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Get Your Google Back: a hilarious video meant for Windows 8 converts
For those unaware, Windows 8 went on sale today. If all goes well, millions upon millions of Wintel users will be switching the latest OS in the coming months, and there's a giant in Mountain View that's severely concerned about the future of your searches. You see, Microsoft has done a fine job of pushing Internet Explorer and Bing into Windows 8, leaving Google loyalists nowhere to turn. Until now. After the break, you'll enjoy a lighthearted video from the masterminds at Google, explaining precisely how to Get Your Google Back. It's as simple as visiting getyourgoogleback.com on your Windows 8 machine, and then installing both Chrome and the Google Search app. Oh, and bonus points for "Aw yeah."
Pocket Planes coming to Mac, getting animated shorts
Here's an interesting pair of announcements from NimbleBit, the makers of the hit freemium games Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes. First up, Pocket Planes is coming to the Mac App Store. Starting this Thursday (at this link, which doesn't work yet but will when the game is live), players will be able to grab Pocket Planes on the Mac, featuring the same excellent freemium plane simulation gameplay on your desktop computer. The app will sync with the iOS version and feature an exclusive plane, the "X10 Mapple Pro." Pocket Planes is also available through Google Play on Android. Secondly, NimbleBit has commissioned several animated shorts from Loading Ready Run, the first of which is available to watch right now (below). The shorts bring some voices to the plane-riding Bitizens, and a pretty absurd (but chuckle-worthy) premise. There will be a series of these things to come, and Loading Ready Run is also working on some shorts from the Tiny Tower universe. Kind of a different addition to NimbleBit's series, but they're free too, so sure, why not?
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite game-related webcomic?
Geeks and webcomics go together like pennies and arcades, but finding a good gaming webcomic that also covers MMOs is sometimes a challenge. As gamers, we like to have fun, and it's assumed that with that sense of fun comes a sense of the funny. Luckily, we have some true works of art with such comics as Ctrl+Alt+Del, Penny Arcade, and Order of the Stick, which not only appeal to our deepest gamer sensibilities but also regularly cover MMO topics. New comics are popping up all the time, and it's good to see budding young artists trying their hands at the popular genre. But we want to hear your favorites! Which game-related webcomics do you enjoy the most? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Apple hiring a pizza cook in Sacramento
Here's a fun little bit of news before your weekend starts. Let's say you want to work for Apple, but your knowledge of integrated processors is a little lacking, and you don't happen to have Jony Ive-level design skills? Ask yourself: Do you make a mean sausage and olives? If so, you might be in luck: Apple is currently hiring a pizza cook in Sacramento, CA. Yes, really. For some reason (probably to fill out the staff at the local cafeteria), Apple wants someone with "extensive experience making pizza dough from scratch" and would like them to have "at least 2-4 years of experience working a high volume wood burning pizza oven featuring thin crust, Neapolitan style pizza." That is a pretty high-quality pizza cook they're looking for. Of course, this could just be a little blip in Apple's job system, maybe a test post that wasn't supposed to go live. But if you have extensive pizza pie experience and are looking for a job, maybe polish up that resume and send it in! Make sure it gets there in 30 minutes or less! [via App Advice]
The Perfect Ten: Guild Wars 2 gravestone epitaphs
The dead tell the best stories, they say. Outside of Divinity's Reach in Guild Wars 2 is a graveyard. It's the type of place that you run through quickly on your way to more lively settings, unless a zombie attack emerges. It was the type of place that I was running through quickly during the previous beta weekend when I realized that the gravestones could be examined -- and each and every one of them had an interesting epitaph to read. Some crazy ArenaNet writer sat down one afternoon and wrote out dozens and dozens of gravestone inscriptions on the off-chance that any of us would slow down enough to read them. It paid off in my case. This may be one of the most trivial Perfect Tens I've ever done, so forgive me with being absolutely fascinated by the epitaphs that came up during my explorations. With an absolute economy of words, each gravestone tells a complete story. Some are funny, some are dark, some play into the lore, and some actually managed to be quite moving. Here are my 10 most favorite that I found. Maybe they'll haunt you as they do me.
This talking Domino's Pizza scooter will make your day infinitely more awesome (video)
Dearest RIM, Microsoft, Intel and Sony: Stop spending millions on mildly successful advertising campaigns. Just modify a delivery scooter to shout your brand name between gear shifts. Respectfully, A now-loyal Domino's Pizza customer.
Facebook helps you see less from mere 'Acquaintances,' Valentina Monetta approves (video)
Let's say you're trying to have a gander at Facebook, but given that you've well over twenty thousand friends and associates, keeping up with your news feed has become something of a challenge. Today, The Social Network is introducing a tool that'll make it easier to add friends to your Acquaintances list, and moreover, see fewer of their mundane posts without having to unfriend (read: embarrass) them. When asked for comment, San Marino's own Valentina Monetta (shown above) quipped: "Facebook, uh, oh, oh... everybody loves you so." If you're confused, head on past the break and press play. Please. Seriously.
Microsoft PSA: Internet Explorer 9 can do more than download other browsers (video)
See that up there? It's called inertia, and it's what the crew at Microsoft is trying to overcome. For the past 17 years, Internet Explorer has been little more than meme fodder and a litmus test of whether you knew how to navigate the web -- and let's be honest, the addition of the 'Go' button in IE5.5 only reinforced the stigma. Sure, Internet Explorer 9 was a huge leap in the right direction, but it's done little to restore the product's lousy reputation or stem its dwindling user base. Fortunately, Microsoft knows how to poke fun at itself, and the company's latest ad campaign fundamentally screams: our product's no longer awful, so please use it for something other than downloading another browser. Yeah, it smacks of desperation, but now that Mammon's awoke and realized, "Lo! It was naught but a follower," we can appreciate its sense of humor. Follow the break for a good laugh, and just for the hell of it, use IE while you're at it.
Swann's MP3 DJ Doorbell has only one question for you...
"When ya gonna ring it? When ya gonna ring it? Dah. Dah. Daaah."
Slash looks back at working with Activision on Guitar Hero
Real-life guitar hero Slash was in Los Angeles last week promoting a new music game called BandFuse: Rock Legends. Speaking to Joystiq, he shared some insight on what it was like to work with Activision for the immensely popular Guitar Hero series. "A lot of kids tripped out," says the former Guns and Roses guitarist, "because they were under the impression that the character in Guitar Hero was just that character. So a lot of kids trip out that I was actually a real person."Once they found out that he was an actual person who was in an actual band, however, Slash says Guitar Hero was surprisingly effective at winning new fans. "It opened up the doors of a demographic that was way younger than me," he says. "I had no idea that would happen." He couldn't speak to the lawsuit that claims the game took advantage of his GnR connection, but he does say the game has inspired a much younger generation to check out classic rock.As for interest going the other way, Slash says he hasn't found the time for video games -- not even his own. "I couldn't play it," he says, "because I was actually in the game and it was too surreal."
The world of World of Warcraft recreated in Minecraft
Minecraft players are well-known for their insane, over-the-top LEGO building projects, but one may have all the rest beat. A player named Rumsey is in the process of recreating the entire world of Azeroth from World of Warcraft inside the game, and while it's not completed quite yet, it's already incredibly impressive. Rumsey says that he had to cheat a little: Instead of placing every single block by hand, he wrote a piece of software that helps to automate the process of making full-scale version of the world. He's recently completed one continent -- Kalimdor -- and has plans to do the others as well as all of WoW's dungeons. He says that the only problem he's run into is Minecraft's height limit of 128 blocks, so he's had to employ mods to get around that. When the project is complete, Rumsey has hopes that it will be hosted online for tourists to visit this much blockier version of their favorite WoW stomping grounds.
Android Phone Name Generator launches HTC Bionic Plus 3D E, Motorola Vigor Optimus Prime+
Checking the front porch every few minutes for your Sony Ericsson Charge Vibrant G2? Or perhaps you've fallen for the HTC Mesmerize Vivid Prime (you know, that Super HAMOLED++ 4K tablet running Android 9.3 Snickerdoodle). Sure, those game-changing Android devices may not exist in physical form, but they did become a reality in Yinzcam's brilliant Android Phone Name Generator -- created for your amusement, and perhaps the industry's top marketing geniuses. Want to try your hand at creating the world's next week-long smartphone fad? Hit up the source link again and again and again, then share your results in the comments. The Acer Rezound Vivid One G1 X2 launches in 3, 2...
Music video: iPhone games get real
This video by Australian band Hey Geronimo is the cutest thing. The group painstakingly recreated scenes and characters from popular iPhone games for their song, "Why Don't We Do Something?". I love the Angry Birds in the car, the flying Fruit Ninja fruit and the cat battling Flight Control airplanes (plus that flight attendant -- meow!). My favorite, however, is definitely the little Cut the Rope doggie. The video looks great as they nailed the look of each game. It's pretty much the perfect thing to watch on a busy Friday afternoon. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Caption Contest: Mavis Beacon teaches biking
Pee-wee's beloved bicycle has nothing on this bad boy. The two-wheeler's got a full-sized keyboard, some big red knobs and a miniature screen on its handlebars, for those who have to do some serious content creation whilst weaving through traffic. Sure it's not the safest solution on the road, but inspiration can strike when you least expect it -- then again, so can oncoming cars. Michael: "Pen > sword, but car > keyboard. Hope the owner's got life insurance." Brian: "Fortunately the victims just walked away with whiplash and a bad case of carpal tunnel." Tim: "Dang! You got shocks, pegs... lucky! You ever send off any sweet TXTs?" Don: "Here's that bike messenger you asked for, boss." Terrence: "When Billy told his friends he got a new bike they asked, 'but can it play Crysis?' Little did they know..." Richard Lawler: "Now potential thieves have to decide between using bolt cutters or rainbow tables." Zach Honig: "Hey Giant. Yeah you holding the grocery bag. You're not so big anymore, now are you?" Billy: "What? No one said anything about biking while typing." Jon: "Q, you've really outdone yourself this time." Mat: "Data from the Goonies may have grown up, but his choice in bikes hasn't." Dan: "At least they weren't lying when they called it 'an unprecedented mobile device.'"
Samsung attempts to ambush iPhone 4S launch in Sydney
Samsung has set up a temporary shop in Sydney, right across from the local Apple Store, and started hawking Galaxy S2 phones for the low, low price of two bucks (with a two-year contract, naturally). The line for the bargain-basement priced phone was reportedly longer than the nearby line for the iPhone 4S. That's not a huge surprise; people do love a bargain, and a two dollar smartphone certainly looks like one. Not everyone was impressed by Samsung's offer. Two teenagers waiting in line for the iPhone 4S had this to say to the Sydney Morning Herald: "There's this guy who has come up to us trying to convince us to buy the Samsung Galaxy S II two days in a row now. And he's an idiot." The iPhone 4S will launch in Australia in less than 24 hours as of this writing, and reportedly Samsung's makeshift store will close up shop the next day.
Shake-to-Undo on the Mac via open source app
This is funny: I've only really ever used the "shake-to-undo" on the iPhone either by accident, or when it wasn't actually available (when I had to undo something, and thought the app I was using supported it). But it can be a handy feature for some, and because of that, someone (named Nate Stedman) has "ported" it over to the Mac, available for download on your laptop MacBook, MacBook Pro, or Air. In other words, install the app, and then whenever you shake your portable Mac, the accelerometer inside will try whatever Ctrl-Z does on the app you're working on, essentially implementing "shake-to-undo." Like I said, funny. This is more of a joke than anything else -- it's not really practical to be shaking your MacBook around every time you want to undo something. But "Shake-to-undo" is pretty cheesy as it is, and it's extra silly to be flinging your device around on a bigger computer. Apple's brought quite a few iOS features over to Lion lately, but this is one that should probably just stick to the smaller devices.
No Comment: Woman buys wooden iPad
This is a completely hypothetical situation: Someone in a McDonald's parking lot says he picked up an iPad for a cheap $300, and wonders if you'd want to buy it off of him for just $180. You decide why not (because reputable salesmen always just hang around in the parking lots of fast food places, right?), and take your new tablet home, only to find that it is in fact a wooden block, not the shiny piece of technology you'd hoped for. And what's more, it's not just a wooden block, but it's a dirty, makeshift fake iPad, complete with an Apple logo on the back, icons on the front, and some sort of weird fake Best Buy sales ticket. Sure, the thieves could have just sold you a brick in a box, but nope, they went all out on this one. Wait, this isn't a hypothetical situation? It actually happened to an, erm, unfortunate lady in South Carolina? Oh. Wait, she really did buy an iPad for $180 from a couple of guys outside McDonald's? Oh. Well then. No comment. [via TechCrunch]
Caption Contest: No doubt, these two are definitely made for each other
Ah, yes. We all know that couple... the ones that don't speak to each other at dinner because they're too busy playing Cut the Rope or tweeting. You know 'em: the texting while walking or texting while driving sort of folks. What can we say? Sometimes you're locked in an epic battle you can't walk away from. Perhaps they're anti-social, or maybe they're addicted to tech love -- but what say you? Billy: "Did you forget our anniversary?" "Our what? Oh, no... of course not." Zach Honig: "Hug me." "LOL OK BRB." Darren: "Short-range communication protocols are the best." Terrence: "Little did he know that his sweetheart was texting her other boyfriend literally behind his back." Michael: "I thought sexting was only for long distance relationships..." Sean: "Love is letting your boyfriend save another princess. And helping over WiFi, of course." Christopher: "Who wears flip flops with a denim jacket?" Joe: "Ad hoc lovin'." Richard Lai: "Can't wait to try Dance Central tonight." Josh: "wePhone."
Caption Contest: Bakebot learns to actually bake things, feed the looming robot army
Aww, look! Bakebot's soooo cute! He's actually cooking things these days, thanks to MIT grad student Mario Bollini, who recently upped the creature's skill level in an effort to grab more calories with less effort. Little did he know, however, that teaching a self-contained machine how to feed the future uprising wasn't exactly the best long-term move. No, that creeping feeling of fear isn't unwarranted. Darren: "01001111 01001101 01000111 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001111 01001011 01001001 01000101 01010011!" Terrence: "Bakebot's lessons with the master chef were going so well, until his Bork to binary translator failed" Brian: "Bakebot love kitten. Bakebot eat kitten." Brad: "Stephanie! Johnny no add vanilla!" Sean: "It's so unfair! I have eight other senses, but I'd trade them all -- even smision -- to be able to taste." Christopher: "Rachel Ray hit a wall with 15 minute meals, so we found a faster, more charismatic replacement. Meet Rachel Number 5." Michael: "Here I thought the robot apocalypse would be powered by nuclear fusion and laser beams, turns out it'll be running on profiteroles and delicious cakes." Jon: "I'm toasting bread in my head right now...seriously" Zach: "You want me to wear a what? Why don't you trying sticking a fan in your scalp. Then you can tell me to wear a hairnet." Joseph: "How do ya like my ganache now, Martha???" Daniel: "A robot may not injure a cupcake or, through inaction, allow a cupcake to come to harm." Richard Lai: "How do you like them cookies, Firefox?" Jose: "How am I supposed to add a teaspoon of sugar with this underperforming Kinect camera?" Kevin: "Enough with the cakes, what was Leia saying about our only hope?" Dana: "I. Love. A. Little. Bourbon. In. My. Cookies. Don't. You." Richard Lawler: "Death to all humans. Sweet, delicious, chocolatey... death." Don: "Just don't call him Iron Chef. He hates that." Billy: "Ace of Cakes was canceled because I annihilated the host.. now I must weaponize that Millennium Falcon cake." Zachary: "Jobless MIT grad narrowly avoids soup kitchen, emerges from basement with replacement mother."
Proof that GMs have a sense of humor discovered in WoW
We all know that in-game GMs work hard to process a heavy ticket load and often use standard scripts and cut-n-paste replies as a result. However, there are real people behind these names, and some of them even have a sense of humor. GameFront shared a story of a World of Warcraft player named Dougie who asked to be knighted with the "Fresh," title, a GM responded tongue-in-cheek by saying that another already held it: Sit well Dougie, and listen to this tale. This is a tale of events which hath inverted a young ones life, and led to his eventual appointment as heir to the throne of the Bel Air Township. Begat and reared in western Philadelphia spending many a day becoming frigid whilst filling baskets adjacent to the academy. Ruffians ran rampant through the village; a scuffle ensued prompting his fearful mother to change his domicile to that with over kin, in Bel Air. He summoned a cart, which appeared most gaudy, nonetheless he beseeched the driver to take him to Bel Air. Arriving barely after nightfall, he bid the knave goodbye, as he relished his arrival at his new place of residence, where he was awarded the title of 'The Fresh Prince.' So there you have it: Proof that GMs can and do have a sense of humor -- and also a comprehensive knowledge of 90s sitcoms.
