How strong is Darth Vader’s grip on humanity? A new book charts the Dark Lord’s utter domination of Earth’s imagination, showing off rarely seen variations on George Lucas’ antihero, from international movie posters to an Oklahoma butter sculpture. Plus: Enter to win a copy of The Complete Vader.
The iPad is not childproof. It’s fragile and expensive and we can’t imagine why you’d want to hand it over willy nilly to your kids. That said, if you’ve got money to burn and don’t mind letting small hands tool around with high-end consumer products, then this should tickle your parental fancy. Announced as a collaboration between Griffin Technology and Crayola, the Crayola ColorStudio HD app for iPad matches a marker-shaped digital stylus — the inventively titled iMarker — with your child’s LCD-colored imagination. The chunky, kid-friendly stylus mocks the tip of a pen, crayon, marker or paintbrush as your doe-eyed youngin’ swipes along 30 plus animated pages — all while sitting too close to the screen. If free is the key to your heart, go ahead and grab this now on the App Store — it’s the marker clone that’ll set you back 30 bills. That said, it’s a small price to pay for your child’s happiness. Also, digital Burnt Sienna — need we say any more?
Continue reading Crayola ColorStudio HD app for iPad swipes its way to your child’s heart
Crayola ColorStudio HD app for iPad swipes its way to your child’s heart originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Usually, the only constraint on building a Lego creation is your imagination. Unless, that is, you build a giant structure that demands its own “Lego room.” Say hello to the “Garrison of Moriah” and the 540-square-foot room it inhabits. Inspired by the fantastic buildings in Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, it’s a huge, detailed sculpture built to the scale of the tiny Lego “people” that inhabit it.
Even though I’m not a massive fan of many television shows, there have been a number of great comedy programmes in recent times which are still as hilarious now as the first time I watched them and definitely stand up to repeated viewing. Thinking about it my absolute favourites are generally those which take place in a different era from now. I’ve formed the theory that the reason for this is that a series based in the present will look old fashioned in a few years time – the references which are current now will no longer be, fashions and hairstyles will have altered and the whole concept will appear to be a bit jaded.
Of course for those programmes which are not set in current times, that issue doesn’t exist. Those which are set in the past are already dated, but in a such a way that we don’t object as we know it’s meant to be. So it’s more like reading a history book as opposed to today’s newspapers. Programmes which take place in the future, of course, only need to appeal to our imagination. It’s impossible to know if their depiction of life many years from now is even a little accurate, but it’s not a problem because it’s realistic enough to keep us interested and at the same time, it’s strange enough to make us curious.
I guess my three favourite comedy programmes (though not necessarily in this order) would be Dad’s Army, Blackadder and Red Dwarf. Having parents who were alive during World War II, albeit as children, I suppose it was inevitable that they would relate to some of the situations that the gentlemen of the Home Guard got themselves into, and the gentle humour with little more than subtle innuendo once in a while would have appealed to their sensibilities.
From my point of view, looking at it from a child’s viewpoint, I loved the two younger characters, Walker and Pike. I guess it’s natural for a child to warm to the people you stand the most chance of being able to relate to. Having seen countless episodes as an adult, I now see how spot on the casting was for every character, and it’s fair to say that, maybe apart from Ian Lavender, all of those actors will always be best remembered for their Dad’s Army character. Every part within the programme was just perfectly written, from Wilson’s middle class politeness, to Fraser’s typical Scottish characteristics, Walker’s ‘wide boy’ behaviour and Captain Mainwaring’s pompous leadership style. (And I’m sure he would have been ordered to have Laser eye surgery if it was these days? It would have been a drag to be constantly fiddling with those glasses in a combat situation!)
The creation of the Blackadder character was a great TV moment. The medieval prince, who starts to name himself The Black Adder, and his descendents wreak havoc throughout history throughout the four series, and the viewer witnesses a more and more devious Blackadder character, together with a progressively intellectually challenged Baldrick in the time of Elizabeth I, during the Regency and taking part in the First World War. Again, the casting was outstanding, especially the main characters. I’d be hard pushed to choose a favourite series, much less a favourite character, and the presence of so many renowned actors in most episodes makes the task even more unachievable.
Red Dwarf, at the opposite extreme, is set way in the future on a mining ship on which nearly all of the crew perished three million years earlier after a radiation leak. One human survived having been in suspended animation when the accident took place. For any folk not familiar with the programme, the the events that follow are possibly not what you want to read here. To those who are fans, I expect you’re already quoting pieces of the script as you read this! Again, the cast is extremely important to the programme, a fact which was more than proven after two US efforts at pilots for the show flopped disasterously. The four leading actors really made the characters their own, and I really can’t imagine liking an episode of the show with anyone else playing Lister, Rimmer, Kryten or The Cat. The incompetence of the crew only serves to make their adventures more amusing, though I’ve always wondered why a comparatively sophisticated spaceship doesn’t actually possess the Laser eye weapons that The Cat kept saying that they should use. But all the same, they always come out on top in the end.
There are other comedy shows which I also love watching – The Mighty Boosh and The IT Crowd are both close to the top of the list. And although they don’t exactly fall into the categories of past or future, The Mighty Boosh most definitely takes place in some type of nearby universe – a planet where a talking ape and a man who consists solely of a pink head are considered quite normal members of the community and where almost anything might happen. The imaginations of writers Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt must be exceptionally creative. I await the next series with interest and am totally expecting more strange and wonderful characters to appear – perhaps one with Laser eye sight, or another with roller blades instead of feet. In the land of The Mighty Boosh anything is possible! I think that The IT Crowd also partly exists in an alternate dimension – a place in which someone blurs the line between what could really happen and what has to happen to make the show a success.
I suppose, ultimately, that the fact that all of these shows exist in places beyond my reality probably explains why they appeal to me so much – maybe I wish to be somewhere else too. (Most logically in an opticians finding out about Laser eye surgery if I don’t stop playing so many DVDs!)
No frogs transformed into princes and no wicked stepmothers were vanquished — not on camera, at least — but today’s royal wedding managed to capture the world’s imagination. Thanks to partnerships with CBS, the Associated Press, UK Press Association, and Entertainment Tonight, the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton broke viewing records on Livestream.com, maxing out at 300,000 simultaneous viewers and a total of “at least 2 million” unique users, according to Max Haot, the site’s CEO. We reached out to YouTube and Facebook to see how they did on the streaming front, but neither site has a finally tally — though a Facebook spokesperson did tell us that 6,819,072 people have commented on the wedding in the past 24 hours. We don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but we hear News Corp. has secured the rights to the Royal Divorce — just in case.
Royal wedding livestream breaks hearts, records originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Did you find one of the hottest new online game crazes? Are you currently discovering your life about the farm much better than you’d ever thought possible? Farmville will tickle the fancy of many who might not normally believe so. Working a farm in the actual world isn’t such fun, however with this online game your imagination can run wild on your own plot of land without having the dastardly aroma of manure. As soon as you get straight into this game, one of your main objectives to obtain almost everything you desire will be figuring out some tricks about exactly how to level up fast in Farmville.
Leveling up has many positive aspects. Aside from getting some cash, you need to level up in order to develop your farm for just coin and can get to some other goodies in the market. Here are three things you can do to move up the line quickly.
Earn some ribbons. You can earn ribbons by gathering stray animals, gathering or buying fences, and also from growing crops. Take a bit of time to look at all the various types of ribbons and what is needed to be able to obtain them. Some can take merely seconds while others will need a whole lot of work. What you will want to know is that you’ll get big chunks of XP using each ribbon, and it is those xp which are generally needed to take you up every level.
Invest in high ticket items for coin. While you may not need a greenhouse on your farm, getting this particular purchase for coin will supply you a 1000 XP in a single hit. Coin may be produced a large variety of means, thus don’t be afraid to spend it. Get the coin you’ve gained from your crops and make some lavish purchases. If you don’t like something, you could normally get rid of it. You’ll get to keep the xp you acquired when you purchased the merchandise in the first place.
Increase your land. The increased land you have, the more crops you can grow, and the additional coin you may get. Increasing your farm ought to be an early priority during the game. It will give you space to retain the things you really need whilst enabling plenty of room for you to hold the items that can create you some regular coin. Do not make the error of extending without having some coin left over to be able to plant on your new area. That could cost you a day or so in the game thus do make plans keeping that in mind.
As you level up fast in Farmville, you are going to become thrilled to find that farm cash rise. You won’t need to expend it in a stupid manner on items you can obtain for coin. By and large, it will get tougher to level up the more you achieve it, yet in the event that you can move upwards to the plantation sized lot it will supply you much needed space for crops and room to put those big ticket goods. Do not just forget about looking at your ribbons too if you would like to level up fast in Farmville.