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12
Jun
Just when we feel comfortable enough to say “wow, cell phones have really changed the way we operate,” things get even weirder. Here are 10 facts about cells from around the world that show the scale and style of our contemporary global use; sometimes for bad, but sometimes for real, cool, innovative good.
1. There Are LOTS of Them
There are half as many active cell phones on the planet as there are people. When you think of the general wealth distribution across the planet, it’s pretty remarkable to have over 3.3 billion active mobiles. Then again, Luxembourg’s mobile phone penetration rate is 158%. Yep - that’s 158 active cell phones for every 100 people.
2. And They Make a Mess
125+ million phones are discarded every year. Given the rate at which people go through cell phones (Koreans replace on average every 11 months), it’s easy to see how the environmental side can get out of control. At least there’s gold in the garbage! Yarr.
3. M-Voting in Estonia
While the 2008 US election is abuzz with web penetration, E-stonia’s been leading the global technopolitical charge. As Lithuania books a seat on the e-voting (online voting) train, Estonia’s letting mobile phones both act as a convenient vote delivery platform, but also a personal identity confirmation, ushering in a new era of what is being called “m-voting”.
4. Koreans Love to Text Message. Seriously.
Korean teenagers between 15 and 19 years of age send well over 20,000 text messages a year, on average (60.1 texts per day). I don’t care how fast StarCraft has made your fingers - that’s a lot of time that could have been spent… I dunno… talking to people. According to the Korea Times in February 2006, “over 30% of South Korean students send 100 text messages a day”.
5. The First Cell Phone Came Out in 1983
Well, at least, the first to get FCC acceptance. It was called the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. Before you lolz at the cheesebag name, wait until you hear what it stands for: Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage. Kinda endearing, I guess. They sound… proud.
6. Cell Phone… Or Flashlight?
Lost power? Sneaking back into bed? According to a Sprint survey, just under two-thirds of cell phone users use the backlight as a flashlight. A testament to human ingenuity! I guess it’s obvious, in a way. And here I thought I was being clever.
7. You Can Get Stuffed Into a Locker Through Your Phone
Ok, not really, but apparently text message bullying is on the rise in England. As an online anti-cyber-bullying guide explains, text message bullying allows for abuse around the clock. You want to pick on some kid, he’s available 24/7. It’s like those massive Blackberry ads at airports that boast that you now never have to leave the office. Bullying has never been more efficient!
8. Cell Phones Can Help Stop Nuclear Terrorism
Using solid-state radiation sensors, researchers at Purdue University are working to allow network of properly set up cell phones to track the presence of radioactive material. Since likely targets for terrorist attacks are major urban centers, and since most people have cell phones, this system could help collectively find out where the problem lies.
9. Used for National Disaster Response
Mobiles are more useful during an emergency than just for calling loved ones. Other countries have adopted systems whereby phone companies automatically warn citizens of emergencies/disasters - free of charge. Finland, in 2005, adopted such a system, as did Japan.
10. Half of Japan’s Top Fiction Was Written on Mobile Phones
Absolutely nuts. Turning the publishing industry on its head, this trend’s subscriber models are thriving and making significant money for aspiring writers, in turn fueling the phenomenon. Authors tend to be young women sharing fictionalized aspects of their lives. Five of the top ten works of fiction in 2007 were written on mobile phones. Japan, you never cease to amaze me.
14
May
Games invent worlds with rules, and in these worlds, secrets are magic. Tricks and codes are the perfect way to appendage value to a game without having to mess with the basic flow of it. Easter eggs about as old as gaming itself, adding intrigue and establishing a playful line of communication between player and designer. The most fun secrets lead to unlocked game elements, rewarding you for your hard work playing (or looking up codes) with new tools and functions, but the best of those are the unlocked characters. The examples below show three famous badass unlocked characters, each accessible in totally different ways, each interacting with the player in different ways as well.
1. Minion (Twisted Metal 2)
With six massive tires and the firepower of a small battalion, Minion was fitting as a final boss. As much as running for your life to avoid being crushed was fun, playing as Minion was even better. It was the perfect kind of thing to unlock after having worked through the game. There’s always been something fair and nice about being able to use/acquire that which you defeat in games, and Minion’s a perfect example.
Special Abilities
- Can crush other cars
- Powerful machine guns
- Heavily armored
How to Unlock
Press L1, Up, Down, Left at the vehicle selection screen.
2. Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
As the first unlockable/secret character in a fighting game, Reptile was the ultimate in mystery ninja cool. Scorpion and Subzero had their own thing going, and then this weird green guy would pop out every now and then with rather cheeseball clues as to how to find him. I liked that there was yet another ninja in the game, but it did seem like just another example of palette swap laziness (at least, until later on in the series when he was made more lizardish). Overall, though, it spiced things up. With a secret unlockable riddle-giving ninja character, how can you go wrong, really? Only a hidden in the first Mortal Kombat, his popularity earned him a real spot in the lineup for subsequent games in the series. Later hidden characters in Mortal Kombat world include Smoke, Jade, Noob Saibot, and others, but Reptile really started it all.
The ninja color-swap precedent established by the ninja turtles is to blame.
Special Abilities
- Can spit acid
- Can throw forceballs (projectiles)
- Fatality: Exposing his lizard face, then tearing off his opponent’s head with his tongue and eating it
How to Unlock
In single player mode, wait until a shadow covers the moon in The Pit stage, and win two flawless victory rounds. You’ll fight Reptile in the pit below.
3. Sheng Long (Street Fighter II)
As the story went, Sheng Long was the former teacher to both Ken and Ryu. Electronic Gaming Monthly, in their April 1992 issue, played an April Fools joke on their readers, claiming that you could fight him in the arcade version, but only under very specific and nearly impossible circumstances. The hoax was a huge success, with players all over the world dumping loads of quarters into the local coin-op to be the guy who pulls it off. Sheng Long’s legacy inspired the character Akuma, who appeared in later games in the Street Fighter series. While it’s maybe a bit unfair to put him in place of an actual unlockable character, that the joke was pulled off so well earns a spot in history.
Special Abilities
- Can use all the abilities of all the other characters
- Flaming dragon punch (before Ken got it in later versions)
How to Unlock
The full description’s in the pic below, but basically, you had to go through the entire game without getting hit once, then spar with the final boss for 10 rounds without either of you hitting each other. As if!
4
Apr
Steve Jobs is publicly against it, wireless carriers don’t want to endorse it, but as long as the internet’s involved, portable devices will inevitably be loaded up with the hottest, sexiest, and tiniest porn available. It’s already big in Europe and Asia, but portable porn hasn’t quite surged forward in America. Will it? Is the iPhone the device to carry it through?
With a big viewing area, the iPhone’s might have a screen just big enough. The Sony PSP, a contender in the portable porn market, clocks in with a 480 X 272 high resolution screen, comparable to the iPhone’s 480 X 320. The extra might help kick it out of “this is stupid small” and into an acceptable “hold it three inches front of your face” option. That, combined with easy internet access, takes care of the basics. (As for where to go on the web to find it, just head on over to the number one access point for iPhone porn sites: Google)
What about the iPhone’s whole touch potential? Sure, nipple twisting fingerprint circles on a smooth, cold, flat surface while sitting on a toilet in a mall bathroom might trigger a “EUREKA! I feel low” moment, but maybe there’s something to integrating touch with some kind of porn hacked application. We can all hang back until the Japanese sort out that whole avenue.
As for portable porn in general, there are upsides, and downsides. On the plus side, a phone’s a much more personal and private a device than a computer, less likely to be household/shared. Ironically, another advantage is that it’s much more public if you want it to be. Beer + iPhone porn = giggles among friends. And, fact is, if you ever “need” porn, you’ve always… got it… see, that’s just it, I’m not sure how I feel about the idea of having porn with me at all times. That’s committing to a lifestyle right there, like… I dunno… carrying a flask. Not only does having it in your phone create a whole new type of paranoia and set of porn-tracks to cover, but if you do get caught, all traits in the outward personality you’ve cultivated over the years will crumble in irrelevance under your new public identity as “guy who carries porn with him wherever he goes”. Still, it’s better than being the guy who keeps a “beaver shot” in his wallet.
The irony is that sticking a bikini babe as your wallpaper is still fairly socially acceptable, with womankind generally resigned to a “boys will be boys” attitude about covered nipples. But what happens when those bikini babes come to life?
I can’t help picture the ever so liberal “boys will be boys” attitude quickly dissolving with the knowledge that boys are carrying around their very own portable lap dancers. And these girls don’t ask for money when they’re done.
