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Hand Warmers From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

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Tomorrow is a special day for a special little girl.  Seven-year-old Katie Goldman, like a lot of kids her age, is at the point where individual differences stop being fun quirks and start being targets for bullies, teasing, and mistreatment.  Katie’s a Star Wars fan, and her love of Lucas and company’s galaxy far, far away has caused her to be the subject of ridicule at school and the rallying cry for millions of disaffected sci-fi nerds throughout the world.  Nerds who remember what it was like to be picked on for loving sci-fi.

Tomorrow, December 10, people are encouraged to wear Star Wars clothing items to show their support for Katie and kids like her.  If you don’t have a Star Wars teeshirt or five like I do, or you work in an environment where tees are forbidden, then perhaps a different way to show your support might work.  You could start off with one of these awesome Star Wars-themed hand warmers and continue on from there.  Change your  workplace desktop background, change your phone ring to the Imperial March, wear some secret Yoda underpants… there’s all kinds of things you can do to rally behind Katie.

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8 Amazing iPad Uses

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When it comes to the holidays, there’s going to be one really popular gift, and that’s going to be the iPad.  After all, the availability has gone up and the prices have edged down, so that makes the iPad a more viable gift option than it was last year.  The more I see it being used, especially in contexts like these 8 amazing iPad uses, the more sense the little tablet that could makes to me.

Of the uses, the one I like the most is the use of the iPad as a kitchen helper.  After all, it’s perfect for that kind of work.  The touch screen is easy to clean, it’s got a snappy little processor, and the wide variety of apps make it a pretty unique and versatile little device.  If you just used it to play music and store recipes, that makes it worthwhile, and it’s got a lot of other uses, as you’ll see in the video below.

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A Video Game Thanksgiving

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Before you start your Thanksgiving meal preparations in earnest, whether you’re going to be cooking it yourself, traveling to eat it with family, or simply driving out to the one restaurant open, make a little time and reflect on things you’re thankful for.  Like Mario, Luigi, T.Hawk, and the rest of the A Video Game Thanksgiving crew, you’ve got a lot of things to be grateful for.  I’ve got a lot of things to be thankful for, too.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us here at Shak Media.  I know that we’re all grateful for your continued patronage, reading, links, and comments.  You guys are what keeps this site going, so thank you all so much.  Have a safe and happy holiday season.

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Augmented Reality Star Wars Game Hits iPhone Store

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If you’ve ever wanted to defend your home planet from the evil clutches of the Galactic Empire, but haven’t felt like moving to Tatooine or Naboo, then you’re in luck.  You can stay right here on Earth and defend your city from the evil clutches of Darth Vader thanks to the first Star Wars augmented reality game, Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner.  Here’s how it works.

The game takes the familiar opening footage from Star Wars, of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo battling the TIE fighters of the Empire, and turns it into a shooting game.  Using the iPhone’s cameras, it projects the current view of the iPhone as the backdrop, and projects the game footage over top of it.  As you turn the phone and direct the shooting cross-hairs, you blast the TIEs out of the sky (or the wall of the bus station).

It looks like a blast, but… you’re waving and turning and gesturing in public when you play a game like this.  I think it’d be kind of inconvenient to play in close quarters, unless you don’t mind elbowing people in the face.

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Skyscraper Scratching Post

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Anyone who owns a cat realizes that they’re not quite right.  There’s just something a little bit off about them; there’s something untrustworthy about those adorable little faces.  No matter how sweet or cute they may appear, there’s an overwhelming drive to destroy.  Well, you can either try to sublimate the cat’s need to wreck things, or expand it with this incredible Cats Attack! Scratching Post from the wonderful ThinkGeek.

With these awesome skyscraper-shaped and printed cat scratching posts, your tubby little Mr. Mittens becomes Mittzilla, destroyer of cities and scourge of Neo-Tokyo!  Radioactive fire breath sold separately.  The skyscrapers come in 5 separate pieces, shipped flat.  They’re 100 percent corrugated cardboard (for that box consistency cats just love to shred) and are printed with non-toxic ink and glue, so they won’t harm kitty’s delicate constitution.

If I thought my cat would use this, I’d have bought it already.  However, she’s got a nice scratching post that she barely uses, so I figure it’s not worth the investment.  Plus, she’s too lazy to destroy anything larger than a local village, so it might be a little out of her scope.

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Fun Friday Videos: MST3K The Movie

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This movie, Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie, was one of my most eagerly-awaited moments in movie history.  However, thanks to Grammercy Pictures sinking their last $5 into promoting Barb Wire (which was a disaster and bomb), MST3K never got a proper theater release in my area or any other area.  I believe it was here for two weeks on one screen, then gone again.  Either way, I completely missed it in theaters despite being a devoted fan.

However, when it came out on video, I got it from the video store where I worked repeatedly.  Even now, years after the rights cleared up and a DVD was finally released, I still occasionally watch that glorious, hilarious movie and remember that oft-rewound VHS tape.  I’m pretty sure I’m the one that put all those miles on it, but it was awesome and remains a treat.

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They Shake When You Bathe Them

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My dogs are so overdue for a bath that I’m embarrassed about having them in public.  After they get out of the tub, I wrap them tightly in a towel, hold them close, and take them outside to shake.  I hate it when they shake off their water indoors!

There is a science, however, to the wet dog shake.  From Pawesome,

… when a dog shakes, the water attached to its fur is pulled off through centripetal forces. In order for a droplet to detach, the centripetal force has to exceed that of the surface tension between water and fur. Makes sense. The surprise: smaller dogs shake more vigorously than larger dogs.

Did you know when an old dog shakes, it’s kind of sweet in a sad little way?

Photo by Ian Carroll via Flickr Creative Commons.

H/T Brittney G.

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Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

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When I was a teenager, one of my closest friends was raped. A man forced her into non-consensual sex and although she didn’t walk away beaten to a pulp like many women, she has carried the trauma with her for 35 years, just as it has haunted me all this time.

This is why it is especially appalling to read about the cheerleader who was kicked off the squad because she refused to “cheer” for her rapist,

H.S. fulfilled her role as a cheerleader, participating in all the cheers for the team as a group. She simply refused to shout the first name of the man who assaulted her when he stood up alone to make free throws. It seems like she was being more than accommodating, when an student athlete facing trial on rape charges most likely should have been suspended from the team, even if his presence wasn’t a source of immediate distress to his victim in her position as cheerleader. In a display of extreme disrespect for a rape survivor and disregard for her well-being, school officials insisted that H.S. had to scream “Rakheem” with the rest of the cheerleaders, or she’d be kicked off the squad.

I don’t think so.  However, the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals upheld the school’s decision.  They said her role as a cheerleader meant supporting the athletic team and her silence constituted substantial interference with the work of the school.  Wow.

Photo by Kevin Coles via flickr creative commons.

H/T Brittney G.

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