Author: Ty Dunitz

If Google has AdSense, let’s just call this NonSense. A new advertising campaign for people-what-make-cars Alfo Romeo is (we desperately hope) not the future of advertising, as you’ll doubtlessly agree by watching this video. ‘There’s no getting away from an offer this good’ proclaims a motorized billboard, as it chooses unwitting pedestrians and gives chase, urging them to purchase a car. I can’t imagine this is the best way to sell cars – and obviously, this video was created with humour in mind  – but still, there’s a deeper concern here. Given the pervasion of advertising in our everyday…

Feels like only yesterday we were all rooting for Motorola’s Xoom to deal some damage to (or at least share some of the market with) the iPad. The Xoom looked – and, to be honest, still looks – like a decent piece of hardware. I, for one, would still be proud to sport it about the town in a man-purse, whipping it out at a fancy coffee bar while I slurp down a beverage with a sentence-long name. Of course, once it was revealed that the Xoom would in fact cost more than the most comparable iPad model, people began singing a different tune. 800 bucks is not worth a tablet of the Xoom’s capabilities. Or, in this case,…

Perhaps you have a cell phone. Perhaps you’ve heard of Angry Birds. With appeal untold, Angry Birds has somehow climbed the sweaty ladder of the gaming industry to become what can legitimately be termed a phenomenon, as far as iPhone apps go. Maybe it’s the unpredictability of physics-based gameplay. Maybe it’s the pigs. Whatever the case, now people are making cakes out of it – as you’re no doubt already watching in the video, there. Well, carry on. As playable as this is, it would seem this particular fortress is not one knocked down easily (and not just due to the kid’s aiming ability) – perhaps…

Talk about gratitude. According to Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, a twentysomething father has named his newborn daughter ‘Facebook’ to pay homage to the role Facebook (like, real Facebook) played in the recent Egyptian revolution.  No, really. This is a thing. According to TechCrunch, the translation is as follows: A young man in his twenties wanted to express his gratitude about the victories the youth of 25th of January have achieved and chose to express it in the form of naming his firstborn girl “Facebook” Jamal Ibrahim (his name.) The girl’s family, friends, and neighbors in the…

And here is a visual riddle to help ferry you into the weekend – Escher’s Waterfall, come to life. I’ve been sitting here for longer than I should trying to figure this one out. Any insights, Techi readers? Or did we really just kick science in the teeth? Before some humourless troll decides to remind us that science can’t be kicked in the teeth nor anywhere else, that was a joke. But in the impossible offchance this is real, we just basically solved all humanity’s problems. In the words of a great internet: “what is this I don’t even”…

Gemalto has released the first SIM card with built-in Facebook functionality – meaning pretty soon, every GSM handset, regardless of its base functionality, will have the ability to connect one to Facebook. Said a spokesperson for the social network: We worked closely with Gemalto on their Facebook for SIM product and believe it will be another easy and affordable way for people to stay connected through Facebook on the mobile phone of their choice. Facebook for SIM creatively combines technologies from some of our existing mobile solutions that especially are attractive for people with…

Tech-savvy folk the world over, stand up and show your propers – for the first time in history, a video game theme song has won a Grammy. No, the recipient isn’t Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy fame), and not even Koji Kondo (quick, think of any videogame song – chances are it was written by or derived from Kondo), but relative newcomer Christopher Tin, for his composition Baba Yetu. Sound familiar? It’s the theme to Civilization IV. Why is Tin winning a Grammy for it six years later? Because only now has he released it properly, on his album Calling All Dawns. Congratulations Tin, and may your victory…

If you’re not an iPhone-toting Macolyte, you may be following the adventures of Windows Phone 7, the little operating system that could – and in particular, Nokia’s recent decision to ditch Symbian (the little operating system that couldn’t) to the curb in favour of it. Most tech heads, shocked at the partnership, cried foul, decrying the move as bad for both Nokia and Microsoft. But come on, guys, Windows Phone 7 isn’t that bad. It’s functional (in this blogger’s opinion, every bit as much as iOS) and if it isn’t the most gorgeous, chrome-free interface a phone’s ever seen, nothing is. Anyway,…

Many of us still long for a simpler time, when programs came on disks, and no one ever played past the first episode of a shareware game, because no one wanted to order the full version by phone. This is for us….

I love it when old people talk about technology. Further confirming the iPad 2′s two cameras is none other than Elton John, who at 1:15 in this interview with BBC’s Colin Paterson claims he’ll be picking up a ‘Skype iPad’ in April to communicate with his son. John openly admits he’s a Luddite, who can even memorize phone numbers – which as Paterson points out, is a ‘rare skill these days’. No kidding. I don’t even know my own number….