Zachary Sniderman
All of Apple’s iDevices — iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches — are a ton of fun, but for the most part that fun happens on a tiny screen (iPad excepted, we know).
Now one gaming app is expanding the view with some fancy Bluetooth technology that allows a shared-screen experience across multiple devices.
Instead of the game — called Johnny Test: Roller Johnny — taking place on one screen, individual devices act like “windows” onto a larger, digital play space. Moving the devices can reveal hidden areas or new parts of the screen which both players can explore.
The game is based on a cartoon character from Teletoon Canada. The game itself is pretty simple: Johnny is in a roller derby and he and his cartoon friends have to race to the finish line.
Bright visuals aside, the game’s appeal is largely due to its cool use of tech. Johnny Test: Roller Johhny‘s playing space will automatically expand when a Bluetooth-linked device with the game running comes into range.
The shared-screen experience is meant for two players though the video above shows that two iPhones can also hook up with an iPad to create an even larger playing surface.
Kolody, the creative agency that built Roller Johnny claims the game is the first iOS gaming experience with co-operative screen play. It even got serious support from Apple, which gave Kolody special access to its mobile development team.
Roller Johnny came out in late December, but Kolody is already working on an update to bring the shared-screen experience to Wi-Fi as well. Check out the video above and let us know what you think about sharing a screen: mere novelty, or cool innovation?
More About: Gaming, iOS, iphone, mobile gaming, video games
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Twitter announced this week that is has been hacked by more than 100 coders and developers … from Twitter.
But don’t go cancelling your account. This is all part of Twitter’s official 2012 Hack Week, a week-long event where employees from across the company are given time away from their desks to hack Twitter, coming up with new tools, ideas and designs to make the Twitter experience even better.
“Hack Week is one of the ways we actively promote innovation through experimentation around the company,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This week, a wide range of folks here are taking time away from their day-to-day work to collaborate and develop ideas that they are passionate about.”
Twitter employees have formed nearly 100 teams to build Twitter-related projects. Some will tackle ease-of-use, some will be just for fun and some will be completely off the wall. Twitter has given its “hackers” little direction, allowing them to freely create and iterate.
More and more companies are realizing the power of crowdsourcing — asking your audience to help you make important brand and business decisions. It may seem risky to ask a mass of anonymous strangers what to do with your money and identity, but the practice has payed off in dividends when done right.
Mountain Dew asked its audience to help it pick a new soda flavor and that campaign, called DEWmocracy, created fan engagement, brand loyalty and improved the bond between consumer and brand.
Companies are starting to realize that that same bond is also necessary with their employees, and what better way to show faith in your staff than to let their talent shine unfettered? Twitter’s Hack Week does just that. Stay tuned for more information. Mashable will follow up with any cool — or possibly permanent — hacks that pop up.
Do you wish your company would give you a hack week or is it just wasted time? Sound off in the comments.
Image courtesy of Flickr, dbrulz123 and Twitter
More About: crowdsourcing, hacking, Social Media, Twitter
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Symantec, the anti-virus software company, warned users of pcAnywhere, a tool that allows for remote access to your computer, to disable the software. Symantec revealed in a white paper that Anonymous stole pcAnywhere’s source code in 2006 and could use that information to create vulnerabilities:
Upon investigation of the claims made by Anonymous regarding source code disclosure, Symantec believes that the disclosure was the result of a theft of source code that occurred in 2006.
The company is working on a set of updates and patches to fix the vulnerability issue even though Anonymous — as far as we know — hasn’t capitalized on it yet. The source code could let malicious users build exploits and attacks targeted at pcAnywhere users to reveal session information, PC Mag reported.
This is not the first time a Symantec product has been compromised, PC Mag pointed out:
In early January, Symantec confirmed that source code used in its older enterprise antivirus products was stolen. Hacker group the “Lords of Dharmaraja” of India had threatened to publish the code online. Although the code dated back to 1999, security expert Alex Horan of CORE Security Technologies said there was still potential for harm.
For users that insist on accessing pcAnywhere, Symantec recommends having the latest version of the software installed to prevent as much damage as possible.
Anonymous is proving to be an international force, not only attacking sites for fun but acting like a kind of digital watch dog. When Megaupload was shut down amid the SOPA and PIPA controversies, alleged members of Anonymous went after SOPA supporters and even the State Department website. Members of Anonymous had previously gone after banks and big business during the financial crisis and even targeted child porn sites. It’s unclear how and why Anonymous would use Symantec’s pcAnywhere source code but hopefully it would be for good and not ill.
What do you think of Anonymous going after Symantec’s source code? Are you a pcAnywhere user? What will you do? Sound off in the comments.
Image courtesy of Flickr, anonymous, hacker, hacking, security, virus
“More power!” You can imagine Steve Ballmer yelling it through Microsoft’s halls but that’s exactly what is happening with the Xbox 720, according to reports from IGN.
The next Xbox — rumored to be the “Xbox 720″ — will ship to retailers in late October or early November 2013 and have six times the processing power of its predecessor, the Xbox 360, sources close to the project told IGN.
The next console will use the AMD 6000 series, which should run similar to the Radeon HD 6670. That all sounds a bit jargon-y but essentially it’s a super-fast processor that supports DirectX11, multi-display output, 3D and 1080p HD. Production of the GPU should start by the end of this year.
All that anticipated extra power on the fabled Xbox 720 isn’t just about graphic fidelity. It allows games to have more detailed environments, longer draw distances (think open world games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim), better enemy artificial intelligence, faster multiplayer experiences and the ability to cram more stuff on the screen.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 won the tech arms race with the last generation of consoles however that gamble on technology didn’t quite pay off. The PlayStation 3 was generally outsold by both the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii for years after its launch and the Wii had a slower processor than both of its competitors. (PS3 sales are making a steady comeback of late.) Will a more powerful Xbox finally dominate the market or should it watch out for Sony’s next console and Nintendo’s Wii U?
More About: Gadgets, Gaming, microsoft, Tech, trending, video games, xbox
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Whether you love building bricks in real life or in the digital landscapes of Minecraft, this is going to be very good news: Minecraft is officially going to be coming to a LEGO set near you.
LEGO approved the idea on Tuesday and will start turning Minecraft objects and items into official LEGO box sets to be sold across the world.
The idea didn’t, however, come from LEGO. The Minecraft ideas were pitched to the LEGO through CUUSOO, its homemade platform where users can submit product ideas to the brick manufacturer. Any idea that gains 10,000 votes from the public will be reviewed by LEGO to see if it makes sense as a toy. The good news came back Tuesday that Minecraft was approved and that LEGO was coming up with designs to sell.
While several CUUSOO pitches were made for Minecraft designs, the winning petition came from Mojang, the studio that created Minecraft, a cult-smash game that lets players fashion and mold a blocky, low-res world around that looks much like a digital LEGO set. The open world gameplay lends itself to creation and free building, two aspects key to the LEGO brand, says the Mojang team:
Minecraft is about placing blocks to build anything you can imagine in the virtual world. You can build anything you imagine with LEGO bricks in the physical world. Minecraft and LEGO were meant to be together.
The project was so popular that it actually broke CUUSOO records. It took just 48 hours for Minecraft LEGO to reach 10,000 votes, making it the fastest project to do so.
The announcement on CUUSOO explained that the LEGO team would start cranking out designs with more details on the final products to come:
We’re happy to announce that the Minecraft project on LEGO CUUSOO has passed the LEGO review and we are now developing a concept that celebrates the best aspects of building with the LEGO system and in Minecraft and we can’t wait to show it to you — but we aren’t ready just yet.
LEGO reserves the right to decide what the final products will look like including packaging and promotion. However, with a fan community the size of Minecraft‘s, it’s safe to say they won’t stray too far from type. All approved CUUSOO projects will kickback 1% of sales to the project creator. Mojang says it will donate that 1% to charity.
Is LEGO Minecraft a win for everyone? What kind of sets do you think LEGO will create? Sound off in the comments.
Image courtesy of Mojang
More About: crowdsourced, Gaming, toys
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Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates Wikipedia, announced on Tuesday that they’re making the digital encyclopedia and its store of information available to a continent of people with limited access to information resources.
“Wikipedia is an important service, a public good — and so we want people to be able to access it for free, regardless of what device they’re using,” says Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “This partnership with Orange will enable millions of people to read Wikipedia, who previously couldn’t.”
Any customer with an Orange SIM and Internet-enabled phone in the AMEA will be able to browse Wikipedia’s mobile site at no charge, providing they stay within Wikipedia’s pages. The site can be accessed through a browser or Wikipedia widget. The partnership is part of a larger campaign by the Wikimedia Foundation to reach people around the world who access the Internet solely through their phones.
Information is a linchpin of any society. Yet in the AMEA many people do not have access to information, whether that means detailed reports on crop conditions, political news or even the junkier, less relevant pockets of the Internet (Kardashians, anyone?). Wikipedia makes all of that information readily available and free to use for an entire region of people that rely on their mobile phones to connect to the world around them. The offering gives access to more than 20 million articles available in more than 280 languages. Sure, sometimes the articles are inaccurate or purposely hacked, but its definitely an improvement over not having Wikipedia at all.
The offering will roll out gradually throughout 2012, across 20 African and Middle Eastern countries where Orange operates.
Is Wikipedia looking for more users or is this partnership a way to help a region get more information? Let us know in the comments below.
Image courtesy of Flickr, whiteafrican
More About: africa, middle east, Mobile, non-profit, wikipedia
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Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.
It was only a matter of time until wild man/dancing fiend Nathan Barnatt got his silly groove on in another bad ass video.
This time ’round, Barnatt dances to a remix by Freaks of Yelle’s “Comme un Enfant,” which is apparently French for “Dancing Like a Crazy Person in a Turtleneck.”
Say what you will of his odd style, but Barnatt has tremendous physical control over his body and a unique eye for choreography. These videos are hard to make and even harder still to dance, so major props to Barnatt who shows off some serious moves. Barnatt is joined by some celebrity dance partners including iJustine, TJ Miller and even Yelle herself.
Barnatt got his start as a comedian known for outlandish stunts and an aggressively strange persona. Most of these stunts (such as climbing up the walls at a gaming expo) were done as one of Barnatt’s many characters. He’s appeared as “Keith Apicary” on Gametrailers.com and ScrewAttack as well as appearances on Funny or Die.
For all of his comedy training, Barnatt gained the most viral traction (and became Internet famous) for his series of dancing videos in which Barnatt choreographs and dances more-or-less solo through an entire song. His videos were seen so many times that Skittles actually commissioned the fancy-dancing funny-man to create a commercial featuring Barnatt.
Take a look at the above video and let us know what you think: Is this Barnatt’s greatest dance video or is the best yet to come?
Barnatt seems to be smitten with the French DJ scene.
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It helps to bring a grocery bag.
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Portlandia, IFC’s little sketch show that could, has moved from quirky sleeper hit to beloved comedy darling and one of IFC’s most-watched shows. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s loving, punchy, demolition of all things hipster and faux has struck a chord not just win Portland, Ore., where the show is based, but with a nation of people reared on organic foods, fiercely independent bookshops and smarter-than-thou know-it-alls.
The show’s success isn’t just about writing funny jokes and booking excellent cameos (including Aubrey Plaza, Jason Sudeikis, St. Vincent, Steve Buscemi, Kyle MacLachan and more). Portlandia strikes a fine balance of killing its targets with kindness. Every lampoon is both biting but delivered with just enough love that hipsters and their opponents can both watch the show hand-in-hand.
Portlandia is also a hit on the Internet and the social web thanks to a flood of official clips posted on YouTube and the show’s website. It’s a show that understands the importance of the web even if its, you know, too cool to tweet about everything in its life. Mashable spoke with Brownstein (by phone) and Armisen (by email) about the show’s recently launched second season and how the Internet is changing comedy.
Is it a relief to have the second season out to the public?
Carrie Brownstein: You start to wonder how people are going to see it and how they perceive it, which you can never predict. So in some ways it’s a relief when it finally “exists,” it has this validating property.
[It's like] you’re releasing one track every single week and you’re just kind of waiting to see what song people like. In the first season we were creating in in a vacuum. There were no expectations. It was a trial by fire, throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Going into the second season we knew what ideas worked.
What’s hard is that there’s the pressure is that expectations exist, not just your own but the audience’s and you don’t want to lose that messiness because, I think with comedy especially, when there’s a little clumsiness or when something’s a little off kilter it makes it a little more interesting.
Fred Armisen: We had a better idea of what worked best. We knew what to avoid, shooting-wise. We had a little more time to write endings.
At some point do you think you’ll run out of things to parody?
Brownstein: I think putting characters more at the center of it made me thing, “We have a few seasons left in us.” You’re not just going around town looking at what we can make fun of you, you now, that’s a blog post, that’s a tweet.
I think the people that we portray are not targets, because that would be self-loathing. They’re characters that embody traits of [me and Fred]. I think if there’s anything there’s a greater fondness for them. It’s definitely more of a love letter
Armisen: We are like them. We don’t change the way we talk very much when we do them.
Do you have a set goal for the show?
Brownstein: Of course my barometer for success is that people watch it but it would certainly be flattering if this show could sort of catch the imagination of somebody, that they would sort of desire to share the world of Portlandia.
Why do you think this generation has so taken to improv as a form of comedy?
Brownstein: I think there’s something about improvisation that kind of matches the pace of our conversations that we have with our friends. I have this sort of analogy to it, it matches the pace of our online lives. Like Twitter, our comments online, it has this sort of chaotic pace to it.
Has the Internet changed comedy for the better or for the worse?
Armisen: It’s made it so much more accessible. I think it’s a very exciting time for comedy. I am loving so much of what I’m seeing.
Brownstein: It seems like it’s changed the way everything is created at the sam time that it has this highly democratizing element to it. A big network can try to make something go viral but they’re up against some 2 year-old kid that got a crappy Christmas gift. You can’t force somebody to watch something. What appeals to people is kind of a mystery. People spend a lot of money to get people to watch something
Image courtesy of IFC and
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It helps to bring a grocery bag.
Click here to view this gallery.
Portlandia, IFC’s little sketch show that could, has moved from quirky sleeper hit to beloved comedy darling and one of IFC’s most-watched shows. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s loving, punchy, demolition of all things hipster and faux has struck a chord not just in Portland, Ore., where the show is based, but with a nation of people reared on organic foods, fiercely independent bookshops and smarter-than-thou know-it-alls.
The show’s success isn’t just about writing funny jokes and booking excellent cameos (including Aubrey Plaza, Jason Sudeikis, St. Vincent, Steve Buscemi, Kyle MacLachan and more). Portlandia strikes a fine balance of killing its targets with kindness. Every lampoon is biting but delivered with just enough love that hipsters and their opponents can both watch the show hand-in-hand.
Portlandia is also a hit on the Internet and the social web thanks to a flood of official clips posted on YouTube and the show’s website. It’s a show that understands the importance of the web even if its, you know, too cool to tweet about everything in its life. Mashable spoke with Brownstein (by phone) and Armisen (by email) about the show’s recently launched second season and how the Internet is changing comedy.
Is it a relief to have the second season out to the public?
Carrie Brownstein: You start to wonder how people are going to see it and how they perceive it, which you can never predict. So in some ways it’s a relief when it finally “exists,” it has this validating property.
[It's like] you’re releasing one track every single week and you’re just kind of waiting to see what song people like. In the first season we were creating in in a vacuum. There were no expectations. It was a trial by fire, throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Going into the second season we knew what ideas worked.
What’s hard is that there’s the pressure is that expectations exist, not just your own but the audience’s and you don’t want to lose that messiness because, I think with comedy especially, when there’s a little clumsiness or when something’s a little off kilter it makes it a little more interesting.
Fred Armisen: We had a better idea of what worked best. We knew what to avoid, shooting-wise. We had a little more time to write endings.
At some point do you think you’ll run out of things to parody?
Brownstein: I think putting characters more at the center of it made me think, “We have a few seasons left in us.” You’re not just going around town looking at what we can make fun of you, you now, that’s a blog post, that’s a tweet.
I think the people that we portray are not targets, because that would be self-loathing. They’re characters that embody traits of [me and Fred]. I think if there’s anything there’s a greater fondness for them. It’s definitely more of a love letter.
Armisen: We are like them. We don’t change the way we talk very much when we do them.
Do you have a set goal for the show?
Brownstein: Of course my barometer for success is that people watch it but it would certainly be flattering if this show could sort of catch the imagination of somebody, that they would sort of desire to share the world of Portlandia.
Why do you think this generation has so taken to improv as a form of comedy?
Brownstein: I think there’s something about improvisation that kind of matches the pace of our conversations that we have with our friends. I have this sort of analogy to it, it matches the pace of our online lives. Like Twitter, our comments online, it has this sort of chaotic pace to it.
Has the Internet changed comedy for the better or for the worse?
Armisen: It’s made it so much more accessible. I think it’s a very exciting time for comedy. I am loving so much of what I’m seeing.
Brownstein: It seems like it’s changed the way everything is created at the same time that it has this highly democratizing element to it. A big network can try to make something go viral but they’re up against some 2 year-old kid that got a crappy Christmas gift. You can’t force somebody to watch something. What appeals to people is kind of a mystery. People spend a lot of money to get people to watch something
Image courtesy of IFC and
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Batman, Superman and the rest of the Justice League of America are about to start fighting the famine in the Horn of Africa as part of We Can Be Heroes, a massive effort by DC Entertainment, Time Warner and three key NGOs to provide food and nourishment to those in need.
The campaign, announced on Monday, will donate up to $2 million over two years to three organizations working to stop the famine: MercyCorps, Save the Children and the the International Rescue Committee.
We Can Be Heroes uses the DC Comics line of superheroes — including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Green Lantern — to help raise awareness (and money) for a good cause. DC has promised to match any and all donations made through WeCanBeHeroes.org up to $1 million.
DC and other Time Warner divisions, such as Warner Bros., will all participate in corporate matching plans wherein any money donated by employees will be matched by their parent organization.
There is also an eshop where you can purchase clothing or accessories with 50% of the profits going to the three charities.
The whole campaign centers around the idea of “heroes” and how anyone (not just a superbeing born on Krypton) can change the world. The campaign’s tagline — “One small act can make you a hero” — extends not just to the everyday people but to the African’s suffering on the ground, said George Rupp, International Rescue Committee’s president and CEO.
Such people often have to fight for survival or overcome great odds to provide for their families and are also heroes, Rupp says.
The odds are not in Africa’s favor. The famine is the worst to hit the region in 60 years with more than 13 million people currently at risk. More than 750,000 children under the age of five are malnourished and in Somalia alone, one child dies every six seconds.
Yet despite those stats, the famine in the Horn of Africa has received comparatively little media attention. The public mind and wallet is often drawn to acute and sudden disasters — the natural disasters in Haiti and Japan, for example — but it is harder to engage the public with slow burning or more complicated crises such as the famine in Africa.
That’s the real value of We Can Be Heroes. The hope is that by using recognizable superheroes, Times Warner and its NGO partners can leverage the DC brand to raise awareness and create mainstream interest in fighting the famine.
“America is a wonderful country about generosity when we know about the problem and that’s what this particular partnership is about,” said Cokie Roberts, political commentator and Board Trustee for Save the Children. “This campaign will have superheroic help which will make a tremendous difference.”
DC has been fighting famine for some time when, 20 years ago, it released “Heroes Against Hunger,” a comic book meant to shine a light on the hunger crisis in Ethiopia.
DC is now throwing money and media behind their corporate responsibility. For Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros., it’s a way to show that corporations can also be heroes: “There’s a huge wealth gap in this country and I think corporations have an obligation to a bottom line, but they can also be enormously generous,” Robinov said.
After two years, DC will take a survey of whether We Can Be Heroes has made a difference — but that won’t be the end of the line. The partnership will continue to look for ways to help and to involve its own employees in causes around the world. As with like DC’s Justice League, Time Warner is hoping its individual divisions can form one unbeatable team.
We’ve heard of celebrities helping a cause, but should superheroes get involved? What about We Can Be Heroes do you like and what could be done better? Let us know in the comments below.
Each super hero in the Justice League has a skill to help fight the famine.
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More About: africa, charity, dc comics, non-profit, Social Good, Social Media, time warner
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