Prom Night is Coming: If ‘Game of Thrones’ Were Set in a High School

Game of Thrones is currently one of the hottest shows on television. Or should I say coldest? George R. R. Martin’s compelling tale is transformed into impressive imagery interspersed with extreme violence in the series which hooks viewers almost instantly after they catch an episode or two.

Hoping to catch your attention and interest, though, is this creative parody that changes the setting of the hit franchise into a typical high school. Imagine GOT mixed with teen angst and prom night, and you’ve got School of Thrones in a nutshell. Check it out!

VIA [ io9 ]

Facebook’s First Ever Ad Gets a Hilarious Toilet-Themed Parody

It’s no secret that Facebook’s not doing so hot ever since they went public. The social network recently hit 1 billion users and to keep their numbers up (and perhaps to try making Facebook more relevant?), they recently released their first ever ad.

facebook parody

Oddly, the ad highlights how Facebook is like a chair. I kid you not. The ad talks about chairs and comes across as one of those artsy-fartsy videos that force you to come to some deep realization at the very end. Throw in doorbells, airplanes, and bridges, and that’s the ad for you in a nutshell.

Here’s the original Facebook ad, in case you haven’t seen it yet:

There’s only one mention of Facebook in the commercial, and the site isn’t featured even once, although that’s understandable considering this is a branding ad. However, the ad leaves a lot of room for ridicule and that’s the route that a lot of people did since it came out. One parody likens Facebook to toilets – you’ll have to check out the clip below to find out why. (Warning: Language NSFW)

[via CNET]


Apple responds to iPhone text message spoofing, reminds us how secure iMessage is

If you're a frequent texter, and the iPhone is your weapon of choice, there's a good chance you've been a wee bit concerned since yesterday's report that the device is vulnerable to a certain SMS spoofing attack. Basically, it's possible for a malicious individual to send a message and specify a reply-to number that is not their own, appearing as if they are someone else. We got in touch with an Apple representative and here's what we were told:

Apple takes security very seriously. When using iMessage instead of SMS, addresses are verified which protects against these kinds of spoofing attacks. One of the limitations of SMS is that it allows messages to be sent with spoofed addresses to any phone, so we urge customers to be extremely careful if they're directed to an unknown website or address over SMS.

Even if you aren't on an iPhone, we'd like to remind you to be careful when texting. There are numerous services out there that let you send a message that appears to be from anybody you like -- regardless of what model, OS or even carrier the recipient is using. All the more reason to think twice before filing that loan application over SMS.

Apple responds to iPhone text message spoofing, reminds us how secure iMessage is originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 11:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View

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Well, it appears that April Fools is in full effect -- at least if you ask Google. Today the company introduced its "latest" build of Google Maps, dubbed Google Maps 8-bit version, tailored specifically for the Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Google, this Dragon Quest spoof version of Maps will come in the form of a special NES cartridge that can connect to the internet via dial-up. This apparently allows most of the heavy lifting to get done on Google's servers, where the maps are rendered to 8-bit form "in real-time." Better yet, it even supports voice search. Naturally, there's no word on a release date, but you can currently check out the "beta" by visiting Google Maps in your browser and selecting "Start Your Quest." That said, that company warns that "your system may not meet the minimum requirements for 8-bit computations" -- something tells us it'll still be less resource-intensive than Crysis, though. We've checked it out and found some goodies, including an alien at Area 51, so let us know what you come across during your journey in the comments.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View

Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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