humor posts

We're a few days late on this one, but I thought that it was quite well done and rather clever in a Weird Al Yankovich sort of way. In this spoof of Michael Jackson's Beat It, Pantless Knights, a group that has made some pretty good musical spoofs, presents TWEET IT. In this video the hipsters, sporting iPhones, and the suits, all with iPads, take it to the streets in a battle of the tweets.

At the quarterly Apple earnings call this past Monday, it was mentioned that Apple hasn't marketed the iPad to the enterprise market though iPads have gotten on the approved acquisition list of many Fortune 500 companies. However, it was also noted that 85% of Fortune 500 firms are currently deploying iPhones. So wouldn't it make sense for the hipsters to brandish iPads while the suits threatened them with iPhones?

Click on the Read More link to take a gander.

OK, this is a little weird, and a little gross, but if you're as big a fan of Total Recall as I am, you'll love it. One of the characters in that movie, named Quatto, actually lives in the stomach of another character, and rather than recreate the creepy effect with puppets or makeup, YouTube user minimatefactory just put some high resolution video of the character on his iPad, and then he strapped it to his shirt to wear around.

The effect isn't completely realistic, of course (it looks like he's got a video screen on his stomach), but it is a clever Halloween costume, and clever goes a long way after a few drinks at a Halloween party. Just stay away from bobbing for apples -- you don't want the iPad getting wet or falling into someone's candy bag to take home.

[via Cult of Mac]

Today seems to be a day for news from China, the birthplace of most Apple hardware. This little tidbit of info comes courtesy of Noosy, AKA Shenzhen North Technology Co., Ltd.

The company has developed an HDMI adapter for the iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod touch, and iPad, so you can now pop the little adapter onto your iDevice and blast video from apps that support video-out to your HDTV.

Details on the adapter are sketchy; the page for the device appears to have been run through Google Translate, with the predictable result of some unintentionally humorous gaffes. There's no price, but at least we can be assured that it supports 720p output, is "easily plus&play," and can display "the MTV."

Unfortunately, there is no pricing information and no clear sign of when this may make it to worldwide distribution. We'll keep an eye open and see what happens, as we too would like to "have so fabulous screen to instead of the 10" iPad screen." As they say, "you never see a HDMI adapter can be elegant like this!!"

Man, I love everything about Game Dev Story -- from the excellent premise to the cute, pixelated aesthetic to the great simulation gameplay. The idea is that you run your own game studio, and that idea is executed flawlessly. You hire your staff, choose a game genre (or do some contract work if you need extra cash), and then build up your game in terms of fun, graphics, sound, and gameplay, all while trying to keep your staff paid and avoid bugs when possible. Finally, you ship out your game and hope the reviews come back well, even while you're planning out your next title.

It's incredible fun, and the great chiptunes and graphics bring a lot to the table. There's a wild sense of humor in the mix here, too. New consoles are released into the market, a video game magazine comes every month, and you slowly build up your own studio's fanbase.

Game Dev Story is a ton of fun! It's somewhat pricey at US$3.99, but honestly, if you're a fan of the game industry at all (there's even a fake E3 where you can promote your games!), you'll find a lot of joy in this one. It's a very, very cool title.

Here at TUAW, we love possibilities. Yeah, we all know that Apple's new OS will be named something prosaic and big cat like OS X 10.7 Lion but until Apple actually makes its announcement, the waveform doesn't collapse. Possibilities still abound.

TUAW spent this morning brainstorming alternatives to OS X Lion and puts them forth for your general consensus. Here's your opportunity to sound out with regard to OS naming. Whether there's anyone out there listening is another question; one that we will studiously avoid answering.^[1]

Vote for your favorite OS X name in our handy TUAW poll -- or add your own suggestions in the comments that follow. Sound out! It's your last chance before quantum happens.



^[1]TUAW is an unofficial weblog and has no association whatsoever with Apple. Your vote is for entertainment purposes only. Contact a professional to determine if public polling is right for you. In case of inadvertent product naming, discontinue polling immediately. Seek help in the event that this poll produces irritation, rashes, or irrational blog commenting syndrome.

This MacBook decal is great, and it looks like it would work well on your iPad, too -- though you might not get that glowing effect that makes it so awesome. We've seen quite a few fun decals similar to this before, including some specifically for the iPad, some for the iPhone, and even some other great geeky ones.

But none have made such a statement about the ubiquity of computers lately, so we'll just post this one right here under No Comment. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do ...

Hey, you! With the $100 bill burning a hole in your pocket! Why don't you do something useful with that Benjamin?

In this YouTube footage, photographer Enrique Pardo turns an ordinary $100 bill into a fashionable and expensive stand for an iPhone or iPod touch. If you're cheap, you can always use a regular $1 bill for the same purpose, but where's the fun in that?

[via Techi]

Being the huge Batman fan that I am, I couldn't pass this one up. What you see above is an actual Batman-style utility belt called the TDK Utility Pouch, modeled after the one worn in the last Batman movie. But instead of compartments for gas canisters, audio bugs, or batarangs, this belt has a large pouch built specially for holding a cell phone exactly like the iPhone. You can adjust the various pouches on the belt as you see fit, but the largest one is perfectly iPhone-sized.

It makes sense -- the iPhone can do most of the things that the Bat-computer can do, and what better tool to fight crime than a GPS, camera, and 3G-equipped handheld device. The Bat-belt doesn't come cheap, though -- the prop company selling it wants $149.00, and there are only 750 out there. But if you want to really go all the way for Halloween (or maybe start handing out some vigilante justice yourself -- though we can't legally recommend it), it might be the phone-carrying accessory for you.

[via Cult of Mac]

iPhone travel app What Country describes Italy as "Pizza, Mafia, Pasta and Scooters." That isn't sitting too well with Italian Tourism Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla, who says that the app's description of her country is offensive. She is threatening legal action against the developers, Apalon of Belarus.

The US$0.99 app is rated pretty highly by users on the App Store, and it's described as having "a light-hearted and funny view of the world."

The Minister, for her part, says that "Italy is a beacon in the world for its history, culture and style, and as a citizen and minister, I cannot allow that our country is discredited by the use of a criminal organization as its testimonial." But Italy isn't the only country with a less-than-complimentary description. The app describes Germany as "Beer, discipline and autobahns."

I can't see a lawsuit in a case like this getting too far, but the publicity probably won't hurt the app any, either.

When I was a kid, we just played with regular stuffed animals, and then Teddy Ruxpin came along and blew us all away. But kids these days, they get all kinds of cool stuff. Like look at this thing: they can stick an iPod touch in a "huggable plush accessory" called the Woogie, and run around with it to their heart's content, watching videos, playing with apps, and, I don't know, checking the weather, or whatever else it is that kids want to do on an iPod touch.

I especially like Griffin's selling point on this one -- this case is a bonus for the kids, who get a piece of technology that's a little more fluffy and friendly than Apple's sleek designs. It's a bonus for parents too, as it's much harder to lose or seriously break the iPod when it's wrapped in the big mass of furry green tentacles.

The $20 accessory even comes with its own app, where kids can preview Sesame Street books and, oh I don't know, check the weather or something. If I sound a little bitter, it's probably because I am: Teddy Ruxpin never ran Pocket Frogs for me.

[via Super Punch]

We here at TUAW fortunately passed on reporting the obviously fake story of Steve Jobs being denied access to Japan because of ninja stars he was reportedly carrying in his luggage. But we did like this fake Apple page from the folks at Scoopertino, featuring the iPod ninja, a brand new throwing star-shaped iPod. If Steve was carrying around ninja stars (and he wasn't), maybe he was just testing a more weaponized iPod prototype.

For more yuks, be sure to read on about the "death grip" issue ("If you hold iPod ninja in a certain way, you may require immediate medical care."), and I like the fact that sharing music with the ninja is easy -- just wing it across the room at whoever you want to listen in. For just $149 for the 8GB model, Jobs may have something here with this new ninja model -- his fake Japanese dismissal was not in vain!

[via Cult of Mac]

Dear Aunt TUAW,

Dunno if you've seen this before! Is it a Verizon iPhone leaked screaanshot?

Hugs,

Francis



Dear Francis,

Auntie isn't sure if this falls under the basic rule of "Don't teach Auntie to suck eggs -- or change carrier names," but given Auntie's general familiarity with the subject matter, she's leaning towards "fake."

What do you other nieces and nephews think? Let Auntie know in the comments.

Love,

Auntie T.