Author: Rocco Penn

Have you ever wondered what would happen if everyone on earth jumped at the exact same time? Would it make a difference if they were all brought to the same place? As it turns out, nothing would really be affected. Sure, there would be a certain force exerted on the earth that it’s definitely not used to, but it would be nothing compared to a major earthquake. As this video by Vsauce explains, there are other ways to make an impact. …

One of the biggest complaints of the Call of Duty series is that there haven’t been major innovations from one to the next. Playing one or another is simply a change in strategy. For the first time in a while, Black Ops 2 will have a major change in gameplay in the form of a brand new loadout system. The guys over at Gamespot discuss it in detail here: …

The wait is finally nearly over. After a false start earlier in the year that got everyone excited about the iPhone 5 only to be offered the iPhone 4s instead, Apple appears to be ready to release their latest generation smartphone to its adoring fans. According to iMore, the iPhone 5 event will be held September 12 with pre-orders opening up that day. The information on Apple pre-orders comes from sources that have provided iMore with accurate iPhone related launch dates in the past. The information on the international launches comes from sources that have provided our network, Mobile Nations,…

Whether it’s because they want to keep the branding unified (highly unlikely) or they simply didn’t want to pursue a row with German retailer Metro AG (nearly certain though still a rumor), Microsoft is officially dropping the moniker of “Metro” from all forms of communication, marketing, and product naming. Now, it’s simply going to be “Windows 8″. Just when we thought Microsoft was getting creative… According to ZDnet: Here’s the official guidance, my sources say: Anything currently/formerly known as a “Metro-Style application” (with or without a hyphen) will now be known officially…

For every valid, working app on the App Store, there are two apps that are considered “walking dead” by German mobile analytics firm Adeven. By their count, there are 400,000 apps that do not get downloaded, are invisible to users, and have no ratings. “The reality is there are only a couple of thousand apps that really make some kind of downloads,” Christian Henschel, Adeven CEO, told David Meyer at Gigaom. “This is based on Apple’s closed system — it’s tough to discover those kinds of apps. You don’t have proper search, so the only way to discover new apps is through the top listing.”…

The words “ghost town” have been thrown around when the topic of Google+ comes up. Despite growth that was much faster than Facebook in its first year, many have believed that Google+ simply came in too late, didn’t have the marketing power behind it that it deserved, or had functionality that was too complex for a society that is used to “liking” and “poking”. According to ComScore, they may have turned the corner in a big way in the last 9 months by increasing 66%; this comes during a time when Google+ had already passed its peaking period where the curious joined to see what it was all about. According…

We’ve actually been giving Google a lot of praise lately for their innovations and advertising creativity, but this one is a bit over the top. Google Handwrite is a new feature that allows people to write search terms with their fingers instead of typing them out or saying them using voice commands. It’s pretty neat… for about a minute. The video shows some of the ways that Handwrite could be used, but it’s not very convincing. It’s a gimmick. Nothing more. Even handicapped or injured people would have a hard time finding a use for it over pulling up the keyboard. …

It would be impossible for anyone other than a really rich person to be Batman. Sure, anyone who has the physical prowess and the willingness to train can be a strong fighter, but the gadgets, suits, vehicles, and overall systematic infrastructure that goes into maintaining the Batman presence requires money. Lots of it. This infographic comes to us from Moneysupermarket.com via Seattle Nissan and breaks down the various costs associated with making Batman the baddest man in Gotham City. Click to enlarge. From: Seattle Nissan Dealer Via: Hey U Guys…

Blackberry Keyboard via Shutterstock In some ways, it’s simply a matter of circumstance. In others, it was missteps on their part that have contributed to their slow demise. Research In Motion is in the kind of deep trouble that companies as dominant as they were not too long ago rarely find themselves in so quickly. In an exclusive interview with CIO, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins breaks down the state of the company and the future of BlackBerry. Here’s a quote that exemplifies much of what is happening: “What also happened, in the U.S., was the drive to 4G started, and it got accelerated. Carriers were…

The best of friends in the Star Wars world came together for this epic picture. We all knew that Chewbacca was big, but seeing him in human form let’s us see just how huge he really is. Click to enlarge into a poster-worthy size….