April Fools and the Internet

I really appreciate how so many internet entities use the opportunity of April Fools Day to play with their websites. It shows a comical and creative side that we don't always see. Here are a few from today that I find amusing.

• Google is notorious for playing along, this year they've changed their name to Topeka.
  
  
• deviantArt changed their users icons again this year to one of several "Team" somethings from Twilight or Lady Gaga. I think the icon swap they pulled two years ago was funnier.
  
  
• LiveJournal says that their beloved mascot, Frank the goat, has been asked to star in an upcoming 3D movie about a goat and his lawyer: Frank & Stein. I don't know about you, but I'd go see it.
  
  
• IGN released a fake movie trailer for the popular video game series Halo. A few years ago the did one for Zelda.
  

I don't see anything from Twitter or Facebook yet, but it's early. If you're looking for more April Fools Day Internet Pranks? Check out: http://twitter.com/AprFoolsDay

World Hetalia Day

Never before have I seen a phenomenon like Hidekaz Himaruya's manga/anime series, Axis Powers Hetalia.

What started as a Japanese web comic depicting a satire of history, culture and world events is now a published manga and anime series. That's pretty awesome in itself, however thanks to very active fans and the powers of the internet the popularity of this series has skyrocketed.

With the exception of some Korean protesters, people across the globe have lovingly adopted the characters which represent the many nations that make up our world. The result? October 24th is World Hetalia Day. According to the event's facebook page (so far) 28 countries are celebrating in 104 different locations. 104 separate events on the same day to celebrate Hetalia.

What makes it so amazing? Neither the manga nor the anime have been released in the U.S. as of yet. Manga strips were posted online and a translated by fans. The anime was released over cellphones and the internet, subtitles were made available by fans. The fact that fans and the powers of the internet took this series to the level of a world wide celebrated holiday is what makes it so amazing to me.

I'll be celebrating tomorrow too. Click here for the directory of public event locations.

Nickelodeon: Teen Nick

Everyone who knows me, knows that cartoons are a big part of my life, and Nick Toons are some of the most successful cartoons on the planet. So it should be no surprise to anyone that I watch Nickelodeon, A LOT.

Often while waiting for my daily Spongebob fix, I catch a corner of one of Nickelodeon's preteen/teen targeted live action shows. Usually I change the channel. Let's face it, once you're over a certain age, stories written around high/middle school drama don't really peek your interests. Besides, the good old days of Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts and The Adventures of Pete and Pete are long gone. Remember SNICK, Alex Mac, All That, and the spin off, Kenan and Kel? They're gone too and FYI - just like the years we spent watching the original Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy and Doug cartoons, they're not coming back. It's hard for us "old timers" to look at today's teen shows with any sense of respect. (These Kids today and their Zoey 101...)

Still, not all of Nickelodeon's teen programming is as annoying. I have to give credit to the creative teams behind Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Drake and Josh, and iCarly. In my opinion, all three shows have featured decent writing, acting and/or interesting new concepts. (It's really saying something when I don't automatically change the channel) Ned's Declassified and Drake and Josh have recently ended. iCarly on the other hand has just started and it's a no brainer that the biggest reason I find this show appealing is their use of the internet (After all, the internet is what I do).

Check out iCarly.com. It's not just a site about the show. It's the site that's talked about on the show. It has blogs and info as if the characters from the show are actually maintaining the site. Now, I'm sure that the actors are not behind the site maintenance, but isn't it a nice concept? What's also interesting is that the site, like the show, asks people to send in videos and photos. So, you (or your kids) could wind up on the site or the show. How interactive! Nickelodeon has always been a champ and getting kids involved. Remember the old Halloween "Nick or Treat" contest or how about "Slime Time"?

Although some of us may feel that the glory days of Nick TV are over, likely because we've outgrown it, I'm happy to see the network is keeping with tradition and evolving with the times. iCarly looks like a winner for the network. Hopefully it's exactly what they need to counter act the Spears effect. I am really surprised that the network is still running Zoey 101, but that's a whole different blog post...

Netscape is dead, It has ceased to be.

Old but important news, AOL has officially announced that they will end the development and support of Netscape browsers.

I remember Netscape. It was the first browser that I ever laid eyes on. I was in the seventh grade when we were first introduced to the internet. We were to research a class project dealing with our future career choice. It was then that I did my first web search. My topic? SEGA!

Anyway, I was fascinated by this Netscape thing. I didn't understand it at the time, begged my parents for it, they understood it even less than I did. Little did I know that three years later I would be playing with html and making stupid fan web "shrines"... Little did I know that thirteen or so years later I would be making a living working with the internet.

Thanks Netscape...

Read AOL's Official Release Here

Searching for Something

Since the time I was a little girl one of my all time favorite activities has been fishing with my dad. We spent a lot of my childhood out and about back and forth between various bodies of water. It didn't matter if we were taking his row boat out to Donagel Lake or braving the rocky current and crossing the Youghogheny River by foot, I've always set out to have some amazing adventure. Every trip is an opportunity to find something new or see something that I have never seen before. Every trip is special.

It is a thrilling experience to catch a fish. Depending on the type you have to set the hook and if you do that then comes the fight and hopefully the thrill of victory. Surprisingly the actual fishing part of our trips never turned out to be the highlight of the adventure. We've fished in the sun, rain, sleet, snow, and ice. We've fell in, swam out, and got pulled over by the police on the way home. We've brought home our limit of trout, caught nothing bluegill and have come home empty handed. It doesn't matter, we always have a good time and the story of the adventure always outlives the catch.

Looking back on two decades of this, I've come to realize that as I grew up I became more and more obsessed with turning over rocks and looking for critters than I ever was for fishing. Over the years I have caught thousands of crayfish, hundreds of minnows, dozens of frogs, toads, tadpoles, salamanders, helgramites and three baby snapping turtles. I can't go to a body of water today without analyzing the nearest rock and trying to guess what I might find when I turn it over. Probably a crayfish, maybe a snake, I think I see a tadpole, ack! a spider!

It's funny, but I'm starting to see this level of curiosity in my daily web searching. As an artist and a designer I'm always looking for new art and ideas that will inspire me. When it comes to web marketing I'm always searching for content about my company that I didn't know was Google indexed. I search and I search wondering what I'll find on the next page. What if I try this keyword? What if I put this in quotes? What if I try a blogger search? I'm searching for crayfish and tadpoles. I hope I find another baby snapping turtle.