbox, but I believe that people's love affairs with their iPhones -- complete with the stroking and the fawning and the moon-eyed gushing -- tend to interfere with their real-life activities. Things like walking. Looking at people. Noticing what's happening right next to them. The iPhone is just TOO fun and useful. It competes a little too successfully with real life.




Have you ever spent a half hour decoding a weight and time chart that promise to help you perfectly roast that $100 prime rib, only to discover, a few hours later when guests arrive that the only person with teeth strong enough to cut through the dry, overcooked boulder in the kitchen is the family dog?

In today's shaky economy, the last thing one worries about is keeping up with fashion trends. With skyrocketing gas prices and a scarce job market, the expensive wares of top designers seem farther than ever. Nevertheless, just because you can't afford a look on the rack doesn't mean you can't get the look at all. There are many online resources available to help you get a high-end look on a shoe-string budget. Of course, once you've gone through all the sites listed, don't forget to check out BurdaStyle, our sewing community with loads of open-source patterns, techniques and thousands of passionate DIYers --- perfect for frugal fashion followers.

There's no longer an excuse to sabotage your diet when away from home: Smart phones go with you everywhere, and can even be used to encourage, educate, and hold you accountable to your fitness goals. So what tools are worth the hype? We share the eight downloads you'll want to check out before you start pursuing those ambitious diet objectives.

Camera accessories help you get the shot you want wherever you happen to be, which means your photos prevail in the Most Fun Life contest on Flickr. These toys will help you take iPhone photos in dark bars, bring your camera along on your rafting trip, recharge your batteries without sacrificing outlet space, and more.

Beamer iPhone Case, $38
This case has a built-in LED light, which acts as a flash for you iPhone camera. It's currently available for pre-order, which is why friends haven't already been blinding you over beers.

For all the complaining you hear about kids these days watching too much television, you'd think they would actually be, well, watching television. But many of them aren't.

As it turns out, young people are increasingly turning off the tube and turning on their laptops when they want video entertainment, but it's about more than silly YouTube clips.

Original web TV programming and streaming options for popular traditional TV shows have people asking the question, "Why do we need cable?" It's difficult to come up with a good answer to that one, so here are a couple reasons you don't.

I often hear about fun things going on about town, but I'm not ready to schedule them into my day/week/month. Other times, I find myself and my kids with a free hour or afternoon and wonder, "What can we do with this little snatch of time?" After years of stumbling along with both of these problems, Google Calendar (and a little no-duh thinking) has presented me with a solution: my own personal events calendar which I call "Possibilities."

Super Bowl Sunday is almost here, and there's plenty of fun to be found online both now and on game day. (Not a fan? Esquire rounds up "11 memorable attempts at Super Bowl Counterprogramming" like Puppy Bowl and the ill-fated In Living Color Live). 

Super Bowl Video Online

Unlike the State of the Union Address, you can't technically watch Super Bowl XLIV streamed online. But Hulu's NFL Network has added eight shows you can watch online, including Super Bowl Highlights and Season in Review. Plus, watch video highlights from past seasons of all the NFL teams. CBS's Countdown to Kickoff is a frequently updated news and video feed. And of course, if you just watch the Super Bowl for the ads, you can catch a preview of some of the best and worst ads online now - and watch them as many times as you like (more on that later).

My camera bag was stolen a while ago while I was traveling, and I've been searching for a perfect replacement ever since. I'm looking for a lightweight bag for casual shooting with room for my wallet and iPhone. I recently asked my Twitter followers for some good suggestions, and these are a few of their most beloved bags:

In 2009 Mashable has expanded at a faster rate than ever before, and in 2010 we expect to grow the team significantly more. The hockey stick growth of social media has created high demand for insight, commentary and breaking news on the evolution of social tools online - we aim to meet that demand and become the first port of call for those looking for information and guidance related to this exploding industry. Our positioning is ideal: we simply need to execute correctly.

As we grow, we increasingly use online tools like Google Docs to work collaboratively; with a team spread across 9 cities and 2 continents, it's doubly important to ensure that we retain coordination. How can we manage that growth and ensure all team members stay on the same page? How can we preserve our core values while continually adding to the team? How do we retain quality while also increasing the quantity of our content? Those are the questions we ask as we formulate our resolutions for 2010, and devise strategies for carefully managed expansion. Our resolution for 2010 looks to retain efficiency by using these tools: one in particular.

Exclusive Mashable LifeScoop Video from My LifeScoop on Vimeo.

One of the best thing about modern road trips: "Getting lost is completely impossible when you have a device that tells you where you are," writes Transmissions from the Vault. Ride Lust covers about a BMW navigation system that knows where you're going before you do--too bad it won't be available for five years. Road Trips for Families lists 10 Geeky Gadgets for Roadtrips with Kids. Citizen Gamer found that iPhone Apps like "Wheels on the Bus" and "Peekaboo Barn" were lifesavers on a road trip with kids. GeekSugar suggests more kid-friendly road trip apps, while Mashable has 11 essential iPhone apps for a road trip. Career Overview rounds up 99 iPhone apps for business travelers, many of which are useful to road trippers as well. The site also has over 25 tools for a Road Trip 2.0: "Now a road trip means streaming video, GPS, email, and Hotels.com." Big Tech learned how to use a smartphone as a navigator.

If it plugs in, boots up, or connects wirelessly, your favorite geek already owns two. Still, gadget lust is unquenchable. No matter how many mystery power cords are coiled in your junk drawer, there's always room for more toys in the heart of a gadget lover. Check out our geeky picks for any budget.

There are thousands of apps for your iPhone, so it is no surprise that you can navigate the holidays with your iPhone as well.   For this mission, I choose to focus solely on apps that can be had at my favorite price point - free.  In exchange for viewing a few ads, these apps will leave more money in your pocket to spend on gifts and tips for your bartender. 

In the months after I graduated college and barely had enough money to buy dinner, I reviewed music for a local indie music magazine and received boxes and boxes of free CDs for review. And because I was music addict it was not unlike letting an alcoholic bathe in a tub of vodka.

Spiffing up your home theater this holiday season? 2009 ZDNet Holiday Gift Guide picks the year's best HDTVs and Blu-ray players for different budgets, and here are CNET's budget home theater picks. BigPictureBigSound covers the latest home theater deals and has an extensive How-To section, but if you don't feel up to doing it yourself, Home Theater Review has a vetted list of dealers and installers around the country. Engadget previews the 3D technology that will soon be in your home theater, writing, "We've come a long way since the old anaglyph red and blue glasses that come in cereal boxes, so before you knock the new technology before it's even out, click through and read about the technologies that might bring us a real 3D revolution." And so you don't get carried away, Sound & Vision Magazine has six cost-saving tips to maximize your home theater.