Author: Ty Dunitz

This one’s for the artists. Enter John Haasl, an IT guy whose hobby is fine arts. Haasl’s paintings don’t exactly revolutionize the art world, but there’s something special about them – Haasl’s painting them exclusively on the iPad. Said Haasl about his new-found pastime: “[I] only recently got into it more as Hobby using my iPad…The paintings you see done on the iPad are actually my second, third, and fourth completed paintings.” Frankly, speaking as an illustrator, that only serves to make Haasl’s work more impressive, as far as I’m concerned. Even more impressive is that without pressure…

Before you leap into your Ford Windstar and gun it for the strip mall, I should correct myself – not ‘now’, but ‘soon-ish, perhaps’. The retail goliath is expanding its electronics retail section, and apparently, it’s looking to stock the self-proclaimed ‘magical’ device on its shelves by the end of 2010. “We anticipate being able to have the iPad later this year,” said Gary Severson, senior vice president of entertainment for Wal-Mart. Now, this brings up a some questions. First of all, considering Apple has yet to announce any retail partners for the iPad, and Wal-Mart is using words like…

Google’s logo has been just about everything at this point. It’s been outer space, it’s been Leo Da Vinci’s drawings, it’s been the Russian ballet, and it’s been every pop culture reference you can name. Now, employees at Google London have recreated the internet’s most-seen logo using the late 90s’ most cliche image technique: the photo mosaic. I’m actually quite intrigued by this little video; with no obvious projection method used, did they just number all 884 photographs, or something? Even then, that’s incredibly impressive, and makes me want to try doing up a giant self-portrait or something…

Foursquare’s gonna have to step its game up. Unwisely-spelled geo-tagging doodad SCVNGR (I was pronouncing it ‘sick vinegar’ in my head all morning before realizing I’m an idiot, and that this isn’t a catchy name for a service) is looking to bust into the big leagues, and with four million dollars and Google’s blessing, it’s really not a question anymore of how, but when. SCVNGR is kind of neat, because it takes Foursquare’s ambitious ‘get out of your living room’ concept and makes it more legit. Upon posting about Foursquare last month, a Techi reader pointed out to me that it actually isn’t necessary…

You know what? I think you’ve had enough sleep. In fact, I think you’ve had enough sleep for the next several weeks, and I’m going to make sure you don’t – I’m going to make you watch this video. Not-oft-loved-enough-by-North-Americans company Fujitsu breakdanced its brand new technologies all over Tokyo’s Fujitsu Forum 2010 this week, and among the lot is this absolutely terrifying bear. Interestingly enough, this robotic atrocity is designed not as a toy for children, but as therapy, chiefly for the elderly. The idea is that it fills the role of a pet or small child, allowing you to feel less guilty…

I actually talk about this often with friends: how it’s interesting that nobody seemed to notice when the shorthand ‘phone’ became a term for cellphones, and ‘home phone’ now needs clarification when (and if) used in general conversation. Well, it seems those home phones are on their last legs. Researchers for the NCHS have discovered in a recent study that… brace for it… seriously, hold on to your hat. Do you have a weak heart? I’d advise you to leave the room for this one. Alright, here goes… Land lines are going extinct. By all means, facepalm for a moment. I can wait. Seriously, though, apparently…

Regardless of it being the biggest game in town, Facebook is unquestionably the most hated, with mounting privacy concerns that have been all the buzz for the last few weeks. Yes, I’m well aware that’s obvious, but I’ve gotta start this article somehow. Anyway, with no end in sight, it seems Zuckerberg & Friends are turning inward – today, at 4pm Pacific Time, all Facebook’s employees will be gathering to address the ever-snowballing privacy issue. But what sort of conclusions will Facebook come to? What can they do at this point, and what is this meeting really about? Will Zuckerberg just…

Robots, man. Freaking robots. Your robotic fix today comes from PhD student Ji-Dong Yim, who has built two cell phone robots, Callo and Cally (get it? call-y? cell phone? ah, never mind). Both bots run on Nokia N82 handsets, and can move and show emotion based on user input, be it by text, voice, or even facial expression. Yim claims the aim is to explore social robotic products, in an attempt to build better relationships between robots and their owners in the future. So, like a Furby, then, JD? Because these are way cooler than a Furby. Give yourself some credit, man. Totally brought some videos for…

Tamagotchis never really carried any guilt, did they? You could let them die, and just hit reset. No biggie, right? iHobo is about to make you feel like utter crap for all the virtual pets you never saved, and then some. iHobo (yes, that’s its real name) is a free charity iPhone app that leaves you in charge of a virtual homeless person, but believe it or not, the app is not in bad taste – rather, it’s meant to call attention to the issue of homelessness at large. Well, actually, in the UK specifically, but the message is universal. iHobo takes up residence in your iPhone for three days, and it’s up to you to…

Seems everybody’s just about had it up to here with Facebook, and it looks like this is the case with developers as much as it is with users. Zynga, the developer of Farmville, has warned its employees to brace themselves for a possible imminent break from the social networking giant. That’s kind of cool. Sounds like a spaceship about to break away from an asteroid, or something. Anyway, tensions between the two companies have been rising, and, due to Facebook’s apparent bullying of Zynga to sign a contract which would bind Farmville almost exclusively to Facebook, Zynga threatening to leave,…