Funny Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Creative uses for App Store icons: Ransom Apps and App Icon Quiz

by Mike Schramm (Apr 24th, 2013)

Brian Stucki is the developer behind MacMiniColo (the Mac mini colocation outfit in Las Vegas), and he recently sent us a fun project he's hosting called "Ransom Apps." It's just a silly little web app, but the idea is that you enter a phrase of text, and Ransom Acts returns your phrase written ...

Rockstar shares the Grand Theft Auto soundtracks on iTunes and Spotify

by Mike Schramm (Apr 12th, 2013)

Rockstar, the developers of the very popular Grand Theft Auto series, has kindly set up playlists for every one of the series' radio stations, for use in both iTunes and Spotify. The GTA series is well-known for its music, and when Rockstar ported both GTA3 and GTA: Vice City over to iOS, we ...

Harlem Shake open-sourced for iOS apps

by Mike Schramm (Mar 8th, 2013)

The Harlem Shake YouTube dance meme, if you ask me, ended about three weeks ago -- which I think was right around when it started. But that hasn't stopped the developers at Velos Mobile from creating an open-source Objective-C class for iOS projects that will take all of an app's standard ...

Burglar breaks into Microsoft, steals only Apple products

by Michael Grothaus (Jan 7th, 2013)

A buddy of mine sent me this link from Google+ user Joshua Anderson. It's a clipping from the Palo Alto Daily Post about a break-in that occurred on Microsoft's Mountain View campus early this month. Despite Microsoft's offices being presumably filled with the best MS tech on the planet, the ...

NimbleBit holding a fall sale, first episode of Tiny Tower Shorts out now

by Mike Schramm (Nov 8th, 2012)

NimbleBit sent along an email announcing that the company was holding a fall sale, and it made me do a double take: how does a company whose games are all free hold a fall sale? Surprisingly enough, NimbleBit found a way. From this Friday through Sunday, all of the in-app purchases in ...

Pocket Planes coming to Mac, getting animated shorts

by Mike Schramm (Oct 9th, 2012)

Here's an interesting pair of announcements from NimbleBit, the makers of the hit freemium games Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes. First up, Pocket Planes is coming to the Mac App Store. Starting this Thursday (at this link, which doesn't work yet but will when the game is live), players will be ...

Apple hiring a pizza cook in Sacramento

by Mike Schramm (Jun 1st, 2012)

Here's a fun little bit of news before your weekend starts. Let's say you want to work for Apple, but your knowledge of integrated processors is a little lacking, and you don't happen to have Jony Ive-level design skills? Ask yourself: Do you make a mean sausage and olives? If so, you might ...

Music video: iPhone games get real

by Mike Schramm (Dec 2nd, 2011)

This video by Australian band Hey Geronimo is the cutest thing. The group painstakingly recreated scenes and characters from popular iPhone games for their song, "Why Don't We Do Something?". I love the Angry Birds in the car, the flying Fruit Ninja fruit and the cat battling Flight Control ...

Samsung attempts to ambush iPhone 4S launch in Sydney

by Chris Rawson (Oct 12th, 2011)

Samsung has set up a temporary shop in Sydney, right across from the local Apple Store, and started hawking Galaxy S2 phones for the low, low price of two bucks (with a two-year contract, naturally). The line for the bargain-basement priced phone was reportedly longer than the nearby line for ...

Shake-to-Undo on the Mac via open source app

by Mike Schramm (Sep 6th, 2011)

This is funny: I've only really ever used the "shake-to-undo" on the iPhone either by accident, or when it wasn't actually available (when I had to undo something, and thought the app I was using supported it). But it can be a handy feature for some, and because of that, someone (named Nate ...

No Comment: Woman buys wooden iPad

by Mike Schramm (Aug 30th, 2011)

This is a completely hypothetical situation: Someone in a McDonald's parking lot says he picked up an iPad for a cheap $300, and wonders if you'd want to buy it off of him for just $180. You decide why not (because reputable salesmen always just hang around in the parking lots of fast food ...

Star Trek PADD official app creates iPad fact from science fiction

by Mike Schramm (Jul 12th, 2011)

As soon as the iPad came out, Star Trek: The Next Generation fans were comparing it to PADD, the touchscreen device used in the famous sci-fi television series. But now those comparisons have come to life: an official version of the Star Trek PADD is now available in the App Store as a full ...

TUAW's Daily App: NBA JAM

by Mike Schramm (Apr 21st, 2011)

Yes, the classic NBA JAM title has been released by EA for iOS, and it's got everything you remember from the old console version: the crazy announcers, the quick games and even some kooky special characters. The iPhone version was released a little while ago for US$4.99, but this week EA has ...

eMac becomes cat bed

by Mike Schramm (Apr 16th, 2011)

This eMac-turned-cat bed is the product of a friend of mine here in LA named Colin Hughes. A little while back, he got a new computer to replace his old (though still working) eMac, and instead of junking it, he decided to clean out the hardware and turn the case into a makeshift kitty pad. He ...

Colbert has an iPad 2, already wants the iPad 3

by Mike Schramm (Apr 5th, 2011)

Stephen Colbert can finally eat and sleep apparently -- he was able to pick up his own iPad 2. And as you can see in the video below, he's thrilled with it. Sure, it's mostly just because it's new (it doesn't really do much his old tablet doesn't do), but his excitement is essentially ...