1. DOWNLOAD UNDERCOVER TOURIST APPS: If you’re heading to Walt Disney World or Universal Studios in Orlando this summer, having wait times for every ride on hand will save a lot of walking when you could be using that valuable time drinking Butter Beer in front of Hogwarts or chomping down on a giant turkey leg in Frontierland. And it’s free so, even if you’re just slaving away at your desk and going nowhere, knowing someone else is waiting 100 minutes to get on the Harry Potter roller coaster or Space Mountain in 105-degree heat could make all the difference.
2. GOOGLE “GOOGLE GLASSES”: Google revealed their augmented reality headset last week at its I/O Developer Conference. It can be controlled by voice, connected to the Internet and records and streams video through a small transparent screen above the user’s right eye. Concept videos show what Google has planned for the device: displaying text messages, alerting the user to local service shutdowns, integration with Google Maps, and video conferences. Sound good to you? Well, you need only wait until 2014. They’ll hopefully be cheaper by then; the developer versions of the glasses were made available for pre-order at a price of $1500.
3. DOWNLOAD NEW SPOTIFY ARTIST APPS: Quincy, Tiesto, Rancid and Disturbed have all released Spotify Artist Apps, which are designed to categorize and organize Spotify’s 16 million-plus tracks and educate music fans on various genres and subgenres. Spotify allows users to stream music for free, and with these apps, users can see what famous musicians themselves are listening to and easily join in. Artist Apps are available globally on the desktop client of Spotify on the left hand nav bar.
4. BUY NY COMIC-CON TICKETS: San Diego Comic-Con begins July 12, but if you can’t be bothered to make the roughly 2,800-mile trip, then you can still pick up tickets to the October Comic-Con in Gotham City, the biggest pop culture convention on the East Coast. If you’re at all interested in seeing any of the panels or talks, or just want to meet some celebs or pick up collectibles from the worlds of comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies and TV, you can get tickets at newyorkcomiccon.com. And may the force be with you…
5. ORDER CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY ON AMAZON: Cards Against Humanity is what it says: a party game for horrible people. Think of it as a raunchy Apples to Apples based entirely on humor. A black card is in the middle, with a blank space that needs to be filled in with a card, sometimes several of them. The players then play their white cards, and the person whose turn it is reads the white cards out loud and chooses the best one. Again, it’s Apples to Apples, well, if Apples to Apples had cards like “A windmill full of corpses” and “Licking things to claim them as your own,” the only cards we can share without being fined by the FCC—well, if the FCC could fine newspapers.
6. PLAY LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW: Lollipop Chainsaw is a hack-and-slash game for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 with a very interesting premise. You play as an energetic cheerleader named Juliet Starling, whose school has been overrun by zombies. Her boyfriend, Nick Carlyle, was bitten by a zombie, so what does our intrepid cheerleader do? Naturally, she uses her chainsaw to chop his head off and somehow keeps him alive, albeit as a head that she carries with her. The game’s blend of over-the-top ridiculousness and humor alone are enough to recommend a purchase, or at the very least, a rent.
7. TIVO PYROS ON THE WEATHER CHANNEL: This new docu-series follows an elite team of pyro-technicians at Montreal’s Groupe Fiatlux-Ampleman as they blow things up in the sky for a living. Exotic locations and harsh weather conditions create one-of-a-kind fireworks shows every Tuesday at 9 p.m.
8. VISIT KOALASTOTHEMAX.COM: We visited this site for a combined time of hours, carving our initials in and splitting the atom, so to speak. It wasn’t until a few days ago we realized there’s a reason this website is called what it is…see if you can figure it out. And don’t mock us when you do.
9. CHECK OUT PLANS FOR THE NEW BEACH BIKE PATH: The Jones Beach Access Project, a 0.7 mile connection between the end of the 7.5-mile Wantagh Parkway path and the Jones Beach East Bath House is coming early next year. Get your streamers ready!
10. HAVE SCHWAN’S ICE CREAM DELIVERED: Ice cream shortage? Pshhhh. What ice cream shortage!?! Have tubs of Loaded Waffle Cone Peanut Butter Swirl and Monkeying Around Banana delivered right to your door!
