PSP giveaway and game. Every Extend Extra

Win a fresh spankin PSP with the game “Every Extend Extra” signed by the guru game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi! “Every Extend Extra” is a mind-boggling puzzle fighting game packed full of trippy visuals and crazy beats sure to keep you loopy and addicted all day long.

I’ve got 1 PSP, and 2 copies of “Every Extend Extra” to give away to readers, including one signed copy, courtesy of BuenaVistaGames.

So how do you WIN this PSP and games on designverb? I’ll make it simple. E-mail me:

1. The name of the guru gamer I did pong with last year?
2. Send me a link/s to something inspirational that I have not seen yet and that I can post?(I see lots!)(designverb@gmail.com)

I’ll wait a week or so, put some names in a hat, and update this post with the winners! (whoohooo!)

Update: Thanks for all the tips and inspirational links from ya’ll. Congrats to Eddric L and Sarah P for winning the prizes… I’ll have their tips posted soon.

snow angels world record

Call it inspirational, funny, or plain cool…..when 9,000 people gather together to make snow angels in a park it makes me smile. The great image reminds me of “Where’s Waldo” though my eyes quickly gravitated towards the flock of orange lined jackets in the center….that would rock if Google Earth captured this over the weekend. Otherwise, it would make a cool micro print.

Another great find via bookofjoe. (washington post article)

Here’s a pretty interesting video tour into a few projects within Microsofts research team if you have an hour to spare. One interesting concept is a gestural interface from one’s keyboard using your hands. Is it useful, practical, or desirable is up to you to decide, but it’s good to see a variety of concepts working in reality… Watch it, ask questions later…

via Scoble Show

dont click it
I’m not sure what to think, say, or discuss about this website, DontClick.it, but it brings up an interesting point, suggestion, interaction, or just question about the “click” on a webpage. Can we live without the click? Is the click needed, desired, useful, functional? Of course it is, but this webpage does the “what if” factor…I do recall those silent mouses failing or leaving a huge void in ones computer experience…check it out, ask questions later…

urban exam all look the same
The incredibly fun and rather tough “We All Look the Same” test to differentiate between images of Chinese, Korean, or Chinese people that I posted about before has expanded their face test to several other cultural tests in their “Exam Room“. Besides faces, the test now includes Modern Art, Architecture, Photos, Urban Scenes, Food, and Architectural Details. I took the food test and scored 14/18, but I failed miserably at the Art test with 9/18. Go take the tests and feel proud or miserable about your eye for asian culture.

FYI: If you prefer not to create a login account, use one I created:
login: designverb
password: designverb

pixelletter

Do you have relatives that haven’t quite transitioned to the email world yet? If so, you might want to try out PixelLetter which turns any PDF or online created letter into the good old paper snail mail and delivers it to anyones rustic mailbox for a small fee. At first you might say “why”, but then again, we live in a world where the crappy quality of a fax machine still rules for odd reasons even though I send and receive using my laptop. Hand written letters are always great to receive, but perhaps you’ll be getting handwritten letters in you inbox soon 😉 . Anyhoots, a friend and I had this idea with a bit of a twist last year, so there goes that idea! One day all communication devices will talk to each other. Fax machines, emails, snail mail, text messages, IM’s, voicemail,  post it notes, voice IM’s, etc.

superbowl superads tv commericals

As a designer I generally gear up to watch the SuperBowl for their new commericals while the game remains as background noise as I type away on my laptop. One trend that I’ve noticed from TV stations is the ability to watch their content online right after they air on TV. Before, users would TiVo content then throw it up on YouTube or DailyMotion, then the broadcast companies would try to sue users. Anyhow, without getting into my thoughts about DRM and how I think TV should be integrated with the internet, enjoy the SuperBowl Commericals (SuperAds) after each quarter of the game, though the game does not seem to be part of the streams. (Half time ads just finished and nothing really caught my attention..hmm)(I’ve also seen a few of the ads online before the SuperBowl)

usb posture reminder

Here’s a nifty little USB gadget that reminds us how bad our posture gets as we naturally lean into computer monitors, especially laptop users. Basically it sounds an alarm when your head’s too close to the monitor. I actually had a geeky solution back in grad school for this. I put an adjustable metal shelf on my desk where my laptop was then used the lower shelf with padding as a head rest.

The above image reminded me a of a note a manager once told me 5 years ago while discussing the digital age in the internet and TV: “If you lean 15 degrees forward your using the internet(interacting), but once you lean 15 degrees backwards you watching TV(absorbing)”. This can be applied to many other activities as well.

Anyhoots, if you buy this, I’m sure you’ll find more than one use for it.

via UberReview
Buy here USB Brando($26)

Thomas Raschke - wire frames

Thomas Raschke brings to us his wonderful series of “wire frame” artwork pieces ranging from full sized rooms, teddy bears, radios, power tools, and various other objects made from wire steel…yup I said wire steel (the above image is not from a computer). Most 3D designers are use to seeing wireframe on the computer screen, but having a wireframe table, house, or space would actually be pretty cool. I’ll post a few of his images after the jump.

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22nd century: world wide mind

Woa! Telepathic Thoughts, A Computer Inside his Skull, A Computer for your Eyes, and Wiring your Brain. PBS recently premiered pilot series “22nd Century” which dives first hand into the intriguing theory of the wired brain with some fascinating examples in our current society! If you have an hour, this is a must watch video for some serious questioning, inspiration, and mystifying wonder. (thanks Alycia!)

advertising graffiti

Rocketboom has a great video clip from graffiti research lab, eyebeam and the anti-advertising agency on nyc’s graffiti problem inspired by jo lee’s abstractor tv. Watch it, wonder, and get inspired! I never thought about advertising this way, but this video made me realize the obvious.

update:Here’s an interesting follow up to this story where a simple marketing ad campaign turns into graffiti which then turns into a huge media blitz on being a bomb threat in Boston considered to the big media an act of terriorism when it is hardly even that. If you have not heard about this somewhat stupendous media buzz yet incredibly successful marketing act, follow up on the story on some great coverage here, here, here, or the many links here….then the great sign to “the media” about what they should cover here!