A sequel usually refers to movies or books, except in the Geekdom where it might also refer to Ruby Sequel and Sequel Pro for MySQL. As it turns out sequels are also coming of age in the world of apps. Or is it that the world of apps is coming of age? Either way, Mobilityware, the developers of the popular app Word Warp have now issued a sequel, Word Warp Xtreme. And who wouldn’t after the news that Word Warp was “allegedly” bringing in $10,000 per month in advertising revenue?
Anyone who has played Word Warp, an app store star performer, can attest to its completely addictive qualities. You’re given six letters and your task is to form as many words as possible, some words being more acceptable than others. You must also get the six-letter word or words to continue amassing points. And ultimately, it’s the chasing of points that probably drives us to keep playing. Word Warp Xtreme is the “on-steroids” version of this. There are numerous challenging aspects including seven letter words. And who would have guessed how much more challenging it is with just one more letter.
In creating the sequel app, the developers claim to have taken suggestions from fans. Perhaps the coolest thing about Xtreme is the social aspect of it. And we’re not talking just Facebook here. If someone next to you has a compatible device with the app on it, you could enable Bluetooth and play against each other. Additionally, while the app is free with advertisements in between games, Xtreme has an option for you buy the app and skip the ads. But if not for the ads how would you know about the next big app.
Eos is the Greek Goddess of Dawn. And for photographers who cherish the early light of, well, dawn, Eos is their friend. Except it isn’t just about the light of dawn. It’s about the camera. The Canon EOS SLR to be exact. With numerous advancements in lens mount as well as focusing technology, the EOS doesn’t have to be a Goddess to win over lots of hearts. Just recently Canon celebrated the 40 millionth EOS series camera rolling of the production line. Perhaps the most popular EOS camera is the Rebel. But in Japan they know it as the Kiss. Either way, 40 million of any object is quite a production feat.
But Canon doesn’t rest on its EOS laurels. It’s constantly updating technology and adding features that customers want. While a photograph may be worth a thousand words, it’s worth less if your images reveal blinking eyes or quizzical expressions among the subjects or objects, of your images. Now the company has included some software for its Pixma series printers that lets you print a frame from a video. Using the HD movie print software, users can select a frame from a Canon MOV file and convert it to a JPEG file, printable on one of the Pixma printers. Some of the printers have a pop-up LCD screen, some have wi-fi and others allow printing through a USB port or from a USB thumb drive, but not all printers have all features – for whatever reason. Perhaps that’s why mothers are known to have told their children – You better shop around.
It’s not just an antiperspirant, it’s an Odor Blocker. And he’s not just a man in a commercial, he’s The Man, your man could smell like. Who would have imagined that such a thing as Old Spice, a brand that has been around since the mid-1930s could generate such buzz for its manly man advertisements? But tens of millions of YouTube views and counting, means the Old Spice ads definitely own the new media. Research has shown that the Old Spice ads are more viral than Susan Boyle, among others. Everywhere there is much analysis on the viralness of the videos and how in the post-feminist era, can a company advertise ‘swagger’ and get away with it. Who would have thought Old Spice? The brand that got its name from the founder’s mixing up his mother’s old spices and scents. What gives?
While it may all seem random and unplanned, the creative team behind the videos actually did much strategizing. The popular reply video portrays the actor, Isaiah Mustafa responding in a seemingly random manner to Tweets and comments. However, the creative team set out to engage communities. In one case, they knew that Digg founder, Kevin Rose was ill so they made a “Get Well” video for him, which was a hit with the Digg community. Then they posted the Kevin Rose video to Reddit to capitalize on the rivalry between Reddit and Digg. They then took aim at “Anonymous,” who creates buzz everywhere but is nowhere to be seen. Then came traditional buzz makers, Ashton Kutcher, Alyssa Milano and for the wonks, George Stephanopoulos. Most of all the team was quick and witty, getting it all done on the fly to deliver instantly to the internet. Nothing is random.
It seems the happiest state is Hawaii. The grumpiest states are on the East Coast. Some states are mad and they’re not going to take it anymore. And how would we know this? Twitter told us so. In a study of 300 million of the billions and billions of Tweets, researchers sifted the content for happy words and sad words and probably ambivalent words as well. But it’s usually the extreme words that make the news. The happiest words are diamond, love and paradise while the sad words are suicide and funeral among others. It isn’t known where ice cream, coffee and winning the lottery are. Of course there are certainly possibilities for messing with the outcome by Tweeting something along the lines of – I’m not suicidal, or I’m not in love with the idea of diamonds today.
In the big scheme of things such mapping has been used to measure all sorts of data, most notably Netflix movie rental habits by region. Now in addition to knowing what your neighbors are watching, you could also know how happy their Tweets are. Do happy Tweets mean happy people? In terms of the happiness index, it turns out that song titles and lyrics trended downward from the 1960s to the 1990s. Who would have guessed the 60s to be a happy music time? Researcher Sune Lehmann, who spearheaded the Twitter mood studies believes such mood mapping can be used to assess other things, such as the impact of a Presidential address, or public policy. Perhaps some day corporations can test customer mood according to Tweets about a certain brand or specific products.
Okay ladies, this one’s for you. If you never want to let them see you sweat, wear dresses without sleeves. And while you’re at it, forget the little, black dress, or the little, red dress, or any little dark colored dress at all. Also forget about anything tight or constricting. And, don’t even begin to consider the hose. All of it not cool for perspiring women. Such are the rules for summer wear for the glamorous and professional woman. This, according to designer and business executive, Pamella DeVos, discussing lessons from the world of summer parties for business women. The wrong clothing can sabotage your goals of being the perfectly cool, calm and coiffed executive enjoying a soiree on a hot, midsummer night.
What you should wear are lighter colors in natural fabrics. Unstructured dresses that are less than floor length. Open-toed shoes with high heels so you can appear taller than the men around you – well, she didn’t say that but someone else might. Walk tall and carry a small purse, and also remember to simplify everything from hair to make-up to jewelry. And if you’re a man – who’s not into dresses, you could probably use some of those tips on light colors and natural fabrics, though it isn’t clear how you might be perceived in sleeveless – especially if you haven’t been on friendly terms with your gym equipment. Ultimately, it all comes down to staying cool for maximum enjoyment at summer parties or outdoor brainstorming sessions.
It is said that, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever;” that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder;” that soccer is the beautiful game and that while beauty may be skin deep, ugliness is to the bone – or something along those lines. But now it turns out beauty may be the path to better health and happiness. So it is written in, “Beauty and the Soul: The Extraordinary Power of Everyday Beauty to Heal Your Life,” by Piero Ferruci. In study after study, though one can never be sure who commissions any given study, beautiful surroundings or attending beautiful concerts, poetry readings and theatre can lead to faster healing and longer life. Who would have guessed?
However, according to the author, we in Western societies are suspicious of beauty, possibly because it requires time and energy, not only to discern beauty but also to enjoy it. Instead we have become obsessed with speed and technology and the world of digital, which is a cold and not very beautiful world. And perhaps we should be suspicious of those who think technology is cold and possibly ugly but Dr. Ferruci seems to be such a nice guy that his charming manner is just beautiful and it makes us happy to be in the presence of his words – perhaps.
In any case, here is a sampling of Dr. Ferruci’s words on finding beauty: “Beauty is spontaneous. Like the shape of clouds, the flowers in the fields, a brilliant idea, a flash of lightning. We cannot say beforehand how it will be, and this is just what makes it special. Beauty comes when it will; it is up to us to be ready for it… Less thinking equals more beauty…. Attention is nourishing. Anything we give our interest to grows and develops. Anything we neglect or ignore atrophies… Beauty is everywhere. We find it in music, poetry, a face. But we also find it in a wilted flower, moss on an old wall, rusted iron, a concert of croaking frogs…”
