Yesterday, owners of Electronic Arts’ Rock Band for iOS booted up their favorite mobile music game and were greeted with the message seen to the left, stating that the game would be retired at the end of the month. No explanation as to why was given, nor was it made clear if the game could still be played in some offline fashion after the doomsday date. Word spread across the Internet, through various social networks and gaming blogs, but no one seemed to know exactly why the game was being shut down. Well, it turns out the game isn’t being shut down, and the message stating as much was simply sent out in error.

We felt your Wednesday would go better if it started off with a laugh, especially if you become inspired to set your computer up to feature Shaquille O’Neal in almost every possible way. From his big smiling face on a white backdrop for the wallpaper, to little smiling faces for desktop icons, to more little smiling faces for Start Menu icons, and almost everything else in between, Shaq won’t do anything but brighten your day. Check out a larger version below.

Google Will Eat Itself (GWEI) might be an artistic statement, an economics project, a prank, a subversive attempt to take down “the man” or all of the above. But whatever its motivations, the creators of GWEI have sent a clear message about their feelings toward Google and online advertising. Little by little, a giant corporation can be disabled.

The idea is simple: Use Google’s own marketing practices against them. GWEI earns money by generating fraudulent clicks on Google ads on a series of hidden websites. With the money earned from clicks on the ads, the owners of GWEI “automatically” buy shares of Google.

Remember when the New York Times announced its paywall? That thing that caused outrage by making most of their digital offerings hidden behind a subscription service, but then people figured out a multitude of ways to avoid having to actually subscribe and the paywall went from being totally obnoxious, to somewhat silly?

Well, turns out the paywall actually worked, and the New York Times has already managed to snag 100,000 subscribers in less than a month of the paywall’s implementation. Though the number seems fairly large for something people were so opposed to–as well as figured out how to bypass in a variety of ways–that pretty 100,000 number actually includes a $0.99 four week trial, so maybe all isn’t wrong with the digital world.

(Business Insider via Gizmodo)

Anyone who has ever pirated anything has surely seen a message in the included info file that makes seemingly noble claims about the pirated copy being for demo purposes only, or how the piracy group strongly encourages people to buy the product if they enjoy it. Well, everyone knows not all software pirates are that noble, whether or not they claim to be. This tidbit of knowledge is so common, in fact, that even a turtle knows the truth.

The guys at Nintendo have always tried to push the boundaries of consumer technology, often by refining older concepts that didn’t quite work with the technology available at the time said concepts were first attempted: The Nintendo DS wasn’t Nintendo’s first foray into dual-screen gaming, nor was the Nintendo 3DS their first journey into 3D gaming.

Because of this, with the announcement of new Nintendo consoles and portables, the occasional comedian likes to diverge from the tried-and-true practice of making serious mockups, in order to create some funny ones, usually embellishing on one aspect of something Nintendo has employed in the past–from multiple screens, to 3D, to less complicated control schemes. In honor of the recent release of the Nintendo 3DS, we’ve compiled a list of fifteen of the funniest Nintendo mockups in recent memory.

YouTube user TRMUS1C makes these fun videos of Seinfeld where bits of the show (mostly) taken out of context are cut together, some dramatic music is added, and a new story is hatched without having many ties to the actual episodes that contain the scenes. Above is a cut wherein Jerry the Great attempts to take over the world with his evil cohort George, until Jerry sells his partner out, which is something that would totally happen to George.

Other Seinfeld cuts can be seen on TRMUS1C’s YouTube channel, which include an inspirational take on George’s life, something which the character probably could’ve used.

(reddit via The High Definite)

This weekend, Apple‘s App Store celebrated surpassing 10 billion downloads and was running a contest in which the downloader of that landmark app would win a $10,000 iTunes gift card. If it sounds too good to be true, well, tell that to the lady who agreed with you. When Apple called her to tell her about the prize, she cursed at them, insulted their mothers, and hung up on them. Okay, she only did the last one.

It’s finally happened: Starbucks is too cool for words. The company recently introduced their new logo, and it no longer includes the words “Starbucks” nor “Coffee.” Because they didn’t want to discriminate against tea? Because it was offending the espresso to be referred to as mere coffee? Cue the Politically Correct Police and witness the inevitable Starbucks logos to come.

(via Felipe Torres via AdFreak via The Daily What)

David Mamet, a Pulitzer-winning playwright, drew this cartoon for Tablet Magazine, pretty much summing up my Christmas tradition. You’re welcome, Chinese restauranteurs.

(Tablet Magazine via Village Voice via BuzzFeed)