Ever wish you could collaborate with pop star Carly Rae Jepsen? PSFK reports that Coca-Cola and American Idol have partnered up to sponsor a crowdsourcing venture called ”Project Harmony.”

For eight weeks, Jepsen’s fans are invited to help compose the lyrics for a new song. The video embedded above features Jepsen introducing the project and talking about the first fan poll: “Which lyrics should Carly use in the first stanza of the first verse for her new hit song, ‘Take A Picture?’”

Once completed, Jepsen will perform the finished piece on American Idol‘s season 12 finale which airs the week of May 12th. Currently, participants are tasked with answering the next poll: “What should the theme of Carly’s Perfect Harmony Finale Performance be?” (via Beta Beat)

Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S4 phone last night, and TVNewser senior editor Alex Weprin covered the event for AppNewser.

Among the many features on the new phone, it includes a feature that will change the way we read on smartphones. Check it out:

Of interest to media companies: the phone knows when you are looking at it, so when you are watching a video and turn away for whatever reason, it automatically pauses it for you. It will resume when you look at it again. The feature worked surprisingly well, even with a number of people around me. You can also scroll down and swipe between pages by tilting the phone or hovering your finger just above the screen: helpful if you have hands covered in barbecue sauce.

What if George R.R. Martin had written his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, for a young-adult audience? A group of YouTube filmmakers has launched a comedic web series called “School of Thrones.”

In this project, the Game of Thrones characters have been re-imagined as teenage students who attend Westeros Valley High School. We’ve embedded the first full episode above–what do you think?

The series premiere episode, “Prom Night Is Coming,” was released on March 10th and has already attracted more than 417,000 views. Episode two will be posted up on March 17th and episode three will follow on March 24th. (via Jezebel)

Google has created an interactive Google Doodle celebrating Douglas Adams‘ 61st birthday. The UK author is best known for his comedic science-fiction series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Check out this YouTube video which shows how internet users can interact with this animated doodle. Random House posted a screenshot of the art piece on Facebook and drew 266 “likes.”

Here’s more from ABC News: “Google’s doodle includes references to Adams’ work: a towel, which according to Adams’ book, is an essential item for space travel, a cup of tea, a staple of his oeuvre, and when users click the door in the doodle, Marvin, the beloved ‘paranoid android,’ from ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide‘ appears.”

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Do you use Evernote to keep your research, reading and writing sorted? You should reset your password right now, just to be safe.

AppNewser has all the details:

Evernote blocked a recent hacking attempt this weekend, but hackers still gained access to user emails and passwords … As a result of the security breach, all users are required to reset their password for access by logging in at Evernote.com. All Evernote apps must be updated with the new account information to work. While it is unlikely that hackers can crack Evernote’s encrypted passwords, users can take extra measures by using different passwords for different web sites and web services.

Google has created a Google Doodle celebrating author and illustrator Edward Gorey‘s 88th birthday.

Gorey established his artistic career working as a book designer at Doubleday Anchor. From there, he went on to write and illustrate more than one hundred books. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms; two of them, Ogdred Weary and Mrs. Regera Dowdy, are anagrams of his actual name.

Here’s more from The Huffington Post: “With a distinct style, often described as ‘whimsical’ and ‘grim’, Gorey’s pen and ink illustrations often depicted animals, as is shown in the Google doodle. The doodle also pays homage to Gorey’s most famous book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, which depicts the deaths of 26 children, each representing a different letter of the alphabet.”

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Linden Labs, the creators of the virtual Second Life world, have created a new interactive storytelling platform called Versu.

We’ve embedded a video demonstration above, but AppNewser has all the details:

To begin, select an episode from Versu’s library or buy one from their store (there’s only three for now). The app allows you to select a character to play and the scripted narrative comes with objectives that must be completed before you move on. Each story is like a game and your character gives you an idiosyncratic perspective on stories that changes each time you play them. Users can unlock various achievements that spices up each narrative.

Small Demons, the site that explores the people, places and things inside of books, has cut a content deal with Penguin.

Here’s more from the release:

Having already inked deals with Simon & Schuster, Random House, Harper Collins and Hachette, Small Demons now has content deals with five of the big six publishing houses. Many books within the Penguin collection, including bestselling genre fiction and the world’s leading classics brand Penguin Classics, will begin to appear on the site over the course of 2013, allowing readers to explore their favorite books and draw surprising connections between seemingly disparate literary worlds: from Jack Kerouac’s jazz legends to Jim Butcher’s Chicago wizards, from Jane Austen’s genteel England to Charlaine Harris’s tumultuous Bon Temps, Louisiana.

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The Mars One project hopes to send a team of astronauts on a one-way trip to Mars. We think they should hire at least one writer for this epic trip.

AppNewser has all the details on how to apply for the Mars One project:

Have you dreamed of living on another planet? The Mars One team will select four astronauts to make a one-way trip to Mars after a grueling and public training period … If successful, the venture will use resources from around the world and convert the entire process into a media event across all major social networks.

Melanie Leeson, the blogger behind “Beauty & the Armageddon,” has made a Baby-Sitters Club-themed New Year’s resolution.

She hopes to read the 131 titles in the original Baby-Sitters Club book series.

Here’s more from her blog post: “If time permits I will also read the Mysteries, Super Special, Super Mysteries, and any of the the other supplemental books. My plan is to stick with the books pertaining to the main members of the club and only shoot for the spin-off series if I’m incredibly crazy.”

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