Every year, since 1997, 1,000+ judges and millions of average people have participated in the annual Webby Awards. There are the Grammys, the Emmys, the Oscars and the Tonys, all for entertainment. Why not an award for everything related to the internet. Hosted by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), the Webbys has 100+ awards, ranging from games to social media to every type of advertisement there is. Since there are so many categories, really to much to look through them all, I have picked my 5 favorite winners. Here they are:
#1. Flat Vs Realism
Flat Vs Realism is a amazing web based story about the ongoing battle between flat design and realism. Basically iOS 67 vs iOS 7. Powered by inTacto, Flat Vs Realism won the award of Self Promotion/Portfolio, winning both the Webby Judges award and People’s Choice award. FVR is incredibly well done, balancing top class flat design with incredibly realism design depending on the timing in the story. I highly recommend you go here to experience the wonder of what good web designers can do.
#2. Bob Dylan TV Mashup
This ingenious website is basically set up like a TV, where you can change the channels, and even turn up the volume the old fashioned way. There are about 15 actual channels you can flip through, all having real looking shows from that channel playing. But there is one difference. In the background, you can hear Bob Dylan’s song Like A Rolling Stone. But when you look at the people on TV, it looks like the people are actually singing the song. Of course, this website won Best Editing, and they deserved it. Great idea and very well executed.
#3 Smart TXTBKS
Smart TXTBKS is not only a great idea, it is a very relevant idea and certainly will help people all over the world. Well, kids in Philippines, at least. In the Philippines, most people can’t afford a smartphone, and only have an old flip-phone, so their children still have to lug 100 pounds of textbooks to class everyday. This is getting to be a bigger problem, since some studies and news reports have shown that kids are even getting deformed by this task. Smart TXTBKS is a solution to that problem. The actual hardware of TXTBKS is a little sim card, which the kids can put into their old phones. On the sim cards are lots of different exercises and learning material for different subjects. This turns their phones into a textbook, letting them rest thier back for once. Smart TXTBKS won the Webby award for Education/Reference.
#4: Glasses.com App
Glasses.com is one of the biggest glasses shopping sites, and with the rise of high-tech advertisements, Glasses.com decided to ride the wave with their app, subsecuently named Glasses.com for iPhone. The app is basically a shopping tool, allowing you to look at all different types of glasses. Except for one thing. To win a Webby, which the Glasses.com app did in the Best Use Of A Camera category, you need to have some kind of gimmick or unusual or cool use of technoogy. The Glasses.com app actually lets you take a 3D picture of your face (by taking many puctures of you while you turn your head), then puts a 3D picture of the glasses they are selling on your face so you can try it on withput having to leave your house. This type of app is no doubt the future of shopping technology, and certainly deserves the Webby.
#5 The Nike SB App
Last but certainly not least on this list is Nike’s SB app. Nike, as you probably know, is very integrated into sports equipment culture. All the time they are trying to branch off into different areas of sport, such as their recent development into smart watches, and their probable partnership with Apple for iWatch. Recently, Nike has delved into the giant sport of skateboarding. Skateboarding is a incredibly popular sport, with million and millions of tricks out there to learn. That’s why in Nike’s app, Nike SB, Nike brought together some of the best skateboarders out there to record and map out all the tricks known to mankind. The result is SB, an app where you can look through videos and demonstrations of how to do tons of different tricks in tons of different categories. This app won the Webby for Sports (handheld).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afeypAqwgng
Every year, the Webbys recognize many amazing projects and products that use the internet and technology to their advantage. I touched the surface of all the amazing Webby award winners, so if you would like to see them all for yourself, go right ahead here. I also found some interesting Webby award nominees that did not win, so here are my honorable mentions:
Many times in technology do people bring together that normally doesn’t go together. In a video released recently, Jesse Chisolm bring together two different things that were never meant to meet, yet when they do, it turns out surprisingly well: League of Legends and Spoken Word Poetry.
In Chisolm’s video, he “raps” about his experience with the game League of Legends, and how he “loves League of Legends, but he hates playing the game”. I won’t tell you exactly what he says, because it is a great and well written video, but in general he talks about how the players on LoL have started to drift from teamwork over to selfishness. Games like League of Legends have been known for this type of jerky behavior. He is basically saying, in the coolest way ever, “STOP BEING JERKS!!!! Start acting better!”, to everyone on LoL. Props to Jesse Chisolm for making this video with the right message, and I hope you watch it and respect what he says.
This was bound to happen. After the internet exploded over two games, Flappy Bird and Threes, it was inevitable that someone would make parodies of them, the most popular being 2048 and Splashy Fish. These two games each had at least 40 different parodies combined, and it was getting a little much. But then someone had the brilliant idea of combining the games. And that’s how Flappy48 was born.
In Flappy48, instead of a bird, you are the number 2, and in between the overhanging tubes are more numbers you can combine with. Like Flappy Bird, it is extremely hard and frustrating. Like Threes, you get the urge to just play it again. I know it’s not the first, and it’s certainly not the last, but come on, it’s getting a bit ridiculous. You would think by now the fad of these parodies would fade away, but no, they’re still going strong. And now this game will bring along a whole new type of combination parodies ………. sigh.
But if you do want to play it, which I suggest you do, but only once, go here.
Eleven years after Earth was destroyed, the detective Jack Parker was killed on the transhumanist colony of MarsTopia on Mars. Luckily for him, the Dead Man’s Party holiday is just around the corner, when all the dead people get revived into a 3D printed body for one day to enjoy a gala. Of course, being the detective he is, Parker escapes and goes on a crazy adventure to find his killer, while at the same time maybe finding out what triggered Earth’s demise.
At least, that’s the plot for the exciting new Kickstarter campagin game, Last Life, by Sam Farmer. Last Life is a sci-fi noir game for PC, Mac and Linux that has been attracting a lot of attention recently.
Made in increasingly popular minimalist/modernist/geometric style, this game’s gameplay is similar to, from what they have already released, a choose your own path game, except with the ability to move around and interact with many different items and people. The whole game has a darkened feel, with the dark grays and maroons of MarsTopia in the background certainly not making the game feel more lively.
Throughout the game, you (Parker) will be scouring the streets of MarsTopia, which Farmer describes as “Orlando, Florida, but on Mars.”, looking for clues to find his killer. According to Last Life’s Kickstarter campaign, you will “wrangle deadly secrets out of an enormous cast of bizarre characters using whatever works: charm, bribes, or something less pleasant.” Sounds fun.
Not only capturing the imagination of the media, the creators of the massively successful Kickstarter game Broken Age, Double Fine took an interest in Last Life. So they decided to help Farmer with distribution, their crowdfunding campaign and more. In return, Last Life with be one of the first games to fall under the “Double Fine Presents” banner.
Not only does Last Life sound sooooo awesome, but it is a very realistic and possible version of the future (besides for the “Earth’s demise” thing). 3D printing, as I have said before on this website, is most likely going to be a big part of the future, providing an easy and affordable way to make products and more. Scientists are even speculating on a way to 3D print a moon colony, after they sent the machine that prints it up there. Who knows. Could happen. “The 3D printing idea just feels like a natural evolution of the technology,” says Farmer. “I mean, we’re already printing organs. And I’m fascinated by the implications of this tech and how it could lead to a post-scarcity society.”
Last Life is a game with amazing possibilities based off of its fantastic storyline, great set of characters and intriguing world state and scenario. This game could be absolutely a gigantic hit (which it no doubt will be) and become the game of the year, but that depends on a couple variables, including the length, the cost, the ability to replay the game and more. Surely though, after raising $50,000 (and counting to $70,000) on Kickstarter, money hopefully shouldn’t be a problem. The game changing idea that the game starts where you die, which is usually the end, is genius. Sure, the expectations are high, but from what we have now, the future’s looking bright for Sam Farmer and Jack Parker.
Undoubtedly the most well known strategy game, Sid Meier’s Civilization has captivated gamers for more than 20 years. Over time, Civ has advanced a significant from the original version, and in late 2010, Fraxis and 2K (the companies who makes Civ) released the newest version, Civ V(5). Civ V was a giant upgrade, but still they strive to add more to the gameplay, previously adding more and more civs, situations, map packs, and gameplay features such as World Congress and Trade Units. Still, if you play the game, you know that the later part of the game can get boring and repetitive, which they are trying to fix, but with the newest announcement, the game will not only get more interesting but also longer.
Snapshot of Civilization(1)
At the Pax 2014 recently, Fraxis announced the release of their newest expansions pack (like the earlier Brave New World) called Beyond Earth. As the name suggests, the expansion pack will allow you to travel into space and, well, do what you do on Earth: settle, conquer, grow, repeat. This of course opens of the game completely, and basically gives the developers at Fraxis a field day. And what they have released certainly shows that.
From what they have said, Beyond Earth is set where Earth is unstable, and you need to find a new home. They have not said if you will start the game as normal, but that is something that probably won’t be known until the release day. You make a space ship based off of your playing style, and even chose a sponsor, each with different benefits. The whole way you colonize the planets is customizable, from the colonists to the cargo. The new planet is home to completely new alien life, (which should be interesting, considering civ’s very detailed civilization animations) tiles, and relics, all which you can exploit for the good of your civilization.
The technology will also be changed to accommodate the space travel. The tree will be split into three categories, each with their own technologies and victory conditions. Also, the new technology feature is not linear. Since your future is vague, the technologies come in sections based off your choices throughout the game.
Overall, the Beyond Earth pack should be full of surprises with new and fun (hopefully) gameplay. Other than the features I mentioned, there is a lot they haven’t specified, such as the exact game mechanics, or the switching between Earth and space. Units, tiles, resources, civs and even the basic rules of the game will be changed because of the new possibilities of space. Coming out in Fall 2014, Civilization Beyond Earth promises to be a groundbreaking game for the Civ franchise and series.
Every year on April 1st, many technology companies and other related businesses put out a press release or a video about their new product or service they have came out with. The result, creativity and effort put into these products vary every time. For companies, April Fools Day is a day not only to do whatever you feel would be funny, but also to attract potential worker by showing how fun and relaxed these companies are. None of these are real, of course, but they all try to be humorous, just for the fun of it. Here are some of the best pranks by notable tech giants or startups:
iStragetyLabs’ BeardSwipe
After all the recent talk of Apple’s TouchID and other biometric products, BeardSwipe is a good channel into mainstream technology. basically, BeardSwipe is an app that would allow you to answer calls, buy apps, and unlock your phone by just swiping your phone across your jaw and beard. Like Google Nose, BeardSwipe is based of a absurd gesture with a phone and seeing how many people would actually do it. If the technology to make a “beardprint” was available and made, I’m sure this app would actually be a success. As BeardSwipe’s website says, if you have a beard, it says with you. You can’t just “lose it”. Funny and practical.
AirBnb’s AirBrb List Your Desk
Airbnb, the living space rental service app, has taken their service one step further for this April Fools. They have made Airbrb, an “app” that would let people rent out their desk for anyone to use. For some reason, if you need to work and don’t have a desk (a seemingly rare situation) you can just go to Airbrb and rent out a desk while the usual user is at break or lunch. Unlike BeardSwipe, Airbrb is a more of a joke than a potential service, but fun all the same.
Orbotix’s #Selfiebot
Have you ever been in a situation where you want to take a selfie, but your arm isn’t long enough? or you get into the right position? Or even worse, you forgot your phone? Orbotix, the company behind Sphero, has made a solution to your problems: #Selfiebot. #Selfiebot is a flying orb-like drone with a big camera on the front. The #Selfiebot follows you around, and based of the video below, I am guessing it recognizes that your are looking at it and takes a selfie. Obviously, if you watched the video, the “#selfiebots” are animated, though it is a funny and intriguing concept.
LinkedIn CYMK
Everyone knows LinkedIn, the social media site for business people. Like Airbnb, LinkedIn has expanded their service, now tapping into a social media craze to draw traffic to their site: cats. You might have been wondering what CYMK stands for. Well, it’s Cats You May Know. LinkedIn’s new “feature” will allow cats to make profiles highlighting their skills such as “speed napping”, friend other cats and even endorse other cats. A perfect cat social network.
Google’s Pokemon Challenge
Last but certainly not the least is Google’s Pokemon challenge. The Google Maps team does something every year, and this year the theme was the fantastical card game Pokemon. (product placement much?) The team sprinkled little Pokemon all over the mobile Google Maps, which if you found, you could click on and collect, then go back and look at your amazing collection. (they took it down already) There were 150 Pokemon possible to find, and supposedly, whoever got the most Pokemon would start working for Google as their official “Pokemon Master”. Of course this is all fictional, but it would sure excite the younger generation.
Every year on April Fools Day, these companies stop their drab, boring workload and work on something fun and creative, which must be a breath of fresh air for them. And of course, nobody could enjoy it more than the public. If you want to see last years April Fools Day pranks, click on this highlighted word: sasquatch.
Pens and pencils have been pretty much the same for years and years. Sure, new gel in the grip, or some new ink, but when it comes down to it, the basic use of a pen has stayed the same: for writing. Unfortunately for pen companies, computers and other electronic devices are taking over that industry, just as it is with books or even in a way point and shoot cameras. To be honest, I only use pens for tasks that need sketch or freedom of thought that a computer doesn’t allow. Though, one pen I would use more than the other brands, and that brand is Livescribe’s Livescribe 3 pen.
The Livescribe 3 is a ballpoint pen, with an interesting integration with computers: everything you write down is automatically transcribed onto a tablet or computer. Say you are taking notes for a college class. You have to write fast, otherwise you will fall behind in the lecture. Livescribe lets you write at normal speed, but also allows you to add drawings or other addition items that wouldn’t work on a computer, then automatically upload those notes so you can look at them without the pain of going through papers. I’m definitely not saying this is the future, not a world-changing revolutionary idea, but it is a start.
It is a cool product, but there are some setbacks. For instance, when the pen takes in your writing to the app, a big part of the app is that you can flick the text, and the writing will immediately turn into text, that you can then take and put into Calendar, Reminders or Mail. All it takes is handwriting recognition software. The problem is, the software doesn’t learn you writing. It stays how it started. So to be recognized, you have to either have good handwriting at the start, or just try harder to be legible. If this isn’t a problem, then the Livescribe 3 pen would be a perfect fit for you.
Livescribe has come up with a clever way to have the pen recognize the words its writing. On the bottom of the pen, inside the fountain pen-like indent is a camera, which can record the writing. Then, since the paper you have to use has lots of dots on it, the pen and the software can identify where it is on the page and refine the writing. Luckily, Livescribe hasn’t been greedy, and you can easily buy the dotted paper notebooks and print them off the internet for the same price as regular paper. If they had added a price to that, the consequences would have been lots of lost customers.
Already, the $149`dollar price of a juiced up pen is enough to make some people shy away, but this is for a complete set of the pen and their special Evernote-like application for iPads and computers. The app lets you document all you writing into tags, letting out all you notes from different talk, conferences or classes into different places. For a person who likes using pens for the freedom and the versatility, this pen would be a good upgrade and introduction into the growing modern world. For those of you who use computers for notes, writing, emailing, basically everything, this would be unneeded and wasteful. Also, if you are an artist, architect or have another specific profession, this pen could be extremely useful. Like most technology, it depends on you.
Everyone knows what a Rubik’s Cube is. For around 40 years, this 3D puzzle toy had been available for purchase, whether you are in a gas station, a toy store, or a Rite Aid. After all, over 300 million cubes have been sold worldwide. If you find any random person, chances are that they have tried a Rubik’s Cube, but gave up after awhile and never actually finished one in their lives. Only about 5% of the people in the world actually solve a cube, let alone even spare the time to try to work on it.
Though you have to give these people some credit. There are a possible 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 combinations that a cube could be in. You could easily spend a week on a cube, and then your mind would get used to the patterns and you could probably figure it out, but not many people do that. If you are really good at doing Rubik’s Cubes, there’s a good chance you’re a speedcuber.
Speedcubers are basically exactly what the name says: they try to finish cubes in record times. So far, in the history of Rubik’s cubes, humans, and our pattern recognizing brains and all, only can get 5.55 seconds. This time was set by Mats Valk, another speedcuber. To finish a cube, you have to twist it and turn it until the sides are all one color. Everyone knows that. But to finish a cube in record time, you have to do it in less moves than usual. Speedcubers can sometimes do it in about 40-50 moves. But somewhere out there, for each 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations, there is a way to finish the cube in only 54 moves, as there are 54 colored squares on a cube. 54 isn’t the minimum amount of moves, though, as many algorithms and computer simulations have shown that it’s possible to solve the cube in an optimal range of 20 – 26 moves. In fact, an equation known as God’s Algorithm proved that any cube can be solved in 20 moves or less, henceforth making 20 known as God’s Number.
So obviously, there are many ways to finish a cube. But, how fast would a robot, explicitly programmed by humans, finish a cube in comparison to the human makers. Well, when Mike Dobson and David Gilday teamed up to make the Cubestormer II, they showed machines expertise in this area. Powered by a Samsung Galaxy S2, the Cubestormer II sent instructions to a Lego Mindstorms from a custom app. They narrowly beat the record with the time of 5.27 seconds. Once they were done, all they could do was make it better.
And they did. Recently, Mike and David made the Cubestormer III, this time powered by a Galaxy S4, and an updated version of Mindstorms. As expected, the Cubestormer III again beat the record, and by a substantial margin too. In a video the creators made, it proves that the Cubestormer III got a astonishing time of 3.253 seconds. Here’s the video so you can see it for yourself:
These robots are amazing, and there is no doubt that sooner or later, most if not all record will be broken by them. As shown by the Cubestormers, robots are just physically and internally more capable of handling more than flesh and bone humans. Oh well.
Over the years, the alarm clock has been the subject of hate, ridicule and more hate the past, well, century and anyone who has one knows why. The absolute worst feeling you can get is when you go to bet at 11 and are woken up at 6 by a beeping, coincidentally sounding like the bomb that just exploded in your mind. Many types of alternative alarms have been made, such as a clock that allows you to smash it, or one that imitates a coffee machine, but the best one by far has to be Oscar Mayer’s Wake Up And Smell The Bacon alarm. Just guess what it does.
You got it! As the name implies, the WUASTB (best acronym ever) wakes you up every morning with the smell of bacon. Bacon. Why not. Of all the smells in the world, the one that I personally would like to wake up to the most would be bacon, so all you people at Oscar Mayer at least have one customer. Along with the scent released by the machine, some smoke (real smoke, not liquid smoke) is emitted, to even more enhance the experience.
They even made a fanciful trailer for it, which is obviously overboard but who cares:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiWdF3u9C0w
If you haven’t already noticed, there has been a trend in products these days, which the WUASTB follows right along with. The trend is that most headlining products are either add-ons to a smartphone, like WUASTB, compatibilities to a smartphone like Pebble or Google Glass, or software for a smartphone, like Flappy Bird. Phone companies are basically the base and the life-support of almost all of the technology market today. Thankfully, phone companies are not going anywhere soon, but the on-trendness of the WUASTB is a good sign, and that feature could bring this device into every one in America. Just kidding, some of us are vegetarian.
The app store, featuring billions of apps and hundreds of categories, has one category that is unfortunately addicting and seems to be a recent fad: frustrating games. Frustrating, but in a weird way good apps. These apps have been gaining followers, all who want to kill themselves every time they play the game. For those of you out there who haven’t experienced the mindless rage you get when playing these games, here is a list of the best games in the Frustrating category. (remember, this list is mostly consisting of the best, most frustrating game that I have played. These are my favorites. Though if you end up throwing your phone out the window, don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.)
#1. Duet
Duet is currently my favorite game (which changes often), but even that can’t stop me from feeling like a want take by phone and through it down a well, then haul it up and do it again. The way the game works is that there is two balls at the bottom of the screen, both rotating on opposite sides of a circle axis. if you press on the right side of the screen, the balls spin right, and vise versa for left. The screen then moves under the balls, bringing forth a maze of obstacles that you have to navigate without having the balls touch any of the obstacles. It is actually a brilliant game, well thought out and well designed, but it is very frustrating, which is why it is numero uno on this list.
#2. Flappy Bird
Flappy Bird. How could that impossibly annoying bird not be on this list. Made by Dong Nguyen, this game has swept over the nation like a plague, infecting everyone on it’s way. All you do is tap. Over and over. And over. And over. Just to get a bird through some tubes. Yet every time you play, and you fail, you want to play again. For some odd reason. But it does have some good qualities, and the story behind the short life of the game is almost as odd as the game itself.
#3. The Impossible Road
The Impossible Road has got to be the most self-explanatory game ever on the app store. It is basically just a road. With a ball on it. You can turn the ball left and right. The point of the game is to stay on the road and get past as many checkpoints as possible. Which is almost impossible. Yet when you fall off, you just want to play again in frustration. Some people may be able to resist the frustration, since it is less than Flappy Bird or Duet, but it is still pretty strong.
#4. Super ball juggling
Another, lesser known masterpiece of Dong Nguyen is Super Ball Juggling, fraternal twin of flappy bird. Just like Flappy Bird, all you is tap, but this time, it is to keep the ball in the air. You car a guy, juggling a soccer ball, and when you tap he kicks and hopefully hits the ball to make your streak continue. The problem is, there is a very short window of when you can hit the ball, you it is hard to get even over ten. Still, just like Flappy Bird, you want to try again, but in this case, the urge can be avoided after a couple tries.
The Juggler
#5. BIT.TRIP RUN!
BIT.TRIP RUN! (yes, it is actually all caps and has a exclamation) is another runner game, yet instead of a floating cam behind the character, it is on the side, watching your player navigate through a course of obstacles and gaps in the platform. You can avoid them by flicking on the screen different ways to perform different moves, such as kicking, jumping and sliding. In this game, the frustration is on a different level, more like the urge to finish the level battling your abilities. Anyway, out of these apps, this is the least appealing, but still a good game.
TOTW: Google's Project Ara Modular Phone May Be The Future Of SmartphonesOctober 30, 2014
