Every year, people pour into Arcadia, CA, the day after Christmas to be part of one of the most exciting days in horse racing: Opening Day at Santa Anita Park. This year, the 75th winter season opens to an added bonus that fits perfectly with the times. In an era when smartphones are able to do just about anything we want, they will be gaining a new attribute at Santa Anita – the ability to place wagers from the seats.
Visitors connected to the Santa Anita Park WiFi will be able to research races and place bets without waiting in line as the park is launching their new mobile app. The sheer convenience alone is enticing, but there is more to it. Horse wagering is serious business; there’s always luck involved, but having the information in hand and the time to put it all together adds to the allure of the app.
Lord of the Rings fans have been waiting to be reunited with Middle Earth for the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, as we venture back to the beginnings of the brilliant J.R.R. Tolkien’s treasured stories of mystical Elves, Dwarves, Goblin’s and of course the beloved Hobbits.
The countdown has begun as the release of The Hobbit is exactly a year away; it will adorn our screens on December 14 2012. This time we plunge our imaginations into the adventures of Bilbo Baggin’s, a hobbit who is on a quest to reclaim the Lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Bilbo made his appearance in the LOTR trilogies as Frodo’s cousin who adopted him at the age of 21, he also taught the elvish language to Frodo and shared the same birthday with him, as well as long walking trips.
Through the amazing direction of Peter Jackson in the Fellowship of the Ring, we watch as Bilbo leaves the Shire on his one hundred and eleventh birthday and as he departs, he passes forth the Magic Ring and Bag’s End unto Frodo, J.R.R. Tolkien’s main character.
The Hobbit will have us explore the beginning when Bilbo was younger, to when he meets a creature that will change his life forever and takes hold of the “Precious Ring”. Many characters that we have come to love in the Lord of the Ring’s Trilogies will make a return and some will not, we will have to await this journey through a New Year, and four seasons before we will travel back in time upon the captivating voyage through Middle Earth once more.
Almost better than all the jumping fish is the laughing of the guy behind the camera. This reminds me of the whole “double rainbow” video. This guy just can’t get enough of these flying flounders Read On »
If you’re a fan of little “two-stepping” then you’ll love this video of a French dance group. It’s extremely creative, well choreographed and executed perfectly. I wonder how long it takes them to think up Read On »
Created originally in Japan, Pac-Man is a classic arcade game developed by Namco and through its popularity has become its mascot. This simple yet memorable game’s creator is, Toru Iwatani, who originally named the character “Puck-Man”, but had to change its name due to American vandals defacing an arcade game. Therefore, Iwatani changed the characters name to “Pakkuman”, which is Pac-Man in Japanese for the American version release; this eventually became the official name. Although developed in Japan like many games, Pac-Man became more common in American culture.
The Pac-Man Inspiration
What exactly inspired the creation of Pac-Man? It was Pizza.
That is correct, Toru Iwatani ordered a pizza and when eating the first quarter of the pizza, Iwatani saw a head with its mouth open, hence the first sight of what we know now as, Pac-Man, which was created in May 1980. It was also in the 80’s when Pac-Man made its television debut resembling the Pac-Land and Pac-Man 2 games.
Namco realized that Pac-Man could be developed for a game system after the game company, Atari, reinvented the game in 1981 with unfortunate flickering ghosts and slow motion characters that were not well liked by players.
Pac-Man’s very first story line began in Pac n’ Roll, where the character trained under Pac-Master during his summer vacation. In this game, the Pac-Master trained Pac-Man how to fight power pellets to help defend Pac-Land. This is when the future Ms. Pac-Man (Pac-Master’s daughter) and the ghosts Pinky, Blinky, Inky and Clyde were introduced. Chronologically, Pac-Man was the very first video game that featured some of these characters that Pac-Man would eat within a maze.
Pac-Man did not reach its popular potential until the early nineties, through figures and games and after Namco released Pac-Man World, a game today’s players are more likely to recognize with its 3-Dimensional characters. It was not until the Ms. Pacman game release when Pac-Man received her as a girlfriend and then wife; this is when Pac-Man Junior made his very first appearance. Pac-Man than took on Pac-Land to save fairies who have been taken by ghosts. The following games would follow, Pac- Man world 2, Spectral Realm, Pac-Mania, Pac-Man World Rally, Pac-Man World 3 and many others.
7 Fun Pac-Man Facts
1. Pac-Man loves to munch on a variety of foods such as, green grapes, strawberries, cherries, oranges, peaches, bananas, pears, apples and of course Power Pellets and the well known Pac-Dots. 2. Pac-Man’s biggest rival is Nintendo’s Mario, since Mario’s original name was “Jumpman” sounding very much like Pac-Man. This is not such a huge surprise since the creator of Mario; Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Pac-Man is his favorite video game character. 3. In the original Pac-Man Clyde is the only ghost missing. 4. The ghosts have real names but can only be seen in attract mode. 5. The very first installed coin-machine operated Pac-Man video game was on May 22 1980 in Japan. 6. The name Pac-Man comes from the eating sound paku-paku often heard in Asian cartoons (“paku” is the Japanese sound for “chomp”). 7. Power Pellets power-ups were inspired by Popeye eating spinach.
Pac-Man is still loved by many gamers today and played on new-aged consoles, the latest game is “Pac-Man Party 3D” available on Nintendo 3DS and was just released on November 8 of this year. Below is a highlight of the recent Pac-Man video game to see what you are missing if you have yet to obtain this game. “Wakka, wakka, wakka” dear Pac-Man friends.
One of the most sought-after talents in tech companies is graphic design. Venture- and public-funded firms know that talented graphic designers are often hard to come by even in a down economy and they’re willing to pay to get top talent. It has caused an explosion in the number of people turning their artistic and computer skills into the creative realm of technology.
Many times throughout our lives people ask the age old question “What Would You Buy If You Were Rich?” I could say I would be responsible and make sure that everyone and their grandma would not have any debt, would drive a fast car and live in a mansion, but I would be a liar. I would want the coolest gadgets, geektastic toys and downright crazy stuff to adorn MY mansion with, so here are my top 6 things I would buy if I was rich. (Hey, at least I am honest!)
Ahem.
1.Customizable Shark Seabreacher
Yep. That’s right, if I was rich I wouldn’t buy a yacht or a cruise ship, I would buy a custom made Seabreacher and have it look like a shark. This baby can submerge underwater and launch up in the air at high speeds. Some of their high tech features include; a snorkel mounted video camera that transmits live video to LCD screens for the pilot and passenger during dives, GPS navigation, and on board stereo system with iPod docking. Starting Price: $ 81,000 USD.
Made by the same folks who created Pac-Man, Namco, the 30th Anniversary is built with the 1980 cabinets that are reminiscent of those days. If I was rich, I would put this bad boy in my newly designed man cave and drool over its 19″ LCD monitor that captures the vintage graphics, customize its look with the removable decals and deactivated coin doors. While dancing to the sounds of “Wocka, Wocka, Wocka” and spend my days playing Pac-Man and the 12 other vintage games that come included. Price: $3,500 CAD.
Every room would have one of these terrific DOC XL sofa bunk beds, for the night’s we party too hard or for family and friends to crash on, if I was rich of course. Besides, I don’t know why we give up on bunk beds just cause we grow up. Price: $5400 USD.
A “pivot” in the tech world often means the kiss of death. When a company pivots, it takes its original or current business model and makes dramatic changes to push them in a different, hopefully more profitable direction. Many try. Few succeed.
The seven below are distinct exceptions. With Gowalla’s recent acquisition by Facebook, it culminated the shift that the company has been going through for a while. They lost to Foursquare and needed a change. Now, the talent will be preserved in a stable company and the work can be applied to a new platform (or ditched altogether.
