Terrence O'Brien
Staten Island - http://www.terrence-obrien.com
'Textminator' Brings Texting Excitement to the Arcade
We are but one site, with a relatively small staff (albeit one of dedicated Web addicts), so every once in a while something slips past that makes us give ourselves a collective kick in the ass. 'Textminator' managed to avoid our radar when it was announced in August, but this arcade machine from LAI Games has piqued our interest enough to go back and cover it anyway. With proper, full-sized skee-ball machines disappearing from arcades across the country, new games have had to step in and fill our ticket-earning needs (How else are we going to get our hands on that switch-blade-comb?). One such ticket-dispensing machine is 'Textminator,' a stand-up arcade game that tests players' text messaging skills. The game has two alphanumeric keypads and asks competitors to type out words in a race against the clock, or against a human opponent. In fact, up to four cabinets can be linked together for an eight-way texting showdown. And in case you were worried that standing at an arcade machine, thumbs flying, was too strenuous, a deluxe version with a raised platform and "sit-bar" is available.
We haven't seen one of these rear its head in our local arcade, but as the annual texting championships become the Super Bowl and World Series of the constantly connected teen, we could see 'Textminator' becoming a crucial practice platform. [From: Arcade Heroes]
'World of Warcraft' Turns Five
Monday marked the fifth birthday of the most successful, massively multi-player online game in history -- 'World of Warcraft.' 'WoW,' as it's otherwise known, is an expansion of the popular 'Warcraft' franchise, and has become far more successful than publisher Blizzard could have possibly imagined.
With more than 12 million subscribers worldwide, 'WoW' is a phenomenon and pop culture icon. It's been referenced and mocked by 'The Simpsons' and 'South Park,' has inspired restaurants, and has legions of celebrity fans, including Ozzy Osborne, William Shatner, and Mr. T. Thanks to its notoriously addictive game play, it's even been cited in divorce proceedings and has almost driven one teen to commit suicide.
Facebook Bikini Worm Hits Spreads via Scantily Clad Woman
For some reason or another, many out there haven't yet figured this out and have helped to spread around Facebook a nasty worm that tells users to "Click Da' Button" if they "Wanna C Somthin' HOT." Of course, some men, being the hapless idiots that so many of us are, clicked on the button that sat next to the beautiful, thong-clad woman. As a result, a link to the same infectious page was instantly posted on their Walls, continuing the cycle of misdirection.
Facebook and 'South Park' Blamed for Anti-Redhead Assault
While the first, clearly tongue-in-cheek "Kick a Ginger Day" drew some criticism, it went largely unnoticed, due to a lack of any serious violence. This year's "celebration" was unfortunately not so uneventful, as a student at A.E. Wright Middle School found himself on the receiving end of punches and kicks from as many as 14 classmates, according to the Associated Press.
'Shazam' App Doubles As Lip-Synch Detector
The app takes the snippets of a song that you record, digitizes them, and creates a type of numerical signature based on the rhythm and melody. In a true live performance, a drummer won't hit the snare on the same millisecond he did while recording, and the vocalist will miss that high note by at least a few cents. These differences might be completely unnoticeable to the human ear, but a computer will catch even the tiniest variation.
Facebook Photos Lead to Underage Drinking Fines
We've seen wives pose as teens to bust cheating husbands and collections agencies impersonate cute girls to catch debt dodgers, but this is the first time we've ever heard of police using their precious time to send teens friend requests on Facebook just to troll their photos for evidence of underage drinking.
Students at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse have found themselves on the wrong ...Depressed Woman's Facebook Pics Ruin Her Insurance Benefits
It seems that placing privacy settings on your social networking profile isn't enough to keep snoops away. Nathalie Blanchard, of Quebec, Canada, learned that lesson when her long-term, sick-leave benefits were stripped from her because of photos on her Facebook account.
For the past year and a half, Blanchard had been on leave from her job at IBM as the result of being diagnosed with serious ...Chrome OS, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cloud
Yesterday, Google finally took the cover off Chrome OS and, in so doing, gave a bunch of foamy-mouthed tech journalists an idea of what to expect once consumers are able to get their hands on it late next year. There weren't many surprises in the announcement. Chrome OS is a tweaked Chrome browser running on top of a streamlined version of Linux -- exactly what most were expecting. We can already ...'Twilight' Content Leaves Scammers Thirsting for Your (Digital) Blood
As per usual, malware purveyors are hopping on the latest fad in order to lure unsuspecting Web surfers into their dens of digital evil. And what are the kids talking about right now? Well, 'Twilight,' of course.
With the new installment of the teen vampire saga set to hit theaters Friday, Web searches for interviews with cast members, for bootleg copies of the film, and for other content ...Microsoft Previews Internet Explorer 9, Looks Like a Contender
With Chrome chugging along toward version 4.0 and Firefox 3.6 just around the corner, Microsoft is in danger of falling even further behind in the browser wars. The boys in Redmond released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) earlier this year, and while it was an improvement over IE7, we were generally disappointed with its stability. Plus, it still was far behind its competitors in raw speed.
Turns ...
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