'The Quest' Episode 1 Recap: You'll Feel Very Silly - Silly Is Good Right?

The Quest is a twisted fairytale mirror of a reality show, worth your attention for, if nothing else, the way it will make you feel about the way you already felt about both high-minded fantasy and lowbrow reality TV.

Which ... is a bit silly. Extra silly if you like both.

SEE ALSO: Inside Our New Nerdy Obsession 'The Quest'

Not that this silliness is entirely bad: The Quest is the height of summer escapist reality TV. To think such a thing could be as worldly as, say, The Amazing Race, or as physically punishing as Survivor, or even 1/10th as emotionally punishing as Game of Thrones is to seriously undermine the merits of all three. Read more...

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Democrats Do a Throwback Thursday for Healthcare

Top Democrats used unusual social media strategies to convince Millennials to sign up for health insurance Thursday — led by Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden posted a nostalgic #tbt image of himself at 26 and shared his thoughts on button-down shirts:

Short sleeve button-downs are coming back but health care has always been in style#Bornin88? Then #GetCovered#TBT http://ift.tt/1kagQcM

— Vice President Biden (@VP) July 31, 2014

The message? Under the Affordable Care Act, young people stay on their parents' health insurance plans until the age of 26. So if you were born in 1988, it's time to think about getting your own plan Read more...

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One Troll Has a Few Ideas to Revitalize Foursquare

You complained about the Swarm app. Now here's the apology you've been waiting for

Unfortunately, it's not from Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley. (He's still busy apologizing for faking bibs at the Boston marathon.) So professional Internet troll Dartanion London will have to do

See also: 6 Uses for Foursquare You Never Considered

London's proposal seems pretty on-point: Let's split Foursquare into, like, a million more apps, just for the hell of it

He credits the wild success of Windows 8, and that time Netflix almost launched Qwikster as his inspiration — and it's hard not to blame him

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

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The Ridiculous Interiors of Multi-Million Dollar Superyachts

Reddit Bans One of Most Popular Users for Vote Manipulation

Reddit user Unidan, known off of the Internet as biologist Ben Eisenkop, has been shadowbanned from the site due to vote manipulation.

Reddit administrators discovered that Eisenkop maintained five side accounts, which he used to both upvote his own submissions and comments, and downvote opposing comments.

See also: Reddit's Newsgathering Comes of Age After Growing Pains

Shadowbanning is a form of banning in which all submissions and comments from a particular user are immediately flagged as spam — making it impossible for users other than the poster to see them. Considering that before the incident, Unidan had the second highest total comment karma out of all Reddit users, this was kind of a big deal. Read more...

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NFL to Track Players With Shoulder Pad Sensors

The National Football League is adding sensors to the shoulder pads of players during the upcoming football season. The aim: to track data such as position, speed and distance, and to provide real-time insights about what's happening on the field.

The NFL is working with Zebra Technologies to embed quarter-sized sensors into player uniforms — and will be used as of the first Sunday of the season, September 7

See also: 7 Pieces of Connected Sports Gear to Give Your Game a Virtual Edge

"The technology will gather additional statistics from what we've been able to capture in the past that is mostly directional — such as speed and distance — and evolve the fan experience in many different ways," NFL spokesperson Joanna Hunter told Mashable. "The data is picked up through the sensors, sent to NFL servers and will then be fed to broadcast partners." Read more...

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Kids Challenge the Monsters Under Their Bed in Cute Photo Series

Most kids face some form of a "monster under the bed," but the best weapon is something every child comes by naturally: creative imagination.

In the playful photo series "Terreurs," photographer Laure Fauvel features pajama-clad children challenging the monsters who live in their closets and under their beds to battle.

See also: Photographer Captures the True Beauty of Adoption

It seems like the kids are going to win this one.

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

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YouTube Singer Peter Hollens Earns Record Deal From Sony Music

A capella singer Peter Hollens, who has premiered music videos on Mashable, has snagged a wicked record deal just days after unleashing a medley from the Wicked musical

Sony Music announced Thursday that its classical and crossover label Sony Music Masterworks inked a deal with Hollens, who will release his debut album on Oct. 28

See also: Vine Star Shawn Mendes Reached No. 1 on iTunes in Just 37 Minutes

"We've been in talks for a few months, but nothing was set in stone until just recently," Hollens, 32, told Mashable. "Honestly, with a 4-month-old, and a full-time job, I've had so little time to celebrate. I really need to find time to do that." Read more...

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Report: T-Mobile Gets Buyout Offer From French Telecom Company

Telecom operator T-Mobile has received a buyout offer from France's Iliad, according to a report from the Wall Street .

Mashable is working to verify these reports and will continue to update this report.

Sprint and T-Mobile have been long thought to be a logical merger, with reports emerging in December that talks had begun between the two companies. The deal had been seen as something of a foregone conclusion, more a matter of when than if.

Iliad's bid, if it turns out to offer better terms an Sprint, could complicate the situation

Iliad and T-Mobile are in some ways kindred spirits. Iliad is a newer entry to the French telecom market that competes aggressively with its larger competitors. T-Mobile has played a similar role as it seeks to attract customers away from the likes of AT&T and Verizon Wireless through buying out contracts and offering unlimited data. Read more...

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Samsung plans two new flagship phones in the next six months

Following the somewhat underwhelming Samsung second quarter performance, Kim Hyun-Joon, the company's senior vice president of its mobile communications business, tried to ease things with the investors. He said the company is preparing to launch two new smartphones - one with new materials and another with a large screen. Now, it wouldn't take long to figure which these devices are, considering that Mr. Kim specified they're coming in the next six months. This is yet another confirmation, that Samsung is preparing to launch an Android smartphone wrapped in premium materials, and more specifically, metal. In fact, it is rumored to do so with the rumored Galaxy Alpha in just a week or so. As far as the large screen smartphone is concerned, the Galaxy Note 4 with its 5.7" display, is all but confirmed for an IFA launch in the end of...

Samsung plans two new phones to rebounce from the Q2 distress

Following the somewhat underwhelming Samsung second quarter performance, Kim Hyun-Joon, the company's senior vice president of its mobile communications business, tried to ease things with the investors. He said the company is preparing to launch two new smartphones - one with new materials and another with a large screen. Now, it wouldn't take long to figure which these devices are, considering that Mr. Kim specified they're coming in the next six months. This is yet another confirmation, that Samsung is preparing to launch an Android smartphone wrapped in premium materials, and more specifically, metal. In fact, it is rumored to do so with the rumored Galaxy Alpha in just a week or so. As far as the large screen smartphone is concerned, the Galaxy Note 4 with its 5.7" display, is all but confirmed for an IFA launch in the end of...

Sony Sold 3x as Many Consoles as Microsoft Last Quarter

Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles outsold the Xbox 360 and Xbox One three to one last quarter, though it remains unknown exactly how many of each console was sold.

Sony's financial statement, released early Thursday morning, showed the company sold 3.5 million PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles (combined) from April 1 to June 30, the first fiscal quarter of the year. Comparatively, Microsoft sold 1.1 million Xbox One and Xbox 360 units, according to numbers it released last week.

See also: Every Detail of 'World of Warcraft' History in 41 Minutes

It's hard to say exactly how well each console is sellingMicrosoft's sales only reflect about three weeks of sales of the reduced price Xbox One, which ditched the Kinect motion sensor in favor of a $100 price drop. Read more...

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Giraffe Dies After Hitting Its Head on Highway Bridge

A giraffe being transported in an open-air truck bed on a South Africa highway this week died after reportedly hitting its head on an overpass, reports say.

“All we can ascertain at this stage is severe head trauma. We are continuing our investigation with the view to possibly lay criminal charges against those responsible,” the SPCA’s Rick Allan told Johannesburg’s Eye Witness News.

The owner of the giraffe confirmed that the animal had died to a local reporter.

Multiple eyewitnesses reported seeing the giraffes traveling on Pretoria’s N1 highway, with many posting Tweets and Instagram photos after one hit its head on the bridge. Read more...

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Most of California Is Now in 'Exceptional Drought'

Just when Californians thought it couldn't get worse, the three-year drought that has enveloped the state intensified a little over the past week. Scratch that; it intensified a lot.

The percentage of the state in the worst category of drought — known as "exceptional drought" — skyrocketed from 36.5% to 58.4% in the past week alone, according to statistics released on Thursday. This means that the majority of the state, which is the top agricultural producer in the United States, is now in the worst possible drought conditions on the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is a federal, state and academic product that has monitored drought conditions since 1999 Read more...

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Heidi Klum Teaches Jimmy Fallon the Sexy 'German Roll'

Yo's New Service Lets Doctors' Offices and Restaurants Tap the Power of Yo

Dog Inspires a 6-Year-Old Brain Surgery Patient to Finish Therapy

A 6-year-old named Jack pushed through occupational therapy with some help from a furry friend.

According to Jack's uncle and father, who submitted the video to Reddit and participated in comments on the thread, Jack recently had brain surgery and has difficulty moving the left side of his body. As you can see, one great source of inspiration is getting to play with a cute therapy dog — and the deal's not too shabby for the pup either.

Jack's dad stated that his son is showing progress and doing great in therapy. Read more...

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Facebook's Internet.org App Brings Free Mobile Internet to Zambia

The Facebook-backed nonprofit Internet.org is bringing free data to parts of Zambia in Southern Africa as a part of a major initiative to connect the Internet with the two-thirds of the world's population who aren't online

Internet.org is rolling out an app that provides free basic web services to Airtel subscribers in Zambia. The organization said it plans to introduce the app to other parts of the world soon

See also: The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now

The news comes just one month shy of a year since Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched the organization, along with support from other tech companies like Ericcson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung. Read more...

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Adorable Armadillo Acts Just Like a Puppy

Armadillos aren't exactly the first animal to pop into your mind when you think of the cuteness spectrum of the animal kingdom.

But Rollie, a southern three-banded armadillo that's built like a tank but plays like a puppy, will roll all over your heart. The armadillo is a member of the NEW Zoo, and some lucky intern captured this footage of the playful creature.

See also: Turbo the Tiny, Two-Legged Chihuahua Uses a Wheelchair Made From Toys

Despite his hard, armor-like outer shell, Rollie is just a softie on the inside. Now if he could only learn how to fetch.

BONUS: 11 Adorable Animals With Uncontrollable Hiccups

Read more...More about Viral Videos, Cute, Cute Animals, Watercooler, and Videos

Tesla Charges Ahead With Plans for Huge Battery 'Gigafactory' in U.S.

Tesla is charging ahead with Panasonic on plans for a giant new battery factory.

The two companies announced their plans on Thursday to open a new factory in the United States.

See also: The 12 Most Expensive Cars at the New York Auto Show

Neither company has revealed where in the U.S. the facility might be built; the competition remains fierce.

Contenders reportedly include Stockton, California; Arizona; Nevada; and New Mexico.

Tesla says the factory would provide 6,500 jobs by 2020, which would be split among two major operations: producing batteries for Panasonic’s operations and producing batteries for the packs Tesla uses in its vehicles. Read more...

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