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Santa is getting his own gritty origin movie where he’s a Viking

Because everything has to get the Batman Begins treatment now. Sony is making Winter’s Knight, a dark reworking of Santa Claus’ origin story, where it turns out Santa was a Viking.Deadline is reporting that Kon-Tiki producers Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg are behind the project, and that there was apparently a bidding war for this…

Horizon, the clever camera app that forces your iPhone or iPad to only shoot horizontal videos no matter how they’re held, is now free on the iTunes App Store for a little while. So now you have no excuse for shooting vertical videos ever again. [iTunes App Store]

A map of the most hated popular music in every state

Last week, we checked out this map of the music that’s popular in your state (and only in your state), but, now that we know what music your state likes, what music does it hate? This map answers that question. The map is the work of Paul Lamere (who is responsible for creating the first…

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why the new Cosmos matters so much

This Sunday, March 9th, what is arguably the most important science show of all time returns to TV as Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts an all-new, updated version of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. We caught up with Neil DeGrasse Tyson on his whirlwind tour of the universe to discuss the what the show is and isn’t, explaining…

WSJ: Apple Is Hiring Engineers in Asia to Launch More Products, Faster

Good news, perhaps, for the impatient: the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is “hiring hundreds of new engineers and supply-chain managers” across Asia in an attempt to “speed up product development and launch a wider range of devices.” According to “people familiar with the matter,” Apple is poaching staff from HTC and other…

An interactive map showing how baby names spread across the US

Using US census data, creator Brian Lee Yung Rowe has developed an interactive map showing how names have grown and waned in popularity in different states since the early 1900s. Inspired by a recent baby name visualization, Yung Rowe wanted to see how a single name spreads across the country based on its prevalence in…

How the Time of Sunrise and Sunset Varies Around the Wrold

Time zones are strange old things, especially the way they prescribe one time to thousands of miles of land mass—so this visualization shows which parts of the world experience unusually early and late hours of daylight as a result. Areas in red see the sun rise and set late in the day; areas in green…

Make people misjudge your attractiveness with the Cheerleader Effect

Want to appear more attractive to people? Only show pictures of yourself when you’re with your friends. Amazingly, this is not marketing — you don’t appear more attractive because you’re popular or loved, you actually trick people’s brains into considering your face more attractive. Cheerleaders are a kind of group hypnotism act. Their energy, their…

New HTC One Seemingly Leaked in This Detailed 12-Minute Video

Given we already seem to know so much about this year’s HTC One successor, you have to wonder what will be left for the struggling Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer to show off at its March 25th showcase event. Thanks to this lengthy video leak, they might as well box ’em up and get the phone down…

The Worf of Starfleet should have won all of the Oscars

Sure, it’s not a real movie, and is technically just a Star Trek: The Next Generation-filled parody of The Wolf of Wall Street trailer, but my god it is awesome. After all, revenge is a dish best served with 10-15 quaaludes a day. [Via The Mary Sue]

Is Warner Brothers really making another Matrix trilogy?

An Avengers: Age of Ultron villain will make it out of that movie and into other Marvel films. What do Game of Thrones episode titles reveal? Gareth Edwards breaks down the Godzilla trailer. Learn how Fantastic Four differs from the earlier versions. And will Chloe Sevigny be returning to American Horror Story? Spoilers now! Top…

How the Data From Three US Rating Agencies Control the World’s Economy

Is it governments that control the economy? Banks, perhaps? Or maybe even the people? Nope, in fact, it’s rating agencies—and the there are three in the US that practically control the entire economy. These agencies rate everything—organizations, companies, currencies—and gives it a score. The knock-on effect is that bad ratings—which can sometime be fairly arbitrary—have…

Report: First Dual-Boot Windows and Android Phones Coming This Year

Recently there’s been a push to have PCs dual booting with Android and Windows, and it seems that may soon extend to phones. Reports suggest that the first Windows Phone-Android dual booting handsets are coming this year. The Times of India reports that Karbonn Mobiles has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft and plans to…

Apple CarPlay: iOS on Your Dashboard

Apple has announced its new in-car iPhone integration system. Called CarPlay, it’s designed to be an eyes-free system which allows users to safely use their phone for information, entertainment and communication while at the wheel. Apple claims that it’s “designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in…

Ellen’s Oscars Selfie Has Scored the Most Retweets Ever

Ellen managed to break the record for most retweets ever by some margin at last night’s Oscars. Her selfie, shown above, has chalked up well over 2 million retweets and counting. The new tweet beatsPresident Obama’s previous record—achieved when he posted a picture of him and the First Lady when he won the 2012 presidential…

MtGox has set up a call center in Japan to handle the worried inquiries of newly hard-up Bitcoiners. That’ll help.

Ellen DeGeneres used an iPhone backstage instead of that Samsung

The Oscars 2014 feel like (are?) a commercial for Samsung, with Ellen DeGeneres flashing a Galaxy Note and taking selfies left right and center. It’s ridiculous. Backstage? She actually used her iPhone, of course. PR people will never learn. I really don’t know what were they thinking. DeGeneres is a well known iPhone fan.She even…

Watch Idina Menzel sing “Let it Go” live at the Oscars

Here is it, the moment we’ve all been waiting for Idina Menzel singing Frozen’s Oscar winning song “Let it Go” at the Academy Awards. Also John Travolta decided not to learn the name of the woman he was asked to present at the Academy Awards. Smooth.

Tell Us Your Picks For the Oscars

The Oscars start tonight at 8:30pm. Will Gravity, a ground-breaking, lady-fronted, beautifully shot science film make history? Who do you think will win? Here’s the full list of nominees. Even if you haven’t seen every single film on the docket, you probably have an opinion on some fronts. Like, will Leonardo DiCaprio finally take home…

A Cheat Sheet to the Oscar Best Picture Nominees, Emoji Style

For the casual Oscar fan, the chances of you having seen each one of tonight’s Best Picture nominees are pretty slim. But don’t worry; Mashable has you covered—that is, assuming you’re fluent in Emoji. This is by no meansthe first time we’ve seen emojis used to tell a tale, but this is definitely the most…