From South Park to Star Wars, stop motion has been a force behind some of the most culturally important TV shows and movies of all time. The laborious process of adjusting a character’s expression and position manually was one of the only means of animation in the pre-CGI era, but iOS applications are reviving the nostalgic form of entertainment with apps suited even for the most amateur animators.
iStopMotion: DIY stop motion videos have sparked creative interest among Gen Ys, and now iPad app iStopMotion is introducing the technique to younger “Z”s. With the help of a yellow, spike-haired claymation assistant, the app demonstrates how to create simple 12-frame per second animations. To make a video, users simply set the stage, take a shot of the scene, slightly adjust the characters, and take the next picture. Once all the frames have been captured, a movie is rendered instantly. iStopMotion caters to novice animators, flaunting options like Camera Overlay which shows a live image of the previous picture so that changes can be monitored as they’re created.
Aside from the obvious, like the current state of the real estate market, brick-and-mortar stores are facing a number of challenges lately. For one, customer service expectations are shifting, as shoppers have become accustomed to more independent modes of consumerism online. Needless to say, it takes guts to open up shop these days, yet these three retail projects may be trailblazing new ways to make the cash register sing.
Openspace: Having opened at a time when entertainment media is increasingly moving into the cloud, a physical store that sells intangible items may seem counterintuitive. But at least one entrepreneur is hedging his bets on the fact that it’s a business model for the new era. Robert Reich’s Openspace, a downtown Boulder, Colorado store that opened its doors in December, sells…apps? The cornerstone of the shop is its “App Gurus,” a team of expert staffers, similar to Apple store Geniuses, intended to educate and aid shoppers who typically have difficulty navigating cyber stores. It’s a bold move, but one that already has franchise offers on the table.
SOPA and its Senate counterpart, PIPA, are two controversial bills currently moving through the ranks of US government. With all of the buzz surrounding yesterday’s interweb blackouts, some might be wondering if it’s the second coming of OWS. Despite the White House now shelving SOPA until further notice, hundreds of websites still moved forward with protests, effectively demonstrating the looming threat of censorship. But now that the blackout is over, what’s left? Here are some notable protest projects and tools worth mention.
Dan Bull’s “SOPA Cabana”: Gen Ys are no stranger to political melodies. So, when Dan Bull, a self-proclaimed geeky rap artist from the UK, released his cheeky protest tune “SOPA Cabana”—a parody to the tune of “Copacabana”—it immediately went viral. A crowdsourced collaboration between the musician and 86 individuals found over Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, the video features protestors holding up lyrics and handwritten notes reflecting their collective thoughts on the proposed legislation. While this isn’t Bull’s first foray into web-distributed comedy, the “dystopian future” that “SOPA Cabana” warns viewers of is no laughing matter.
The success of TV shows like Top Chef and No Reservations and food blogs like Tastespotting and Grub Street has sparked a mass culture of culinary appreciation and self-proclaimed foodies. While nothing beats grandma’s tasty recipes, more diners are looking to the respected opinions of expert chefs to guide their gastronomic passions.
Chef’s Feed: Consumer reviews on sites like Yelp and UrbanSpoon are invaluable when searching for a restaurant, but the process of scanning through scores of opinions can be tedious. Smartphone app Chef’s Feed provides time-saving relief by offering suggestions from marquee chefs like Mario Batali, Thomas Keller and David Chang. Content includes not only their favorite restaurants but also their favorite specific dishes and insider tips, like the way Chris Cosentino orders pho at San Francisco’s Yummy Yummy Vietnamese. Best of all, the app understands that its users don’t always enjoy the same privileges as the chefs featured, so it includes plenty of options that don’t require special access.
While the popularity of tablets portends the future of publishing, the integration of social news apps demonstrates that readers often desire to share their literary interests with their online friends. In a manner similar to the interactive restyling of text books, the next evolution of e-books features a new rash of applications that support more inherently social reading experiences.
Subtext: Subtext is the first app to use gaming cues in an interactive online reading community. The app allows authors, experts and community members to embed notes directly into the pages of their e-books, and then rewards them with points based on their contributions. Created for the iPad and integrated with Google Books, Subtext positions itself as a ‘retailer agnostic’ platform for comments, quizzes, questions, polls, videos, and images to enrich the e-book experience. It’s akin to the special features section on a DVD, but with the added bonus of connecting its users to a network of likeminded bibliophiles.
